Billionaire Erotic Romance Boxed Set: 7 Steamy Full-Length Novels (90 page)

There were at least five different bedrooms, not including mine or Victor’s, but it would hardly surprise me if there were more hidden away. I also stumbled upon what looked like a personal movie theater: A giant flat screen TV screen filled half the hall, and in front of the TV were four rows of chairs, enough to hold sixteen people. The floor gradually tilted upward into a slope so that no matter where someone sat, they would still be able to see the screen.  Each guestroom that I cleaned had huge TVs as well as a stunning view of Victor’s estate. I vaguely wondered why my room lacked a TV when it suddenly became clear to me.

I was to be getting my entertainment elsewhere. I couldn’t help but smile.

When I had finally finished cleaning, I wheeled the vacuum back to the small cupboard as Karen had instructed me. Still not feeling too comfortable in my small pumps, I tripped, sending the vacuum out in front of me as I tried to keep myself from falling on the floor. The vacuum subsequently hit a small table that was holding a vase, causing the vase to rock precariously
.
I panicked. Thinking it would crash into pieces on the tiled floor, I jumped up, causing one shoe to fly clear across the room. I placed my hands to steady the vase, letting out a breath of relief that nothing disastrous had happened.

That was when I felt the searing pain in my ankle. Oh, damn it all.

“Are you all right?” I snapped my head up as Karen bustled in with her cleaning supplies. “Did you finish vacuuming?”

“Yes,” I said through gritted teeth. “It almost cost me my life, I think.”

Karen looked confused. Then she noticed my shoe on the other side of the room. “What in the world happened to you?”

“I think I hurt my ankle trying to save that vase over there.” I rubbed my leg. It was probably going to start swelling in a matter of minutes.

“Oh, dear.” Karen dropped her supplies and ran over to me. “Can you walk?”

I gingerly put weight on my leg. It felt like fire. I didn’t want to tell her that, though. It was embarrassing to screw up so much on my first day. “I’ll be fine.”

She must’ve seen me wince. “Follow me into the kitchen and I’ll help you take care of it.” As I limped after her, I could hear her mumbling. “This is my entire fault. I should’ve watched over you, this being your first time and all.”

I couldn’t let her have that. “It’s not your fault. I’m completely capable of cleaning. I guess I just get kind of clumsy sometimes. I’ll try harder, I promise.”

Karen gave me a kind smile. “You’re doing great,” she told me. Then she gave me a wink. “I won’t tell Mr. Draper about the vase.”

“What about my leg? I’m worried he’ll be angry with me.”

“You tripped, is all. You can hardly fault anyone for tripping. Everyone does it at some point in their lives.”

Her words comforted me. When we got to the kitchen she had me sit at the table as she went to fetch something to ice my ankle with. “You must’ve sprained it a bit,” she told me as I pressed a bag of frozen peas against the swelling. “Hopefully it won’t be too bad. I can finish up the rest of your chores for you while you go upstairs to rest. Let me know if it gets any better.”

I hobbled up the stairs back towards my room. I cleaned practically every room in the house before my little fiasco, all except Victor’s bedroom. I stared at the closed door curiously before I walked next door to my
room. Was he annoyed with me? Was he thinking twice about having me live here?

The events of the day left me exhausted, and as I stared at my fluffy, four-poster bed, I wanted nothing more than to sink into it. I was told, however, that I could take a quick bath before coming back downstairs to help prepare dinner for Victor. That was, if my ankle didn’t pain me too much.

I noticed that Victor’s jacket was gone from the spot on the edge of the bed where I had put it the night before. However, something else on my desk caught my eye, and as I walked over to it I noticed a white envelope. Four letters were written neatly on the front, but try as I might, I was not able to read it. I broke the seal on the back and opened the envelope. Inside was a beautiful pin made from silver and ivory that was in the shape of a small bird with its wings outstretched. Tears formed in my eyes as I traced my fingers over the intricate carvings of the ivory. Was this from Victor? Have I ever been given something so pretty?

