On Fire and Thin Ice Ch. 01

-----

Lord Christopher was a successful businessman with a strong will, knowing exactly what to do to make his family fortune grow every year. Even though he was tough in business, he was well liked by many. People valued him for his honesty and loyalty, that he could be trusted no matter what. During the nightly talks Emily learned that there was more to this man than he let on to believe. He wasn't just stubborn, a businessman or a lord of the mansion.

A friendship started to blossom during the frank discussions and as time progressed Emily found herself drawn in by his charming ways more and more. She always hoped for sleepless nights or bumping into him during her workdays. Up in the privacy of her small attic room she would fantasize and dream about what it would be like if he had similar feelings for her. But no matter how amazing it all seemed, she knew very well she didn't stand a chance with him. She wasn't from any upper-class family and just a servant with no status whatsoever.

Then one night Emily was tossing and turning in her bed, the sheets wet from sweat. It was like she had gone back in time, reliving the fire in the bakery. Flames closing in on her and no matter where she looked, there was no escape. She started calling out for help, searching for her parents. All of a sudden a hand grabbed her shoulder, just like it had happened before. This time it wasn't the hand of Nicholas though, nor was it her father's. It was Christopher shaking her shoulder and calling out her name, "Emily, wake up..Wake up, it's just a dream!"

Emily sat up, panting and somewhat out of breath, realising she was in her bed and there was no fire. She looked into the warm reassuring eyes of Christopher, who was sitting on the edge of her bed. The dream seemed so real and had startled her. It made her entire body shiver and shake. "It was the fire, wasn't it?" he asked her in a soft whisper. All she could do was nod her head as she fought back tears. His hand moved up, gently pushing back the lock of copper blonde hair that was covering her face. Noticing her eyes were watering he leaned in further, slowly wrapping his arms around her and without thinking he pulled her close against his chest.

For the first time in a long time she felt so safe and couldn´t help but to let her tears flow freely now. All he could do was carefully hold her and tell her it was alright, that it all had been a dream. Deep down inside he knew very well that was an actual lie. The nightmares were just dreams, but they remembered her of the true events that had taken place in her past. The same way his nightmares had haunted him for nights.

They sat like that for minutes, his hand slowly stroking up and down her back as she silently wept. His warmth radiating through his shirt, relaxing her eventually. He noticed her breathing calming down and slowly pulled back to look at her face. A soft smile was now showing on her face and he returned it, knowing she had realised she was safe and sound now. Emily stared into his dark brown eyes, feeling a burning sensation inside her grow. The desire she had felt before when daydreaming was there when he had hugged her. Yearning for his touch every time they talked and shared their stories and now he had reached out to her in the middle of the night. It felt like he had saved her from the nightmare. Before she knew what she was doing she leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his lips, immediately regretting it as she pulled back. Emily felt her cheeks blushing bright red and she turned her head away in shame, whispering softly, "I'm sorry about that."

Christopher looked at her in shock over what just happened, unsure of how to react. He placed his hand on her shoulder, gently pulling it so she would face him again. With a friendly smile he nodded his head, "Don't be sorry. We're just better off not doing that again.". After that he stood up and walked to the door, just before leaving he turned to her again, "Sweet dreams, Emily." She replied with a soft, "Good night," before hiding herself under the covers in shame. In the days that followed she tried her best to avoid the lord while working in the mansion.

The business trip he had to make came as a good escape and Emily felt like she could relax again the three days he was away. When he returned it seemed like he had forgotten about the incident and everything returned to normal. A few nights Emily had woken up, sitting in the kitchen waiting and hoping she wouldn´t be the only one awake. But Christopher didn´t show up, making Emily feel guilty and stupid for what had before.

Then one day after Emily had been changing bed sheets for what seemed like hours, she entered her attic room to sit down for a bit and enjoy the silence. As she let herself fall to the bed her eye fell on a folded piece of paper on her small desk in the corner of the room. She immediately sat up and reached for it, noticing her name on it. She sat back and opened the note, seeing the handwriting she knew instantly who had written it. Biting her lip in anticipation she read it.

`Emily,

We need to talk about that night.

Leave your door unlocked if we can talk during the night.´

There was no name at the bottom but the words were enough to convince her she was right about the sender. The last line had puzzled her for a bit. She never locked her door during the night. A remnant of her fear of fires, scared it would happen again and she wouldn´t be able to get out in time. He knew she didn´t lock it. He was able to wake her from her nightmare because the door was unlocked. It was like he was giving her a chance to avoid the talk. If she decided she didn´t want to talk, all she had to do was simply lock the door for one night and he would understand. She didn´t have to think long about what to do and left her door unlocked that evening.

