by Angela Foxxe
Rachel’s eyes widened as she saw an enormous castle loom into view. Surrounding it was immaculately kept gardens, filled with rose and azalea bushes. The stone building was green with moss and lichen that clung to its ancient surface. Towers graced each corner of the castle walls, and a great wooden gate, carved with bears and stags, opened before them. The grey slate roof of the estate peeked over the great stone walls of the ancient manor house.
“Welcome to my house,” Valemon understated. “It isn’t much, but I really am fond of it.”
“It’s huge!” Rachel gasped. “I mean it’s just so...”
“Well I’m a big guy, so I need a big house,” he replied with a grin. The sun was setting and the orange glow seemed to light his hair aflame.
Rachel’s breath caught in her throat as she took in the handsome face of her -- for lack of a better term--employer. He seemed genuinely pleased that she had agreed to the live-in arrangement. She felt a tug of attraction to this strange, silent man.
He pulled up to the ornate front door of the castle and hopped out of the vehicle. Valemon walked over to the passenger side of the vehicle, opened the door and helped Rachel out of the SUV. He then handed her the crutches, handed the keys to his butler and walked into the large stone edifice.
The tall butler, dressed all in black, hopped in the vehicle and drove it around back to park it in the garage. Rachel, not used to such opulence, just stood there on her crutches, gawking.
“Let’s get you inside,” Valemon said with a sly grin. “I think the kitchen staff have dinner ready to serve up.” He took her by the elbow to help her up the stairs. “Sorry about the stairs, Norway’s heritage society doesn’t want me to install a ramp.”
“It’s okay, thanks for the help,” Rachel said as she hobbled up the steps of the manor. Her eyes became as large as saucers as she took in the elegant entryway. A crystal chandelier hung from the vaulted ceiling and two wooden grand staircases spiraled down from either side of a balcony. Rachel thought she had stepped into a fairy tale; which type of fairy tale had yet to be determined.
The butler poked his head from around one of the columns that held up the balcony. “Dinner is ready, sir,” he announced in his thick Norwegian accent. The man was very slender and dressed in a black suit. His black hair was neatly tied back at the nape of his neck and his black goatee was trimmed neatly around his chin. He deftly moved back into the shadow as Valemon escorted his guest to the dining room.
“It’s not going to be one of those huge formal dining halls with the super long table is it?”
“No,” Valemon replied. “We have a big hall for formal occasions, when they happen, but we have a cozy arrangement just off the kitchen.”
“Sweet.” Rachel’s mouth was watering. She was famished after all the exertion that day. “So, how do you, like, pay for all of this?”
“My family is one of the oldest in Norway, used to be part of the aristocracy for a while, and then something happened a few hundred years ago. We got drummed out. My family decided to just abandon all morals and went pirate. The rear wall is placed nearly against a sheer cliff of a fjord. There are carved out tunnels that lead to caves where my ancestors hid their long ships while they weren’t pillaging the North Sea. This castle was impenetrable from the sea, and only able to be approached from land. During the middle ages, that was a big deal.”
They entered the small dining room and each took a seat at the small mahogany dining table. The butler brought out a plate for each of them, comprised of poached salmon coated with hollandaise sauce and a side of steamed lamb’s quarters. He poured a clear liquid in a small glass that was next to Rachel’s plate. She picked it up, gave it a sniff and felt her nose hairs curling. “What is this?” she asked.
“Oh, it’s Aquavit. Our national drink. You don’t have to drink it if you don’t want to. It’s just customary.” He smiled as he raised his glass to his lips.
“Thanks, but you can have mine. I never was much of a drinker.”
