“Maybe somebody can get me up to speed on what’s going on here—military-wise that is. I lead these men, and I’ve been in the military all my life practically given my father’s position. I can help strategize.”
“What do you think, Inka?”
“I think if the goddess brought them here then it is worth letting them help as much as they can.”
“Thank you,” she looked directly at him and something in him stirred. He knew what was stirring south of his waistband. He couldn’t figure out exactly what was stirring north of there. He had never wanted a woman so much in his life. Even Ellie hadn’t commanded his attention that way. Maybe because he had married Ellie to appease the family. His father was an Admiral, her father was an Admiral. Apparently they were matched from the start according to his father. His father was a good man, but he couldn’t vouch for how good of a father he was. He treated him like a SEAL from the time he could walk. He literally kept him in constant boot camp and he never, not even once, told him he loved him. And when he and Ellie got divorced he blamed him despite the fact that she had been shacking up with another man while he was deployed.
“We’re all in,” they unanimously agreed.
“Yeah, that guy threw us in their equivalent of the hole. I want to kick his a…butt,” Gregory modified his language for the lady.
“Then we will leave before dawn,” Inka nodded to Helos. “Take care of the warriors.”
“Take care of our queen,” Helos replied.
“Please get these men the proper clothing,” Inka told one of the nearby servants. “And find them a tent for the night.”
“There is one right next to this tent,” the young man said gleefully. “It is mine and you will have to share it with me, but you may rest your blanket on my sand.”
Inka laughed. “How many times do I have to tell you, Nuna, the sand does not belong to you.”
“It is in my tent therefore it must belong to me.” He informed him. “You four may come with me.”
“Where will you be?” Alex asked Nefertari.
“I can just take a spare tent.”
“There isn’t one. Perhaps I can ask one of the men to give up theirs.”
“No,” she shook her head. “I will sleep in here. The men need their rest for tomorrow they may have to fight. I merely have to make it back to my Nubian home. I will be fine in here,” she said as they all looked at her, each man willing to give up his space for her to have one. Then Alex realized, it would not be appropriate for the queen to share a tent with a man who was not of her family. That was why she had adamantly declined.
They found warrior garb that fit them, even if he would admit he felt severely underdressed. The pants covered everything, but the cloth he wore across his chest didn’t cover much at all. They were also going to be sleeping on the ground. He had done that before. Nuna spread the blankets out for them and they each picked one. He still couldn’t believe this was happening. There was some moment of thought that he would wake up back in his time because this still could be some shared psychosis or something. Maybe they had all broken psychologically from too much fighting, but he knew that wasn’t true. This was real…and if it wasn’t, then come morning he would have a whopper of a story to tell about his dream. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
He didn’t know how long he had been sleeping when he heard the sound of glass breaking. He bolted upright, as did the others. He ran out of the tent to see Inka and guards running into the commanding post. He followed without hesitation. What he saw when he got there was Nefertari in a battle for her life. She was fighting with two ancient blades just as the tall man had been. She was blocking every attempt he made to get at her. And just as quickly as the men beside him had pulled their swords, she sliced into her enemy, once at the chest, the next at his head—a head in which he lost.
“Fuck,” Gregory groaned. “She’s good.”
“What does this mean,” she said in perfect pitch as if she hadn’t just been fighting and decapitated a man.
“It’s something that should not be said in the presence of a lady or a queen,” he mumbled to Gregory who immediately apologized.
“Yes, but what does it mean?”
“Um…maybe some other time,” he shook his head.
“Nefertari, what happened?”
“I was asleep when I heard the back of the tent part. I was prepared when he tried to cast his dagger into me. He is dead now, but the fact that we are finding many traitors among our people worries me.”
“He was not one of ours.” Helos stared at the man. “His markings are those of the Pharaoh.”
She purred. “So he is close. We must push his armies back. We cannot let them get to Nubia or many lives will be lost.”
“We will push him back,” Helos looked to her. “You will return to Nubia and reassure our people. Train these men so that we may declare victory.”
She wanted to fight. More than that, she wanted to be the one to take Pharaoh’s life. She wanted him to pay for the lives he had taken. But for now her brother and Helos were right, she needed to train these men on the ways of using their weapons if they were to defeat their enemies. She had no doubt that the goddess had brought them here because they were the key to victory.
When morning came they left for home and when they arrived there was much work to be done. She didn’t have time to take the future men around, but that didn’t matter because they also didn’t have time to see the beautiful land. They needed to practice and so she had some of the women warriors introduce them to the weapons, except for the one called Alexander. She preferred to teach him herself. She liked this man, even though she shouldn’t. When the war was over they would have to return to their time and he would be lost to her. She wanted him to stay. He was unlike any man she had ever met and the mystery of him intrigued her.
