The Chronicles of Valen Ch. 08
“Disclaimer: Valen, Nathyrra, The Seer, and several of the other characters are the property of Bioware. If you’ve played the game, you’ll recognize them. The rest is the invention of my twisted little imagination, including Morrighu Badb and the goddess she serves. ”
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The helm goes back on and she moves swiftly to the door. It’s locked but she kicks it in only to be confronted by more golems. Valen and Nathyrra move swiftly to her, but neither one can reach past her to engage the golems.
She seems to be hovering right inside the doorway, stretching to reach the golems while trying to draw them in closer to her. Valen sees a third golem rushing up to join the two that she’s already engaged.
Uncertain if she’s seen it, he shoves past her into the room beyond and trips the trap she’s been avoiding. Noxious gas fills the room as Morrighu moves forward to take on the golems.
With the trap sprung, time is of the essence. She knows that she only has moments before the fumes start to take their toll.
She shouts to Nathyrra, “Cast a knock spell on that other door. I don’t want to bash it open. It opens to the outside.”
Nathyrra, not understanding what she has in mind, casts the spell anyway. Finally, they are done with the golems. Both Morrighu and Nathyrra are coughing badly and Valen has to practically carry both women into the next room. Valen looks around, but there is nothing to block the door while he tends his companions.
Morrighu realizes what he’s looking for, fishes in her pack, and tosses him a spear, “Here, jam the handle for now.”
Nathyrra is in much worse shape than Morrighu. Morrighu crawls over to her and lays her hands on the drow, mumbling a prayer.
She sighs as some color seems to return to the drow. Frantically, Morrighu paws through her pack until she finds her potions. She fights with the drow’s helm but cannot get it off.
Valen arrives from blocking the door and crouches next to Nathyrra. He quickly removes her helm while Morrighu fumbles with the stopper on the potion.
He snatches the potion from Morrighu, rips out the cork, and dumps the contents into the drow’s mouth. He waits for a few seconds, willing her to swallow.
The paladin has more practical ideas. She pinches off Nathyrra’s nose which forces her to swallow reflexively.
Morrighu sighs as she sees the rest of the color return to the drow and then she flops back. Valen removes Morrighu’s helm and pours the same potions into her. He sits and cradles her head in his lap.
She looks up at him and says, “Valen, you really must be more careful with us. We are not as proof against certain kinds of damage as you are.”
She smiles at him, “As pleasant as this is, being in a situation where you must tend me is somewhat disconcerting. Now, I fear we must pass another night in place. Nathyrra looks better, but I dislike the grayish cast she has to her skin right now. You must watch while we sleep, I’m afraid. By then I should be recovered enough to let you sleep.”
She struggles up and unrolls Nathyrra’s bed roll, “Come here, and help me get her in it. I don’t think I can do it by myself.”
He gives her a chagrined look as he pushes her back down on the floor, “I’ve got this. You rest.”
He lays out Nathyrra’s bedroll and eases Nathyrra into it. When he turns back, he lets out an exasperated sigh.
Morrighu is clumsily laying out her own bedroll.
As soon as she’s done, she flops down, “Ugh! I feel terrible. Look in my pack and get that big axe out. It’s got a pretty stout handle on it. You can use that to reinforce the spear.”
While he’s gone reinforcing the door, she unrolls his bedroll next to hers. She flops back and waits for him to return. He sits on his bedroll and holds her hand.
She tells him, “Lay down here next to me. I want to talk to you and I’m really not feeling well.”
He lies down next to her and pulls her toward him. She rolls over to face him and sighs as he pushes a bit of hair off her face.
She begins, “I know you aren’t used to fighting with us. I saw your face earlier. I don’t want you to be hurt. I’m not angry at you. I only get mad if you make the same mistake twice.”
He says soberly, “I feel terrible. I sprung the trap you were avoiding for good reason and now look at the two of you. I’ve delayed us by at least a day.”
She chuckles, “It is a perfectly good excuse for you to be here and hold me. I’m really cold and we have no fire.”
He grins at her as he covers her with both of their cloaks as he pulls her even closer noticing that she is shivering.
She sighs, “Ah, you feel like a banked fire.” She lays her head on his shoulder and is quickly asleep.
He notices that, efficient as ever, that his bedroll is positioned so that he can also check on Nathyrra without having to move very much. He drifts in and out of wakefulness, checking on his two charges frequently.
Morrighu wakes him once, mumbling and thrashing in her sleep. He listens closely to see if he can tell what it is that has troubled her sleep so, but the only word he can catch is his name. He thinks she’s mumbling in the language of her childhood, but he’s not entirely certain. He smoothes her hair and kisses her forehead which quiets her.
He looks down at the sleeping angel in his arms and sighs heavily. He spoke truly to Imloth when he said she was the prize of the ages to him. Another might not be so kind about his failings in combat.
She was right to want to question the survivors of the golem’s argument. The information might have saved a lot of time and fighting. He also thinks that he should have paid more attention to her in the doorway.
In retrospect, she was nearly on her tiptoes fighting with the golems — stretching to reach them — in order to keep from springing the trap. He sighs, not sure if she had seen the third golem trying to flank her or if she is sure enough of herself that she didn’t care.
His old masters would have beaten him to a pulp. Imloth would tease him endlessly about such carelessness. She seeks to comfort him because his pride is injured. He wonders if she realizes that she wears the mantle of command as easily as most wear their clothing.
He can think of many generals who would pay dearly to have her skill in this area, yet it comes as naturally to her as breathing. He chuckles at the idea that she might learn to actually wield it. He has seen whole armies swayed on less and the outcome of wars and battles decided accordingly.
He sighs and decides that she’s being overly gentle with him because of her feelings for him. Any other would have chided him more sternly for nearly getting them killed. He decides that he owes Morrighu an apology when she wakes.
He pushes back the demon in him that demands that he take her now, while she is weak. Looking at her sleeping form nestled so closely and peacefully next to him, and he drowns out the demands of the darker side of himself in a flood of tenderness for her.
He watches as she sighs and moves closer to him. He still has trouble believing that she trusts him so. Finally, his patience is rewarded and she wakes clear-eyed.
She smiles at him warmly and he feels his heart skip a beat.
She grins at him, “Waking up to those blue eyes of yours is a thing a girl could get well used to.”