Valemon laughed a deep, rich laugh. “Anyway, after a few dozen years of being relentlessly pirated, the Norwegian crown proposed a truce. They would allow us to become privateers, if we would just leave them alone, and give them a quarter of each ship we pilfered. We readily agreed. During that time, the looting of the Americas was well underway. We prowled the North Sea and downed English and Dutch ships loaded with cargo from Africa and the New World. Made a pretty penny.” He paused to take a bite of food, watching Rachel as she ate. “After a while, it dried up, but not until we were beyond wealthy. My grandfather decided to liquidate some of the gold into fiat currency and move it to Switzerland during World War Two, in case the Nazis found our home and sacked it.”
Rachel listened intently to Valemon’s story. All the rich history of his family fascinated her to no end. She ate her salmon in silence as he talked about his family history to the virtual stranger. It was important that she understood how vital it was for her to produce an heir for him. She didn’t want all this history to be lost due to a chance accident.
“So, since the war, my family has been living comfortably off the interest my grandfather’s investments have brought in, and have no need to touch any of the principal investment.”
Rachel nodded as she chewed on a mouthful of lamb’s quarters. She noted a hint of lemon, which accented the already peppery flavor of the greens and they were quite delicious. She swallowed and took a sip of water from the glass the butler had discreetly filled while Valemon was talking. “Not many people still have...”
“They’re employees, not servants. They get paid the same as anyone else in Norway, and they get the same holidays and vacations as anyone in this country.” Valemon interrupted her gruffly. He knew where the conversation was going.
“Anyway, their families have served mine for generations and see no reason to change the status quo; they get paid handsomely and are treated fairly, that is better than what they would get doing the same jobs elsewhere.”
Rachel looked abashed as Valemon pre-emptively corrected her assumption. She picked up the red linen napkin and wiped her mouth as she finished her dinner. She stood up and grabbed her crutches. “I’m a bit tired, where’s my room?”
Valemon stood up and summoned his butler with a button hidden under the table. The whip-thin man quietly entered the room. “Hans, please take Ms. Jenner to her room, she is tired from her day and wishes to retire early.”
“Yes, sir,” Hans replied. “This way, miss. I had your belongings brought up to your room while you were dining.”
Rachel hobbled behind the butler as he led the way to where she would be staying for the duration of her time at the manor. She hopped up the spiraling stairs to the balcony. She couldn’t wait for the boot to come off so she could walk properly again. Being limited in any way really irritated her to no end; luckily, she only had to put up with it for another three weeks. She reached the top of the stair case and followed the butler around the corner to the east wing of the ancient house.
Hans paused at a large wooden door. “Here you go, miss, your chambers,” he stated as he opened the door with a flourish. He was taking perverse enjoyment at the poor woman’s awe and confusion, and wanted to surprise her once more. “As you can see,” he continued as he lead the dumbstruck woman into the luxurious chamber, “you have a king size bed, your own dresser and vanity to sit down at while you groom.
“You also have a large flat screen television with all available channels at your disposal behind that wooden panel on the wall facing the bed. Through the door on your left, is your own private privy chamber, which is fully stocked with all the toiletries you might need. Cleaning service comes in once a day at noon while you dine. The door to your right is your closet.
“Your linens will be changed once a week when your laundry is picked up, please place all your dirty clothes in this bin next to the door to make it easier on the cleaning staff, it would be much appreciated. It will be delivered folded and p
ressed that evening. We do have high-speed WiFi available for you to use, as well. I took the luxury of jotting the password down on some stationary and left it on your end table. If you need any more assistance, please do not hesitate to ring. The call button is next to the door, right here.” Hans indicated the button with one of his long spiderlike fingers.
Rachel stood, speechless, as she looked around the luxurious chamber. The king size mattress was housed in an ornately carved wooden four-poster frame, which supported a frame on which red velvet bed curtains hung. She couldn’t tell which type of wood the bed was carved from, but she guessed it was old, expensive and rare. She walked to the foot of the bed and looked at the dark wood panel that was there, and noticed a button underneath. She pushed it and the panel rose revealing a large flat screen television. She took the remote, which sat neatly on a shelf next to the device and pushed the power button. She hobbled over to the bed, flopped down on it, and surfed the channels, searching for one of the English Language stations.
