Page 35 of Sands of Sirocco
She scanned the vicinity.“Lord Helton told me to stay away from you.Do you think he intercepted your note?He may have been angry you were trying to contact me.”
The concern on his face was clear.“I’m not sure.That would make more sense if the man hadn’t attacked me.I have a friend who may trace where the knife came from.”His fingers were wet with blood.“Why don’t we retire to somewhere more in the open?”
Her nervousness amplified.She shouldn’t have come.The risk had been too great.“I-I don’t think I should.Lord Helton knows you met me in Palestine.He was furious.Threatened my family and me.”
Noah drew her closer to him.“Don’t let him frighten you this way.He can threaten all he likes.He can’t keep it up forever.”His closeness was comforting, and she wanted to sink into his arms.“Should we return?I can keep my distance and watch you get back safely to Shepheard’s.”
She hesitated.Now that he was here, she wanted to tell him of the business Lord Helton and Peter Osborne had pulled her into.
“Not before I’ve had a look at your arm.”She unbuttoned his jacket, then pulled it down from his shoulders.“I saw little of the attacker’s face.But I’m certain you broke his nose.That should be a clue if you search for him.”His shirtsleeve was crimson and wet with blood, but the gash was close to his shoulder.She frowned, her fingers moving the clean tear in his sleeve where the knife had entered.She couldn’t see much of the wound, but it was certainly deep.
“This needs to be sutured.”She found a clean handkerchief in her handbag and pressed it against his wound.“How did the man manage this when you had a gun?”
“He sprang out of the bush at me.He nearly disarmed me.”With his free hand, his fingers brushed her cheek as his palm cupped her face.He leaned down to her and pressed a kiss to her lips.
Her breath caught and she curled an arm around his neck, tilting her face to receive his kiss.She closed her eyes, her heart speeding at the touch of his lips.His lips were feather-light against hers, gentle, searching.As she returned his kiss, it deepened and his hand glided toward her waist, drawing her closer.
Ginger pulled away and searched his eyes.“Aren’t you in pain?”
He shrugged noncommittally.“I’d rather do this than think of that right now.”
She kissed him once more, then dragged her mouth from his.“Should I meet you back in your room?If you give me your room number, I can try to sneak—”
Noah lifted a brow.
The look he gave her only heightened her state of arousal.Her face flushed.“I meant—to suture your arm.”
He chuckled, releasing her.“You carry medical supplies in your handbag?”
“Not this one.I’d have to go and get some first.”She tugged at his hand.“And I refuse to just leave your arm untreated, if that’s your next suggestion.”
“Not that I don’t want you in my room, but someone could see you going there.You’re worried about eyes and ears here in Ezbekieh.This is nothing compared to Shepheard’s.There’s no way for you to go to my room without being seen.”Noah surveyed the space.His eyes stopped at a stone bench under a palm, and he tilted his head toward it.“Shall we sit?”
“If you don’t allow me to suture that cut, you must promise to go to the closest hospital and have it taken care of.”She released the pressure she’d held on the wound with the handkerchief.The wound bled less now.She sat beside him on the bench.
“I promise.”Noah laid his uniform jacket on his arm.“I’ve gone through more uniforms this year than ever before.I’ll need to have the whole sleeve on this replaced.”Noah settled his shoulders back, his jaw clenching reflexively.
His proximity helped put her fears about the Egyptian to one side.“We should talk for a few minutes.A great deal has happened since I last saw you.”
A smile tugged at his lips.“I assumed.Considering you were in Cairo with your family … not on leave, I suppose?”
“No, they dismissed me from duty.”Ginger cringed, thinking of the awful lieutenant.“They gave me the choice between saving the life of a deserter they intended to execute later and that of a young man who needed an emergency amputation.”She cleared her throat.“Actually, I spoke poorly.Not the choice.They commanded me to patch up the deserter.Ichosenot to.”
Noah released an exasperated sigh.“When will the military learn that logic isn’t the enemy?”He interlaced his fingers with hers.“Regardless of what they did, I’m quite proud of you.Noble Lady Virginia.”
The only advantage of having followed that Egyptian is that he’d lured her to a place of relative privacy.Even if they were being watched, as the night grew later, they could converse more openly.No one could be close enough to listen to their low tones.Much as she wanted to tell him of Osborne and Lord Helton, she was curious about why he’d sent a note.“What did the note you intended for me say?”
Noah’s features darkened.He turned his body toward her, his knees against hers.“Stephen Fisher is in Cairo.I brought him back after my last mission went horribly awry and Lord Helton has jailed him in a special facility while they question him.Even I don’t know where it is.”
Stephen … caught?The news brought her equal jolts of relief and fear.“Will they charge him for my father’s death?”
“I’m not sure.His capture is a secret.Lord Helton doesn’t want it to get out yet.His family has been raising hell back in England trying to learn what happened to him.”Noah didn’t deliver the news with any hint of satisfaction.“There’s more, Ginger … He surrendered to me in Jerusalem.He claimed he no longer wanted to be with the Germans and would rather take his chances with the British.I think he feels he can negotiate, given what he knows.”
Stephen surrendered?He’d been free.Why would he come back to Cairo, where he was being hunted?“The British government will cooperate with him?They must hold him accountable for his crimes.”
“I don’t know what he’s up to, but I’m certain he’s planning something.I …” His grip on her hand tightened.Ginger eyed him curiously.Whatever he was trying to say was clearly hard for him.
“What is it?”The flutter of nerves went through her stomach, the rich meal from Shepheard’s no longer sitting well.
