Monte Carlo, Monaco
Roman’s eyes blinked open and were greeted by the morning sun.
He raised his hands to shield his sensitive eyes from the sunlight as he rose from the cushioned chaise that he slept on.
I am going to have to find an anti-freeze spell so I sleep in the same bed as my woman.
This is becoming tiresome.
He stretched and yawned as he walked over to the large bed across from him.
He looked down at Hatshepsut’s sleeping form.
She lay on her side with her face towards him.
The sun shone down on her making her golden-brown skin glow.
Mother of creation, she’s beautiful!
He could hear her soft breathing as she slept.
Roman got into the bed, propped himself on his elbow, and gaze at her.
He reached out and swept away a lock of hair from her face and began to caress her sun-kissed skin with his finger.
He first traced the ankh tattoo that covered her dismal abyss of an eye.
This eye had always intrigued him since he first noticed it.
The tattoo gave him a small jolt that made him withdrew his hand quickly.
This only peak his curiosity more.
One day I will unlock your secrets.
He lightly traced the length of her graceful nose and then he outlined her full, pouty lips.
Touching their softness made Roman want to kiss them.
He leaned over and lightly pressed his lips against hers.
The coolness of her lips sent a chill through his body.
He drew away slightly, thinking how Hatshepsut would hate to see him shiver, but he enjoyed the sensation.
Some days he craved it.
He leaned in to kiss her again.
Hatshepsut began to rouse.
“Good morning, my queen,” Roman said as he ran his fingers down the length of Hatshepsut’s cheek.
She smiled at him and held his hand to her face.
He loved it when she did that.
It made him think that she wanted to be closer to him.
He freed his hand, pulled Hatshepsut into his arms, and kissed her soft lips tenderly.
He gazed into her ice blue eye.
“What?” Hatshepsut asked him.
“I was admiring how the sunlight makes you glow.
Do you realize this is the first time I have ever seen you in the daylight?
We should meet out of country more often.”
Hatshepsut smiled.
Roman pulled her face back to his.
His blood began to boil as he kissed her.
He kissed her lips, her cheek, and as he began towards her neck, she rolled him over onto his back and straddled him.
This only made his heart beat faster.
“No more,” she said, breathlessly.
“We have been at it all night.”
“Most women would not complain about that,” Roman said, pulling Hatshepsut down so that their bodies would be closer.
Her cool skin against his gave him goose bumps.
The unexpected sensation aroused him even farther.
“Besides, we’re in Monte Carlo.
We have this penthouse suite to ourselves.
We can make love all day, get something to eat, go gamble and make love all night.
You know you have the stamina to do it.”
“As tempting as that sounds,” Hatshepsut said, kissing Roman, “we both have business in Africa.
I have to catch a flight to Egypt while you have to go to some forsaken jungle to sell arms to .
.
.
are you selling to the tyrants or the rebels this time?”
“Both, but what does that matter?”
“We will be on others’ time.”
“Very well,” Roman said, rolling Hatshepsut onto the bed and getting up.
“That does not mean you have to leave now,” Hatshepsut whined, grabbing Roman’s hand.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said, reaching down to touch her cheek.
He slid his hand out of her grasp and walked over to his bag where he rummaged for a package.
He pulled out a small box that was wrapped in shiny paper and tied with silk ribbon.
Hatshepsut cocked an eyebrow as she looked at the box suspiciously.
Roman sat on the side of the bed and handed it to her.
“For you,” he said.
Roman watched as Hatshepsut took the box and slowly opened it.
She continually glanced up at him as she opened the box.
Roman watched her as she tore the paper off, opened the plain black box and took out a crystal bottle that was cut like a gem.
It was filled with an amber-colored liquid.
“What is this?” Hatshepsut asked.
“It’s perfume that I had made especially for you,” Roman said, removing the top from the bottle.
“Take a whiff.
I think you’ll like it.”
Hatshepsut cautiously sniffed at the bottle.
A small smile crossed her face.
Roman was pleased with her expression.
“You like it?”
“It smells like lotus and rain, just like the Nile.
It makes me think of when I was a child.
My father would take me out on the royal barge and we would ride down the Nile.
He would point out all of the various flowers and animals that were on the banks.
How did you know?”
“I know you pretty well,” Roman said, pushing back the hair that covered her tattooed eye.
Hatshepsut withdrew slightly from him, but Roman didn’t allow that to keep him from kissing its lid.
