Chapter 32 – The Actress (1)
~~~~New York, Summer 1890~~~~
She was beautiful, graceful, classy, and smart. One of those gals that could choke down a bottle of whiskey and still beat you in a game of strip poker.
Nikola liked her instantly.
He had met her in the foyer of the premiere New York theatre after a performance of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night; introductions made by Sam himself. She held out her hand to him, he had accepted it, kissing the top lightly, introducing himself as Nikola Tesla, where she smiled, almost deftly, with the corner of her mouth.
"Oh, I know who you are," she had said, extricating her hand from his and turning to Sam, giving him a peck on his cheek. "You never told me how handsome he was."
Sam had looked at Tesla, Tesla looked back, and the two shared a grin.
"Excuse me, but I really should be getting back to my hotel," Sam tipped his hat, departing leaving the two alone.
Nikola looked over at the beautiful redhead with the smoky green eyes.
"May I escort you, Miss…" he offered his arm, subtly requesting her name.
"I don't give my real name out to just anybody, Mr. Tesla, you have to earn it," she smiled, accepting his arm.
"And how does one go about doing that?" he asked coyly, willing to play her game for the time being.
"I think a drink for starters," she said, leading him out the door of the prestigious theatre into her waiting car.
They never made it to the bar.
Before he realized it she had him walking up the front steps of a nice townhouse, welcoming him inside. She led him into the sitting room by the hand, sat him down on the love seat, and poured him a glass of whiskey, not even asking if that was what he preferred, and he found it ungentlemanly to mention.
She asked for a moment to change, and he allowed it, picking up the glass and taking a sip of the foul liquid; it burned but he kept it down.
She came back a moment later, dressed in less than he was accustomed to and he realized this was all part of the game; who would crack first?
He poured himself another glass of whiskey.
"Do you dress like this for all your guests?" he said smoothly, she laughed huskily.
"Only the ones I like," she responded, coming to sit beside him. "May I take your hat, your coat…your vest…and your shirt?"
Nikola smirked and handed her his hat and coat. When she waited expectantly for the other items he scoffed and shook his head.
"That's all you get," he said coyly before taking another swig of his drink.
She raised an eyebrow but smiled a devious grin that made Nikola's blood rush slightly.
"For now," she said simply, standing up to hang up his coat near the door.
He liked her, very much.
She was a woman before her time, a wolf among lambs, a temptress like that of any Biblical passage his father ever read to him.
Sam knew what he was doing when he introduced him to this woman; this siren.
She returned and stood in front of him, raising a stocking-clad leg on to the edge of the settee, her pelvis right at his eye line.
His eyes crawled up to hers.
"Can you help me with these stockings?" she asked innocently.
Nikola smirked and wordlessly reached a hand to her beautiful thigh, unclasping the hooks with a sharp snap, his hand just brushing over the skin. He slid the silk down her leg, softly, inhaling the scent off her flesh, hearing the blood rush next to his ear.
He brought his lips to the curve of her knee and kissed it lightly, observing her reaction. She gave him an approving glance as he slipped the rest of the stocking off the rest of her foot, then proceeded to do the same to the other leg, which she obliging lifted on to the couch for him.
My god, this woman was stunning, and intriguing, more so than any woman he had ever been with. Nikola always treasured work over human interaction, but there were the occasional people he found to interesting to ignore. His good friend Sam for example, Helen, and a few others made his short list. This actress was slowly climbing up that list.
When he was done with the other stocking she lowered her leg back to the floor.
"Thank you, Mr. Tesla," she said smokily.
"Nikola," he stated.
"Nikola," she smiled slightly. "Very well."
He liked this game.
"You don't go out much, Mr. Tesla, isn't that right?" she said suddenly.
"I go out all the time," he shrugged cryptically, watching her sit next to him on the couch.
"Not with any women," she draped her legs over his lap, taking his glass of whiskey off the table and sipping it with gusto.
"No," he answered.
"What are you hiding?" she asked.
"Is a man not entitled to his secrets?" he raised an eyebrow at her.
"Not with me," she challenged.
"Well then, tell me your name and I'll tell you my secrets," he challenged back. He knew what she was doing, she was testing him, testing to see if he was desperate, or if he would break, he had no intention of doing that.
Nikola took the whiskey glass from her and chugged the rest of it down, handing it back and picking up the bottle to refill it.
"You should be careful with that Mr. Tesla, wouldn't want you to lose your wits," she grinned, shaking out her long red curls.
"It will take a lot more than this for that to happen," he took a swig from the bottle.
"You're so sure about that?" she watched him lower the bottle back to the table.
"Absolutely," he answered without hesitation.
