Mortal Seductions

by Allyson James

  Two bare backs, one pale, one deeply tanned, two firm backsides, four tightly muscled legs intertwined. She’d stopped, arrested by the beauty of the picture. They’d been nose to nose, Demitri’s hand in Leon’s hair, mouths devouring each other. They hadn’t kissed for her benefit. They hadn’t even known she was there.

  Thinking on it even now made the space between her legs hot. She wanted to watch Demitri and Leon kiss some more, wanted to watch them touch each other, wanted to watch Demitri rise up to enter Leon, while Leon watched him with warm eyes.

  Val made a longing noise in her throat, and the others broke off to stare at her.

  “Don’t mind me,” she said, fanning herself with one hand. “I’m just shocked by the theft. Go on, Remy.”

  “That faience necklace you were so interested in is gone,” Remy said. “Plus a couple of fragments of pottery and a few ushabtis—those are the things that look like little dolls. The thief didn’t take anything we haven’t found hundreds of, but it’s bad that they’re missing. I’m the team leader. If I can’t control what goes on at the dig, I’ll be replaced. My reputation will be tarnished, my career over.”

  Felecia, standing next to Remy, bit her lip. “We’ll find them, Remy.”

  Remy gave Val and Demitri a worried look. “Please, don’t breathe a word of this. If we can find the thief or find the things before anyone knows, then maybe we can keep it quiet. I don’t need this kind of trouble on my first dig.”

  Leon studied the room. “You said the door was locked, but you let people in whenever they need to find something?”

  Remy nodded. “I have a key, Felicia does, and Habib, the postdoc who’s my Egyptian equivalent. I don’t think he’s doing this, because it’s his career at stake as well as mine, plus he’s adamant about antiquities staying in Egypt.”

  “Doesn’t hurt to talk to him, though,” Leon said. “He might be very adamant, maybe thinks stealing them is the best way to protect them.”

  Remy looked doubtful. “He’s intense, but he is a stickler for rules, not the kind to break them, even for a good cause.”

  “Maybe he lent the key to someone, and that person had it duplicated.”

  “Could be.” Remy looked glum. “This bites.”

  “What about you?” Leon asked Felicia. “Did you lend your key to anyone?”

  Felicia pulled a key ring out of her pocket and showed it to him. “I have it on me at all times, and I haven’t given it to anyone. If someone needs to get into the storage room, I let them in, then lock it up when they’re done.”

  “Do you watch them every minute they’re in here?”

  Felicia flushed. “Not really.”

  “Someone using the room could easily pocket an artifact. Everything you describe that’s missing is small, even the necklace.”

  Val felt a pang of despair. They needed the necklace to complete their task—what happened if they couldn’t find it?

  “I’m sorry, Remy,” Felicia said. “I never thought of that.”

  “You can’t breathe over everyone’s shoulder all the time,” Remy snapped. “I don’t watch them when I’m in here, either. There’s too much to do and not enough people to do it.”

  “You said the pieces aren’t valuable?” Val asked. Nothing in this room was silver or gold or precious stones. It all looked brown and drab to her.

  “That’s the thing, not really. We find tons of the stuff. We’ve recorded every one including photographing it in the exact location we found it, but the artifacts are commonplace. Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing we don’t already know about. They don’t contribute much to archaeological knowledge.”

  “I think what Val means is, are they valuable to someone who doesn’t know anything about archaeology? Could someone sell them to collectors or tourists?”

  “Would it be lucrative?” Val asked. “Selling these bits to a European or American or Japanese traveler who wanted to take home a real artifact?”

  Remy didn’t look happy. “Probably. Not a fortune, but they wouldn’t do too bad out of it.”

  “Well then, all we have to do is find the person offering these things to tourists,” Val concluded. “I suppose a dealer in illegal antiquities would likely approach foreign tourists near the hotels or the shops in Luxor? We can wander around there and see if anyone offers us something.”

  “I can’t. Everyone knows me, or they know I’m with the dig. They’d just hide the stuff.” Remy looked hopefully at Leon.

