Chronicles of a Maid

Waking up, Lyner was slightly startled to realise that Croix was still lying next to her, his arm wrapped around her body, holding her against his side. And she was using his chest as a pillow, her injured right hand being held gently in his, their joined hands lying against his torso.

She felt a deep blush settle across her cheeks. But it wasn’t really from embarrassment. It felt nice being held like she was, her heart beating quickly to note that Croix didn’t slip out of bed to sneak back into his own room in the middle of the night. Although him lingering in her room may become scandalous should anyone stumble across them, it gladdened her heart that he stayed with her through the night.

And he was still sleeping.

Lifting her head, Lyner took a moment to study his sleeping face. Free of tension, he looked younger, reminding her that while he was indeed the lord of his estate, a duke and the sole carer of his little sister, he was still a young man. Age of 20 years.

Only two years older than she was.

It was kinda sad in a way. He had so much pressure and responsibilities on his shoulders. He already had enough to contend with. He didn’t need to be defending himself from the young ladies of society – every single day. It wasn’t right or fair.

Lyner is pulled from her musings when Croix began to stir. His arms momentarily tightened around her as his eyes flickered open. She wasn’t entire sure what she should do. After all, she had never found herself in such a situation before. However, she found herself smiling gently when Croix turned his head to the side to look at her.

“Good morning,” she said softly.

“Morning,” he murmured in reply. He then did something rather surprising, but not at all unwanted. He leaned down and gathered her lips in a good morning kiss. It was warm and gentle, making Lyner’s heart flutter at the touch.

“What time is it?” Croix asked after he pulled back.

Lyner lifted her head off of his chest to look at the clock sitting on the bedside table. “6.30 am,” she replied, trying to hide her irritation.

Croix groaned as well. “I better get up.”

As Croix shifted to get out of bed, releasing his hold on her, Lyner tried to leave the bed as well. Although unnecessary, she clutched the sheet against her naked body. But as she moved her legs, a streak of pain raced up her left foot and she made a small noise of pain. She quickly remembered that she had sprained her ankle last night and it was still strapped up.

“What is it?” Croix immediately asked her, concern in his voice.

Although with a wince on her face, Lyner tried to smile. “Just my ankle,” she confessed.

A mild look of guilt appeared on his face. Unconcerned of his own nakedness, he made his way over to her side of the bed. He then surprised her again by scooping her up into his arms, effortlessly cradling her against his chest. Lyner felt herself blushing once more as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She didn’t question him, though. She knew that he was worried about her injuries. And, honestly, they were starting to hurt.

Croix carried her into the private bathroom and being cautious of her hand and ankle, he placed her against the porcelain vanity. Wordlessly, he began to wash down her naked body, washing away the evidence of their feverish love-making last night with a moist and warm towel. He was being very tender in his actions. Although they were very intimate in nature, they weren’t sexual in any way.

And, to be honest, it was a rather nice change. Having sex with Croix was amazing; pleasurable and very, very satisfying on a sensual and bodily level. But being tended to was fulfilling on a more spiritual level. She felt cherished and loved. She had always been the caretaker, so she had never felt what it was like to be the one receiver care. It was nice, even if she did feel a light sense of awkwardness.

“You’re going to have today off,” Croix didn’t so much suggest, but ordered as he gently towelled her down.

With her hand tingling with pain, Lyner could only agree. She was right handed, after all. She was pretty useless with regards to her left hand.

He carried back into her bedroom, resting her against the foot of her bed where they could set about getting dressed. Croix quickly pulled on the pants he wore yesterday and last night, tugging on his shirt.

With her maid’s uniform stained with her blood, Lyner wasn’t able to wear that. Instead she dressed herself in an oversize dressed shirt that reached her upper thighs. It wasn’t that long, just covering her butt, hiding her white panties, but it was comfortable and she often wore it in bed as she hated wearing a long nightgown. But that was it. Utterly underdressed, but it wasn’t like she would be going anywhere.

“Stay there,” Croix said as he gathered up the rest of his clothes. “I’ll have the housekeepers to change the sheets on your bed and get you some more pillows.”

“Ok,” Lyner relented. “Make sure you check in on Corona first, though.”

“Sure.”

Not long after Croix left, several housekeepers abruptly appeared in Lyner’s room, all fussing over her, asking if she was alright. Helping her to sit in a chair, they set about removing the sheets from the bed and replacing them with fresh sheets that seemed to have been just pulled from the clothesline. They helped her back to bed, letting her rest against the plush pillows.

Sitting in her room, her ankle propped up on a pillow, was kinda boring. She was used to getting up and working, whether it was cleaning up after others, fixing anything that was broken and simply keeping someone company. He was used to being busy. She wasn’t used to sitting still and doing practically nothing.

Still, she had to admit that it did feel nice to lie about in bed, the windows open to allow a gentle and warm breeze to filter into the room.

