Sopdet

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet Isabella Jordan All rights reserved.

Copyright ©2006 Isabella Jordan

No part of this e-book may be reproduced or shared by any electronic or mechanical

means, including but not limited to printing, file sharing, and email, without prior

written permission from Changeling Press LLC.

ISBN (10) 1-59596-325-1

ISBN (13) 978-1-59596-325-3

Formats Available:

HTML, Adobe PDF,

MobiPocket, Microsoft Reader

Publisher:

Changeling Press LLC

PO Box 1561

Shepherdstown, WV 25443-1561

www.ChangelingPress.com

Editor: Connie Alberts

Cover Artist: Fabiano Fabris

This e-book file contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language which some may find offensive and which is not appropriate for a young audience. Changeling Press E-Books are for sale to adults, only, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they cannot be accessed by under-aged readers.

Chapter 1 Cairo, Egypt January 2006 “You’re not drinking, doc?” Carson Bonham looked up into the grinning, drunken face of Derek Scarborough, her least favorite of the grad students who’d come on this year’s trip. Sure he was cute and popular with everyone, but Derek was useless as far as she was concerned. He was no scholar and how he managed to bullshit his way into grad school simply amazed her. Derek was one hell of a good reason to stick to sodas even if she’d wanted to drink. He had a little problem with keeping his hands to himself. “No, and it looks like you’ve already had enough for the both of us,” Carson pointed out as Derek dropped onto the vinyl seat next to her like a bag of cement. Make that a bag of garbage. He smelled like sweat and beer. Great, now she had to be sober and nauseous. “Why don’t you go back to the hotel and sleep it off? We have a lot of work to do tomorrow.” Derek leaned closer to Carson as if he had some great secret to tell her. “Why don’t you come with me?” God, if his grin gets any wider his head will split in two. Drunk asshole. Carson didn’t move, didn’t react in any way. “I think you know better than that.” Derek’s smile didn’t diminish. “How many days have you been a doc, doc? Already too high and mighty to mingle with the common folk?” Carson had just received her Ph.D. in archaeology a few weeks ago, but that had nothing to do with Derek. She didn’t need a degree to know he was a loser.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

-4-

“Derek.” Carson would try one more time. “Go back to the hotel. You’re drunk. This is a university trip. You don’t want to jeopardize your own career by being stupid.” Especially when, at best, his academic career was hanging by a thread. It had to be. He’d been in two of her classes as an undergrad and she’d failed him in both for not showing up for class, not handing in assignments. “Forget about what people think, doc.” Derek was really slurring his words. “The night is young, we’re in Egypt. Let’s get it on like the Ancient Egyptians once did.” Carson snorted at that. The only thing he’d be getting on was a black eye if he tried anything. “Look at this place,” Derek continued. “No one will even notice we’re gone.” Carson’s eyes quickly scanned the noisy nightclub which seemed to be overflowing with people tonight. People dancing wildly to the loud, techno music under the colorful flashing lights. People drinking at the bar, staggering around like Derek was. Yeah, he was right. No one would notice if either of them split. Not for a while anyway. Carson came along with the students to the nightclub just in case this kind of bullshit happened. To keep an eye on the female students who’d come along on this trip. To keep them away from jerks like Derek. A chaperone. Damn, that made her feel old. “No one will notice that you are gone, Derek,” Carson said meaningfully. “I won’t tell you again. Go back to the hotel.” Carson shouldn’t have been surprised when Derek grabbed her forearm and yanked her off the seat, but she was. A little. She’d always considered Derek an obnoxious ass but honestly, she didn’t think he would try forcing himself on a woman. Okay, then. “Come on, doc.” Derek’s voice was low in her ear, his breath horrible. “You’ll like it, I promise.”

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

-5-

Carson let him push her out the propped open doors of the club. It wouldn’t be good to get thrown out for fighting, now would it? Once they were just outside the club, Carson’s gaze moved over the tall, thin man who held her in his grip, trying to decide on the quickest way to bring him down. Derek’s free hand slid over her ass. “That’s right, doc. Play along.” Oh, she’d play along all right. Carson jerked her arm toward the weakest point of his grip, where his fingers met his thumb, freeing herself easily. Grabbing Derek’s arm, she viciously twisted it around behind him and used it to shove him forward. Then she brought her knee up hard between his legs from behind. Derek yelled in pain, dropping to his knees on the sidewalk in front of a startled group of bystanders. When he vomited all over the pavement, their expressions turned from surprise to disgust. Carson leaned down quickly to whisper in his ear. “Pull yourself together and then do what I said. Get back to the hotel, party boy.” Before she drew more attention or worse, someone thought she actually left with that asshole, Carson darted back inside the Ambassador Club and returned to her seat. Keeping an eye on the door, Carson wanted to be prepared just in case Derek decided on another round. She didn’t think he would even if he were able. Oh, she’d hurt him, but not badly. He’d been a pretty easy mark since he’d been drunk. Even if he’d been sober, Carson still could have taken him. It was one really great benefit of having a world renowned martial arts expert as her father. Most of the world didn’t know that since he used another name professionally, but it was a source of great pride for Carson. He’d trained her well. Carson pushed her bottle of soda away since it could be drugged by now, thinking of her visit with her father over the holidays. He’d been so proud of Carson with her new degree. She was the first Ph.D. in the family though not the first to have a higher education. Her father had a Masters in Physical Education, though he was such a

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

-6-

commercial success with his martial arts movies and workout videos that he never even mentioned it. Carson’s father had been the first in the family to go to college since his great-aunt Elspeth. What a fascinating woman she’d been. The wiry, little English woman from the old black and white photographs had died many years before Carson came along. Her great-great-aunt had been a real scholar. An eccentric woman of means who’d never married or had children, she’d funded and even coordinated several expeditions to Egypt in the 1920s. The woman had also written in a journal most days of her long life. Carson had read every page of the diaries that she’d been able to borrow from the distant relative who had inherited them. A couple had gone to the British Museum, and once she was older and had academic connections she’d gotten an opportunity to read them, as well. Carson felt as if she knew the woman who she’d never actually met. Elspeth Bonham, as a young woman, had been a pioneer in her day. The man she’d loved in those earlier years had preferred someone else, so Elspeth had chosen loneliness over marrying someone she didn’t care for. An empty life with a stranger could easily have taken away her freedom. That wasn’t the life for her. No, she’d lived a full life, seeing the world for its possibilities and wanting to know everything she could about it. Most especially its history. The pages of Elspeth’s journals had really filled with joy shortly after the loss of her beloved brother and his wife. There was no other way to describe it. Their only child, a small daughter, came to be in Elspeth’s charge and it would be obvious to anyone who read her words how much she loved her niece. Carson believed that raising Emma Bonham was the biggest reason that Elspeth never went to Egypt herself on an expedition. Not until 1927, anyway. It was the year before that Elspeth had allowed her niece, a young woman by that time, to go on an expedition to Egypt with Alan Burns, a contemporary of the great

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

-7-

Howard Carter, and a celebrated scholar himself. Emma had accompanied him with a group of artists, writers and other Egyptologists, on a journey to Abydos. Things went horribly wrong. Alan Burns’ body had been discovered on the barge the group used on their journey which suggested that the man had died before the rest of the expedition met its fate. Corey Dunham, who Elspeth believed had some sort of relationship with Emma, had been found days later, wandering the desert. He’d been dehydrated, horribly burned by the sun and, from Elspeth’s cryptic journal entries about him, he’d apparently lost his mind. They’d brought him back to London but he’d died in an asylum only a year later, never able to communicate to anyone what had happened to him or his companions out in the desert. Then there was Emma Bonham, Elspeth’s niece. Emma was never seen again. A letter from her, including a golden locket, reached Elspeth weeks later, not long after the disturbing news of the disappearance of the group reached England. Carson had never been able to locate that letter. Boy, had she tried. She only had Elspeth’s account of it in her journal and it had been heartbreaking to read. The woman had never really recovered from Emma’s loss even though in the letter her niece had promised her aunt that she was safe and loved. But she also told Elspeth she’d never return. Emma Bonham kept that promise. Elspeth had been unwilling to accept her niece’s explanation and finally made her first journey to Egypt the next year. Sadly, not because she’d always wanted to go, but to look for the niece that she’d never find. With the monotonous beat of the loud, dance music in her ears, Carson fingered the locket around her neck. Emma Bonham’s locket. It had been left to Carson’s father who’d known Elspeth as a small boy. He’d told Carson many times of how he had loved to sit on Elspeth’s knee and listen to her stories. Her father had given the locket to Carson on her tenth birthday. She’d lost her mother that same year along with her interest in everything. The locket she now wore and the story of its origins gave Carson something to hang onto back then. She’d been

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

-8-

able to push her way through those dark days of life without her mother by reading journals, biographies and dusty history books. Everything she could get her hands on about Ancient Egypt, the country her distant relatives had seen firsthand. The land where Emma Bonham disappeared. Her fascination with Egypt prompted her to work part time at the local library at high school. When Carson went to college, she studied history, anthropology, and archaeology with relentless passion. As a grad student, she finally made her first trip to Egypt. She’d been back at least once a year for the last five years. Carson loved Egypt and its rich history. Enough to make it her life’s work. She’d worked hard to build an impressive academic resume and it was paying off. She had several offers of tenure track positions from all over the US and Europe at the moment. Once she returned from this trip, she’d pore over the offers, pick the place that seemed best for her and continue her scholarship. “Dr. Bonham?” Carson barely heard the female voice over the din of the smoky nightclub. She looked up at Alexis Peters, one of the first timers among the students. Worry clouded the younger woman’s pale face. “Carson,” she corrected her. Not into the title thing. “What’s wrong?” “I don’t feel well,” Alexis explained. “I think I had too much to drink.” The girl looked like she was ready to pass out and Carson was out of the booth in an instant, helping to steady her. “How many did you have?” Carson wanted to know. “Just two beers. Well, I didn’t finish the second one.” The girl was slurring her words as badly as Derek had been. “I don’t feel well.” “Let’s get you back to the hotel.” Carson hoped she could manage it anyway. The girl was in bad shape and Carson was suspicious. “You’ve had beer before, right?” “Sure.” Alexis’ eyes looked heavy. “Who were you hanging out with?”

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

-9-

The girl’s head bobbed like she was nodding off as they reached the doors to the club. Damn it to hell. She couldn’t carry the girl back by herself. She had to keep Alexis with her. Hell, she might need medical attention. Carson looked all around. There was no sign of Derek. Just the puddle of his puke on the sidewalk. “Alexis!” Carson’s voice was deliberately sharp. “Who were you with?” “Robin,” she muttered in a way that Carson could just barely understand. Okay, Robin was nice enough. “Anyone else?” Looking both ways as they stepped out into the street, Carson prayed they could make it to the other side without getting run over. The hotel was right there. “Yeah, Richie.” Son of a bitch! Derek’s best buddy. Had he drugged Alexis? By God, if Carson could prove it, there’d be hell to pay. “We’re almost across the street,” Carson told her, grateful that the only car that had come close to running them over hadn’t. Its driver swore at them in Egyptian and honked the horn. “Stay with me. I’ll have you safe in your room very soon.” And when Carson Bonham said something, she did it or died trying.

