CHAPTER ELEVEN

As soon as they were out of earshot Evy and Rick turned to Charlotte, who actually took a backward step at their inquisitive expressions.

"Spill the beans, Charlie. What happened out there?" Evy said, grabbing her cousins arm and drawing her into the dining room.

"Yeah, something odd must have happened. Why would Ardeth..er..tell you off?" Rick asked, following closely behind the two women.

"Well, I don't really know," Charlotte replied, shrugging. "I was a bit rude I suppose, but he was rude to me first. All I did was respond."

"Did you shout at him?" Rick asked as they sat down, frowning as he tried to find out what had set his old friend off.

"Maybe a little bit," Charlotte said evasively.

"In front of his men?" Evy prompted, sitting next to Charlotte and looking almost pleased.

"Well, yes. Why?"

"That would be enough to set him off," Rick murmured, smiling as he thought of a mere woman disrespecting the Med-jai chieftain.

"But that's all? It doesn't sound like the Ardeth we know," Evy mused.

"He seemed nice at first, just after he rescued me. But then he kissed me and suddenly became all rude and..."

"What?!" Rick burst out, his mouth hanging open. "He kissed you? Ardeth?"

Charlotte went red at the intense scrutiny she was getting from both of them and nodded. Rick grinned and Evy giggled.

"Ardeth kissed her!" Evy said. "That's not something I would expect him to do. As for him being rude, it must have been something to do with the kiss."

"Yeah, like he felt guilty," Rick put in, piecing together the actual events with an uncanny skill.

"Well, that's not my fault! I never asked him to kiss me! And then he chases me and throws me over his knee and starts slapping me like he has every right to do so! If I was a man I'd have killed him!" Charlotte was getting angrier by the second as she thought about the rough treatment she had received.

"If you were a man it would never have happened," Rick pointed out. "I must ask Ardeth about this later on," he added, smiling as he thought of the discomfort he could cause his stoic friend.

"Don't you dare!" Charlotte said, shocked.

"Rick? You won't will you?" Evy pressed him, her eyes telling him that he could ask his friend anything he liked, as long as it wasn't in front of her cousin.

"Oh, no, okay. Of course not," he said. He cleared his throat and changed the subject. "When's Jonathan arriving? Shouldn't he have been here by now?"

"He's going to be here in two days. Something about being delayed by the museum," Evy explained.

"Yeah. Or being delayed by his gambling buddies," Rick said sarcastically, receiving a sharp look from Evy.

Maria bustled into the room at that moment with a huge tureen of stew, and then Ardeth and some of his men reappeared and the discussion was forgotten. Billy was glowing from all the attention he was receiving from the strange men and he obviously enjoyed being in so much male company. Charlotte felt sad for him. He had no mother and father anymore, just her, and she couldn't provide the father figure he needed. As much as she might dislike Ardeth Bay, she had to admit he was good for her little brother and decided that she would let Billy spend as much time as he wanted with him before she asked Evy about how they could get home. She knew Evy and Rick were to be here for two months, perhaps more if the dig took more time, but she wanted to be back in more familiar surroundings after her ordeal. Perhaps she would wait to broach the subject until Jonathan had arrived. Her feelings may have changed by then.

The dinner was a pleasant affair, the men laughing as they spoke about some of their past exploits and about how they had tried to kill Rick and Evy. It surprised Charlotte that they could laugh about such a thing, but she found herself smiling and relaxing in the infectious atmosphere.

It was dark by the time she noticed that Billy was leaning limply on Ardeth's shoulder, his eyes already half closed as he tried to fight sleep so he could spend more time with his new hero. Ardeth didn't seem to mind, holding Billy as naturally as if he were his own son, one hand patting his back. Evy had long since put Libby to bed and Charlotte would normally have taken Billy right up with her, but she didn't want to deprive him of this time. She stood up and moved around the table toward him, reaching out so that she could lift Billy up and take him upstairs to bed. Ardeth shook his head.

"I will take him up if you would show me where to put him? He is too heavy for you," he said, standing. "Besides, if you take him away from me he may wake up fully and decide he does not want to sleep."

"Okay, but he isn't really very heavy, you know. I'll show you his room," Charlotte said and led him out of the room and up the stairs, aware of several pairs of eyes watching their progress.

"He is enamoured of the golden haired English girl," Khalid told them in a hushed voice, grinning from ear to ear when he saw them start chuckling.

