Soundrise by Lynn Voedisch

Author:Lynn Voedisch
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fiction Studio Books
Published: 2020-07-08T13:06:45+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

She smelled like earth, like something untamed and forever fecund. The scent had a spiritual note, too, reminiscent of a touch of frankincense or myrrh or something from an incense pot at a high mass. There was nothing floral about Sekhmet, just an aroma of amber and musk, of power and lust. Derek moved closer to breathe it all in.

She rolled her head along her shoulders, as if loosening the muscles in her long, slender neck. Derek had a fierce urge to touch the dark tangles of her thick hair and pull a strand to his nose, his eyes, his open mouth. He resisted, knowing he was in jeopardy getting so close to her, but he needed to know just who this woman was. From a distance, she seemed too seamless, too strong, too much like a true goddess—whatever that meant to him. Up close, where he could see her perfect skin, Sekhmet was only more divine.

Her eyes were wide open, pulling in his gaze. The onyx pupils and amber irises made her look cat-like, as if the eyes were gathering all available light before pouncing on a gentle bird. For all the smoothness of the skin surrounding her eyes, what was inside her gaze was older than anything Derek had ever seen. In the depths of her eyes, she was primeval, with memories of the first days on earth etched within the retinas. Derek felt a tremble work up his back.

“How old are you?” he asked, still staring into her eyes. Sekhmet laughed, throwing off the spell, becoming merely human again.

“That’s an extremely rude question to ask a woman,” she said, taunting.

“You’re not what you seem,” Derek said, persisting.

She smiled as if she were dealing with a small child, and took another swallow of wine. “Derek, I came here to ask if you would like to take Stonegate’s place.”

Derek squinted, trying to figure where she was going with this line of thought. “The data’s gone . . . ” he started to say.

“I don’t think so,” she interrupted. “First of all, I have a great deal of the original data in Egypt. Second, I think you are bright enough to recover something from the erased disk.”

“That the feds took.”

“Which I can get back.”

Derek blinked.

“Trust me, Derek,” she said, running her hand up his forearm. The hairs stood up in shock, and bits of electricity hit his groin.

“You threatened us with cobra venom, for God’s sake! Trust you?” he said, standing up, unsteady on his feet.

Boone snorted on the other bed, rolling over and beginning to snore like a cartoon bear. Derek knew the sound. It meant Boone was having trouble breathing and would soon be awake.

Sekhmet shot up and grabbed Derek around the waist, pulling him close to her so that his face was just inches away. Her breath smelled like sage leaves. Her eyes gave off a dark light. Her breasts burrowed into his rib cage.

“Listen, Derek,” she said, her soft lips forming the words the careful way a singer creates sweet notes.

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