CHAPTER 20 - Desire

The sun was already setting and it painted the sky wide red and purple stripes. It was exceptionally warm for the last days of October. Andre sat on the stairs at the back of the manor house, lost in thought. What had happened between him and Oscar that morning had thrown him completely off balance. This girl was not made of ice, as some talked about her. She was like hot lava. Like a fire that consumes everything in its path. And he was a log that smoldered from a slight touch of that fire. Over there on that river bank.. He held back with all his strength. Even now, when he remembered it, his blood boiled in his veins. Her sweet taste. Her soft lips on his neck. Little hot bites that made him tremble. Her body sliding over his body..

Maybe he should leave immediately? He still had time, he could have stayed for a few more days. But was it prudent? The rational part of his mind told him that running away was the way out. If he stayed here longer, he would be burned by Oscar's fire. They would both get burned by doing something stupid. But he was a man. A man who has slowly begun to realize that what he feels for this tiny but strong woman is not just ordinary human lust but something more. He was afraid to call this feeling love, after all, they knew each other so briefly. However, he was sure he had lost his head for this girl. And that terrified him. He had already broken the "don't look, don't think, don't touch" rule many times and the thoughtful side of Andre wrung his hands. The devil side whispered in his ear to take what he wanted next time..

Suddenly he heard footsteps on the gravel. Light, small, which he has already learned. He looked up to see that she was standing in front of him, her golden curls resting against the cloak she was wrapped in. As if nothing had happened, she sat down next to him and stretched her legs out in a carefree pose.

- What are you thinking about? - she asked freely.

Andre stared at her profile for a moment, lit by the glare of the setting sun, and then answered.

- About you. About us.

She smiled archly, but didn't look at him.

- And what did you think about us? - she asked another question, keeping her tone neutral.

He laughed sincerely.

- Shall we go for a walk? - he replied, standing up and pointing to the garden.

They walked side by side in silence for a while.

- Why won't you tell me? - Oscar finally asked, very puzzled. Andre was rather talkative, it was she who talk less.

He stood opposite and looked at her sincerely.

- I thought about how beautiful you are - he said softly - What an extraordinary woman you are. About what connects us. And what separates - he added, in a slightly sadder tone.

- Andre .. - she began softly - We could talk about it ..

- Okay, but not today Oscar, not today. I don't want to discuss it now - he replied quickly.

- Tomorrow morning I'm going to Versailles. I will be late. The Queen arranged a concert - she said with irony in her voice – We will talk when I am back, allright, Andre?

He nodded.

- I promised my grandma that tomorrow I would take her to Paris. She wants to do some shopping at the big market and run some other errands. I will definitely not be bored - he laughed.

They were on their way back towards the house when noises came from the buildings and they heard a woman scream. Oscar looked at Andre knowingly, and they both walked as quietly as they could in that direction. They expected it to be a thief or worse. However, what they saw when they peeked out from behind the stable building was beyond their wildest dreams.

A woman with ebony black hair was leaning her back against the side of the building. Her gown was raised high and her slender legs anchored to the hips of the man who pressed her tightly against the wall. Her fingers were woven into his long, fair hair, and he held her firmly under her buttocks, devouring her lips. The woman groaned loudly as he moved within her with a quick, steady motion.

Oscar shot an amused look at Andre who replied the same. He put a finger to his lips for silence, took her hand, and they slowly retreated away from the pair of lovers, unaware they had an audience. When they were far enough away, they burst out laughing.

- What an awkward situation! - the woman laughed - How will I be able to look at their faces now!?

- Your orderly was ill, wasn't he? - Andre echoed her

- He really didn't look sick a moment ago - she still couldn't help laughing - Tomorrow he is to go to Versailles with me without any objection!

- Did you know that they..?

- That they are together? I don't seem to know anything that's going on in my house - she said sarcastically, then thought, and suddenly added, stunned - I took them to Normandy together! You think it's then..?

Andre smiled knowingly.