Chapter 2 Sopdet watched the two women making their way across the city street, the smaller woman leaning on the taller one. It was rare that mortals ever really caught his attention unless he needed to feed or wanted to fuck. That’s all they were to him, sustenance and entertainment. A way of fending off the unimaginable pain his curse inflicted on him if he didn’t feed on the blood of the living on a very regular basis. Not as often he took mortal women to slake his lust before he fed on them, trying to fill the empty hours of eternity. Neither had given him any fulfillment or pleasure for centuries. It was a bleak, endless experience. The curse placed upon him millennium ago dictated that he couldn’t die. Sopdet certainly couldn’t remember the last time any mortal had captured his interest. But the taller of those two women with her strange, tight fitting clothing and dark hair knotted high on her head interested Sopdet greatly. Sopdet had seen her earlier in the night, dragged out of the club young mortals frequented by a man. He’d seen it many times before. Women dragged out into the night to be raped, murdered. Sometimes, if he were bored enough, Sopdet would intervene and kill the man or men involved. Life was brutal, after all. It had shown no mercy to him. But then, something happened that Sopdet hadn’t expected. The woman had easily freed herself from the man and attacked him instead, bringing him to his knees in a most humiliating fashion and going back into the club without mussing a hair on her head. Oh, she had been magnificent. Sopdet had finished the man off after that, leaping from his perch atop the tall hotel to the street below to snatch him off the ground and returning faster than the

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 11 -

mortal eye could see. The man’s body, now quite lifeless and emptied of every drop of blood, lay at Sopdet’s feet on the roof of the building. Sopdet had been unable to resist finding out how strong the man was, how worthy an opponent he would have been for the woman. While the young mortal had been drunk, the way he fought for his life, his strength, had been admirable. It had only fueled Sopdet’s fascination with the woman who’d bested him. Sopdet admired strength. He came from a time of great warriors and great kings. Men in this modern day and age believed his king, Osiris, to be nothing more than a mythical figure that had never actually existed. They treated him with the same disrespect and disregard as they treated all of the gods he’d worshipped and looked to for guardianship and help thousands of years ago. Osiris had been quite real. As one of his Scorpion Warriors, Sopdet had paid the ultimate price for serving his king -- cursed by the traitorous Set to live for all eternity as a creature that survived on living blood. That was bad enough. But Set’s followers had been trying to bring their master back through dark magic since his defeat at the hands of Horus. They needed a human victim who could read the ancient stones and unleash the curse. After reading the incantation, the victim would be the sacrifice that would enable Set’s return to the world of men. Upon his return, he would hunt the seven cursed Scorpion Warriors who were guardians of Osiris’ secret tomb. Once they were all destroyed and the location of the tomb was known, Set would attempt to set loose the dark armies of the underworld on earth. Then, he would use those armies to take control and the world of men would be lost to darkness. So Sopdet was a dark warrior for the ultimate good. That’s what he always told himself. It was the job of the Scorpion Warriors to ensure that didn’t happen. But in truth, his was a pathetic, lonely existence. One that had him mindlessly watching human women on the roof of a hotel, when he should be serving his king in the underworld.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 12 -

When the woman disappeared into the hotel across the street with the other woman, Sopdet used his preternatural strength to easily leap across the street to the rooftop of the building she’d entered. Sopdet couldn’t help himself. He wanted to see her up close, to see what she’d do next. Like a shadow, Sopdet crawled down the side of the hotel until he spotted her in one of the windows, sitting on the edge of the bed where the other woman appeared to be sleeping now. Sopdet stayed there motionless, watching the flurry of activity over the next several moments while other people entered the room. An older man and woman entered the room and there was much discussion about the sleeping woman from what he could understand. It was one of the few times that he was grateful for trying to learn the English language over the last couple of centuries. Was the woman on the bed ill then? Apparently so because the older man and woman agreed that they would take the sleeping one to the hospital. The woman who’d caught Sopdet’s eye outside the club nodded and agreed to stay and make sure the others returned safely. For the next couple of hours he tried to follow her as she moved from room to room, doing just that. Then for a few moments, she vanished from his view. Continually moving across the wall until he found her again, Sopdet gazed into the window of the room where she was staying. There was no apparent evidence that anyone else was there. Reaching out with his senses, Sopdet studied her. She was a white woman. Normally he preferred the darker skinned women of his own land, but there was no denying her unusual beauty. He was happy when she finally took her hair down, admiring the silken locks as they fell around her shoulders, dark as the night sky. The features of her face were small and sharp, except for her eyes. Her eyes were remarkably large, amber in color. Beautiful eyes trimmed with black cosmetics. Very similar to the way the women had painted their eyes in his time. Long, long eyelashes made her eyes look bigger still. The woman was taller than he’d originally thought, willowy with small breasts and slim hips. Sopdet loved her long legs and slender, graceful arms. A light sheen of

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 13 -

perspiration made her fair skin sparkle in the dim light of the room as she sank into a chair and began pulling off her clothing. Sopdet wanted to slide his hands over that warm flesh as it was revealed to him. The creamy flesh of her thighs, the smooth supple skin covering her ribs, her chest. Her nipples were tiny points when she pulled the last of the garments over her head, perfectly proportioned to her small round breasts. Finally, she pulled off the colorful garment covering her loins. The womanly lips at the top of her thighs were smooth and hairless. His mouth began to water. Sopdet could smell her scent from the other side of the glass, could feel her heat. Desire such as Sopdet hadn’t known in an age stirred in him as she rose from the chair and stretched the length of her beautiful body, unknowingly tantalizing him. With the pride of a man, she walked to the window to stand unashamed, making no effort to hide her body. The window was open and the filmy white window dressings billowed around her creating a sensual image to ensnare all of his senses. What was she thinking about? Did she feel pride at defending herself earlier? Was she worried about the other woman? To him she was a female warrior in this modern day. Sopdet’s cock was hard and throbbing. It would have been so easy to enter her room and have her, but he denied himself this. He wanted to watch her for a little longer, to see if she were truly as interesting as he hoped she was. Sopdet wanted to battle his own desire until it demanded that he give in to it, and to her. However, he would have her. Sopdet already had his mind set on that. Her room was many, many feet from the ground below, so he knew she felt safe. And safe she was this night. From him anyway. Sopdet watched her, motionless, until she walked away from the window, turned out the light, walking away into the darkness. He smiled. Little did she know she’d caught the eye of an ageless devil.

Chapter 3 Carson took a drink of the warm hibiscus tea that one of the native assistants offered her in a small plastic cup, wishing she had some aspirin for her pounding head. She’d slept little the night before between worrying about Alexis and making sure the other young women returned safely. And it had sure been one hell of a day. Rubbing the back of her neck, she watched as most of the students headed back for the hotel in their vehicles. Only she and a few of the others had stayed behind to knock out some of the prep work she would have gotten done were it not for the fact that she’d had to step in as the group leader today. It was bad enough that she’d had to head the entire group without being prepared. And she’d managed, damn it. Carson had overseen the tour of the Mut Precinct at Karnak. She’d assigned supervisors for each square and had given an overview of the work to be done. Basically, this year they were there to explore the previous findings of Dr. Jill Andrews at the site and record everything with digital cameras. The head photographer had caught her eye immediately. Very cute, but gay. That figured. His two assistants reminded her of the Doublemint Twins and between them, they had the IQ of a stick of gum. Derek, jackass that he was, hadn’t even bothered to show up. Hell, maybe it was a good thing that Derek didn’t show up. She was really ready to kick his ass now. It was his fault, and the fault of his hung over buddy Richie, that Carson was in this situation. She just knew it. Jill Andrews, the professor in charge, had spent all night with Alexis in the hospital. Dr. Andrews was responsible for everyone on the trip and naturally, after such a night, she couldn’t spend the day on the site. She’d called Carson

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 15 -

from the hospital to tell her that she wanted to stay there until arrangements could be made to return Alexis home to the States. Alexis had indeed been drugged, just as Carson suspected. Richie had avoided Carson like the plague all day which was as good as an admission of guilt to her. Derek had certainly been on the prowl last night and was probably sleeping with his bruised balls in the wrong damn hotel back in the city. He sure hadn’t returned to their hotel last night. Carson had been ready to drag his ass out of his room this morning. “You should think about returning,” a strange voice broke into her thoughts. “The sun is setting. Nights can be deadly here.” Carson turned and then looked up. She was tall for a woman but the dark clad figure before her was even more so. From his dress, the long black robe and headdress he wore, she knew he was a native. A remarkably handsome, exotic native. His face was made up of hard, rugged features. It was saved from being too harsh by his sexy, dark eyes and full lower lip. Who the hell was he? This was the first time she’d laid eyes on him. Since she’d conducted the tours of the site herself, she should have seen every damn person at least once by now. “We’ll get back as soon as we’ve finished our work here,” Carson told him. “You are?” He sure wasn’t humble whoever the hell he was. He nodded his head toward her, but his eyes were a dark challenge as they moved over her face. “I am Sopdet.” Okay, no last name? That’s it? She’d never even heard that name before. And he had the strangest accent she’d ever heard. It was Egyptian, sure. But very different from any other native she’d ever spoken with. “Why are you here?” Carson wanted to know. “I represent Dr. Hassan,” he said simply. That was interesting. The Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities had sent someone to their site?

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 16 -

“Is there something wrong?” Because usually the council was only concerned about the stack of paperwork required for their visits. “Perhaps you have not heard that a group of tourists disappeared from Abydos recently.” Well, yeah, she’d heard that. The entire world had. Those poor people had been ripped to shreds. They’d found body parts in the sand. So, Dr. Hassan had sent someone out here to see to their safety? “I appreciate your concern.” Carson had to be diplomatic because she was representing Dr. Andrews. Besides, it was good experience for her since she hoped to lead her own research group one day. “And I appreciate the secretary’s concern. Thank you. But it would seem to me that tourists would be the targets of such attacks because they often travel with cash, credit cards, valuables. We have digital cameras, maybe some equipment they could put on the black market. That’s about it.” “Your work can be continued tomorrow. You must return now.” It wasn’t a request, or even friendly advice. It was a command. What the fuck? “Excuse me, but we have a lot to do to prepare for tomorrow. I’ve fallen behind and I need the time to catch up. I’m sure we’ll be fine. But thank you again, for checking on us.” “You refuse my request?” His request? The man’s expression was blank, but she sensed a lot of things going on behind that cool façade. What was his deal? Carson knew they needed the cooperation of the council to conduct their research there, but come on. Telling them, telling her, when they should leave was a bit much. She was the leader at the moment, damn it. “I mean no disrespect. But, yes, I am,” Carson told him flatly, setting her cup on the stone ruin before her and folding her arms across her chest. “We’re staying.” Sopdet’s dark eyes narrowed. “Then you are brave but foolish.” Foolish? Fuck him! “I beg your pardon?” Carson’s temper flared now. He could command and be an arrogant ass all he wanted, but he would not insult her. Carson

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 17 -

tolerated that from no one. “I’ve traveled here for five years in a row and the only danger I’ve really faced is sun poisoning. That’s it.” “I know these lands better than anyone in Egypt. You are in danger. Stay and die if you wish.” Now, you’d expect someone to turn and walk away after making a statement like that, but there he stood watching her. The man didn’t really seem to be concerned or trying to warn her in earnest. No, he was watching for her reaction. Arrogant ass. “If I believed we were in any real danger, I’d return to the hotel with my people immediately. Sopdet, was it? But I happen to know that there hasn’t been an academic group to meet harm in this country in eighty years.” Now who got a reaction? Her private reference to Emma Bonham’s ill fated expedition caused emotion to flash in the man’s dark eyes, but just as quickly, it was gone. What was up with that? Did he know that story? Was he as interested in that story as she was? Khairy, one of the native assistants charged with refreshments at the site, threw a worried look at Carson. “Maybe we should listen to him, Dr. Bonham.” The wind blew up a small plume of sand as if on cue. Carson would have considered it because they were wasting time arguing about it. Damn it. However, she refused to leave now on principle. “Carson,” she corrected Khairy out of habit. “Carson is your name?” Sopdet asked. “Yes,” Carson snapped impatiently. “We’re losing light. If you will excuse us…” No sooner had she said that than a low rumbling sound began, approaching from a distance. What was this? A bad horror movie? Well, hell. The rumbling grew very quickly, and the ground began to tremble. Khairy and the other native helper who’d stayed scrambled when an ancient fallen column began to roll slowly toward them, jarred loose by whatever was coming. The two men didn’t even stop at the vehicles. They just kept running.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 18 -

Sopdet’s eyes darted all around them before returning to Carson, blazing with anger. “They are nearly upon us. I should just leave you here.” Carson had way too much pride and she’d be the first to admit it, but she wasn’t stupid. “Go!” Carson yelled at him as she started running toward the van she’d brought to the site. “I’m not stopping you!” But something stopped her. Carson’s heart lurched when she realized that a dark horse and rider had just darted in front of her. A man on horseback? What the fuck? She’d almost reached the van when another rider nearly ran her over. Hell, it could have been the same one because she couldn’t see anything but black shrouded figures riding horses. A lot of them. Another ran along beside her and Carson ran with everything she had. The pounding of her heart was a strong staccato in her chest but drowned out by the sound of hooves hitting the ground. As terrified as she was, she realized she had no chance of outrunning the horse. She was going to get stomped. That wasn’t what the rider had in mind. Carson reached the van but before she could pull the door open, she was yanked into the air as if she weighed nothing. Searing pain flooded her scalp but Carson fought it, tried to disconnect it. If she gave into the pain, she’d be lost. It didn’t hurt, she could ignore it. Shit that hurts! Squirming and twisting in the grasp of her attacker, Carson watched the sand race by at an alarming speed beneath the horse’s enormous hooves while loud shrieks, unlike anything she’d ever heard, filled her ears. Shit! Definitely not good. Whoever had Carson easily evaded her attempts to grab at his hands as he threw her across the back of the horse. There wasn’t a damn thing she could do to save herself while she was face down on the horse. Carson immediately stopped struggling, waiting for a jolt or any jerky movements of the horse that she could use to free herself. She had to keep her cool, keep her head. Opportunity came sooner than she thought. The shrieking all around her reached an intolerable pitch, and Carson winced, covering her ears with her hands. All at once, a

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 19 -

blasting wave of sand and wind sent her hurtling forward with incredible force, totally freeing her of the horse and its rider. Sand stung her eyes, blurring her vision, and she hit the ground with a jarring thump. Carson felt like every bone in her body had broken. She found out quickly they weren’t when she saw the horse hover over her for an instant in the storm. Somehow, Carson rolled out of the way when the horse fell, hitting the sand like a small bomb. Carson realized the scream the wind carried and muted was her own. The fast moving air whistled and whipped around her and threatened to pick her up again as she watched Khairy sail past her high above. The other native had been captured by the storm and was moving in the same direction. Carson scrambled to find something to hold onto, but there was nothing but grains of sand that slipped through her fingers as she dug and clawed into them. This sucks! This sucks! Just when Carson thought the wind would pluck her out of the sand and send her flying again, it all came to an abrupt end. Unbelievable. Like “hitting the pause button with the remote control” abrupt. Only this wasn’t TV. This was pretty fucking real. Carson stayed where she was, sand scratching her eyes. Sand everywhere, as a matter of fact. She just focused on breathing. She was still breathing. Breathing was good. Someone was moaning behind her and that finally gave her the impetus to try and pick herself up. Looking around, she saw no sign of the riders, no sign of the horses. Huh? No way could that horse have just walked away after hitting the ground like that. No way! Well, there was no sign of the dark riders, but she heard her people. Carson had to find everyone. If she were really lucky, they’d all be alive. Every muscle in her body burned and ached when Carson pulled herself into a crouching position in the sand. “Son of a bitch!” Her entire body was one big ache. “You are injured.”