"My cousin said that he actually kissed her," Evy said, her words a question of sorts.

Rachid and Khalid both nodded, getting a shocked look from Amir. "Our chieftain did not act in an inappropriate manner?" he asked, frowning.

Khalid shook his head. "No. He likes this girl and she did not complain when he kissed her. But he did not touch her in any other way," he explained.

"Yes he did! He beat her, didn't he?" Evy asked.

"Yes he did. I was not sure if that form of punishment was fitting for a westerner, but he did have every right to inflict it. She spoke to him as no-one would ever dare!" Rachid said, smiling as he thought of the delicate girl shouting at his leader.

"No woman you mean?" Evy said, disgusted by his condoning of Ardeth's actions.

"No, Mrs O'Connell. No person would dare speak to our leader in such a way and expect to remain unharmed. A man would probably be whipped for it. A woman....your cousin got off lightly, believe me." Rachid shrugged almost apologetically, but his eyes were deadly serious.

"As we have said, he likes this girl," Khalid put in, "but I do not think he feels it is right to pursue her as she is related to you."

"Well, we don't really have any say in the matter. It's up to Charlotte," Evy said.

"Yeah. Mind you, she doesn't seem very fond of Ardeth right now. I think she'd like to give him the same treatment she received at his hands," Rick said, smiling and shaking his head. "I'm going to have a quick word with Ardeth though. You know, ask him what he thought he was doing and what his intentions are now."

Khalid laughed. "You are a wicked man, O'Connell, to want to cause our leader distress!"

Soon they were all laughing and talking about the man they knew Ardeth to be, and how things might change if he actually made a serious play for Charlotte.

Charlotte showed Ardeth where to put the small boy, leading him into Billy's room and clearing the few toys the boy had brought with him off the bed and turning the cover back. After Ardeth had carefully laid him down she took his shoes and socks off and then covered him up, deciding not to disturb him too much by taking his clothes off. Ardeth watched her fuss over her little brother and frowned. He would like her to fuss over him just as much, but with her being a relative of the O'Connells...he didn't know how serious he would want to get with her. What if he tired of her after having her, what then? It had happened with women before, although they were casual relationships and sometimes women whose entire purpose in life had been to bring pleasure to men.

Charlotte was entirely different. If he tired of her he may be at risk of losing the O'Connell's friendship by leaving her. Then again, what if he decided he wanted to be more serious? Would O'Connell agree to a bond between the two of them? It seemed an impossible situation. One thing he did know was that he could see this woman having his children and he had never been able to imagine that with any other female. Plus Charlotte was untouched, of that he was certain. A true man did not dally with such a female unless his intentions were honourable.

Charlotte straightened up and turned toward him, looking and feeling on edge being alone with him. She gave a polite smile and went to move past him, but he caught her arm in a firm grip and stopped her progress, pulling her so that she was standing in front of him.

"What are you doing?" she gasped, trying to tug herself free, unwilling to be this close to this particular man again.

He frowned and held her tighter, not saying a word as his eyes dropped to her mouth. He couldn't help himself. No matter what he had tried to tell himself about keeping his distance, he simply couldn't resist tasting her again. He bent and took her mouth so swiftly that she didn't have a hope of avoiding him...and then she didn't want to.

The feelings he had evoked when he had kissed her before came to her more quickly this time and her eyes closed as she savoured the texture of his full lips caressing hers, urging her lips to part for him and then delving inside to tangle his tongue with hers. His hands lifted her arms up so that they were around his neck and then he ran his hands over her waist and up her ribcage, stopping just short of her breasts and spreading his fingers wide, the tips of them gently nudging the swell of her. All of a sudden he picked her up and lifted her on a level with him, crushing her against his hard body and deepening the kiss yet further, until she gave a small moan as she tried to get closer still to the tormenting pleasure of his kiss. He tried desperately to draw back from her, tried to end the kiss that was heating up second by second, but he found himself unable to stop, his mouth burrowing into hers more firmly as her arms held him tight around the neck.

Some small sliver of sense told him to get out of this room so they didn't wake the child up, but he still couldn't stop the kiss. He found himself walking out of the room still holding her, his steps automatic and stiff as though he were one of the undead. The kiss continued as they stood on the landing and he had no idea where it would have headed if Evy hadn't come upstairs to check on Libby. Her gasp of shock made Ardeth's eyes flick open instantly and finally gave him the wherewithal to release the woman he was holding so tightly.

