Note: This was written for some one I know. I hope he enjoys this lil tale of mine…
Hugs and Kisses S.
The day was coming to an end and her time with the group of tourists was boring to say the least so she decided to sneak off. So as the tour guide showed them through the old castle Jozel moved off and hid in a closet and barely left the door open just enough to see into the hall to see if the others had gone.
Once the castle was locked up for the night well as best as it could be she went roaming on her own. She entered each room and looked around at everything running her hands over the carved wood of the furniture.
She smiled as she walked to the ornate bed.
Four huge posts stood at each corner of the bed with a canopy hanging over head she sits down and lays back looking up at the dark blue velvet of the canopy. She closes her eyes slowly finding the bed rather comfy enough to fall asleep.
What seems hours later she wakes up as she feels the poking of something on her leg. She opens her eyes and sees him standing there looming over her like a monolith. She gasped in shock as she saw him she thought there had been no one there but she was wrong.
“What are you doing here”? He asked her in a rich thick deep Scottish accent.
“I…I..I got locked in, I was in a tour group and they went on and I went to the ladies room when I came out the place was locked up so I thought I would walk around. Who are you?”
He put his hand out to her. “Come let me take you somewhere where it is a warmer then this room. I am the night watchmen. My name is Paul.”
She took his hand and stood up and she could not take her eyes off of his. They were the darkest green she had ever seen. They seemed to look deep into her soul if that was at all possible. He took her down to the security room and gave her some hot tea.
“I’m sorry but your going to be stuck here till dawn as the other guard won’t be here till then and I can’t leave my post here so I am afraid your stuck” he told her plainly
She nodded. “That’s ok it’s my own fault for getting separated from the others. So I guess I will have to live with it.” *she chuckled* She curled her long legs under her in the seat she was sitting in and she wrapped her slender hands around the mug. “So what is all this?” she asked looking at the control panel.
Paul started telling her all about the security system and that was how he saw her asleep on the Dukes bed.
She blushed some as he told her he was watching her sleep, she had no clue they had cameras in the castle or that she could be seen. She wondered to herself if he had seen her sneak out of the closet and walk about the castle. She sipped the hot coffee as he talked then Paul showed her the castle personally taking her from room to room telling her the history of the castle and what each room meant. The spent a large chunk of the night talking and getting to know each other. Paul learnt that Jozel was on vacation studying Castle architectures and designs. She was single for the past 10 months having left her cheating boyfriend she had no sisters or brothers her parents were dead from a car wreck. Jozel worked for a big well to do Drafting Company back in the states, some man hired her to come to Europe and study the castles here and then come back to t he states and design him a castle there. So she came to Scotland and here she was locked in an old castle in Scotland talking to a night Guardsmen.
Jozel finally began to get tired she yawned and stretched then stood up she excused her self and went to the ladies room. When she came out and walked down the hall there was a fires glow coming from the room she had fallen asleep in, carefully she opened the door and stepped inside. She looked around the room and saw in the fire place there had been a fire blazing warm and cozy, the bed had been turned down, and even an old fashioned sleeping gown lay out at the foot of the bed. Suddenly from no where Paul appeared behind her, his hand came to rest on her shoulder suddenly making her jump almost out of her skin.
She clutched at her chest as she gasps at his touch and whirls around to see who touched her. Paul’s green eyes sparkled in the light of the fires glow giving him an odd far off look. Jozel smiled as she saw him and sighs in relief.
“Sorry I did not mean to scare you lass” he said.
“No, no that’s ok, I guess I am just a lil uneasy which is odd for me as I am usually at home in old places”
He smiled at her and told her that he thought she would be more comfortable for the rest of the evening if she could sleep in a bed and not a hard backed chair. So he set a fire in the hearth and found her something to wear so she did not have to sleep in her jeans and such. Grateful for his kindness Jozel went into the other room and changed then came back Paul was standing by the fire, his 6 ft plus frame outlined by the glow of the fires light gave off a rather eerie feeling but she shrugged it off to the surroundings being in an old castle in the middle of the night.
With out warning the sound of thunder echoed and a bright flash of light lit up the dark skies outside. Jozel turned her head and looked to the window.
“Not to worry lass we have such storms all the time here. It is Scotland after all”
Jozel smiled at his comment and walked closer to him to chase away the chill by getting closer to the fire. She leaned over some and warmed her hands. Paul watched every single small move she made as she came closer to him.
He reached out as if he was about to caress the back of her head then pulled his hand away as she began to turn to look at him.
“Well I need to do my rounds. You’ll be safe I can see you from that camera there “ * he pointed to where it was mounted on the wall in the corner leaving him to see the whole room in is entirety*
“Thank you Paul” she whispered softly.
“Your welcomed Jozel Sweet dreams rest well.. I will wake you about 6am before my shift changes then I’ll take you back to your hotel.”
She nodded a few times and then he walked to the door, opened it, and left closing it behind himself leaving her to sleep in the Dukes chamber.
Jozel crawled into the massive bed, got comfy under the warmth of the heavy blankets, and sank into a deep sleep almost right away. She began to dream almost as soon as her eyes fell closed, the image was not unlike that of the real life scene of her asleep in the Duke’s bed but the difference was that Paul came into the room dressed in a pair of simple leather pants and no shirt. His skin glistened in the fires light his massive frame strode into the room and up to the bed where he loomed like an ancient protector of sorts. He leaned down and caressed her cheek gently waking her with his touch, her eyes fluttered open and she smiled and spoke.