Narcissus Darling was no horsewoman, and riding a lively stallion essentially bareback, across the shifting dunes of the Sahara desert was no easy task even for a seasoned rider. She had only a saddle blanket to sit upon as the movement of the animal made her bottom, thighs and lower back ache with pain. Every time the poor beast would slow it's pace she would prod it viciously with the spiked heels of her leather boots.
She had the where with all to at least know to head in the direction of the rising sun as continuing in that way would eventually get her closer to greenery and the city of Marrakesh. She moaned as the brightness of the sun rose above the dunes, chiding herself for not having stolen a water bag as she escaped into the night.
The pain in her lower extremities had become excruciating, forcing her to finally dismount the tired beast. She released the reigns, bending forward, supporting herself with her hands on her knees trying to stretch out her spine. She took a step backwards, suddenly losing her balance as the stiletto heels of her boots offered her no real support in the sand.
Narcissus' arms went up, windmilling as she tried to prevent herself from falling, and that was when the horse reared up; her sudden movement spooking it. It took off at a gallop, disappearing over the dunes into the desert, heading in the direction of the sun.
"Komm weider her, du blöde biest!" she shrieked in German. "Verdammt...verdammt, verdammt_come back you stupid beast! Damn! Damn damn!"
She finally calmed herself as she dabbed the perspiration from her forehead with the hem of her blouse, then ran her fingers through her hair trying to tidy it. She clicked her tongue in further annoyance as she felt a nail snag in the strands of her hair, knowing that it would soon break. Narcissus let out a long sigh, then started walking in what she hoped was the right direction.
.
It was near midday when Napoleon saw a figure stagger at the top of a dune then fall, rolling down and landing in a heap on the road in front of his jeep; pulling to a stop, he jumped out grabbing his canteen as he headed to their assistance.
As he saw the curves of the body, it became obvious that it was a woman lying face down in the sand; her long blond locks strewn wildly about her. The white blouse she was wearing torn, her tight khaki pants ripped and dirty as well. She had long black leather stiletto-heeled boots covering her feet; not exactly the attire one would wear when traipsing through the Sahara?
He rolled her over to her back, at first checking her throat for a pulse, then brushing the hair from her face to lift her head to give her a drink of water; it was then he received a surprise.
"Narcissus Darling, " he whispered, "fancy meeting you here? He gave her a quick but gentlemanly frisk, finding nothing on her. Then held the canteen to her mouth, letting her drink her fill until she did so too quickly and began to choke.
"Easy there Darling, slow down." He helped her to her feet, then held her as they walked back to his jeep. She sat in the passenger seat beside him, saying nothing until she regained her composure.
"So you going to tell me what you're doing wandering around alone in the desert?" he asked.
"I must look a sight, and oh will you look at that, " she moaned," I've broken a nail!"
"Narcissus, you nearly fry to death under the sun and you're worried about a broken a fingernail?" He tried not to laugh at her drama.
"How would you understand, you're a man. We women have to work at these things you know? Beauty just doesn't happen like magic!" she groused, snapping her finger.
"I'm sure it doesn't?" he smiled , "but you still haven't answered my question, what were you doing wandering in the desert?" This time he pulled his Walther from it's holster, aiming it at her.
She hesitated, staring at the weapon for a moment, " You wouldn't shoot a girl would you, especially one you just rescued?" She batted her eyelashes at him.
"I would if one keeps testing my patience." He smiled back at her, batting his lashes in imitation of her.
She moaned loudly, "Alright I suppose if you must know, my transportation broke down in the desert, on the way to Algiers."
"That wouldn't have happened to have been a truck with a broken axle would it?"
"Why ugh, yes it was, and how did you know that?"
"Don't try my patience any further Narcissus, where's Illya? I know you had him and where's the diamonds?"
She sat crossing her arms in front of her in a huff. "I have no idea where your friend is and that's the truth and the diamonds...my beautiful diamonds are gone!" she was whining now, almost like a spoiled child. "Please Napoleon, you have to believe me when I tell you that I don't know where the Russian is. Now could you just please give me a lift and drop me off back in Marrakesh, I simply must have a bath and clean up my atrocious appearance? Maybe you'd care to join me?" she asked him coyly.
"So she could actually think of someone other than herself," he thought, remembering his last attempt to seduce her resulted in failure, as she lived up to the name Narcissus, the legendary Greek who was in love with himself. Just like her namesake; it was always about her.
It was all that Napoleon could do to keep from laughing at her attempts to flirt with him, giving her no response to her invitation; he simply sighed as he started up the jeep, keeping his gun in his hand as he drove off heading back in the direction of Marrakesh. He had no intention of letting her lying face out of his sight. She knew where his partner was; he had no doubt about that, and where Illya was, he was certain to find those diamonds. He had to ensure that this Thrush femme fatale did not get to either of them first.
It was dark when they arrived back in the city, and as there was still no signal from Illya's homing device, Napoleon decided it best just to return to his room at the Mamounia Hotel. It being the former the palace of the crown prince of Morocco suited Narcissus' ego sufficiently and upon entering the room; she went directly to the bathroom to shower, moaning that the dry air was wreaking havoc on her skin.
Napoleon ordered room service while she bathed, a meal of couscous and bastilla, pita bread, dates and a salad, as well as plenty of fruits and water, foregoing the mint tea. Then looking at Narcissus' ruined clothing, he followed up with another call to the hotel concierge for assistance, managing to get a change of clothes for her. Though not the skin tight attire she preferred, a traditional Arabic galabeya dress and headscarf would due for now, along with a pair of functional leather slippers for her feet.
Narcissus stepped out of the bath, wrapped in a short white towel that barely covered her.
