The Cobra & the Concubine (Khamsin Warriors of the Wind) Read Online Free PDF Page B

were kept hobbled for the night. A twist of mountain lay before them, jagged boulders whose rugged edges shone blackish-gray in the pale moonlight. Khepri kept walking.
    "What did you want to show me?" Badra asked.
    Khepri halted near the entrance of a narrow canyon she recognized. "In here," he gestured.
    Towering limestone walls flanked them as they wound down through the canyon. Finally Khepri halted before a scattering of large boulders. "There," he said with satisfaction.
    She gasped with delight. Out of one of the tall limestone rocks, Khepri had carved a waist-high Egyptian cobra. Its hooded head reared up in menacing beauty, ready to strike.
    "I wanted you to see it in the moonlight." He ran a caressing hand over his creation. "When the light strikes ..."
    "It looks real," she marveled.
    "It was here I received my cobra totem, so I wanted to mark the memory," he told her, leaning a slim hip against a boulder.
    ‘Tell me," she said eagerly.
    "I was on a hunt with Jabari, looking for small game. He stepped near these rocks and we heard a hiss. I saw it first. A cobra, disturbed from its rest."
    "You killed it?"
    "No. My father told me these cobras do not spit venom and are sacred in Egyptian history, revered as protectors of kings. If I killed it, bad luck would visit Jabari. I remembered a trick an old snake charmer once taught. I took my rifle, forced the snake to wrap around it and the snake went still. From then on I was known as Cobra, the one who acts—swift as a serpent."
    She smiled, remembering how his astonishing reflexes had stayed her hand from using his dagger to kill herself. "You are Cobra. Your totem serves you well."
    He studied her in the brilliant moonlight. The moon. Her namesake. He gestured skyward. "As does your name. Though the beauty of the full moon pales beside you, Badra."
    Nervousness fraught with an odd yearning returned to her. She glanced at the web of starlight glistening in the night sky. "But nothing’s as lovely as the stars. They make me feel as though I could touch them. Like glittering gems I saw once in Cairo."
    "You are more beautiful than all the stars in Egypt’s sky."
    His husky voice was like warm velvet. Khepri lightly clasped her shoulders. Heat emanated from him like from the glowing coals of a banked campfire. "Jabari has released me of my vow not to touch you. Do ... do you want me to kiss you?" he asked softly. "Badra?"
    Yes , her heart cried. Hope rose in her breast. She regarded him in the moonlight. The way he said her name, so soft and smooth, tickled her overly sensitive skin. She shuddered and yearned, fearing and yet craving this new closeness, this heated intensity. He brushed a finger against her cheek, drifted down to her trembling lips and she nodded. Yes. Kiss me .
    "I have waited so long for you, Badra," he murmured.
    A determined, intent look came over him. Khepri cupped her face in his strong palms and lifted her mouth up for possession. He claimed her mouth with a kiss that stole her soul and her breath away. His lips grazed hers in reverent worship, a light caress. Intrigued, she moved her mouth against his. Then he pressed his lips hard against hers, his tongue tracing her bottom lip, flicking it lightly. When Badra gave a small sound of pleasure, he slipped into her mouth. Shocked, she compressed her lips.
    "Come, Badra, open for me," he coaxed. Then his lips captured hers again.
    Her breath was sucked out in a whoosh as she opened her mouth. Khepri’s silken tongue plunged in, tasting her, claiming and setting fire to her as she clung to him. His body pressed against hers, all hard muscles and bone. He continued his relentless assault, plundering her mouth with expert strokes. He ravished her mouth, rousing an odd fullness in her loins. The heat he created gave Badra fresh hope. Perhaps this was the pleasure Elizabeth meant.
    Then she felt his hard manhood grind against her. His taut arms locked about her like shackles, trapping her against the