Two Halves of a Whole

Chapter 5

Sattira was speechless. The Lake House was more like a mansion by the lake. The fountain in the front had a wide cobbled driveway that circled around it in granite gray where as the fountain itself was marble so light gray it was almost white. The very top tier was a beautiful woman holding what looked like the moon as it softly glowed and sent water raining down on the tiers beneath it. On the very next tier were what appeared to be wolves lying down with their backs to the center of the fountain as they leaned over the edge of the tier in whimsical positions watching the human couples frozen in dance on the bottom tier of the fountain.

On the outside of the cobblestone driveway there were various flowers planted with a wide marble stairway leading up to the double doors to the huge three story stone building that could almost be a palace. She entered the marble foyer with marble staircase along both walls leading to the second floor and a set of double doors that opened directly in front of her into another large room where she could just make out an indoor pool made to look like a lagoon surrounded by various tropical plants and complete with a rock waterfall that looked like the perfect place to dive into the water from and faced the foyer she was currently standing in.

“Let me show you to your room,” Lugos offered as he walked in next to her carrying her duffel bags and walking towards the staircase to the left.

“Thank you,” she managed to squeak out as she forced herself to follow him. Everything looked so expensive she was almost afraid to touch anything lest she leave dirt behind or greasy fingerprints. Even the rail leading up the stairs had the silhouette of wolves in various stages of play brought to life in the cast iron work within the banister with a thin rail of smooth, white marble along the top.

“Your room is right across from mine and the girls we are in the rooms on either side of you,” Lugos said.

When he stopped in front of the second door on the right side of the long hall with its light dove gray walls covered in beautiful artwork she almost bumped into him. She had been studying the paintings of wolves mixed in with what she could only assume were paintings of different members of his family as they so closely resembled him. Her cheeks were a bright red with how embarrassed she was.

He opened the door and she walked into a large sitting area set up in front of a beautiful light stone fireplace with wolves in different positions as they seemed to be frolicking across the white aspen mantle they were delicately carved into. A thick fluffy throw rug covered most of the beautiful hardwood floor in the area while she could see another that matched it in the sleeping area through the huge French Doors that stood open on either side.

“It’s beautiful,” she said as he set her duffel bags on the large light colored expensive looking couch and she sent up a silent pray that there was nothing on the bottom of the bags that would stain the fabric.

He led her to a set of doors that opened onto a stone balcony with a cast iron table and two chairs as well as a lounge she could stretch out on.

“The view from this side of the house is the best,” he explained as he walked to the stone railing.

She walked out to join him and her breath caught in her throat. “Wow, if I lived here I don’t know if I would ever want to leave.” Her voice was soft when she finally managed to speak.

“You know you can always stay,” he half joked. He felt his wolf silently hum in agreement.

“I wish I could,” she giggled. Somehow the idea was more tempting than it should be where as she had not known Lugos for very long.

Why should that matter, the voice in her mind asked her. It completely ruining the moment for her. She tried to cover up her change of mood by turning to walk back in to check out the sleeping area. Lugos followed her back in and walked to a door on the left side of the giant king sized canopy bed and opened it to show a room lined with shelves and draws with a mirror along the whole of the back wall and a cushioned bench in the middle of the room where she could sit to put on her shoes.

“You can keep your clothes in here until you leave,” he told her.

“That is very kind of you,” she answered him as she watched him walk to a door on the right side of the room and open it to show the en-suite bathroom that was large enough to be another bedroom.

The white arabesques Carrara marble tile covered the walls and lined walls of the shower that was large enough for eight people to comfortably shower. The floor was covered in a mural of a wolf done in light Siberian Pearl marble tiles framed in darker Victorian Gray marble tiles. The double sinks and counters were white Carrara marble as was the six person spa tub with all its jets.

He went to the door that was again on the right side of the bathroom from where they entered as well and opened it to reveal that it doubled back to the opposite side of the bed from the first door they enter to get to the closet.

“Wow, all it needs is a kitchen and it could be an apartment,” she thought out loud then quickly covered her mouth with her hand. She couldn’t believe she had said it out loud.

Lugos laughed at her reaction. She loved the deep gruff sound. “My family has hosted so many people who expect this level of comfort over the years that we incorporate it into all our properties, even those for our personal use.”

“Wow, I am definitely not complaining. This is probably the nicest place I will ever get to stay.” She had thought Nina and Kim came from rich families but this guy was on a whole new level.

“You never know. I bet some day you will have a room that is easily as nice as this if not better,” he said in a serious tone.

“Yeah, when I marry that rich prince that has been beating down my door,” she teased. “Or maybe I will discover I am really a missing lost heiress.” She couldn’t help but giggle at the absurdity of the idea.

He couldn’t help but smile at her. She was the beautiful princess in all his dreams. He didn’t dare tell her though for fear it would scare her off.

A knock on the door startled them both, so lost were they in their own world they had both forgotten there were others in the house with them.

Sattira was halfway to the door when it opened and Nina entered with Kim right behind her, both giggling over whatever they had been talking about before they opened the door. As soon as they saw Lugos their laughter stopped and they both looked extremely embarrassed as if they had done something wrong.