After fruitlessly searching through the thousands of channels in hopes of something to watch, she got up from the bed and decided to see the bathroom.
She opened the door and a gasp erupted from her throat. The floor was made from slate tiles; the sink was sunk into the dark marble counter top, which was neatly organized. Toothpaste, hand soap, and other various sundries were lined up neatly along the counter top. There was a shower stall in the far corner, next to the toilet and adjoining bidet, and off to the right, was a deep whirlpool tub.
Rachel needed to relieve herself so she proceeded to do so. She noticed her flow had stopped. When she was finished, she made a note in the appropriate app on her phone and went back to watching TV.
Her mind drifted as the newscaster on television droned on about the economy. She thought about Valemon. His silver hair and beard, his broad, strong shoulders and his soft rumbling voice. She could have found a worse man who needed a surrogate. He was courteous, and seemed attentive to her needs.
She had everything she could possibly ask for while she remained here in the manor with him, and more. Everything seemed too perfect, and she couldn’t shake off that dreadful feeling that all of this, the manor, the man, everything, was too good to be true.
CHAPTER TWO
Two weeks passed as Rachel and Valemon got acquainted. They took walks around the grounds, and he showed her the secret tunnels his ancestors used to reach their ships in the caves under the castle. The smell of rotting wood and sea filled her nose as she entered the cavern.
“Haven’t been maintaining the dock?” she asked.
“No need,” he replied pointing to a small wooden rowboat next to the stairs. “I use that to go for short trips up the fjord when I’m feeling restless.”
“What’s down there, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Not much, just a small island that I like to visit from time to time. It’s quiet and out of the way. Even though I’m far away from the city in this castle, I still have servants. Some days I crave solitude. That’s when I take the boat and go to that place.”
Rachel had a suspicion it was the same island she had gotten injured on almost a month ago. The previous day, Valemon took her in to the clinic in Trondheim and the doctor gave her the all clear to remove the boot. Her ankle had fully healed in less time than they had anticipated.
She walked next to Valemon along the narrow dirt path that lined the sea-filled cavern. She shyly put her hand in his. His large hand enveloped hers completely. She was not a small woman by far, but Valemon’s massive size dwarfed her. He stopped and looked at her, his silver hair shining in the light of the bare fluorescent lighting of the cavern. She looked up at him, and couldn’t help but feel a renewal of the initial attraction she’d felt when he brought her to this marvelous place in the Norwegian countryside.
She felt a jolt of arousal as his large warm hand surrounded hers. According to her app, she should be nearing the best time for conception. She swallowed hard and decided to go for it. She couldn’t remain a virgin forever, and at least Valemon seemed like a very gentle soul.
“Hey,” she began. “Umm...you know, in the room you have me in?”
“Yes?” he asked, confused as to where this was leading.
“Do you think that hot tub can fit two?” she asked coyly.
Valemon looked at her with a puzzled look on his face. “Well, it could. It is rather large, why do you ask?”
Rachel sighed in exasperation; she was determined to take the lead in this before she could back out due to fear. “Just come to my room around eight. I need to show you something.”
Valemon knew she had been taking pictures of the area around the castle. He allowed it because it helped keep her busy and engaged in her passion. The only conditions he put on her were to never publish the pictures online or send them away to a publisher.
Maybe she wanted to show him the things she had captured while exploring the isolated house. He shrugged. “OK, sounds good.” He didn’t want to get his hopes up that anything would happen between the two of them. She was still the scared virgin, after all.
Rachel looked up at the massive mountain of a man. She gulped nervously. “Was just wondering, do you have any vodka? I wouldn’t mind having a bit of vodka and cranberry juice later.”
“We have aquavit, that’s about it. We distill l it here on site. I have heard it goes well in apple cider. I do think we have some of that. I thought you didn’t drink?” he asked arching a silver brow in skepticism.
“Well...umm, sometimes I do. Just...” she stammered.
