by Lucy Jones
Daniel brought his face close to mine and his lips brushed against my lips. He did not press, just brushed from left to right, from bottom to top, as if he was looking through touch. I inhaled the scent of our reunion. Daniel ran his tongue along my lower lip, nibbling and brushing against it and then began again. His touch was so soft and so sensual that it made me tremble slightly. His lips sank slightly into mine. The pressure they exerted was precise and deliberate. His tongue slipped between my lips, inviting me to open my mouth and welcome it in. It found mine. And our tongues joined and merged together and our mouths twisted, devoured each other and became as one. All our waiting, all our memories and all our hopes were concentrated in the intensity of that kiss; it expressed all our desire. That kiss was so strong in its gentleness, so unknown yet familiar at the same time and so delectable. That kiss was like the very first kiss.
We caught our breath, forehead to forehead.
"I have to go."
Daniel took my lower lip between his and sucked it gently. He leant his forehead against mine again.
"I really have to go."
He kissed my eyelids, then stood up, adjusting his suit jacket as he did so. I watched him walk away.
"Really? Aren’t you staying?"
He was at the door, but he stopped and turned round. His expression revealed nothing of his recent passion.
"I really hate hospitals and I have some urgent business to take care of: two good reasons not to stay."
And me? Am I not a “good reason”? Is being with me not “reasonable”?
"I’ll come back and collect you. I’ll take you somewhere quiet, far from the bustle of the city… and far from Vincent,” he said, as he left the room.
A few minutes later, Vincent, who had wisely waited for Daniel to leave, came back into the room.
"Well, he’s not all that easy-going, your friend."
"I’m sorry about the way he spoke to you. He also apologised. He was waiting for me at the airport and he was mad with worry when he didn’t see me come out. He hasn’t slept all night. He wasn’t expecting to see you here…”
"And he’s very jealous,” joked Vincent.
"No doubt…"
Vincent spent the rest of the day at my bedside. His presence distracted me from Daniel’s absence. I would’ve liked him to stay with me, would’ve liked to be worth staying for. He was there, like an apparition and then he vanished again. He’d abandoned me; left me stuck in this cold, spotless hospital room. Then I appreciated the fact that Vincent was there, enveloping me in his reassuring presence. It did me a lot of good.
In the afternoon, the doctor brought me the results of my blood tests. Nothing irregular. He confirmed his theory of a “panic attack”, advised me to rest and to go and see a doctor if it happened again.
Shortly after this visit, I received a text message which forced me to say good-bye to Vincent rather earlier than anticipated:
26 July 2012 17:00
[Ray will be at the hospital in half an hour.]
I informed my new friend and told him how grateful I was for everything he’d done for me. We exchanged telephone numbers so we could keep in touch.
At five thirty pm exactly, Ray found me ready to leave
"We’re pleased to see you safe and sound, Miss Belmont", he said.
We laughed together as we left the hospital. Daniel’s car was parked in front of the entrance. Ray put my cases into the boot and went to sit in the driver’s seat, while I sat in the back, next to Daniel. The doors closed and the engine started.
"Ray, let’s go to Sterenn Park."
1 Nobody should be punished for their thoughts!
10. Sterenn Park
I could sense light through my closed eyelids. My eyes blinked a little before they opened fully and saw a tall, wide window with small, square panels, whose interior shutters were folded down inside the frame. A slight breeze entered through the half-open window, inflating the diaphanous curtains like sails. The sunshine of a beautiful day flooded the room with a gentle heat. Everything was so quiet that I could clearly hear the song of the birds. I sat up a little, leant my back against the comfortable pillows and looked around the room. I’d never seen such a huge room. It was imposing in size and uncluttered in style. Its unusual dimensions, its high, white moulded ceilings, its minimalist furniture and its clean surfaces could have rendered it soulless and almost alarming. However, with its walls painted a bluish grey, its old herringbone parquet floor, its large iron bed covered in flowery material, its bouquet of fresh roses placed on a light wood bedside table and its few, yet beautiful, objects, it exuded an extremely charming, soft and intimate atmosphere.
Someone knocked at the door. Daniel entered and came to sit on the edge of the bed. He was wearing jeans and a white cotton shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and whose neckline allowed a glimpse of his smooth, dark torso. His eyes were shining and his whole face was smiling. There was something different in his eyes and in his general manner, which I couldn’t put my finger on.
"It was a long journey and you fell asleep in the car. I didn’t want to wake you when we arrived here, so I carried you to this room."
I imagined the scene, through my own rose-tinted romantic lens... I would have paid good money to see it.
"Here?"
"I would like to welcome you to Sterenn Park, Julia", he said, moving the hair which had fallen in front of my face. "My maternal grandmother was English and here, in Finistère, it reminded her a little of home. When she died, its ownership passed to me and I come here as often as I can."
I wanted to ask him lots of questions about his family, the history of Sterenn Park and his attachment to this place, but I especially wanted him to kiss me, here, now. I wanted to forget the incident, the fear and the hospital; I wanted this quiet, sunny room to be the scene of our reunion.
