The Predator and his Prey
The most beautiful creature stood opposite Cal, eager to introduce herself to him. The Count kindly complied with the girl's request and tactfully invited Liam to walk around the hall.
At first glance, it looked as if the Count was playing along with the pretty girl, but Fourier knew that stealing the little lamb was his main goal.
Liam heard the girl flirting with Cal, and his whole being shuddered with disgust.
Noticing his bad mood, the Count decided to tease Liam.
«Do you think, Mr. Glinier, is there love at first sight?»
It wasn't just a bull's-eye, the Count hit right into Liam's heart and made him wince.
He frowned and didn't want to comment. Then the Count continued:
"As for me, I think it only takes a couple of moments to experience intense lust, don't you?" Count persistently dragged Liam into the dialogue.
«I agree,» Liam answered briefly, and looked around apprehensively to see if anyone was overhearing their strange conversation.
As soon as the men stopped, they were immediately attacked by the ladies.
It seemed to Liam that he was caught in a noisy bird house, and what was most striking was that the girls were showing an interest in him personally.
Without his consent, they decided which of them Liam would dance the first dance with, and every dance after that.
The young man felt embarrassed, but the first chords sounded and he found himself drawn to the middle of the room by partner number one. Barely saying hello, they began to dance.
Liam tried his best to follow the sequence of movements and therefore did not listen to the girl at all. As a result, the dance ended, the girl changed, and he didn't even remember her name.
By the sixth dance, Liam's legs, back, and arms were aching with fatigue. He agonizingly waited for the end of this ordeal so he could crawl out of the hall unnoticed, and let his exhausted body rest. Besides, his head was also buzzing from the loud music and endless conversations.
«Why are girls so chatty,» Liam thought frustratedly, spending the last of his energy trying to look dignified.
As the dance came to an end, Liam did not wait for the next one and rushed to the exit. Here he was intercepted by Count Fourier who rather famously grabbed him in an arm, dragging him away.
As long as their thoughts coincided, Liam did not resist. They left the noisy, crowded place and moved into the secluded and quiet winter garden.
Seating the young man on the sofa, the Count poured him a glass of wine. Liam wanted to refuse, but in fact, he was thirsty, and a glass of cold wine did not seem such a bad idea.
After waiting for Liam to drain his glass, the Count filled it again and also refilled his own.
«You are very popular today,» he joked at the young man.
"I can't believe it myself," Liam replied and took another sip.
He glanced at the white roses that exuded an intoxicating aroma as he tidied his thoughts.
«And your friend, Mr. Xavier is also on fire today, he had eight partners.»
Liam whistled.
«I wish he'd twisted his ankle!» he wished mentally to Cal.
«He's always popular, no wonder,» Liam remarked.
«Do you prefer women or men?» Count asked, curtly, stirring the wine in his glass slightly, and Liam gulped.
Staring at the Count, he was confused and didn't know what to say. «Can men like men?! How's that?» Liam was at a loss as to what nonsense the Count had just said.
«If you haven't thought about that question, that's all right,» the Count reassured him with a shrug.
Liam thought it was a joke and turned his gaze back to the roses. A righteous man like him didn't think about love from the word «at all.» When he began his new life, he had sworn to spend the time allotted to redeem himself to his family, and no affair was intended in that plan.
Besides, having been insidiously deceived by a woman, he had learned his lesson well for the rest of his life and preferred to stay away from these incomprehensible creatures.
As if reading his last thoughts, the Count profoundly remarked:
«Alas, but the female soul is often insidious and hypocritical. In the pursuit of a good groom, girls are not afraid to use nasty tricks. Not long ago I heard how a young lady slipped a high-born man a sleeping powder and arranged that he woke up in her bed. The unfortunate man was so depressed about the situation that he took the blame and hastily married her.»
Liam even opened his mouth in surprise, and the Count added:
«And she, by the way, was formerly the mistress of another man!» Count raised his index finger, emphasizing the girl's deceitfulness. «You should be more careful,» he concluded, I have heard that some of my guests are intending to marry you.»
Liam looked at him at a loss. Who would want to marry him?
Meanwhile, fatigue and alcohol were doing their work. Liam began to feel a warm tenderness throughout his body and leaned against the back of the sofa. The Count sat down next to him to continue the heart-to-heart talk.
"Don't you think it's not good for a girl to be so pushy and seize the initiative and so on?" The Count spoke softly.
«Mm-hmm,» Liam answered. He did think that girls were being aggressive.
«Isn't it better to wait until a man figures out his feelings and makes the first move?»
The Count uttered the last phrase right into Liam's ear, burning him with his hot breath, at the same time his hand rested on the young man's thigh.
Liam tried to pull away, but there was nowhere to run. He pressed himself painfully against the armrest and froze. His heart beat a little faster.
Through a blur of consciousness, he was aware that the Count was overstepping some accepted boundaries, but he forgot which ones. His head was a little dizzy, and he wanted to go to his room. However, he did not have time.