“Sorry, we didn’t know you weren’t in here alone,” Kim stammered.

“It’s fine, I was just showing Sattira her room for the next couple of weeks,” Lugos explained and both girls relaxed.

“We were going to head down to the kitchen and figured since Sattira has never stayed here before we should invite her to join us so she knows where it is,” Nina explained.

“I could definitely eat,” Sattira answered her, grateful for such thoughtful friends. Food is always good, the voice in her head piped in. Sattia tried to ignore the voice and followed everyone else to the kitchen back on the main floor.

The kitchen had all the restaurant quality appliances anyone could ever want. From the huge walk in freezer, walk in refrigerator, and deep pantry to the huge gas stove with the griddle, double ovens, and deep fryer Sattira couldn’t get over how well set up the kitchen was. Lugos took out some steaks and headed towards a door that led to the back side of the house.

They walked across a huge stone terrace and around to the side of a giant in ground pool with the largest hot tub Sattira had ever seen on the opposite side from the pool house with its covered outdoor kitchenette. The edge of the pool was only a few feet from the beach that lead down to the lake. As Lugos got the grill started Sattira and the girls decided to take a quick walk along the beach. As they made their way along the beach, Sattira noticed a smaller stone cabin done in a similar style to the huge lake house that set just back from the beach. It had a deck off the back facing the lake.

“I wonder who lives there,” she said. She had thought Lugos had said his parents owned all the land surrounding the lake house.

“That’s the caretaker’s cabin. He and his son look after the place when no one is staying here. His wife does the cooking when someone stays here but Lugos likes to cook when his parents are not here so she doesn’t have to cook every meal,” Danny shocked her by answering before hugging Nina from behind as Jacob also caught up to them.

“We should probably head back.” Jacob suggest. “Food should be done soon.”

They walked back up the beach. The smell of fresh grilled meat made Sattira’s mouth water. She was still eating more than she used to but as her clothes weren’t getting tight and she knew she couldn’t be pregnant as she was still a virgin she had not started to worry too much.

Lugos had set out garden salad, potato salad, pasta salad, and northwestern salad so everyone could choose whatever they wanted to go with their steaks. He pulled out plates and silverware from a cabinet in his outside kitchenette grilling area for everyone before grabbing them drinks from the outside mini fridge he had stocked when he had dropped off his things that morning.

As they ate they talked about other times they had stayed at the lake house and some of the crazy things they had done. Lugos had promised to teach Sattira how to bowl in the bowling alley in the finish basement after they finished eating. The more she learned about the lake house the more it seemed like a place they all went to have fun and goof off.

There was even a game room and an arcade with arcade games ranging from antique games to the latest modern gaming consoles. She had jokingly asked where the stables with all the horses were only to be told they could drive there later if she really wanted to go horseback riding. She wondered if they were pulling her leg and almost called them out on it but thought better of it. With what she had seen they probably had a whole horse farm hiding somewhere among the trees.

She offered to help clean up but Lugos assured her he had someone who was paid to take care of it all for them and walked her back into the house and they all went to go bowling.

They did three teams of two. Of course Nina partnered up with her boyfriend, Danny. Kim teamed up with Jacob which left Lugos and Sattira to form the last team.

At first Sattira felt bad because she had never bowled before and was sure it would cause Lugos to lose. Each time it was her turn Lugos would go up with her and help her to get her stance right and coached her on where to aim for and how to properly roll the bowling ball so it spun when it needed to. By the end of their game she had gotten all the pins down all by her self and the won, beating the other two teams by mere points.

Lugos let out a hoot and picked her, up swinging her around as she laughed at his antics. When he put her down she slid down his rock hard chest until he was holding her close in his strong arms. The laughter died in her throat as she got lost in the deep stormy depth of his eyes. He was so close she could feel the warmth of his breath on her face. Everything seemed to stop around them as the whole world seemed to be collectively holding its breath.

Oh goddess, he’s going to kiss us. The voice in her head seemed to break the spell and everything around them came back into focus as she pushed away from him.

What was the matter with her? She thought to herself. She was not the type to throw herself at boys she hardly knew

He is hardly some boy, the voice said with a scoff. She wanted to snap back at the voice that boy or man it made no difference but it felt like if she argued with the voice in her head it just made it seem crazier. So instead she ignored it as they all went to eat dinner. After a dinner that she could only conclude was prepared by one of the elusive household staff they changed into night clothes then went to the in home theater where they watched movies until she fell asleep.

She wasn’t aware she had cuddled into Lugos’ firm muscular chest. She didn’t see him looking down at her sleeping form with such deep longing. She didn’t even stir when the movie ended and he lifted her up in his big strong arms and carried her to her room as though she weighed nothing. It was only after he removed her shoes and socks and tucked her in beneath the covers that she thought she smelled the most alluring smell. It smelled like being outdoors in the woods just after a spring rain. She cuddled up to her pillow and dreamed of running through the woods, but instead of having the same two legs she had grow up with she looked down her wolf like snout at her big furry mahogany red paws.