I would have screamed.
I would have pushed you overboard.
The examples continued to run through his head as he stared at her.“I...I didn’t think?—”
“That’s just it, isn’t it?”she countered.“You didn’t think.You had me in your arms.You had me up against a wall.You could have had your way with me?—”
“My uncle was there,” he interrupted, trying to keep his voice low lest the driver understand English.“The crew.They would have seen us,” he argued.“Bradley was right there, too.What wouldhethink?”
Helen scoffed.“Bradley is just a babe.Besides, he sees my parents kiss one another all the time.In fact, they’re so in love with one another, it wouldn’t surprise me if they had another baby.”
Tom’s eyes rounded.“Aren’t they too old?”he asked in alarm.
The sound of disbelief had him on alert.“Hardly,” she replied, one hand going to her hip.
He had seen his aunt do the same and knew he was in for a scolding if he didn’t say something to save himself.“It’s just hard to imagine having a much younger brother in the family is all.”
“Oh, Alexander doesn’t mind,” she claimed, referring to her older brother.“Especially now that he has one of his own.Besides, aren’tyoua much older brother?”
Tom chuckled softly.“You have me there,” he admitted, although George was no longer a babe.He did the math and realized his youngest sibling was nearly fifteen years of age.
“What about you?”he asked, relieved when her hand left her hip to clutch the top of her reticule.Although he had expected to see it was ruined from how she used it to beat the snake, the evidence of its use as a weapon wasn’t visible.
Helen lifted a shoulder.“I wouldn’t mind another brother.Mayhap a sister,” she mused.
He reached over and gripped her gloved hand.She allowed him to bring it to his lips so he could kiss the back of her knuckles.“Please don’t be angry with me.”
Her eyes widening in surprise, Helen said, “I am not.At least, not any longer,” she whispered.
Daring a glance at the driver and noting all the other hantours were ahead of them, Tom leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.Emboldened when she allowed it, he placed a hand on the side of her face and nearly had his lips to hers when the driver shouted something and their hantour slowed.
A quick look around had him realizing they were already at the river.“We’re back to the dock,” he said on a sigh of disappointment.
“Father says another day on the river, and we’ll be in Luxor,” she replied.
“Uncle says we’ll stay in a hotel for a few days while the crew restocks the ship for our return trip to Cairo,” he murmured.
“I’m looking forward to it,” she replied.“I can finally take a real bath.”
The thought of Helen Tennison in a bath had Tom imagining all sorts of possibilities.
Him helping her to wash.
Him gliding a wash cloth up her shin and over her knee.
Him watching her breasts as they barely broke the surface of the water, her pert nipples hardening when they were exposed to the cooler air.
Him climbing into the bath with her, although he couldn’t picture exactly how they would sit and still fit without all the water gushing over the sides.
Him wrapping her in a bath linen and pulling her into his arms.
Him carrying her to a soft bed where he would make love to her and hold her for an entire night.
“Are you coming?”Helen asked.
“I am,” he replied on a sigh of satisfaction.He blinked several times, suddenly remembering where they were.“Um, right away,” he added, before struggling to step down from the equipage with a cock still hard from his daydream.
Swallowing, he offered his arm and the two headed for the ship and the late luncheon waiting for them up on the top deck.“May I help you up the stairs?”he asked.
Helen angled her head to one side.“I should like to go to my cabin first.”She pulled her skirt out and winced at seeing the ground in desert dust.“I really need to change my gown.”
“Of course,” he replied, giving her a bow as he struggled to tamp down another arousal at the thought of her undressed.
She curtsied and turned to head down the corridor.
The sight of Bradley running into her arms before they even had a chance to get to their cabins was like being dunked into a cold water bath.