Following a slightly crazy impulse, I threw myself at his lips. Daniel did not respond; he just remained impassive. I moved back to look at him. My quick, clumsy movement betrayed my surprise and incomprehension. But Daniel seemed even more disconcerted than I was. We stayed there, a few centimetres from each other, staring at each other for what seemed to me like an eternity. And then suddenly, Daniel threw himself at me, took my face between his hands and kissed me with extraordinary passion.
We clung onto each other with a sort of rage and violence, as if this would be our last embrace. The urgency which drove us made us scratch, bite and moan. Although our encounters so far had been filled with incredible sensuality and extreme pleasure, they had never been this passionate.
Suddenly, Daniel broke away. He quickly unbuttoned his shirt, threw it to the floor and, with one hand under my back and the other under my thighs, he picked me up and lay me down across the bed. He leant over me and ripped off my clothes. My sudden nudity, the arousal and the slight breeze all combined together, gave me goose pimples. Daniel plunged his face into my neck. I could feel his wet kisses on my taut skin and his hot breath on my throat. His tongue traced the contours of my chest. He sucked my nipples so hard that my pleasure was tinged with a slight stab of pain.
Daniel was more passionate than ever and inflamed my body with his insistent caresses. He knelt at the foot of the bed, put his arms around my thighs and then powerfully pulled them towards him. My butt was right at the edge of the bed and my clitoris was close to his mouth. His tongue along my butt, his tongue on my clitoris, his tongue licking, teasing, tasting me, drinking me. His tongue making me wet and making me come.
My mind was hazy and lost in the headiness of my orgasm. My body was still quivering. I wanted to feel his weight on me, I wanted to feel him deep inside me. I didn’t want to wait any longer, I wanted him now. Daniel stood up, quickly removed his trousers, took a condom out of his pocket and quickly put it on his erect penis. He parted my thighs and rested my feet on the edge of the bed. Then he penetrated me with the haste which had gripped him too. His thrusting was fast and sent quivers of pleasure
down the curve of my back. Our moans became cries.
I could feel my whole being glowing. I felt alive, so alive.
Daniel tipped his head back. His torso was pushed forward and his groin was seized with spasms. A second later, he fell on top of me, his hot skin pressed down on mine and I could hear the fast beating of his heart resonating inside me.
With his nose buried in my hair, Daniel murmured,
"Let’s get dressed, you have to have a look around."
The room gave onto a very long, light gallery; on one side was a line of enormous arched windows almost touching each other and on the other side was a granite wall dotted with doors. At the end of the corridor, a white stone lancet arch led to a monumental sculpted wooden staircase.
At the bottom of the staircase, in a room which had to be an entrance hall, I saw Ray come to meet us.
"Hello Ray!"
"Hello, Miss."
"Julia, Ray will take you to the kitchen for some breakfast. Then, have a wander around the house as you wish, but I forbid you to go through this door”- he pointed to a door behind the staircase- “do you understand?"
"I thought you were going to show me round yourself…"
“I’ll join you a bit later. We will go and see the park together. But right now I have to take care of something."
"What kind of thing?"
"It doesn’t concern you, Julia", he answered, scowling to stop me asking questions. "Go on, I’ll see you later."
Daniel firmly instructed me to leave the room, pointing towards the exit. Ray was ahead of me. I took a few steps, then turned round. Daniel was still in the entrance, watching me walk away and no doubt waiting until I could no longer see him before he disappeared god knows where.
While eating a copious breakfast, I asked Ray what was behind the door I was not allowed to go through.
"It leads to one of the wings of the château, Miss."
"But what’s in that wing?"
"Best not to try and find out, Miss."
I wouldn’t get any more from him, but I was willing to bet that Daniel had gone through that forbidden door.
When I had eaten my fill, I went off to discover the castle. I passed through a living room, a dining room, an office, a panelled library with a mezzanine level and a ladder… All these rooms were excessively large but homely. There were no trinkets or flashy objects, just a few select items: paintings, a few sculptures, vases filled with flowers, Oriental carpets and functional objects. No lampshades hung from the high ceilings, but pretty lamps were dotted around. The materials of the curtains, armchairs and cushions were all in warm colours and hues. And most of the furniture (there wasn’t much of it) was remarkably original and beautiful. I admired the skill required to choose items that created such a warm and personal ambience. I felt comfortable here, but I was getting a bit lost, it was a real maze!
The weather outside was so beautiful that I decided to interrupt my explorations and I went out to see what the château looked like from outside.
Sterenn Park was a huge estate, like those that can no doubt be found in the south of England, the kind of houses you imagine from reading the descriptions of properties in Jane Austen novels.
I had never seen a château like it. It was built from granite, with no attempt at symmetry, and was remarkable and surprising. The central, rectangular main part contained a large number of windows (that was the location of the gallery which led to the bedrooms). To its right was a wing which formed the corner of a front courtyard. At the end of this wing, a huge round tower had been added, almost devoid of windows. At the left extremity of the main section there was a small chapel. Carrying on from the chapel was a second wing which led towards the back of the château. The residence had been built overlooking a valley and was surrounded by forest. Beneath it was a large lake and, a bit further along, a river snaked its way between the trees. There were no other buildings on the horizon, just lush, undulating nature. The setting was absolutely incredible and seemed to come straight out of a novel.
