Hahaha…more fluff. I had too much down time at work today and this is what I came up with. *evil grin*

Next chapter we'll start getting into the plotline, I promise. I've already got half of it finished.

Bit nervous about getting into Evy's head since I am not British and haven't been married and so on and so forth. But I tried. Anyway, keep those reviews coming!  Any comments are appreciated.

Chapter Two

For weeks I was on what could only be described as a natural high. I couldn't believe that I was now a true Bembridge scholar, that they had contacted me, that I was going to be working at the British Museum at their request. That fact combined with the trust fund made my head spin. I had to be the happiest woman in the world; married to a wonderful, handsome man, had a great job and basically a free pass to the Ancient Egyptian world.

It took us only a few days after the meeting to find an adequate apartment. I wanted one close to work, but still in a safe, well, safer part of town and Rick just wanted one with locks, and plenty of them at that. We finally agreed on a two bedroom, quaint little place a couple of blocks away from the Museum. I thought it was perfect and Rick was just happy to get away from Jonathan, who had, in fact, decided to go back to England for a couple of months anyway. I was almost happy to see him go, even though sometimes I missed having him around.

Rick was much more fun however. After furnishing our little apartment, we had a great many laughs settling in as a real married couple. When I wasn't at work, or when we weren't preoccupied by other things, I was usually in the second bedroom, which we had made into a makeshift study. He would come in every once in a while, make me take a break, and then we would take a walk, or do something much more exciting.

I was in the study now, pouring over a book on Egyptian magic. For no reason other then I has an insatiable curiously about such things, I wanted to see if there was any misinformation written about the Hom-Dai. Making note of it, I would surely be able to make a case to prove them false if a new book was ever published.

It was a pleasant Saturday in late October, and my day off. Rick had roasted me for a good deal of time that morning, something about me wanting to "work." Humph. I didn't look at it as work. More like expanding my knowledge. He could do well to open a book once and while as far as I was concerned.

The clock on my desk struck twelve and I was suddenly brought into reality. I had been working for hours; perhaps it was time for a break. Throwing my pencil down, I stretched my arms overhead and yawned.

"Evy!" Rick's loud voice unexpectedly came from the kitchen.

I sighed and brought my arms down. "Yes?" I called back calmly, but rather irritated. I hated it when he shouted like that; the whole neighborhood could most likely hear.

"You want a grill cheese?"

A what? "What?" I pushed my chair aside and stood up, walking over to the door and pulling it open. Rick was standing in the middle of the kitchen holding a frying pan and a loaf of bread. "A what?" I repeated.

He broke into a grin. "You've never had a grilled cheese sandwich?"

I shook my head. "No. What is it, some silly American thing?"

Rick shrugged, turning away from me and walking over to where the stove was. He messed about a bit, finally turned it on, and then started moving around, plucking various things from around the kitchen. Now I was even more curious.

"You're not going to tell me?" I wined, walking over to where he was and standing directly behind him so that when he turned he would have to come face to face with me.

"Not if you call me a silly American," he grunted, not bothering to look at me.

Silly man, we both knew he didn't care a bit about that. "I did not either!" I exclaimed, punching him in the back.

In one swift motion, Rick spun around, grabbed me by both wrists and then held them up over my head. I looked at him in shock, my eyes widening. "That was the weakest punch I've ever felt," he said in disgust. Then to my surprise, he broke into a wide smile and kissed me on the cheek. "Didn't I teach you anything?"

My eyes narrowed. "Not in that department," I leered, slyly moving my body closer to his. If I couldn't use my hands, there were other ways of torturing him until he released me. Slowly, I pressed my hips against his and snuggled my chest against his own. I felt Rick's grip on my hands loosen a bit, but he was still holding them determinedly. Hmmm. Softly, I kissed the small area of his chest that was exposed due to a few buttons on his shirt being undone. When I looked back up, he was staring at me, his longing eyes piercing through my own. His breathing was becoming labored as he leaned closer to me, eventually touching our foreheads together.

"You hungry," he groaned, his voice hardly above a whisper.

"For what," was my insinuating reply.

My hands were immediately released from their captor and without so much as a pause, he had gathered me up in his arms. So much for the grilled whatever he was talking about. I barely had time to remind him to turn off the stove before he carted me away to the bedroom. It's a wonder he didn't drop me on top of the hot appliance. That would have been one sorry burn.

Not much got done that afternoon. I gave up my assiduous task of finding faults in the Hom-Dai myth in favor of something much better- making love to my husband. There was nothing superior in the world, as far as I was concerned. Whatever way it was, whether urgent and brash, or slow and tender, two things were certain: it was always ardent and both he and I were always ready and willing.

