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Chapter 5
He woke up at dawn; he was cold. He sought Sally's warmth, she had moved a little during the night and her back was to him. He examined her; the dragon tattoo had always intrigued him. He thought it was beautiful; he began tracing it with his fingers. Sally was deeply asleep and he knew she would not wake; he kissed her neck and bit her earlobe. He positioned himself so that he could reach for her breasts. They were his new favorite pastime. He touched them and teased them until he heard her raspy moans.
"Good morning" he said, his voice a little raspy from sleep. She did not reply but grabbed his hand and placed it between her legs.
Mikael never one to be called slow, started teasing her clit, When he felt she was ready he entered her from behind. It was a slow love making session. They both enjoyed themselves. He came just before her.
He felt lazy and went back to sleep, Lisbeth followed pretty quickly.
A sound startled them awake at 11:12 AM. Lisbeth was the first on her feet, she was always alert, Mikael who was still a little groggy let out an enormous yawn. They went into the living room. Someone was knocking on the door. It was Annika Giannini who had come to give Lisbeth some paperwork regarding her state.
He did not think about it twice, he opened the door. Mikael was in his boxers, he was not ashamed, and he thought it was best that Annika knew Sally and him were involved.
Annika had her suspicions about her brother's relationship with Salander. She noticed that his brother had always supported Lisbeth and cared for her. She just wished he would not hurt the girl. His brother seemed oblivious to the feelings her evoked in his bed partners.
She was not surprised to see her brother semi naked or to see Lisbeth wrapped in the bedspread. She entered the apartment; she addressed the girl.
"Lisbeth, here is the paperwork concerning your father's state"
"I already told you, I want nothing to do with that money. Find Camilla and give it to her"
At first she was surprised to see Giannini, but she hid her emotions as always. Now she was just pissed at her attorney's insistence regarding the Zalachenko money.
"I know, I just wanted to assure myself that you are making the right decision"
"I need you to sign these papers, half of the money will go to an account in your sister's name" she paused, "your sister will have access to that account whenever she wishes to withdraw the money"
"She will not withdraw anything. I believe she doesn't want to be located" Lisbeth knew Camilla would not use that money. She did not want to deal with her sister ever.
"Your part of the inheritance will be donated to women's centers, I took the liberty of choosing a cause for you"
Lisbeth agreed completely with Giannini's plans. Other women would benefit from Zalachenko's money. How ironic, it was poetic justice, in some way.
Mikael who had been silent throughout the exchange looked at Sally, she was calm and had the lopsided smile she wore when she was thinking of something amusing. He made eye contact with her. They smiled at each other, they were thinking the same thing: Alexander Zalachenko would have kill himself first rather than give his money to battered women.
Annika noticed the way they were looking at each other. She would have to talk to Mikael.
Lisbeth signed the papers and after a cup of coffee Annika left. Mikael and Lisbeth were once again alone.
There was an uncomfortable silence; Mikael spoke first,
"I know we have to talk about this. I am the first who wants to clear this situation." Mikael said; he waited to see her reaction. He knew she was not really a person to talk about feelings or anything that was related to relationships of any type.
"I am not good at this Mikael," she hesitated but continued her speech; "I was convinced that you and I would never have any contact again. You are a very complicated person to be around."
Now that interesting, people who knew them both would say otherwise. That it was she the complication. He remained quiet waiting for her to finish.
"We would never be good together. Besides, you have Berger and Figuerola. They should be enough to satisfy you."
"In other situations I would be able to share you," she looked at him and thought about what she would say next. She took a leap and told him how she felt. She would leave Sweden after telling Kalle Blomkvist about that December night and the pain it had caused her.
"I saw you and Erika two years ago. You were leaving your apartment, laughing at something."
He remembered; Erika and him had gone to a party that night. However he did not understand the connection between that event and her disappearance.
It was extremely hard for Lisbeth to come out with the next words "see, I had planned to give you a Christmas gift and tell you something important.
"I wanted to tell you about the feelings that I had developed for you. For the first time in my life I felt love for someone else besides my mother"
"I realized that I loved you, I wanted to be with you all the time and I missed you, your conversations and even your nagging habits"
Mikael did not know what to say. He was genuinely shocked, his Sally had feelings for him, was in love with him for about two years now.
Lisbeth continued, "I will not suffer again. When I found you with Erika, it hurt a lot. I felt as if you were crushing my heart" she looked at him directly in the eyes.
"You were the first person I trusted and loved implicitly but you chose Berger before me, hell even Figuerola managed to have first priority in your life." She was being unfair but she did not care she was angry and wanted Kalle Blomkvist to know everything.
He looked at her as if she was insane. He could understand the Erika situation but Monica was another thing. He had used Monica, he felt bad. Now Sally was saying the Monica took precedence over her.
He calmly replied, "You are sorely mistaken, neither Erika nor Monica have taken precedence over you" she was about to interrupt when he raised his hand and started speaking again.
"Since you left me, you have been the first thought in my mind. From the moment I wake to the moment I close my eyes you are always there." Now he had her attention, she stood there waiting for him to continue.
"When you disappeared I was puzzled, then I learned you did not want to establish any relationship with me and I was hurt"
He approached her and touched her face; he cupped her chin and raised her face to his. "After Dag and Mia were killed, you took priority in every aspect of my life. I promised myself to help you"
"You were my friend and I felt responsible for you and your welfare" Sally's eyes were filled with doubt at his pronouncement of the word 'friend'.
"For the past year making you happy has been my only goal, after learning what you went through I realized that I had to make things right for you." She felt resigned; it was pity what he felt for her.
"No other woman could be first, at first I thought it was my friendship toward you that made me risk my life for you but someone told me that you were not just a mere friend"
"Monica and I are not together anymore." She was not expecting that announcement and her eyes betrayed her. She was hopeful.
"She and I are not together anymore because I called your name while we were having sex."
That was not a major revelation; he was telling her that he desired her, that was not new. She lusted after him too.
"I thought it was lust, but then I examined my feelings. You made me feel like no one else has. When I am with you time goes fast, whenever I don't see you I feel sad and frustrated. You make me happy even though you infuriate me at the same time."
"I cannot guarantee you that we will be always together. But what I can truly say is that I want something more out of this quasi-relationship that we have."
He finished his speech and waited for some feedback but Lisbeth just stood there. She was stunned and did not know how to deal with the situation at hand. She wanted to try this thing with Mikael but was dead afraid of the consequences that such a relationship could bring. She gave into her impulses and launched herself into Mikael. He caught her, and kissed her.
Lisbeth put her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist. They fell into the couch and just kissed and caressed each other for hours.
Eventually they made lunch and ate in bed. They spent the whole afternoon getting reacquainted with each other's bodies, thankfully the next day was a Saturday so they spent the whole weekend holed up in her apartment.