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 20 -

Carson recognized that deep, irritating voice. Furiously, she knocked the sand off the shirt she wore, using the bottom hem of it to wipe the sand out of her eyes so she could glare at him properly as he approached. “You think?” Carson frowned up at Sopdet. There he stood above her. His black robe had a dusting of sand at the hem. That was it. He didn’t appear to be windblown at all. How was that possible? Who were the riders? How could the sandstorm have arrived and departed that quickly? “What the hell just happened?” Carson demanded. Sopdet offered her a large hand and she used it to pull herself, shaking, to her feet. “If you had listened to me, perhaps you wouldn’t have experienced this.” Sopdet’s voice was low. How was it that his hand was cool, almost cold, in the desert? Carson pulled her hand free of his and planted it on her hip. “Exactly what was this?” Carson demanded. “Who were the men on horseback? Are they the ones who attacked the tourist group? What the hell is going on?” Sopdet grinned at her. Even though she’d gotten the hell knocked out of her, that smile worked on her insides. Damn, he was handsome. “I enjoy your spirit. I will explain later. I know you want to see to the others.” Of course she was going to see about the others. Damn him! She’d never met someone who’d so instinctively known how to piss her off with every word he said. “You are bleeding.” Sopdet’s eyes were riveted to her upper arm where her shirt was sliced open and blood seeped from a perfectly straight cut across her skin. Carson didn’t have the foggiest idea of when that even happened. It didn’t look bad. She felt only a mild sting. “It’s a scratch. That’s all.” But he couldn’t take his eyes from the wound. Maybe he had a problem with blood?

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 21 -

Hard to believe a man as rugged as he looked would be afraid of anything. But he must have been disturbed by something. He stared at her arm, mesmerized. The moans behind them grew louder. “Khairy?” Carson called. “I will help you with the others,” Sopdet told her. “Then you are leaving.” Carson blew a long strand of her hair out of her face, but she didn’t argue this time. She was grateful for the help, considering the shape she was in. The sky was darkening. Those men, whoever they were, could come back. She sure as hell didn’t want to be around if they did. And she was anxious to hear that explanation he’d promised her. Carson nodded and together they walked in the direction of Khairy’s voice while he muttered in Egyptian.

Chapter 4 “So everyone is accounted for?” Jill Andrews asked, concern clouding her face. “Is everyone okay?” Carson nodded. “Khairy took Cindy to the hospital. Looks like she may have broken her wrist. That seems to be the worst of the injuries.” Jill nodded toward Carson’s arm. “What about that?” Carson shook her head. That was one of her minor hurts. “What about the precinct?” Jill asked. “Things were blown around. The wind was so strong that one of the columns from the ruins actually started rolling. We’ve lost a couple of camera stands. That’s it. We were lucky.” Jill nodded, her brow knitting. “It was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen,” Carson explained. “Being attacked by those riders. The sandstorm at the exact same time. Then all of a sudden the wind stopped and those men and their horses were gone. Just gone.” “It’s almost too incredible to believe, Carson,” Jill finally said. “But there were five of you there and you all saw it, so…” “Six,” Carson corrected. “There was someone from Dr. Hassan’s office there right before all hell broke loose. He wanted us to leave.” “Dr. Hassan’s office?” Jill shook her head incredulously. “Since when --” “I thought the same thing,” Carson admitted. “Because they never interfere with our work. It was quite a coincidence that he showed up to ask us to leave right before those men showed up. It was weird, but he helped me to secure the precinct, get everyone to the vehicles. Strange, but I think he meant well.”

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 23 -

“What a year.” Jill ran her hands over her face. The woman looked tired. “One of my students was drugged in a nightclub, probably by another student who is missing.” “No word from Derek?” Carson asked, a little concerned about his absence since she was probably the last one to see him. “None. I thought he’d show up with a hangover at some point today but no one has seen him. I’ll go to the authorities in the morning.” Carson nodded. Shit! Had something happened to him? She didn’t think she’d hurt him so badly that he couldn’t make it back to the hotel. “Now, Cindy has a broken wrist,” Jill continued, “because our group was attacked and at the site no less. We’re lucky that was the only major injury.” Carson knew where she was going with this. The year was fucked. “We have to send the students home, Carson. We can’t take a chance on someone getting killed. There was enough of a panic about this trip when those tourists were slaughtered.” Carson’s heart sank at the prospect of having to leave when they’d only just arrived. “I agree,” Carson admitted. She glanced at the clock. Nearly midnight now. She needed to get to her room. “Want me to start the arrangements?” “No, I’ll ask Meg to handle them. I want you to return with me to Karnak tomorrow. We’ll hire some security guards to take with us, so don’t worry. We’ll spend a few hours there anyway, photographing what we can. Then we’ll secure the site and call it a year. We’d barely gotten started so it shouldn’t take much.” Carson wasn’t sure what good security guards would do against what they had faced today. But she nodded and rose from the chair across from Jill. They had to at least close down the site. “How’s Alexis?” Jill nodded. “She’s fine. Thank God. I’m glad you were there to get her out of there, Carson.” “Yeah. Me, too. Night, Jill.”

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 24 -

Jill rose and gave Carson a hug. The older woman’s head just reached her shoulder. “Get some rest,” Jill whispered. And that was just what she meant to do. Carson left Jill’s room and headed for the elevator at the end of the hall. She punched the button for her floor and gasped at the soreness in her body when the elevator hitched slightly in its ascent. Damn, she dreaded tomorrow morning. She was going to be sore as hell. When the door opened and she stepped out into the hallway on her own floor, she idly wondered what happened to Sopdet. He’d said only that he would talk to her later when she left Karnak with the others. Okay, so what did later mean? She really wanted to find out what he knew of the attack, the storm. Ah, hell. If she were truly honest with herself, Carson knew that she just wanted to look at him again. The man had been tall, darkly handsome and he had strength that you didn’t just find everyday in a guy. She couldn’t imagine him taking off for a golfing weekend with the guys because he was “burned out” at the office. Carson didn’t want a well-to-do, paper-pushing CEO or a self-absorbed academic who would argue with her about who had better grants. She wanted a real guy. Someone she could spar with and who wouldn’t spend every spare moment watching the TV or a computer screen while his gut grew larger. She wanted someone who wouldn’t take her shit. Most of all, Carson wanted someone who could just fuck the shit out of her on a fairly regular basis. Sopdet just seemed like that kind of guy. Which probably meant he was a complete asshole. Carson sighed as she slid the hotel card into the reader on her door. She was tired, battered. At the moment, she wanted a nice hot bath and a good night’s sleep. But it wasn’t meant to be. Sopdet’s voice was a deep rumble behind her, making her jump like a scared rabbit. “I’ve been waiting for you, Carson.”

Chapter 5 “You scared the shit out of me!” Carson spun around to stare at him. Sopdet had not been standing there two seconds ago. And her room was in the middle of the hallway. There was no way that he just materialized like that. Not without her seeing a shadow or hearing his approach. “You have not tended to your arm.” At least he wasn’t staring at her arm like he was earlier. This time, he just nodded to the wound that she’d given little thought to since leaving Karnak. “It’s okay.” Carson used the card to unlock the door again, this time pulling it open. “You want to come in and tell me what you know?” When Sopdet didn’t say anything, Carson glanced over her shoulder at him. He stood there unmoving, but his expression was one of amusement. “What?” “You are inviting me in?” He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Do you often invite men you are unfamiliar with into your sleeping chambers?” “I’m inviting you in to talk,” Carson wanted him to understand. “Nothing more. It’s none of your business who I do what with in the first place. And in the second place, if you try anything, I’ll kick your ass.” “I will keep that in mind.” Arrogant man. He looked even more amused now and he made no attempt whatsoever to hide it. So he doubted that she could do anything to him being a woman and all. Carson got that a lot and usually, she got that from men she could bring down easily if she had to.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 26 -

This man wouldn’t be an easy conquest for Carson in physical combat and she knew it. He’d probably be one hell of a conquest in bed. The lines of his long, hard body couldn’t be concealed by the shapeless black robe he wore. His eyes were hypnotic, dark and exotic, as they searched her face. There was wisdom behind those eyes, incredible confidence. Most men she met were arrogant and the difference was huge. Arrogance she avoided. Confidence turned her on. Carson was playing with fire inviting him into her room and she knew it. Sopdet might just be able to dominate her in every way. Aside from the brainless jocks that used to hit on her when she was an undergrad, he was the only man Carson had ever encountered who she knew instinctively posed a threat to her, even with her training and skills. The thought gave Carson a rare feeling of vulnerability. It excited her just as much, sending currents of electricity running through her body as she snapped on the light and led him into her room. Taking a seat in one of the chairs by the window, she looked up expectantly to see him. There was no sign of Sopdet. Where the hell was he? Carson’s heart thumped in her chest when he darted out of the bathroom, pulling his headdress off to reveal a perfectly smooth, hairless head. Normally she didn’t care for a man with his head shaved, but for him? Oh yeah, it worked. Still, how could he move like that? Sopdet was apparently very fast, very light on his feet. Or, hell, maybe she was just so tired that it seemed that way. That had to be it. No one moved that fast. Kneeling by the side of her chair, he produced a white washcloth from beneath the long sleeve of his robe. His hand moved slowly as it reached for her torn sleeve. When he ripped it completely off her shirt a second later, Carson jumped. Her heart pounded in her chest as he gently pressed the washcloth he’d wet with very warm water to the cut on her upper arm. “Relax.” The wound stung a little as Sopdet gently cleaned it. “You are not afraid of me, are you?”

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 27 -

Well, yeah, a little. She’d had to deal with fast men before but they had nothing on this guy. Get a grip, Carson. “Of course not,” Carson answered. “I just didn’t expect you to ruin my shirt. That’s all.” “Was it not ruined already?” Sopdet countered. Okay, she needed to avoid a pissing match with this guy. Carson wanted to find out what he knew about the events earlier in Karnak. She was going back there with Jill tomorrow, after all. And she’d like to return in one piece. “So, you promised me an explanation,” Carson reminded him. “What the hell happened today? Who were those men?” Sopdet’s hands were so gentle and warm on her arm as he cleaned up her wound and examined it. Slowly, the tension in Carson’s body began to fade. “First, I must ask you something, Carson.” Sopdet released her arm then, his hands falling away. His dark eyes were intent on hers. “Do you believe there are dimensions to this world beyond what you are familiar with and understand?” That was quite an opening. What was that supposed to mean? Carson shook her head. “Sorry?” “Do you believe in things that your eyes cannot see? That you cannot account for?” Carson’s mind was spinning. “Such as?” Sopdet’s sigh was patient, filling the room. “You are a scholar. You’ve studied monuments and tombs in these lands for years. You’ve encountered the curses in the writings on those walls. Did you believe in those curses when you discovered them?” Okay, now he was starting to weird her out. “Absolutely not,” Carson said. “I am a scholar, as you pointed out. I don’t believe in curses and old wives’ tales. I believe in what I experience with my senses. What I can see, hear, taste, smell and touch. That’s it.”