Now he was asleep, his arms tenderly wrapped around me, holding me safe from the entire world. Gently, I brushed some stray strands of hair from his eyes as I stared at him. He made a sound, but didn't wake up. I really wished he would; I missed him.

It felt like I had known this man for my entire life, when it truth it had been only a few months. A year ago, I would have criticized someone like myself; getting married after only knowing the person for a few weeks, not inhibited about affections towards their husband, completely impetuous and careless. But right now, I didn't care what I would have told me. I was happy with how things had turned out.

Although, we did have a lot of work cut out for us, making a marriage work for years to come. We drove each other crazy so often, and sometimes, I wondered how I'd fallen in love with him in the first place. Like when he threatens innocent people for no reason, or contemptuously yells at the waiter when we're out to dinner. Or when he walks around in nothing but those silly boxer shorts, or when he presumptuously placed his hands on my person in public. (Both of which I scarcely minded, but they just reminded me of how different we really were.) Ohh, or when he swore for no reason. Honestly, the man had no shame what so ever.

Rick mumbled something in his sleep, reminding me that he was here. I kissed his nose and he fell silent again, making me smile. I was once again reminded of why I was in love with him. He had not only saved me from certain death, he was dangerously handsome, refined- sometimes, sweet (again, sometimes), funny, nice when he wanted to be, a wonderful kisser, his smile was winning, he was marvelously tall, ooohhh…now we were back to handsome….mmmm.

I closed my eyes and savored the feeling of his arms around me. Ohh, he was amazingly strong as well. I felt so secure in his arms, like the rest of the world didn't matter. I sighed to myself. He and I were stuck together for life, whether we drove each other to insanity or not. And I had the rings to prove it.

This thought made me remember my engagement ring and I opened my eyes to peer at it. It must have been the millionth time I'd studied the thing. It was gold, naturally, with three good-sized turquoise stones on the front, which were, in fact, divided by small gold beads. Around the band were some interesting pictures that made no sense and around the inside of the band were some hieroglyphics of the same nature.

The ring was certainly very valuable, having come from Hamunaptra and laden with turquoise and gold. If only I could figure out what the symbols meant. I stared at it now, racking my brain. The pictures were odd; there was one on either side of the outlying turquoise stones; a man and one woman, their arms outstretched as if holding the precious elements. And the hieroglyphics were unsettling as well. As far as I could tell, they were just a bunch of insignificant ramblings, being loosely translated as: at the time the sun disappears. It was almost like I was missing another piece of the story, from the sound of it.

Without meaning to, I sighed heavily, thus waking my sleeping husband. He made a sound and then his eyes blinked open just as I met them with my own.

"What's wrong?" he asked immediately, his voice groggily from sleep, but his eyes alert.

I attempted a smile. "Nothing," I assured him.

He gave me a look like he didn't believe a word I was saying, but he chose not to press the subject. I gave him a kiss on the nose and then slid away from the warmth of his body. Rick made a whimpering sound as I climbed off the bed and started gathering my clothes from their various locations around the room.

"Do you want to go out for dinner?" I asked, stepping into my knickers and shimmying them up. A few months ago I would have been embarrassed to do so in front of him, now I didn't even care. I rather liked the fact that his eyes never left my body as I continued my reverse strip tease.

"Whatever you want," Rick replied languidly, not even bothering to move. 

"Well?"

Rick sighed and finally sat up, stretching his arms over his head. The sheet that had been covering from the waist down had since lowered and I found myself staring (perhaps drooling is a better choice of words) over his body. If he kept that up, there wasn't going to be dinner at all. It didn't help matters that I was standing in nothing but my bra and panties. They could quickly slip off and…

"Richard, come on," I said hurriedly, before I could change my mind. I was hungry and we needed to get something to eat before all of our energy was dissipated. Going out was the most sensible thing since, at the moment, neither of us would make it through cooking something if the other was around. In public we were less likely to start things up.

Well, I was less likely.

"If we leave now, we can avoid the crowd and be back before it's to terribly late," I added, hoping he would see through the lines.

Rick was out of bed and dressed before I could even find my skirt and blouse, which had, in fact, been thrown against the far wall. It took me another minute or two to fix my disheveled hair and find some shoes, and by the time I was ready Rick was standing intolerantly in the doorway, his arms folded across his chest.

"Take enough damn time?" he inquired roughly.

I swatted him on the arm with my pocketbook. "Come on," I said grabbing his hand and ignoring his language. Honestly, I was adding that to the list: the man had no patience…. for anything. And after all, patience was a virtue.

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