Charlotte clutched at his shoulders as he lowered her back to her feet and he kept his arms around her to give her extra support. Her eyes shot to Evy as the other woman started speaking and it took her a few seconds for her hearing to come back, so dazed was she. By the time she had regained her senses Evy had given up trying to make her listen and was talking to Ardeth instead.

"I was just coming to check on Libby. We were..er...wondering where you two had gone. Is everything alright?"

"Everything is fine Evelyn. We will join you in a moment," Ardeth told her, his voice surprisingly calm, almost as if they hadn't just been found necking at the top of the stairs. Charlotte kept her eyes fixed to his chest which was directly in front of her, embarrassed beyond belief that Evy had caught her with Ardeth...like that! She saw Evy move away out of the corner of her eye and let out a shaky breath, wondering what to do now. The fingertips that tilted her chin up made her shiver, and she still couldn't meet his eyes.

"Why do you avoid my eyes? Are you ashamed?" Ardeth asked her, staring intently at her flushed face.

"I shouldn't have...you shouldn't have..." she stammered, trying to draw her face away from his hand. His grip remained firm.

"No, we should not have. But we have and I do not know if I can stop now," Ardeth said, his free hand stroking over her back. "I enjoy touching you far too much."

She finally raised her eyes to his and was caught in the dark depths of his gaze, seeing the emotions flaring there. "Evy will tell Rick," she whispered, biting her lip.

"Perhaps. It does not matter. I will talk to O'Connell if the need arises. Come, we should go and join them," he said, moving her ahead of him and guiding her politely down the stairs. Evy came back out of Libby's room and followed them, her amused eyes taking in Ardeth's hand on Charlotte's back.

They joined Rick and the other men and Charlotte sat down, trying to be inconspicuous, but her flaming face made Rick give her some unusual looks. "Everything okay Charlotte?"

Her flush got worse as all eyes turned to her. Evy hid another smile and spoke up before Charlotte could say a word. "She's just got back from being kidnapped, darling. I'm sure she's feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment."

"Yeah, of course, she would be. Sorry, Charlotte, dumb question huh?" Rick said, smiling broadly at his own seeming stupidity, and the moment was forgotten as the others joined in and talked about general topics.

Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Evy, giving a tentative smile when her cousin smiled reassuringly and moved to sit next to her.

"Don't worry so much. Rick and the other men probably won't notice the way Ardeth looks at you when he thinks no-one's watching," Evy said with an even wider smile. "We've all been there at one time or another. Take my relationship with Rick for example. I couldn't stand the sight of him when I first met him, but that all changed very quickly and we couldn't stop staring at each other. I still can't quite believe he's mine. I'm sure you and Ardeth will feel the same."

"I don't think so. We hardly know each other really....."

"It looked like you knew each other very well upstairs," Evy pointed out, her eyes twinkling at Charlotte's embarrassment.

"Yes, well....he's a bit overwhelming. They all are. The way his men look at me sometimes...."

"You have to expect that. They don't fully trust any westerners, except us. And even then, they still give us wary glances. They've got a heavy duty on their shoulders and unfortunately it's mostly people from our neck of the woods that put their lives at risk. They'll get used to you." Evy frowned when she saw her young cousins face drop and her eyes mist over. "What's wrong?"

"What if I'm not here long enough for them to get used to? What if he doesn't want anything from me except....you know..."

"Ardeth wouldn't do that," Evy said, her frown deepening. "At least I don't think he would, not to someone who was related to us. His people generally take relationships very seriously, the only time they actually...well...dally with a female is if she's there to be paid for that purpose. Anyway, you're going to be here for a couple of months aren't you? You don't want to go home do you?"

"I don't know. The thought of being in my own house again is almost irresistible. I don't know if I like this country at all, or the people. The only ones I've met haven't exactly been warm and welcoming," Charlotte said, looking as weary as she felt.

"But surely Ardeth and his men were better than the men who kidnapped you?"

"The men who kidnapped me were English, but their helpers were Egyptians. For a while I felt relieved to be with the Med-jai, but then...then it didn't feel any safer to be with them. It doesn't feel safe to be with him." She frowned as she shot a quick glance over to where Ardeth was sitting. "He seems to hate me after he kisses me and I honestly don't know how I feel about him."

"Hmm. I suppose it's the romantic in me, but I couldn't help certain images running through my head when I saw him kissing you," Evy said, looking at the tall, dark man who was talking animatedly to her husband. "He's a good friend and you're my cousin. It would be nice to see the two of you together."

