Read Online Heart of the Gods by Valerie Douglas - Free Book Online
Authors: Valerie Douglas
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amusement.
“It’s not the first time I’ve lived rough,” she’d said, clearly entertained by their concern. “Have you looked around at all?”
There were parts of the town where goats, dogs and cats relieved themselves in the streets and some that still didn’t have indoor plumbing, much less electricity.
That air of amusement around her was beguiling.
It did raise the question of where she was living but she always arrived clean, so she couldn’t be living too rough.
Ky remembered far too well the brush of her smooth warm thigh against his own.
Familiarity had not diminished the attraction one bit, every time he saw her his body tightened automatically in response.
She was usually sprawled across the chair by the window of the suite, her beautiful hair streaming over the arm or the back of the chair, the light turning it into a shimmering golden fall, her shapely legs over the arm, her pretty feet bare―in a place where bare feet weren’t always wise. She seemed to have no fear of scorpions or sand spurs.
Working patiently in the remains of one of the rooms along the north wall, Ky eyed some of the others working here. There were people here he didn’t quite trust.
This section was not where he’d found some of those intriguing fragments.
Across the way was one of those Ky didn’t trust. Heinrich Zimmer, a part of a group excavating the north tower.
Tall, with thinning sandy hair and a fleshy face, his black eyes always seemed to be at odds with the rest of him, too dark for his fair coloring.
A number of their colleagues were wary of Zimmer and with reason. He had a reputation within the archeology world―unsubstantiated legally―of stealing the work of others. From the interactions Ky had had with the man, he didn’t find the rumors difficult to believe. Although Zimmer could be charming enough there was something about him Ky just didn’t like.
That charm was part of it. Although some found him personable enough, Ky had always felt that Zimmer’s charisma was a carefully crafted act. The one or two who dared talk about it had remarked bitterly how easily they’d fallen for it, how Zimmer had worked his way into their good graces then turned on them.
Zimmer’s presence hadn’t been Ky’s choice.
It was difficult these days for any one organization to fund a dig of this size. More so for Ky since he had an even greater project in mind in the future―if he found what he hoped to find here.
Allowing other partners in on this dig, spreading the wealth as it were, would hopefully give him a little more leverage in keeping the tomb site to himself.
It was also good politics.
And so other universities and organizations had been invited to take part in opening this site.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t anticipated those partners would include Zimmer.
In light of that Ky was taking extra precautions and being very careful around the man.
Then there were the thieves.
Where had they found the stolen fragments that Raissa brought him?
He was still waiting on Tareq’s response to what he’d sent.
The tombs existed. If he could get that funding…
Working in this section wasn’t a waste of time, though, it was necessary. The more he knew, the better his chance of finding what he sought. It was sometimes surprising what you would find. They’d no way of knowing, for example, why this fort had been abandoned all those millennia ago and another built in a location not that far away but slightly closer to the flood plain of the Nile. Perhaps it had been the proximity for supplies but it seemed a waste.
Zimmer, Ky noted with a frown, seemed to have his mind on something or someone else.
The man nudged one of the other workers, tipped his head in the direction of his gaze, spoke.
Following his look, Ky saw where his eyes settled, although he already guessed.
Raissa.
A thread of uneasiness moved through him watching Zimmer’s avaricious eyes on her.
She seemed oblivious as she examined
“It’s not the first time I’ve lived rough,” she’d said, clearly entertained by their concern. “Have you looked around at all?”
There were parts of the town where goats, dogs and cats relieved themselves in the streets and some that still didn’t have indoor plumbing, much less electricity.
That air of amusement around her was beguiling.
It did raise the question of where she was living but she always arrived clean, so she couldn’t be living too rough.
Ky remembered far too well the brush of her smooth warm thigh against his own.
Familiarity had not diminished the attraction one bit, every time he saw her his body tightened automatically in response.
She was usually sprawled across the chair by the window of the suite, her beautiful hair streaming over the arm or the back of the chair, the light turning it into a shimmering golden fall, her shapely legs over the arm, her pretty feet bare―in a place where bare feet weren’t always wise. She seemed to have no fear of scorpions or sand spurs.
Working patiently in the remains of one of the rooms along the north wall, Ky eyed some of the others working here. There were people here he didn’t quite trust.
This section was not where he’d found some of those intriguing fragments.
Across the way was one of those Ky didn’t trust. Heinrich Zimmer, a part of a group excavating the north tower.
Tall, with thinning sandy hair and a fleshy face, his black eyes always seemed to be at odds with the rest of him, too dark for his fair coloring.
A number of their colleagues were wary of Zimmer and with reason. He had a reputation within the archeology world―unsubstantiated legally―of stealing the work of others. From the interactions Ky had had with the man, he didn’t find the rumors difficult to believe. Although Zimmer could be charming enough there was something about him Ky just didn’t like.
That charm was part of it. Although some found him personable enough, Ky had always felt that Zimmer’s charisma was a carefully crafted act. The one or two who dared talk about it had remarked bitterly how easily they’d fallen for it, how Zimmer had worked his way into their good graces then turned on them.
Zimmer’s presence hadn’t been Ky’s choice.
It was difficult these days for any one organization to fund a dig of this size. More so for Ky since he had an even greater project in mind in the future―if he found what he hoped to find here.
Allowing other partners in on this dig, spreading the wealth as it were, would hopefully give him a little more leverage in keeping the tomb site to himself.
It was also good politics.
And so other universities and organizations had been invited to take part in opening this site.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t anticipated those partners would include Zimmer.
In light of that Ky was taking extra precautions and being very careful around the man.
Then there were the thieves.
Where had they found the stolen fragments that Raissa brought him?
He was still waiting on Tareq’s response to what he’d sent.
The tombs existed. If he could get that funding…
Working in this section wasn’t a waste of time, though, it was necessary. The more he knew, the better his chance of finding what he sought. It was sometimes surprising what you would find. They’d no way of knowing, for example, why this fort had been abandoned all those millennia ago and another built in a location not that far away but slightly closer to the flood plain of the Nile. Perhaps it had been the proximity for supplies but it seemed a waste.
Zimmer, Ky noted with a frown, seemed to have his mind on something or someone else.
The man nudged one of the other workers, tipped his head in the direction of his gaze, spoke.
Following his look, Ky saw where his eyes settled, although he already guessed.
Raissa.
A thread of uneasiness moved through him watching Zimmer’s avaricious eyes on her.
She seemed oblivious as she examined
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