This chapter contains nudity and sexuality. If you are not comfortable with this, please read no further. Otherwise, read and enjoy! Many thanks to those who have reviewed so far. Your encouragement feeds the muse.

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The human life is full of firsts. The first word, first giggle, first step, first injury, first illness, first love...and so on. However, the firsts of reincarnated spirits tended to be a little more original than most, especially when Egypt was involved, and Evelyn and Rick were living proof. Granted, this was not the first time they had stumbled into an unsuspecting village looking as though they'd clawed their way out of a quicksand pit but it was certainly a first for Farsiris, who had never seen her cousin so utterly filthy. In either of her lives.

The sight would have been amusing had she not been expecting them to be arriving, clean and well fed, on a boat rather than materializing almost literally out of a sand dune. A quick dismayed glance at her husband showed the Med-jai shaking his head and he sighed, "I do not wish to know" he muttered under his breath.

"Night-life on the barge got a little boring so we decided to take a scenic tour of the desert on foot" Rick spat when they were finally close enough to hear each other. Seeing his friend's frustration and knowing the dark look on the American's face all too well, Ardeth merely nodded and wisely decided against pressing for more information. Not that he needed to.

Despite being tired and feeling like she'd eaten half the Sahara, Evelyn was more than willing to translate her husband's spiky sarcasm for them. "The boat had engine trouble so we had to abandon ship and walk here" she said helpfully, in response to the look of mute shock on her cousin's face "of course, just as the sun rose, a sandstorm blew in and we had to keep moving or risk being buried alive"

"Of course" Ardeth replied dryly.

"The hotel is not far from here" Farsiris interjected, smoothly directing their minds toward more pleasant thoughts, namely those involving personal hygiene "we secured two rooms for the night when you did not show earlier this morning. We thought the boat was merely delayed"

"It was. Indefinitely. But the river was most accommodating. Not a crocodile in sight"

The priestess simply smiled "shall we get you two to a bath then?"

"Are you saying we're dirty?" Evelyn demanded with mock indignation.

Farsiris wrinkled her nose "yes".

They all chuckled at her characteristic honesty then proceeded into the newer city of Thebes, ignoring the curious stares of passersby, and were oblivious to the burning stare directed at their backs.

An hour later...

Ardeth rose from the tub, water cascading down his well-muscled form, and turned to grab a towel off the rack near the door when he noticed that there were none. Which was odd, since he'd sworn there had been one when he had entered the bathroom. A spray of water droplets hit the floor as he shook his head with a resigned sigh then smiled to himself. His wife had strange ways of attracting his attention but they worked for him.

There were no open displays of flesh, whispered naughty words, or ardent stares in his direction. Rather, most of the time, all she had to do was peer at him from beneath lowered lashes and bite her bottom lip as she passed by and he would instantly become as hard as steel. Other times, such as now, her playful side emerged and, with a grin, he opened the door and walked into their bedroom, as naked as the day he was born. If she wanted to play, he was more than willing to indulge her.

There were few things that could distract Farsiris from her studies, as many could attest, but the sight of her husband, naked and dripping, was certainly one of them. Closing the book, she set it down on the bedside table without a second thought towards the passage she had been reading. All of her attention was focused on the man approaching the bed, his dark eyes glittering with a mixture of amusement and desire, and she rose fluidly to stand in front of him.

"My love, there was a towel on the rack when I went in for my bath and it was gone when I got out. Would you happen to know where it disappeared to?"

Her eyes raked over his nude form from head to toe, making him shiver and pausing briefly at his groin, before meeting his gaze and she cocked her head thoughtfully to the side for a moment. Then she stepped forward, slid her arms around his neck, and kissed him. Hard. The water on his skin soaked her thin shift, making it cling to her, and the heat of her body almost burned him through the redundant barrier. He pulled her to him, molding their bodies together, as she parted her lips to deepen the kiss and every nerve-ending flared to life.

His mouth left hers to blaze a trail of fire along her jaw line up to her ear and she grinned wickedly against his cheek as her hands moved down over his shoulders and back.

"Maybe".

In the room next door, having bathed and washed enough sand from their bodies to create a miniature oasis in the bathtub, Evelyn and Rick lay next to each other on the bed and stared at each other, almost afraid to attempt what their friends were having no trouble doing. She was afraid of having more visions that would ruin the experience further and, for his part, Rick wasn't sure he could perform. Even now, though the doors were locked and the drapes drawn, he felt as though they were being watched and it annoyed and worried him to no end.

Evelyn had mentioned the visions to her cousin during their walk to the hotel and an undefinable expression had crossed the woman's delicate features. "You must block them out. Trust me, it can be done. When Ardeth and I are together, sometimes I see the man he used to be and I must consciously bring myself back to the present. It is difficult at first but becomes easier with practice. When you feel a vision coming on, suppress it. If it is important, it will usually come back later as a dream" Farsiris had advised.

Given that she was not a chosen and that her visions had only increased in strength since that ill-fated attempt at lovemaking, she somehow doubted that those instructions would work. All because she was still confused as to the meaning of the visions themselves. They had not been in danger, at least not immediately, and their life as a couple had been peaceful since the last episode with Imhotep, who was now free of the curse and no longer posed a threat to anyone.

So what exactly were the gods trying to tell her?

The sound of her husband's voice broke through her internal musings and she blinked "what did you say, honey?"

"Have I told you lately how much I love you?"

A soft smile came to her face and she stroked his cheek with one hand "no, but I feel it every day"

"Still. I love you, Evie"

"I love you too, Rick"

Their lips met, gently at first and then more urgently, and Evelyn felt heat blossom in the most sensitive areas of her body once more and her fear fled. Their clothing was dispensed with almost immediately and when she felt the edges of her vision begin to blur and mentally shook it off and moved her hands on his body to anchor herself firmly in the present. "Perhaps she was right" was her last coherent thought before Rick's mouth found that secret spot on her neck and she became lost in a blaze of sensation.