“Fight,” she assumed a defensive stance.
“I don’t want to accidently hurt you,” he admitted.
She did not have time for this. She was a skilled warrior and he had seen evidence of that. Instead of getting angry she set herself into action, coming at him with hard, fast strikes that to her surprise he was doing an almost good job of blocking. Several times she could have killed him, but instead she just disarmed him.
“Okay, I see your point. I won’t hold back on you next time.”
They kept fighting with the swords and he kept progressively getting better, but he was still not a warrior to their standards and if he went into battle as he was now he would surely die.
“Maybe I should teach you some of my kind of fighting,” he said.
“I would like that, but right now you must learn my way.” She came at him again and he fought back, this time, when he thought he had her she could see an air of victory on his face, but one thing he would soon need to learn was that victory could only be celebrated after the war was over. She ran up the wall and back flipped above his head, and over him before grabbing her two weapons that were on the ground. Then, she conquered him, swiftly, efficiently, completely. When his big body was beneath hers, when she had his hands pinned above his head and her sword at his neck, then she celebrated her victory.
A smile spread her lips. “You fight well, but you must fight harder.” She stressed her words, her face close to his, her lips so close to his that she yearned to taste him.
“I think I’m hard enough,” he groaned. She did not understand the meaning of his words. There were so many things about his speech that she wouldn’t understand, but then there were so many about hers that he wouldn’t either.
“Come, we must fight more.”
He chuckled. “Never say the word come to a man when you’re straddled his body and he has the hard-on of the century.”
“What does this mean—hard-on?”
“Maybe I’ll have a chance to show you someday.” He rose to his feet. “Let me teach you some hand to hand moves that might help you if you get close enough to your enemy,
but you don’t have your swords.”
“I already know how to fight with my hands.”
“I could see that, but I want to show you how to break a man’s neck because I believe it could come in handy for you one day.”
“You wish to break my neck?”
He laughed. “No. I just want to show you what you would need to do, but it will require you giving me your trust for a few minutes. Please believe me when I say that I would never hurt you.”
She didn’t know why, but she trusted him. Inka would not be happy about her giving complete trust to this man so soon, but she trusted him. She went into his arms as he asked, something she should not have done on any level. She was a queen, he was a warrior and as they were not mated and had no chance of mating there was no right for him to hold her the way he was, but she liked it and so she did not protest. She rested her body with her back against his chest. He had one arm wrapped around her shoulders, holding her close to him. The other hand caught her on her jaw.
“And when you have him like this you twist,” he simulated the movement, but not with force. “Twist hard and fast and your enemy will be dead. Another option is to snap the neck backwards.” He demonstrated a few holds before leaving his arm wrapped around her shoulder. Her back was pressed firmly against his chest and it felt so heavenly.
He brought his free hand to her neck and she felt the calluses on his hands brush against her skin. She felt his thumb rubbing a hypnotic heat into her. She relaxed against him more, bringing her hand up to brush the bareness of his arm that was wrapped around her. His fingers traveled lower slowly sliding over the fabrics of her training attire. She felt his fingers smooth over the hint of skin showing before her breasts. To have a man touch her so softly, so freely, aroused her greatly. She enjoyed every second of his touch. She wanted more of it, more of him.
“I will ask her,” she heard Inka say and she quickly disengaged herself from Alexander and commenced talking to him as if she were explaining something important. She noticed how he clearly got the point. Touching a queen in that manner without permission to marry would be punishable by death.
“Ah, you are still training. Your men have already retired for the day.”
“Already?” She watched Alexander frown. He too was a warrior who would train until the sunset.
“They have been training since after the morning meal.”
“So have we.”
“Yes, and you have trained through the afternoon meal and nearly the evening meal.” He reminded them.
“Yes, I suppose it is time to stop for the day.” Nefertari smiled at him. “What did you need, Inka?”
“Some of the men would like to hear stories of the future. Is it okay if we have a night of rest?”
“Of course; not all of you.”
“No, not all of us.”
“But be careful. I am not sure it is good to know too much about the future.”
“What could it hurt?” Inka scoffed. “It’s not as if any of us will ever go there.”
She laughed and shook her head. “Fine. Learn what you wish. I will draw a bath and rest. Tomorrow we fight again, Alexander.”
“Tomorrow,” he looked at her and in his eyes she felt the force of the secret moment they shared. He looked at her like a man who had been pleased with holding her in his arms, yet he hid it from her brother. Inka led Alexander out of the room, but Alexander did not go without one last glance at her. In that glance they both shared a knowing smile. No matter how forbidden his touch she knew she would want to feel it again, and he would want to feel her again too.
