Dark Desires: Genesis (7 page)

Val’s
cheeks heated in remembrance of every hot passionate encounter she’d had with
him. “I guess so... What is in bag number three?”

“Oh,
it's only the bra you asked for and a matching thong” he winked at her after
mentioning the thong “and accessories for your dress.”

In that moment Val felt guilty because he had been nothing but sweet to her and
went to a lot of extra effort with all his purchases, yet at the back of her
mind she couldn't help but think that this was all bought with blood money and
that made her stomach churn. “Don't thank me again, just put them on.” She
nodded her head and dropped her robe before approaching him to retrieve the
last bag. She reached in and pulled out the underwear, she would have a look at
the rest of the contents when she got home. She stood in front of the lone
mirror and pulled the thong up her legs and adjusted it to make sure that it
was snug on her hips. Next she put on the bra, placing her round full globes
into the cups before securing it at the back. Vlad made no move to leave the
bedroom as she dressed; he stood stock still and looked on in an almost trance
like state as she covered her body. When she turned her ass to him in order to
get a side view from the mirror, he and felt his cock stir at the unintentional
reverse strip tease she was giving him.

Once
she was done, she slipped on the top, it was a snug fit that emphasized her
large bust, and the collar was high and stopped where her neck began. The pants
would need to be tailored, they were a bit too long for her short legs and even
though they moulded to her thighs perfectly, the waist was a bit too big and
would need to be brought in. She put on her heels, grabbed the ruined dress
from the night before and stuffed it on top of the accessories he had bought
her. She walked past him and headed to the sitting area, she found her purse
lying next to the wall, she had dropped it there in surprise when he had pushed
her against it to fuck her. Shivers run through her at the memory of how rough
he had been and the spanking she thoroughly enjoyed. She shook her head trying
to get back to the present moment, turning to face him; she let him know that
she was ready to leave.

He
helped her carry the shopping bags down to the lobby and once they were there
Vlad requested a hotel chauffeur. They loaded the purchases into the boot of
the car and asked to go to the nearest pharmacy. He had noticed that Val had
been extremely quiet since they left the suite and assumed she must be thinking
again. He realised how much she did that after certain interactions –
retreating into her head to try and build the puzzle pieces only she could see.
He asked her what was on her mind that had her so distracted. She was jumpy and
nervous when she spoke; giving a muffled reply about school work and hoping she
was not too late for the pill to work.

They
walked together to the counter and once she received her prescription Vlad
enquired about its effectiveness. The pharmacist told him that as long as it
was taken within seventy-two hours after having unprotected sex, that the woman
taking it had a BMI of >25 and had not used another emergency contraceptive
before her last menstrual cycle, then it would work but like everything in life
nothing is 100% guaranteed. The pharmacist also recommended that she opt for
ongoing birth control from hence forth. Val thanked the lady for her helpful
advice, breathing a sigh of relief that this was the first and only time she
would use the morning after pill. Her BMI fell into the stipulated range and it
had been less than twenty-four hours since they initially had unprotected sex.
The odds of the pill working were highly in her favour.

As
they got back in the car, her mood did not change other than the relief she
displayed after getting clarification from the pharmacist. He started to
suspect that something had happened in the suite while he was out shopping. He
asked her again whether she was alright. Val took a deep breath and turned to
face him in the car. “I don't know who you are and I just find it unsettling
with all that has happened between us. Is Vladimir even your real name?” she
asked pointedly

“Everyone
knows me as Vladimir.””

“Okay
then what is your last name?”

“What
is yours?”

“Thusi”
she gave in answer hoping that he would offer his in return.

“Mine
is not important.”

“Fine,
what do you do for a living?”

“I
told you I was a consultant.”

Val
looked at him pointedly as the seconds stretched by; he would not offer
anything more than what he had already told her, so she may as well sop looking
for answers. He was still being illusive and vague and she was sick of it. When
the car stopped outside of her house, which Val had given the driver the
address to once they left the pharmacy, she hastily got out of the car followed
by the driver who escorted her to the door with her clothing. Vlad remained in
the car running through the questions she had just asked him, trying to figure
out what spurred her new found curiosity about his life. She gave him a quick
goodbye in the form of a half-hearted wave and didn’t look back as she entered
and shut the door behind her.

