“You have magic as well?” asked Temuk. Ham smiled at the man, nodding.
“Let’s just say we have magic on our side.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Everyone was paired up due to the lack of rooms available for the team. Sadie and Ham took one room together, feeling somewhat awkward, as this was technically their first time sleeping together in one bed.
Sadie excused herself, changing in the bathroom. When she emerged, Ham was wearing a loose-fitting pair of pajama bottoms.
“I guess this is silly, right? I mean, you’ve seen me naked,” she frowned.
“Sadie, I am in no hurry, baby. You’re not ready for this yet. When you are, I’ll be here waiting for you. Until then, I’m happy to just lie with you and hold you every night.”
“Really?” she asked.
“Really.”
“Then I have a huge favor to ask of you, Ham.” Sadie appeared to be nervous, wringing her hands in front of her.
“You can ask me anything, and I’ll give it to you, Sadie. Anything.” He pulled her hand toward him, and she took a seat beside him on the bed.
“I love you, Ham, and I know that you love me. After what happened, I just want to wait. I mean, I want to wait for us to sleep together. I just think waiting until our wedding night will be good for me.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do,” he grinned. He knew that he would have to use his own hand to relieve the pressure in his body, but he would wait as long as needed for Sadie to give herself to him.
“Really?” He nodded as she kissed him excitedly. “Oh, Ham, why didn’t I meet you before all of this?”
“You met me at exactly the right time, and I met you at the right time,” he said, kissing her again. He pushed back against the headboard and patted the spot beside him. Sadie curled next to him, laying her head on his shoulder. The room was hot and humid despite the air conditioning and fans.
“Sadie, I know that you’ve had your fair share of nightmares, but have I ever… Did I ever touch you when I was having a nightmare?” He looked down at his lap, an expression of shame covering his face. Sadie tilted his face toward her.
“You couldn’t hurt me. It’s not within you, Hamish McDonald. You’ve had a few nightmares, but I couldn’t understand what you were saying. Something about a boat and water, I think.” He nodded. “You don’t have to tell me, Ham.”
“I think I should,” he said, looking at her. He turned, sitting cross-legged, sideways on the bed, and Sadie did the same, holding his hands as she stared at him, waiting.
“It’s okay, Ham. Whatever it is, it’s okay.”
“We were helping local and international forces in the Sudan. It was just a fucking powder keg, and none of us should have been there. Jak wasn’t on my team yet. Had he been, none of it would have happened.
“When people think of ruins in that area, they think of ancient Egypt and the pyramids and mummies. What no one ever talks about, except maybe May,” he grinned, “is that the Cush people were based out of the Sudan and ruled Egypt for a while. Their ruins are every bit as magnificent and old as Egypt’s. We were told that someone was messing around with the archaeological dig sites and that we were to guard the sites, shooting anyone on sight.”
“That seems, uh, harsh,” said Sadie.
“We were being given orders by a Sudanese general and were told to follow those orders. It was their land, their fight, and we were there to support it. One night he sent us all to this remote site, saying that there were kids raiding one of the recently found tombs.
“When we got there, it was just a bunch of teenagers who were sitting around a campfire. They hadn’t done anything to the site, saying they were there to protect it. We told them they had to leave, and they agreed.
“The area runs along the Nile, so we walked the boys toward the river where they would board a boat and go back to their village upriver. We watched them board, and about five hundred yards into the voyage, someone shot out the engines, then sent a mortar round into the side of the boat. The boys knew how to swim, but the Nile is full of crocodiles. It was dark, and we couldn’t get to them.”
“Ham, I’m so sorry,” frowned Sadie.
“The next day, I confronted the general. He just laughed at me and said had I done what was asked, shooting the boys on sight, none of it would have happened. I wanted to kill him, Sadie. I wanted to wring his neck with my bare hands. Those boys were trying to do something good. As it turned out, the general was the one looting the sites, and the British troops figured it out, killing him one night.
“All I see is those boys crying out for help. I can hear the hiss of those crocodiles and the splashing as they took those boys under. I was helpless. I’ve never felt helpless before until that moment.”
“Baby, I’m so very sorry. But it’s not your fault, Ham. It’s not. You did what you thought was right.” She brushed back his hair, kissing him sweetly on the lips, then across his cheeks. “You’re the kindest, bravest man I know, Ham. You would never allow children to die if you could help it.”
Ham closed his eyes, nodding.