I ventured a tour around the buildings. At the back, I discovered a vegetable garden, a rose garden and a garden filled with cluttered flower beds, benches and low tables. I walked further along the walls, letting my gaze and my thoughts wander, when suddenly I thought I saw a shadow move in the wing running along from the chapel. I looked for somewhere I could observe more closely without being seen. I saw a small bush, bent down, inched my in and got into position. Through a window I could make out two figures, that of a man, standing and bustling about and that of a woman, sitting down. I recognised the man… it was Daniel.
But who was the woman he was hiding? Why did he not want me to see her? Did he have the nerve to bring me under the same roof as his wife?
Daniel’s shadow was moving, seemingly towards the chapel. Damn! He was going back towards the entrance! I left my viewing point and ran back to the front of the château. I just had time to get my breath back before Daniel found me.
"Ah! There you are! So do you like the interior?"
"Yes, a lot."
"Ready for a walk in the park?"
"Ready."
We went down the valley towards the lake. It was a long walk from the house. There was a long path, which we walked down almost without speaking. Daniel asked me a few questions about my visit and I gave monosyllabic answers. When we reached the bottom, near the river, amidst the trees, he took me by the shoulders.
"What on earth is wrong with you? Are you sulking? Is it because I left you on your own for a while?"
"I saw you."
"Who did you see? What did you see?"
"You and that woman you’re hiding."
"You’re just a dirty little nosey-parker. I told you to keep away from that part of the château."
"I didn’t do it on purpose. I saw you by accident. But that’s beside the point… I’ve had enough of your mysteries and your rules. Are you keeping your wife prisoner? And you didn’t want me to discover her?"
Daniel’s mouth twisted into a grin.
"You’re jealous."
"Absolutely not! I’d just like you to stop treating me like an idiot, or a child, or I don’t know who; I want you to stop acting so secretively."
Daniel was now smiling broadly.
"Yes you are, you’re jealous. Look, you’re blushing."
Then he suddenly became serious again.
"The woman you saw is my sister, Agathe. "
"Your sister?"
"Yes."
"And she is shut away here?"
"Her health is not good."
"What’s wrong with her?"
"Julia, I have no intention of explaining the details to you. You know my sister lives here, let’s leave it at that. I am asking you not to try and see her and not to mention it again."
And without even waiting for me to react, Daniel pulled me towards him and kissed me with a greed which required no comment.
I wrapped my arms around his neck. Our mouths remained sealed together, while his hands ran down my back; he lifted up my skirt and cupped my butt in his hands, squeezing them as he pressed me against himself; I felt the bulge of his penis against my crotch.
"Hold on to me."
Daniel picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. The pressure and the rubbing of my breasts against his torso and my sex against his through the material were extremely arousing. In less time than it takes to say it, I was overwhelmed with lust. His jerky breathing, the dampness of his skin and the force of his kisses revealed his own desire.
"Daniel! Daniel!"
A woman’s voice shouted in the distance.
Daniel froze.
"Daniel! "
The cries continued.
I unwrapped my legs from his waist and put my feet on the ground.
"Who’s that?"
Daniel took my arms from around his neck and grabbed me by the wrist.
"Let’s go."
We climbed back up the valley at speed. A
woman was coming towards us. As soon as Daniel recognised her, he stopped immediately.
"My mother,” he said between his teeth, letting go of my wrist.
I stayed next to Daniel, immobile and panting, my face still flushed from our interrupted frolics and my clothes crumpled.
Daniel’s mother was rushing towards us like a Fury. She stopped in front of her son and pointed at me without looking at me.
"Who’s this girl?"
"Stop that right now."
"I’m asking you who this slut is!"
"Mother, that’s enough."
Was that it?! Was that all that Daniel Wietermann could say to his mother? No exclamations? Nothing to defend me?
Daniel’s mother turned towards me brusquely:
"You! Pack your bags and get out of here! I advise you not to go near my son."
Daniel’s mother was looking daggers at me; I searched for an explanation and some protection in Daniel’s eyes, but Daniel was staring at his mother furiously. We were locked in a blind triangle.
I was not sure what astonished and scared me the most, whether it was the lack of help from Daniel or the degrading comments and threats from his mother, but I’d had enough. I ran away as quickly as I could towards the château.
"Julia!"
I could hear a hint of despair in Daniel’s shout, but not his footsteps behind me. I was leaving and he wasn’t trying to catch me.
Once I reached the top, I continued running to find my things and Ray.
"What’s happened Miss?"
"Ray, Could you take me to the nearest station?"
He told me that he would have to make a phone call before he agreed. I understood that he needed Daniel’s permission. And clearly Daniel did not say no…
In the car, Ray said:
"There’s no question of taking you to the station, Miss. Tell me where you want to go and I will drive you there."
My mind was in such a whirl that I didn’t even know where I wanted to go.
To my parents, yes, the best thing to do would be to go to my parents.