“I hope to get to know you even more.”
“When did we start exchanging gifts?” Hatshepsut asked, resealing the bottle.
Roman could hear the suspicion in her voice.
He smiled sincerely.
“I wanted to do something nice for you.
There’s nothing wrong with me wanting to spoil you, is there?”
“It is when there is an ulterior motive.”
“My motives are pure.”
“Your motives are never pure.”
Roman continued smiling.
He knew that she would see right through him.
He took her hand into his.
There’s nothing wrong with changing things up.”
“Have you grown tired of my fragrance?”
“Certainly not,” Roman said pulling Hatshepsut towards him.
“I’ve gotten so used to your scent that I automatically stand at attention when I smell it, but if I recognize it so well, are you not worried that someone else may have become familiar with it?”
“Why should I care?”
“Because it could mean the difference between life and death!” Roman said, losing his calm facade.
He had hoped that he could get through this calmly, but his emotions were beginning to run high.
He let go of Hatshepsut and looked at her seriously.
“I know you were in Kyoto last week.
I know that you assassinated a very powerful man of a very powerful family.”
“How do you–?”
“In my line of work, you keep up with the competition.
I smuggle arms and other things.
They are smugglers as well.
An associate of mine spotted one of Ochiru’s daughters, Geisha, in New Orleans.
She was asking about a woman that smelled of myrrh.
I knew it had to be you.”
“And you decided that I need to mask my scent.
That is sweet, but unnecessary.
I am not afraid of this ‘Geisha’.
Let her come.”
“Do you even know who she is?
Or what she is capable of?
She is the enforcer for the Tenshi family.
From what I’ve been told, she is very efficient.”
“I think I can handle a human assassin.”
“Human or not she is good.
She may even be better than you.”
“Humph!” Hatshepsut huffed.
“If she is as good as you say, then a change in perfume will not stop Geisha from finding me.”
“It’s a start,” Roman said, taking the bottle from her.
He put it on the side table and took Hatshepsut’s hands into his.
He gazed deeply in her eyes.
“Think about it.
The longer you stay out of New Orleans the longer it may take for her to find you.
I have villas in Greece and France.
I own beaches in Brazil and Spain.
If you don’t care for those places, there are still plenty of countries to go and see.”
“You mean to go and hide.”
“Be reasonable.”
“I am no coward,” Hatshepsut said removing her hands from his.
“I will not run and hide because you think it best.
You used to have faith in me, what happened to that?”
“I haven’t lost faith in you,” Roman said, trying to keep his voice calm.
“I don’t want to lose you!”
Hatshepsut looked at him, dumbfounded.
Roman took a deep breath to calm himself, but frustration was taking hold and he couldn’t shake it.
Why does she have to be so stubborn?
He looked at Hatshepsut with distress.
“When I found you on my balcony the other night,” Roman said sternly, “I thought you were dead.
If I hadn’t been at home, you would have died.
I keep thinking about that night over and over.
It made me realize something that I have been denying for months.”
“What is that?”
Roman placed a hand on the side of Hatshepsut’s face and gazed in into her eyes.
“I love you, Hat.”
Roman watched Hatshepsut’s face go blank, but he wasn’t going to stop now.
“I know in the beginning we agreed not to let feelings get the best of us.
We were going to keep it strictly need for need.
You need weapons, I give you weapons.
I need someone to disappear, you make them disappear.
If either of us needed some .
.
.
affection, the other would fulfill that request as well.
That has worked out for the most part until a couple of months ago when I realized I wasn’t as annoyed by your late night visits.
I began wishing for them.
Then when our lovemaking actually became lovemaking, I knew I wasn’t the only one falling.”
“Roman—”
“The other night is what sealed it.
I knew without a doubt, I had to make you my one and only—”
“Roman, please—”
“Hat, I want to wake up next to you every morning.
I want your face to be the last thing I see every night.
Hat, Hatshepsut, will you—”
“STOP!” Hatshepsut screamed.
It startled Roman.
This was not the reaction he was expecting at all.
He watched her jump out of the bed, grab a robe and walk out to the balcony.
He walked after her.
She stood on the balcony with her arms crossed.
He leaned on the railing and looked at Hatshepsut.
Her face had an expression that he didn’t understand.
It was full of anger and pain.
Then it changed to sorrow.
Roman moved behind Hatshepsut and wrapped his arms around her.