The man leaned over and kissed him. Liam flinched and jerked back, but the Count put his hand up and caught his head, keeping it from hitting him. At the same time, he leaned over the young man and continued to attack his lips, now gently, now roughly, as if picking at his sensuality.
Liam panicked. Though drunk, he was still a convinced righteous man, and such behavior offended him to the core. He threw his hands against his chest and worked hard to shake the insolent off. Suddenly he heard a familiar voice.
"Young Mr. Glinier, how dare you cheat on me!"
From this phrase even Count was stunned. He recoiled from his victim and turned toward Cal, who had entered uninvited. His face instantly darkened.
«Are you two lovers?» He jumped up in irritation, but his voice was low.
«Yes, tell us the truth!» After him, a dozen or so girls piled into the conservatory. Their faces twisted with indignation and embarrassment.
Until half an hour ago they had all been convinced that Monsieur Xavier was the sweetest and most romantic man, and each had mentally married him, having two to five children.
However, the man was tired of their attention, and he wanted to hide, but he couldn't.
He had to make up an urgent case that he already had a lover. For a moment the girls did not believe him, but then they chased him to the winter garden, where his phrase about treason blew the ground out from under their feet.
The Count walked away from Liam and thought, with annoyance, that he should have taken the young man to his chambers. And now he was part of a lousy play. The girls did not stop, the sound of their excited voices rising.
«We do not believe you, Monsieur Xavier. How can you love a man?!»
The Count also cheered up and decided to play his card.
«I don't think this young man means anything to you either. Just five minutes ago he confessed his feelings to me,» the Count unscrupulously lied.
Still, under the influence of alcohol and what seems to be some kind of potion, the young man could not answer. Cal, on the other hand, raised his eyebrows and strode resolutely over to lift him out of his seat.
Liam staggered, his eyes unfocused, and he clung to Cal to keep from falling off.
They were standing too close; he could feel his heartbeat. Hugging him with one arm, with the other he undid the top buttons on Liam's shirt to let him breathe and cool off. The girls continued to make noise, and the Count sulked on the sidelines.
Cal was very angry at the banquet host for his antics. When he saw Liam lying on the couch under the Count's pressure, some unknown viper inside him raised its head and hissed.
His anger was justified. As it was, he had always thought of Liam as a saint. Boring, stupid, shortsighted, but impeccably righteous. Why the hell did that man get his filthy paws all over him and defile that beautiful mouth with his lustful lips?
Grabbing Liam tighter, Cal dragged him out of the cloaca. No one followed. Once in Liam's room, Cal sat him down on the bed and poured water. He needed to loosen the effects of the alcohol and bring Liam to his senses as quickly as possible.
Cal was rapidly packing things in his bag, intending to leave at the first opportunity, when suddenly he heard a sob. He froze and slowly turned his head.
Liam was crying sitting on the bed.
From humiliation and his stupidity. Liam lamented that his naivety had been taken advantage of again. He was afraid to imagine how far the Count might have gone if Cal hadn't come.
«Oh God!» tormented Liam «Cal must despise me, that was so disgusting.» Liam wiped his lips with exasperation.
Cal understood what was wrong. Just as he thought, righteous Liam felt defiled... God... He crouched down in front of him and looked into his eyes to see the annoyance and pain there.
«You must think I'm an awful person,» Liam finally let out through his tears.
«What? I?.. Why...» Cal was stunned that Liam cared about his opinion. Suddenly he realized that Liam was suffering because Cal had seen him weak and deceived, and his heart was instantly wrapped in a haze of tenderness and compassion.
The young man realized that it would not be so easy to get rid of the bad memories. Most likely, the Count had not been particularly delicate, pressing on such a convinced virgin as Liam. It made his soul feel even worse, and Cal longed to make things right, to heal his wound.
«Was the Count a terrible kisser?» - he asked sympathetically.
Liam didn't quite understand the question, but he heard the intonation and nodded.
Then Cal gently wrapped his arms around his neck and nestled his lips, leaving his sensual mark on them. Liam was dumbfounded for the second time that evening, but until he understood the situation, he preferred not to chop in the heat of the moment. Cal took his confusion as encouragement and touched Liam's confused lips again.
Suddenly the blood rushed to his temples, and he lost his head and kissed Liam more and more fondly, touching his face and neck with his fingers. Liam's lips quivered in an attempt to take a breath, and Cal ran his sensual tongue along the inside of them.
He knew only one thing clearly: This kiss was making him insane.
His hands clamped tighter around his neck, and the heat inside him exploded, filling every cell. The chains of sanity melted under the fierce heat of passion.
Liam fought tooth and nail for his principles, but the feelings, as strong as a hurricane, overpowered him, stripping him of his will. He touched his fingers to the snow-white silk of Cal's hair, and a prickly shiver ran down his body from his fingertips.
For the first time in his life, he had kissed someone for real, and it turned out to be a madness that robbed him of his ability to pull himself together.
«Really... nice,» Liam thought. The languid pleasure that flooded him suddenly centered below.
Liam was surprised to realize that he was aching for his body to be touched. A hesitant Cal seemed to read his mind and suddenly put his palm «there».