The Pharaoh's Kiss (Reincarnation Romance Chronicles Book 3) (4 page)

Chapter Seven

The rational part of me knew that it was only a dream, but it seemed real enough to make me doubt myself. It was too vivid to just be a dream, but what else could it be?

I saw myself in a bath of perfume-scented water. I lay back and could see a golden ceiling overhead and the reflection of the crimson flower petals floating on the surface of the water.

All around me, the walls glowed in the light of burning torches, and the heady scent of the oils and perfumes in the water made the world hazy as the maids moved about almost silently, laying out a gown of sheer gold.

From somewhere in the palace, I could hear the sound of the celebration. It was faint and distant, but there nonetheless.

They are still celebrating the marriage...

A tingle went through my body. It was
my
marriage they were celebrating. I was now the wife of Tutankhamun... I was now the queen of Egypt.

I couldn’t help but to think back on a few short days ago when I was called to the chamber of the then Prince of Egypt. I remembered how dark his rooms were, dark but for the candle near the basin where Tutankhamun washed his bloodied hands.

At that moment, he was no longer my brother. He was the man that protected me and would go on to protect all of Egypt as Pharaoh. In that secret moment, he became his destiny...And I became his.

I could see his frightened eyes as he glanced back at me and then back down at his bloodstained hands.

“He came to your door,” he said in a shaking voice as he scrubbed at the blood. ““I’ve kept my promise. You are safe.”

You kept your promise...

The sound of the maid’s footsteps coming closer brought me out of my reverie.

“My Queen?”

“Yes,” I said in a trembling voice.

Why am I so nervous?

“It is the Pharaoh,” she said with a bow. “He has arrived.”

My breath caught in my throat. I closed my eyes and breathed in and out slowly.

My husband
...
The Pharaoh
...
Has arrived
...

I stepped from the bath and allowed the maids to dry my skin, even their touch seem soft and sensual as they prepared me for the Pharaoh. They eased a sheer gown over my head and down over my arms. The thin material brushed against the taunt peaks of my breasts and floated about my legs, but concealed nothing. I allowed my servants to brush my hair so the thick ebony weight of it fell over my shoulders. The maids all looked at me with knowing smiles as they backed away and opened the chamber door.

Taking a deep breath, I held my head high as I entered the bedchamber of the Pharaoh... My husband.

I knew what it was that took place between a man and a woman, but nothing prepared me for the fluttering in my stomach at the sight of Tutankhamun. He stood in the dim light. His bronzed back broad and his long black hair so rich it almost seemed blue.

I dismissed the maids with a flick of my wrist and bowed deeply, “My Pharaoh.”

He turned, but it was not the man from a previous dreams. It was Alex. Alex standing there, half dressed in the clothes of the Pharaoh.

No... It can’t be...

He walked over to me and took my hand. I looked into his eyes and saw not the queen I was moments before reflected in the dark pupils, but the mysterious me that I saw in the mirror that morning. The me that Alex lead out of the tomb.

“You will always be my queen,” he said as he took my face in his hands. He kissed me, devouring my lips before trailing down my neck.

It’s Alex...Why is it Alex...

Even though I knew it was a dream, I lost myself in the sensation of his hands on my body, pulling the thin dress away. He knelt before me, breathing his steamy breath on my moist folds.

My breath caught as his lips touched me, kissing my thighs as his hands slid down to part my legs. I felt his fingers at my opening, teasing me softly.

Yes...Yes...

My fingers curled in his long hair, the nails dragging across his scalp.

“My queen...” he mumbled against my sex. “My love...”

My legs quivered as he tasted me before rising to his feet once more. He looked down at me with Alex’s face and eyes.

“Alex?” The me in the dream whispered, “How can it be you?”

He didn’t answer. He was pulling my leg up and wrapping it about his waist. In one swift movement, he was inside of me and I awoke.

I bolted upright in the bed and gasped for air. Alex sat up and stroked my back.

“Are you okay?” He asked sleepily.

“It was you,” I explained. “In my dream... It was you.”

Alex kissed my shoulder softly, “What was the dream?”

“It’s going to sound crazy,” I said rubbing my hands over my face.

“Come on,” he whispered as he smoothed my hair back. “Tell me about it.”

