Actions, Reactiona And…

Meiden slept a peaceful, deep sleep. That's a good thing. Maybe a longer rest will make him stop making those horrible faces that made David shudder.

However, the boy was left with the question, what should he do with himself now? Should he wait until he wakes up? But how will he explain sitting aimlessly in his house? Should he go back to his place? He'll leave Meiden a note to reheat the lecho but will the completely impractical man handle it? Will he even enter the kitchen? Well, and what will he say to his father, whom he has tricked into thinking he has something to do in the park...?

Suddenly, in the footsteps of the Greek philosopher, he wanted to exclaim "eureka". Well, after all, he came up with the excuse on his own before coming here. After the last storm, indeed, there may have been some damage in the park that would be better removed - broken branches and branches threatening to fall on the path. It wouldn't hurt to go and check. That way no one will suspect that he is hanging around for the sake of hanging around.

The solution was simple and David felt satisfaction that he had come up with it so quickly. So, with a lanky step, he headed for the park, remembering to lock the door he had opened beforehand.

Actually, he should have done a survey of the damage to the park earlier, but because of the situation with Meiden, his thoughts were preoccupied with other matters. And he considered himself a professional! He sighed.

Fortunately, the storm did not do much damage. In fact, almost none. Only two branches of a decades-old ash tree broke and fell to the ground, fortunately without destroying anything. He wrestled with them for a while, but finally managed to pull them down to a place that did not disturb anyone. It didn't even take him long, so he unhurriedly returned to the palace.

Actually, he should enter through the main door, but it was shorter through Meiden's office. Out of politeness, he knocked and, hearing no answer, pressed the handle. It was locked, of course, but wasn't that why he had spare keys not to bother with such a difficulty? Literally after a moment he was already inside.

Surprised, he noticed that the laptop was open and lit up. Had it been like this since yesterday, or had Meiden already gotten up and made his way to the office? The computer was connected by a power cable, so both options were possible. Curiosity was awakened in the boy. The easiest way to satisfy it would be to check what was displayed. He looked more carefully.

The laptop screen showed the same thing all the time - a text file with the word "end" written on it. David came closer. The document was two hundred and seventy-eight pages long. The boy thought it was a lot. He was curious how many of them had already been created in Poland. Actually, he was curious about a lot more. That scene there, which alluded to the morning events of a week ago, did it belong to this particular story? What is this book actually about? Does it have more similar scenes? Is it an erotica? Or is it, as Gustav said, a morality novel that hooks on to these themes?

David smiled and sat down in front of the monitor. He was most curious about the stories written by Gustav. The man was such a complex person, full of diversity and contradictions, that he probably couldn't be a good writer. Although who knows? Krauze once said that he was a genius, so maybe that genius was manifested through his books? David was unable to resist the temptation. So he started reading.

He immediately realized that the action took place in the 18th century, and was surprised to find that in Poland, in this very palace. The main female character, forced to marry a man she does not love, becomes the victim of a money-hungry seducer. Desperate, she asks for help from her cousin, who is abroad and immediately arrives on the call.

David raised his head and looked around the interior, which Meiden described as one of the main places of action. It was here that the male protagonist, Alfred, cousin of the main character, who had killed the crook in the duel and regained the woman's honor, sat. It was by looking through this window that he saw the young gardener at work, which began to awaken his imagination and senses. The young hero, lost in his emotions, began to learn the philosophy of the Marquis de Sade through smuggled books. It surprised him, appalled him, at times even made him disgusted. He tried to translate it into his reality but could not. He was unable to imagine a beautiful gardener subjected to licentious practices. Janek was not someone to be introduced to this disgusting world. He was gentle, sweet, simple and pure. So Alfred followed the boy with his eyes. Finally, the boy timidly began to glance in his direction and the hero's heart twitched. A shy, then passionate love affair began.

"How do you like my book?"

David jumped up until he was surprised. In the doorway leading inside the house stood Gustav, rested, dressed, washed and shaved, with eyes that were no longer so terribly bloodshot but terrible. Those green eyes expressed very eloquently: "I got you."

David could not move. Only his heart was beating so hard that he felt pain in it. Oh, for heaven's sake!

There was no point in looking for excuses. The boy was caught, and he couldn't even tell how long the Norwegian had been standing in that doorway watching him. Had he stood there for a long time, watching every movement of his eyes, every reddening of his cheeks as he read the next sentences with embarrassment and excitement? David swallowed his saliva with difficulty. He had done exactly what Meiden had forbidden him to do under threat of punishment. On top of that, he let himself be caught doing it. But I guess the Norwegian won't keep his promise? After all, he admitted that he had previously done wrong. After all, he apologized....

"It is ... very interesting," David admitted frankly. He didn't even dare to twitch, and probably wouldn't be able to do so at this point. His legs were like cotton wool and his heart was beating like the Sigismund Bell. In fact, the book drew him in and he felt like reading the rest of it in spite of those incredibly strange scenes when the two men felt lust for each other and satisfied it overly eagerly. Despite, or especially because of.

"Have you reached the best moments yet?" Meiden stood in the doorway leaning against the doorframe. Heck, he stood in a seductive pose, exactly as Alfred stood seducing Janek. He was even smiling completely the same way, like a predatory wild cat who knows that he had just cornered a defenseless mouse and had a great desire to play with it a bit. That smile clearly told David that he was his prey.

Would Meiden really touch him today as he did then? David felt himself getting hot. No, he can't. He won't! And yet?

He was unable to assess the situation and the reality of the threat. He couldn't even judge whether the possibility of Meiden's touch was a threat to him or....

Focus, David, he said to himself. Focus! Meiden asked you a question. Just answer it.

"I don't know which ones you're talking about..." he stated, although he had his guesses. He just didn't know how far the Norwegian had gone in his descriptions, but it was still a long way to the end of the book, and usually the author leaves the best for last. Probably.

So no, they weren't there yet, but for some reason he was eagerly anticipating them. Gustav really knew how to create an atmosphere and gradate the tension so that David felt an anxious twitch in his pants.

Meiden slipped inside with a cat-like motion. He closed the door behind him. He didn't do it so that no one would disturb them, after all, no one but them was in the whole area. However, David remembered this scene from the book. The main character closed the door to surround the young gardener, to cut off his escape route. The cat, who lets the mouse know that for her there is no more hope, that her entire future depends on the whim of the cat.

David, however, had a second door behind him. It was locked, but not with a key. The key rested in his pocket anyway. He could get up and leave at any time if he felt threatened. If he needed to escape, he had somewhere to go.

In fact, David knew he was not safe. Gustav slowly approached him without taking his shining green eyes off him. David could not take his eyes off them. They were like a magnet. They were beautiful - dangerous and captivating. Those eyes said that David was in serious trouble and that a punishment awaited him. They both knew what that punishment would be. Damn!

"You're not running away," Meiden noted, "although you know what awaits you for reading my documents. Or did you do it on purpose?"

"I was curious," he muttered in response.

"Books or..."

"Books," he announced firmly. He wasn't lying, he really was curious about what and how the new owner of the palace was writing but he didn't tell the whole truth either. There was simply no way he could admit that for some reason he was drawn to the temptation to peek at those obscene scenes again. But it was also part of the book, after all, so all in all he was curious about the book. Exclusively about her.

Or at least that's what he tried to tell himself....