O'Connell pushed aside the door and stepped out into the cool air feeling the frost of dessert night wash over him. He was met with the view of an endless sea of stars and the large half moon off to the east. Its light was eerie, casting bleak shadows across the figures who slumbered silently. Glancing off into the distance, Rick realized that the large boat had been "parked" for the night. Apparently Izzy was just as exhausted as the rest of them.
Rick spotted Jonathan first, slightly snoring, lying as close to the fire pit as the man could get without catching a few lit embers. The large diamond was wrapped in one arm and a half snoring Alex was under the other.
O'Connell's eyes lingered on his son for a moment and his heart ached inside his chest. Alex was filthy from head to toe, and a few bumps and bruises peeked from under his matted and stained polo shirt and cargo shorts. His hair was a mess, sprawled out in spiky clumps, and each time he snuggled into his uncle, there was a small patter of sand raining on the hardwood floor.
Rick took a step toward his brother-in-law, glancing around for any signs of his wife. When he realized she wasn't anywhere to be found, he turned his attention back to Jonathan. He lightly shook the man, in hopes that doing so wouldn't wake Alex.
The Brit jumped up suddenly, "Wha-? I say, what's going on?"
Rick winced as Alex groaned, but appeared to only roll over.
"Jonathan." he spoke finally, causing the man to squint at him. Jonathan's gaze was distant, the sudden pull from his sleep making him groggy and unfocused. His eyes traveled around the dirigible and then finally landed on O'Connell. He smirked.
"Home already?" he gave a goofy smile.
"Where's Evie?" Rick asked, ignoring the previous question. His voice lowered, and his brief second of looking away from John probably had condemned him, "I need to talk to her."
Jonathan had opened his mouth to answer on his brother-in-law's question, but his jaw clicked shut on the second statement. The grogginess seemed to vanish instantly. "I don't like that tone of voice, old boy."
O'Connell sighed. "Just tell me where she went."
Jonathan seemed hesitant at first but then shook his head. He ushered behind him, "I do believe I overheard her muttering something or other about needing a wash. When she saw that diminutive oasis she insisted that we set up camp."
"Yeah, that sounds like Evie," O'Connell mumbled to himself. He turned to leave, but his feet remained stationary. He hesitantly turned back, glancing down at Alex once more.
Jonathan looked from Rick to the lad, "He's fine and dandy, old boy; just thrown for a bit a loop. I'm quite positive it's nothing a first-class night's rest won't alleviate."
Rick felt his head nodding. Without another word, he turned to go and search for his wife.
The small oasis John had indicated was a beautiful little sanctuary, the only noise one would hear being the peaceful sounds of nature. Though not as large and vast as Ahm Shere, the place held its own against the infinite sand dunes of the Egyptian desert. Shading palm trees dropped the temperature of the area by almost ten degrees, and perhaps there was another five degrees decrease due to the pool in the center of it all.
More than likely, this is where he would find Evelyn.
He pushed aside the green branches and slightly sunk into the damp sand with each passing step. Suddenly chilled, he rubbed his hands together to keep warm and pressed onward to the miniature pool. The water was lucid enough that he could see a few small fish swimming peacefully, and the bulky trees and broad bushes left the pond in a discrete area. It was a high-quality choice for a person to bathe in, considering the other option was to not bathe at all.
A light humming caught O'Connell by surprise and his eyes panned over the surface of the water. A distinct outline was halfway submerged in the calm waters about twenty yards away. Evelyn's body stood out in the moonlight, the light glow making her skin sparkle as it reflected across the water droplets on her nude figure.
Her hair clung to her back, obviously freshly shampooed for it fashioned an almost ghostly white highlight atop her scalp. She was coated from her neck down to her belly button in suds, but the bubbles were certainly not enough to hide the more appealing features.
O'Connell just stood and stared at what he thought was a dream. She wasn't Evelyn O'Connell, she was a little water nymph; a fairy peacefully playing by moonlight.
He continued to watch her as she scooped up a handful of water and poured it down her front side letting the suds and bubbles go with it. He heard her sigh contently and continue the process of rinsing herself until only her skin was left. His eyes somewhat glazed over and then he wasn't so cold anymore. Somewhere deep inside him a hunger growled and tightened every part of him.
He could have gazed at her until the end of time and it wouldn't have been sufficient. Forever itself would not be long enough.
