Chapter 45 – Must Be The Heat Part 1 (3)
Three years.
It was beginning to venture into their third year of traipsing around the desert. Three years of endless tombs and grave sights, digging for anything, using their hands when the shovel and spoons broke. Three years of sandstorms and oasis' where they would have to bathe at separate ends of the pool. Three years of dancing in their successes, drinking in their failures, and holding hands as they dodged bullets and dashed out of crowded markets. Three years of sharing one tent with two bedrolls.
Nikola looked up at his partner in crime. Three years of just them. It had been a roller coaster of emotions for him. One minute he loathed the sight of her and everything she did annoyed him, the next he couldn't get enough of it. They fought, teased, danced, drank, ran, walked, swam, and dug together. It all came down to one solid conclusion: he was deeply and irreversibly in love with her. Before he was just in love, but now he knew he desired no one else but her, he would crawl through valleys of broken glass and barbed wire naked and on his belly for her, even if she didn't return those feelings he would still love her until she did.
He hated being so close to her, yet he loved being with her and having them be almost as close as they were in Oxford, perhaps closer, but he hated it at night when she'd be sleeping so close to him in her bedroll that he could feel her shift in her sleep. He could smell her, and each night had become an exercise in self-control for him. She had no idea how many times he'd come close to breaking, to shifting that extra few inches over and wrapping his arms around her, just to hold her.
She had no idea what all her teasing glances did to him. How he would sneak glances while she was bathing just to admire her and fantasize taking her in the hot sand.
Every bump, brush, and accidental touch was like torture.
Nikola looked up from the hole they were digging to eye her, watching for a brief second.
Helen had her sleeves rolled up and the top buttons of her shirt loosened as they toiled away under the hot sun. Even in this state she was more beautiful than any woman he'd ever known.
"Quickly Nikola," she muttered to him.
He got distracted far too easily out here.
"I know," he quickly returned to their task.
"We can't be seen," she muttered.
"I got that," he muttered back.
"We're close…we're far too close," she kept muttering.
"I understand," he replied.
"If Howard catches us we're done with," she checked their surroundings before continuing to dig furiously.
"As you've explained a hundred times," he rolled his eyes.
"Then why do you keep pausing?" she growled quietly.
"Helen, it's mid-day, it's three hundred degrees too hot even in shade, I'm sweating in places I'm pretty sure shouldn't sweat, and I'm not even sure what we're looking for, excuse me for taking a brief respite to catch my breath," he growled back.
"You're a vampire," she teased,
"Yah, but I'm not crazy like you," he teased back.
"I'm not crazy!" she cried indignantly, however hushed.
"Says the girl in the sand pit looking for lost treasure to the man covered in dirt," he swiped his forehead. "Damn it, it's hot!"
"Nikola, we are about a mile to Carter's camp, in his territory, looking for something that could be a game changer, we just have to work diligently before we're caught," she sighed.
"Yes, because the last game changer really worked out well, the magical tablet of bupkiss!" he groaned. "This tomb is probably a pile of rubble covered by sand and rocks with Tuten-catastrophe probably crushed beneath it, and we're just wasting our time!"
"Then leave then, if it's such a waste, why not just go?" she snarled at him.
"I'm not going to do that and you know it," he glared at her.
"Why not?" she met his gaze.
"Because the reason I'm here is to protect you and I won't leave unless you leave," he sighed.
"I don't need your protection, Nikola, I need your support, I need you to help me with this, why do you think I asked you here?"
Nikola opened his mouth to say something but shut it immediately.
The answer was all too simple yet so hard to say. He loved her, and he hoped she'd asked him here because she felt the same way,
They were so close together, it wouldn't be that hard to just reach over and kiss her, nevermind the sand he would undoubtedly swallow. He wanted to run his fingers through the sandy sweaty mess that was her hair, he wanted to make love to her underneath the blazing sun. He didn't care one wink about the tomb and it's secrets, he only cared about her and fulfilling her wishes.
"I'm sorry," he sighed. "The sun must be getting to me."