Fortunately, Corona had visited her with the surprising (but secretly good) news that Ms Jacqulin had ‘resigned’. After what had transpired last night Ms Jacqulin thought it be best that she left under her own accord. It would prove disastrous to her reputation should she, the respected widow that she was, would be fired. Although there was a chance that she could spread heinous gossip about Croix being a tyrannical employer or that he was scandalizing with his maid, it would be prove difficult to prove. Especially since that night she resigned three untrustworthy men were arrested with the charge of trespassing, causing bodily harm and the conspiracy of kidnapping.

Anyway, with Corona’s visit, she brought some books for her to read, something to take Lyner’s mind off her injuries and pass the time. Most of the books that Corona had chosen for her, though, happened to be romance fiction. Lyner had no interest in reading romance books. She found them to be ludicrous and in some cases, insulting. Her sisters loved them, though, so in order to understand their passion for these books, she decided to read one.

She quickly found herself rolling her eyes and fighting the urge to throw the book out the window. The heroine was simply too stupid to live and the hero was aloof and cold. Nothing appealing or interesting about either character.

The hero of the book was nothing like Croix. The author of the book pretty much states that the only thing good about the hero was that he had a title, and that was the reason the heroine fell in love with him. To Lyner, that was utterly insulting. To her, titles meant nothing. It was the man behind the title that did. He was a person, with dreams and desires of his own.

And there was nothing wrong with that!

Besides his title, he was handsome, loving, sensual, caring, talented and loyal! Croix would be easy to fall in love with.

Wait…what did she mean fall in love with? How would she know? She had never fallen in love with anyone before.

…Crap. Could she have fallen for Croix?

Tears began to prick at her eyes, the realisation that she was indeed in love with Croix hitting her pretty hard. She fell back against the pillows and rolled over onto her side, wrapping her arms around a pillow.

It wasn’t what she planned. She didn’t plan on falling in love. Initially, she had become his maid so that she could get financial support for her sisters while their father was recovering from his illness. Then she became his mistress as it would help him keep away from any of those title-grabbing ladies of the ton who would like nothing more than to court him into scandal.

But thinking back on it now, she was doomed from the start. Croix had been a gentleman in every way. He granted her a job, which he had no obligation to do. He was noble, honourable and intelligent. He was a talented businessman and a great provider for his younger sister. Corona was also adorable; she treated her as her own sister. And the staff which Croix surrounded himself with were trustworthy and patient.

In all honesty, it was little wonder she fell in love with him in the first place. She probably had been in love with him for a long time but didn’t know it. Lyner had always knew she was an airhead (everyone keeps telling her she was, at the very least), but could she have had been that airy that she didn’t know she was in love?

Could she tell him? Should she tell him that she was in love with him?

No, she couldn’t. Although Croix was a true gentleman, he was constantly harassed by marriage-minded ladies and their mothers. He was leery of the world of love and romance.

So…what should she do? Nothing but continuing to be as useful to Croix as much as possible, keeping her feelings for him to herself. Being useful was going to be easy. Hiding her love for him was going to be difficult, especially now that she was completely aware of it.

Burying her face into the pillow, Lyner fell into a fitful sleep.

She awoke a few hours later, feeling rather drowsy and surprisingly exhausted. She rolled over in bed, her head throbbing slightly. She tugged at the sheets that were pulled up over her shoulders, but she then paused. When did she crawl under the blankets? And where were all those books gone?

“Ah, so you’re awake.”

Startled, Lyner turned to face the direction of the voice and found that Croix was sitting in a chair beside her bed. He had a pair of glasses sitting on the bridge of his noise and a book in his hands.

“Croix?” she practically squeaked. “How long have you been here?”

“A while,” he answered as he closed the book and pulled the glasses from his eyes. “I came to check up on you and found you asleep.”

“Oh,” Lyner uttered, somewhat embarrassed, quickly realising that he must have been the one to tuck her into bed and removed the books. “I’m not used to lounging around, so I guess I fell asleep because I was bored.”

However, Croix looked slightly sceptical. “You were crying.”

Lyner flushed as she flailed for a moment. What could she say in response to that? He had been crying, after all.

“Why?”

Lyner fidgeted with the hem of the bed sheet with her fingers. “Honestly, I don’t really know,” she admitted softly, a strange sense of sadness and desperation washing over her. “I guess I was just…worried. I just want to continue to be useful to you. But with my hand and foot…I am useful, right? I’m not being a burden, am I?”

Croix sighed as he stood up from his chair, placing the book and glasses on the seat. He approached the bed and sat down next to her. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he pulled her against his chest and onto his lap. He held her tightly in his arms and pulled her into a kiss. His mouth closed over hers, his tongue slipping past her lips to caress every inch of his mouth.

Lyner made a small noise of surprise, but she soon closed her eyes and began to kiss back. The kiss was deep and passionate, yet it was also attentive and loving.

“There’s more to you than being a maid,” Croix whispered against her lips.

He then lowered her onto the bed, still kissing her deeply, his body covering hers. Lyner clung to him, her injured hand caressing the side of his face as her other hand grasped at the material of his shirt on his back. She felt tears prick at her eyes again, but they weren’t entirely due to sadness.

While he didn’t make love to her that day, she felt loved nonetheless. She was his mistress. She saw a side of him that no other woman probably ever would. A side that a lady of society would never, ever see.

And, for the most part, that made her happy.