The Panther & the Pyramid (Khamsin Warriors of the Wind) (28 page)

Graham ignored their jibes. "I have a map Jillian will provide for me. The cave is north of Farafra. If I take the old Darb Asyut route, it will get me there in less time."

The sheikh and his guardian exchanged uneasy glances. "Farafra, land of the cow," Ramses murmured, using the ancient name for the oasis. "I have friends there."

"That route you speak of is treacherous," Jabari warned. "It is a long, hard ten days by camel. The red sand can swallow a man whole if he sets foot into it. There are few wells."

"I have iron water tanks purchased in Cairo," Graham said.

The sheikh looked troubled. "Farafra was long besieged by marauders. There are Bedu roaming the sands who lie in wait for the unwary traveler."

Graham fingered the sharp scimitar strapped to his side. "I'm not unwary."

"But alone..." Ramses observed. "You are not safe, my friend, no matter how fierce a warrior you are."

"I will send several men with you," Jabari decided.

Tension coiled in his stomach. Graham ran a hand over his growing beard. "I will not risk the lives of your men, Jabari."

"You will risk it," the sheikh rejoined. "I will not allow you to leave here alone."

Graham studied the pair, wondering if he could trust them—even these, the two men he knew who held honor above all else. A natural caution restrained him from telling all.

But the sheikh's wise eyes searched his face. "You are withholding knowledge. What is it, my friend?"

In the distance, Graham heard the throaty laughter of his wife. Carefree, untroubled. How he wanted to keep her that way, and guard her from the terrible truth.

His gaze flicked to them. "I'm being followed."

Jabari's expression tightened. Ramses put a hand on his scimitar hilt, a gesture Graham recognized the warrior made when feeling defensive. "Who is it?" Jabari asked.

"Someone I know," Graham said guardedly. "An Englishman who desires the treasure and knows it's buried in the cave."

He didn't dare tell them about the fiasco in London with Stranton. Or the real reason he wished to travel alone—to kill Stranton at last, or be killed by him. Graham would not risk anyone else in his personal battle.

"A greater reason to take a band of men," Ramses said.

"No. Traveling with a large caravan is like waving a flag. I must maintain the ability to blend into the sands if necessary, and shift as the dunes shift. I don't wish to attract any more attention than I must." His even gaze met theirs. "Do you remember what happened to my parents all those years ago?" Death screams echoed in his head.

The sheikh glanced toward the women, who were quietly talking beneath the sheltering shade of a thorny acacia tree. "And your wife?"

"She wants to come. She will do as I say and remain here."

"The lady Jillian does not appear to be the type to meekly follow orders," Jabari observed.

Ramses stared with rapt fascination at Jillian as she tugged off her perky straw hat, revealing glossy red tresses coiled into a tight chignon. "Al-Hariia," he murmured. "That hair burns like fire. Does she burn inside as well?"

Graham shifted, narrowing his eyes. He didn't like his friend's interest in his wife. "You'll never find out."

The warrior looked at him and laughed. Mirth sparked his amber eyes. "Ah, so the fair English lady has caught the aloof panther and ensnared him with her fiery hair."

A teasing smile quirked Jabari's mouth as well. "It is about time, my friend. I am most happy for you."

Satisfaction came over Graham as he glanced at his wife and Elizabeth and Katherine. "Enough of me. Tell me of your wives. I see you've increased your family, Rames. And Tarik looks well, Jabari. He's past three now, isn't he? Why haven't you caught up? Wasn't Elizabeth pregnant when I left?"

Ramses looked uncomfortable. Jabari's jaw clenched as he drew in a deep breath. "Elizabeth... was with child. She lost the baby. It devastated her, but she was eager to try again. She became pregnant. Then she... miscarried again."

Genuine grief gripped Graham. "I am sorry, Jabari."

Emotion flashed in the sheikh's dark eyes, then he shrugged. "Allah's will. We will try again, if Elizabeth wants to have another child. I told her having Tarik is enough for me, as long as I have her. She is my greatest love."

His friend's open honesty stirred Graham. Deep inside, he longed for the same emotional commitment in a marriage. But he knew it meant sharing the deepest, darkest part of himself with Jillian. He could not.

Relaxing once more, Ramses smiled. "Look at the three of us. Once warriors who roved the sands, free as falcons. Now our wives have captured us and we would do anything for them."

"Even you, my newly married friend. A woman can be most persuasive when you are holding her in your arms. You will see how easy it is for Jillian to change your mind about accompanying you into the deep desert," Jabari mocked.

But Graham could not return their smiles. The premonition danced before him: red hair billowing in the relentless clasp of desert wind, his screams echoing over the dunes...

Graham sat in his tent later, honing his scimitar. The blade was dull from lying in an attic trunk in England. He scraped the whetstone along the edge, remembering his other life. He did not want Jillian to blend as he did. He wanted her to stand out, not be hidden in a crowd.

For years she'd hid behind gray silk, high collars concealing her swanlike throat. Jillian, the gray shadow he had coaxed from her self-imposed shell, was no longer afraid to argue with him, to express her opinion. He smiled ruefully. She was stubborn as he, and certain to keep arguing with him to take her into the desert.

Graham realized with a start he had changed. He'd once thought of Jillian as a means to accomplish his ultimate goal. As he had with his family, he'd kept an emotional distance, allowing himself only to be slightly vulnerable when they made love. But now he realized he wanted more. Needed more.

Bringing her to Egypt had been a mistake and a blessing. Graham felt his dogged loneliness forced back by her sweet laughter, stimulating conversation and eager love-making. Slowly she was pushing away the darkness inside him. It scared him. The darkness was all he knew. He clung to it like sand clung to skin.