He chuckles, “Nathyrra is still sleeping, so we have a small amount of privacy.”
Still ensconced safely in his arms, she stretches with a feline grace. He can feel all of her go taut against him and purrs in contentment. When she’s done stretching, her arms twine about his neck.
She laughs, “At least my armor protects me from yours,” as she sighs and pulls his head down so she can kiss him.
He finds the whole experience to be intensely arousing and pressed together as they are, she notes his response to her. He can feel her giggling into his kiss.
He breaks off and chuckles embarrassedly himself, “You have more of an effect on me than you realize, my lady.”
She grins at him, “When did I become ‘my lady’ to you?”
He sighs, “When I kissed you the first time, perhaps a bit before, when I had decided that I was going to kiss you. You had said a few things to lead me to think that I might be able to without having my head removed for my efforts.”
She grins at him, “Valen, I told you outright that I found you intriguing. What more were you looking for?”
She rolls her eyes and then gives him a comical moon-eyed look, “Perhaps you were waiting for a declaration of undying love?”
Valen finds himself laughing at her antics.
He sobers quickly, “I owe you an apology. You are right. I should be more careful and pay better attention. In my defense, I saw the third one of those things coming up on your off-side. I wasn’t sure if you had seen it, or if you were simply disregarding it. My only thought was to engage it to protect you. You are also correct that I am not properly aware of what damages either of you, which is a situation that we must remedy before something more serious happens.”
She sighs, “Seriousness before breakfast. Very well, how is our resident magic-wielder?”
Valen looks over his shoulder at her, “Still sleeping. Her color is better, but I think, if we can afford it, we should stay here for another day. I think she sorely needs the rest in order to recover fully.”
Morrighu considers briefly, “Do you think we’re safe enough here?”
He nods, “I do. I have not been able to hear any footsteps approach. No one has so much as tried the door and with you recovered, I think we can fend off any who might venture our way.”
She nods, “Since you wish to be serious, I can tell you what damages Nathyrra — almost everything. We must be careful to keep her behind us where she can cast her spells undistracted. Like most that rely heavily on magic, she is powerful but fragile. As for me, poison, acid, and magic are my weaknesses. That gas was both poison and acid. Thanks to a gift from my goddess, I am mostly immune to elemental damage.”
She grins at him, “I have had enough of seriousness for now,” and pulls his head back down to hers.
He obliges by kissing her tenderly until he feels her sigh into him.
He breaks off, sighing himself, “That’s enough of that. Anymore and you will not be in that armor much longer.”
She giggles and untwines herself from him.
She scoots a small distance away and takes his hands, “It has come to my attention that while you know rather a lot about my past, I know almost nothing about yours. You told me that I would be hard pressed to find one more skilled in combat than you, and from what I have seen that is true. Will you tell me how you came by your skill?”
He sighs and rolls his eyes, “If you will answer a question for me. I wish to know what makes you so special.”
She looks at him, taken aback, “That’s a bit rude, isn’t it.”
He looks at her somberly, “I am serious. I wish to know what makes you so special.”
She tries to joke with him to lighten his mood, “You mean besides my charm and beauty?”
All her efforts obtain is a flicker of smile, “Surely my lady knows that she possesses both in abundance. However, that is not what I’m referring to and you know it. For months now, I have been the leader of our forces and suddenly you arrive and it is all over.”
She laughs, “That’s a bit dramatic, isn’t it?”
He rolls his eyes again and relents, “Perhaps I am. I “have” been told that being dramatic is one of my specialties, but I would still like to know your thoughts.”
She giggles at his response, “According to your Seer, I’m the one who can win. You should be well aware by now that I will do my best, which is not inconsiderable, to carry out the duties that both she and my goddess have charged me with. I have given you my word and bound not only myself, but the other Three as well as my goddess to seeing your task through. Relax, your Valsharess will fall.”
Valen grimaces, “I would have you know that I would not have asked for your word. Enough has been asked of you already.”
She looks at him seriously, “Valen, I know that. You need not even speak it. Have I not already told you that I find you dedication commendable? We have enough to fight against without fighting each other. I know you are wary of me for your Seer’s sake, let us leave it at that. Agreed?”
He nods, so she continues, “Now will you tell me how you came by your skill in combat?”
He sighs, “As you seem to know little enough about tieflings, I am guessing that the Blood Wars means nothing to you?”
Morrighu looks at him curiously, “Is that a gender thing? Like how all men are pigs?”
Valen laughs heartily, taken by surprise, “No, no,” he chuckles, “and surely not all men are pigs? Or do I not want to ask that question?”
She grins back at him, “You probably don’t want to ask that question. There is at least a relative peace between us now and I’d rather not disrupt it. Please, continue.”
He gives her a serious look, “The Blood Wars are the ages-old conflict between the demons of the Abyss and the devils of Baator. We have battled so long and so ferociously that the War is now part of our blood. There is no true hope of winning; just one battle after the next is fought wherever demons and devils encounter each other. It is nothing more than an endless cycle of rage, revenge, and bloodshed. I…I was… recruited into those battles.”
He looks away, his eyes taking on a haunted cast. “For years I fought in the Outer Planes as something less than a soldier… I was a beast.”
She gives him a sympathetic look, and nestles against him, “Why did you fight if you didn’t like it?”
He continues in a flat voice, “I had little choice. I was a slave, you see, the property of my demonic master. He threw me into each battle and I fought to survive.”
She considers this for a moment, “So this is why you were so concerned when I told you I had been a slave once.”
He nods silently.
She squeezes his hands, “I’m so sorry. That sounds terrible.”
He nods and attempts a wan smile of appreciation, “Thank you, my lady. It is… something I try not to think about any longer. At the time, however, it was all I knew.”
She twists one of his forelocks idly around her finger, “How long did this go on?”
Valen thinks for a moment. “I cannot be sure. Much of my time in the Abyss was spent in incoherent rage… perhaps twenty years? Perhaps more? Time has little meaning there.”
Her thumbs trace the patterns on the backs of his gauntlets, “How did you end up in such a place?”
He thinks for a moment, “I was captured,” he scowls at the memory, “I spent all of my youth fleeing from the Blood War, but I was scooped up by the demons and made a battle slave anyway. The Blood Wars made me into the warrior I am.”
