Dark Lovers

Yeah, yeah - Viktor doesn't really belong to me (I wish)...

Chapter Four – Assumed Intimacy

As Beth walked up the long staircase, having decided the use the bathroom next to her bedroom, she couldn't decide whether she was totally furious or incredibly curious.

Furious, obviously because she had never had anyone speak to her with such an assumed intimacy as Viktor had. Just where did that man get off daring to ask her such a question? He didn't really expect her to answer him did he? But then again, she may not have answered him out loud – but she certainly did in her head as she was leaving the room.

That's where the curiosity came in. There was something about him that was fascinating to her. She'd studied people the whole of her adult life and she had never met anyone like him. There was an arrogance about him that didn't seem to come from Viktor just thinking himself to be clever. He seemed to be wise and so much older than his years. It was curious.

As she reached the top of the stairs she realised that the door at the end of the corridor was open. Viktor's bedroom. An opportunity she just couldn't miss! She walked quickly down the corridor and stopped just as she got to the door. Could she really do this? Invade someone's privacy like this?

It took her two seconds to decide that after the question he had just asked her, yes she damn well could!

She pushed the door open and went in to find a room several times bigger than hers. It was beautiful. It followed the opulence of the rest of the house. There was a huge bed against the wall where the door was offering a fantastic view through the windows on the opposite side.

On the other side of the door was a large fireplace – it was in its ember stage – but the warmth from it could be felt everywhere in the room. In front of the fire was a collection of seats and sofas very similar to those downstairs, but all of them were red velvet.

At the far end of the room she could see two very large French doors opening up onto a large balcony. She found herself touching various items as she walked past them towards the other end of the room. The large newel posts at the corners of the bed. The she wandered across to the sofas to stroke the plush velvet material. The wood of the dresser felt like glass under her fingertips. When she reached the French doors, she couldn't resist walking out into the fresh air. The view was breath taking. She hadn't realised that the house was so high up in the mountains and the balcony allowed a perfect panorama of the valley below.

It was a full moon and it seemed to be so close to the earth. The light it afforded the land below allowed Beth to see quite clearly into the darkness. She leaned her hands on the wall encasing the balcony and decided to stand there a while and admire what she could see.

A second later she realised that Viktor was behind her. She couldn't see him, she had her back to the door, but she could feel his presence. She waited for him to berate her for invading his room, instead, he just walked up to her and stood right behind her.

'Admiring my view Elisabeth?'

He was standing so close to her that she could feel his body practically touching hers. She wasn't sure whether it was his presence or the breeze of the night that made her shiver, but whichever it was, it didn't go unnoticed by him.

'It's colder than you think up here, even in the summer. This is a land never to be underestimated.'

He put his hand on her shoulder, partly on her shirt and partly on her skin and Beth shivered again.

'You are getting too cold up here, we should return to our meal.'

'I am fine.' She said, 'I want to stay just a little longer – this view isn't something I have ever seen before and it's not something I am going to forget in a very long time!'

'On that, Elisabeth, we would have to agree.' Viktor took off the long black coat he had worn for dinner and placed it around Beth's shoulders. It came to his knees – however, it came to her ankles. She felt the warmth of his body surrounding her in his coat and she could smell him on the fabric.

He stood beside her and leaned against the balustrade folding his arms across his chest. She looked across at him. Black trousers, black boots, black shirt and blue eyes.

'Not much of a colour man are you?'

'Sorry?'

'I mean, do you ever wear anything but black. I know I've only seen you twice, but black every time. You a 'Goth' are you? Or are you going to say the colour suits your mood?'

Viktor stood and looked at her, and said 'Well, I would have to say I think it suits my eyes – don't you think?'

Beth found herself staring back into his eyes. And then she saw the twinkle in them and realised he was making fun of her and she laughed.

'Well, they are a rather striking feature!' she found herself saying without really thinking about it.

In an attempt to change the subject Beth started to witter on about nothing. 'This balustrade is rather low don't you think? Are you never afraid of falling over the edge? Don't you think it should be a little higher for safety's sake?'

'Elisabeth.'

'Well, if it's that safe you won't mind if I sit on the edge then will you?' and she pulled herself up onto the wall.

Viktor stood up in front of her. Beth realised that with the added height of the wall, they were nearly eye to eye. Viktor moved to stand a little closer to her and she found him standing between her legs.

'What makes you tick Elisabeth Howard?'

'Curiosity….determination….knowledge…' And passion she said, but only to herself. She saw his eyes widen a little and she could have sworn that he'd heard her, but that was impossible.

He reached out to tuck a strand of hair back behind her ear that the breeze had dislodged and her heart seemed to stop as his fingers lingered just a little too long on her neck just under her ear.

He just stood there and she was too mesmerised to move.

What she really wanted to do was to reach up to his face and touch the skin on his cheeks and his neck and his lips.

She found herself wondering how he would feel under her fingertips. Was his skin as soft as it looked? Was he as dominant in other areas of his life as he was in his conversation?

Just as she was wondering what his tongue would feel like when her thoughts were interrupted abruptly. Beth wasn't sure quite what happened, one minute she was sitting on the wall, the next there was a flurry of fur in between her and Viktor and she could feel herself falling backwards.

As quickly as she felt herself falling, she felt Viktor's arms around her waist pulling her off the wall. She had never felt such terror and was very happy just standing quietly with Viktor's arms around her until her breathing returned to normal.

When Viktor realised that she was beginning to calm down he released her slightly and put his hands on her shoulders asking if she was alright.

'What the hell happened? One minute….wall…fur….thought I was dying!!'

'Lucy.'

'What??'

'It was Lucy. A cat. He's sat just behind you on the wall.'

Beth turned around to see the biggest tabby cat she had ever seen in her life sat on the wall where she had just been sitting.

'Lucy? Won't he get a bit of a complex with a girl's name? Bit of a big girl's blouse is he?'

Viktor actually laughed out loud 'Lucy is short for Lucifer. If you spend any time in this house you will realise he is certainly not a "big girl's blouse" as you put it and he well deserves his given name! Shall we go in and finish our dinner?'

The shock of nearly falling over the wall had made her forget about what she had been thinking about. Had she lost control of her faculties? What possessed her?

The rest of the evening passed very pleasantly. They talked about art and Viktor showed her some of the paintings in the house that were really quite valuable. He was an excellent conversationalist. It was obvious to Beth that he had a massive wealth of knowledge for a man of his age.

She was fascinated to know more, but the tiredness of all the driving she had done in the last few days and the trauma of the evening was beginning to tell on her.

She walked up the staircase with Viktor at her side. He stopped to bid her goodnight at her door.

Just as she was about to close the door, she heard him speak to her.

'I will leave you to your thoughts. Sweet dreams Elisabeth.'

As Beth closed the door quietly behind her, her mind was racing. Viktor implied by what he said that he knew things about her. When people in the past had spoken with her with that air of 'assumed intimacy' it had really annoyed her. With Viktor, it seemed different and she wasn't sure why.

She climbed into the big comfortable bed flicking off the light as she went. She had left the curtains open and the room was bathed in moonlight. The last thoughts on her mind as she drifted off to sleep was the thought of Viktor touching the skin on her neck.

TBC