Valemon looked at her pointedly, trying not to crack a smile across his stoic face. “Well dinner should be ready soon.” He said it gruffly, amusement twinkling in his ice blue eyes. “Let’s get upstairs, and I’ll tell Hans to get you that drink for later.”
They walked up the winding tunnel to the manor. It was a long trip, and would have been really dark if Valemon or his predecessors hadn’t put up lighting. She could just imagine the pirate crew sneaking down here in the dark of night to sail out on the tide to pillage an unsuspecting vessel.
They exited the tunnel via a small sally port near the back wall of the castle. Rachel reached for Valemon’s hand again and relished in its warmth. The touch reinforced her resolve to go through with it tonight. She might need a bit of liquid courage, but her few weeks living with Valemon had bolstered her trust in him. He was always courteous and solicitous of her needs. He was fun to be around and Rachel really dug his understated sense of humor He never imposed himself on her in any way; he always knocked at her door when wanting to speak with her. He showed her around his impressive property, and even allowed her to take photographs of it all.
They made their way to the small dining room, still holding hands. Hans tried not to smile as he noticed his long single employer, making a connection with a woman after all these years. He deftly set the table while the two seated themselves. Valemon quickly grabbed the butler’s attention as he placed the evening meal in front of him. Valemon whispered Rachel’s order in the butler’s ear and winked at the woman from across the table.
Hans stood up and did a polite bow. “As you wish, sir.” He walked out, leaving the two to dine in peace.
Rachel kept looking over at Valemon and blushing as she nibbled on a forkful of pan seared cod. What would he think of her if she took the lead on this? Maybe that’s what he was waiting for? She thought to herself. She poked at a roasted potato and popped it in her mouth. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the stunningly handsome man sitting across from her. She had absolutely no idea what was coming over her, this was completely out of character.
Valemon smiled internally at the woman’s obvious conundrum. She was trying so hard to be a good girl, but watching her wrestle with her libido was rather amusing. He abandoned the thought that she wanted to show him the photographs that she had taken around the castle. He could smell her heat as she fidgeted nervously in her seat while attempti
ng to eat her meal. He smelled her heat when they were down in the tunnel; it mixed well with the salty tang of the sea. Her sweet musk wafted to his sensitive nostrils and mingled with the scent of the apple cobbler that had just been laid before them as a dessert. The couple nibbled at their dessert, not taking their attention off one another.
Once they were finished, Rachel rushed to her room to wash up and brush her teeth. She didn’t want any kind of issue getting in the way of tonight. She wanted it to be as perfect as it could be. Just because she was going to be a surrogate for this man, didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy herself, especially since it was going to be her first time. She filled up the hot tub and dropped one of the bath bombs she had found in a basket next to the tub into the warm, swirling water.
The water rapidly turned a bright azure as the coloring and essential oils from the bath bomb mixed with the warm bath water. She inhaled the fresh scent of the sea as she heard a polite knock on her door.
Hans was standing there, holding a tray with a glass filled with sparkling apple juice. “Your drink, miss? Aquavit mixed with apple cider, just as you wished.”
“Thank you, Hans,” Rachel said warmly. “That will be all.” She felt somewhat odd saying that, since she wasn’t the mistress of this house, but it felt appropriate.
Hans bowed, with a smirk on his face, and backed away as Rachel closed the door. That butler was rather creepy, but Valemon trusted him with his life so she let it slide. She stepped back in her bathroom and placed her drink on the ledge surrounding the hot tub. She took off her clothes and placed them in a neat pile at the door. She just began to place her toe in the warm, swirling water when she was alerted by another knock on the door.
She grabbed the white terrycloth bathrobe from the back of the door and put it on as she went to answer the door. She grabbed the doorknob and twisted it, opening the door to reveal a smiling Valemon on the other side, holding a highball of Aquavit on the rocks. “Hey, did I catch you at a bad time?” he asked with a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face.