  Leon shook his head. “They wouldn’t believe I could afford an illegal souvenir, and they’d be right. My friends, on the other hand . . .”

  Val smiled. “I am excellent at going undercover.” She lifted her gauzy scarf and drew it over her mouth. “I can be a rich tourist looking for something exciting to take home to my friends. I’ll make sure they know that money is no object. Demitri is rolling in it.”

  “Thank you, I’d be happy to volunteer,” Demitri said in a dry voice.

  “I’ll pose as your wife, and you’ll have given me a huge roll of cash for my little expenses.” She held out her hand, and Demitri raised a brow at her.

  “That’s nice of you, but too risky,” Remy said. “I can’t let you endanger yourselves. The thief might fight to keep from getting caught.”

  Leon gave him a look. “I wouldn’t worry. Demitri and Val are good at taking care of themselves.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Real sure.”

  Remy looked like he wanted to argue, but he sighed, resigned. “You do what you have to do. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for the help.”

  “I can keep an eye on things here, too,” Leon said. “We’ll find the guy, Remy.”

  “I appreciate this, big brother. Truly.” Remy’s eyes held affection and admiration. Val found it touching. Would Valenarian? Perhaps she would.

  Leon and Remy left to look around the outside of the building and in the lab. Felicia lingered, pretending to straighten things on a shelf.

  Demitri gestured for Val to follow with him, but Val whispered, “I’m going to stay behind a minute.”

  Demitri gave her a stern look, and Val shook her head. “Valenarian never hurt women. She’ll be safe, and I want to talk to her about the other thing I’m supposed to be doing.”

  Demitri hesitated, then he gave her a nod. “I’ll be right outside. Waiting. Don’t take too long, or I’ll be back to drag you out.”

  “You worry too much.” Val rose on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, and Demitri finally departed.

  Val dusted off her tunic and wandered to where Felicia was straightening the shelves, her work-roughened hands trembling.

  “This must be distressing for you,” Val said in her most sympathetic voice. She perched on the end of an empty table next to the clipboard that held a list of the artifacts on the shelves. “I’m sure Remy doesn’t blame you.”

  “I’m sure he does.” Felicia jerked a box off a shelf, looked inside, and replaced it. “I have a key to this room. It’s my responsibility.”

  “He seemed certain you had nothing to do with it.”

  “Yes, but he’s afraid this will jeopardize his career, and he’s right. Committees are always looking for reasons to pull funding. And in a research profession, if you can’t get grant funding, you’re sunk.”

  “You’re worried for him.”

  “Of course I am. He’s a brilliant archaeologist. He worked his way up from nothing—he and his brothers were raised in a backwater Louisiana town, and their family had no money at all. Remy pulled himself up by his own bootstraps.”

  Felicia’s voice rang with admiration, her flushed face almost pretty.

  “You’re a good friend to care like that.”

  Felicia’s voice was stiff. “We’re friends, yes.”

  “Nothing more than that?”

  “Of course not. Remy is very appropriate. He’d never take advantage of a work situation.”

  Val smiled gently. “No matter how much you might
want him to?”

  Felicia looked at her in outrage, her face bright red. She started to splutter something, then she deflated. “Damn it, does it show that much?”

  “Don’t worry, my dear. I’m an expert at reading the signs. Doesn’t Remy see what’s right under his nose?”

  Felicia leaned on the edge of the table and folded her arms. “Remy hired me for my brains. We’ve known each other since we started grad school. He read my dissertation and invited me to apply for a position on his team. He respects my theories, he said.”

  “My, how sexy of him.” Val studied Felicia, her blond hair, even teeth, hazel eyes, plain but well-shaped face. “We’ll just have to make him see more than your theories.”

  Felicia gave a short laugh. “I’ve never been the gorgeous girl with beautiful eyes and big boobs. Men like me because I’m safe.”

  “Ah, safe. The kiss of death.”