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 28 -

Sopdet grinned then. That smile was positively sinful and it had Carson’s thighs clenching together with a will of their own. “So if you were presented with something you could see and touch, you would believe in curses and legends of old?” “I’d consider it.” Carson’s reply was cautious. Sopdet nodded, his expression growing serious. “You are no doubt familiar with the tale of the great king Osiris and his murder at the hands of the despicable Set.” Carson nodded. “Of course. There are probably a couple hundred versions of it, but yes, I’m very familiar with that particular legend.” “Legend,” Sopdet scoffed. “There could be as many versions of the tale as there are stars in the night sky but there is only one true story.” And he knew it? This she had to hear. “Okay,” Carson prompted him. “Set murdered his brother at a great celebration. He tricked Osiris into climbing into a sarcophagus, then trapped him in it and had him thrown into the Nile to drown. Isis, his queen, searched endlessly for her husband’s body, aided by seven Scorpion Warriors who had been the royal couple’s private council.” Seven Scorpion Warriors? Something about that sounded vaguely familiar. “Set also searched for the body because he knew that Isis possessed great magic and he feared what she might do. He followed her. He caught up with the queen and stole the king’s body in the night while she still grieved. He dismembered the body and scattered the pieces throughout the land in the hopes that they would never be discovered.” Carson snorted. “One very important part they didn’t discover, huh?” Most versions of the tale agreed that an alligator had eaten the penis of Osiris. “Set didn’t want any parts of the body found because he feared the queen and her powers. He was correct to think that way because with the help of the Scorpion Warriors, she found the pieces of her husband’s body and through the gods’ magic, conceived a son in her womb.” “Right, Horus.” Sopdet nodded.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 29 -

“And Horus defeated Set. Osiris became the god of the underworld.” Carson shook her head. “This is all very interesting, but what does it have to do with those men who attacked our site?” “Patience, Carson.” “It’s late,” Carson explained. “I’m tired and we’re heading back there tomorrow to close everything down for the year. I don’t mean to rush you, but I don’t have a lot of time to rest.” “But I have all the time in the world.” That smile was back again and it forced a chill of apprehension down her spine. “So…” “You know the tale of Osiris, the great king. But the story is not just about him. It is also the tale of the Scorpion Warriors who served Osiris and his queen in life. A tragic tale, for their fate was worse than that of their king.” “I know I’ve read something about them somewhere,” Carson told him. “I can’t remember where now.” “There are few who ever knew of their existence, Carson.” Sopdet’s gaze moved to the window behind her and back. It seemed what he was about to tell her was difficult for him. “There are fewer still who know that before Horus grew to be a man, Set hunted down all seven Scorpion Warriors. Set knew that they had helped Isis place her husband, their king, in an unknown tomb. He also knew that they were the only ones other than the queen who knew the location. He hunted each of the warriors down and when each refused to tell him of the location of the tomb, he cursed them. Terrible curses that would never end.” “But how --” “Set doomed each of them to endless life as pitiful creatures, unable to die until he fulfilled his dark plan.” Carson tried to follow what he was saying, but she was tired. She wanted to know how the hell that related even remotely to the attack in Karnak. That was all. “What plan?” Carson asked.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 30 -

“His plan to take over the world,” Sopdet explained. “How did he think he was going to do that?” Carson played along. “Horus defeated him.” “Horus defeated him, yes, but Set never truly defeated Osiris and that was all that mattered to him. Osiris became god of the underworld, exalted. Set’s fury consumed him. He spat out a terrible curse while he was dying, the words carved into the stone with his bloody hands and written in a language only a few understood.” Sopdet’s eyes were wild now. Carson sank back into her chair just a little. “Whoever reads that stone will unleash his curse. The curse that would see him brought back to the land of the living. Once he was resurrected, and infinitely more powerful, he and his followers would hunt down the Scorpion Warriors, learn the location of Osiris’ tomb from them, and finally destroy them.” Okay, now Carson was curious. She’d never heard this part before. “What would happen when Set finally found the tomb of Osiris? He’d already chopped him up.” “If Set were resurrected and learned the location of the tomb, he would call forth the spirit of Osiris and overtake him with his dark magic. Then, he would have control of the armies of the underworld and he would use them to take over the world.” It sounded like the plot for an X-Box game. Jesus. “Those men who attacked your site, Carson, are Set’s minions. Throughout the ages they have sought a human who can read that stone and bring their master back, to resurrect him. That is why they attacked the tourists. That is why they attacked your group. They would be much more interested in scholars than tourists.” Carson was on her feet in a hot second, wincing from the soreness. Was the man crazy? He obviously believed very strongly what he’d just told her. Osiris, Set, Isis? They had all been mythical figures in Egyptian lore. There’d never been any proof unearthed to prove that they’d actually existed. “That’s enough.” Carson took a deep breath, trying to prepare her body quickly for anything. “Who the hell are you? You’re not from Dr. Hassan’s office, are you?”

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 31 -

“I am Sopdet.” In the blink of an eye he also stood, gazing down at her. Too calmly. “And it matters little where I came from. I am here now.” Carson took a step back, but he stalked her. “What do you want? Why are you here?” Carson’s heart pounded furiously in her chest. “Do you think you are one of Set’s minions? Do you think I’m the one to resurrect the bastard?” Anger darkened his features at the accusation. His hand moved toward her and it was all Carson needed to see. Springing into action, she blocked the motion of his arm toward her and swung her leg up in an attempt to knock him down. Carson’s leg, along with her entire body, froze. A force she couldn’t see, couldn’t fight, lifted her from the ground and hurled her through the air to land on the bed in the center of the room. Shock had Carson scrambling on the bed the minute whatever the hell it was let her go. She watched Sopdet in growing fear and amazement as he approached her. “I do not know if you are the person they seek.” His voice was calm. “But you are the person I seek.” Carson crouched on the bed, rocking on her heels ready for… hell, she didn’t know what she was ready for. Defending herself, she understood. What had just happened -- Christ, she’d just been flying through the air. It scared the hell out of her. “Did you do that?” Carson asked with fear.

“Yes.”

“And who are you supposed to be in this fantasy?” Carson demanded.

“It is no fantasy, Carson. It is quite real.” Sopdet took a seat on the edge of the

bed as if they were having a casual conversation. “But I am no servant to Set. I am one of the Scorpion Warriors Set wants to come to destroy.” Shit! He really was crazy. “I am not crazy, as you put it,” Sopdet countered her thought. Oh, my God. Could he read her mind? “Yes, I can.” Carson’s heart slammed in her chest.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 32 -

“And I am telling you the truth. I am one of the great king’s warriors. I’ve walked these lands for thousands of years, unable to be with my king in the underworld.” What he was saying wasn’t possible? Was it? “How can that be?” “Set cursed me, as I explained. I cannot die.” “Why are you here?” Carson whispered. “What does any of this have to do with me?” Sopdet moved closer to her on the bed. “Because in all of the thousands of years I’ve suffered, I’ve never once encountered a woman like you, a woman with such fire and spirit,” he explained, his dark eyes smoldering. “And I mean to have you.” Fear and excitement blended, making adrenaline shoot crazily through her body. “You can try, but you’ll have one hell of a fight on your hands,” Carson warned him in a voice that sounded quite a bit less confident than it normally did. “I do not want to fight with you, Carson. I do not want to hurt you. I only want to experience you.” Carson swallowed hard. She understood that clearly enough. He wanted to fuck her. “You would take me against my will?” she asked. Sopdet smiled at her. That confident, gorgeous smile, that even now with her mind and senses in chaos, made her respond as a woman. “How would it be against your will when you have been wondering what I would be like as your lover since we met?”

Chapter 6 Carson stared at him with her mouth gaping. Well, how could she deny that? Hadn’t she been thinking about what sort of lover he’d be? Admiring his exotic eyes, the hard length of his body? Wondering if he was the sort of man who could fuck the shit out of her? Yes, but Carson hadn’t known he could read her mind. Damn it to hell! It was an unfair advantage. It messed everything up. Wasn’t she at least entitled to a first date? A dinner? Something? “Ah, but I don’t view things the same way you do, Carson.” Carson jumped at the feeling of his touch high on her thigh. Closing her eyes, she had to admit that she enjoyed his touch. The way he touched her sent flames of pure desire coursing through her body. Moisture gathered between her legs where a delicate ache had started. Yeah, she guessed, he didn’t view things the way she did. Because if he really was what he said… Carson’s eyes snapped open. She could still feel his hand on her. But his hands were unmoving on his own lap. Oh my God… How was he able to do that? Touch her without touching her? With his mind? “I’m damned,” Sopdet answered. “Stop doing that,” Carson hissed at him. “You have no right to my thoughts.” “I cannot stop myself from hearing them.” His touch moved up to her pussy now. It felt as if he were cupping her through her jeans. “I cannot stop myself from wanting you.” Carson just knew that however he was touching her, she didn’t want him to stop.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 34 -

How crazy was that? She didn’t know this man. Hell, he’d just told her that he was thousands of years old and had actually known Osiris, Set and Isis. And she was going to just have sex with him? “Carson, when two people desire each other, why should they not act on it?” His voice was a low rumble. “Oh, I don’t know. Risk of pregnancy?” Carson reverted back to sarcasm, something familiar to keep herself from panicking. “Sexually transmitted diseases? Moral standards? Take your pick.” “No human disease can affect me,” Sopdet explained. “Nor can I produce offspring. And moral standards? What does your society’s idea of right and wrong mean to someone like me?” “They mean something to me,” Carson shot back. “This isn’t all about you. It has to do with me, my body, my feelings. And I’m feeling pretty freaked out right now.” “Then let us see if we can calm your mind.” Sopdet leaned down to press his lips to hers in a gentle kiss, soft and nice. His hands sank into her hair, gently cradling her, deepening the kiss. Carson squirmed against the invisible fingers teasing her lower body while Sopdet’s tongue slid into her mouth to taste her, to smash her sanity. God, he knew how to kiss. The taste of him was like nothing she’d ever experienced before. He tasted manly and sweet, manna to her senses after not dating or having sex for the last eighteen months. He was like an oasis in a scorching, endless desert. Carson welcomed his kiss, enjoyed his play on her cunt. With a mind of their own, Carson’s hands slid up his forearms inside the sleeves of his robe. Sopdet’s deep moan sent a bolt of lust straight through her, down to her pussy, making her gasp. When her hands slid a little further up, he stopped her without even moving. While she was helpless to prevent it, her hands were pulled away from him, her arms spread wide on the bed. With his unseen power, he pinned her wrists to the bed. Carson couldn’t lift them.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 35 -

Her heart began to race. Being truly helpless was a rare feeling for Carson, and not a comfortable one. Now she understood with perfect clarity that he could harm her, kill her. And there wasn’t a thing she could do about it. “I will not hurt you,” Sopdet whispered against her lips. “But I have to be careful. Compared to me you are incredibly fragile, Carson. I could easily tear you apart. That is why you must trust me. Surrender to me.” His lips burned a path across her cheek to the shell of her ear. Carson cried out at the tiny sting at her earlobe as he took it between his lips. At the same moment, the motion of the fingers she couldn’t see, relentlessly teasing her pussy, increased. It was making her crazy in the most erotic of ways. “Did you just bite me?” Carson asked. Now his tongue soothed her lobe, his lips sucking at it. After a long moment he lifted his head to smile down at her. His eyes were deep pools of obsidian, glittering beautifully. “Only a little.” Lifting one hand to the tank top beneath what was left of her shirt, he pulled it down and ripped it open as if it were no more than tissue paper. His power was incredible. With the crook of his index finger, he laid open her bra and then began tracing a lazy circle around one of the stiff points that was revealed to him now. “Beautiful,” Sopdet murmured. Carson’s nipple beaded hard under that light touch and she whimpered, wanting him to grab her, lick her. She wanted him to do more, for crying out loud. Her pussy was wet and on fire from the stimulation it received and he seemed to be in no particular hurry as he stared down at her. Played with her. Carson moaned aloud when he lowered his head to her breast and his mouth closed around the aching bud at its center. His tongue flicked slowly back and forth against her nipple and she pushed herself up, wanting more, needing more. When the sensation of another mouth on her other breast broke through the erotic fog she was lost in, Carson almost came. There was nothing touching that breast

