Sekhmet's Curse (Pearl Vampire Chronicles) (20 page)

“What’s so funny?” I said.

“I never thought I’d say this, but I
do
believe you’ve worn me out Mrs. Pearl.  I couldn’t possibly go again if I tried, not without a few hour
s
to recover.  I
’m
going to admit that
it’s his turn now.”

“You’re not mad?”

“Sarah?  Where is this sudden fear coming from?” he said as he stared at me.  Suddenly the answer hit him, “You feel guilty for needing us, don’t you?  You feel guilty for needing our help.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and nodded, “Yes,” I squeaked.

He pulled me tight and kissed my forehead, “Oh my God, Sarah.  You needing us is the best gift you could have given us, especially now.   Now you can go in there and we can survive and be waiting for
you
because you need us to.  Do you realize how much that means to both of us?  You
need
us.  That is epic, honey, truly epic."

“And you’re sure he feels the same way?”

“Absolutely
,
e
ven more so.
  He needs this even more than I do.  This gives him purpose.  It gives him
a reason to stay for you while you’re in there.”

We climbed out of the water, pulled on our clothes and strolled leisurely, hand-in-hand down the mountain. 
Matt noticed my hesitation when we walked into our living room.  He pointed me in the direction of Carlos’ bedroom as he whispered in my ear, “Go to him, honey.  I’m going to go collapse in our bed and sleep for a few hours so that I can be ready for round two.”

“I love you,” I whispered as I leaned my head back on his shoulder.

“I love you too,” he said as he gently pushed me forward.

I tiptoed into Carlos’ bedroom, smiled at his
amazingly ripped
body
that was stretched out on top of the comforter
then leaned down to kiss his beautiful, sleeping face.  He grabbed my wrist and
stopped me just before my lips reached his.  “Did you mean it?  Do you need me?  Do you really need me?”

I smiled as I thought about the conversation Matt and I had just had.  I placed my hand on his cheek, “Of course I do, sweetheart.  I’ve always needed you, but I’ve finally learned to admit it and I’m trying to be okay with it.”

“Holy shit, Sarah.
  I love you so much,” he said as his mouth crushed down onto mine.

             
He slammed me against the shower wall
and growled.  He was exhausted, but he kept going.  His knees shook, but he kept going.  He was angry because his heart wanted to go on, but his body was giving out
, yet
he
still
kept going.   Finally, as he grabbed my backside, he gave one final mighty thrust and we screamed into each other’s mouths as we both finally reached the climaxes we had been so desperately reaching for.  Then we collapsed to the floor, splayed out like a couple of rag dolls discarded by bored children.  After a few minutes he rolled toward me and wrapped me in his arms.  He kissed my forehead, then said, in typical Carlos fashion, “I
love you, baby, but woman, you wore me out.  I’m done, spent,
kaputz
.  You need to go
so I can try to recover, but after what you’ve done to me, it might be days before my dick works again.”

I laughed and rolled towards him, “Well, there are other things you can do for me even if your
dick
is broken,” I said then I kissed his belly before I quickly jumped up
into
the water. 

“You and your sex drive are going to be the death of me someday.  You know that, right?”
 
he
said.

“Yeah, but what a way to die, sweetheart
,
w
hat a way to die,” I said as I tipped my head back and let the warm water cascade down my body.
  I washed my hair then opened my eyes, surprised to see that Carlos was still lying on his back on the floor of the shower. 

“Aren’t you going to get up?”

“I will, as soon as my legs will hold me up again.”

“Wimp,” I said.

“Maybe.
  But I sure am enjoying the show from down here.”

“I didn’t realize I was putting on a show.”

“Every time you’re naked you’re putting on a show.  I thought you knew that.”

“Well, do you want me to leave the water running?  Cause the show
is
moving to another room.”

“Where?
 
My bedroom?”

“Nope.
  Farther than that,” I said as I stepped out and grabbed a towel.  That got his attention.  He quickly sat up.  “You mean you’re not going to get dressed before you go over to his side?  You’re going to stay like that?”

“Yep,” I said as I dropped my towel in the hamper.

He jumped up, wrapped a towel around his waist and followed me into his bedroom, “This I gotta see,” he said.  He stopped at his bedroom door, crossed his arms, and leaned against the door jam with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face that I had seen yet.  I waved over my shoulder, “See you in a bit, baby,”
I said
as I walked through the living room.  And I had perfect timing.  Matt opened his bedroom door when I was about ten feet away from it.  At first he looked shocked, but that quickly changed as he too crossed his arms, leaned against the door jam and was wearing the same shit-eating grin that I had just left on Carlos’ face.  “Hot-damn you are sexy,” he said.

“Why, thank you, sweetheart.  So, how much more time do you need to recover?”

He glanced down at the bulge growing in the front of his pants and said, “
Absolutely n
one,” as h
e
opened his arms and welcomed me inside
.

             
I lay face down on the bed, naked, one arm hanging down the side. I knew I should

probably
go in and shower, but I couldn’t seem to move.  Carlos leaned down and kissed
hyper-sensitive spot at
the back of my neck, “Anything?” he said. 

I had come back
to
his room a few hours before, after
having spent
several
hours with Matt. 

“Nope
,
n
ot even a tingle.   I never thought I’
d say this, but I think I’m done,
”
I gasped.

