The Collector | 18+

【30】Rainy Days

My natural curiosity had always been an asset in my line of work. My strong inclination to seek out the truth and understand the past had played in my favor, bringing me to the position I now occupied at the museum.

But as it turned out, it was a real curse when it came to the Westergaard collection. I didn't have to examine in thorough detail every single piece of it, but I needed to, out of some fear-of-missing-out crap I couldn't shake.

Getting to explore this collection was the opportunity of a lifetime, and I wanted to make sure I'd get everything out of it. To think that those pieces had rarely been seen before was making it feel so exclusive, so privileged, and I couldn't get that feeling out of my head.

As a result, it took me two entire days to finish the inventory of the pieces from the gallery. Which, as Mr. Westergaard—Ulrik—had said, was only the tip of the iceberg. At this rate, I'd need three weeks to go over it all, and that wasn't good. Not only did I have to go back to London and to work, I also needed to get away from this place and its very tempting owner.

Just like we'd agreed, our interactions were limited to the meals we shared. I saw him three times a day, and that was it. I'd stumbled on him on my second day of work when I'd gone up to make myself a coffee, but other than that, we hadn't interacted outside of breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

In real life, at least, because he populated my dreams at night. It seemed the original wet dream had only been a start, and many more of those had tortured me the night that had followed.

On the third morning at the estate, I woke up at dawn with a start, panting and humid with sweat, wishing I could go back to sleep so dream-Ulrik could finish what he'd started, but unable to. I was too excited, too awake for that. Masturbating like a lunatic was of no help to keep those dreams at bay, and I didn't know what to do anymore.

Understandably, three nights like this had left me frustrated and full of pent-up energy. All of it just needed out. Preferably while riding Ulrik's dashing face, but a good run could also work. I forced myself out of bed and opened the shutters, only to realize I wouldn't need to head downstairs to the home gym, where I'd risk encountering my alluring host. To my delight, the rain had stopped and the clouds had dissipated, leaving nothing but blue sky and clear air.

I changed into my running outfit, adding an extra layer for warmth, not fooled by the unexpected good weather. The sun might have been rising on the horizon, but I knew it would still be much colder than what I was used to in London. It was too early for anyone to be up, so I met no one on my way out of the house. As expected, the air was cold outside, and I reminded myself to look out for ice patches. A quick check of the satellite imagery of the area helped me find a suitable track, and with my phone strapped to my arm, I began my run.

Everything was wet, the dead leaves of autumn soft under my shoes, and the scent of the rain still permeated the air. It was so good to be out in the open, rather than fearing for my life every time I crossed a street in London, I hadn't bothered with my earbuds, so I could hear the sounds of nature.

The exercise felt great, not as much as staying in bed with my vibrator, but I already knew it would be more efficient at soothing my nerves and taming my libido. Being stuck in a house with him would only make things worse, whereas this little outing would help clear my mind and unclog my thoughts.

A little under an hour later, I was on my way back to the house, sweating under my warm clothes, impatient to get into the shower. Although I'd been in the dense forest of the estate for most of my run, I'd still caught some splendid views of the fjord whenever there was a clearing. Since then, the sky had turned darker, though. The clouds were back for another round of rain, so I hastened my pace to reach the house before it began.

Because of the impending rain, everything had stilled around me, the birds weren't chirping, and the wind had stopped blowing. The atmosphere which I'd found so refreshing upon leaving the house was now heavy and charged with darkness, making me feel uncomfortable. Light flashed inside the dark clouds, and thunder echoed seconds later, scaring a bunch of crows nesting in a tree near me. Everything had turned extremely gloomy in a matter of minutes, and now I wanted nothing more than to be back at the house.

But it could always get worse, I realized... A branch cracked behind me, startling me, and when I twisted my neck, the sound of running footsteps came to my ears.

I wasn't alone. Someone was following me. Someone was running after me, even.

My heart launched itself in a wild beat, a combination of effort and fright. With a knot in my throat, I ran faster, wishing I hadn't gone so far from the house.

All of a sudden, a man three times my size appeared in the middle of the track, holding an ax and looking dreadfully threatening with his large beard and tall frame. He turned to me, his expression unreadable, and I let out a scared cry. In my haste to stop my course before I ran right into him, my feet slipped on the wet layer of leaves and I fell back with another squeal.

Immediately after I'd hit the ground with the side of my body, slamming my hip on a protruding root, the man lowered his ax and came my way with long and quick steps.

"Går det bra med deg?" he asked in Norwegian. Are you alright? There were no traces of malice in his tone, nothing to indicate he had ill intents toward me, so I felt stupid for my reaction to his appearance.

"Yes, I think I'm fine," I replied in the same language.

He offered his hand to help me up, but before I could take it, a third person joined the humiliating scene. The one I'd heard running behind me. Ulrik.

"What happened?" he asked, squatting to inspect me. He was wearing a pair of dark jogging pants and a light gray hoodie. My face warmed up at his closeness, as well as the embarrassment I was experiencing.

"Nothing, I just fell."

"The tracks are slippery," the bearded stranger explained with his native tongue.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I think I just hit my hip a bit hard," I answered Ulrik, flattening a hand over the area, which was still rippling with heated pain. Ew, it was wet and dirty from the humid ground. Both men helped me up, and as I put weight on my feet, a flash of pain spread into my ankle. "And maybe I twisted my ankle," I continued with a grimace.

"Can you go get the buggy?" Ulrik asked the stranger, whom I now suspected was Jakob, the handyman who handled the estate. It was the first time I was hearing him speak in Norwegian, and it did things to me. But what didn't, with this man?

"I can walk," I objected.

"Not on a sprained ankle. You'll only make it worse."

"I'll go get the buggy," Jakob asserted. With a neat and practiced gesture, he went to plant his ax in a mossy tree stump and followed the path at a moderate trot, which must have been his best, given his size.

"I promise I can walk. It's not a sprain, it's just...tender," I told Ulrik, twisting my ankle to test it.

"Still, better safe than sorry."

The sky chose this exact moment to crack in more loud thunder. Soon after, small drops of rain began to fall around us, ticking as they fell on the leaves and branches. He looked around at the scene with an unamused glare.

"Maybe we could start walking, so we'll get to the buggy faster," I suggested.

"Should I carry you?"

"Definitely not. It's not sprained. My hip hurts more, actually." He pinched his lips, dissatisfied with my answer. He wanted to act like a white knight in shining armor, didn't he? Well, I wasn't a damsel in distress. It had never been my style, nor would it ever be.

Not waiting for his approval, I patted my dirty leggings to remove the residue of leaves and began walking down the path Jakob had taken. The rain wasn't intense yet, but we were nearing freezing temperature, so between the icy drops and the fact that we weren't exercising anymore, we had to keep moving or we'd freeze to death.

"Are you sure you're fine?" Ulrik insisted, catching up with me easily.

I nodded, refusing to give him an excuse to haul me over his shoulder or something. I was barely limping, trying not to put too much weight on my foot, in case it was worse than I thought.