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 36 -

that she could see when she looked. But the feeling of a man’s lips and tongue were there, teasing and nipping at her. Unlike Sopdet, who leisurely licked at her nipple on the one side, this mouth sucked her in with urgency, the tongue flicking against her stiff and fast. It was all Sopdet, she realized. He was beyond Carson’s experience, demanding her surrender to the most carnal sensations she’d ever imagined. Carson felt as if she couldn’t take more, that she’d die from the pleasure. It was going to be the fuck of her life. Sopdet lifted his head and she cried out in protest. Carson watched him climb off the bed, the touch between her legs and at the one breast remaining. In awe she watched as he pulled the black robe off to reveal a body better than anything she could have envisioned. Sopdet was a beautiful man, his body long and sleek, his limbs strong and heavily muscled. The man’s shoulders seemed even wider now that he was nude. Then Carson’s eyes darted to his cock. Oh, hell yeah. It stood proud and tall against his belly, the shaft wide and heavily veined. Carson wanted that. She wanted him inside her right now. “It is not so easy,” he told her as he climbed back on the bed and made easy work of ripping off her jeans and panties. “I want you desperate for me, Carson. I want you to desire me more than anyone or anything else you’ve ever known.” She didn’t feel that way now? It was incredible, she knew. After all that he’d told her, here she was spread beneath him on the bed. He was a man who claimed to be thousands of years old. He could do incredible things like touching her and holding her down without actually doing it. Crazy as it sounded, that only fueled her lust more. Carson was squirming wantonly for him, wanting him to take her in ways she had only dreamed of. Once Sopdet had removed the last of her clothing, the touch between her thighs halted. His eyes darted to the shaved mound of her pussy and she knew what he meant to do. Carson spread her legs wide, she couldn’t stop herself. Sopdet growled low in his chest as he dove for her with his mouth.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 37 -

Carson knew later she’d have to try to make sense of this entire event, but that was later. Right now his mouth was buried in the aching wet folds of her cunt, his long tongue curling around her clit. Carson pushed herself up to his mouth, a wanton disciple to pleasure now. More than anything she wanted him to tongue her clit, to push her over the edge finally. Carson yanked furiously at her wrists, wanting to touch him and wanting to see if she could feel anything around the breast that was still being suckled by an eager invisible mouth. “What is it, Carson?” Sopdet asked against her pussy lips, sucking one into his mouth. “What do you want?” “More,” Carson panted. Lick me. Fuck me. Now, please. Sopdet’s chuckle had an evil quality to it that made her want to kick him. No sooner had the thought entered her mind than her legs were pulled further apart and held. Her knees were bent; her feet felt glued to the cool, green comforter. “Be careful what you wish for,” Sopdet whispered. When his mouth burrowed in her cunt this time, Carson got everything she could ever want. His tongue darted straight for her clit, and he destroyed her senses with quick flicks against it. Carson could still move her hips, and they shot off the bed so she could push herself against his mouth. Carson wanted more of his mouth and tongue, and he gave it to her. His tongue slid down to her opening and began spearing into her, the thrusts quick and deep. The climax that took her was more powerful than the sandstorm that had swept her away in Karnak. Carson cried out at the incredible flood of heat and pleasure that ripped through her body, making her feel as though she would explode into a million grains of sand. Sopdet rose above her on the bed and Carson’s heart raced in excitement when she saw the swollen head of his cock disappear between her thighs. The feel of him pressing against her slick flesh pulled a low moan from her. Carson craved him, needed him inside her. “Do you want me, Carson?”

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 38 -

Was he kidding? “Yes!” “You accept me?” “Please,” Carson begged. Later. Later she’d deal with what he told her. She had to have him now. The sensations at her breast ceased at the same time the invisible bonds that held her wrists and legs let her go. Carson gasped as he pushed into her, burning and stretching her as the wide shaft of his cock pushed into her pussy. Carson wrapped her arms around him, uncertain that he would allow it. But he did and she savored the feeling of him in her arms as he sank into her to the hilt. His body was so hard, so unyielding. Sopdet’s muscles were tight with restrained power. Sopdet began a delicious rhythm in her body, pulling almost completely out of her, then pushing back in, hard. The walls of her cunt clenched around him, seeking to hold him inside her, but her mysterious lover wouldn’t allow it. His firm, sensual strokes within her were relentless and in no time, he’d pushed her back to the edge of mindless pleasure. Carson fought the orgasm with everything that she had even as she sought to heighten the unbelievable ecstasy that had claimed her. Wrapping her legs around his waist, Carson moved with him. She bucked beneath him, ground her clit against him with each stroke. Carson mindlessly enjoyed the slap of his balls against her sensitive flesh, the smell of sex that floated all about them. Sopdet brushed her lips with a kiss and Carson stretched up, wanting his mouth on hers. Their tongues dueled while his cock pushed into her harder, faster. He took her cries into his mouth when she couldn’t fight it any more. Carson clung to him as the orgasm shook her, unable to do anything as he speared into her harder, never stopping. Her pussy clenched again and again until she was trembling beneath him. Sopdet’s body was taut above her, his muscles hard as stone now and her hands slid on skin that was slick from his perspiration. The strength of his thrusts grew

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 39 -

stronger, nearly painful, and she knew he was reaching his own release. Carson surrendered to him, gasping when his arms closed around her like a steel vice. When Sopdet came, he growled fiercely, driving on above her while the room began to spin. Everything grew dark as the incredible pleasure that drugged her body began to slow and fade. All of a sudden it was dark and easier to breathe. “You have experienced me with all of your senses now, Carson. Do you believe?” Sopdet’s voice reached her in the dark. “I don’t know.” It was hard to think just now. She was aware that the incredible soreness had returned to her body and she was so damned tired. “Do not return to Karnak tomorrow, Carson.” What had he just said? “Go to your home and never return.” But they had to close down the site. Didn’t they? Deep in her heart, Carson was afraid of returning. “Sleep now, Carson,” he whispered in the blackness. And she did.

*** Sopdet stayed in Carson’s room for a long time, watching her sleep. What was it about this woman that captivated him? He admired her beauty, her spirit. Her courage and pride made her an irresistible challenge for Sopdet. He had tasted her, savored her body. Loving Carson brought back sharp memories of the days when he’d been human and making love had been one of his favorite activities. Back then, he hadn’t held anything back because of the preternatural strength he was cursed with now. Or been concerned for anything aside from the woman’s pleasure. And bringing the woman to pleasure had always been something he knew how to do well. He’d even learned ways to use his curse to

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 40 -

pleasure a woman. It had worked well with Carson. She liked being restrained. He’d guessed that from the start. Sopdet had taken this woman in bed and normally that would be enough for him. But if that were true, he wouldn’t still be in the room with her, would he? Normally he would even feed on the woman and slake the intolerable lust for blood he battled every day of his endless existence. Since he’d partially revealed to Carson what he was, that should be especially true now, shouldn’t it? It had been perverse to do it, but he’d wanted to tell her, wanted to see how she’d react. And by the gods, she had lived up to any expectation he ever could have had. No shrieking or cowering in fear, not her. She’d stared him down and faced her fate. Carson might have felt repulsion or hatred for him once she knew what he was, but it was all overpowered by the most incredible passion and desire Sopdet had ever experienced in a woman. Could he feed on her and end her life? Never. Sopdet admired her too much to harm her. Oddly, he couldn’t bring himself to return into the night either, his conquest complete. Sopdet found he wanted more of her. In the darkness of the room where the only sound was the quiet hitch and release of her mortal breath, he even thought about waking her, making love to her again. Carson stirred feelings in him that he hadn’t felt in ages. How long had it been since he’d felt real desire? She’d made him crave her, want more of her. Deep in his black heart, he even felt selfish enough to wonder what sort of companion she would make for him. The temptation to condemn her to the life of a vampire was there, though he hadn’t succumbed to it in many centuries. But if he were truthful with himself, Sopdet knew it was something he could never do. He couldn’t condemn Carson just because he wanted her. Carson was intelligent, she was beautiful. She was filled with a fire and passion that he could never tire of. But her mortality separated them and Sopdet would not deprive her of that. No matter how much he wanted to. Not her.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 41 -

They wouldn’t meet again and he’d wanted to spend as much time as he could with her. Many hours passed before Sopdet rose from the chair. Sopdet approached the bed as the early rays of the sun filtered into the room. Gently he brushed her cheek with a kiss. Her flesh was so warm, soft. Sopdet, in that moment, would have given anything to curl around her in her warm bed, take her again as a lover. It wasn’t meant to be. Sopdet turned back to the window of the room, the weak, morning light washing over him. How many centuries had it been since the sun’s rays could harm him? He could spend an entire day walking in the desert with no covering and his skin would only show the slightest color from it afterwards. Sopdet was so old he wondered if anything in the world could harm him. Something glittered up at him from the rug at his feet and Sopdet bent to pick it up. A golden necklace with a heart shaped pendant. It was Carson’s. He knew she’d been wearing it earlier, though when it had come unclasped, he couldn’t say. At first he thought it was broken, but on closer inspection, he saw that the pendant opened up to reveal a small image inside. The image of a woman with an all too familiar face. Emma. Kahma’s mate. Carson had referenced Emma’s ill-fated journey out into the desert when they’d first spoken at Karnak. That had to have been what she meant. It could have been yesterday for Sopdet, but in her reality the event had taken place many years ago. Was she a descendant of Emma’s? Gently placing the necklace on the table by her bed, Sopdet tried to turn off his thoughts about Carson. He had to. Walking to the window of her room and opening it, the window where he’d watched her only the night before, he took on the form of the falcon and flew out of Carson’s life.

Chapter 7 “Carson? Are you okay?” Carson looked up into Jill’s face. Concern clouded her friend’s features. God only knew how long Jill had been standing there while Carson stood, drowning in her thoughts and fears. “I’m fine. Just tired,” Carson finally said. Jill didn’t look convinced. “We’ve only got a couple more hours of light. Let’s leave within the hour, okay?” Carson nodded. The sooner the better. For the first time since she was ten, Carson felt completely lost and scared. She’d spent years looking for a direction for her life, finding it in Egypt and its rich history. As a scholar, Carson could hold her own with many. She was also selfeducated in independence and common sense. Hadn’t she always prided herself on being able to deal with any situation, being able to defend and take care of herself? In the last two days, Carson had watched her well ordered world come apart. Pride had brought her to this, she realized. In her pride, she’d left Derek on the sidewalk in Cairo. Now, he was missing. Pride kept her from heeding the advice that she should leave the site where she now fearfully stood. If she’d left, maybe they wouldn’t have been attacked and Cindy’s wrist wouldn’t be broken. Maybe they wouldn’t have had to pack up for the year. And Sopdet… Oh, God. Carson had finally met a man she could fall for. Sopdet was everything a woman could want. He was handsome, very dangerous. As a lover, he truly could do things that no other man could do.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 43 -

That was the fucking problem. He wasn’t an ordinary man. Hell, Carson wasn’t sure what he was exactly. Sopdet claimed to be damned, thousands of years old. Cursed by Set himself. Sopdet had unexplainable powers, making her wonder if there was some truth to the incredible story he’d told her. She was afraid to even think about how much of his story could be true. Even then, Carson had given herself to him. It was the best sex she’d ever had and when she woke up this morning, she’d found him gone. On the one hand, it saved her from a really weird morning after talk, but mostly, she’d wished he was there beside her. She’d been alone. There’d been strange red smudges on her body, on the sheets. Had it been blood? It hadn’t come from her. Her body was incredibly sore between the attack at Karnak and his loving, but the wound at her arm was clean. She had no other injuries that had bled. And then, she remembered what he said to her before she drifted off into sleep. Do not return to Karnak tomorrow, Carson. In Karnak she was. When Jill came to get her, she didn’t mention the apprehension that had been gnawing at her since she awoke. She didn’t mention Sopdet. She just went with Jill, the security guards, and Khairy. That Jill decided to bring Alexis along surprised Carson, making the eerie sense of foreboding she felt grow on their way out to the site. Jill wanted Alexis to see a particular set of hieroglyphics she’d found last year. As it turned out, Alexis wanted to specialize in that area. They had the guards, they’d be all right Jill said. Yeah, right. Carson wanted to go. Her eyes had been scanning the horizon the entire time, watching for the attackers’ return. Her heart raced, uneasiness made its home in the pit of her stomach.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 44 -

She jumped when Jill’s cell phone starting playing an electronic version of “Ode to Joy.” Alexis, who’d just started helping Carson with the equipment, stopped what she was doing at Jill’s sharp gasp. “Oh, my God.” Jill’s expression turned serious and filled with shock. “Thank you for letting me know. We’ll return immediately.” Carson didn’t miss a beat when Jill snapped the phone shut. “What?” Jill walked briskly to Carson, pulling her away from Alexis. Her voice was a whisper. “They found Derek. He’s dead.” Carson’s heart began to slam in her chest. “What happened?” Carson wanted to know. “They don’t know.” Jill’s voice shook. “We won’t know until the autopsy is performed.” Carson’s blood ran cold. Was she responsible for Derek’s death? She hadn’t meant to hurt him really, just warn him away. Carson’s mind spun. She wanted to return now. She needed to know what happened to Derek. Aside from that, every moment she spent in Karnak pushed her blood pressure higher, making her anxiety rise. She couldn’t fight off the feeling that they shouldn’t have returned at all. So what if they hadn’t closed down the site? Was it worth someone’s life? What if the riders returned? “Let’s get everything done quickly --” “Let’s just go,” Carson cut Jill off. “Let’s just go now. This place has been here for thousands of years, Jill. It’s not going anywhere. Please.” “Carson, it’s okay.” Jill patted her arm though her own expression remained worried. “We’ll just secure --” “No, Jill. Let’s get to the van and --” The trembling sand and pounding of hooves speared into Carson’s awareness a split second before Alexis’ scream ripped through the air. It was too late. Too late.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 45 -

