The Kiss (13 page)

“Are we
expected
to provide other services? That’s what
I’m asking you so please just be honest.”

“Other services?”

Eva rolled her eyes, she couldn’t help herself. “Yes, Grace, need
I put it bluntly? Are we expected to have sex with the guests? Is that part of
the job description?”

Grace pursed her lips. “I wouldn’t put it like that. You’re not
expected to do anything but if the... inclination takes you well then that is
not a problem.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“Then you continue your other duties.”

“I don’t understand.”

Grace stood up and walked over to the window so that her back was
to Eva. She got the feeling Grace was uncomfortable with the conversation.
Fuck
her, let her be uncomfortable.

“My guests like to be kept amused, Eva. If say, for instance, one
of them chooses a member of staff to... spend their time with then that’s fine.
We tend to find that those staff members aren’t really up for other duties like
serving food and drinks and such and so we don’t expect them to.”

Eva was astounded. She hadn’t really thought Grace would admit
anything, because despite what she said, it was clear now that Grace had
recruited everyone for one reason and one reason only.

Standing up, Eva joined her at the window. She wanted to see her
face when she asked the question. “Are you saying that we don’t actually do
anything other than have sex with whichever guest wants us?”

Grace raised her eyebrows and smiled slightly. “I wouldn’t put it
like that.”

“Then how would you put it. Grace? Please I’m eager for your
explanation, for you to tell me that we’ve not been recruited as prostitutes!”

Grace grimaced. “Then I’ll put it bluntly as you clearly seem to
appreciate that. He is your job now.”

Eva’s mouth fell open in shock. “What!”

“Your duties will be for him only.”

“For him? Just for him?”

Grace nodded. “Yes, he won’t let anyone else have you, not now.”

Eva’s mind flashed back to Adam’s words last night,
mine
.

“Whatever he needs you to do, you do.” Grace continued. “It
really is as simple as that.”

Eva shook her head, unable to believe what she was hearing. It
all made a sort of horrible sense now. All the things she’d thought, all her
worries, all the oddness. Being cut off from the real world, the ridiculous
amounts of money offered. Grace had made sure that they’d have no way to tell
anyone what she was doing, and to be fair how many of the staff would want to?
The guests were amazing, all of them, and it was certainly no hardship to bed
them.

Eva imagined Adam lying naked in her bed and her whole body
tingled in remembrance of last night. She shook her head again, trying to
dispel the image of him. Beautiful or not, and despite what had passed between
them, Grace had no right to expect that of her.

“Look Eva,” Grace said. “He is our most important guest surely
you realize that? Whatever he needs from you then do it.”

“Grace, this is…”’ Eva didn’t even know what to say.

“So you spend time with him, do as he wishes, and if that is too
much for you, or not what you want, then I’ll transfer you to the kitchen.”

“This is outrageous. Surely you realize that.”

“You certainly didn’t seem to find it outrageous last night,
Eva.”

“That was different... I didn’t realize.”

“Didn’t realize what? Let’s not kid ourselves. You knew something
was going on, as you said you’re not stupid.”

Eva blushed. She
had
known something was wrong and if Adam
hadn’t come to take her to breakfast, then fucked her senseless, she’d probably
have left by now. That was true.

“You’re over complicating things,” Grace continued. “Just enjoy
yourself. You’re on a beautiful Estate, you’ve attracted the notice of an
amazing man. You have time to do your sketching or whatever it is you do, time
to relax.”

Eva couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

“And let’s face it. You’re in a far better situation than you
were only a week ago,” Grace added. “And when your contract is finished you’ll
have enough money to keep you going for several months.”

Eva stared blankly out of the window, her thoughts in turmoil.
She didn’t know what to think or what to do. What Grace was saying seemed to
make sense, on the surface at least. Adam was amazing, and the idea of spending
the next four months having sex with him excited her in a disturbing manner.
Even more appealing was the idea of getting to know him better, to watch him
laugh and smile.

But then looking a little deeper it amounted to one thing and one
thing only. Grace was paying the staff to have sex with her guests, and if she
continued to do so now she knew the truth, she would be little better than a
whore.

