Satisfied with her hair, she put the comb down and faced him. “I’m ready.”
His gaze moved over her from head to toe and back again as if he were memorizing her very presence. She warmed at his appreciative look.
Eli strode over and parted the curtain at the entrance to his tents, holding it open for her.
An invisible nagging force tugged at her heart. Her regard darted back and forth across his sitting room, then she swept beneath his arm the same way she’d entered the night before.
Jade stopped short, causing Eli to bump into her. He caught her around the waist, stopping her from toppling onto the ground. “Your pardon, Zsa-ninah, I didn’t—”
From behind a few stacked crates, Lothar-Canute’s eyes were fervently trained on Jade, and she suddenly felt as if his hands were on her person
.
Gads, how long had the creep waited there for me to emerge from Eli’s tent
?
“What do you want, Lothar?” Eli said and tightened his hold on her.
Lothar’s beady-eyed gaze darted to Eli’s face. After an insolent pause, he bowed “Omari. I know you are off to an inspection. I would be glad to keep her for you until you return.” When he indicated to Jade, she backed into Eli as if Lothar could reach her from where he stood.
“That will be unnecessary, but I thank you for your consideration.”
Lothar stepped out from behind the crates. “Ah, but I insist,” he said with a bit more force and held out his hand to her.
Repulsed, Jade couldn’t help but glance down at the slightly tented loincloth beneath his protruding belly. His “very small reptile”, as Eli had called it, didn’t carry much of a threat. It was his large, most likely smelly person she feared. Her shaking hand came to rest upon Eli’s arm at her waist. His thumb swept down the side of her ribs in silent affirmation of her action.
“I apologize, Lothar. I have already offered to take Jade to see the Oasis, and I’d hate to go back on my word—”
“But—” Lothar took another step forward in protest.
“—as Omari, I must fulfill my promises.” Eli finished slowly, having put emphasis on his title.
“Y-yes. Of course.” His gaze flickered to Jade and back to Eli. “I shall await your return, Omari. Then we will see what can be arranged.” He bowed and slithered away.
“Ick. That could have been unpleasant.” Jade murmured. By the way Eli had taken hold of her, she would have bet a diamond tiara by Cartier that he’d never allow Lothar to get within a foot of her person.
“I’m just glad he’s too lazy to make a trip to the city of Anuk-dye to appeal to his relative about his choice of Lambish.”
Still in the circle of his strong arm, she turned to face him. “Why didn’t you tell him I wasn’t one of those women?”
Eli shrugged. “Do you think he would have listened?”
She relaxed against him and rolled her eyes. “You got me there.”
For the briefest of seconds, his brows drew together. “You say the strangest things, my little Zsa-ninah.”
“Yes, well… Let’s hope Zsa-ninah isn’t a name for some other wicked profession.”
His other arm snaked around her waist. He tried to come off stung by her words, but she could detect humor in his eyes. “I take great offense to that. A Lambish serves the people in a very old, very prestigious—”
Jade rolled her eyes again. “Yeah, yeah. Blady, blady bla. You men are all alike.”
“Hush now.” He kissed the top of her head. “It is time to depart for your camp.”
* * * *
Not far from the oasis, Jade sat on a low sand dune with her face in her hands. They hadn’t found a single trace of Dr. Harper’s camp in any direction. It was as if the entire company up and left, not even considering that she may be lost.
Silent tears seeped through her lashes to soak her cheeks and palms, and her heart twisted within her chest. She hadn’t felt so alone since Pop dumped her off at University that first day.
Eli hovered near—she could sense his comforting presence.
“I’m sorry, Jade. I have no explanation as to what happened to your camp. Honestly, I should have known about the dig of which you spoke, but this particular instance has eluded me from the beginning.”
His hand came to rest upon her shoulder, and she covered it with her own. Lifting her tear-drenched face, she gazed up at the stars, unable to come to grips with her plight.
Her gently moved her hand aside and swept at the moisture there with his fingertips. The soft, sympathetic touch barely registered with her. “If it will help, I can take you further out into the desert in search of your camp after the Feast of Moons.”
She sniffed. “Feast of Moons? When is that?”
“The night after we return to Omari Amun.”
A sob escaped from deep within her chest. “How could it be that I walked such a far distance that night?”
He released her and moved to stand before her. “I-I do not—”
“One moment I was inside the temple room and the next I was smack on my bottom in the middle of the desert.” She looked up at him, unashamed of her tears. “How is that possible? I couldn’t have been that zossled, for Pete’s sake.”
Eli offered a hand up. She acquiesced, and he pulled her up to him. “How can I soothe your torment, Zsa-ninah?”
She leaned her forehead against the strong wall of his chest. “I guess I’ll just have to wait another two days and hope they don’t think I’ve run away.”
“They won’t. How far could you go with the elements as they are?” he’d asked rhetorically. “Will you let me amuse you until we can return you to your camp?”