The riders were upon them and Carson watched in stunned silence while one of them hauled Alexis effortlessly into the air and threw her across his lap, just as they had Carson only yesterday. Two of the guards opened fire with their handguns but either they were poor shots or the riders were… No. Oh, God. What if Sopdet was right? What if they were some supernatural phenomenon? The rider carried Alexis away at a speed that made Carson’s heart drop. Spinning, she grabbed Jill’s arm and dragged her toward the vehicles. Another of the riders came out of nowhere, running over Jill and trampling her with the horse’s hooves while Carson was helpless to prevent it. “You son of a bitch!” Carson screamed at the rider when he wheeled about to come after her. Before the horse could move again, Carson darted forward, grabbing the rider’s ankle and with all of her strength, pulling him off the animal only to have him land with a solid thump at her feet in the sand. The rider slowly rose before her, completely shrouded in black. No face could be seen with the robe he wore. That was terrifying enough, but the preternatural hiss that pierced Carson’s senses when she went into a defensive stance had her heart lurching in terror. Horrified, she watched a skeletal hand snake out to grab her shoulder, claws tearing through her shirt and into her flesh. Carson yelled and jumped to the side, aiming at whatever the hell it was with her right leg. She landed a solid side kick, knocking her opponent back a step, but it lunged forward, grabbing her by the throat and hurling her through the air like a rag doll. Carson hit the ground hard, landing on her face in the sand. The taste of blood filled her mouth. A quick glance around showed her the bodies of the guards, lifeless in the sand, Jill’s broken body with them. “Fuckers!” Carson jumped awkwardly to her feet, spotting the thing that had thrown her just standing there. Waiting. Mock me, will you?

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 46 -

Carson paused only for a breath before charging her attacker with everything she had. She landed another kick, then a straight armed blow to its head. Something came off in her hand and Carson stared down in shock to see that it looked like a very old, human jaw bone, dusty and mummified. What the hell is this thing? Carson knew not to hesitate. Hesitation was a killer. Studying the jaw in her hand gave the creature just enough time to rush forward and send her flying again with a great sweep of its brittle arm. Incredible pain exploded through her body when she landed on the unyielding stone of the ruins. Then, there was nothing. No feeling at all. Everything around her grew dark, but not enough that she didn’t see the shadow of the dark rider over her for a moment before it slowly walked away. This was it. She was dying.

Chapter 8 Fear was as unfamiliar to Sopdet as happiness. After all, what was fear to a man who couldn’t die and was too powerful to come to harm? Sopdet had watched thousands of people meet harm or death over the ages. The people he knew and had cared about, all had passed away to the underworld early on. After that, he became an impartial witness, watching the cycle of life with little interest. It was the way of the world and he’d long ago accepted that. However, when he’d heard the dark minions of Set, racing across the desert toward Karnak, Sopdet knew fear. In that moment, he knew someone had returned to the site. Was Carson among them? If so, she was probably dead. Across the desert under the fading sun, Sopdet flew as the falcon. He spotted the riders easily from that great height. They’d taken a woman, he saw, a young woman with long, pale hair. Not Carson. He watched them heading away from Karnak now. When the followers of Set attacked, they attacked swiftly and left no survivors. If Carson had heeded his advice this time, she would be safe back in Cairo or on her way back to her homeland. Sopdet couldn’t shake the feeling that she was there, in Karnak. It was strong enough to compel him to race across the sand to find out. In a great swirl of sand, he transformed back into his human form. When he landed in Karnak, he saw that there were broken bodies all around him in the sand. Wildly he searched each one, not wanting to see her face. There were several men from his country, another white woman trampled in the sand. Relief and hope filled him when he didn’t find her. Good. The world was a better place with her in it, even if he never again saw her beautiful face. He’d managed to save

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 48 -

her yesterday by creating a sandstorm to dispel the dark riders. She’d not returned today. The smallest sigh had him spinning around to where a body lay broken on a ruined ancient column of stone. It was Carson, draped over the column so that the glossy ribbons of her dark hair dipped into the sand, her eyes amber slits that watched him approach. Sopdet was at her side in a second, running his hands over her body. Warmth left her quickly, the life fading from her. Sopdet’s mind raced as he pulled her gently into his arms, cradling her to his chest. Carson whimpered, but never cried out in pain, though her injuries were very serious. “Sopdet,” Carson whispered. Sopdet dropped to his knees with her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I should have listened.” Carson’s voice was thin. A drop of blood slid from the seam of her lips. “Should have listened to you.” Damned, stubborn woman. Yes, you should have. “You are about to die, Carson,” Sopdet spoke close to her ear. Her amber eyes filled with tears and something squeezed in Sopdet’s chest at her sorrow. “I’m not r-ready to die.” And Sopdet didn’t want her to. Everything in his being cried out to him to take her now. Feed her the blood of the damned and make her his companion in eternity. It would be the easiest thing in the world to do and he didn’t have much time. Carson wouldn’t last long. Yet, he knew he couldn’t just damn her because he wanted her. Sopdet would see the world end unless Set’s minions brought back their master to defeat him. Eternity would be a long time for Carson to hate him if he made the choice for her and she was unhappy. “I can give you another life, Carson,” Sopdet explained quickly, hoping she could still understand. “But it is not the life you are losing. You will be damned as I am. Unable to die. Unable to live without bringing death. Do you understand, Carson?”

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 49 -

Hope widened her eyes slightly, the slightest tension filling her body. “What are you?” she whispered weakly. Sopdet allowed his fangs to extend and pulled his lips back in a snarl so she could see them clearly. He knew she would also see the preternatural light of his eyes, the gleam of the undead. “Oh, my God,” Carson muttered. “I will give you this life but only if you ask it of me,” Sopdet told her. “I will not condemn you to my life of my own free will.” A spasm wracked her body as Sopdet held her and his eyes searched her face for signs that she was still with him. “Sopdet?” “Yes?” “Will I be maimed or…” Sopdet wondered that himself. “I do not know.” Her hand trembled as it lifted to his face, her fingers cold against his cheek. “Make me like you,” Carson whispered. Sopdet felt hope and desire raging through his body at her words. “You are certain?” “Please,” she begged. Sopdet didn’t waste a moment. Lowering his mouth to the slim column of her throat, he pierced the fragile skin with his fangs. It took nothing at all for him to tap the vein where her lifeblood flowed and he drank from it greedily, wanting to taste it, to take her spirit into him. Afraid to drain her too much or to wait longer with the rhythm of her heart slowing, Sopdet lifted his head and used one of his fangs to slice open the flesh at his wrist for her. Carson reached for his wrist before he lowered it to her lips and instinctively, she began to drink the dark blood that would bind her to him for all time.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 50 -

Sopdet enjoyed the burn as she drank from his veins, joy for once that his curse would give him something that he wanted. Carson by his side, in his bed. As old and powerful as his blood was, he knew it wouldn’t take much to turn her. He let her drink long, hoping to improve the chances that Set’s black magic would make her whole again. Carson fought him when he pulled his arm away and then watched fascinated while she began to writhe in his arms. Her body was dying a mortal death and yet she lived, changing before his eyes. Sopdet would stay with her until she rested and then he would carry her to his home. His new life with her would begin. Sopdet would teach her to hunt, to feed. With her warrior’s spirit, she’d be a most magnificent creature. And in his bed, as his equal, the pleasure they would share would be unimaginable. Carson’s screams rang out across the desert while Sopdet waited.

*** Carson stretched luxuriously where she lay, having a hard time waking up. Her limbs felt heavy and her mind did too, for that matter. She felt like she did when she took cold medicine before she went to bed, sluggish but peaceful and comfortable. A gentle breeze blew across her skin. That felt good. So did the slick fabric beneath her… Carson pushed up immediately from where she lay face down on a bed covered with golden silk. She was naked. Why was she naked? Where the hell was she? Oh, my God. Then she remembered. They’d returned to Karnak. Jill, Alexis and she had gone back with the guards to close down the site. She hadn’t wanted to. She’d been afraid. Carson had been right to be afraid. The riders had returned. They’d trampled Jill and taken Alexis and then… Carson remembered her battle with the rider clearly. She remembered the jaw bone, and being thrown through the air twice. The pain, the knowledge that she was going to die. Had it been just a dream?

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 51 -

Leaping off the bed, Carson spotted an ornate mirror in the corner, framed in gold. Frantically she looked over her own nude form in that mirror. There wasn’t a mark on her. Hell, even the bruises from the day before were gone from where she’d been knocked around in the sandstorm. Nothing broken, not even a nail. “I dreamed it,” Carson said to herself.

“Not a dream.”

Carson swallowed hard at the sound of his voice, slowly turning to face him.

Sopdet looked gorgeous, standing there in the doorway of the strange room she found herself in. He wore a shining robe that was dark red in color, opened to reveal the smooth muscled wall of his chest. The flesh between her thighs heated instantly while her gaze moved over him. Last night with him had been incredible.

But he’d been gone when she’d awakened, then she’d gone to Karnak.

Images flashed through her mind with alarming speed. The dark rider walking

by her broken body. Sopdet pulling her into his arms, showing her that he had fangs. Carson had been dying. Dying. What had she done? “You did die, Carson.” Her hand flew up to her chest, pressing against her heart. There was no beat. Holy shit! Carson remembered telling him that was what she wanted. She remembered drinking Sopdet’s blood. She felt alive. Sort of. She was in one piece. She felt no pain. What the hell did it all mean? What was she now? “It means that we have much to talk about,” Sopdet explained. “That pisses me off,” Carson pointed out. “Maybe you can read my mind. Maybe you can’t help it. But can you just, out of respect, pretend that you can’t? Because you know it weirds me out?” But now, you can also read my mind. Carson stared at him with her mouth open.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 52 -

“Was that you?”

Sopdet grinned. “Yes.”

“Get out of my head!” Carson wanted to slap the shit out of him suddenly. “Why

am I naked? Where are we? Start talking.” Carson watched as he slowly approached her. His dark eyes roamed over her as he drew closer and the desire in them was very clear. She didn’t make any moves to hide anything from him. He’d seen everything she had. Her pussy heated more when he came to a stop right before her. Her body remembered his touch and possession and craved them. “We have an eternity to talk, Carson,” Sopdet told her, his voice low. “But I have to have you now.”

Chapter 9 Sopdet stood so close that only inches separated them. His erection was tall and proud, very obvious beneath the blood colored robe he wore. Carson’s body tingled with an awareness and desire that she’d never experienced before. She wasn’t sure if it was because of what had happened to her -- which she had yet to completely understand -- or because she wanted him so damned badly. Probably both. “What makes you think I want you?” Carson asked, knowing that she risked pissing him off. But he was not going to just give her that “fuck now, talk later” attitude. She wanted some fucking answers. Now. “You turned me into what? A vampire? Ever read Bram Stoker? Vampires don’t walk around in the sunset and fuck people. They suck them dry and sleep all day in a coffin.” “Vampire.” Carson snorted, walking away from him to the mirror in the corner. “Yeah, vampire. That’s what we are, right?” “That is the word your society uses for creatures of myth. I am real. What I told you is true, Carson. I have walked this earth for thousands of years. Sunlight can not harm me. There’s very little that can harm me now.” Something crossed her mind that she’d not thought of before. “Can I harm you now?” Sopdet threw his head back and laughed at that. A deep, sinful laugh that would have pissed Carson off if not for the way it caused the carnal ache in her lower body to grow by leaps and bounds. “That remains to be seen, pretty one.” Sopdet took a small step toward her. “You may try. I think it would be most exhilarating.”