She would have to be careful. If Inka caught him touching her he would surely have him put to death, maybe not through the court because she would have control of that, but there was no shortage of men who would be willing to kill for her brother. Although she was sure he would find the opportune time to do it himself. Inka was always protective of her. They were closer than he had been with the others. Perhaps that is why they fought so hard for each other. They had lost their family one warrior at a time, and neither wanted to lose each other too. She loved her brother and he loved her, but the man was far too protective of her. She figured he should be, but at the same time she wished he weren’t. She was a skilled warrior herself and now she was ruler of their people. Her position would bring with it more guards than she already had and more of his protective nature than he ever had before. Now he was not just trying to protect his sister, the warrior princess, but now he was trying to protect the queen, the woman who would lead their people into victory to ensure they maintained their absolute freedom.
They both had responsibilities before, but now hers were grater. She would have to marry sooner than she thought she might. She was content being a warrior and marrying was not something she wished for, but now there was no choice. When this war was over she would have to take a mate—it was the way of things. She had hoped that mate could be Alexander. She liked his touch, liked his conversation, liked him and wanted him, but once the war was over the goddess would surely send him back. She would never know what it was like to be with him. Something in that knowledge made her truly sad. But she had no choice; she would have to let him go. She would have to take a mate from her own time. Helos had been a favorite of her father. Of course he had favored him for her other sister before she died. And before her father was killed they had been discussing her options. He had been sure to tell her that Helos would be his choice and should therefore be hers.
She did not wish to marry Helos. He was a good man. She knew she could trust him. But there was no passion, no spark, and no desire. Her father assured her this wasn’t important. She would marry, produce an heir to the throne and live dutifully. “Dutifully,” she scoffed. She did not wish to live dutifully unless she was fulfilling her duties as a warrior. She wanted to live free. Helos would have no control over her, but to bed a man every night that she did not desire, one that did not desire her, was wrong. She did not wish it upon herself, but there were no other options. She would have to choose one of the higher warriors as her mate because none of the ones beneath the appropriate level would be fitting of the position. It was always the case. She didn’t care before because she didn’t feel anything more than the natural respect for any of them. But this new man, the man from the future, he was different. She could see herself mated to him because she could see him taking her body every night. She could see herself taking his body and the passion it ignited within her made her want him more. She wanted him now even. She wanted to invite him into her room for the night, to show him the pleasures of her body, of her world. But she knew it couldn’t be done. Her giving in to her cravings would cost him his life. She wouldn’t put him in that position. She would simply have to resist the urge to go to him tonight and the next night, and the night after that, until eventually her fire for the man subsided into forgotten memories. She hoped she could do that. When he left it would be hard to let him go if she could not allow herself to forget the passions he caused to arouse within her.
Chapter Two
“You like her,” Mitchell grinned. “You like her a lot. No wonder you’re training through daily meals just to be with her.”
“Shut up,” Alex bit out the words. He didn’t need the guys reminding him of what he felt for this woman. Every day was difficult because he couldn’t touch her the way he wanted to touch her. They would soon be going into battle and all he could think about was what he felt for her, what he wanted to do with her. And the craziest part of the equation was that he knew, or at least he thought he knew, that once the battle was over he and the guys would be going back to their time. There was no way whatever force had brought them there would just leave them there. At some point they would have to go back home.
“Why don’t you get to it?” Mitchell looked at him as if the question should be answered. He couldn’t answer him. He didn’t just like her. He was falling in love with her. That had never happened to him before. Maybe it was
lust, he had thought, but then when he started thinking she could die on that battlefield and the pain that thought caused in his gut, he was sure it was deeper than lust. “Come on, just go with it okay? We don’t know how long we’re going to be here. Why waste the time and opportunity?”
“That’s just it,” he grumbled. “We don’t know how long we’re going to be here.” He got up from the table, and walked away. He had no appetite now because the thought of leaving her behind had taken it from him. He would love to take her back to his time, but what did he have to offer her? In her world and her time she ruled as a Nubian queen. In his world she wouldn’t have that rule. She wouldn’t have the freedoms to be who she is without profiling or tension because of the color of her skin.
He shook his head just thinking about the difference. They had come there and nobody in the region resembled them, yet they were welcome. He would love to take her back with them, but he couldn’t. Even if she wanted to go he knew her leaving her people wasn’t an option. Plus, how could they know whatever brought him there would allow her to travel forward.
Called to Duty (Adventures Through Time) Page 2