Chapter Four

Touch

Mika tried to hide his bemusement as Juliet quickly ushered him into the kitchen, all the while casting an angry and somewhat dejected glare towards Kathy. When the door swung closed behind him, Mika turned to cast his own curious glare at Juliet, only to find she hadn't followed him through. Sighing, the General took a seat at the small chopping table in the center of the kitchen, amusing himself by eavesdropping on the two girls.

"Kathy!" He heard Juliet hiss. He chuckled slightly to himself, knowing the blonde girl must be scared to death of her friend. He himself knew what an angry Juliet was like after too much good-humored teasing, and he remembered she could put on a very mean face. Mika shook his head and stood up.

'I am going to need some sustenance if I am to listen to this.' He mused to himself. As he passed by the pot over the open fire he noticed it was brimming with a thick soup, or stew. He began looking through the cabinets that lined the walls for a bowl. Upon finding one he scooped himself some of the tasty looking liquid and returned to his seat, intending to be the snoop he never really could be as a lad.

Kathy winced and pushed away from Juliet at the sound of her voice. Rarely mad, and for good reason, Juliet knew how to scare someone into apologizing to her if she ever did get pushed passed her brink. It was hard to put on a brave face when those pale eyes of her seemed to glow with frustration and power, power that Kathy didn't want to witness.

"Well, Julie, can you blame me?" she whispered. Juliet sighed, shaking her head 'no' and collapsing on the sofa.

"I mean," Kathy continued. "In all my years of knowing you; you have never, never, had a boyfriend. And a handsome one at that!" She giggled and plopped down next to her friend, letting loose the blanket she had been clutching so that it fell off her, revealing a tattered blouse and ripped skirt.

"Funny of you to care about my life when I've told you to settle it down." Juliet snapped. Kathy giggled.

"Oh this?" She smiled and gestured towards her ripped and frayed visage. "Is a testament for me to never court two men at once."

Juliet snapped her eyes over to her friend, obviously not amused. "Then why, pray tell, did you arrive at my doorstep crying like someone had beat you?" At the last syllable Juliet jumped up and glowered down at her friend.

"Why can't you just tone it down a little? Leave my personal life to me, if only for a few days! Every week there's a phone call or a letter 'Juliet have you looked at Jens, Juliet have you ssen the boys at the tavern, Juliet this Juliet that! I can take care of my love life, Kathy, or my… lack thereof…" she turned her head and blushed, from equal parts embarrassment and frustration. "Think about yourself for once, will you? You spend all your time chasing these terrible men around the world, and you're not 'courting' them, Kathy, you're seducing them. You know that, as well as I do, so stop trying to make it sound better! Don't you worry about what you're doing? About how you're… showing yourself to others? I worry about you, and I don't want to! You're and adult, we're both adults, Kathy. I just… you just…! Kat, Kathy…" Her eyes softened as she glanced at a small picture of them as young girls on the back wall. "You're my closest friend and…" she sighed. Kathy had a huge smile on her face as she noticed Juliet give up and walk towards the kitchen door.

Once she had passed through the door Kathy smiled and sighed dejectedly to herself. "She never was good at conveying her feelings." She mused.

Her back to the door, Juliet dropped her head and sighed loudly, only to the amusement of Mika ver Leth, who still sat at her chopping table, sipping his soup quietly.

"So, darling," he said the word with dripping sarcasm. "Who is that?"

Juliet jolted at the unexpected sound of his voice and raised her eyes to meet his across the room. From the look upon his face, she could tell he was teasing her and she rolled her eyes before strolling over to sit next to him.

"Well, sugar," Her voice dripped just as much, maybe even more than his had, and he smiled slightly at her. "That is Kathy van Horn, my best friend since I was a young girl." She shook her head and grumbled quietly "And the biggest nuisance in my life!"

"Hm," Mika said, raising his bowl to his mouth and letting the warm liquid slide down his throat. He was waiting for Juliet to explain, knowing that she would when she felt right. But just in case, he maintained his silence to make her confess just to break the awkward feeling in the kitchen.

