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“Ms. Fisher? Will be you be accompanying me, then?” Audrey shook herself from her haunted, surprised reverie and nodded anxiously.
“O-of course, sir, I’ll— I’m sorry, just give me a moment to catch my breath,” she gasped, her cheeks bright red. She obsessively smoothed out her white skirt, bringing a small, seductive chuckle to Lord Parris’s lips.
“Catch your breath? Have I already stolen it away form you?” Lord Parris growled. He beckoned her on behind him with a curl of his fingers, and she followed; on the way through the door, Audrey caught a fleeting glimpse of Ana, shocked, in her chair; she pulled her gaze to Audrey’s face just long enough to glare with vitriol in every crevice of her expression. Audrey tiptoed nervously through the door, fearful of how Ana might treat her because of this.
“Are you two getting along quite well?” Lord Parris asked unexpectedly while he and Audrey climbed the grand staircase; Audrey murmured a string of stunned syllables before piecing words together.
“I, uhm— I’m...” she giggled, blushing. “I don’t think... Ms. Rancourt likes me all too much, sir.”
“Ana has a tendency to grow jealous,” he admitted. “She’s protective of me, you see.”
“Pr-protective? Of you?” Audrey queried, her curiosity getting the better of her.
“Of course. All my house staff tends to be,” he answered, full of gaiety. “Ana simply sees the relationship as... well, as more personal.”
“Why is that?” Audrey fired back quickly, wanting to hear this right from her employer’s mouth.
“Well, because she and I have been close,” he admitted brazenly. “But I’m not interested in her tonight,” he growled, as they reached the door to his bedchamber.
“My... my lord,” Audrey responded, not expecting that sort of an answer; one so bold. “I... I came to the McClellan estate to clean,” she warned.
“Isn’t that what I requested of you, sweet Audrey?” he hummed. He immediately stole away her breath as she entered his bedchamber - a place she had not yet been allowed to enter. Maroon fleur-de-lis wallpaper trimmed in gold plastered the wall, bordered with spotless oak paneling; a bed larger than any Audrey had ever dreamed of seeing sat before an intricately-carved headboard, a golden canopy hanging overhead, translucent gold curtains twisting in the cool breeze from his opened, floor-to-ceiling windows, giving a flawless view of the sun setting over the moors. Heedless he strode across woven rugs straight from Persia, basking in the falling sun; he shrugged his blazer from his shoulders, laying it across the elegant chair set before his maple writing desk. As Audrey crept carefully in behind him, her slippers sliding along the rug, the duke unbuttoned his silky white shirt, pulling it off of his muscled body and laying it over the chair as well. Audrey sucked in a quick breath, averting her eyes.
“M-M’lord,” she murmured, startled. “Sh-should I be seeing you quite... like this? It seems i-inappropriate,” Audrey insisted with a nervous laugh, eying the gallery of expensive paintings draped along the walls; framed in gold-painted wood, beautifully-crafted landscapes glowed in the rich orange of the sunset.
“Have you never seen a man without his shirt on before, Ms. Fisher?” Lord Parris teased, ever-confident. “Perhaps you haven’t... scandalous, isn’t it?”
“M’lord, I... I just...” Audrey held back from looking. Her aunt, and Agatha, had warned her about Lord Parris. She swallowed hard, resisting all alluring temptation in his hotly rumbling voice. She heard footsteps, soft against the carpet, her breath quivering. “I had hoped to get this cl... cleaning done, before night fell. So that I wouldn’t disturb your sleep.”
“I’d very much like to disturb your sleep,” he cooed, approaching closer, and she simply couldn’t keep her eyes away any longer. She felt so scandalous, so wrong, taking a peek at her employer’s shirtless body - his abs rippled in the dying sun, every cut of his firm, strong body calling out to her, making her blush brighter; making her body shake in a want she didn’t even know existed.
“I-I say... I said, disturb your sleep,” she tried to clarify, babbling weakly.
“We can disturb one another’s sleep,” he purred. She heard him push the door shut... the handle clicking firmly shut. Her breath trembled hard. She knew she needed to steady herself; to cool the fiery burning deep in her chest.
“L... Lord Parris, this...” she swallowed hard. “D-do you do this with all of your maidservants?” she stammered, indignant. “I... Ana, she... you, and... I don’t find it a-appropriate at all. A... a girl, like me, has her place, and you, you have your place...”
“Your place is here, and I know you feel it,” he whispered into her ear, and his breath burned so hot on her skin that her spine shivered against her will. He stood behind her now, lips looming so close to her neck. Audrey looked away again, but she couldn’t still her breaths, picking up steam like a runaway carriage rumbling down a hill.
“My place is in the maid’s chambers,” Audrey said, her voice failing in its attempts at remaining resolute. “I d... Lord Parris, I dare not criticize your lifestyle, but it’s... it can’t include me.”
“Why do you try to deny what I know you’re feeling here?” His arm wrapped around and pressed against her heart, and sure as she could feel it throbbing in her chest, so could he. She gasped, but she didn’t pull away; no, she couldn’t, not with how good it felt for the duke’s strong hand to touch her. “You’re different, Audrey,” he whispered; she could feel his adoring lips nibbling at her earlobe, cresting down the side of her face, until he showered her neck with delicious, erotic praise. She could fight the feeling no more, falling back against his chest, moaning a soft puff of a moan as splashes of sunlit orange spread across her white linen blouse.
“N... this is... the duchess, and Ana, they’ll kill me if they knew, m’lord,” she protested. “My Aunt... Agatha, they...” she didn’t want him to stop. Every inch of her body quaked in choking need to feel him, but her mind just couldn’t say yes. Finally, she felt his lips on her cheek, spreading lusty warmth across her milky skin, and with her eyes held shut, and her body trembling and begging for her to give in, her muscles stiffened and she shouted.
“No!” she exclaimed. She didn’t want to say it. Every muscle, burning now in desire, begged her not to. But she couldn’t let down her aunt. She couldn’t dare to cross the duchess - or to cross Ana. She had a duty to perform... and as much as she hated feeling so obligated to duty, she dared not bring scandal down on her name or her family. Or worse yet - entangle the duke in a scandal of his own. Lord Parris’s hands lingered, feeling her body tremble, before he withdrew. They breathed hot and heavy together, their li
ps lingering so close.
Though she stood firm, she couldn’t retreat yet... not completely. Their lips met, and the fire of passion as they kissed filled her with something her virginal body had never felt; a warmth reaching down into her stomach, her entire body blushing as they shared a tender, tense, and powerful moment of entwined desire together. He gazed into her eyes as their kiss ended; she did the same. It felt so good for her to be in his arms, so good that she never wanted to give it up.
“That’ll be all, then, Ms. Fisher,” Lord Parris murmured, straightening his stance; leaving her so painfully devoid of his strength, and his warmth. She tidied herself, legs squirming as to contain the desire within.
“I... th-thank you, m’lord,” she murmured with a curtsy. Their gazes lingered for a long, long while - full of disdain, and doubt - and something feral, something real.
“Good night, Ms. Fisher,” he growled.
“G... good night,” she responded, still shaken - and, for the first time in so long, feeling so alive.
