As Long As by Jackie Ivie

whenever he flexed. It was difficult to stay focused.
    “You just deceived me.”
    “So?”
    Geena crossed her arms and displayed a nonchalance she was far from feeling. His upper lip lifted. She got a clear view of his fangs. Damn it! Her legs got hit with a cold wash of weakness. She swayed. The stupid table made it impossible to hide the reaction. She had to look away until she regained her balance. She didn’t dare look back at him. He was really scary.
    And amazingly sexy.
    How was that even possible ?
    He was regarding her with an unreadable expression when she looked back at him. His eyes were slits, but he’d covered over his fangs. She decided to match his expression. She even stuck her tongue in front of her upper teeth to make her lip swell out to equal his. It was a small gesture, but it helped.
    “You really try my patience, woman,” he finally told her.
    “All right. Sokar. Senusret. Ahmose. Whoever. Listen up. You don’t know me. But I’m going to give you a little insight. I don’t care about your temper. I don’t care if you call yourself a vampire. I don’t even care if you really are one. Got it?”
    There was a long silence after her tirade. But at least, he’d pulled out of his threatening pose. His expression was still unreadable.
    “What do you care about?” he finally asked.
    That was underhanded. Nobody got to ask her personal questions. Not about her past. Or anything else. Geena’s mouth opened. Shut. “I think we’re finished here.”
    “With what?”
    “Our argument.”
    “I do not argue.”
    “No kidding. You just issue decrees and expect they’ll be followed. Instantly. And without question. Well, I think it’s time you moved into the twenty-first century with the rest of the world. And I’m talking A.D. here. Not B.C.E.”
    He grunted. It sounded suspiciously like amusement. Geena looked him over for long moments. He wasn’t meeting her eyes. He was focused on something over her head.
    “Are you laughing at me?”
    He dropped his gaze back to hers, but his lips twitched suspiciously. “Oh. Never.”
    “Good. Just keep it that way. So. What do you say? Want to call a truce? Start the tour?”
    “If that is your wish.”
    “Wasn’t it next on the agenda?”
    He shrugged.
    “First the tour and then you’re going to keep to your promise. Yes?”
    “I will allow you to return when this is over. You have my word.”
    “Allow? We never said allow in there. What is it with you and that word, anyway?”
    “It annoys you?”
    “It’s an ownership word. I am an adult, Sokar. Nobody owns me. Take my gender out of the equation, and what would you have?”
    “A very pretty boy.”
    Geena couldn’t help it. She chuckled. He didn’t join her. He frowned.
    “I will avoid using the word ‘allow’ in the future. Is that what you wish to hear?”
    “I don’t know what I want, okay? You appeared out of nowhere. You tried to kill me, and when that didn’t work, you decided to...what? Make passionate wild love with me so I would...what? Come with you to the desert and...what now? Excavate? I can’t figure this out. I don’t know why I’m here. I’m still reeling from the how we got here. And don’t answer that, okay?”
    “It is time I showed you.”
    “But I have your promise. Right?”
    “I am a man of honor. Nothing we say...alters that.”
    His voice broke midway. There was a distinct tremor throughout the words, too. She told herself she didn’t care about that, either.

CHAPTER TEN
    They walked down a hundred steps of hallway before turning into another hall that looked just as lengthy. He held her hand the entire time. The touch sent vibrations she studiously ignored. This was her fault. They could traverse halls in an eye-blink if she allowed it. Geena had asked him to walk. With only a slight hesitation, he’d agreed. He didn’t ask. She didn’t explain. She needed to walk. She was searching for reality. Normality. Something that would put everything