Jade nodded.
He held her for some time stroking her hair. She wept some, but not hard enough to embarrass herself, thank goodness.
“The light on the horizon grows,” he murmured, “We need to move into the interior now.”
Jade sniffed and turned to where Eli had indicated. For the first time, she took notice of the rich foliage that sprouted out of the sand as if it had a will of its own. The oasis itself must have stretched out many miles in each direction. “So how big is this joint?” she asked as they approached the edge of the oasis.
“On foot it takes four nights to travel all the way around, that is, if you keep a swift pace.”
With a yelp, Jade nearly jumped out of her skin. Two tall, muscular men came at them from inside the oasis, crossbows aimed at their hearts.
“Who goes?”
“Omari Elydian Amun and a guest.”
Eli’s voice rang with authority, and it sent shivers down Jade’s back. Aside from his powerful form, his face seemed so young, no one would ever guess he could wield such a commanding presence.
“I recognize the Omari,” one of the guards announced in reply. Both men lowered their weapons and bowed to Eli.
“Well done,” Eli commended. “I shall require no escort on this visit.” He took Jade by the hand, stepped past the guards without casting them a second glance, and moved aside the thick foliage for her.
The atmosphere inside the oasis smelled like a hot house—unlike the dry dusty desert air she’d been inhaling over the past few days. Greenery, mixed florals, soil and moisture assaulted Jade’s senses. She waved a hand in front of her face, hoping to create a less pungent breeze.
“It is a different world in here,” Eli said and drew a deep breath through his nostrils.
“You ain’t kiddin’. Gads, I’ve never seen such a vivid green. You got some prime real estate here.”
“Some…what?”
“No one has ever attempted to build housing or anything?”
“Of course not. No Omari would ever allow—”
Jade turned to him. “Say, what would have happened if one of those thugs didn’t recognize you?” she asked as he created a transitory path through dense foliage for them.
Eli smiled at her in the dim light. “It would have been…unpleasant.”
“Ah, I see.” Two crossbows plus a healthy dose of unpleasantness didn’t equal her cup of coffee.
“Which, of course, is why, by my command, one experienced guard and one novice guard are assigned to each patrol.”
He held out a hand for her to take, and they trudged through wide blades of grass that reached to her waist. A concert of crickets and other insect-like calls saturated the thick air. It sounded beautiful but at the same time, gave Jade the creeps.
“So, how many of those guys are in this place?”
“No one is actually inside, save the daily gathering parties, but we have one hundred patrols of two guards each around the perimeter. They stay just within the boundaries of the oasis, and as you now know, they do not permit anyone to pass.”
She chuckled. “Unless it’s you.”
“Here we are.” Eli pushed aside a colossal leaf, and on the other side, paradise stretched out before them. A tropical rainforest canopied rich foliage in huge patches that extended scores of feet into the air. In-between the massive trees, hills and valleys with lush landscapes rolled out like a carpet, each a seemingly different indigenous plant family, yet all of it living together in harmony with the other.
Jade struggled for a breath. “Oh, Eli. It’s the Garden of Eden.”
“Well, it’s
a
garden. There are many more oases than just this one.” He drew her forward, and they started down a grassy rise which led into a valley.
“I’ve never seen anything like this. And I’ve been all over the world.”
“Have you now,” he chuckled. “Come. The sun still is menacing in the oasis, unless one knows where to hide.”
Chapter Six
At the first grove of trees they came to, Eli bade Jade sit while he gathered and presented to her fruits from his oasis.
“This is the biggest apricot I’ve ever seen,” she said just before she bit into it. Sweet juices ran down either side of her mouth, and she swiped at them with the back of her hand. She groaned and devoured the entire thing, elated yummy noises emanating from her the entire time.
“This is Heaven, Eli,” Jade called to him as she rolled the stripped pit between her palms. He stood on his toes and plucked a grapefruit from the highest bows of a nearby tree.
Good thing he’s so tall
.
She grinned and admired his long legs—the flexing muscles made her tummy flip over.
“I’m glad you approve. Try this one,” he said and tossed her the fruit.
Jade dropped the pit into her lap and grabbed the new morsel out of the air with both hands. She dug into it with her thumbnail. “Why does this grapefruit smell like an orange?” She brought it closer to her nose and inhaled, then broke into it, peeling away a wedge.
He sat down next to her. “May I?” He indicated to the peeled piece in her hand.
She held it out for him to take, but instead he caught her hand between his. Eli bit into the grapefruit. Its juices gushed down their hands. He lapped at the juice on her fingers and palm and trailed his tongue down her arm, chasing the escaped liquid.
Shimmering sensation climbed from her fingers and up her arm at the prompting of his lips and tongue. Jade’s eyes rolled to a close, and she groaned aloud. If she could just bottle this feeling…