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 54 -

They were going to do it. Carson wanted it as badly as he did. Turning to face him, she traced a circle around her right nipple with a teasing finger. To her delight his eyes darted after the movement. “Like it rough do you?” Carson asked. His dark eyes locked with hers. “I once did. When I was still mortal.” “And now?” Carson felt a rush of heat flood her body as he moved closer still. “I will take you any way you please.” She was in his arms in an instant and he claimed her mouth with a masterful kiss. Carson probably should have pushed him away, just to see if she could now, and demand that he talk to her. But as his tongue stroked hers intimately, calling forth the powerful lust that had held her captive back in her hotel room, she knew that every question and demand would have to wait. Carson struggled to think about anything with him kissing her like that. Sopdet’s scent was a heady combination of sensual man and heated desert. He made her knees weak as his strong arms closed around her. The cool silk of his robes felt deliciously wicked against the tight beads of her nipples as he held her tightly against him. Her own hands slid up to the smooth planes of his head while he began rocking his arousal against her sex. Juices flowed from her pussy now to the sensitive flesh of her thighs. “Carson,” he whispered against her ear. His tongue traced the delicate shell of her ear, making her shiver. “You aren’t going to bite me again, are you?” Carson gasped as his lips pressed searing kisses to her cheek, then her neck. “No.” Sopdet’s body was taut beneath the robe, muscles tensing. His hands skimmed down over her ass, his fingers sliding into the cleft there. Carson’s legs really threatened to give way now. With a finger, he circled her wet opening that craved him. “My little warrior,” Sopdet murmured against her neck.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 55 -

“Most m-men find that a turn off,” Carson said light-heartedly. When his finger began to slide determinedly in and out of her cunt, all attempts at humor faded. Sopdet spun her around so that she saw herself in the mirror, saw him behind her. Watching the provocative slide of his hand across her belly to her shaved pussy lips pulled a moan from her. “In my day, Carson, you would have been the most desirable woman in the kingdom.” Sopdet’s dark eyes moved slowly over her reflection in the mirror. “You are beautiful, you are passionate, but you have the heart of a warrior, the pride of a man. Every man would want to conquer you. Every man would want you in his bed.” His fingers were teasing delicate circles around her clit and Carson panted at the vision in the mirror, at the indescribable pleasure wracking her body. “Even then, you would have been mine,” Sopdet whispered against her ear. His tongue darted inside her ear and the wet slide and sound had her thighs clenching around his busy hand. “Were you the Pharaoh or something?” Carson’s taunt was pretty weak all things considered. “I commanded the Medjai, Pharaoh’s bodyguards. It was the greatest honor for a warrior in these lands.” A position of power indeed, Carson knew from her studies. Somehow she wasn’t surprised. “You were the woman I never found while I lived.” Sopdet’s voice was a seductive purr as his fingers continued to make her cunt throb, demanding satisfaction. “But you will be mine now, forever.” When he sank to his knees behind her, Carson watched intently, not knowing what he intended to do. But when his large hands wrapped around the tops of her thighs and urged them to part, she knew exactly what he intended to do. She wasn’t sure she could remain standing as a flash of lust raced through her body. “Sopdet…” “Watch.” His voice was a low growl behind her.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 56 -

Carson felt him nuzzle the heated flesh of her pussy first, watched his large body settle on the floor behind her. When the tip of his tongue touched her clit before sliding higher, she nearly came right then and there. Sopdet’s hot tongue stroked along the slick folds of her cunt and her thighs trembled. Her hands clenched into fists at her side and she leaned forward just a little to give him more access, to give her what she wanted. “I love your taste, Carson.” Sopdet’s voice was tight and as heated as she felt inside. Carson wasn’t sure how much more she could take. Sopdet’s face was buried between her legs and the vision of the movements of his strong chin in the mirror, his fingers teasing her clit in the front, nearly undid her. With a will of their own, her hands slid up to cup her breasts, and she began rolling her nipples between her fingers, pushing the swelling passion in her higher. It was nothing compared to the delicious things his mouth was doing to her body. His tongue teased her clit with quick mind-blowing flicks, then it would dart in and out of her aching channel like a cock. For the longest time this went on, Carson holding on as long as she could. But she didn’t last long between the ecstasy of his hot tongue and the sight of herself being pleasured in the mirror. Carson went sailing over the edge into an orgasm unlike anything she’d ever felt before. Wave after wave of devastating pleasure crashed over her until the room around her began to spin. Her cries filled the space around them and Carson felt like she was exploding into a million pieces, falling. Sopdet caught her in his arms before she had a chance to recover and the gold silk coverings rushed up to meet her as he lowered her to the bed with a speed that was thrilling. When Sopdet came over her, parting her thighs with his own, Carson yanked viciously at the robe he still wore. It came apart like tissue paper in her hands. Damn! But Carson didn’t have time to marvel at her newly found strength. The wide, heated head of Sopdet’s cock was poised at her opening and he slowly teased her with

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 57 -

it, sliding it up and down through her folds. She wanted that, his cock inside her, and she pushed her lower body down, wanting it now. He gave it to her, driving into her pussy hard. Carson cried out at the invasion of his thick cock, raising her lower body to meet his thrusts. Her inner walls quivered and squeezed him, wanting more from him, much more. Sopdet lowered his head to lick the tight bud at the center of her breast, all the while the firm, hard momentum of his cock continued. Unlike last night, Sopdet wasn’t controlled and holding back. He was unleashed and this time Carson received the full measure of his passion. Her thighs locked around his as she moved desperately with him. Carson challenged him to thrust harder, faster. Sopdet’s laughter was a low rumble in his chest. He sank his teeth into the soft flesh at the base of her neck and she gasped at the pain, but it only drove her higher and Carson screamed as the orgasm knifed through her. It was all Carson could do to hang on to Sopdet as he drove on relentlessly within her. He didn’t pause or stop. Another climax came on the heels of the first one and Carson thought she would lose her mind with the exquisite explosion rumbling through her body. When he became hard as stone above her, and his arms clamped around her until she thought her ribs would give way, Carson knew he was ready to come and he did. Throwing his head back, he gave a deep guttural cry as his seed poured into her. His body shook and shuddered as his orgasm endured until finally, he collapsed atop her. Carson loved his weight on her. Her hands slid on the wetness of his back, stroking him. When she lifted a hand to stroke his head, she noticed the traces of blood on her palm. Nearly throwing him off, and surprised that she could, Carson scrambled to sit up, holding her hand in front of her face. “Where the hell did this come from?” Her gaze flew to Sopdet’s back before he rolled to his side and pulled himself to sit by her side on the bed.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 58 -

“From me,” Sopdet explained calmly. “The blood?” “Yes.” “How?” “Carson,” Sopdet began slowly, “I’ve found that even though my mortal existence ended thousands of years ago, my body still functions somewhat as it did then.” “But your heart isn’t beating, is it?” Carson asked, afraid of the answer and knowing what it was already. “Neither is yours,” Sopdet pointed out. “But you can still shed tears. You can still grow wet with desire for me.” Carson stared at the faint bloody smears on her hand. “And you can still perspire.” “Do I still have to go to the bathroom?” Sopdet laughed at that. “No. That process is for the body of the living to eliminate waste. Now you only have one form of sustenance and none of it goes to waste.” He meant blood, didn’t he? Oh, God. “Yes, blood.” Carson shot a glare at him. “I told you to stop that.” At least he tried to look repentant. “Sorry.” Carson shook her head as she considered all that had happened in the last three days. Her entire life, everything she worked so hard for and understood, had blown apart and fallen away. “I’ll never see my father again,” Carson said aloud. He could read her thoughts anyway. Sopdet gently took her hand in his. “There is no reason you can’t see those you love again, Carson. Even if just to say goodbye. At least you can do that. But since you are cursed with my blood, you cannot cross the boundaries of this land.”

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 59 -

“I can never leave Egypt?” Carson’s heart sank. “You cannot cross the boundaries of this land as it was during the rule of my king,” Sopdet explained. Okay, so that changed the borders quite a bit. But the end result was the same. She’d never return home or see most of her friends and family again. Her hopes of an academic career were over. “If you wish to study these lands so much, Carson, you can.” His dark eyes moved over her face, his expression caring. “I can tell you things that have happened through the ages that you will never read of in your history books or hear from the lips of scholars.” She’d just bet he could. “But I won’t be able to share it with the world.” “Fame is what matters to you?” “No,” Carson answered quickly. “Sharing knowledge matters to me. But how can I do that now?” “Your computers work in this land, do they not? You can write books.” That was true, but she’d never be able to be a scholar in any other way. As such, she’d be expected to travel, to make appearances. If what Sopdet told her was true, that was something she could no longer do. And in doing so, if she could, she would only present the potential for danger. What if the outside world found out what she was? What they were? Perhaps it would have been better if she had died with Jill and Alexis back in Karnak. Poor Jill trampled by the horse in the sand, her life and brilliant work at an end. And Alexis carried off to have God only knew what happen to her. “They will try to make her read the stones.” Carson stared at Sopdet hard. “What?” “The stones that bear the curse of Set, broken now into two pieces which his minions possess,” Sopdet spoke slowly. “They seek a human who can interpret the words to unleash the curse. Once that happens, the same human will be used to bring Set back into this world.”

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 60 -

Alexis. Oh, God. “How?” But as soon as the word was out, Carson held up a hand to stop him from saying anything. She could tell by the look on his handsome face that it wasn’t good. She cared about Alexis. She didn’t want to know. But Alexis was studying hieroglyphics. Shit, what if she could interpret it? “Unlikely,” Sopdet said aloud. “Fortunately for us, only few understood it when the king was alive.” Carson shook her head at him. “Don’t you know that people spend their entire lives studying languages, ancient codes? What if she can understand it? What if this curse is unleashed? Shit, you’re real! I’m like you now and I sure as hell don’t want to be part of the end of the world. Know what I’m saying?” Snatching up what was left of the crimson robe he’d worn, Carson wrapped it around her body and headed for the door of the room without a clue of where she was going. She needed some space, especially since he could read her mind. Everything that had happened to her and the impact it would have on her life -or whatever it was -- was troubling enough. The thought that Alexis might still be alive with those terrible beings began to tear at her inside.

Chapter 10 Sopdet wondered as he watched Carson if she realized that she was back in Cairo, in the home he kept at the edge of the city. Sopdet had amassed great wealth over the ages, had a few homes scattered throughout the land. It meant very little to him really, all the elegance and wealth that surrounded him. The woman who stood on the balcony looking at the nighttime city did matter to him. Carson was a woman of incredible strength and she’d weathered a devastating blow. Her life had ended and her death separated her permanently from everything that she’d known and loved. Her family, her studies. Love. Could she possibly come to love him one day? Or would the knowledge of endless life make her bitter and complacent. Like me. For the first time in ages, Sopdet wanted something. He wanted Carson and he wanted her to be happy, he realized. Happy to be with him. He’d ease her into the new life. Slowly he’d teach her how to survive the existence of the damned. And he’d try to make it easy for her. Keep her happy. Since she wasn’t able to sense his presence in her mind yet, Sopdet flagrantly searched her thoughts. Something in his chest tightened at what he read there. With everything that had happened to her in the last three days, of all the regrets, fears and anger that could be consuming her, she seemed to be dwelling on one thing. The young woman who had been lost to the minions of Set. Echoes of the past filled Sopdet’s mind. He remembered training the Medjai. He’d always told them that the truly brave would sacrifice all, even themselves to save those they were responsible for guarding.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 62 -

In his case, that had been Pharaoh, his king. In Carson’s case, that meant the young woman Set’s minions had taken. The same young woman he realized that she’d helped across the street the first night he saw her. The heart of a warrior. “Leave me alone for a little while.” Carson didn’t turn as she spoke. He knew he should, but he didn’t want to and he didn’t think it was the best thing to do. Eternity was far too long a time to dwell on what couldn’t be changed. Sopdet had bathed her himself when he’d brought her back to his home. He loved the scent of jasmine that clung to her skin and blended nicely with her own intimate scent. The mixture intoxicated him as he moved closer. Brushing her hair back from her neck, he pressed his lips to the firm flesh there. She wasn’t as warm as she had been in her human life, but she wouldn’t need to feed this night. The terrible pangs of thirst for blood would haunt her very soon and for a while, she could feed on him. Her eyes watched the flashing lights of the city, the rapid movement, but saw nothing. Gently he turned her in his arms, to face him. Her amber eyes met with his. Beautiful eyes, clouded with worry. He meant to wipe that away. He only wanted desire for him in those eyes. Right now, Sopdet wanted her. More than anything he needed her hands on him, to be inside her body once more. “Carson, lay your hands on me.” She hesitated only a moment before her hands lifted and pressed against his chest. The tattered remnants of the robe fell away from her body until she stood naked as he did. Sopdet pulled her into his arms, enjoying the warm evening wind that caressed their bodies as they stood there under the stars. The dark blood stirred in his body when one of her hands slid and her fingers wrapped around his cock. All sensation centered on the nerve endings in his cock, demanding that he take her again.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 63 -

“Yes.” Sopdet kept his voice gentle and encouraging as she began to stroke him lightly, back and forth. Her fingers felt so good as they slid along his shaft. He gritted his teeth to keep from coming in her hand. He wanted so much more than that. With her other hand she reached for his balls and Sopdet’s breath hitched as she began to massage them. Sopdet reached for her hands to stop her. He wouldn’t last long with her doing that. “I could pleasure you,” Carson offered, the tiniest grin on her beautiful face. His balls tightened at the thought of her watching him come, or better yet, taking his seed into her lovely mouth, but at the moment, he had other thoughts. “I would like that.” Carson yanked free of his grip easily when he hesitated. He’d forgotten that she would be stronger now, and over time her powers would grow as his had. “I would like that too,” he assured her, “but I need more.” Capturing her hands again, he wound her arms around his neck and lifted one of her long beautiful legs over his hip. That positioned his cock exactly where he wanted it to be, at the moist apex at the top of her thighs. When he pressed his head into the heated folds, he was overjoyed to feel her juices on him, her desire, like warm oil coating his flesh. It made him want nothing more than to plunge into her fiery heat. Sopdet couldn’t wait. Parting her folds with a single thrust, he buried his cock deep inside her. It seemed so natural to cup her ass in his hands and scoop her up so that her legs wrapped around his waist and the musky scent of her sex wafted up to capture his senses. Sopdet pressed her against the smooth wall by the balcony door, enjoying the way her cunt fit itself around him, quivering and squeezing as he thrust up within her in an urgent rhythm. He moved in and out with abandon. Her pussy grabbed at him when he withdrew partially, relaxed when he pushed himself deep inside her. Her hands were wild on his head, her cries breathy and frantic as she worked her clit against his pelvis. “Oh, God, Sopdet,” Carson cried out. “Yes!”

