CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"Listen, I know this sounds like a movie line, but we're adults. You don't have to sleep on the floor. Besides, if someone came in and saw you there, they'd think we'd had a lover's spat or something. It might look bad."

"I'm cool with the bed if you are," said Major casually.

He stood up and realized that she was lying back against the pillows in a thin white cotton nightgown. It had thin blue ribbons holding it at her shoulders, making it look delicate and old. Her richly colored skin glowed from her shower and body lotion, sending signals to Major that he desperately wanted to ignore.

Holding the pillow over his groin, he tossed the blanket at the end of the bed and lay next to her.

"Goodnight," he said gruffly. He thought that would be it, that she'd fall asleep and leave him in his hopeless, stiff misery. But nope.

"Do you have a family? Wife, children?" she said in a soft voice.

"No," said Major. "My parents are all I've got. And my friends. And dozens of sort of relatives." She giggled, and he smiled at her.

"Sorry. I just don't usually answer a lot of questions about who I am."

"I know. Knowing that you're connected to May and Thomas, I can only guess what you and your friends are."

"Okay. Guess."

He smiled to himself, wondering what she would come up with. Sometimes, people knew just by the way they held themselves, walked, talked. Sometimes, they guessed ridiculous things.

"Alright. You're Army Rangers. You're a bit bulkier than the average SEAL, and you're not quite rigid enough to be Marines. You're so far away from the water, there's no way you could be Coast Guard."

"We could be Air Force," he smiled.

"Nah. No way," she said, shaking her head. "You would never fit inside a jet. Besides, I spoke to May earlier, and she told me. She thought it might be a good idea for me to know a little about who and what you were."

"See, you're smart and beautiful," said Major. Elena turned, lying on her side to face him.

"So are you."

"Men aren't beautiful, Elena," said Major, turning to face her as well. "We're rough and callous, muscled or fat, depending on who you're looking at. We smell funny most days, and we always say the wrong thing. We're not beautiful."

"You are. The men in Egypt are different. Very old school, old world. That's not a bad thing, but it's not my thing. I'm used to English men. Actually, I'm not used to any men at all recently.

"Major, I'm not very good at this, and I know that you can't promise me anything. Neither of us can. You'll leave when this is all done, and I'm okay with that. I just want to spend time with you. I'd like to be with you here and now. Know what it feels like to have those huge hands on my body, to feel your body against mine. It's been a long time for me, and I'm a picky woman. You just sort of fell into my lap. Or bed."

"You're wrong," he said, pulling her closer. "You're very good at his."

His mouth covered her own, pressing her firmly against his body. He let the pillow fall to the floor, his rock-hard body crushing her soft, pliable one. Elena wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him on top of her.

Major shoved his bottoms to his ankles, kicking them off, then opened her legs wide, pushing the nightgown up to her waist. Reaching for his wallet, he pulled out a condom and rolled it on his thick, heavy cock.

"You're perfect," she whispered against his lips, looking down at his impressive girth. The ripples of his stomach muscles made her clench as his thick arms stiffened beside her.

"Honey, nothing is as perfect as you."

Her warm tight pussy encircled his cock, strangling him as she squeezed and released, squeezed and released. Gripping her shoulders, he pushed her downward against him, forcing her to take him fully. And damned if she didn't.

Lifting one of her legs, he put it over his shoulder and thrust deeper, the dark nipples brushing against his chest. When she lifted her other leg over his other shoulder, he was merciless. Driving into her, slamming his body against her own, and she took him, begging for more.

Somewhere in the night, Major stared at the sleeping, naked body beside him, running his fingers along her smooth, taut belly. The sheets were stained with their lovemaking, but neither of them cared. They'd gone through an entire sleeve of condoms, then went old school. Oral. She was beautiful, intelligent, sexy as fuck, and adventurous.

"So, how in the hell am I going to leave you?"

After showering together and making love one more time, they met their friends for breakfast.

"Good morning," smiled Alistair. "You two look well rested."

"Shut up," growled Major.

"It's alright. I don't mind," said Elena. "We're adults, and I just believe that if you're attracted to one another, no one should care. I find Major very handsome, seductive even. I'm not embarrassed by that."

"Nor should you be," smiled Ellie. Major gave her a look of warning, and then he kissed Elena's temple.

"I'm not embarrassed. I'm just a private person, and my extra nosey, incredibly meddling friends tend to take things too far sometimes."

Ellie's phone rang, and she looked down to see Jenny's number.

"Jenny? Are you alright?"

"I'm good. We heard through our contacts this morning that the reward for your sister was removed. Whoever it was, they don't want her any longer. But that's because someone hacked into the flight records at the base and knew she was on a flight out of here. If they see you, it could all be back on."

"I understand."

"Listen, Ellie. I think Mags saw someone she wasn't supposed to but doubt that she even knew who it was, or if she did, she didn't think twice about it."

"We think so as well," she said, whispering to the woman. "How dangerous is this person?"

"He or she's got a lot of money and a lot of resources at their fingertips. Right now, I think rich relatives are sort of giving them leeway, but the question is why. I'm working on the why part now."

"Thank you, Jenny. We're working a different angle and hoping to be able to help solve this soon."

"Be careful, kid. Things are pretty weird out there."

"I need to call Mags and walk through this again," said Ellie. "It's the middle of the night right now. Any idea what we should do until then?"

"I think maybe we head back to the tomb and see if there's something there that could give us a hint," said Elena. "I-I called in to the museum this morning and took a leave of absence. I know that was presumptuous, but I just thought I could be of help to you."

"We appreciate it," said Major, nodding at her.

"You damn sure do," smirked Brix.

"Shut the fuck up." Elena only laughed, shaking her head.

"You all act as if you're siblings. Even you, Ellie."

"Well, we were raised together. Our parents all live in a private community, so we went to school together up until college. My sisters and I went away to college, and they joined the Army."

"I see, so that's how you all know one another," she smiled. "I would have loved to have had that. I don't have any siblings, and my father was always on a dig somewhere. As I said, I went to an English boarding school."

"Didn't you have a lot of friends there?" asked Sebastian.

"Some. A few. I was different. The girl who liked digging in dirt."

"You'd get along fabulously with my mother," smiled Ellie. "She's a soil scientist."

"No way! That's exciting! I've spoken to May and Thomas so many times, and they're very careful about what they say to me, but it always sounds as if something amazing is happening where you live."

"Maybe you should come and visit us," said Ellie. Major stared at her, then down at Elena.

"You could. I mean, if you wanted to," he said. Ellie rolled her eyes, and Leif chuckled beside her, shaking his head.

"Come on. Finish breakfast, and let's head back out to the tomb. There could be something there that gives us a clue." Elena nodded, looking over Leif's shoulder at the elderly couple seated at the table behind him. The man was holding up a newspaper, which seemed odd for this day and time. Still, many older people preferred ink on paper.

But that wasn't what caught her attention.

"I think I know who our mystery person is."