  “I don’t think Remy has a girlfriend waiting for him in Louisiana,” Felicia said glumly. “He never mentions one, anyway, so that can’t be why he . . .”

  “Never notices you?” Val finished. “But there’s hope. If he was repulsed by you, he’d make sure he talked about a girlfriend every chance he got, to broadcast that he was unavailable.”

  “Or maybe he just doesn’t like to talk about his personal life.”

  “If he’s anything like Leon, he’s not ashamed of his past. You know all about his life on the bayous, whatever bayous are. If he had a girlfriend, or someone he was in love with back home, he’d have mentioned her.”

  “Possibly.”

  “Definitely. My guess is that he’s enamored with his work and takes you for granted. Men should never be allowed to take women for granted.”

  Felicia laughed again. “I don’t think he sees me as a woman. I’m a sexless archaeologist. A mobile brain and a pair of hands to help sort and log in pottery.”

  “Well, we’ll just have to change that.”

  “Why should you want to help me? You’re beautiful, and you have that gorgeous Demitri following you around. Leon, too.”

  How wonderful it would be if they were following her around because they couldn’t resist her. Val couldn’t explain to Felicia that the two men followed her because they didn’t trust her.

  “I want to help you because I’m an expert at bringing people together,” she said. “Call it my raison d’être.”

  Felicia’s look turned wistful. “I was never a girly-girl, doing my nails and styling my hair. I was more interested in ancient languages and tombs full of hieroglyphs.”

  “There’s no reason you can’t be both brainy and beautiful. We’ll go shopping in Luxor, and I’ll transform you. I’ll be your . . . What’s that story about the girl who meets a prince while riding a pumpkin? Or was it a pomegranate?”

  “‘Cinderella.’ You mean you’ll be my fairy godmother.”

  Val grinned. “Your fairy goddess-mother, is more like it.”

  Felicia looked dubious. “I don’t have a lot of money for clothes.”

  Val ran her gaze over Felicia’s khaki working shorts, white socks and sneakers, and mannish button-up shirt. “We’ll work something out. And don’t worry about the expense. I didn’t lie when I said Demitri was filthy rich.”

  “And he just gives you money?” Felicia sounded both envious and disapproving.

  “Demitri and I have a long and complicated relationship. Money is the least of our worries.”

  “What does Demitri do? For a living, I mean.”

  Val made an indifferent gesture. “He owns things. Hotels and the like. I admit that when I’m with him I’m not thinking about what he does in his professional capacity.”

  “I wish I could be that comfortable around men.”

  “What you need to learn is how to make men uncomfortable around you. When you want them to be.”

  Felicia looked thoughtful. “I’ve never tried that before. It might be fun.”

  “It is. I promise.”

  The two women shared a very feminine smile, then Val hopped off the table. Felicia put away the clipboard, and they left the building together.

  Demitri lounged outside, watching a string of tourist-laden donkeys trot past. Val slipped her hand under Demitri’s arm and gave Felicia a broad wink. Felicia gave a very un-academic giggle, and Demitri scowled in suspicion.

  11

  VAL looked better today, Demitri thought as he escorted her through the streets of Luxor that afternoon. With the white scarf draped loosely over her hair and her round sunglasses, she looked a little bit like a 1930s Hollywood star. She wouldn’t understand what that meant, but she was elegantly beautiful and utterly composed.

  He wandered with her around the less reputable shops Remy had told them about, making it known that a wealthy couple was interested in real antiquities, never mind the bloody rules and regulations. Val played it well, acting the spoiled and slightly vacant wife with aplomb.

  “There is a problem with this method,” Val said as she sat down at a restaurant table and removed her sunglasses. She spoke again in the ancient language, the lilting syllables lovely on her tongue. “We’re likely to attract every person willing to smuggle out antiquities, and who knows—the police might get word of it, too.”

  “Leon might have success on his end,” Demitri replied in the same language. “He’s a good listener.”

  “True, he doesn’t talk much. That must come from him being a soldier.”

