When he returned, he handed her the dates and sat beside her.
Layne managed to drag her gaze off the man and onto the temple. Her breath caught. It was beautiful. It reminded her of Kom Ombo on the banks of the Nile. An elegant design of columns, courts, and halls perched by water.
A few of this temple’s columns were still intact. God, she was itching to see inside.
She glanced at the horizon. The sun was setting, and, thankfully, that also meant the temperature was dropping.
“We’ll spend the night here and rest up,” Declan said.
“I want to—”
“See inside the temple.”
“How did you know?’
He smiled. “I’m getting to know you pretty well by now, Rush.” He stood and held out a hand to help her up.
They fished flashlights from their packs, and Layne also grabbed her copy of the translation of the scroll, stuffing it in her pocket. They walked up the steps.
“It’s beautiful,” she said. “I have no idea where this oasis is exactly, but I’ve never heard of this place and it looks pretty undisturbed.”
“An awesome accidental discovery.” He shone his light up at the carved pillars. “I’ve provided security for lots of expeditions around the world that came up empty-handed. They would have wet themselves to discover something like this.”
They moved deeper inside. The back wall was covered in hieroglyphs and images. People making offerings to the gods. She took it all in and stopped beside the carving of a woman who had a strange basket headdress and had a set-animal sitting by her feet.
Wonder filling her, Layne read the glyphs. “No one has seen these for thousands of years, Declan. God, you have to be impressed by that.”
“Maybe.”
She glanced over and saw he was watching her, not the glyphs. “This is a temple dedicated to Nephthys. She was the sister of Isis, and known as the Lady of the Temple Enclosure. She was associated with priestesses.”
“And?” he prompted.
“She was Seth’s wife.”
He froze. “You’re telling me this is an undiscovered temple dedicated to Seth’s wife.”
She couldn’t quite believe it. “Yes.”
“The House of Seth’s beloved. So, we’re on the path to Zerzura?”
“Maybe.” She ran her hands over the engravings, wondering if the priest buried back at the dig had been one of the people who’d carved these. She murmured to herself as she translated.
A warm hand touched the back of her neck. “I’m going to find us something to eat for dinner and then set up camp. We both need some rest.”
She nodded. “I can help.”
He smiled and squeezed the back of her neck. “Stay. Something tells me this will rejuvenate you more than a nap.”
“Looks like you are starting to know me well.”
His gaze dropped to her lips. “Yeah, I guess I am, Rush.”
She watched him walk away. There was a good man buried under his dangerous exterior. A protector, a man driven to take care of others. One who quite simply took her breath away.
They’d almost died in the desert. She knew she wouldn’t have lasted much longer, and even Declan with his training and survival skills couldn’t have held out too long.
She wanted Declan Ward.
She pressed her palm flat to the warm stone wall and took a deep breath. She’d never been with a man who she’d wanted more than her work.
But Declan gave her the space to do what she needed, hell, he’d even been helping her do it. He respected her need to do her job well and that made her want him even more.
Layne realized she was staring at the wall of hieroglyphs like a moony-eyed teenager. She shook her head, smiling, then her gaze fell on a familiar glyph.
Zerzura.
Heart beating hard, she pulled out her translation of the scroll from her pocket. “Find your way to the desert in the west, to the House of Seth’s beloved, then the place of the small birds, where he is king.”
She looked up at the carving on the temple wall.
“Follow the path of the birds to Zerzura directly into the setting sun. Find the buried marks of the birds and reach the home of Seth and his followers.”
So to find Zerzura, you had to head west and find these marks of the birds. Adrenaline winged through her. She jogged out of the temple and down the steps toward the water.
Where she pulled up short.
Declan was standing thigh-deep in the center of the water.
Completely naked.
Her brain took a second to notice the small fire nearby, with some small animal roasting over it. But all her attention was on the man scooping up water and letting it spill down his hard, toned body.
He didn’t have an ounce of fat. She let her gaze run up the strong lines of his legs. He was side-on to her, so she got the view of one toned buttock and the hint of his cock. The rest of him was long lines of muscles, with rivulets of water arrowing down his bronze skin.