"I had to tell her something." Was what she blurted out, looking at him with pleading eyes. Mika set down his bowl and shifted his gaze to her shimmering pale eyes.

"Mhmm, yes, and what exactly did you tell her?"

The question made her furrow her brows. "Well I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but she saw you leave my home one night…"

Mika raised his eyebrows, surprised. "I don't know how it happened either." He grumbled. "I am usually more diligent in scouting the area before making my departures."

Juliet nodded and stood to make herself a bowl of soup, noticing her own hunger as soon as she watched his bowl touch his beautiful lips.

'Beautiful lips?' She yelled at herself, shocked at her thoughts. 'I never though lips could be beautiful… strange and intimidating, yes, but never beautiful.' She glanced at his lips again, and mentally shaking her head, she returned to the conversation.

"Well I was just as surprised as you, trust me. She called me on it at work, she stops by sometimes when she's in town, but never to visit me at work, so I knew something was wrong. I know because when she left this town she vowed to only return to this house, and when Kathy makes a promise she keeps it, so I wasn't really surprised that she saw you, more that I didn't want to tell her the truth about you… I mean, what do I need to hide you for? We're not doing anything strange, we are friends!" She was rambling and she needed to stop. When had Mika's stare started to make her so nervous? "But then I realized, 'Mika's a Vampire!' and I can't tell her that, so how else do I explain that you only appear at night? I had to think fast, and…"

"Juliet, just tell me what you told her." He ground out, unnerved by her sudden shyness and unable to deal with it properly.

Juliet sat back in her seat, bowl firmly in her hands. She was cringing, he had scared her, he knew so, but she didn't say anything on the matter. "Well, I told her that you had saved me from a mugging and brought me back to my home where afterwards I had asked you for lessons in self-defense and you had agreed, albeit begrudgingly, and every night for the past few months you had been coming to my home and teaching me sword fighting skills, but after a while it became less about teaching and more about visiting and that you had asked to court me and…." Unable to speak further, Juliet jerked her bowl to her mouth and took a long drink, hoping to give Mika some time to think about what she had said. To be honest, she was expecting some sort of outburst from the usually stoic Vampire. Though he had never gotten too angry with her, she could tell by the look in his eyes that he was not the type to play games.

"Well that seems like a fairly plausible account of what could have happened." He said, nodding in approval of Juliet's' story.

Juliet kept her face in her bowl, if not in fear then in shock. Obviously she still had a lot to learn about Mika ver Leth. "You mean you're not angry?" she asked, her voice muffled and slightly projected by the porcelain in front of it.

"Honestly, woman, why would I be mad? You gave a perfectly plausible, albeit, imaginatively crafted story to the girl. Though sword fighting, Juliet? What an archaic method of self-defense." Mika furrowed his brows at the girl next to him.

"Well…" she began.

"Am I really that scary, even after all this time?"

Juliet slowly removed the bowl from her face at her companions query. "Well…" she eyed him shyly. "You're not terrifying… but you do look like the 'No Nonsense' type. And I thought you wouldn't approve of me lying to her without consulting you first."

Mika sighed; the young woman was so naive sometimes. "Juliet, she really gave you no option, did she? Stalling would have made it look more suspicious and she is your friend." He punctuated friend to get her to look him in the face. "And if you didn't want her to know then it is not my place to force you, though honestly, in the end I would have told you to just make something up." He put a black gloved hand to his forehead and massaged it. Juliet smiled at him, thinking so deeply about this, typical Mika.

"Honestly, 'No Nonsense'?" He mimicked her words with a strange look on his face. "Is that how I come off?"

"Well I suppose others would say a trifle scary, but to me you're just 'No Nonsense'." She smiled, genuinely, at him and laughed a bit. Mika sighed and smiled back. She had a way of doing that to him.

"Sorry about adding the whole 'courting' thing. It's just that, a girl like me, all alone in a big scary house with a male visitor coming and going at all hours of the night…" she trailed off, letting her gaze fall down to her hands.