  “Soldiers have been much the same over the centuries, haven’t they?”

  “Oh, they’re different deep down inside,” Val said. “But they live knowing that each minute might mean their death. I suppose that could make one quiet, and careful of to whom one talked.”

  “He talked to you.” Demitri sipped the coffee the waiter had brought, enjoying watching Val drink hers. She held the cup delicately, her red lips just touching the rim before she swallowed. He wanted to lick away the drop that lingered on her lips.

  Val shrugged. “I’m a servant of the Goddess of Love. People open up to me.”

  “Did Felicia?”

  “Yes, but not about the missing objects.” She smiled sweetly. “It was girl talk.”

  “I wish you had picked her brain about the key. I’d like to clear up this distraction so we can focus on saving you.”

  “But the thief took the necklace, too. I’d say that was more than just a distraction.”

  Demitri traced the rim of his cup. “The thief didn’t take the necklace. I did.”

  She blinked. “You did?”

  “I thought it would be safer with me instead of available for someone to steal.”

  “But what will happen to Leon’s brother when it never turns up again? It was the best piece in their collection of scraps.”

  “When we finish with it, I’ll return it. Or make certain it gets returned if I can’t do it myself.”

  “Because you might be hanging from your thumbs over an escarpment.” Val clenched her cup. “Demitri, why did you agree to do this? You could have let me go easily, but if you fail—if I fail—you die. I don’t want that.”

  “We won’t fail.”

  “Valenarian is a demon. The definition of demon is evil spirit. You can’t ever trust her.”

  “No, but I can trust you.” Demitri leaned forward and clasped her fingers loosely in his. “I also trust Aphrodite. She wants you to live. If she didn’t, she’d have killed you long, long ago, when she found us in the meadow on Mount Olympus.”

  Val flushed. “I remember that day.”

  “You think I don’t? It’s the day I betrayed you.”

  “You had to. Valenarian had to be stopped.”

  Demitri closed his other hand around hers, capturing her. “I wanted to keep you with me forever. I was arrogant enough to think I could control you. I loved you so much.”

  Val’s eyes were moist. “You loved me?”

  “With my heart and soul, body and mind. I was insane with it.”


  “And now?”

  He withdrew his hands. “I’m still arrogant enough to think I can tame you.”

  “Not me. Valenarian.”

  “Both of you. All of you.” He lowered his voice, though they were speaking a language no one had heard on earth in thousands of years. “I want to have you and Valenarian. I want Valenarian in my bed at night, to fuck as I like, and I want Valerie to hold hands with in a café. I want you both in the same woman. I’d do anything to have that.”

  “What about Leon?”

  Demitri sat back. “He’s mortal. Even if he is a shifter, he was born mortal and will age and die as mortals do.”

  “This makes you sad.”

  “I don’t like growing attached to mortals. It’s too difficult to let them go.”

  Val smiled wistfully. “I’m growing attached to him, too.”

  “As Val or as Valenarian?”

  “Both. If I hadn’t liked him so much when I talked to him that night, Valenarian would never have come out.” Her smile grew wider, and she licked her lips. “I’m glad she did.”

  Demitri tensed, but Val’s softer smile returned. Valerie was still with him.

  “You do like him,” she said, and she winked. “I know what I saw when I came into your bedroom this morning. Why didn’t you wake me up to let me watch?”

  Demitri remembered the warmth of lying beside Leon, kissing him. “Don’t worry, we didn’t do anything that would satisfy your voyeuristic appetite. We slept together, as tigers. Slept only.”

  Her smile widened. “I see. That’s why you were kissing him so hard.”

  Demitri refused to be embarrassed. “It seemed natural.”

  “I noticed he wasn’t reluctant to touch you. You must have just shifted back.”

  “In his human form, Leon does have the inhibitions of a mortal human of this century. He has difficulty violating his cultural taboos.”

  “Don’t analyze him, Demitri. Simply teach him how wonderful it is to ignore those taboos.” Dimples appeared in her cheeks. “And please let me watch.”