my arm. Slowly he massaged from my shoulder down my arm, over my elbow to my wrist and then down my hand all the way to my fingertips, making sure to get oil between each finger.
As he moved to my other arm, he asked, “Do you know how Anubis prepares bodies at the time of their death?” I nodded. “You must be adorned in a similar way.”
“Do I have to wear mummy wrappings?” I asked.
He smiled. “No. But you will need to wear white. You must be dressed in fresh clothing of the purest shade. If you cannot remain barefoot, you will wear sandals of the same color that wrap around your legs.”
Speaking of legs, Horus had now crouched down and taken hold of my foot. As he ran his oiled palm under the sensitive arch and then up the back of my calf, I danced away nervously.
Horus let me go and looked up at me. “I won’t hurt you.”
“I…I know. I’m just not used to getting a massage standing up,” I stammered, trying to come up with something less embarrassing than nobody has ever touched me like that before. Tia wasn’t helping either. She was enjoying his ministrations too much to protest.
Frowning slightly, he asked, “Would you prefer to lie down?”
“No. Let’s just…” I wrung my hands and shook them out. “Let’s just get this over with quickly. Okay?”
“As you wish,” he said softly, and held out a steadying hand.
I leaned against the table, fingering the soft fabric as his palm found my leg again. He swiped the oil up and behind my knee, to halfway up my thigh, only lingering there for a fraction of a second before he did the same thing to the other one. Relief spilled out of me in a shaky breath as he stood up and turned me to face him once again.
Ignoring my obvious discomfort, he dipped his fingertips back into the jar and stroked his thumbs across my eyebrows. Asking me to close my eyes, he touched each eyelid, leaving a whisper of moist, tingling oil behind. The lobes of my ears were next, and then he traced the edge of my jaw on both sides. The last thing he did was touch the pad of his thumb to my bottom lip.
His gaze fixed on my lips and his expression became hungry and hot. Lifting his eyes to mine, he whispered, “You are ready.”
I swallowed, the sensation thick and searing my throat. “Thank you,” I murmured languidly.
“You’re welcome,” he answered with a warmth that spoke volumes. We stood, unmoving for a few more heartbeats, until I noticed he was smiling. “Lily,” he said.
“Yes?” I answered, my eyes now drawn to his mouth.
“If you keep looking at me like that, I’m not going to let you go anywhere.”
I inhaled and realized I had stopped breathing for a few seconds. Turning away from him felt torturous, but somehow I did it and stepped toward the little table containing my weapons and my dress. That was when I noticed the heart scarab peeking out from under the folds of white. I brushed my hand against it and the passionate fog that I’d been enveloped in dissipated, my mind completely clear.
Narrowing my eyes, I turned, and my suspicions were confirmed when I saw the self-assured grin on Horus’s face. “You tricked me, didn’t you?” I accused.
He shrugged like the popular boy at school who knew he could get away with naughty behavior if he flirted with the teacher. “There’s no way you would have paid any attention to me at all if you had that on your person. Catching you unawares while bathing was the only way I could try to steal you away from him.”
“You’re despicable,” I said, though my skin was still too warm from his touch to lend any weight to my words. “I knew we should’ve strangled him, Tia.”
Horus raised his hands in surrender. “I’ve lost. I’ll admit it. And rightfully so.” He sighed. “It’s been centuries since I’ve had to work so hard to gain a woman’s interest.” When he saw my irritated expression, he added, “Take heart. You rejected me all on your own.” Leaning closer, Horus stretched out a hand to find something on the table behind me and brought his very tempting mouth to within inches of mine. He smiled when he found what he was looking for and added, “Mostly.”
Straightening, he dangled a necklace with a dark blue stone between his outstretched fingertips. “Maybe when I