He returned to digging.
"I know, I'm sorry too. I've dragged you along on this as a favor and you have every right to despise the conditions I've put you in. I've just got this feeling you know, that there's something important in this tomb my father wants me to find, and you know my father, every action he ever took was deliberate."
He nodded.
"Yes."
"I can't give up now, not when we're so close," she placed her hand on his and he paused, looking at it.
He took her hand in his.
"And we won't," he gently squeezed it. "As I said, I don't leave unless you leave with me."
Helen nodded,
A sound of a truck blasted in the distance and Helen and Nikola's heads snapped towards it.
"Time to go!" he yanked her hand and pulled her out of the hole to where they had parked the auto.
Helen had no time to protest.
They were in the car and moving before her brain caught up.
"Nikola, we can't leave!" she shouted.
"Helen, they'll spot us if we don't, we'll come back later in the dead of night, sometime, just not now!" he sighed.
"They're going to see the hole, they'll know we've been there, they'll cover it up or investigate it. They could find what we're looking for! We had one chance to find it and you just blew it!" she cried, the tears brimmed her eyes and Nikola bit his lip, turning to look at the desert.
They reached their camp just outside the perimeter of Howard's territory, a couple miles from where they were digging; their lone tent sitting out amongst a landscape of dunes.
A fire pit sat nearby, with a few cooking utensils surrounding it. Their was a makeshift workbench on the shadowed side of the tent where Nikola would work on his own designs. Helen had a clothesline hanging with the few articles of clothing they had. It was their home, so to speak.
Nikola parked the auto at the entrance to their camp and Helen jumped out angrily.
Nikola followed silently.
Helen marched to the tent and went inside while Nikola went to check on the stew he had left cooking over the pit before they left. It wasn't his best work but it would suffice.
Helen re-emerged with a canteen of water, tossing it at him.
"Your ration!" she barked.
"My gratitude overwhelms me," he sighed and went over to pick it up.
"Bloody idiot," she growled and went back inside the tent.
Nikola groaned and followed her, fed up with her mood.
"Why is this so freaking important, Helen? What could be so bloody special about this one tomb that'd you'd go through all this trouble to find it! What pot of gold is at the end of this rainbow, Helen? Answer me that! And don't spin up some bull about your father's work, your father had theories about many things, many places. Why here, in the middle of the damn desert, why?"
Helen turned to him, her eyes blazing.
"You wouldn't understand!" she cried.
"Then make me! Helen, I'm trying desperately to understand all of this, I've been doing so for the whole three damn years we've been here! I don't get it! I get why the Horacians are after it, I get why Carter is after it, I just don't get you. You don't try this hard for something that might be there, there's something more. There's a reason you chose me, there's a reason you are willing to face death and hardships on a theory. Just tell me!"
A tear escaped Helen's eye.
"He's gone, Nikola! He was taken before his time, in the middle of his work and I want to know why! He did months of research, when he came back from Mecha this was his next destination. I was going to go with him; we were going to search this place together. I spent years studying his notes, trying to understand what was calling him here. I need closure Nikola, I need to do this one thing for him, to complete his last unfinished project so that I can live a day without expecting him to walk through the front doors of the Sanctuary any moment bearing gifts from his latest travels. Do you understand that Nikola?"
Nikola was silent for a moment. Of course she had to have a simple and heartfelt reason for all this turmoil. But one question was left unanswered.
"But why me?" he asked, hoping, wishing, praying for the answer to change.
"I told you, I needed someone with the necessary strength and stamina to assist me. I needed someone I trusted would help me, you were my best option," she sighed.
"Is that all?" he asked, his heart sinking once again.
"What do you want me to say, Nikola?" she groaned. "I needed somebody to help me and that somebody was you, there's nothing more to it."
Nikola averted his gaze, suddenly feeling foolish.
"I see," he muttered. "Well, alright then."
Helen growled.
"What does that mean, Nikola? You aske me for honesty but you refuse to give me any in return. Why did you come? Why does this matter so much to you?" she yelled, and his gaze lifted.