I put the little pin back on the table and walked into the bathroom. I turned on the hot water in my bath, and as I waited for the water to fill, I looked outside the four windows that bordered alongside the tub. The view was of the backside of the mansion, where the pasture for the horses extended. Further beyond the pasture were rolling hills covered with vineyards. Movement to the right caught my eye. I leaned closer to the window and watched as a man wearing an English-style riding helmet and a bright red outfit rode a beautiful, black horse back towards the stables. Is that where he has been all day? Riding around his estate on his horse? I noticed Oscar outside next to the stables, ready to help Victor dismount. They exchanged a few words together and Victor threw his head back and laughed.

Well, he seems like a totally a different person than he was earlier today, I mused. I suddenly wanted to know what his laugh sounded like. What were the things in life that he found amusing?

I took off my clothes and stepped into the steaming hot bathtub. My body was aching from all of the activity of the day, and the feel of the hot water on my sore ankle felt heavenly. There were a few interesting knobs and buttons next to the tub’s faucet, and I pressed one at random, curious to see what it would do. I jumped as bubbles started forming out of the sides of the tub, one directly underneath me.

Oh, okay. This actually feels really, really good.
I rested my head on the tile counter behind me and closed my eyes, relishing in my short moment of relaxation. I could definitely get used to this. A bar of soap had been placed on the side of the tub, and I quickly lathered it up in my hands. It smelled faintly of lavender, and somehow it invoked some sort of feeling of nostalgia, like it held another link to my missing past.

After a few minutes of soaking quietly in the tub, I could hear the faint sound of footsteps just outside the hall, and then the opening and closing of a door. Victor must be back from the stables. I got up and grabbed a towel, wrapping it tightly around my wet body as I limped over to the wall we shared. I pressed my ear against it, listening to the sound of water rushing down a shower head. I imagined him taking off his fancy riding clothes, and I wondered what his body looked like completely naked. Was he muscular? Skinny? Was he really that big down there, or had I only imagined it? Did he have a nice ass?

I stuck my hand in my mouth to keep from laughing as I stepped away from the wall. I could stand there and imagine the finer points of Victor Draper, but I was almost certain Karen was downstairs wondering where the heck I was.

After I had dried off and slipped back into my work clothes, I found Karen in the dining room setting up a long, narrow table for a dinner party Victor was to host later that night. “How does your ankle feel?” she asked as she noticed me walking in.

“It feels much better after the bath I took. I don’t think I sprained it too bad. I won’t need crutches or anything.”

“Well, that’s good to hear.  Take it easy for a few days though, all right?”

“I will.” I took the envelope that contained the bird pin I found on my desk from my breast pocket and showed her the handwriting. “Can I ask you a question, Karen?” I asked hesitantly.

“Of course.”

“What does this say?” I held out the envelope, still a bit embarrassed that I wasn’t able to read anything. I wanted to fix that as soon as possible.

The maid looked down at it and smiled. “That’s Mr. Draper’s handwriting. It says Dove,” she replied as she continued setting down expensive antique-looking dinner plates.

“Dove,” I repeated, looking down at the bird above my breast. I had pinned it there after I had gotten dressed.

“It must be your name now, if you don’t mind.”

I looked at the letters on the envelope, mouthing the name silently. It was a pretty name, and it made me happy to have something to identify myself with. It seemed the emptiness within me was slowly beginning to fill with each passing day.

“You can help me set up the table. Don’t look too panicked; I’ll show you how.” Karen grabbed a small fork and spoon. These ones go closest to the plates like this.” She demonstrated for me, setting the utensils next to the dinner plates. “The larger ones go on the outside, like so.”

I furrowed my eyebrows in concentration as I started to set silverware on the table, trying to remember the correct order Karen instructed me. “I met Victor today,” I told her. I stared down at the forks and knives, blushing at the memory of our time in the parlor, of his cock sliding in and out of my dripping wet pussy. “He’s not like anyone I met before, that’s for sure. He likes rules, doesn’t he?”

Karen glanced behind her as though to make sure Victor wouldn’t walk in before she spoke. “He likes rules, yes, but it’s more about staying in control. Having strict rules helps him maintain that control in his life.” She began to set intricately folded napkins down on the table. “He does have a kind heart, although it may seem like he doesn’t want to show it often.”