I took a deep breath, “I was in an Egyptian palace, taking a bath.”

“I like the sound of that.”

“I was getting ready to go to my new husband...The Pharaoh.”

“The Pharaoh?”

“Yes,” I said. “Tutankhamun, but it wasn’t Tutankhamun.”

“Who was it?” Alex asked.

“It was you,” I said quickly. “You were Tutankhamun.”

“And you were Ankhesenamun?”

“I guess,” I twisted my hands together and sighed, “Am I losing my mind?”

He took me into his arms, “No of course not.”

I snuggled against his skin, “I have no memory of myself at all, and then I have these dreams that make no sense.”

“This isn’t the first one?”

I shook my head, “No, I had one last night too, but you weren’t in it.”

He kissed my forehead softly, “I’m sorry.”

I let him kiss me and ease me back down onto the bed. I rested my head on his chest and listened to the sound of his heart beating.

Alex stroked my back, “Perhaps there is another way for you to get answers.”

“I’m willing to try anything.”

“Okay,” he said as he stroked my hair. “Now try to get some sleep.”

Chapter Eight

We walked the halls of the Luxor International Hospital. I clung to Alex’s hand as he seemed to know where he was going as we maneuvered through the busy halls. The doctors and nurses walked past us with barely a passing glance, but I eyed them all suspiciously.

“Why are we here?” I asked.

Alex took my hand and squeezed it tight, “We’re going to see a friend of mine.”

“Another friend?”

He smiled, “yeah, another friend. We went to college together.”

“Back in America?” I asked as I dodged a nurse pushing a patient on a gurney.

“Yes,” he said as he too backed up against the wall to let them pass.

“Then won’t he just commit me?” I asked nervously.

“No,” Alex said as he brought my hand up to his lips so he could kiss it. “He promised to keep all of this a secret.”

I wanted to resist, but a quick touch of his lips on my skin weakened any resolve I had left. All I could do was follow along as he opened the door marked employees only, and pull me inside.

A long, white, hall stretched out before us. I wanted to shrink back, but Alex pulled me along, past closed doors to the very end of the hall.

There waiting, squatted a short, dark-haired man, with two day stubble clouding his pasty face. The man stood as we approached and pulled the earphones from his ears. I heard the final notes of whatever he was listening to before he shut off the sound.

“So this is the famous Jane Doe?” He asked in a clipped British accent.

Alex nodded, “Yeah, I’ve been calling her Senna.”

“Of course you have,” this doctor – intern person said.

His response didn’t seem to faze Alex at all. He simply laughed, “Senna this is, Dr. David Pearson, one of my oldest friends here in Egypt.”

“I’m your only friend here.”

“Almost,” Alex said with a smile. “No one else would put up with me as much as he has.”

“Who says I put up with you?” He teased and continued looking me up and down, “You can call me David. So what’s your story?”

“She showed up in the Valley,” Alex explained. “She has no idea what her name is or anything else.”

David stepped up to me and took a small penlight from the pocket of his white coat and shined it into my eyes and then felt along the bruise on my head. “Can she not speak?”

“I can speak,” I said as he did his quick examination

“Good, we don’t have to worry about that then,” he said with the first genuine smile toward me. “She has a mild hematoma... Maybe a concussion. Do you remember hitting your head?”

I shook my head, “No. I remember walking and my head hurt, but nothing before that.”

David frowned, “Okay, let’s start with some tests.”

Immediately I felt the fingers of panic moving up my spine. I looked over to Alex with eyes so wide they ached.

Alex squeezed my hand, “It’s okay, I’ll be right there with you.”

Even though I was still unsure, he seemed so sincere, I nodded. “Okay.”

David clapped his hands together, “Let’s start with an x-ray.”

Alex frowned, “Why an x-ray? Do you think she has a fracture? You said it was just a mild hematoma.”

“She really needs an MRI, but we have to check for metal in her body first.”

David motioned for us to follow him, leading us down a series of halls to radiology. He ushered us in the first room to the right. Switching a light on, he handed me a gown from a stack on the shelf and pointed to the screen.

“You can change back there,” he said with a nod as he began setting things up.

