Count R***
Nikolai found a secluded spot behind a massive marble vase with some lushly flowering plant and sat down on one of the chairs placed there.
From behind the vase, he watched as the crowd of guests in the hall gradually began to thin. And even those who weren't planning to leave yet had grown somewhat subdued. And if anyone else dared to ask what was wrong with him, Nikolai decided, he would punch them in the jaw and be done with it.
Nikolai absentmindedly
shifted the glass from one hand to the other and realized he wouldn't drink any more, that he had already drunk more than he should have — not because he was drunk, but because this was no place to drink. Suddenly, he felt very tired. He would get up now, say goodbye to the hostess if he could find her, and go home, to the hotel.Bringing the glass to the edge of the vase, Nikolai poured the cocktail onto the plant's roots.
— To your health!" he said to it, then carefully placed the glass on the floor and went off to look for Baroness Hélène Du Bois.
But failing to find her among the crowd, tired of the hum and clamor of the now not entirely sober company, Nikolai wandered around the castle's second floor.
The hall was plunged into darkness. Only the spiral staircase was touched by a glimmer of light — apparently, a lamp was lit there. All around, complete darkness reigned. Muffled sounds of music and voices drifted up from below.
Nikolai stood motionless for a few seconds, and when his eyes adjusted to the dark, he discerned that the hall extended beyond the staircase. Probably, there was a door there.
He cautiously walked through the hall, his outstretched hand feeling for tables or chairs that might be in his path. Although he could see much better now, the hall remained a dark cave where the eye could not make out details.
Opening the door to a room, Nikolai stepped into its saving coolness. The room was empty. By touch, he approached the window. Large stars shone in the sky, crickets chirped, and cheerful laughter drifted up from somewhere below.
Footsteps rustled outside, a female figure appeared in the doorway. She paused on the threshold for a moment, then rushed into the thick darkness.
Nikolai didn't hear the door open, only felt a movement of air behind his back. He didn't feel a touch, but it seemed to him as if a snake had slithered over him, a strange, alien breath had run past, quick and elusive. He felt a gentle waft, as if a bird had flown by...
And suddenly, something happened that he had not expected at all: his hand jerked upward and grabbed a strange hand under his jacket. This was an unexpected, reflexive movement, even for him. His fingers tightly clenched the wrist of the cool, alien hand. No, he didn't want this!
Nikolai turned around, continuing to squeeze that delicate palm with slightly trembling fingers.
— Hold me..." — she brought her face closer to his, he felt her breath on his lips. But it was so dark he couldn't see the features of her face. — "Love me, love me. Always... Darling... Love...
Their breaths mingled, lips merged in a kiss. She pulled him closer by the neck and herself opened her lips to meet his, eager to experience the sweet feeling of his kiss. A dangerous moment. He felt a sharp surge of desire. All the hairs on his arms and body stood on end.
Her body, like a caught fish, thrashed in his embrace. It was very dark — and this gave the pleasure a special intensity. Nikolai stretched out his hand and began to stroke the hot, firm-feeling nipples, touch her stomach, gradually moving lower and lower. Her fingers found the fly of his trousers, and she began to carefully run her finger over the bulge coming to life under her hand. He saw only blackness before him, and felt only her rapid breathing, and so he involuntarily focused on his own sensations. This was a new, unprecedented feeling, and so the excitement seemed extremely strong. He had never experienced such wild desire — she seemed to share his impatience. Feeling a tremor, she pulled him towards her...
... His hands, on which his unrestrained companion had been fidgeting for a good hour now, began to tremble. Unclenching his palms, Nikolai gently laid her on her back, felt for her round knees...
If he could have seen her face, lips, eyes, he might have guessed the approach of paradise by their changed expression, by the slight tremor of her body, by the quickened sighs. But visual cues were absent, and yet, he felt it, as one feels an approaching storm by subtle signs, on a subconscious level...
Her hair fell like a silken waterfall onto his chest, and Nikolai brushed it aside with a trembling hand; she touched his temples with her hands, either sobbed or chuckled; hearing this, he slowly moved aside.
A few minutes later, she stirred in his arms. The sheet rustled, the girl padded barefoot across the floor, getting dressed and hopping on one foot. The room swayed, a bright light momentarily blinded Nikolai, and then everything plunged back into darkness.
She ran away so quickly that Nikolai didn't immediately realize he didn't even know her name...
... "What, Kolya, are you leaving already?!" Hélène asked in astonishment. "No, no, I won't let you go! My daughter very much wanted to meet you, she loves Russian theater so much. Yes, here she is... Let me introduce — Baroness Nicole Du Bois, my younger daughter..."
— It was a pleasure to meet you," the lovely blonde Nicole smiled mysteriously. "You are simply magnificent, Kolya..." — she laughed, winking at him as she took his arm.