He nods to his armor and weapons, “Though it meant nothing to me. I was a mindless soldier, no more. My infernal masters encouraged the demonic blood that was within me. I was beholden to it. I reveled in it, and was desperate to please my masters with each opponent I slaughtered. There was nothing in me that was human, and that meant less than nothing to me. Until the Seer found me.”
Morrighu looks shocked, “The Seer came into the Abyss?”
He shakes his head, “No. The first time I saw her, I was summoned along with my master to your world by a spell… to fight against the Seer, in fact. A drow priestess had called us and so we were beholden to do battle. During the attack I came face to face with the Seer… and she… she looked into my soul. I have no other way to describe it. We were banished back to the planes, but the memory of the Seer stayed with me. It haunted my dreams.”
Valen closes his eyes, shuddering, “For the first time in decades, I began to remember the life I once had.”
Morrighu lets go of one his hands and reaches to stroke his cheek, “That can’t have been easy, considering where you were.”
His voice is flat and emotionless, “It wasn’t.”
He pauses, closing his eyes, “My master sensed my… difficulty. I was tortured, for months or years… I really could not tell. I only remember that it was agony beyond measure. Demons do know how to torture.”
Morrighu lets go of his hands and slips her arms around his waist, pulling herself as close to him as possible seeking to comfort him.
He gives her a wan smile and continues, “Eventually I was able to escape Grimash’t.”
For a moment Valen’s eyes take on a haunted look. “I made my way to your world, an alien place for a planar such as me, and searched until I found the Seer. She healed my wounds and… spoke to me. She offered to help me - if I wanted it.”
His voice is thick with emotion. “She saved me in every way that one can be saved.”
She looks at him curiously, “Your master didn’t try to get you back?”
Valen smirks. “Yes, he did. He was unsuccessful. It seems that all my skill at killing devils also applies just as well to demons. Imagine that.”
Morrighu pulls her embrace a bit tighter and says, “I’m so very sorry, I would not have asked, had I known how painful it is for you.”
Seeing the still troubled look on his face, she stretches up and kisses him soundly. When she is done, she grins at the surprised look on his face, “Better things and better days are at hand. Have faith, Valen.”
She decides that the mood is definitely too grim, at least before breakfast, so she pokes him experimentally, looking to see if she can find a ticklish spot though his armor.
He senses what she’s doing and returns her attentions.
Nathyrra wakes to the sounds of the two of them giggling quietly like small children. She lays there and listens for a while, surprised because it’s the first time she’s heard anything from Valen that would indicate happiness. Nathyrra rolls over and looks, but all she can see is Valen’s back.
Finally, she says, “I knew I was going to have to come with you two as a chaperone.”
She’s rewarded by seeing Morrighu pop her head above Valen’s shoulder and look her over. Morrighu, still giggling, says, “Oh good, you’re awake.”
To Nathyrra’s surprise, she swats Valen’s hand, leans over him in a rather familiar manner, and grasps Nathyrra’s chin and turns her face toward the light.
Morrighu surveys Nathyrra critically, “Your color is better but it’s still not quite right.”
She releases the drow’s chin, “I think Valen is correct. A few more potions and another day of rest is in order. You really gave us quite the scare last night. I didn’t think we were going to get the potions down you in time.”
Nathyrra shivers, “I don’t want to die. Morrighu, please don’t let me die.”
Morrighu looks at her, “Calm down, Nathyrra and it’s Valen you have to thank for saving you. I was in fairly bad shape at the time myself.”
Valen rolls over and chuckles, “Morrighu, you were doing fairly well for Nathyrra until you passed out.”
She goes back to looking for a ticklish spot, “Yes, well, the passing out was rather the point, wasn’t it?”
Nathyrra watches the pair closely, wondering what Morrighu is doing to Valen. Morrighu is using her fingers to probe every crack and cranny in the tieflings armor as he squirms to avoid her. He grins up at her good naturedly.
Finally, over come by her curiosity, Nathyrra blurts out, “Morrighu, what in the world are you doing to Valen?”
Morrighu grins, “I’m trying to see if tieflings are ticklish. We have another one of our bets. So far he’s being very gentlemanly and giving me far more chances than he’s taken.”
Nathyrra laughs in spite of herself and Valen colors deeply.
He nods to Nathyrra, “If you will excuse me, I seem to have something that I need to attend to.”
He flips over and pins Morrighu, who squeals in mock fright. With his face pressed fairly close to hers, he says smugly, “You see I have you at a disadvantage. I have a fairly good idea of where you are ticklish.”
quiet, almost scared. Before I could reply the doorman spoke quickly in French. He still held the receiver, a finger poised over the keypad. She touched his arm and gently persuaded him to replace the phone, giving him her best movie-star smile as she did. I had no idea what she said, but if it stopped him from calling the police, which I”m sure was his intention, then I was grateful.
“I”m going inside,” said Virginie. “I”ll see you tomorrow, Daniel.”
“Do you want me to come to the door with you?” Immediately I wondered why I”d said that. Her building obviously had good security, and I had watched scruff run away in the opposite direction. Virginie was right; she was used to people bothering her, asking her to sign pictures. That was one of the aspects of fame, and in Paris she was extremely well known. So why was I suddenly being overprotective?
She didn”t answer my question, just regarded me with a frown.
“Okay, forget it,” I said with an unwanted tone of abruptness. I span around quickly to avoid her seeing the flush of crimson that was hitting my face, and I”d taken a quick couple of steps when her voice stopped me.
“Daniel?”
I turned, sighing deeply and feeling an ache in the small of my back. The thought of cheap scotch was know in the forefront of my mind. “Yeah?”
“How did you know that I was afraid?”
I pushed my hands deeper into my pockets and shivered inside of my jacket. The wind was stronger now, and once more slivers of rain had begun to bounce against my skin.
“Just a feeling,” I muttered. “I can be quite a perceptive guy, when I want.”
She smiled. “That”s a big word.”
“I know one or two.”
She stepped forward and pulled my hand from my jacket, wrapping her slim fingers into mine. “Thankyou. I would like you to come upstairs with me, if you don”t mind.” She pulled me towards her and I allowed myself to be led, and as we left the harshness of the sidewalk for the warmth of the lobby, the doorman gave us a small salute.