Appalled, Eva closed her eyes as she remembered her halting
attempts to explain to her eagerness to Adam, desperate he not think her some
sort of slut. Had he known all along what she had been hired for? Was this what
he expected?

You should have run last night, got far, far away.

“Eva,” Grace prompted.

Taking a deep breath Eva tried to think. She opened her eyes and
let her gaze wandering across the driveway. The trees looked charming covered
in frost; the ground Eva knew would crunch under her boots, and her breath
would come out in little clouds. She wanted to walk off the tension, maybe take
her sketch pad and draw some more of the statues, maybe then she could
understand.

“Grace, I think...” Eva stopped mid sentence and gasped.

She realized then what she had missed the night she’d first seen
Adam. The guests arriving had scattered her attention and she hadn’t really had
time to take anything else in. Eva bit down on her lip, hard.
How could I
have missed it? How could I have not seen?

“Grace, where are all the statues?”

“The statues?” Grace repeated, and her voice was odd,
uncomfortable maybe.

Eva turned to face her and noticed that the older woman looked
flushed. She stepped away from the window and smoothed her steel hair, even
there was no need. Every single strand was perfectly in place.

“The statues, they’re gone,” Eva said carefully. “Where have they
gone?”

“Yes, I should have realized you’d notice,” Grace said after a
moment. “You’ve been out there sketching them for days.”

Why isn’t she answering me? It’s like she’s playing for time.

“Where are they?” Eva asked again. A ridiculous thought was
surfacing, too ridiculous to even consider and she tried to bat it away.

“They’ve been moved,” Grace replied briskly. “What with the
winter they’re at risk of cracking. Lower temperatures and such so we put them
in storage until the temperature increases.”

“How long will they be gone for?”

“Several weeks.”

No, I can’t be thinking what I’m thinking. The very idea is
absurd.

“Never mind the statues,” Grace said impatiently. “Tell me what
you intend to do.”

Eva’s head was whirling, and she wondered if she was going
slightly mad. Over excitement or some such thing.
Or perhaps I’m sick, a
virus making me think stupid things. I cannot be thinking what I’m thinking.
It’s just too ridiculous.

“You remember the stipulation, if you leave now you won’t receive
a penny,” Grace added though Eva barely heard her.

Desperate to get back to her room and look over her sketches she
simply nodded.
I need to go through them, just to reassure myself, just to
disprove the bizarre ideas running through my brain.

“Eva?” Grace prompted.

She had to get to those sketches, and there was only one way to
do that. For the moment Eva had no choice but to let the older woman think
whatever she needed to.

You can call me Adonis.
It’s a nickname, given to me by
a beautiful woman...
Fear skittered along Eva’s spine and suddenly she felt
like she wanted to scream. “My job, Grace, I’ll do my job.”

“So everything is okay?” Grace asked, and the relief in her voice
was evident. “You’re happy with him, happy to be his... personal maid?”

His whore you mean. 

“Eva?” Grace prompted.

It’s impossible. Perhaps the sex has fried my brain?

“Yes,” Eva lied, the scream bubbling again. “Everything is fine.”

Chapter
Twenty

Eva checked everywhere, every plinth, every stand. She walked all
over the Estate looking for them, but it was fruitless, they were nowhere to be
seen. She couldn’t understand how she hadn’t seen them being moved. She had, as
per her routine, taken a thorough walk around the Estate only a couple of day
ago. They’d all been there, every single one of them. Surely it would take more
than a day to move them all? They were not easily movable. She’d run her hands
over more than one and they were solid stone, it would take heavy machinery to
even get them into a van, and more to the point where had they all been put? A
storage shed somewhere? One of the big locked garages? They certainly hadn’t
been moved down the lane, Eva had searched the whole Estate during her morning
rambles and she knew now that there was only one road into it. The one Finn had
brought her in by. The turning from the lane to the field was far too narrow to
let trucks in and out, and it would take trucks to move them. Eva couldn’t work
it out.