I wonder why? I thought about that for a moment before remembering my task at hand. “Damn it, I can’t remember what goes where,” I swore, and then cursed again inwardly. I was glad Victor wasn’t there to hear me. “Ugh, I’m having a hard time with this whole ‘manners and decorum’ thing. I’m so used to not caring what other people thought about the way I act; when I was living on the streets I was too busy worrying about food and finding someplace warm.” I dropped a fork on the ground and crouched down on my hands and knees to retrieve it.  “And it’s not even the swearing I’m worried about. I’m constantly bumping into things and tripping over my feet in these shoes.”

Karen smiled at me and gave me a reassuring pat on the back. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you out as best I can. Forks go to the left of the plate, knives and spoons go to the right. An easy way to remember the order is that the silverware for the first course is the closest to the plate. The last course is the furthest away. Chin up, it’ll only get easier. I was a bumbling fool the first few months I worked here.”

I nodded, making a mental note of everything she told me. It seemed simple enough, and after a while I got the hang of it, and when Betty walked through the dining room, she congratulated me on a job well done. I flushed with pleasure. I really enjoyed being with these two older women; there was a certain peaceful quality about them that I gravitated towards. Talking to them and laughing with them made me believe that everything in my life would turn out okay.

“Here,” Karen said, handing me a huge pile of dark red cloth napkins. “Let’s sit in the kitchen while Betty finishes up dinner and I can show you how to fold the napkins.”

As I nibbled on a freshly baked blueberry muffin while practicing folding napkins at the kitchen table I decided to ask Karen a few questions. “You said you’ve known Victor since he was little?”

The question made Karen smile at the memory. “My husband used to work for Mr. Draper’s father when Mr. Draper was only a toddler. When my husband died unexpectedly, Mr. Draper’s father took me in and hired me to do housekeeping duties for his family. I’ve been here ever since, and so eternally grateful for this family. Since his father passed away, Mr. Draper has treated us very well.”

“Betty and Oscar have been living here for that long too?”

“Betty has been here a few years longer than I have. Mr. Draper hired Oscar as a butler a few years back. Both are absolutely wonderful people, don’t you think?”

I nodded my agreement.

As I was walking back to my room after getting everything set up for the dinner party, I noticed a pad of paper on the credenza in the hallway. I walked over to it and picked up the pencil sitting next to it. Without really thinking, I started sketching on the small square of paper. The first picture I drew was that of a horse, similar to the one Victor was riding earlier that evening. However, I wasn’t too happy with the way it was turning out, so I quickly tore the paper off the pad and crumbled it up, slipping it into my pocket. I started a new sketch which quickly began to form a face; guarded eyes, stern, yet gentle lips. I was drawing Victor as I remembered him earlier that day in the parlor. I touched my own lips as I looked at the drawing, wondering how it would feel to be kissed by him. I started to get that fluttery feeling in my stomach at the thought of his lips pressed against mine, of his body touching mine...

“Dove! I still need you down here!” My little daydream was interrupted by Betty calling my name. I jumped and rushed back down the stairs to answer her, leaving the sketch forgotten where it was.

Chapter Five

I had been at the mansion for only a few days, and I was already becoming used to my role within the household. At least, my role as a housemaid was becoming easier to get used to; the other part of my contract seemed to have been put on a standstill since that afternoon in the parlor. Victor rarely made an appearance, and I assumed that he was caught up with his work. I would catch his attention only briefly at meals I would set up for him, or when we passed by each other in the halls. He would only nod at me and leave it at that. It was a bit disappointing, since I half expected him to pull me into his room or mine to have his way with me like he did in the parlor.

It was like that day in the parlor never even happened.

The dove pinned to my blouse told me otherwise, and sometimes when I was in the middle of cleaning I would stop to look down at it, wishing I knew more about the man who had given it to me.

I decided to take matters into my own hands. After my shift was over at five p.m., I changed into more comfortable clothes—dark slacks and a tight fitting long-sleeved shirt, and I marched outside and over to the stables, hoping to find Victor in there with the horses. Instead I only found Oscar, brushing the shiny coat of the black horse I would always see Victor riding.