Mika didn't seem to follow. "Courting, funny they still use the word. Men and women getting together is nothing to be ashamed of, I think, though more primitive and instinctive than people give enough credit…"

Juliet's eyes widened. "Ahem, well, they would think I was a Jezebel of some sort. Ha, not that I even look like the type of girl to be the type. Kathy is absolutely more the type for men, they don't want Juliet!" She laughed, but he gave her a scrutinizing look that caused her to blush and look away from him.

Mika's eye's studied her face, the short bridge of her nose in the center, connected to a delicate and definitely womanly nose, beautifully crafted, but somewhat smaller than others. Her cheeks were not thin or rouged like most women's, but somewhat plump, though they covered high cheekbones, giving her a regal appearance and radiant smile, along with her plump lips that oozed sex appeal, constantly in a pout when she was deep in thought. Her shoulder length hair was black as night, much like his, but fell around her face like a frame, drawing attention to the beautiful face that he had yet to stop staring at.

Blinking, the young General moved his gaze down, passed her toned neck and shoulders, which were somewhat narrow, but perfectly rounded. Continuing down Mika gazed unabashedly at her breasts, which filled her blouse that was designed, he noticed, to be loose-fitting. Obviously she had an advantage over other women there, he decided, and moved even lower, past her rounded bottom which fit snuggly in her trousers and had an alluring ability to make him want to squeeze it; to her thighs, finely muscled and toned and, though he couldn't see through the fabric of her pants (he was a Vampire not a super hero), he could tell they had their own degree of sex appeal. Juliet stood at around five feet and seven inches, much shorter than he and many other men, but she had an air of being much taller, as if she was taught at a young age to be the largest person in a room, and she was, to him, and that itself was sexy.

As his gaze finally met her feet, glued to perfectly shaped calves, he began to let his eyes trail back up to meet her eyes, which were now glued to his, watching his every movement. Her eyes, a beautiful, yet alarming, silvery blue, seemed pupil-less, and it added mystery to her. He was used to seeing strange things, and of course, it didn't bother him, but how would normal men react to this girl with strangely magic eyes? He shook his head. Her eyes shouldn't bother men, not when she had a nearly perfect body covered in shimmering copper skin. He brought his eyes to hers again.

"You are very beautiful, Juliet." He said sternly, but his voice seemed to have a wistful quality to it.

"Ha, not beautiful enough for a guy like you." She laughed and smiled sadly at him.

"Maybe so, but there is someone out there for everyone, as they say."

Startled, Juliet frowned and gazed down at her hands. Then she ground out, "Ok, I will give you a few seconds to take that back before I hit you."

Mika frowned and gave her a confused look before understanding hit and his eyes widened at how mean his previous statement was. He quickly turned his eyes to her in an apologetic look. "No, that is not what I meant. You are very beautiful Juliet, whether or not men like I believe so, and I'm sure other men will find you absolutely captivating." The General felt uncomfortable speaking on such a subject, having never had problems getting women to fawn over him, but his heart went out to Juliet because she was his friend. His very beautiful friend…

"You sound like Lord Highland, trying to convince me I'll find a handsome Knight some day and we'll get married and have children and all good things like that..."

He gazed into her pale silver/blue eyes and she back into his onyx ones. There was a sort of spark between them, like a new connection had been made. The moment seemed too perfect, she thought, bringing a hand to the side of his face. Upon contact she saw his eyes soften, and she knew this was a side of Mika ver Leth that few had seen; the soft side, the caring side, the human side.

'Perhaps not a Knight…' they both thought, their upper bodies stealthily moving closer to each other, their faces mere inches apart. Gods, he could taste her lips already.

The sound of the door hitting the wall brought the two out of their shared reverie.

"Ooohooo, I hope I'm not interrupting!" Kathy's voice resounded through the kitchen, causing Juliet to snatch her hand back and roll her head back in annoyance.

"Kathy! Out!" Her tone was deadly, her eyes more so. Kathy flew out of the room with at 'Meep' noise and the door followed behind her.