She sat down on one of the empty plinths and rubbed her arms.
Freezing cold, it occurred to her that she should have gone straight back to
her room and grabbed a jacket. But she was reluctant; she didn’t want to face
him, not yet. 

The most absurd thoughts continued to swirl round in her head and
she laughed aloud to herself, both fear and silliness threatening her
composure.
What is wrong with me?

“Are you okay, miss?”

Eva turned to see Finn standing right there.
Shit.
She
didn’t want to talk to anyone right now. “Fine, Finn, thank you.”

“You look cold,” he said. “It’s below freezing. You shouldn’t be
out here in just a shirt. You’ll get sick and Grace won’t like it.”

 State the obvious much
. “I know, Finn, I’ll go back
inside in a minute. I just... forgot my jacket.”

He nodded and made to walk off; of course he wouldn’t stay to
chat Eva should have realized that, he wasn’t a chatty person. She was glad to
have more time alone to think, but then it occurred to her that Finn seemed to
know everything that happened around the Estate, maybe as much as Grace.

“Finn,” she said. “Where are all the statues?”

 He stopped mid-stride and turned back to face her. “The statues
miss?”

Eva pointed to the empty plinth she was perched upon. “Yes
they’re all gone.”

He shrugged one shoulder and looked around, Eva got the feeling
that he, like Grace was playing for time.

“Finn?” she prompted.

“They’ve been taken away miss... for cleaning,” he said.

Eva’s stomach dropped to her knees and she sucked in a shocked
breath. Her brain went into overdrive, and she tried, desperately, to get it
back under control. “Cleaning?”

“Yes we, erm, we send them for cleaning every year. Mold and
things, Grace likes them to look right.”

Temperature, Grace had said she didn’t want them cracking,
Finn’s saying they need cleaning. Maybe they were both right?

Or perhaps Finn had got the wrong end of the stick? He looked at
Eva uneasily and she forced a smile for him.

“That’s a pity,” she said. “I enjoyed looking at them.”

“They’ll be back miss,” he said. “They always come back.”

Eva stood up, her ass practically freezing, her fingers numb.
“I’ll go back inside I think, it really is cold.”

 He nodded and she set off at a jog back to the house. It was
unavoidable now, she needed to go through her sketches. Needed to bring back
some semblance of reason, and put a stop to the ludicrous panic that was
snaking through her body.

The foyer and corridors were empty and Eva walked hastily through
them. A few doors down from her room she saw the bust of Aphrodite, still on
her perch, and she laughed, she couldn’t help herself.
Of course she’s still
there, she has no legs to walk with does she?

 The bed was empty when Eva entered the room, and for a moment
she thought Adam had disappeared again, gone back to his own room. But then she
heard the splashing coming from the bathroom, and realized he was taking a
bath. Panic swirled through her, quickly replaced by longing. Her stomach
clenched as she imagined his soap slicked skin in the water and she was seized
by the urge to go straight in there and lick the water from every part of him.

Even worse Eva wanted to hear his voice, run her fingers through
his hair and see him smile. It wasn’t just lust driving her to seek him out, it
was something more and the very thought of that terrified her.
What the hell
is wrong with me?

She dropped to her knees and pulled the folder out from under the
bed. Every single sketch she’d made was in there, the last weeks work. She
opened it quickly and began laying them out. Some were creased from where
they’d fallen yesterday morning but Adam had smoothed them out.

There was the sketch of the weeping lady, though Eva hadn’t been
able to see her face, she’d noticed what looked like a single tear on her chin.
The two ladies stood around a bird bath, a man astride an old style chariot, an
extremely attractive youth of about eighteen holding a bow and arrow, a woman
clutching a sword... they were all there.

She pulled out the sketch of the embracing men and her mind went
instantly to the two men she’d seen on the first night. One of them had been
rubbing the others arm hadn’t he, though to be honest he’d looked like he’d
prefer to be rubbing something else. Then the sketch of the two renaissance
ladies, their arms wrapped tightly around each other, they’d looked just the
same as they stamped ice off their feet.