"I…I'm…It's…"
"Well?"
"Because I thougt you…needed me, and I haven't been needed in a long time. Plus I thought at the time that I had no choice in the matter…"
"I do need you, Nikola. You're the only one I've got in this desert, but I also need you to just go with me on this one, I need you to trust me…please,
her tears returned full force and Nikola didn't hesitate in pulling her into his arms in a tight embrace.
"Of course," he whispered to her.
She hugged him tightly and cried into his shoulder.
"I'm sorry," he continued.
She pulled out of his arms.
"It's nothing…it's the sun, it's stress," she went and lay down on her bedroll with a heavy sigh. "It's the bloody heat."
Nikola chuckled weakly.
"Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked and Helen looked at him and nodded.
"Can you…no, it's ridiculous, nevermind," he sighed.
"What is it?" he coaxed her gently.
"Could you possibly just…hold me for a while?...See it's ridiculous."
Nikola silently lay down next to her and tugged her into his arms.
"It's not ridiculous, Helen, if it's what you need," he wrapped his arms around her gently, pulling her back against his chest, feeling her ribs move with each inhale and exhale.
Helen relaxed into him, one of her hands gently taking his and squeezing.
"I couldn't have gotten this far without you," she whispered wearily, suddenly feeling very heavy.
Nikola didn't respond but just continued to hold her. He wondered if she could hear his heart beating as loudly as he could. Could she feel it thumping against her back? Were his palms sweaty? Was he breathing shallowly? Was he giving his feelings away by holding her this closely? Would she misinterpret them?
By the time he had run all the questions through his mind, Helen had drifted off to sleep.
He smiled as he watched her, her hand still entwined in his.
He leaned over and pecked her cheek then lay back and closed his eyes, allowing himself to pretend for just a brief moment that this was real.
~~~~Later~~~~
Helen woke up a few hours later. The sun had fallen completely out of the sky, replaced with lower temperatures and a big bright moon casting a glow through the open flap of the tent.
Helen shivered slightly, the sweat off her body cooling and growing more and more closer to the warm body next to her.
Nikola was sleeping, strangely enough, his arm draped around her; she could hear him breathing shallowly. She twisted in his arms to look at him through the dim light. She couldn't remember the last time she had watched him sleep.
Helen scooted close enough that they were almost nose to nose. She could just make out his silhouette before her. The moonlight highlighted one side of his face, giving his sleeping form and ethereal quality. She reached out a hand and caressed his cheek gently. He stirred suddenly but continued snoozing.
Her fingers just grazed the edge of his hairline. He smelt just like he always did, like sand and oil, and a fine aged wine.
She leant in, as if to brush their lips together, but hesitated. What was she doing?
She had no reason to kiss him, she just felt compelled to do it, just in this moment of peace where he was so blissfully at rest. A simple touch, just a brief taste, but lord know what would happen if he woke up that fraction too early, or late…or if the one taste wasn't enough.
She decided to risk it, thinking that he may never be in this position for her to do this ever again.
She leaned in slowly, their lips almost touching when he suddenly shuddered to life, disoriented enough for her shuffle a fair distance away before he realized how close they'd been. She closed her eyes and clamed her breath down to feign sleep.
His arm left her waist, and he sat up.
Helen pretended stir and then opened her eyes. He was listening for something.
"Nikola?" she said as groggily as she could manage. "What is it?"
"I don't know, I thought…" he looked to her and where she was lying. "I thought I heard something, must've been a dream or the wind or something."
He rested back down, lying on his back.
"What time is it?" he groaned, fumbling around his person for his pocket watch. It was a bit after midnight.
Helen crawled up next to him and tested her head against his shoulder, her arm encircling his waist.
"Helen, what are you doing?" he looked over at her skeptically.
"I'm cold," she stated simply.
"So, naturally you cuddle up next to the vampire for warmth," he chuckled.
"You're the warmest body around," she shrugged.
"I could make you warmer," he teased with a leering gaze.