********************
The interior of Virginie”s building was as stunning as the exterior. Subtle art and dark carpeting lined the corridor that led towards the fashionably retro service elevator, the gunmetal doors rattling musically as I closed them behind us. Virginie pushed the button for the top floor and we slowly began to ascend to the fifth level.
“I have seen that man before, you know,” she said, as she leant back against the wall while I watched one exquisite floor merge into another. “He”s taken pictures of me.”
“Like the one I saw? That was taken outside of here.”
She nodded. “You cannot stop people from doing it, and I usually don”t mind. But he is very… intense.” She looked at her shoes briefly, and then back to me. “I wonder what he does with them all.” She didn”t say it as a question and I didn”t answer, although I had a pretty good idea.
The elevator rattled to a halt and we stepped out into a long hallway that was lit with lamps sitting on specially designed moldings in the wall. They looked antique, and were worlds away from the harsh striplighting that occasionally, but not always, illuminated the tiled passageway that led to my own festering apartment. A tiny thrill ran through me as Virginie once more took my hand and led me down the hallway, and we didn”t speak until we reached a large door that looked wooden but was probably too heavy to be anything other than metal.
“Here we are,” she said, pulling a small bunch of keys from her purse.
“Okay. I guess this is where I say goodbye.”
Her hand hovered midway to the lock. “Why?”
“I said I”d see you to the door, and I have.”
She inserted and turned the key and the door swung inwards easily and silently, revealing a entrance decorated with small black and white floor tiles. Virginie removed the key and turned to me.
“I”d like you to come in,” she said, “unless you have something else to attend to.”
I looked at her, beautiful and elegent as the surroundings we stood in. I glanced back through the door and imagined what the rest of her apartment would be like. What did I have waiting for me? A draught-filled box that dripped water through a hole near the bathroom wall and a cat that had sensibly given up on me a long time ago. I”d promised her a good meal when I left this morning, but she was more than used to me breaking my commitments. She was better off without me.
“Nothing that can”t wait,” I said, and followed her inside.
The small entrance led through into a huge living room, and I stayed near the door while Virginie turned on lamps that chased away the grey winter light that spilt through a large bank of windows. Two huge leather sofas faced each other and stood on a polished oak floor that was dotted here and there with fine rugs, and there were masses of plants trailing in the corners and across shelves. A large bookcase, slim and expensive looking stereo, view of the river; this was a room where a guy like me could have taken a vacation.
“You can come into the room, if you like,” said Virginie, as she threw her coat over the back of one of the sofas. “Would you like some tea?”
“Tea?”
“Yes. You know, hot water, leaves, milk if required?” She smiled, and continued. “I suppose you”re strictly a coffee man, huh?”
“Generally. Hate the taste, love the caffeine.”
“I can imagine. Sit down and I”ll be back in a moment.” She disappeared into the kitchen, leaving the door slightly ajar, and I heard the sound of water running.
I stood infront of the window, the rain lashing hard against the glass and virtually obscuring the street several floors below. In the distance to the left I could see the magnificent Notre Dame Cathedral on the bank of the Seine, and infront of me lining the other side of the street were more residential palaces of the kind that I now stood in. Huge, gorgeous, impenetrable. I glanced at my watch - five twenty-two, and already darkness was moving quickly into the city.
I could still hear Virginie pottering in the kitchen, and I crossed over to the bookcase, my eyes scanning across History, Philosophy, Satre, Elmore Leonard and Stephen King. It was then that I saw a long line of albums, perfectly racked, and I was leafing through these when she returned.
“You collect Vinyl?” I said, as she placed two huge mugs on a low wooden coffee-table.
“A little. Most of them used to be belong to my Brother,” she replied, joining me at the case. “Usually I buy discs like everyone else, but if I see something good then I”ll pick it up.”
I flipped the records. “Beatles, The Smiths. The Ramones. I”m impressed.”
She looked up at me, a smile still there but her eyes serious. “It”s good to hear you sound happy about something.”
“I love music, sometimes it”s… what do you mean?”
She placed her hand gently on my cheek, her fingers crackling against my stubble as she brushed her thumb under my eye, the gentlest of touches on my skin. My eyes involuntarily closed for a brief moment, reacting to the sensation and warmth of her touch, a feeling I wasn”t used to from anyone. When I opened them she was still looking at me closely.
“I mean, many times I”ve seen you today you”ve looked… haunted.”
I didn”t answer, couldn”t answer. It was true of course. I was haunted, by moments from my past and possibly by what I expected to happen in the future. But now, at this instant, I felt almost content. Virginie”s hand slipped away from my face.
“Come and sit, the tea”s hot and good.”
“I shouldn”t really,” I said. “My clothes are still damp from the rain.”
She touched my jacket and made a face. “Why didn”t you say before, I could have dried them for you.”
“I”ll be home soon.”
She shook her head. “This what we”re going to do. You can take a shower, and while you”re warming up I”ll run these things through the clothes drier.” She was already pulling my jacket off as she spoke, and I started to laugh.
“You”re very forceful.”
She grinned. “I”m a woman, it”s what we do. No arguments.” She hung my jacket on the back of a chair and grabbed me by the hand, led me across the room and through another door next to the kitchen. Beyond was her bedroom, the walls painted a deep red and dominated by a huge pine bed strewn with a white duvet and enormous pillows. The light was dim, and I could smell incense burning, the odor instantly calming. She opened another door to a connecting bathroom and pulled me inside. Deep blue tiles, driftwood sculptures and a fantastic collection of black and whites lining the walls depicting the seashore. In the middle of the room, slightly raised, was a traditional cast-iron bath, the brass fittings glittering with cleanliness. Away in the far corner next to a worn but insanely comfortable looking armchair was the shower cubicle. I turned to Virginie.
“You”ve got a beautiful home,” I said simply.
“Well, I spend a lot of time here when I can,” she replied, and ran her hand across the dark tiles. “I like bold colours.”
“I can tell.”
She indicated to some chrome shelving behind the door. “There are towels here, and if you leave your clothes in the bedroom I”ll get them dry, okay?”
She still held my hand, and squeezed it gently before letting go, and I watched her leave the bathroom and tread lightly across the bedroom floor, her jeans tight against her bottom and her ankles pale flashes against the wood, before vanishing into the living room.