Back
at the hotel suite he was met with silence, in the past he could say he liked
his personal space devoid of anyone’s company unless they were there to warm
his bed but he could admit that he enjoyed seeing Val in his bed and sitting on
the couch even when they weren’t doing anything. His thoughts went back to the
erratic behaviour she displayed after he returned from his shopping spree. He
couldn’t help but think that the Val he left and the Val he came back to, were
two different people and he wanted to know why. He headed to the bedroom and
bent over to pick up the robe she wore. He put it to his nose, deeply inhaling
the lingering scent of her perfume, trying to commit it to memory. He tossed it
on the bed and looked on at the room. Nothing seemed out of place. He came up
with conjectures about what she had possibly seen or who she could've spoken
to. Failing to think of anything plausible, he sat down at the work desk and
opened his laptop. Typing the password into the locked the screen, he ran the
program that gave him a live feed from the surveillance cameras he placed in
the room on arrival.

After
fast forwarding the scenes from last night and this morning, he let the video
play normally when he watched himself leave. On camera Val was walking around
the room, opening the cupboards and then his laptop. When he saw her approach
his silver suitcase he curled his fists in anticipation, knowing exactly what
she would find if she dared to open it.
Shit!
How did I forget to
lock the case?
He berated himself for being so careless before he
remembered that he usually kicked women out after they were done fucking and
other than the first night where she had snuck out on him, he had spent every
second with her in close proximity the night before. He watched the shock and
fear play out on her face as she closed the luggage and put it back in place
along with everything else she had touched. He noticed that she didn’t call
anyone, merely went to the lounge and turned on the TV before she began eating.
She stayed there until he returned to the suite.

He
closed the screen and called his tech guy Mike.  He asked for a background
check on Valerie and gave him the only details he knew which included a
physical description, her full name and her address. He stressed that he wanted
a list of everyone she communicated with or had met in the last 6 years. Her
history from the age of 16 would be sufficient enough to find out whether she
was friend or foe. He could only hope that she kept her mouth shut, otherwise
she could get herself killed even if he was the one to do it – he hoped it
wouldn’t have to come to that. The guns he was carrying were brand new and
state of the art. They were also licensed which meant that he would not run
into any problem with the authorities. None of his contacts were in the city as
far as he knew, that did not mean that it was safe for either of them based on
the line of business he was in. Wherever he went danger always lurked, he always
had to have his guard up. If she said the wrong words to the wrong people, it
could spell her end because men like him did not like outsiders having any kind
of Intel on their work; they barely trusted each other as it were.

Val got inside the house and headed straight
for her room. She was exhausted; she'd had a long night and a terrible morning
- with the latest discovery scaring her to her wits end. She berated herself
for the stupidity she had demonstrated this past weekend which was in
contravention to the promise she’d made herself before relocating – that she
would be wiser when it came to men. Who would sleep with a man that they did
not know, not only once but twice?
Many people hook up but how many hook-up
with a murderer?
Was a better question she mused. Murphy's Law seemed to be
rearing its unwanted head and it was driving her into a state of anxiety and
agitation. What were the chances of her meeting and falling for a guy like
Vladimir, who looked clean cut on the surface but was far more sinister upon
closer inspection? It was probably in the same region of chances, that her
dream boyfriend was nothing but a mirage as he was already engaged to someone
else – the unfortunate one percent. With her string of bad luck lately she
hoped she would not fall into the one percent where emergency contraceptives
were ineffective – that would devastate her and ruin any plans she had to
redirect her life into something positive and constructive.

She’d been trapped in her head for over an hour
and realised that worrying was eating at her nerves and solving nothing in its
stead. At 2P.M she decided to make a task list of what she needed to do and
remembering it was a Sunday, a day where everyone seemed to want to close shop
early, she’d hit the grocery store and book shop first. She stripped out of the
clothes Vlad had bought her and shoved them into the shopping bags with all his
other shit. She donned her own jeans and a vest, feeling a wave of serenity
wash over her at being in her own space wearing her own clothes, for good
measure she opened her cupboard doors and shoved the bags all the way in the
back – she would see what to do with them later but for now, out of sight out
of mind was her M.O. She was off to the bookstore to get the textbooks on her academic
list.

A few hours of keeping her mind focused on the
things that were important and the nervous energy she released through walking
eased the tension she’d been carrying around; it had done Val a world of good
to step out. After unpacking her groceries, she sat in the lounge with a bottle
of wine and the text books she would use to cover her courses. Studying while
drinking would not be advantageous but she would at least have a general idea
of what to expect in class over the coming weeks. An hour into her routine she
heard footsteps coming down the hall from one of the other bedrooms and
wondered who it would be. The house she was in was shared with three other
students who she had met in passing but had not had the pleasure of acquainting
herself with.
Because your pleasures and acquaintance revolved around a
tall, blonde, rogue of a man.
She shook her head in an attempt to rid any
thoughts of him and looked up from the book perched on her lap in time to meet
Jake as he came into view.