"Could you now?" Helen rolled her eyes.
"Don't tempt me, Helen. I bite," he joked and Helen snorted.
"You bluff," she corrected.
He took no time in grabbing her and rolling her under him.
"Do I?" he teased.
Helen's eyes were wide with shock at his move.
"You better," she warned.
"How so?" he hovered above her, his hair sticking up at odd angles.
"Because I bite as well," she suddenly flipped them so that she straddled his hips atop him.
It was his turn to look at her in shock, not expecting that answer or that move.
"Helen, I…"
Before he could finish his thought, she lowered her hips harshly and ground against him to still his tongue, enjoying how his eyes rolled back with the sensation.
Nikola let out a strained groan.
"As I said, Nikola, you bluff. I, however, call your bluff," she teased. "Hence why I win, better luck next time."
"Oh the game is far from over, Helen," he said defiantly, gaining control back. His hands snaked to his hips and held them firmly as he hauled himself up to sitting, meeting her face to face. "You bluff as well, calling my bluff with an even bigger bluff, but I wonder how far you're willing to go."
Helen growled, grabbing the hair at the back of his head.
"As far as I need to, to show you how hopeless you are," she teased.
"That may be a long way to go," he grinned deviously.
Helen released his head with enough force to shove him back to the ground, her knee pressing into his abdomen. It didn't take him long to move his hand towards that knee and squeeze it gently, moving it off his stomach and to the floor. Helen was so distracted by the hand on her knee that she did not see the hand sneaking around to her butt and grabbing a handful of it.
She shrieked instinctually and slapped her across the face.
He laughed and flipped her over so she was under him again.
"I hate you," she snarled.
"Because I don't play fair?" he teased.
"No, because you play dirty," she noticed her knee was lying in between his legs. Without a second thought she shot it upwards.
Nikola flopped to the ground beside her, holding his crotch.
"Fortunately I can do the same," Helen sat up and smirked. "What is that now? Three for three?"
"Three?" he gasped.
"I won the fight, I won the bluff, and now I've won your counter bluff," she said triumphantly.
"You cheated on all three counts," he groaned sitting up.
"Not my fault you get distracted so easily," she teased.
"Does the loser at least get a consolation prize?" he looked at her innocently.
"What does the loser want?" she smirked, not trusting his puppy dog eyes.
He pointed to his cheek.
She knew exactly what that meant, and she smirked.
"Fine," she sighed.
She scooted up to him on her knee and leaned in to kiss his cheek. He turned his head at the last second and her lips met his in a strong kiss. Helen squeaked, moving to pull away when his hands came up to hold her there. She relaxed in the kiss then, momentarily distracted by how tender yet forceful it was.
It wasn't until her back hit the ground that she broke the kiss. He was lying on top of her, breathing heavily, and smirking insufferably.
"You cad," she growled.
He chuckled.
"I win," he said breathlessly.
He leaned back down again and caught her lips again, this time she welcomed him openly.
The kiss was interrupted suddenly, when the tent flaps flew open and a bright light encompassed their quite compromising position.
Nikola could tell it was the headlights of an auto because he could smell the gas and hear the sound of the engine. It wasn't their auto, he could recognize the sound of it, it was somebody else's.
"Sorry for the interruption," came a thickly cockney accent through the ghastly haze of light. "But Carter would like to speak with yous two if ya don't mind."
Helen looked at Nikola and he looked back at her.
"Carter?" asked Nikola.
"Yeah, says he wants to meet with ya and now would be more preferable than later. He wants to make a deal with ya," said the man behind the lights.
"And what if we refuse?" Helen interceded into the conversation.
"It's best if ya don't, Miss Magnus," said the man.
"How do you know my name?" she asked.
"Come with me and Carter'll be able to answer that himself," the man turned off the headlights and opened the car doors. "Your chariot awaits."
Nikola looked at Helen once more and then gracefully got to his feet and helped her up.
Helen was curious now, but as the two of them approached the car to get inside, she grabbed his hand and held on to it tightly.