She quickly shook her head.“Not at all.In fact, I find it refreshing in a man of your age.”
He regarded her with a quirked brow.“The young bucks in London lack honor, do you mean?”
“Some do,” she acknowledged.“There are some who would ruin a young woman merely for sport.”
Making the odd sound in his throat again, Tom frowned.“Is there someone I need to hunt for sport?”he asked, his manner conveying his sudden anger.
Helen inhaled sharply.“Not for me,” she replied.“My older brother has obviously seen to deterrents on my behalf.”
“As he should,” Tom replied, his momentary anger quickly dissipating.Deciding they were far too exposed so close to the river, he led them onto a path that fronted the temple grounds.
Given how most of the Luxor temple seemed half-buried in sand and debris, it was difficult to imagine what it might have looked like when it was first built.
“The symmetry is all wrong here.The missing obelisk is far too obvious,” Helen said, reaching up to trace one of the carvings on the side of the remaining obelisk with a gloved fingertip.
“It is,” Tom acknowledged.“Back in 1830, the Egyptian ruler Mohammed Ali Pasha had them both gifted to France.One was removed and shipped off to Paris, but I rather doubt they will ever come back for the second.”
“Why ever not?”She placed her hand back on his arm, apparently oblivious to the red stain left on her glove.
“Blunt.Diana said it cost two-and-a-half million francs to pay for the dismantling, shipping, and re-erection in the Place De La Concorde.The French had to pay for the relocation, of course.”
Helen gasped.“So, not exactly a gift,” she murmured.
He nodded his agreement as they passed through the wide opening in the pylon.The pair of carved busts of the pharaoh Ramesses II flanking the opening appeared far different in the morning sun than they had the afternoon prior.He tried to imagine what they looked like below ground, but without an image or drawing to use as reference, he couldn’t.A third torso topped the sand off to the right side of the pylon, its base still buried in the mound of sand fronting the pylon.
Leading her along the well-worn path into the temple, where sand had drifted to surround the base of most of the columns, Tom paused in between two columns along the grand colonnade where the bases were mostly exposed.He moved to stand in front of her and dipped his head.“You are right when you say I would not have done such a thing as attempt to take your virtue,” he said, returning to their earlier conversation.Despite the lack of a roof above, the spacing of the columns made the area seem closed in.Intimate.
Her eyes rounding at hearing his claim, Helen appeared disappointed.“But...were you...thinkingabout it?”she asked, hope sounding in her voice.
He barked a laugh but quickly sobered.“I fear I am not as honorable in my thoughts as I have been in my actions,” he admitted sheepishly.He swallowed again.“Actually, I have thought of it many times,” he admitted.“What it would be like to...to lie with you.”
For a moment, he wished he hadn’t put voice to his thoughts, but now that he had, he was desperate to learn her feelings.What if she didn’t feel affection for him?What if she had changed her mind since the kiss they had shared the night before?“Have I shocked you?”he asked.
“Not as much as you fear, I think,” she replied, her voice so quiet he almost didn’t hear her.“Have you had these thoughts since… since we were in Cairo?”she pressed.
Reaching out, he grasped her around the waist and pulled her against the front of his body, relieved that she allowed the impropriety.“Since the Morganfield ball, actually,” he stated, as he rolled his eyes.
“Thomas,” she said softly, a brilliant smile lighting her face.She rested the side of her head against his chest.
“I cannot help it.I rather enjoyed that kiss.I thought of it often whilst I watched my cousin Donald with his new wife, and now when I see how Randy is with Diana, well, I think I should like to start and end my days with such a kiss.With you.”
Helen pulled her head away from his chest and angled it to one side.“Only at the start and end of each day?”she gently teased.
His gaze darted to one of the columns, its capital carved into the shape of a papyrus bud and its smooth surface a testament to the erosion caused by centuries of wind and sand.“Well, we could kiss in the middle of the day, too,” he replied.“If you’d like.”
“Mayhap before dinner?”
“Oh, I’m quite sure that could be arranged.”
“And now?”she whispered.
He lowered his forehead to hers.“Only if you agree to marry me,” he said.He suddenly squeezed his eyes shut.“Oh, that was a terrible proposal,” he complained.“Can you ever forgive me?”
Helen giggled and lifted a hand to the side of his face.“Kiss me, and I’ll allow you to try again.”
He chuckled softly and barely touched her lips with his.The tentative nature of the kiss continued, their breaths held until he pressed harder.When she parted her lips, he took it as an invitation to press his firm pillows harder against her softer, fuller mouth.He slid his tongue between her lips, the tip brushing along the bottom edge of her teeth.
Although she seemed surprised—a tremor even passed through her body—she didn’t pull away.Emboldened, he used his tongue to explore the inside of her mouth.When the tip darted across her teeth again, she inhaled suddenly.Her tongue finally tangled with his until he finally, slowly ended the kiss.
