Page 12 of Hot Zone

Gathering all his remaining strength, he reversed their positions, his right forearm holding her shoulders down, his weight squashing any thought of movement on her part. His thigh forced her legs apart, and she sprawled wantonly, his for the taking, beneath him.

He’d searched for a woman like this ever since he’d reluctantly accepted that he might be stuck in this place forever. And to think she’d just walked into his life out of the clear blue. What were the odds…?

And then the rage came—his old friend. His wellspring. The storm within from whence came all his power. What were the odds, indeed?

Grateful for his fury’s return, he welcomed its maelstrom. A need to dominate this woman consumed him. To take her by force and brand her with the mark of him for all time…

Caution of who and what she was slammed into him. She’d already let slip a small demonstration of her mental powers when she forced a sexual image into his brain, past his formidable mental defenses.

He stared down at her, trembling beneath him, appearing completely at his mercy. Surely Tessa wasn’t as helpless as all this. She was going to tempt him to rape her, and then, in his moment of climax, when all his mental defenses were down, she would destroy him.

He flung himself away from her, springing off the bed furiously. “I will not fall for your tricks!” he snarled.

She sat up, looking small and forlorn. A fine actress, Lady Tessa of Marconi.

“I am no green boy you can bewitch. I am a—” he broke off. He must never utter those words aloud in this place. “I am a mighty warrior and a great sorcerer. No woman will get the best of me.”

Tessa’s eyes glittered in irritation. “From the way you’re ranting and raving, I’d say I’ve already gotten the best of you.”

He took an aggressive step toward the bed. Still, she didn’t flinch. And yet again he was struck by her audacity. Was she simply dense, or really so brave—and foolish? Even Artemesia had the good sense not to bait him when he was in a towering temper like this.

“Get. Out.” Her voice was clear. Calm. Forceful. Her words fell like crystals, shattering upon his eardrums.

She dared to toss him out? Him? Off balance, he knew not whether to roar with rage or howl with laughter.

Time. He needed some time to regain his equilibrium. To think about the presence of this woman and what it meant.

“This is not over, my fair-haired seductress. Not by a long shot.” And with that, he stormed out of the room.

Bright sunlight woke Tessa the next morning. That and the oddest noise. It was loud. Vaguely human. A rumbling roar of sound all around her. What in the world? Perplexed, she arose and threw back the slatted wood shutters.

And stared.

Stretching away on the plain below her lay a vast tent city, extending as far as the eye could see. The sound was coming from soldiers. Training in sweeping formations, tending equipment, lounging at rest. Tens of thousands of them.

Professor Carswell had dropped her smack-dab in the middle of the Persian army!

As part of her military training, Tessa had studied great battles through history, picked apart the tactics, and here she stood in the midst one of history’s greatest armies. A shiver rippled through her. Of thrill or trepidation, she wasn’t sure. Maybe both.

How far along was the invasion of Greece, anyway? Had the legendary battle of Thermopylae and the heroic stand of the Spartans happened yet? Had Athens fallen? The great naval battle of Salamis taken place?

How was she supposed to find a bronze wedge, small enough to fit in the palm of her hand, in the middle of all this? She cast her mind outward, seeking the prize. Only a muddled tingle that might be its distinctive signature reached her.

The number of triangular bits of bronze out there with all those soldiers and their equipment had to number in the millions. She might have found needles in haystacks before, but this was ridiculous. She had a remarkable talent for finding lost things, but not this remarkable!

If she spent a year in this place, she couldn’t search a hundredth of that massive gathering of humanity in front of her. Now what?

The plan was to retrieve the bronze wedge ASAP, then return home with all due haste.

And, she amended mentally, to stay far, far away from the Sorcerer of Halicarnassus in the meantime.

She didn’t know what had come over her last night when he’d barged into her room and her bed, but in the bright light of day, their spectacular kiss couldn’t be attributed to anything other than temporary insanity. She was on an ultra-secret military mission, for goodness sake. The last thing she needed to do was get entangled with some local man, particularly a very distracting one.

No help for it. She had to take a deep breath and start searching for the section of the medallion. And hope she got lucky.

After availing herself of the chamber pot, she pulled on the high-waisted, loose-weave, white linen dress Athena had conjured for her. The embroidered decoration was unobtrusive, but exquisitely done. Not so gaudy as to draw attention to herself, but finely enough made to declare her high status in society.

She tucked her all-important bronze-and-quartz cuff safely under the left sleeve, where it clasped her arm a couple of inches above the elbow.

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