Page 34

A Conversation Continues

A few minutes later

As promised, the driver of the fourth hantour had returned with a horse and harness and was parked along with the others. Couples paired up for the return ride to the dock and the enticement of a late luncheon.

With Diana and Randy in one, Will and Barbara in another, and Harry and Stella in the third, that left three of them to ride in the fourth.

Rather than go with Tom and Helen, David elected to sit with the driver of the hantour carrying his parents.

After Tom assisted Helen into the last hantour, he glanced around to discover he would be riding with her—and no one seemed particularly bothered by it. Especially not her parents. Even after what had happened on the journey to the temple.

“You don’t mind if I ride with you, my lady?” he asked.

“Why would I mind?” Helen countered. She displayed a look of hurt.

He climbed up and took a seat next to her. “I feared you might have thought me bad luck, over what happened earlier.”

Helen sounded a huff. “What happened had nothing to do with you. Now Penton...” She sighed.

“What about David?”

“He was the one who pulled me out of the carriage and left me on my bum,” she complained. “Right in front of that snake.”

“Oh, I’m quite sure he didn’t mean for that to happen. He was probably concerned you might have been injured. As was I,” he replied.

She dipped her head, glad when the hantour jerked into motion and headed back toward the river. “Thank you for seeing to me. For making sure I could stand.”

“Of course, Helen. I...” He paused, as if he thought better of what he was about to say.

“What?” she prompted.

“I would have been devastated had you been bitten or if you had broken a bone,” he claimed.

“Devastated?” she repeated.

He nodded. “Of course.”

She stared at him, her blonde brows furrowing. “Last week...when we were at the back of the boat?—”

“I was a fool to leave you as I did,” he blurted.

Blinking, Helen inhaled softly. “Thomas,” she said on a breath.

“If we’d been alone, I would have...” He clamped his mouth shut and seemed to have trouble breathing.

“You would have… what? I beg you tell me.”

Dipping his head, he leaned closer and said, “I would have kissed you.”

“So why didn’t you?”

Tom gave a start, obviously not expecting her response. There were so many others that seemed more appropriate.

I would have slapped you.

I would have stomped on your boot.

I would have screamed.

I would have pushed you overboard.

The examples continued to run through his head as he stared at her. “I... I didn’t think?—”

“That’s just it, isn’t it?” she countered. “You didn’t think. You had me in your arms. You had me up against a wall. You could have had your way with me?—”

“My uncle was there,” he interrupted, trying to keep his voice low lest the driver understand English. “The crew. They would have seen us,” he argued. “Bradley was right there, too. What would he think?”

Helen scoffed. “Bradley is just a babe. Besides, he sees my parents kiss one another all the time. In fact, they’re so in love with one another, it wouldn’t surprise me if they had another baby.”

Tom’s eyes rounded. “Aren’t they too old?” he asked in alarm.

The sound of disbelief had him on alert. “Hardly,” she replied, one hand going to her hip.

He had seen his aunt do the same and knew he was in for a scolding if he didn’t say something to save himself. “It’s just hard to imagine having a much younger brother in the family is all.”

“Oh, Alexander doesn’t mind,” she claimed, referring to her older brother. “Especially now that he has one of his own. Besides, aren’t you a much older brother?”

Tom chuckled softly. “You have me there,” he admitted, although George was no longer a babe. He did the math and realized his youngest sibling was nearly fifteen years of age.

“What about you?” he asked, relieved when her hand left her hip to clutch the top of her reticule. Although he had expected to see it was ruined from how she used it to beat the snake, the evidence of its use as a weapon wasn’t visible.

Helen lifted a shoulder. “I wouldn’t mind another brother. Mayhap a sister,” she mused.

He reached over and gripped her gloved hand. She allowed him to bring it to his lips so he could kiss the back of her knuckles. “Please don’t be angry with me.”

Her eyes widening in surprise, Helen said, “I am not. At least, not any longer,” she whispered.

Daring a glance at the driver and noting all the other hantours were ahead of them, Tom leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Emboldened when she allowed it, he placed a hand on the side of her face and nearly had his lips to hers when the driver shouted something and their hantour slowed.

A quick look around had him realizing they were already at the river. “We’re back to the dock,” he said on a sigh of disappointment.

“Father says another day on the river, and we’ll be in Luxor,” she replied.

“Uncle says we’ll stay in a hotel for a few days while the crew restocks the ship for our return trip to Cairo,” he murmured.

“I’m looking forward to it,” she replied. “I can finally take a real bath.”

The thought of Helen Tennison in a bath had Tom imagining all sorts of possibilities.

Him helping her to wash.

Him gliding a wash cloth up her shin and over her knee.

Him watching her breasts as they barely broke the surface of the water, her pert nipples hardening when they were exposed to the cooler air.

Him climbing into the bath with her, although he couldn’t picture exactly how they would sit and still fit without all the water gushing over the sides.

Him wrapping her in a bath linen and pulling her into his arms.

Him carrying her to a soft bed where he would make love to her and hold her for an entire night.

“Are you coming?” Helen asked.

“I am,” he replied on a sigh of satisfaction. He blinked several times, suddenly remembering where they were. “Um, right away,” he added, before struggling to step down from the equipage with a cock still hard from his daydream.

Swallowing, he offered his arm and the two headed for the ship and the late luncheon waiting for them up on the top deck. “May I help you up the stairs?” he asked.

Helen angled her head to one side. “I should like to go to my cabin first.” She pulled her skirt out and winced at seeing the ground in desert dust. “I really need to change my gown.”

“Of course,” he replied, giving her a bow as he struggled to tamp down another arousal at the thought of her undressed.

She curtsied and turned to head down the corridor.

The sight of Bradley running into her arms before they even had a chance to get to their cabins was like being dunked into a cold water bath.