He kissed the top of her head and bent down to put his cheek to hers.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“I didn’t mean to say anything to upset you.”
Hatshepsut sighed.
She gently removed Roman’s arms from around her and turned to look at him.
She reached out and placed her cool hand on his cheek.
Roman closed his eyes and held it there.
She slowly took her hand away.
“I want to apologize for my reaction,” Hatshepsut said, re-crossing her arms, “but when you began to propose to me, I didn’t know what to think.
I cannot marry you, Roman.”
Roman began to laugh.
“Good,” he said.
Hatshepsut looked at him, bewildered.
This made him laugh harder.
“I do not see anything funny,” Hatshepsut said as she shoved pass Roman to walk back into the room.
Roman followed, still laughing.
“Wait, wait,” Roman said, grabbing Hatshepsut by the waist and pulling her back to him.
He pulled her back against his chest and wrapped his arm around her waist.
He leaned over and put his cheek against hers.
“Don’t get angry.
If you had let me finish, you would’ve known I wasn’t proposing marriage.”
“But you said—.”
“I only said that I wanted to be able to look at you every day.
I want you to move in with me.”
Hatshepsut jerked herself out of Roman’s arms and looked at him.
Roman watched as understanding then shock went across her face.
“No,” she finally said.
“What?” Roman responded confused.
“Why not?”
“It would not work.”
“I don’t see why it wouldn’t?
I can’t think of two people more suited for one another.
Our lives will be just as they always have been, except we will be living under the same roof and sleeping in the same bed .
.
.”
“Is that what this is all about?
Your physical needs?”
“No.”
“Is this your attempt at trying to protect me from Geisha?”
“No!” Roman roared.
He was not used to losing his cool so easily.
Only she could do this to him.
Hatshepsut looked at him, shocked.
He knew that he didn’t usually speak to her like this, but he could feel his desperation rising to the surface.
“Hat, a week ago, whenever you left my house, I wondered when I would see you again.
Now, when you leave, I wonder if I will see you again.
I take your immortality for granted.
I always think it’s synonymous with invulnerability, but it’s not.
You proved that the other night.
I always knew that you could be hurt or even killed, but I always figured that it would take a force of nature not some teenager that caught you off guard.”
“You need to let the other night go.”
“No, I will not and neither should you.”
Roman stood staring Hatshepsut down hoping she would give in, but he knew hoping for that was like wishing for rain in the middle of a desert.
Hatshepsut broke from his gaze and turned away.
“Wait,” he said gently.
Hatshepsut turned to look at him.
“Roman, I cannot live with you, and I am not going to play coward.”
“Damn it, Hat!
Is your pride that important?
Is it worth dying for?”
“This is not about my pride, Roman.
You would not understand.”
“Try me.”
Roman stood waiting for an explanation.
Hatshepsut looked at him as if she was at conflict with herself.
Then she turned from him and began grabbing her things.
“What are you doing?” Roman asked.
“I am leaving,” she said, putting her clothes on.
“If the decisions I make bother you, then maybe we should make different arrangements for our needs.”
“Hat, don’t,” Roman said.
He reached out towards her, but she shrugged his hand away and continued to get dress.
“Don’t do this.
You’re being irrational.”
“You are overreacting.”
“I love you.”
“Stop saying that!
Please stop saying that,” Hatshepsut said, near tears.
Roman was confused.
What did he say?
“Don’t leave,” Roman said firmly.
Hatshepsut looked at Roman with the saddest look.
“Why could you not allow things to be as they were?” Hatshepsut asked sadly.
“Everything was perfect.”
“No, everything wasn’t perfect,” Roman said taking her face into his hands.
“Can you look into my eyes and tell me that you are satisfied at how things are?”
“Yes, I can.”
“I can’t.
I wake up every morning wondering what you’re doing.
Who are you making smile?” Then he laughed.
“Who are you going to kill?
Do you not think of me at all?”
“It matters not,” Hatshepsut cried.
Bitter tears trickled down her cheeks.
Roman was baffled.
He just confessed his feelings to the woman that he love, and she is behaving as if he had told her the worst thing possible.
“Why are you crying?” Roman asked wiping away from some of her tears.
“Speak to me, Hat.
What are you not telling me?”
Hatshepsut put her hands on Roman’s for a moment before she removed his hands from his face.
“Goodbye, Roman,” she said and in a flash, she was gone.
Roman stood confused.
Why would you react like that?
What are you not telling me?