Caress The Dark God [Scions of the Ankh 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Toni L. Meilleur Page A

summoned him, more than likely she had heard it too.
    “What?” The word came out confused and she turned her head to look at him. “Did you hear something? I thought I heard someone talking.”
    Anubis knew his frustration must be palpable and Tessa stepped away from him breathing heavily. “We should probably…” She let the sentence trail off as she found the soap and began lathering herself.
    “This isn’t over, Tessa.”
    “I didn’t come here for a tryst.” Her movements became jerky and he knew she was frustrated as well.
    “Let me finish giving you pleasure.”
    She paused in her ministrations and he picked up on the bolt of desire that went through her. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I don’t know you and yet here I am.” She did a quick glance at the shower. “You must think I’m some sort of slut.” She mumbled the last part to herself.
    “I think very highly of you, Tessa.” Anubis frowned, not liking the idea that she feared he thought her any less than a beautiful and intriguing woman.
    “Here’s what you know about me.” Tessa looked at him. “Within a very short space of time from the moment of meeting you, I was seduced like that,” she snapped her fingers, “into letting you almost kiss me. The very next day I’m naked and in the shower with you. Yes, Torian, I could see why you think so highly of me.” She turned away, washing the soap from her body.
    “That’s your version.” He turned her around to face him. “My version goes like this. A beautiful woman, a doctor, no less, comes halfway around the world to help out a friend she thinks is in need. This same woman volunteers to slave the night away trying to help people in a foreign land where she barely knows anyone. I’m willing to bet, beautiful lady, that you don’t take the time to relax and enjoy what life has to offer.” As he said the words, he thought how ironic it was that he had not appreciated his own life. He had grown weary of it, exhausted from living it alone. He saw in her a reluctance to reach out, and knew it stemmed from a relationship that had been very negative. “I’m not asking you to make promises, just enjoy yourself. With me.”
    “Torian, I have nothing to offer you. I will stay and help with this medical emergency, but then I’m leaving. I can’t be anyone’s plaything ever again.” Anubis was shocked at the hurt that echoed in her words. She exited the shower, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around herself. “I don’t know what I was thinking.” She grabbed another towel and began to blot at her hair. “This shouldn’t have happened.”
    “I don’t think of you as a plaything.” Anubis was out of the shower as quickly as he could without causing her alarm. He wasn’t letting her get away from him this easily. “I want to—”
    “I want to stop this before it goes any further.”
    Anubis? Jonathan’s voice entered his mind again.
    I will be but a moment . He laid a hand on Tessa’s shoulder. “Fair enough. I need you here right now, Tessa. But I am warning you, this isn’t over. You want me and yet you try to deny it.”
    “I don’t need this in my life right now.” She backed away to the door. “I can’t deal with entanglements right now. Even casual ones.”
    She left the bathroom and Anubis let her go. For now. Casual, indeed, he thought as he mentally dressed. Nothing he did was casual. Every move had a purpose. Tessa had awakened something in him that had been dead a long time: The desire to enjoy what life had to offer. Once he set his sights on prey, it was as good as caught. Tessa just didn’t know it yet.
     
    * * * *
     
    “What have you found?” Anubis was still frustrated from the incident in his shower. He hoped Thoth had a good reason for interrupting him. Thoth raised an eyebrow at his agitated tone, but didn’t comment on it.
    “While going over records, I found a possibility.” Thoth picked up a heavy tome filled with records from