Juliet stood up and cleared her thoughts. What had she been doing? Trying to win him over was one thing, but it was way too soon for a kiss! Then again… She turned and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, he was looking at her, and something about his eyes on her back mad her shiver.

"I suppose it's about time I go and entertain my other guest." She rolled her eyes at 'guest' and made for the door.

"Juliet," his voice stopped her. She turned to look at him, he still had that look in his eyes, it looked… she wasn't quite sure.

"I wasn't trying to act fatherly when I said you were beautiful." He concluded, blinking and shaking his head before standing and straightening his clothing. He gazed at her one more, that same emotion and powerful feeling pouring over her with every millisecond he spent with his eyes on her. Shifting his view he made for the door, striding past her and her frozen legs, the precipice of which twitched with an unknown need.

Juliet knew that look now, and she told herself to never forget it. That frightening powerful look on the Vampire Generals face as he looked at her. No, not looked, she shook herself, he was appraising her, judging her worth. But for what? For a meal? No, she knew he was not interested in her for that, or at least not exactly. Juliet sighed wistfully.

"Mika…" she whispered.

That look on his face as he appraised her figure, sending shivers through her untouched, unpracticed body. That was the look of a beast, the look of a man with power. That look was hunger.

Awake.

Mika sat up groggily, glaring at his raging hard-on that had manifested itself as he recounted the look of her body. The dreams would not stop, he had given up on that and instead decided to enjoy reminiscing his days without burdens. Unfortunately the result had been a pissed off Mika who had found it impossible to masturbate with Juliet's face in his head and, as consequence, a fairly irritable Prince.

Sighing, Mika stood and made his way towards the cold waterfall showers of Vampire Mountain. His only relief to the constant barrage or once-said words and once-felt feelings was the icy cold daggers of water pummeling his skin. Like an eraser it wiped away his memories, if only for a few moments. Somehow today was different, though. Indeed, this day was the first day of council, and something important was supposed to happen this day.

When word of Larten Crepsley's young assistant had made way to him, Mika ver Leth was furious. Children in the ranks of the Vampires was frowned upon, and had been for many centuries. You couldn't expect a child to fully understand what it meant to lose the ability for procreation, to live off of the lifeblood of others! What was he to do about the situation? Pairing this dilemma with his stubborn hard-on was causing him to be quite irritable.

Juliet still managed to invade his thoughts; even thought of the child Crepsley was bringing could not stop him from thinking of what it was like to touch her. How her lips had been so tantalizingly close that first time and how aroused he had been then, the first time lust had attacked him so full force. It seemed she was everywhere, even the sound of the Vampires around him could not focus his attention away from her alluring lips, her voluptuous body open and willing for him…

"Gods…" he whispered to himself. It had been fifty years or so since he had seen her, of course he thought about her every now and then but this was too much. This wasn't passive, it was as if someone was making him remember so vividly everything about Juliet Andères. Gods, even her smell seemed to be so deliciously close to him, sweet and a tad spicy, like spiced apples and pears and blackberries.

He sighed. Never wanting to admit it was one thing. The only thing he had to himself was his heart, but he had given that away to her so many years ago he thought he could finally have it back. He was apparently wrong, for Juliet was still with him, all around him, and she wanted to keep his heart securely to herself. Mika sighed and chuckled. "Alright Juliet, you win." He said quietly staring into the distance and imagining the woman standing there, smiling at him playfully.

He shook his head and made his way to dry off, still painfully hard. He hoped a night full of meetings and papers would take it away. Dead or no, he had to admit it to himself eventually.

"That's right, Juliet. I… I'm still in love with you." A breeze flew through the cavern, probably from the holes in the Water Closets, but it felt like it circled its way around him. Mika's eyes smiled even as his lips creased into a frown. He made his way out of the cavern after dressing and mentally prepared himself for the night that lay in front of him. In his heart he wanted to believe that Juliet still loved him as well.

But even he knew how wrong he was.