He made no to attempt to hide his interest in her body as he looked her up and down. "Feel better?"
"Yes most definitely, but I was rather disappointed that you made no effort to join me Napoleon. My feelings were rather hurt and that doesn't say much for your reputation?" she purred at him. With that she let the towel drop, " oh how clumsy of me?" she giggled.
That was an invitation that Solo's libido wouldn't allow him to pass up as he reached for the towel, making a half-hearted attempt to wrap it around her beautiful body. He let it fall again to the floor as he pulled her into his arms, pressing his lips to hers, his hand wandered along her skin until it reached one of her breasts.
She moaned as he bent forward, kissing it, then teasing her nipple playfully with his tongue as he lifted her in his arms, taking her to his bed.
Narcissus helped him to disrobe, but only after he cautioned her to be mindful as there might be a few explosive devices hidden in his clothing.
"There's only one explosive device I'm interested in at the moment, " she whispered, then let out a long sensual moan as he entered her.
It was a marathon session of lovemaking, Napoleon changing positions frequently as he pleasured her. Finally Narcissus took control, positioning herself on top for her personal frenzy, more concerned about pleasing herself than her partner, as she let out a wild scream when she had worked herself up into a quivering orgasm, Napoleon though was not far behind her as he released himself into her as she shuddered from her own self centered ecstasy.
She rolled off of him, pushing herself away from Napoleon as she now held him only in contempt, his usefulness to her over for the moment.
He grabbed her hand, despite her change in attitude as he wasn't quite finished with her yet; dragging her into the bath, running a cool shower for the two of them.
They engaged in sex again, then finally rinsed off, dressed then ate the food that had been delivered. Both feeling drowsy after eating they lay down together on the bed. Narcissus now keeping her distance from Solo, going back to her usual disdainful temperment.
She waited until she knew that he was asleep, then silently crawled from the bed. Narcissus made it to the door, then froze when she heard him speak out to her.
"Going somewhere Darling?" Solo asked, pointing his special at her.
"Well, I thought a bit of fresh air would help clear my head...do you mind?"
He laughed at her audacity, holding up the the door key for her to see.
"Don't think so." he smiled at her.
She crossed her arms in front of her chest, stomping her foot on the floor like a spoiled child.
"Now I suggest that you lay back down and get some beauty rest, wouldn't want to get any wrinkles on that lovely skin of yours?" He knew that statement would do it.
"Wrinkles...no I, I wouldn't want that?" she stuttered, as Napoleon's remark distracted her from trying to escape, exactly as he hoped it would. "So are you going to tell my what happened out there in the desert?"
She smiled as she returned to his bedside beside him in the bed, leaning on her elbow. "Our truck broke down. I became lost in the desert, you found me so voila. That's it, end of story."
"And Illya?"
"I told you, I have no idea where he is..." she smiled coyly. In her mind she was being completely truthful, in a manner of speaking.
He frowned his dissatisfaction at her answer, but knew that what she was telling him was partly the truth, though it did little to help the situation. He tucked his hand under his pillow, maintaining a grip on his gun.
"Remember," he cautioned her, "I'm a light sleeper."
Early next morning just before sunrise Solo was awakened by a soft beep coming from his cigarette case on the nightstand, making him take notice, sitting up instantly. He grabbed it, as his heart leaped; though the signal was weak, it told him that Illya was getting closer instead of being farther away.
"What is that noise?" Narcissus groaned as she pulled a feather pillow over her head," make it go away!"
"That my dear is a good sign that we both might just be able to find what we're looking for." he made that statement to try to get her motivated," Now get your overly-pampered rump out of bed, we need to get going."
"What no bath or breakfast?" she whined.
"Sorry not today, now up!" he said, pulling the silk sheet from her as she glared at him; tossing a banana to her from a nearby basket of fruit.
"Didn't your mother ever tell you that your face could freeze like that?" he told her using a terribly serious voice as he looked at the rather unpleasant face that she was making at him.
She put her hands to her cheeks, feeling her skin."Oh my really?"
Napoleon shook his head, just a bit amazed that this woman was considered a top Thrush agent; confirming his belief that they were all just a sorry lot.
They dressed quickly, Napoleon surprised that Narcissus had not complained about her baggy attire, though he supposed the delicate white cloth finely embroidered with golden threads was quite attractive to a woman of her tastes.
They heading out to the jeep where he transferred to using the tracking device under the dashboard. The signal was still weak, but at least there was one.
Narcissus was still not forthcoming with any helpful information, so he had only the homing device and his instincts to trust.
The tracking unit seemed to be pointing toward the medina quarter, a part of the city known as the Kasbah. It was one of the the older parts of Marrakesh, an inner-walled citadel to which the wealthy once escaped to safety from marauders. It was known for it's narrow convoluted streets, numerous bazaars and hidden slave markets while the Kutubiyya minaret stood high above it, over two hundred feet tall overlooking that part of the city like a great reddish-orange sentinel.
Napoleon pulled his communicator contacting headquarters.
"Yes Mr. Solo what news have you to report?"
"Sir I've picked up Mr. Kuryakin's homing signal again and am on my way out now to see if I can locate him and hopefully the gemstones. I've also picked up an unwanted passenger, a little bird by the name of Narcissus Darling and I'm sure she's involved in this some how." He said eyeing her for a reaction as he spoke.
All she did was childishly stick her tongue out at him.
"Quite yes, well follow the old adage, keep your friends close, but your enemies closer, Mr. Solo. Keep me informed. Out"
"He sounds like an old fuddy-duddy." Narcissus muttered.
Napoleon ignored her, as his thoughts were on Illya at that moment, hoping that he was alright; wondering if he was in the hands of Thrush or some other entity.