Playing Games
Page 27

And so I decided to show him just how much I wanted it. I dragged his mouth to mine in a hard kiss, my tongue sweeping into his mouth. My leg rose and curled around his, dragging our hips together.
He groaned and his hands planted on my ass, curving my body against his larger one until I was pressed against him, and our mouths met and meshed over and over again. It didn't matter that we were at the bottom of a pyramid, or that it was hot and muggy inside, or we were in the middle of a race. All I knew at this moment was that this delicious man wanted to sleep with me.
And I wanted him, too. I couldn't wait for tonight.
The kiss broke off after a moment, leaving us both gasping. I could feel Liam growing hard against my thigh, and my nipples felt like they were about to come through my shirt, they were so tight.
"Well," he said raggedly, and then slicked another kiss over my mouth, as if he couldn't leave me alone. "I guess we should look for that clue."
"I guess so," I said, and nipped at his jaw again, not moving from his arms.
He chuckled and gave my ass a firm squeeze with his hands - such strong hands - and slid me back down to the ground. "Come on."
"Gotcha," I said breathlessly. We gave the room a cursory look, though there wasn't all that much to see.
There was, however, a black hole carved into the shadowy wall. Another tunnel, small and cramped and barely wide enough to crawl into.
Liam glanced over at me. "I don't suppose you want to go in there and check?"
"How about no?"
He grinned and dropped to his knees in front of it. "Somehow, I thought you'd say that."
"I'll make it worth your while," I said in a flirty voice. "Later tonight."
He looked back at me and grinned. "Now you're talking." Then he dropped to his elbows, and began to shimmy into the hole.
I shuddered and looked away, unable to watch him climbing even deeper into this hellhole pyramid. Rubbing my arms, I glanced around the chamber…
And just barely caught a green light flashing. Frowning, I headed over to that light, and noticed that there was a small camera mounted in the wall next to one of the lights.
Well, damn. So much for not caring about making good TV. We'd just made some pretty awesome TV with our impromptu make out session.
And somehow, I couldn't find it in me to be upset. I was looking forward to more kisses far too much.
 
 
~~ * * * ~~
 
 
By the time we'd visited all three pyramids, the sun was coming up and we had eight different figurines. Liam had done all the hard work. I'd mostly clung to him and suffered my way through the series of small tunnels. The Great Pyramid had been the worst; the others were just mildly unpleasant.
When we were finished with the last, we laid the figures out on the ground outside and studied them, moving words around. When we figured it out, it read: Head to the Sphinx Temple for your clue.
We were like a well-oiled machine at this point. Liam and I looked at each other. Wordlessly, he grabbed my backpack and we sprinted back towards the Sphinx. It was a bit of a trot and by the time we arrived, we were both winded.
There was a flag at the entrance, and a man in a white cotton robe and turban waiting for us. The sun had come up and it was getting warmer, and I envied him his cool-seeming clothing. I took the disk with a thank you, and then retreated to read it.
"Individual Task," I read aloud as Liam dropped our packs. "One of you will go step by step and reproduce a traditional Egyptian mummy, complete with linens, scarabs, and mummification rituals. A judge will be waiting nearby to give you your next clue once you have completed the task to his satisfaction." I looked up at Liam in horror. "Please tell me we're not going to have to mummify a real body."
"This is TV, Katy. I doubt they found someone willing to volunteer for that."
Good point. I considered things, then shrugged. If it was nasty, well, I had the stronger stomach. "I'll do it."
Liam grinned. "I was hoping you'd say that."
I gave him a quick kiss and dashed into the designated area. And stopped being amused. There were six tables laid out, each one with a 'body.' A cameraman dashed forward, recording my flinch of reaction. I moved closer to the nearest table and heaved a sigh of relief when I realized that the 'person' on the table was plastic. Thank god for that. Next to the table was a scroll, and next to that was a series of tools and jars.
I considered the implements laid out before me, and picked up a small hook, then shuddered. I did not want to know what that was for.
After examining the items, I unrolled the scroll. It was done in a cheesy sort of hieroglyphic, complete with pictures detailing each step of mummification. Here was where you washed the body. Here was where you removed the internal organs and put them in jars. Here was where you shoved the hook up the nose and scooped the brains out.
I brushed my fingers over the dummy’s skin…and it felt almost like real skin. It was even warm.
Ew.
I swallowed hard and looked down at my dummy. "You're lucky it's me and not Liam, mister."
 
 
~~ * * * ~~
 
 
A short time later, I wiped my hands clean and took the disk that the judge held out for me, feeling vaguely queasy. That had been a little more realistic - dummy and all - than I had preferred.
No sooner had I received my disk and went out to greet my partner than another team showed up - Summer and Polly. Damn. How did they constantly get to the head of the pack? It was crazy. Hot on their heels were Abby and Dean and Tesla and Brodie. Almost everyone had caught up. I didn't see the other two teams, but I was pretty sure they weren't far behind.
Off to the side, Liam waved me down and I raced over to him with the disk. We hunched over it, reading the clue quietly. "Head to the harbor of Alexandria and look for the Pharos Lighthouse," I read aloud.
"One of the seven wonders of the ancient world," Liam murmured. "Interesting. I thought it was destroyed."
I'd never heard of the darn thing. "So how do we find something that's destroyed?"
"It says to head to Alexandria," he pointed out. "Maybe someone there will know more."
We gathered up our things and returned to our waiting taxi.
 
 
~~ * * * ~~
 
 
Several hours later, we departed the train that had taken us to Alexandria and hailed another cab. While riding on the train, we'd borrowed someone's smartphone and had a chance to do some research on the Pharos Lighthouse - it had apparently been found under the sea and there were diving tours that could get us to where we needed to go. I suspected that we'd find a flag at one of the diving stations.
With our cab driver, we searched the bay section. I spotted the cameras before I spotted the flag, and nudged Liam. "Over there."
He nodded, and we bounded out of the cab after paying the driver. Off atop a nearby hill, I could see Chip Brubaker waiting at the finish line. This had to be the right place. I took Liam's pack as he headed to the scuba diving shop, meeting the judge with the flag.
The man handed him his task and Liam read it aloud. "Dive in the waters of Alexandria's Eastern Harbor. Search the treasure chests along the bottom of the ocean for ten coins that depict the Lighthouse of Alexandria. Once you have all ten coins, proceed to the finish line." Liam glanced back at me and grinned. "Wish me luck."