Page 40 of Dalla's Royal Guards
Nasser glowered at him. “You don’t look much better. We both probably smell worse than the goats that live around here.”
He grimaced. “Let’s get back. It will be dark soon.”
They walked in silence, their arms filled with their precious cargo. Musad tried not to think of the pile of dung mere inches from his nose. He hoped the dripping sound he’d heard when they entered the cave meant there was enough water to wash his hands and face.
They entered the cave and stopped when they noticed it was empty. Unease made his stomach tighten. He deposited the collection of wood and dried dung next to the round firepit.
“Dalla.”
“I’m here.”
Nasser dumped his wood on top of the pile and followed him toward the back of the cave. Neither of them had realized that there was another passage that went deeper.
He turned sideways so he could slip through the narrow crevice in the rock. Five feet down, the cavern opened up again into a smaller room. He blinked in surprise when he noticed several ancient torches wedged into the rock walls. One of them was burning.
The sound of the water was louder. His gaze swept over the hollowed-out room, and a ripple of water drew his attention. A surprisingly large pool of water covered more than a quarter of the area. A pile of clothing lay on a rock next to the pool.
“Dalla?”
Nasser’s voice echoed in the narrow space. Musad swallowed when Dalla’s head emerged from the water. She looked like a sea nymph with her sun-kissed hair plastered to her head and her hair floating along the surface. She lifted her head only far enough out of the water that they could see her nose and eyes. The light from the torches made her eyes glow.
Then she slowly rose. Musad swallowed past the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. His eyes were glued to the water droplets as they ran down her body. Creamy shoulders emerged. Musad had never envied water—until now.
His mouth went dry at the sight of her breasts cresting the water. He curled his fingers as a wave of desire struck him and all he could think of was the fullness of his groin and how much he wanted his hands to be cupping her breasts.
Her eyes held a mischievous and knowing awareness of his reaction to her. Nasser’s hissing breath informed him that he wasn’t the only one affected by what they were seeing.
If he were a gentleman, he would have apologized and turned his back, but he decided he was going to hell, if there was one, because his gentlemanly side completely evaporated as he waited in anticipation of her rising further from the water.
“I was hoping this pool would still be active. There is an underground spring that rises and fills the pool before it overflows back into a river,” she explained, waving her hand to the side of the pool.
He followed the graceful movement of her arm. At the end of the pool, the water overflowed and disappeared through a section of eroded rocks. Nasser stepped forward, squatted, and ran his fingers through the water.
“It’s warm… and deeper than I thought.”
She hummed her agreement and looked at him playfully as she swam backward a stroke. It chased away the shadows of their earlier conversation. This was a warm-blooded woman who was very much alive, and who had been affecting him in a fascinating, yet disturbing way from the start, both physically and emotionally.
“Yes, it feels wonderful. It reminds me of the hot springs near my home when I was younger,” she replied with a sigh of contentment. “You both should try it.”
Musad’s hands were already moving to the buttons on his shirt. Nasser rose to his feet and started unbuttoning his own shirt before he paused, hesitating.
Musad slowly lowered his own hands in response, and Nasser took a deep breath. “Dalla, I know that… earlier… when we kissed…” He cleared his throat.
Her patient, luminous eyes took Nasser in, allowing him to find his words.
“What I mean is, if you have boundaries you’d rather we didn’t cross, we’ll do whatever you want.” Nasser glanced at Musad, making sure his brother knew that he was allowed to have boundaries, too, and speak up about them.
Musad gave him a grateful, acknowledging glance in return, though it was laced with amusement given how much he’d been drawn to Dalla and wantedeverythingwith her—everything that he had sworn to never want. He nervously returned his attention to her, awaiting her response.
“I want everything—” she said softly. Musad’s breath hitched at how perfectly she had matched his thoughts. “—with both of you,” she asserted firmly. “I have lived a long, long life, Nasser. I want to be greedy this time. I want both of you, and I would like not to waste time, if we can, since there is no way to know if our time will be cut short again. If you want that, too, then I invite you both to join me. If not, then I ask you both to give me privacy to enjoy my bath in peace.”
Musad’s hands curled by his sides as her calm words flowed over him like the gentle water of the spring surrounding her and left trails of fire in their wake. He started when Nasser gripped his forearm and nodded to the crevice where they had entered. “Give us a minute, Dalla,” Nasser requested, his expression strained.
She nodded, eyes filled with hope and sorrow. “Ja, of course.”
Slowly, Musad backed away and followed his brother, his eyes locked with Dalla’s as he stepped backwards. With one last look, she sank beneath the water, and Musad followed Nasser into the crevice, hearing the drip of water and feeling the rough stone against his hands. His muscles were coiled tight, a physical manifestation of the need that mirrored the longing he had seen in Dalla. He stopped dead in his tracks as his brother whirled around, eyes blazing.
“I can accept her terms. It isn’t like we haven’t ever been in a shared relationship before,” Nasser said.