- Normandy has a tremendous influence on humans, Oscar - he replied, slowly approaching her and kissing her passionately.

The scene they accidentally witnessed, though unexpected and funny on the one hand, lit a spark of wild desire in him. Images of Oscar and him in a situation like Sylvie and Jerome, immediately flashed into his mind. When he looked Oscar in the eye between kisses, he saw the same fire in her. Her hands began to run through his body and for a moment examined the muscles that were heavily drawn under his shirt. Eventually her hands moved to his back and pressed harder against him. Andre has gone mad. He pushed her gently but firmly towards the wall while lifting her buttocks, mimicking the way Jerome held his mistress. He pressed her against the wall more sharply, and as their bodies met in the most sensitive places, they both groaned loudly. He immediately silenced her voice with another kiss. His senses raged. He felt the softness of her buttocks under his fingers, and the movements of her body teased his manhood. If only he would tear off those pants and..

- Oscar, Oscar, stop! - he whispered breathlessly, feeling that her hands had already unbuttoned a few buttons on his shirt

- Why? - she asked stunned. She didn't want to stop at all.

- Not now. Not here. We.. We shouldn't do it at all.. - he said in a broken voice. How could he say something like that when the only thing he wanted now was to make her his. The rational Andre in his head was patting him friendly on the shoulder. - Remember that I'm only..

- I know who you are, Andre - she replied calmly as she swung her legs down and straightened her clothes. The mood was irretrievably spoiled. - Is that what you wanted to talk about? - she added with a hint of irritation

- Yes, among others - he confirmed, but mentally cursed a thousand times. Damn it! Did he have to be so stupidly correct.

"You are an idiot, a real idiot, Andre!" - he scolded himself.

- By tomorrow then - she said with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, kissed him on the cheek and walked away briskly.

She reached her room in a few minutes, closed the door, and leaned against it, panting. She put her hand on her forehead. She was all hot, burning up.

„Oh my God - she thought - What were we just trying to do?"

She went to the mirror and looked at her reflection. Her face was red, her eyes were shining, and her lips were completely swollen from kissing. She touched her lips lightly. She began to breathe faster again. She took off her coat and tossed it on the armchair, then went and threw herself on the bed without undressing. Her body was on fire. This completely unknown, until recently, feeling was getting stronger with every touch, kiss, sigh. As if she and Andre were pushing the line. The limit of the absolute, necessary need of each other. The limit of desire. The limit of what they are allowed to do.

Oscar was a virgin. Untouched. Intact. But she wasn't unconscious at the same time. She worked at Versailles for over ten years and attended thousands of balls and parties. As a commander, she was required to personally patrol rooms and corridors. It was quite ordinary for her to see the pairs crowding together, clinging tightly to each other and moving convulsively. It was impossible to count how many such pairs she had seen in her life. She heard moans, sighs, often screams. Dirty words. Crude jokes. When she saw this several times at the beginning of her work, she was surprised. This important aspect of life was forgotten in her boy education. So she started asking Nanny. That one, red with embarrassment, answered all her questions as best as she could. After a while, Oscar had sufficient theoretical knowledge, supplemented by observation of the practice of others. But she had never felt like trying herself. On the one hand, the whole situation simply seemed absurd to her - the colonel, every day dressed in uniform, would have to give herself up, like those women in wide dresses? The second reason was most serious. She didn't want to do it with someone random, someone she would feel nothing for. Despite the debauched surroundings in which she circled, she stubbornly stuck to her opinion.

And now Andre has appeared. The man who touched her soul. And now he touched also her body, which twitched like harp strings under his fingers. Fingers that burned the skin. Lips that quench her thirst. His body attracted her with the strength of the strongest magnet. It was the man. The one she has been waiting for so long. She was sure of it. She wanted him like no one before. She knew it would finally happen and was not afraid.

Only one thing puzzled her. Andre seemed to respond to her the same as she did. Yet he was still keeping his distance. Did he really mean these absurd social inequalities? Or maybe she wasn't feminine enough for him? She really wanted to know.