“Hi Jake!” Val greeted with as much sincerity
as she could muster. Jake wore his hair longer than was most likely
comfortable, seeing that he was always sweeping the overgrown bangs back when
they fell into his eyes, like right now. He was tall and lean and had that
skater-punk-grunge thing going for him that women in his circle found
attractive. He was half Indian half white, giving him an exotic appeal.

“Hi yourself,” he replied stifling a yawn. He
looked as if he had just woken up from a nap, something that Val was
considering seeing that she barely got any rest last night or this morning. “I
see you’re getting a head start,” he continued gesturing to the text book that
sat open.

“Yeah, just needed a rough idea of what’s to
come.”

“Good plan, keep this up until the end of
semester and you may make the dean’s list,” he finished off before heading in
the direction of the kitchen. Looking at the clock on the wall Val noticed that
it was early evening and she hadn’t had anything to eat since the brunch of the
hotel room service. When Jake walked back out with a sandwich, Val closed her
book in the pursuit of a home cooked meal with her sub-par culinary skills. Her
efforts in the kitchen yielded a pasta salad that consisted of macaroni, baby
lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and feta cheese. Feeling the effects of the day
rendering her bones weary, she quickly created a timetable for all her classes,
drew the curtains closed and lay on the bed waiting for sleep to claim her - it
never came. Her mind was full and she needed a release seeing that she’d spent
the latter part of her day trying to avoid thoughts of a certain someone.

The minutes dragged on and she realised
feigning sleep would not magically transport her to dreamland. She decided to
open up her laptop and watch a show or a movie but nothing caught her interest.
On second thought she could find a good book to read until her eyes watered and
her lids drooped closed in fatigue. She just needed to keep her mind busy so
that she would not have to think of Vlad. At the mental mention of his name she
couldn’t help but remember the passionate weekend she'd spent with him. Her
memories evoked goosebumps as she relived the taste of his mouth, his wicked
tongue on her nipples and between her thighs, and the strength of his body as
it bore down on her petite frame, with each thrust sending her into a euphoric
abyss. Even though she had given herself a mental beat-down earlier for having
a one night stand – correction; a passionate sex filled weekend with a complete
stranger, she realised that it may have started off as a way to ward off the
loneliness that was wrapping itself around her heart but it had morphed into
something more.

It’s the more that she was scared of because
she didn’t even know who he was, she wanted to know him but he was not
forthcoming about anything – it’s the feeling of indirect rejection she had
tried to run from and also fear, fear that maybe this fantasy guy she had
projected onto him was nothing but a façade. She needed a sounding board and
gave Natasha a call, out of all the girls her bond with the blonde bombshell
was the strongest. As the phone rang she understood why they clicked, they were
truly the most balanced individuals out in the group, not too serious about
life but understanding of consequences. Toni would play off the weekend as a
sexual adventure that she should embrace fully and use to liberate herself of
any sexual oppression – the same mantra she had been singing since they first
met, while Macy would dig too deep into the emotional turmoil and draw upon
psychological issues from her childhood and past relationships, finishing off
with the intonation to “assess and reassess” before making any decisions – in
short a parental lecture from someone you consider one of your best friends.
But Tash would listen and help her navigate all these feelings and thoughts
without casting judgement.

As soon as Tash picked up the call Val felt the
onslaught of verbal diarrhoea, forgetting any pleasantries as she launched into
a tale about her weekend with the man that had her feeling off kilter. She
spewed every graphic intimate detail about what they did in the hopes that the
catharsis would alleviate the tension she had felt since discovering his
ammunition filled luggage.  She talked about the instant attraction when she
met him, how he’d made her comfortable enough to share her body with him –
mentioning being self-conscience about her breasts to which Tash muttered under
her breath because she was envious of Val’s ample chest. Not wanting to head
down the beaten path of that conversation, she went on to describe the
soul-searing kisses, his self-assured touches that evoked pleasure, how he made
her feel like a goddess in bed and the renewed sense of sexuality which she had
never explored before but was now open to because of him.