When his vision snapped abruptly, he never really saw it coming. Suddenly his thoughts reverted back to the dream, and the voice of Evelyn inside his head was blaming him, cursing at him, and shouting at him all over again. He could have killed himself for being so greedy towards her. To think he was actually picturing the two of them bathing together… What was he, some kind of wound up toy that sprung into action at the sight of his luscious enigma of a wife? Had he no self control? Sadly the answer to that question was a resounding yes.
He knew what he had to do, however the thought of ruining her peaceful evening gave him doubts. He considered waiting until morning to explain, but even that wasn't a possibility. She would return from her bath only to crawl in bed with him…
If he made some sort of noise, he hadn't heard it himself. Whether the source was or wasn't him didn't seem to matter though, because Evelyn had heard something none the less. She stopped in mid-motion and turned her body so that he got the full view of her. Rick felt the breath catch in his throat as her chocolate eyes landed on his.
Evelyn's eyes were slightly wide in surprise, but that effect was misplaced in an instant. Her eyes seemed to glaze over and her mouth slowly closed, evolving into a knowing smile.
He knew that look; he had received it the night of their honeymoon multiple times. Over the past seven or eight years of marriage, this particular smile was soon followed by O'Connell carrying her up the grand staircase of their home and eagerly into their master bedroom.
"It's just an oasis… darling." Her smile widened, exposing her beautiful teeth.
O'Connell didn't respond; he just continued to watch her intently as though she would disappear into the cloud of aurora that surrounded her. He was spellbound, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.
His lack of a response caused her face to falter slightly and she leisurely started towards him. When she got close enough to grab his hand, she gave it a slight tug, welcoming him in with her. He tried to refuse the astonishing offer, but Evelyn was too persistent. In a matter of moments, he also was up to his waste in water. The bitter cold bit into him and he sucked in a quick and pained breath as sore muscles protested. Evelyn giggled and moved closer to him.
"It's not so bad, you just have to get used to it."
He looked down at her once more, the detailed groves in her exposed figure even more enhanced at the proximity. Evelyn knew he was staring, and she didn't seem to mind in the least. Her control over his thoughts actually gave her a bold confidence.
She stepped toward him, running a hand from his lower stomach all the way to the brown suspender straps on his shoulders. Lingering there for a moment, her hand slid underneath the belt like material and slightly pulled on them until they both fell off his shoulders.
She slowly pushed her mouth into the nape of his neck and gave it a longing kiss as a distraction. Her fingers then moved downward from his shoulders, closing in on the buttons of his shirt. One by one they were undone, until she was able to pull off his shirt all together and cleverly toss it behind her. Evelyn continued to kiss his along the strong structures of his neck and her fingertips grazed his torso soothingly, carefully noting the placement and sensitivity of what lay under those bandages.
He needed to stop her; this wasn't right. He tried to get his bearings, tried to bring the focus back around, but even he wasn't that good. Under normal circumstances he would have easily given in to the sweet surrender of her. But he couldn't this time. This time was different because this time had to be different.
"Evelyn, honey…" he murmured, closing his eyes. His voice had dropped a few decibels, but that was no surprise.
She started humming again, her voice soft and sweet as always.
She was grinning victoriously as her hands glided up and slipped around his neck, and with a quick tug the gap between their bodies was no more. Every curve, every ounce of her soft skin was against him now, and the feeling almost undid him entirely.
Evelyn tilted her head upward as a content sigh of pleasure escaped her lips. Her thigh lightly grazed across his just above his kneecap, and in response he pressed his nose into her hair before allowing a second, more sensual moan to echo across the oasis.
It was so painful for Rick, to have to stop her just when all of it was getting started. If it wasn't the fact that she was forcing her nude body onto him that gave it away, it was most certainly the corporeal noises coming from her throat.
"Evie," his breath was husky now as he finally began trying to gain some control. "Honey…s-stop…"
And regretfully, she did.
She paused and pulled her head back to meet his gaze. Freight and embarrassment settled over her features and she scanned over him to see if she could discover why this moment and the mood of the evening was suddenly shattered in that one word.
O'Connell knew from this point on that the whole thing was going to go downhill. He suddenly wished he hadn't told her to stop, and suddenly wished that he could just kiss her right back and all of this would just disappear. Fate, however, had other ideas.
~BEF