I stooped and pulled off my boots and placed them against the wall, and then quickly stripped off my clothes. My skin grew cold as the damp material was pulled free and I shivered, despite the warmth coming from the radiator in the bedroom. When I was naked I piled the clothing as neatly as I could and left them on the floor, tucking my shorts between my shirt and jeans and feeling a slight twinge of embarrassment knowing that Virginie was about to see my underwear.
In my own apartment the bathroom was roughly the size of a decent closet, with an ever-increasing damp patch spreading along the wall and a toilet that took an effort to flush. As I took one of the soft, warm towels from the shelf and crossed to the shower I wondered just how much money was needed to be able to laze around in a bathroom like this. As a kid I dreamt of places like this one, but these days I barely slept without an alcohol knockout.
I hung the towel within reach of the cubicle and stepped inside, twisting the dial and being rewarded with am instant torrent of blissfully hot water. For the next couple of minutes I stood solidly beneath the spray, eyes tightly closed, and let the heat penetrate through my skin and warm aching muscles and bones. Safely cocooned inside a canopy of steam, I could have very easily fallen asleep, and might well have done so if I hadn”t heard the bathroom door open.
I”d be lying if I said I hadn”t amused myself with a moment”s fantasy about Virginie joining me under the water. After the day I”d spent in her company I knew how attractive I found her, and not just on a physical basis, although she was truly one of the most beautiful women I”d ever encountered. The way her shoulders shook when she laughed, how she walked, almost floated across the floor, the way her eyes shone against the light and almost seemed to burn with life, these were all things I longed to see again. And the way she spoke to me, concerned with how I was, almost made me ache for her, made me feel like a teenager struck down with his first crush. I could imagine the cubicle door opening slowly and her standing naked before me, giving me a moment to gaze at her smooth body before the shower coated her skin in a wet sheen as she wrapped her arms around my neck. Soft lips on mine, nipples against my chest, her thigh between my legs.
And for one tiny moment as I heard the door open I thought that the fantasy was to become reality, and a myriad of thoughts ran through my head, some good, some terrifying.
“Daniel?” Through the heavily frosted glass I could just see her, almost indistinguishable. I moved back against the tiled wall away from the door as I realized she would also be able to my nakedness, blurred or not.
“Yeah?” I had to raise my voice slightly over the noise of the falling spray.
“You forgot your tea. I”ll leave it by the door for you.”
Of course, that was all it would be. “Thankyou.”
“Everything okay?”
“It”s fine,” I said trying to keep the disappointment from my voice and almost succeeding. “I won”t be long.”
I heard the door close and when I knew I was alone again I let out a huge breath, sadness and relief seemingly escaping me all at once. Suddenly I wanted to be free of the shower as fast as possible, and I found shampoo and washed my hair quickly before cleaning myself all over with a vanilla smelling body wash that stood on a small shelf in the cubicle. I allowed myself ten more seconds under the water, then snapped the dial closed and stepped out onto the tiles, the water gurgling into the drain behind me. I toweled off lightly and then wrapped the towel tightly around my waist and walked over to the mirror that rose proudly from a marble counter.
What a fool. Why would a woman like Virginie show any interest in a guy like me, a guy whose hair was too long, who had sunken eyes that struggled to show anything other than contempt, whose idea of dress sense was picking up whatever lay on the floor from the night before and whose idea of sophistication was Chinese food from a plate instead of the carton?
A guy who needed a drink so badly his hand were already starting to shake.
********************
After I”d ran my fingers through my hair in some vague approximation of style I returned to the bedroom. The stick of incense had burned low but the smell was still there, heavy and calming. It was almost fully dark now, and I found a lamp near the bed and switched it on, the room filling with a red glow where the light bounced off the walls. My clothes were gone, and I could hear a faint humming which I assumed was the clothes drier working in another part of the apartment. I”d bought the mug of tea with me from the bathroom and I now sipped it while perched on the edge of the bed, the flavor hot and sweet, and wondered where Virginie was.
Music started in the living room, low enough so that I couldn”t identify who it was. I went to the door and opened it a fraction, my fingers curling around the edge as I peeked through
She was standing before the window with her arms folded and her head almost touching the glass. Her hair was now tied loosely behind her and she”d changed into a red robe that shimmered around her and brushed against the floor. In the lamplight of the room her body looked as if it might be bathed in blood. She redefined the definition of spectacular. She looked round and saw me.
“Hey. You alright?”
I nodded. “My clothes?”
“They”ll be dry soon, a few minutes,” she said. “How was the tea?”
I stayed leaning against the door and smiled. “Good, actually. You might have a convert here.”
She returned my smile and turned her eyes back to the window. “Come and look at the city, Daniel, it”s so beautiful.”
“Well, I”m not really dressed for it,” I replied, my heart knocking against my chest. Virginie looked back towards me for a moment, then moved around the room and extinguished the two burning lamps. The robe slid against her body like the tide rolling into a beach, and as she walked I saw there were small dragons stitched into the cloth. After the lamps were dead the only light was from two candles that flickered high on a shelf and the city light that bathed the floor near the window.
“Now if you want to come in, I can hardly see you,” she said quietly.
I looked down at myself, made sure that the towel was covering everything it should be, took a deep breath and pushed the door open. I saw Virginie glance at my body for a moment, at my bare torso above the towel and my calves beneath it, and then she looked through the glass once more. I crossed slowly towards her, the music from the stereo an almost hypnotic trance of guitar and mellow beats. Sounded like Stereolab, but I couldn”t swear to it.
The view from the window was indeed more spectacular by night than day. Notre Dame was now brilliantly lit, and a glittering carpet of lights swept East away from the cathedral until they reached the stunning peak of the Eiffel Tower. Boats cruised the river, their lights creating patterns on the black water, and below us the road remained quiet. Expensive districts were afforded the luxury of access-only streets, and as such there was no noise coming through the windows of Virginie”s apartment, a stark contrast to my own horn-drenched area. The buildings before us still remained virtually in darkness, only random windows here and there were lit, and the top floor opposite of where we stood was nothing but shadow. The rain had now finally stopped, and far on the horizon I could see a yellow moon straining against the bank of clouds. Virginie was right; it was beautiful, and I told her so. She nodded.
