The Classic Olivia M. Ravensworth

Chapter One-1

Chapter One

When Katherine first caught a glimpse of Castle Rohmenstadt through the forest, she could not help gasping. Her sensual, innocent lips opened in surprise, and the expressive dark eyebrows above her striking green eyes climbed. Sunlight gleamed upon the flowing chestnut waves which cascaded about her shoulders. Her heart beat rapidly beneath her high young breasts as she wondered if this were all really happening.

The pretty twenty-year-old American had been to Europe only once before, three years earlier, when she had met her great-great uncle Ernst for the first and last time. He had visited Katherine and her parents at their hotel in Paris. Although she well remembered the haunting gaze of his piercing black eyes, the glamour and excitement of the City of Lights had held far more interest to the girl than any distant relative ever could. Afterward she and her parents had toured Europe, but they certainly had not been far enough east to visit the ancient family home which the mysterious old man’s will now left to her.

“Beautiful, is it not, miss?” said the driver—Karl was his name, she reminded herself—over his shoulder in richly accented tones. The young man was smooth-shaven and blond, handsome…ruggedly built beneath his quaint double-breasted chauffeur’s uniform with its rows of gleaming brass buttons. Pale blue eyes studied the road ahead—almost a little too intently, Katherine imagined. His nose was bold and hawkish, the jutting mass of his manly jaw firm. Yet she sensed no arrogance or condescension from this virile specimen. If anything, he was painfully polite.

“Yes,” breathed Katherine, returning her gaze to the window. “It’s incredible!” Constructed of dark stonework, the high fortress walls were pierced by narrow, arched windows and were crowned with battlements. Pointed towers stood at the corners of the castle, while steep roofs covered the great spaces inside.

“This castle has been in your family for generations, miss,” Karl added amiably. Distantly Katherine observed that his lips seemed almost slightly effeminate. Despite his other rugged features, those lips were thin and expressive…strangely so. She tried not to notice as he continued, “Herr Ernst said that your ancestors built it as a refuge from the rest of the world. Empires have risen and fallen, wars raged across the rest of the continent, borders shifted—yet Castle Rohmenstadt has remained untouched.”

Katherine felt a thrill of pride at his words. Yes, this family treasure was something rare and precious, something to be proud of, to cherish. “Until a few years ago, I didn’t even know this place existed,” she said nervously. She bit her lower lip, pearly teeth indenting the full, rounded pink flesh.

“Herr Ernst always spoke most highly of you, miss.” Katherine felt another quivering sensation run through her body as she watched Karl’s strong, honest shoulders muscle the dark sedan over the winding forest road. “He knew that you should be the one to take possession of the castle.”

“I know Uncle Ernst must have wanted that, but…well, I don’t really know anything about running a castle,” she admitted.

“Oh, miss,” Karl chuckled, “this is hardly necessary—”

“Please,” she said softly. “Call me Katherine.”

“Why, thank you, miss— Katherine,” the big man replied. He glanced quickly at the mirror, then continued, “You see, we—the servants—do the actual managing of the castle. We care for the castle and the grounds—and, of course, for you yourself.”

Katherine felt herself blushing. She crossed her trim legs and began swinging the raised foot idly. Her sleek jean-clad thighs rubbed together, sending a sensation which was ever so faintly pleasurable tingling, half-unnoticed, to the pit of her hungry belly. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

“What is really necessary, miss—ah, Katherine,” he corrected himself swiftly, “is that a Rohmenstadt reside in her ancestral home.”

“Thank you, Karl,” she said, staring absently at the back of his muscular neck. “My parents’ lawyers have told me that’s all I have to do to collect the inheritance—just keep living here, but it’s still nice to hear you say so.” And it was, she realized suddenly. Here she was thousands of miles from home, dependent upon strangers she had never met. No parents to run to, no friends she could call up on the phone. She shivered briefly and not for the first time she almost wondered if the inheritance really was worth it all.

“We will do everything we can to help you…Katherine,” Karl reassured her, sneaking an uncertain look in the mirror. Dappled sunlight played across his handsome features as the car sped through the dense wood.

She let her half-lidded green eyes meet his deep blue ones and smiled. She shifted her hips purposefully in the wide seat, and felt her breathing come a little faster. “Thank you,” she murmured at length.

Though Katherine could not help being more than a little bit frightened, an undercurrent of excitement managed to keep her unease in check. Yes, she was alone and far from home, but this was an adventure she had never even dreamed of. A secluded European castle, servants…and freedom from her parents, freedom more complete than any of her friends would be enjoying.

Bare months earlier, she had simply been planning on returning for her third year of college. Though the summer had been a restful break from the hectic routine of class and studying, she had already begun to look forward to school again. She still did not know what subject she wanted to major in, but she loved the college atmosphere, heady with new freedoms and the excitement of learning. She would miss it.

Yet though her friends might be returning to state universities somewhere in the American Midwest, perhaps starting low-paying little jobs to make ends meet, here she was deep in the Old World! And if she ever tired of it, she had but to return to America whenever she wished. Yet she was certain that that would be no time soon.

Katherine let her mind wander, trying to imagine what awaited her. Could the castle really be as beautiful as that first glimpse had made it seem? Was it comfortable and homey? Would there be things to do? Yet though she attempted to keep her mind on the adventure unfolding before her, her eyes somehow kept returning to the handsome young chauffeur.

The low buzzing beneath her taut belly made Katherine feel light and fluttery inside. Between soft lips where no man had ever touched, something stirred. Her hips ground purposefully, and in the warm moist darkness beneath her clothing, a tremulous bud stiffened under the secret caresses of her silken thighs. It felt good. Very good.