He expected her to question him some more, but instead she leaned over and picked up a pack of cards sitting on the corner of the table. She smiled as she pulled them out of their pack, slowly, her eyes locked on his.
She opened her mouth to speak, chest rising with her breath. Her smoky eyes blinked lazily, her posture relaxed. She grinned deviously and said:
"How are you at cards, Mr. Tesla?"
He was trapped by then, by her eyes, by her words, by every drop of sexual tension she poured into his glass and slid down his throat.
He accepted her challenge, and she had him out of his clothes in three hands. Ironically, he thought.
All he had left on was his mustache and his undergarments.
He kept a straight face, despite his unclothed state, keeping focus on his cards.
It was getting to the end of this round, and he had bupkiss in his hand, all he had left was to bluff. He steeled himself and looked over at her with ease.
In silence she returned his glance, holding his gaze as she threw some chips into the pot. Nikola bluffed by tossing what was left of his chips into the pot, and grinning smugly.
She raised her eyebrow and hesitated. He caught his breath, locking his eyes with hers. Was she going to fold…fat chance…she called his bluff and threw her chips in as well, immediately turning her cards over. Three-of-a-kind, aces high, he had a duce. He tossed his cards away.
She smiled triumphantly.
"I win," she said, leaning back in her chair.
Nikola sighed and stood up, ready to remove his underwear, until she raised a hand to stop him.
"Wait," she stood up, crossing around the table to stand before him, her hands on his sides. "Not here."
She leaned over and grabbed his cravat from off its neatly folded pile on the floor, throwing it around his neck and tugging him closer into her full voluptuous lips, his kissed back fervently. He has never been this hungry for the taste of someone's lips before, no one except…no he wasn't going to think about her now.
He pulled back suddenly.
"What have you done to me?" he looked her in the eyes accusingly, feeling himself in the grips of some kind of spell.
"Seduction, Mr. Tesla, it is a highly effective motivator," she grasped his chin in her hand and brought his lips back to hers. She tasted heavily of the whiskey they had been drinking and he felt her hand slide down his bare back to the edge of his briefs. He retaliated pushing her against the wall and sliding his own hands to her soft white thighs, squeezing them roughly.
Her hands came up into hair, messing it up even more. He sent a little jolt of electricity to her through his fingers, using his long hours of focus and practice to excite every nerve in her body, a small payback for what she was doing to him. He chuckled in triumph when she let out a moan.
She growled and, using his cravat, dragged him up the stairs of the townhouse in a frenzy of moans and kisses.
The beautiful, mysterious redhead threw him on her bed and straddled his lap, crawling her way up to his face, shielding his vision with her rivulets of red hair, descending like a curtain and all he saw was her face just mere inches from his.
His hands came up to her shoulders.
"Wait, tell me one thing first," he gasped out.
She paused, looking into his eyes.
"What is it?" she obliged him, he deserved that much.
"Please tell me if this is a set up? Are you bought and paid for?" he looked at her sincerely with a certain amount of scrutiny and a desperate plea for him to be wrong.
She smiled softly.
"I never entertain those I don't want to entertain," she kissed the corner of his mouth lightly. "You are here because I want you to be. You intrigue me Nikola Tesla…I wanted to see if I could seduce the genius."
Nikola chuckled and kissed her again.
"It appears you can," he slid his hand down to her mid-back. "Now it's my turn."
He took her off guard and spun them around so he was on top.
She gasped amusedly.
He smirked, and leaned in as if to kiss her but as he came close he changed his course and came down to her ear, whispering softly:
"Just call my name if it gets too much for you," he ducked his head as she shuddered, and kissed the soft, tender part of her neck, then lower, and lower, and lower.
~~~~Later~~~~
Nikola woke up what felt like days later, unsure if it was a dream or not, but when he woke up in a room with theatre posters on the walls, and mannequins holding different outfits and wigs on them, he knew.
His clothes were laid at the foot of the bed, neatly folded, like he left them. He dressed put on his briefs and trousers, pushing the suspenders over his bare torso, not bothering with the shirt just yet.
He looked around the room, taking in all the sight and colors before him, trying to get a sense of what this mysterious woman was all about. All the room could say to him were the things he already knew. He shrugged and walked out of the room and slowly into the hall.
He traveled down the stairs quietly, happy to see his redheaded temptress sitting on the loveseat in the sitting room. She was looking at something intently as he walked over.
"Good morning," he said carefully.
She looked up at him and smiled softly.
"Good morning," she lifted up the object in her hands for him to see and his stomach sank. "You dropped this."
Nikola looked down.
"Give it back," he asked politely. Gesturing to the small silver chain and locket in her hands.
"She's very pretty, this your wife?" she said, a hint of an accusation in her tone.