“I love this city,” she whispered. “Some nights I just play music and watch it for hours, imagining what everyone is doing, who they are seeing.”
“I wish I could have nights like that,” I replied.
She looked up at me. “Why can”t you?”
“I don”t really know how to relax,” I said, and leant forward until my forehead was touching the cool glass. “I”ve forgotten how to enjoy simple things.”
“You said you loved music. What”s more simple than that?”
My breath was fogging on the glass infront of me. “Music”s always there, I don”t have to make an effort with it,” I replied, and then sighed, making more fog. “I mean looking at a view and seeing the beauty in it, or just enjoying the thrill of watching the world go by.” I pulled away from the window and wiped the cloud with my hand before turning to face her. “Or just talking to someone, spending some time with them.”
“You”re doing fine at the moment,” said Virginie, resting a hand on my bare forearm, her face a dim glow with the city light.
I nodded. “I know, but the only reason I”m here is through your doing. I”d never have suggested it.” I paused, thought about what I was going to say, and decided to say it anyway. “Even though I would have wanted to.”
She smiled, and squeezed my arm gently. “I got the impression you wanted to get away as fast as possible.
“No. It just that… Just that I spend so much time alone it becomes almost natural.”
“Do you mean you feel alone or you are alone.”
Her eyes were questioning and seemingly filled with care, so beautiful that I was forced to break our gaze and stare at my feet before I answered. “Both. I”m totally alone.”
I have a tattoo on my left bicep, a crude set of marks that used to mean so much but these days are nothing more than a constant reminder of who I used to be. Virginie now touched the tattoo, brushing her index finger across it, and then pressed herself against me. I almost stepped back with surprise as she did so, before I felt the smooth silk of her robe against my naked chest and her head fall onto my shoulder. Without thinking I stiffened, felt my muscles clench, and it was only when her hands ran up over my shoulder blades and she gripped me tightly that I realized I was trembling. I lowered my face to her sweet-smelling hair and tentatively put my arms around her, my hands meeting behind her back and encountering the subtle stitching of the dragons.
“Why are you so afraid, Daniel?” Her voice was muffled against me
I laughed softly, nervously. “I”m not.”
“Then why are you shaking?”
I didn”t answer, just pulled her into me and squeezed my eyes shut. Her breath was rhythmical against my skin, warm and reassuring, and her hands stroked the top of my shoulders gently. Slowly I felt myself start to become calm, and I concentrated on the warmth of her body, her touch, and the music that quietly filled the room.
“It”s okay,” she whispered. “Stay with me.”
I moved against her again, and as I did she ran one hand up my neck and into the thatch of hair, while her other fingers pressed under the hem of the towel, only an inch or so, but more than enough to make me shudder and cause my dick to grow harder. Her breath remained warming my shoulder as she continued to stroke my hair and buttock, and it was only then that I started to finally move my own clumsy hands, slowly up and down her back, the silk of the robe thin enough to allow the heat of her skin to penetrate. I turned my face further into her hair and found a delicate earlobe, and I pressed my lips to it, barely kissing the skin.
Fingers pressing further under the towel, pushing outwards, and I felt the knot of cloth on the side of my waist come loose, then fall away, and a moment later a fresh burst of cool air licked my damp thighs as I became naked. My breathing quickened against Virginie”s ear, and she slowly raised her face to look at me, and in her eyes I again saw concern as she examined my face to see if I was all right. In reply I lowered my lips towards her own and she responded, the kiss that formed between us at first slow and tentative, before instinct took over and our mouths parted and tongues met. Her breath was sweet and hot, fresher than the rain that had been falling all day, and as her tongue circled around my own and her hands fell against my buttocks my erection was hard and urgent against the front of her robe. I slid my hands into her hair, my thumbs brushing her ears, and our kiss became harder, filled with more passion, until our lips parted and Virginie kissed my neck, the grazing of her teeth causing me to gasp audibly.
She pulled back from me slightly and ran her eyes down my body, and I felt a moment of stupid embarrassment as she did so, self-conscious at the way my dick was poking out towards her. She looked back up at me and bit her bottom lip in an incredibly erotic gesture before her hands glided away from my butt and to the front of my thighs. As she ran her fingers up and down my skin I shivered again, this time not from the cold, and before I could do anything but stare into those dark, sensual eyes I felt the blissful sensation of fingertips on my pubic hair, and a second later a soft hand closing around my aching penis.
She started to move her wrist up and down, her other hand going to the sensitive skin of my testicles, and I honestly thought I was going to come then and there. I felt behind me until I found the cold glass of the window, and the sudden shock against my hot palms seemed to focus my mind again, and I opened my eyes to see that Virginie hadn”t looked away from me while I”d concentrated through gritted teeth. She smiled sweetly, and then leant into my chest and grazed my nipple with her wet tongue. I looked down at her as she did so, moving her mouth from across my chest with tiny kisses as her hands continued to wank me slowly. She bit a nipple, not hard enough to hurt but with enough pressure to draw a moan from my body, and then she traced her lips over my throat before locking her mouth to mine once more. When the kiss was broken and I felt sure my knees were going to give way, she spoke quietly, an inch away from my face.
“I”m naked under here,” she whispered. “I want you to touch me.”
I still had my hands on the window, and now I bought them forward to meet the thin belt that held her robe closed. The silk was tied in a simple bow, and I drew the strings outwards with shaking fingers as Virginie continued to work her magic on my dick. The belt fell loose, and was followed a moment later by the front of her robe, the blood-red silk parting as if blown by the wind, revealing her body to me.
The candles in the room were burning low, and what little illumination they gave combined with the light filtering through the broad window meant that Virginie”s naked form was crossed with shadow. Somehow that only made her appear to be even more beautiful, and I ran the tip of my finger over her neck, across the simple silver chain she wore, and slowly down between her breasts. They”d looked luscious when I”d seen them covered with damp cotton earlier that day, but now as I swept my hand across the swell of soft flesh and grazed her nipple with my thumb I realized I was holding my breath with excitement. Her eyes fell closed as I stroked her, and her hand started to move on my shaft with more urgency as I closed both hands over her small breasts and I felt the nipples stiffen beneath my palms. I moved closer to her and the tip of dick poked against her flat stomach, and I caressed softly along her ribs, making her giggle and rest her head on my shoulder once more. Under the robe, over her hips, until my fingers were creeping along her buttocks as she had done to me minutes previously. Her skin was softer than the silk that had covered it, and I kept one hand on her behind while I traced fingers around to the front of her body, finding her tiny bellybutton and rubbing around the natural depression on her body. Her small hand worked quickly on me now, pulling my foreskin back and forth with total pleasure, and I pushed my own hand down, away from her stomach towards the shadow I had seen that was darker than the others.