When Natasha finally managed to get a word in,
she made some valid points and gave sound advice. She talked about sex being a
part of nature’s divine plan to keep the ecosystem going but as people who are
both intelligent and emotional beings, sex tends to mean more to us beyond the
need to reproduce. By categorising sexuality, we are not able to properly
define it because we leave out more than we include and so the best thing to do
is to leave it as an open-ended question that only we can answer though our own
discovery.  She was glad Val’s experience was pleasurable because there are
couples in the world who could not give as passionate an account of their
lovers as she had heard through Val’s own words and told her that the “more”
she wanted from Vlad was probably because he had fixed one problem, the need to
feel desired as a woman after her bad break up, and she wanted him to fix
another – to be the man we women are always searching for.

“I wish I could go into greater detail but I
would keep you on the phone till the following morning and we both have classes
starting at eight. I'm going to send you this book Toni gave me – and yes I was
also sceptical at first because well, you know Toni – but after reading it, I
ended up reassessing a lot of the choices I made and was able to be at peace
with some and make better choices now. Don’t beat yourself up too much about
this guy. Read it and I’m here for you to share my thoughts on anything. Love
you!” They hung up and Val realised that it was fast approaching midnight, she
been on the phone with Natasha for hours. She did feel better about the
situation, this time when she closed her eyes, she fell asleep.

*****

Vlad had spent the rest of his day packing up
his clothes and getting ready for his trip. While he went about his tasks, he
couldn't help but think about Val and whether he would see her again. It was a
disturbing question for him; if he wanted a woman long term he would have given
her the option and if it was a matter of scratching an itch, he would have
stopped after the night he picked her up at the bar. Instead he had brought her
over twice and allowed her an extended stay, going as far as catering to her
requests when he usually was not a man to be negotiated with – she didn’t fall
into either of his categories. He just didn’t know what he wanted from her but
at the same time he couldn’t let her go. All the women he’d spent his nights
with in the past were always up for a repeat performance, but when Val left his
room, she was scared of him, she could barely look at him and he was not able
to appease her fears by offering answers to the questions she posed regarding
his identity.

He was on his laptop sending emails and setting
up meetings for his arrival in the Middle-East. He was set to land in Turkey
and after sorting out a few logistical issues, drive into Syria. Once his order
was completed he would fly over to Russia to sort out the merchandise and
transportation and then collect his very hefty check. It sounded simple enough
but he knew better than that, matters of war were always complicated, he needed
to be flexible in case there was a change of plans. For the rest of the evening
he pushed the brown-skinned beauty to the back of his mind and focused on
contingency planning and any safety nets he may need to put in place.

The following morning as he sat at the airport
terminal waiting to board his flight, he got a call from Mike. “What do you
have for me?” he asked. He had forgotten about Valerie’s curiosity leading her
to things in his room that she had no business seeing. He really hoped he
wouldn’t have to kill his new paramour – she had become an obsession of his.

“Not much, the girl is clean. All she does is
work and study and now she's back to studying. Most of the people she hangs out
with, she either met at work or in school. She’s not much of a social butterfly
and she keeps a small circle of friends. I actually finished running a
background check on her within two hours but decided to check out her friends,
house mates, and colleagues. Other than the occasional drug habit of a Candice
Breek she worked with and a shop lifting charge by one of her housemates - Jake
Patel, there’s nothing that would raise any red flags in the form of questionable
acquaintances or black market dealings. There's nothing to be worried about on
this one. If you’re thinking of hiring her into our line of business, she’d be
a fish out of water” Mike finished his report giving a slight chuckle at his
inane joke.

“Do you have her contact information?” Vlad
enquired

“Yes, I've sent you her email address, cell
number, the classes she’ll be taking and the university she is currently
attending.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem. If you keep your assignments this
easy at the same pay rate, I may have to consider working for you exclusively”
Mike commented. Vlad hung up and smiled to himself thinking of what an angel
Val really was, not only in the bed but in life as well. It was no wonder she
had freaked out after finding his arsenal. He pulled out his tablet and read
through her personal information that Mike had sent through. He decided to send
her an email, maybe he could salvage whatever it is that was transpiring
between them.

Dear Valerie,

I have enjoyed the past weekend and it was nothing but a
pleasure spending time with you. I know that I got carried away last night and
I hope you know it was never my intension to put you in such a compromising
situation. Please let me know whether the pill works and if you are in need of
anything. I don’t usually offer apologies but I am sorry that I could not
answer any of the questions you had for me; I know it would have put your mind
at ease. It is in my nature to keep my life and identity closely guarded, you
weren’t supposed to rummage through my personal belongings but after your
discovery, you must realise that speaking about who I am and what I do would
put you in danger. I will see you soon.