I let go Alex’s hand and stepped behind the white screen. I got undressed, wondering what the x-ray would show and how if I had ever broken any bones or metal in my body, Alex and David would know about it before I did.

Slowly, I stepped out from behind the screen. David ordered me up on the table.

“Just lie on your back with your arms at your side,” he said as he walked into the glass room over to the side were Alex stood waiting.

I watched as he handed Alex a heavy blue vest and then pulled on one of his own.

“All right Senna,” he said loudly. “I need you to take a deep breath and hold it.”

I did as he asked, trying to I still as possible even though I felt chilled and exposed.

“Okay,” he said loudly. “Give me a minute to make sure I got it.”

I turned my head and looked at Alex. He smiled at me from the glass room. I tried to smile back, but all I could think about was how badly I wanted answers while still being afraid of what those answers might be.

“Okay,” David said. “I got it.”

Alex stepped out of the glass room and helped me set up on the table. He kissed my forehead and I wished I could just stop everything and freeze that moment.

David cleared his throat as he came closer, “Okay, there’s no metal. So let’s get that MRI.”

I gathered up my things and followed him out of that room and into another just a bit further down the hall. This room was more stark with the huge machine in the very center. David guided me over to it and told me to lie down on the thin bench.

I tried not to panic as he fitted the cage of sorts around my head. He pushed a button and I slid headfirst into the capsule.

“I know it’s tight,” David said. “Just try to be still.”

I heard them both leave the room and then David’s voice echoed in a mechanical way through the machine.

“Okay, we’re going to start now.”

I heard some shuffling and then a few loud clicks on the line. I closed my eyes and tried to remain as still as possible. Suddenly through all the noise, I could hear David talking again, but this time it was to Alex, not me.

“So what is it between you and this girl?” He asked

“I don’t know,” Alex was muffled voice replied. “She’s just this lost person, but now and then I get this glimpse into who she really is and she is amazing.”

“What do you think I’m going to find with all these tests?” David asked.

“I don’t know.”

“So why did you drag me into this?”

“Because of last night,” Alex said solemnly. “She had a dream that sort of freaked me out.”

“What was it?”

I heard Alex sighed. It was a heavy, almost defeated sound.

“She dreamed she was Ankhesenamun,” he said. “And I was Tutankhamun. I know it doesn’t seem like a big thing, but it really got me.”

David fell silent and all I could hear were the clicks and bangs of the machine. Finally, I heard Alex his voice cut through the noise.

“What is it?” He asked.

David cleared his throat, “Did I ever tell you why I chose to go in college in America?”

“No,” Alex said. “I just thought it was something you wanted to do.”

“I did,” David said. “But it was because I had to get away.”

“Why?”

“Julie... She was the love of my life.”

“What happened to her?” Alex asked.

“She died,” David said. “She was in a car accident and died. I couldn’t take it so I left.”

“I had no idea. I’m sorry.”

“When I graduated, I came here instead of going back to England, thinking it would be easier.”

“Why was that?” Alex asked.

“Yes, until about three months ago. Just outside of this hospital, I see this little girl, maybe five or six years old. If she didn’t look anything like Julie in anyway, she didn’t sound like Julie, but there was something there that screamed to me that I was looking at Julie.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes,” David said. “And when she looked at me, there wasn’t doubt in my mind.”

“David, you’re scaring me.”

“I’m not saying I was attracted to her,” David said. “But I couldn’t explain it. It was very real... Maybe what Senna saw was just as real.”

“It seemed
very
real to her.”

I heard the machine shut off and moments later the door to the room opened. I jumped slightly when I began to slide out of the machine. The first thing I saw was Alex smiling down at me.

“Hey,” he said as he helped David remove the cage around my head.

The two of them took my shoulders and helped me sit up.

“So?” I asked nervously.

“Well,” David said. “Looks like you have a mild concussion. That could be what caused your memory loss.”

“Am I going to be okay?” I asked.

“In time,” David said. “You may get your memory back. Since there isn’t an obvious medical cause for the loss, you could just wait and see if it comes back on its own, or you might try hypnosis.”

Alex moved closer, “hypnosis?”

David nodded, “I’ve read studies where under hypnosis you may remember your name or some other detail about who you are.”

I reached out and took Alex’s hand, “Okay, how do we do that?”