Her pubic hair was short and soft, then became matted against my fingers as I finally realized that she was as aroused as myself. Her thighs parted very slightly and I responded, cupping my fingers between her legs and pushing my middle finger between the damp lips of her vagina, where it slid into her body easily and without resistance, making her sigh contentedly against my shoulder.
The music in the apartment had finished, and now the only sound was our quickening breaths as we stood naked against the window playing with each other. I pushed a second finger into her wet slit and ground the heel of my hand against her clit, working my hand into her and feeling her legs shake as I did so. In response she was now wanking me hard and fast, sliding her slender fingers over my shaft with speed, occasionally rubbing her thumb across my sensitive glans and pulling gently on my swollen balls, even stroking a finger between my legs towards my anus once or twice. The sensation of her movements, combined with the feel of her wetness on my hand and the kisses we kept giving each other meant that I soon felt an orgasm approaching.
“I”m going to come,” I groaned, “if you keep doing that.”
She looked at me and I saw the desire in her eyes, and admitted to myself for the first time that I must be doing something right. Her hand slowed on my dick but didn”t stop, and she squeezed me tightly, almost as if cutting of my forthcoming climax. I kept my fingers sliding against the walls of her sticky vagina.
“You can”t come. Not until you”ve been inside me,” she said, and pulled me gently towards the couch.
********************
The leather was soft on my back as I lay, and Virginie was almost a silhouette above me as she straddled my body, and I felt her wet pubic mound against my stomach as we kissed for a few moments. Then her hands were on my shoulders, her nipples brushing the fine hairs on my chest, as she slid down me until the tip of my throbbing erection touched dampness. For several seconds she rotated her hips against me, almost letting me slip into her, teasing me in the most delicious way until I thought I was going to pass out with desire. Just as I had raised my hands to grab her butt and force her onto me her fingers gripped my skin and pushed herself down, and my dick was suddenly enveloped in a hot tunnel that gripped me securely, and I had to bury my face in her hair once more to stop my groan of delight filling the air.
For a couple of minutes we just lay there, relaxed, contented, aroused, and a couple of times Virginie tensed her pelvic muscles, squeezing me inside her until my breath was again brushing her ear. She raised her head and looked down at me.
“You okay?” She murmured, starting to grind against me.
I nodded. “Yeah. It”s been a long time, that”s all.”
She kissed the tip of my nose. “Believe me, you”re doing fine.”
As our mouths connected once more and our tongues wrapped around each other she started to move, slowly at first until I”d found the rhythm, and then our pace quickened. I dragged my nails down her back and over her butt, pulling the skin, and I touched her anus as she had done to me, my finger sliding into the crease of her buttocks. As she pushed her body down onto me I raised upwards, grinding our sex together, and lifted myself onto my elbows so I could kiss her throat, her breasts, her nipples. She pulled my head onto her neck, fingers clawing at my hair as I continued to thrust into her, making her cry out in shrill little gasps that only served to turn me on even more. Her thighs gripped against my own, her nails pierced the skin of my back, and she forced our bodies together, rubbing her clitoris against my pubic bone until every breath she took was filled with orgasm and my eyes started to see an angel above me. Sticky juices leaked over my balls and the top of my thighs as I held her to me, her body shaking in my arms, and I knew I was close myself as my drove into her once more.
“Don”t come in me,” she gasped, “I”m not on the pill.”
How I stopped myself I don”t know, but just as a mind-blowing rush started to charge up my shaft I dragged myself away from her, my dick nestling between her buttocks for a moment, before I felt her reach back and take me in her hand as I exploded, bursts of hot semen rushing from me. A raw moan left my throat, and I heard Virginie squeal as I ejaculated across her back. I felt her hand stop squeezing me, then gently rub my fluid into my sticky penis, making me jerk as she brushed the tip, before her body collapsed down onto mine.
I know we lay there for some time, not talking, doing nothing but letting our breathing return to normal and relishing the sensations we”d put ourselves through. Only when I moved my hand to caress her lower back and found a trail of semen instead of the skin I”d been expecting did I speak.
“Sorry about the mess,” I muttered into her ear, and I felt her laugh against me, a sound I”d delighted in the first time I”d heard it but which now had taken on a whole new definition.
“Were you saving it up?” She giggled, her face buried in my neck.
“I told you it had been a long time.”
“I can tell. Don”t worry, it”s good for the skin.”
And then we were both laughing, dotting each other with tiny kisses and licks, and I ran my fingers over her back and rubbed my come into her back and over her butt. We both fell silent, and after a few minutes I heard Virginie”s breathing slow as she slipped into sleep. I held her tightly, loving the feel of her body on mine, and gazed at the window, seeing the heavy clouds in sky that was the deepest purple and waiting for the moon to emerge from time to time. When it did I made silent wishes, and wondered exactly which emotion it was, intense happiness or deep sadness, that was causing the tears to streak down my face.
********************
It was black, darker than the last days of hell, and there was screaming, a woman followed by the sickening sound of a child, and I knew the familiar pain was coming, and that as usual I was unable to stop it. I felt my own scream start to ascend through my throat, and as I was struggling to contain it something was shaking my shoulder, for once hard enough to make the horror leave me.
For a second I thought it was a nurse, and then as the shackles of the dream left me I knew it was something better. Virginie, crouching beside me, her hand on my chest and concern in her eyes. I breathed heavily and relaxed back into the softness of the couch. There was sweat on my brow.
“Are you awake?” She said, and I nodded. “You were dreaming I think, mumbling in your sleep,” she continued, and stroked the side of my face.
It was still dark in the living room, and I wondered what the time was and how long I”d been out for. I stretched the muscles in my calves and felt a slight ache around my thighs, and then stifled a yawn with the back of my hand. Virginie pecked me on the cheek.
“Have I tired you out?”