"No, she's no one," he held out his hand for the locket back.
"Then why do you have a picture of her?" she asked.
"As a reminder, now give it back," he was losing his patience.
"A reminder for what?" she looked at him, unintimidated by him.
"To remind me that I can't go back!" he fumed, snatching the locket and shoving it back in his pocket. "Do you always rifle through your guests pockets to find out their secrets?"
"I found it on the floor, I just assumed it was yours," she shrugged effortlessly.
"Well, you were right, but she's not my wife, she's just someone from my past, she just a ghost…she's…she's…"
"You're in love with her, aren't you?" finished the redhead.
"Trying not to be…I made some mistakes, and now she wants nothing to-…she doesn't want me," he looked down, admitting defeat to this strange woman.
She stood up and came over to him, grasping his head in her hands, kissing him softly.
"Then let me help you forget," she smiled at him softly.
"But I don't even know your name," he scoffed.
"Start with Rose, then go from there," she smiled and kissed him again softly. "Forget with me."
Nikola nodded and wrapped his arms around her and kissed her soundly, pulling the silver chain out of his pocket and dropping the locket on the table as he continued to kiss the beautiful enchantress, his siren, the actress.
"We got too close, Nikola, way too close, and we destroyed John because of it."
"What happened was because of John, not because of us, Helen."
"We drove him crazy because he saw us kissing, Nikola, because we almost let our desperation take ahold of us. Do you understand that Nikola? Women died because of a mistake, a mistake we made."
"They died because John was a fool! Because he couldn't see what was laid out so clearly for him. You left that night loving him more, more confident in the dreams he could grant for you and he threw it away out of petty jealousy! Unfounded, petty jealousy!"
"It's still our fault, Nikola, this is all your fault!"
"What? You're blaming me?"
"You can't control that darn thing inside you, you can't control yourself, and you drag other people down along with you!
"He tried to kill me!"
"He wouldn't have killed anybody if you could've just thought about someone else other than yourself for a change!"
"What do you want me to do? Go back in time and stop myself from becoming a vampire?"
"No, that's not what I meant."
"How's about I just stop myself from coming to England all together and then you perfect life can go on without me!
"Nikola, I…"
"I'll just go rewind the years and tell my younger self, no Nikki boy, Helen's life is soo much more important, so instead of fulfilling your dreams of becoming an inventor, your going to become a priest, because god forbid, Helen Magnus's dreams get shattered!"
"Just stop!"
"Well, what do you want from me, Helen!"
"I…I…I think you should go back to New York…and I think you should stay there…for awhile."
"Y-you want me to leave?"
"Yes."
"I see…well, if the beast inside of me is so horrible, I guess getting as far away from you as I can is probably best."
"Nikola, wait…don't be like that…"
"No, no, Helen, even I as beastly as I am, can tell when I'm not wanted, don't worry, I'll be gone by tomorrow, you won't ever have to see me again."
"Nikola…wait."
"Goodbye Helen."
~~~~Author's Notes~~~~
Hey all! New update yay! This has been a plot point i've been nursing for awhile, hopefully it don't make you mad!
This is part 1 in a new arc that will span...who knows how long, but it starts a couple years ahead, then it jumps back, then comes forward again, Helen will appear more significantly later, but it starts with Nikola and the Actress, i know you're all seething, saying, it should be Helen playing strip poker with Nikola, but i've noticed that up until now, i've written him to be quite innocent, which is definitely a part of his character, but there is also this undeniable flirt and seducer, and my thoughts were, he had to get it from somewhere, and this is the start, this strange, sexy relationship with a woman shrouded in mystery, that will bring out the incorrigible flirt we all know and love, turning his mode of attack from goody two-shoes in love, into sexy bad boy danger hot!
*Note* this is not his first relationship with a woman, this is set almost 2 years ahead in the timeline, Nikola's probably a several dalliances over the years to control his frustrations. As well for those asking about the whole celibacy bit…I take a page out of the Sanctuary Nikola Tesla handbook, and don't believe he actually was, so I will not write him that way, he was just careful about who and why, earning the reputation of celibate, and also making the public claim to filter out the unwanted admirers…there is a method to the madness! Don'y be all up on my case!
Besides, he's had to have at least some lovers in his whole 150 somewhat years of living, this was something i've mentioned before...can i hear someone say cat fight?
As well, you've noticed that the friendship between Nikola and Helen has been thrown on the rocks because of John...this is going to help remedy that, and further hide Nikola's true intentions from Helen, i think it works...oooh mind-bendy
Please read and review, and just enjoy, grab a glass of wine, have a cookie (offers Niko cookies) and just have fun :)
(I did a small re-edit, just to make a few things clear)