I felt the bed shift slightly.  I turned my head and caught Carlos raising his arms in victory.  He sheepishly brought them down when he saw me looking at him.  “What?” he said. 

I just shook my head and laughed. 

“What do you say
, hun
?  You ready to go hunt?”
he said.

“I think so.  Problem is
,
I’m not sure I can walk right now.”

“God, I’m such a stud.”

“Oh, shut up and help me up,” I said as I made a feeble attempt to lift my arm.

“I
dunno
.  You’re looking awfully beautiful spread out on my bed like that.  Maybe I don’t want to move you.  Maybe I just want to sit here and admire you for a while.”

“Come on, hun.  I’m starving. I haven’t eaten in three days.  Once we get to Egypt, who knows how long it will be before I eat again.   Please?”

He sat down and caressed my hair from my face, “God, Sarah.  How am I going to survive without you?”

It took some effort, but I managed to roll onto my side to look at him.  He leaned down and pressed his forehead to mine
.  “You won’t be without me, Carlos.  You just won’t be able to see me or touch me.  But my heart will always be in here,” I said as I leaned down and kissed his chest.
  He wrapped his arms around me, pulled me up to standing and hugged
me so tight I thought I might break.  “I love you so much, kiddo.”

“I know.  And I love you too.  And I will make it out of this, Carlos.  We will be together again, I promise.”

“Don’t,” he whispered.

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t promise.  You know you can’t do that,” he said.

“Well, I know I’m going to promise to do everything I possibly can to keep her from devouring me, that I can promise,”  I said, then my eyes popped open as I realized what I had just said
, accidentally revealing what I had seen in my nightmare when we were on the island
.  ‘Shit
, please tell me he wasn’t listening,’ I thought. 
My eyes
squeezed shut when he spoke again, “What did you just say?”

I pulled away from his grasp and started walking toward the bedroom
door
as I said, “What?  Hun, we really need to go hunt now, don’t you think?”

“Sarah Pearl Delgado, you stop right there!” he yelled.  “Matt!  Get in here right now!”

I cringed when I heard
Matt’s
bedroom door open, “Carlos, we’re both still naked,” I said as I looked around for something to put on.   Too late, I thought, as Matt’s hand closed on
Carlos’
doorknob.

“I don’t give a shit that we’re naked, missy,” he said as Matt, surprised loo
k and all, stepped into the room right before
Carlos
was able to
grab a pair of briefs from the dresser behind him and
p
ull them on
, “You repeat what you just said right now!”

“
Uhh
, guys.  I can come back later,” Matt said, clearly uncomfortable.

“No, Matt.  You need to hear what she just said.  You need to hear what she’s been keeping from us.” Carlos hissed.

That got Matt’s attention.  He got a stern look on his face, crossed his arms and waited.

“Guys, it’s nothing, really.  It was just a dream that I had.  I don’t even know if it’s real.  I don’t know if it means anything.”

“Sarah, everything that happens means something
,
e
ven dreams.  Now spill it,” Matt said.

“How long ago did you have this dream?” Carlos said.

Shit, suddenly my legs couldn’t hold me up any longer.  I took the few steps back to the bed and sat down, “I don’t know
. 
A few months ago.
  When we were on the island, right
after
we found Aquila, I think.”

“And you didn’t tell us, why?” Matt said.

“Because I didn’t want to worry you,” I whispered.

“She didn’t want to worry us,” Carlos said sarcastically, “See Matt?  She didn’t want us to worry, as if we’re not worried out of our minds already.  Damn it Sarah,” he said as his hand smashed down on the bed.

“I’m sorry,” I wailed as I threw myself down on the bed.

I felt the bed shift next to me and felt Matt’s soothing hand on the back of my head.  “What happened in the dream, Sarah?”

“It, it, it showed me what she does to you after you die.  Why there are never any remains to be found.”

“What does she do?” he whispered.

“She swallows you whole. 
Everything.
  Her mouth gets really wide and she, she, she just swallows you
up
, like a fucking snake
.  Oh my God, I don’t want that to happen to me,” I sobbed.

“Jesus,”
Carlos whispered, “Matt, we can’t let her go in there.”

As usual, Matt’s was the voice of reason, “We’ve been over this Carlos.  There’s no place to hide from Sekhmet.  She knows where everyone is.  She knows everything
.  We’ll just have to figure out a way to get
Sarah
out when she’s in there.  That’s
really
our only chance.  Sarah?  Have you told Bahiti about this?”

I looked up at him and nodded, “Yes.  I told her right after we got back.  She
deserved
t
o know what happened to Hapshet
and
why his body was never found.”

“Damn it, Sarah.  You have got to stop keeping shit from us.  You aren’t protecting us when you do that, you’re hurting us and making us weak.  Is that what you want?” Carlos said.

“No, of course not.
  I would never want that.  I just, I just didn’t want to make you guys worry.
  And then I sort of forgot about it with all the studying and everything,
” I sobbed.

“What?  So you get to have a monopoly on worrying now?  Fuck that, Sarah. We’re married.  We’re all a part of each other.  When one of us is happy, we’re all happy.  And when one of us is worried, we all worry. 
We can’t all love if one of us is hurting or worried.  That’s how it works, Sarah.  Take it or leave it, you don’t get it both ways,
” Matt said as he rubbed my back.