Katherine held her breath, trying to be quiet as she stared intently at the beautiful man in the seat ahead of her. She focused on the subtle pleasure slowly welling up through her trembling flesh. Her body stiffened, muscles tightening deep within. So natural, so quiet and serene was the bliss which swelled to fill her that Katherine—long accustomed to her body’s intimate responses though she was—would scarcely have considered it a climax. Yet if Karl had chanced to glance back in his mirror at that instant, he would have seen upon her pretty face the most striking expression of innocent, passionate rapture.

In a matter of minutes, as the sun began to sink into the deep green forest on the western horizon, they reached a grassy clearing on a long, slow rise. The tires of the big sedan crunched on a gravel path which ran past great gardens lying drowsy in the golden evening light, across an immaculate lawn, to the stout dark walls of her ancient ancestral home. Katherine stared, pulse pounding. Her home now.

Karl came around and opened her door. He tipped his leather-visored cap. His big hand was warm in hers as he helped her out, and as Katherine straightened, she could not help noticing with some discomfort a dampness in the crotch of her panties. Karl slipped out of her grasp to remove her bags from the trunk. For a moment she watched him.

“Welcome home, miss!” a deep voice called. Katherine turned to the castle’s entrance. An enormous door—great squared-off posts of aged oak, bound with strips of studded iron—stood open on massive hinges. Within the arched stone doorway waited a heavily mustachioed man in an old-fashioned butler’s uniform. “Welcome to Castle Rohmenstadt,” he rumbled, bowing slightly.

“Thank you,” Katherine replied uncertainly.

“I am Vaclav, the butler,” the man said smiling. His great mustache covered his upper lip and obscured the corners of his mouth, but she was able to read the expression in his merrily wrinkled crow’s feet. He was perhaps fifty, she supposed, stout, the hair at his temples streaked with silver. His eyes were cool and gray. Her first thought was that he was very distinguished looking…almost attractive, despite his age. “You have already met Karl, our capable driver and handyman,” he continued. “If you step this way, miss, I shall introduce the rest of our staff.”

Katherine moved to follow Vaclav, but he stepped adroitly aside to let her proceed through the arched stone portal first. Though she tried to direct her attention to the people assembled there inside, she could not help staring in awe at the grandeur of the castle’s great interior. Here the dark stonework was hung with enormous tapestries, ancient scenes of bygone feudalism done in rich colors barely fazed by the passage of time. There in those tapestries peasants planted, harvested, danced joyously beneath the tranquil summer sun of a Europe long past.

Tremendous rough-hewn beams supported the ceiling far above, while polished hardwood lay beneath her feet. Scattered here and there were thick, tasseled rugs, upright suits of armor, and great vases of porcelain or brass. Solid-looking furniture with overstuffed brocaded cushions stood before a blazing fireplace big enough to roast an ox. The dark wood of those ancient couches and chairs was carved ornately, apparently with human figures, but from where she stood, Katherine could not quite make out the details.

The servants—yes, servants, she reminded herself dizzily—waited silently until she was done. Finally, Vaclav cleared his throat indulgently.

“Miss, might I present the castle staff?” Eyes wide, she nodded, and he continued. “Your personal maids, Marie and Celeste.” He gestured to the first two in line, girls surely only Katherine’s age, or perhaps just a little older. Their porcelain faces were clear and smooth, unlined by cares and years…yet Katherine fancied somehow that a secret knowledge seemed to gleam in their big dark eyes. She could not explain the feeling.

They were identical twins, she realized with a start, pale-skinned and very beautiful. Each wore lustrous sable tresses held up with a silky red bow. Their lissome bodies were clad in old-fashioned maids’ attire, short black flouncy skirts and puffy-shouldered tops trimmed in lace. Velvety collars encircled their white throats…while a scooped neckline revealed surprisingly much of the creamy swellings of their pert young breasts.

Blushing at the thought that her great-great uncle had selected such costumes for these delectable morsels, Katherine murmured, “Nice to meet you.”

The chambermaids curtsied, and their deep dark eyes smiled behind thick lashes. “Thank you, mademoiselle,” they chorused with a delightful French accent.

“If you ever feel the need to tell them apart, miss,” Vaclav rumbled, “it is Celeste who has the small scar upon her cheek. A childhood tree-climbing accident.”

Now Katherine smiled, too. “Thank you…Vaclav.”

“Not at all, miss,” the butler replied dryly. “Next, may I present Inge, our excellent cook.” The tall woman was in her early forties, Katherine supposed. Straight shoulder-length golden hair framed a strong-jawed face. Her eyes were clear blue, her nose straight. A simple high-buttoned blouse covered her full bosom, while an ankle-length skirt flowed off her long hips. Though to Katherine the woman was middle-aged, she was still strikingly beautiful, even dignified. Any man would have found her attractive.

“Hello,” said Katherine.

“Miss,” replied the cook warmly, with a faint curtsy.

“And Gregor, our busy groundskeeper,” continued Vaclav, indicating the man last in line. He was probably in his mid-thirties, not very tall, but with purposeful-looking muscles beneath his plain dark jacket. He wore baggy pants and heavy scuffed boots. His short brown hair was unruly.

“Hello,” Katherine said.

“Miss,” the man nodded quietly. His eyes flicked up hesitantly, then went back to the floor almost embarrassedly. She found his quiet, boyish manner somehow intriguing.

“Karl has already seen to your baggage, miss,” Vaclav said. He inclined his massive head slightly toward one of the pair of broad, curving staircases. They led to a wide second-floor landing opening back on a hallway and, apparently, rooms. “What is the mistress’s pleasure? If you are hungry, Inge can prepare whatever you may desire. If at this time of the evening you still feel able to the task, you may have a tour of your castle. If fatigued, you may retire—”