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 64 -

Yes, just what he had once enjoyed in another place and time. He took her with thrusts that were rough and hard. The more he gave her, the more she rewarded him with cries of pleasure, her body bathing him in hot juices. Sopdet pounded his cock inside, loving the way her body clung to his and her nails dug into the flesh of his back. Her heels worked at his lower back, urging him to thrust harder and faster. He coated his fingers in her juices and began to tease the opening of her ass as he plunged into her with more force. When his finger slid inside that tight hole, Carson screamed. Her climax flooded his shaft as her pussy spasmed around him. The pleasure was so intense that Sopdet closed his eyes, concentrating with everything he had to hold back. It was difficult with Carson rocking against him, crying out his name while her nails scraped down the flesh of his back, but he gave her no reprieve. Sopdet continued to stroke her and play with her, listening to the rhythm of her breath as he deliberately stoked the fire within her again. When the tension returned to her body and her breathy gasps increased, he knew Carson was on the edge of release again. At that moment he let go, thrusting up into her hard with his cock, into her ass with his finger. His seed shot up toward her womb over and over as Sopdet took her with him into exquisite pleasure. Carson slumped against him, exhausted now. Pulling himself from her body, Sopdet carried her back into his home, back to the bed where he could hold her for as long as he liked. Sopdet stared down at her in awe as she lay curled there on her side. Her long supple body stretched across the gold silk and Sopdet felt incredible joy well up inside of him. This woman, this beautiful creature, was his. His. For the first time in his existence, Sopdet thought about the endless life that stretched out before him. It had turned from a curse to a blessing.

Chapter 11 Carson reached out with her unfamiliar senses as she raced at a dangerous speed into the dark desert. If she had gotten this far, surely she could find the bastards that had Alexis. She had to try to save the young woman. If she didn’t try, she’d have an eternity to regret it. In her mind, the biggest obstacle would have been getting past Sopdet, but he slept peacefully next to her on the bed, never stirring when she kissed him and proceeded to search for something to wear that wasn’t a robe. A robe was what she ended up wearing as she drove over the sand at breakneck speed in the jeep she’d stolen from God only knew who. She had to reach Alexis. Sopdet had always been able to sense the dark riders. How did he do it? Carson concentrated, really focused as she drove, thinking of nothing but Alexis and clearing her mind of everything else. That’s when she first heard something. The sound of a woman crying. Was that Alexis? Did that mean she was alive? Or did it mean she was fucking crazy? Again she heard the anguished sounds in her mind and instinct had her steering the vehicle toward that sound. From the position of the moon that hung high overhead, she realized she was going toward the east, but she had no idea where she was at all. She had even less of an idea of where she was going. The ride seemed endless while the tortured sounds became screams and grew frantic. Carson pushed the gas pedal to the floor. What did she have to lose? If she wrecked the jeep, her journey to rescue Alexis would be delayed, but she wouldn’t stop. She couldn’t die if she wrecked. But she could save Alexis from death.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 66 -

She would. Carson reeled in shock when she spotted a light in the distance. The flickering flames were probably the camp of some other academics, but as she drew closer, she knew that wasn’t the case. Her senses tingled with awareness as she stopped the jeep and proceeded on foot in the darkness, hoping her black robe would help keep her hidden. It was a cave. And now the screams weren’t in her head, they were all around her. Alexis. There were also the terrible preternatural wails coming from someone else, something else, and a thrill of fear ran down her spine. Carson had an idea of what she was facing. She’d fought the fuckers twice and lost, badly. But she had no clue as to how many of them there might be. She needed to see what she was up against and she needed a plan. Somehow she made it to the mouth of the cave, alight with bright orange flame. Deep inside, to her relief, she saw Alexis. She was alive at least. But her sobs were terrible. Surrounded by the faceless things, she begged for her life while they whipped her, pointing at two broken pieces of stone on the sand before her. The stones that bore the curse. What the hell was she going to do? “Please don’t go in there.” Carson jumped in fright at the sound of that gentle voice. When she turned, she saw a woman standing a few feet away on the sand. She wore a long white dress, illuminated by the light of the moon. From where she stood, Carson couldn’t see her face. She moved closer but cautiously. What the hell was this woman doing out here? Was she a woman? “Who are you?” Carson hissed when she was far enough away from the terror of the cave. “A friend. My name is Emma.”

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 67 -

Shock rooted Carson to the spot when the lady turned and the moonlight revealed her face. Carson would have known her face anywhere. Emma Bonham. “I know you,” Carson whispered in disbelief. She looked just as she did in the photograph she’d worn in the locket for the last fifteen years. “You vanished in 1926. You --” “I know you too, Carson.” Emma’s voice was low. “I need you to stay here with me.” Carson shook her head. No way! “I have to go. That’s my friend in there.” “Your friend has read part of the stone.” The woman’s voice was grave. “Do you understand what will happen if she reads the entire inscription?” “Shit!” Carson muttered. “So what’s the plan? We let her?” “No. Look!” Carson spun to see what she was pointing at. Three men, all wearing dark robes, were poised at the opening of the cave. The wailing and screaming inside had ceased which told her that they’d been spotted. “Who are they?” Carson wanted to know. “Are they nuts?” But the moment the words escaped her lips, a great funnel of sand engulfed the man in the middle. When the sand settled again, a great winged creature stood in his place with a man’s head. It looked like a… “Is that a sphinx?” Carson demanded in disbelief. “Stay back!” Carson easily brushed away the hands that grabbed at her. But something didn’t feel right about her hands. No, when she turned she saw they were paws. The woman behind her had changed into the same damned thing the man at the front of the cave was. “I’m going to get you out of here,” Emma said gently. Again, Carson easily evaded her. “The hell you are. What are they planning to do?”

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 68 -

“They can’t save her, Carson,” Emma pleaded with her. “Please, let me fly you out of here.” Carson turned to see the winged creature and the two men on either side, twins she realized, disappear into the cave. “Do they mean to kill her?” “Better that than for her to live and remember this horror.” “We’ll see about that,” Carson told her as she began to march toward the cave. But she marched right into something solid and hard. The hard, muscular chest of her dark lover. “Somehow I knew I would find you here,” Sopdet said wryly. Well, now that he was here, he’d better get up to speed pretty fucking fast. “We can’t just let them kill Alexis,” Carson demanded of him. “I can’t. How can I live with myself for however long if I let something happen to her? She is my responsibility and I --” “I know,” Sopdet told her.

“Then let’s go!”

“I’ll go, my love,” Sopdet told her. “But you won’t.”

In a move she never saw coming, Sopdet grasped her by the arms and literally

threw her into the air. Carson screamed at him when she was caught up by strong paws in mid-air. Emma Bonham, whatever the hell she was now, began to fly her away from the cave. “Sopdet! You son-of-a-bitch! If she dies, I’ll --”

“She won’t,” he cut her off, glaring at her from the ground.

She watched Sopdet disappear in the distance as she was carried away, back

toward the city. At first she tried to break free, and she could tell her captor had to fight to hang onto her. “Please stop struggling,” Emma pleaded above her. “I don’t want you to be hurt.” “You can’t hurt me,” Carson griped. “I’m already dead.”

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 69 -

“So you are Sopdet’s chosen mate? His consort?”

Well, shit, damn. She hadn’t thought of that.

“I guess so,” Carson replied, relaxing in Emma’s grip.

The trip across the desert was remarkably fast. Carson’s worries grew the closer

they got to Cairo. She worried for Alexis, wanting the young woman to live. She could get counseling. She’d need counseling if she lived through this. As long as she was alive there was hope… She worried about the curse of Set being unleashed. After all, if Sopdet was real and Emma Bonham looked the same way she did eighty years ago and could sprout wings, there had to be some truth to it. But as they neared Sopdet’s home, the one she’d sneaked out of, she realized that she feared for him. Now that she’d been born into his world, what would she do without him?

Chapter 12 An eternity passed for Carson while she waited but in reality only a few hours had passed. Emma had stayed for only a short time with her, wanting to return to see if she could be of help to her mate. She’d promised Carson that they would talk at length in the next few days, but it had held little interest for her at that moment. All she wanted was Sopdet, here, in her arms. Her worry that it wouldn’t happen escalated with each passing moment. What if he never returned? All of her thoughts had been with Alexis and she still prayed hard for her friend’s safety, but she’d sent the man she’d fallen in love with into harm’s way and -Wait. Man she’d fallen in love with? Was that right? The first light of the sun began to color the sky of the city and Carson wondered what to do. Should she go climb in a closet? Would she burst into flames if the light touched her? Where the hell was he? “You won’t burst into flames, my love,” his deep voice washed over her. “You might have more of a tan than you would like.” Afraid that voice was her imagination, Carson spun around to face him. Then she threw herself into his arms with abandon, claiming his mouth with hers. She had to taste him to believe that he was actually there. “I am here, Carson. I wouldn’t leave you,” he muttered into her mouth. Pulling back she smiled up into his face. “With all of the weird shit I’ve seen in the last several hours, I don’t know what to believe.” His arms tightened around her and she welcomed his embrace, savored it.

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 71 -

“Everything is well for now.” “Are you okay?” “I am unharmed.” “Alexis?” Carson asked fearfully. “I left her at the doors of the hospital,” Sopdet explained carefully. “She was hysterical and they took her in immediately.” “Thank God.” Carson let out the breath she didn’t realize that she’d been holding. “Is that a blessing?” Sopdet asked gently. “Is she strong enough to survive what she has been through?” Carson didn’t know how to answer his question. She didn’t know Alexis that well. “She’s alive,” Carson said out loud. “There’s hope for her.” “And none for you?” His questioning tone had her eyes locking with his. “I didn’t mean that,” she told him, her chest tightening at the raw emotion in his deep, dark eyes. “What about the curse?” “Since your friend lives, obviously the attempt to resurrect Set was foiled,” he pointed out. “We were able to fight them off, but they will try again.” “Emma told me that Kahma was her mate. Who were the twins?” “Ardeth and Amenhotep,” Sopdet said quickly. “But I do not wish to talk about that now.” “Do we need to talk?” Carson grinned up at him. Sopdet’s smile was decidedly wicked. “I do not think so.” Those simple words made her pussy quiver with need for him. Carson let her hands slide down his back, over his ass. What would it be like to pleasure him, she wondered. What would he feel like filling her mouth? “Not tonight.” Sopdet’s voice was deep and low. “Not now.”

Isabella Jordan

Egyptian Lover 2: Sopdet

- 72 -

The enormous robe covering her body was snatched off in an instant and Sopdet was on his knees before her in a flash, pressing his face into her cunt. He licked at the nectar waiting for him there, lapping at her until she clawed at his head and shoulders. His tongue snaked all around her clit, making her mindless with pleasure on legs that could barely hold her up. And when she thought she couldn’t take it any more, he stood, hauled her up his body and pushed her down hard on his throbbing erection. The pleasurable pain of being so quickly and completely stuffed by his cock had her screaming as he carried her back into the house. Combined with the force of her desire, she almost came before her back ever pressed into the silk coverings. “Fuck me, Sopdet,” Carson gasped, as he came down over her. His mouth claimed hers with a kiss of pure possession. “Please.” Sopdet pulled back to smile down at her as his magnificent cock began an irresistible driving rhythm within her cunt. “We have all the time in the world, my love.”

End

Isabella Jordan Isabella Jordan is a lucky lady who spends her days with her family, doing volunteer work and writing. She loves creating new stories of all kinds and chatting with readers and friends. Isabella would love to hear from readers! Visit her on the web at http://isabellajordan.com.