“Exhausted,” I said, and grinned at her. “Actually, I feel a little cold.”
“So do I. I just woke up and was going to fetch a blanket.”
I propped myself up on one elbow and kissed her. “What”s the time?”
She shook her head, “I”m not sure, around nine I think. You don”t have to go do you?”
I thought again about what awaited me at home. “I told the cat we”d eat this evening, but she”s used to me breaking my promises.” Virginie smiled and I touched her ear. “So unless you want me to leave, I”m staying right here.”
“Good.” She stood up, and I saw her figure infront of me again, dark and curving, and the desire to bury my face in the skin of her stomach was strong. “I”m going to get that blanket,” she said. “Would you like some juice or something?”
I lay back on the leather and blinked at her. “Whatever you”re having,” I replied, and she waggled her fingers at me in a cute little wave before spinning on her heel and heading for the bedroom. It was only after she”d disappeared through the door it occurred to me that for the first time in recent memory I hadn”t thought of alcohol when someone asked me what I wanted to drink.
I swung my legs off the sofa and rubbed my shins briskly, circulating warmth back through them, and then stood and crossed to the shelf where a line of candles stood. It had been here that Virginie had lit two while before we”d made love, and I wanted to recreate that ambient mood once more, without resorting to lighting lamps. I found matches and touched fire to the wicks of three candles, and watched for a moment as the flames flickered before becoming strong. I looked around and was pleased to see waves of shadows dripping from the edges of the room.
Virginie returned to the room with a huge white blanket wrapped around herself, and she looked around approvingly at the light. I, in turn, looked approvingly at her. She asked me to put some music on while she got the juice, and after she”d walked into the kitchen I turned to the stereo.
I thought about then skipped over The Doors and Tom Petty, even Elvis Costello. As much as I loved those artists, they were hardly the soundtrack to romance, and for once I was thinking of someone else”s feelings instead of my own. Then I stumbled across an old Otis Redding disc and was just loading it in as Virginie returned to the room with two glasses which she placed on the table. She moved once again to the window and I crossed over to her as the opening chords of “Dock Of The Bay” struck up. As I reached her she opened the blanket like a cloak, and her skin appeared tanned in the low light of the room, her nipples dark bullets. I slipped my arms around her and she closed the blanket behind me as we wrapped ourselves up in each other. Otis crooned away in the background.
“Good choice,” said Virginie, her arms around my neck.
“It was either Redding or Jim Morrison.”
“Good choice,” she repeated, and we kissed once more. The blanket was heavy, and that combined with the touch of our skins meant I soon became warm again. Soon I was standing behind her, my arms clasped around her waist and the curve of her buttocks pressing into my crotch. The blanket enclosed both of us like a shroud, and as I stroked her stomach I knew it wouldn”t be long before I felt aroused again, and I whispered this into her ear.
“That”s okay with me,” she sighed, raising an arm and curling her fingers around my neck, “we”ve got all night.”
We were facing the window, and as I nibbled my teeth along her neck I slowly opened the layers of the blanket, watching as her first her rounded breasts, then her nipples came into view. If there had been more light in the room anyone in the opposite building or who cared to look up from the street would have been able to see us. I let go of the blanket and it fell away as I cupped my hands over her breasts, exposing our nudity to a world that couldn”t quite see what we were doing. It was safe exhibitionism; the thrill of being naked without the danger of being caught.
Virginie sensed my arousal. I was becoming hard again, my half-erection starting to push against her butt, and she wriggled back against me, moving herself until I had slipped between her thighs, feeling the tiny hairs on her vagina graze the top of my penis. As I licked around her earlobe and squeezed her breasts together she reached between her thighs and touched the head of my dick, and my fingers gripped her more tightly as she alternated between rubbing me against the hard nub of her clit and slipping a finger between her lips as she masturbated. Looking down over her shoulder I could see what she was doing, and the image was very slightly reflected in the spotless glass of the window. She looked at me through the reflection and my heart beat fast as she brought a slick and shining finger up to my mouth and held it still while I licked her sweet flavor into my mouth. She turned her head to kiss me, and I pushed my tongue against her lips, wanting her to taste herself, knowing how good it was and how horny it made me feel. She moaned as we kissed, before I broke clear to once again watch as her eyes closed and she slid her hand downwards.
There was a red spot on her skin, around the size of a penny, glowing just below her left breast. A spot that danced very slightly on the edge of her ribcage, then trailed upwards over her nipple. I could see it clearly, right infront of me as Virginie cupped between her legs once more. And the spot had a trail, a visible and tiny beam of light that shone away from her body and into the glass.
From then, everything happened very quickly.
I looked up and out of the window, my vision following the beam of light as it crossed the distance of the street five stories up and disappeared into the darkness of a room in the opposite building. I squinted and saw the smallest of movements within the room, a figure shifting slightly and a microscopic glinting that I knew to be light on metal.
A rifle.
I clenched my arms around Virginie and threw my body backwards, my feet leaving the floor, and as I heard her cry out with pain and surprise and felt ourselves falling a swift crack filled the air as a large pane of glass blew inwards. I fell hard, the wooden flooring smacking against my bare flesh, and I took most of Virginie”s weight as she landed on top of me. The blanket was half underneath my body and I twisted to the left and kicked my feet out against the floor, feeling a sharp pain rake my ankle as I pushed us away from the sight of the window, our bodies sliding on the soft blanket. There was another crack and a second sheet of glass shattered, along with one of the glasses of juice that had been standing on the table. Virginie screamed and I rolled across her, willing my body to protect her from whatever else may have come, and throwing the blanket across her as an afterthought. She made as if to cry out again and I surpressed it by clamping my hand firmly across her mouth. After a moment I moved my palm and hugged her back against me.
“Quiet,” I whispered close to her ear. “They can”t see us back here, okay?”
She barely nodded, and I felt her whole body launch into deep trembling against my own. I knew I was shaking as well; it had been a long time since someone had shot at me.
We both looked up and followed the beam of light as it picked it”s way across the room, sweeping across the couch where we had been earlier, and I felt a sick stab of fear worm it”s way into my gut as I realized the shooter may have had his sights trained on us the whole time that we were making love. The laser hovered over the stereo, where Otis Reading was still giving out his mellow tone, swept once more across the far wall, and then abruptly disappeared.
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