The tent flap opened and Jillian strolled inside. She tossed down her white, floppy hat and twirled, hugging herself. She looked dreamy and delicious and utterly loveable. He wanted to lick every inch of her.

"I've been analyzing the star charts Jabari drew up for me. Well, Elizabeth drew them; Jabari dictated. It's fascinating how the Bedu can calculate how to return home by navigating the stars each hour. He and Ramses are teaching me how to find my way in the desert should I get lost. Do you know that you can literally find your way out of the desert by analyzing latitude and longitude?"

"Yes," he said in a husky voice. Watching her emerge from her gray cocoon had been like seeing an iridescent butterfly take flight. The very stars paled beside her beauty.

Jillian paced, brilliant green eyes afire with excitement. "And the investments the tribe has made—Jabari has the keenest intuition. Yet they could do more. Elizabeth agreed with me that investing in new ventures such as electrical companies will secure the Khamsin's economic future."

"It sounds... very smart," Graham murmured.

Once he hadn't cared if she left after their three months were done. Now he couldn't bear to lose her. His thoughts were a maelstrom. Was this love? It wasn't the romance warbled by whey-faced poets. It was burning, like fire. It felt wonderful. And it seared him with pain to think of her leaving.

She whirled, her skirts spinning out like flower petals. She looked stricken. "Oh, Graham, I'm boring you."

He stood and went to her, brushing her hand with his lips. "Don't. Look at me, Jilly. I don't want to restrain you. Don't pretend anymore. I won't punish you for thinking aloud, or for knowing more than I do. I'm not your father."

She seemed to struggle with her emotions. "You know more than I. You can navigate by merely glancing at the stars."

A crooked grin tugged his mouth upward. "I get lost in my own tent. Navigating the desert at night is an art I have yet to perfect. I tend to wander."

"That's not you, that's me. An aimless wanderer."

"You're not an aimless wanderer. You have purpose. Your mind is like an indestructible Khamsin, blowing through life, eager to release itself. But you've been restrained, Jilly. I don't want to rein you in," he told her softly.

Her rosebud mouth wobbled. "I'm not a conventional duchess. I don't make scintillating conversation—"

With a finger to her lips, he silenced her. Graham framed her rounded face with his warm hands. "Jillian, I don't want a conventional duchess. Bloody hell, I'm not a conventional duke." He glanced at his indigo binish. "I doubt appearing in Parliament like this would be praised."

A light laugh rippled from her perfect, pink mouth. "Just as I must appear an oddity here among the Khamsin."

He shook his head. "Intriguing, yes. But not odd."

Hope filled her gaze. "Then you have no qualms about taking me with you into the desert?"

"We'll discuss it later," he said evasively.

Damn. Somehow he must convince her how dangerous it was for her. But deep down, Graham knew the real danger lay ahead for him. His worst nightmare, coming true.

He held out a hand. "Come, let's go for a walk and I'll explain some Bedouin customs to you."

They emerged from the tent, blinking at the bright sunshine. Jillian clasped her husband's hand, wishing he would cease this remoteness. She suspected here, in this camp among friends, the real Graham would emerge. If only she could coax him out.

Nearby, Katherine's twins, Fatima and Asad, and Elizabeth's son Tarik played in the sand. Fatima glanced up, a cheeky smile on her face. She went to Graham and hugged his knees. "Unca Rashid, play wid us," she said in English.

Graham grinned. He ducked back into their tent.

When he emerged, one of the clean white sheets from their bed covered his body, draping down to the sand.

Jillian laughed. "Playing ghost?"

"I always scared my brother with this as a child." Graham began waving his arms beneath the sheet and moaning loudly.

"You're quite scary," she agreed cheerfully.

"Quiet. You're ruining my act," he replied.

The children stared, bemused looks on their faces. Jabari and Ramses approached, their brows wrinkling. "Ah, Graham, what are you doing?" Jabari asked.

"I'm scaring your son," he countered, moaning more.

"He does not look scared," Jabari observed. "Perhaps if you take the sheet off, he will be more frightened."

Pulling off the sheet, Graham made an exasperated sound. Ramses chuckled and picked up a tiny toy scimitar, its wooden rip rounded. He tossed it over. "Try this instead."

A high-pitched scream, the same the warriors had shrieked, undulated from Graham's lips as he waved the sword. Asad, the boy twin, screamed and toddled off toward his mother, who scooped him up into her arms. Tarik looked bored. Fatima pulled the toy sword from Graham's loose grasp and poked him in the knees. She made a sound resembling a sick goat in distress.

Graham laughed. "A new version of the Khamsin war cry? What a little warrior." He clutched his chest. "You got me." Sliding dramatically to the ground on his back, he closed his eyes. Fatima climbed atop him, solemnly regarding him.

"Unca Rashid crying. Here," she said, touching his chest.

Graham's eyes flew open with a startled look. Then the little girl promptly laid her head upon his chest and yawned, clutching his binish. Tarik toddled over and joined her, using Graham as a cushion, his arm slung around Fatima.

"Nap time," Ramses said cheerfully. "She often falls asleep on me like that. Stay there. This is the first my daughter has been quiet all day."

Graham did not smile. He gently stroked the little girl's head with a somber look.

Ramses picked his daughter up and she snuggled into his arms. Jabari did the same with his son. Slowly Graham arose, brushing off his binish. The smile he offered Jillian seemed tight.

"I need to check on the camels, Jilly. Why don't you visit with Katherine and Elizabeth a while?" And before she could reply, he strode off, his jaw set.