"I only met him three days ago, so don't expect to hear the sound of wedding bells," Charlotte mumbled, feeling annoyed that she was going to be linked to Ardeth just because they had been caught kissing. "Not that I'd even consider it, even if he did ever ask. Which he won't, because he dislikes me as much as I dislike him!"

Evy stared at her, stunned by this little outburst, quiet as it was. "Dislike isn't the word I'd use to describe how you two feel about each other. I know he shocked you when he...er...punished you, but..."

"Punished me? He hit me really hard! It really hurt! No-one has ever hit me before, and all because I raised my voice to him!"

"Well, yes, I know how this would look to anyone from our country, but you have to realise that they have a different set of standards to us..." Evy tried to placate her cousin.

"Yes, they have no respect and no control when it comes to women! As far as they're concerned women are worth less than the horses and camels that they ride. Why would anybody want to stay in a country like that?" Charlotte realised her voice had started rising and lowered it with some effort before the men started noticing. "This isn't like me. It certainly hasn't been what I expected these last few days...." Charlotte broke off and wiped her hand unobtrusively over her eyes. "I'm sorry, I suppose I'm a little emotional right now. I'm tired that's all, I think I should get some sleep."

"Maybe that's for the best. I know how these little dramas can take the stuffing right out of you! You go on up and I'll make your excuses," Evy said, standing up and patting Charlotte's shoulder.

Ardeth turned his head, ending his conversation abruptly, and watched as Charlotte stood up and walked slowly out of the room and toward the staircase. As Evy joined them he forced his eyes away from the other girl. "Is your cousin alright?"

Evy smiled. "She's just tired, a bit emotional. A lot's happened in the last few days." She gave Rick a quick glance and then a wicked gleam entered her eyes. "You could always go and ask her for yourself, if you're concerned?"

Ardeth frowned as he thought about that, not realising that Evy was purposely sending him off to be alone with Charlotte. "Perhaps I should," he said absently and got up from the table, leaving the room without another word.

"There was no need for him to go to her," Khalid pointed out as he watched his leader disappear from sight up the staircase.

"Yeah, you could have seen if she was okay, honey. Why send Ardeth?" Rick asked her, his eyes narrowing suspiciously on her face. "What evil plan are you hatching?"

"No evil plan. I just think that they could benefit from some time alone. After all, I interrupted them earlier, so its only fair!"

"Interrupted them? When? Doing what?" Rick asked, his eyes gleaming with interest.

Evy looked at the avid gazes of Ardeth's men and smiled smugly. "Ah, the things you miss when you sit around and talk man-talk!"

Rick jabbed her gently in the ribs. "Come on, come on!"

"Yes, we must know what our great leader has done this time!" Rachid said eagerly, grinning at Khalid as they both realised the hold they could have over their friend with this gossip.

"Well, when I went to check on Libby I found those two...sort of twined together at the top of the stairs. They seemed a little shocked when I appeared, I can't think why."

"Ardeth sure doesn't waste any time does he?" Rick mused, looking at Khalid and Rachid and hoping for some enlightenment.

"The elders have been thinking that he would never choose a wife," Khalid obliged.

"Yes, but they will be relieved to find out he has found the right woman at last," Rachid added with a shrug.

"Won't they mind that she's not one of your own people?" Evy asked, wrinkling her brow in confusion.

"No. For the Med-jai warriors it is not necessary to keep the blood pure. We may choose who we wish. All that is important is that we continue our line," Khalid said with a smile. "I am sure Ardeth will enjoy continuing his line with the English girl!"

"That remains to be seen. Charlotte's in just about the right mood to throttle him," Evy said, biting her lip.

"And you sent him upstairs to her? Are you mad?" Rick said, shooting wary glances at the staircase.

Evy shrugged. "She said they disliked each other but, in my experience, people who dislike each other don't keep kissing each other. In fact, I bet that's exactly what they're doing right now!"

"Well, well. For someone who confesses to want Ardeth's head on a plate, Charlotte sure seems to be able to forgive easily!" Rick said, marvelling at seeing Ardeth as a human for a change.

The sudden loud crash from upstairs and the raised voices made them all stop talking suddenly and stand up. "Or maybe she doesn't forgive so easily?" Rick said, looking concerned when another crash made itself heard. "I think we'd better go and stop whatever's happening before the house comes down around our ears!"