The mansion went quiet and Emily lay awake for hours, waiting for him to knock on her door. But as time passed she started to struggle to keep her eyes open and eventually fell asleep. It was in the early morning hours, the birds were already twittering, as a soft knock on the door was followed by the handle being jiggled. The door was opened with a creaking noise and then closed again. `Emily..are you awake?" a soft whispering male voice asked. A hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her until she opened her eyes. She smiled looking into his dark eyes and whispered a soft, "Good...morning Christopher", having to think about the time for a moment. "Good morning," he replied, returning the same friendly smile as always.

It was like all of a sudden she realised what was going on and she sat up straight, trying to brush her long fiery red hair with her fingers. He softly chuckled about this, shaking his head lightly. "Don't worry, you look fine," he said while adding a wink to his words. Emily felt her cheeks slightly blushing at his words and turned her head away for a moment. "We need to talk, Emily. I've been thinking about the other night a lot lately," Christopher started. Emily immediately cut in, "I'm sorry about it, it won't happen again. It was the nightmare messing with my mind." He hushed her, shaking his head, "No... that's not what I want to hear," he said, a little hesitant about picking the right words to say. "It was...something that was bound to happen. I've seen how you started opening up to me during our talks and I really appreciate the fact that we could share our..well, you know...but," He stopped for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts as he started walking up and down the room.

Emily felt something bad was coming, like she was getting cornered by his words and she slightly started to panic. A sense of anger started to grow inside her. What was he trying to do? She already apologised for what had happened and felt bad about it for days. Was he going to make more demands now? Was he going to send her away? He couldn't do that, where was she supposed to go? Thoughts started racing in her mind while he quietly paced up and down the room. All of a sudden she threw back the sheets and stood up from her bed, "You had no right to be in my bed room that night!" she spoke in anger, struggling to keep herself from screaming in fear of waking people. She crossed her arms in front of her and adjusted her cream coloured nightgown. The thin material hugging her figure and barely thick enough to cover her pale skin.

Christopher looked up, slightly confused at her anger and stepped closer towards her, reaching out a hand. She lashed out and pushed his hand away before he could touch her. "Don't touch me!" she hissed, biting her lip in frustration. He ignored her words and came even closer, carefully resting his strong hands on her shoulders and pulling her towards him. "Shush now," he hushed her, wanting for her to calm down and just listen to what he wanted to say.

"Please Emily, just listen for a moment. I'm not angry or anything." He leaned back, bowing his head slightly to look into her eyes and giving her a friendly smile. "Let's sit down for a moment," Christopher said while pulling her down on the bed next to him. Emily quietly sat down, a little frown on her face from being shushed, and took a deep breath to calm down.

"That's better," he started, the same friendly smile on his face, "Listen...that night...I was, well..I couldn't sleep and hoped you were awake so we could talk." Emily didn't look at him, keeping her eyes focused on her folded hands in her lap. "I had knocked on your door, but when you didn't answer decided to return to my room, until I heard you call out."

He noticed her staring down and carefully reached for her hand. Emily gasped softly, biting her lip as his fingers gently pulled her fingers apart and pulled her hand onto his lap. "I was awake because I had been dreaming as well," he spoke in a soft voice, "It was about that day again, doctors all over the mansion."

Emily knew he had dreams and nightmares about that one day quite often. More than once before he had told her about it during their talks and she understood so well how much the past could haunt during sleep. Emily looked at him, trying to show sympathy in her eyes as she nodded her head slowly.

"It was different this time," he continued, "This time I lost someone else.." He looked at her but she didn't understand what he meant. "You Emily, it was you I lost," the words came out in a whisper, his voice breaking. Letting go of her hand he stood up, turning away from her. "I woke up, feeling so confused and had to see you. Then..then you kissed me. It just...it just..." He didn't finish his sentence, shaking his head slowly while he turned back to her. Emily knew what he meant, it had all confused him. The dream messing with his head and when he was looking for comfort and someone to settle his mind, she only made it worse by kissing him.

"I'm sorry about it," she replied, getting up from the bed and stepping closer to him. There was tension in the room, the distance between them like clouds before a thunderstorm. He slowly raised his hand up to her face, gently cupping her cheek. "No, there is nothing you need to be sorry for," he smiled, "It's just...I felt so confused from the dream and so...sad." He looked into her eyes, gently rubbing his fingertips over her skin. It felt like her skin was on fire, his warm hand radiating on her cheek.

She could feel her knees getting weak, the lord of the house standing in front of her in the early morning, in her room. He shouldn't be there, not talking to her like this and definitely not touching her. Opening her mouth, she was thinking what to say, hoping the words would come. But her mind was blank, unable to speak she just stood there, looking at him, listening to his words.

"I couldn't handle losing you, Emily. Our talks mean so much to me," He said, shaking his head while saying it and changing his words, "You mean so much to me." She could feel her cheeks blushing bright red, starting to doubt if she heard it right. She had felt rejected by him that night, making a fool out of herself, and now he was confessing his feelings to her. Christopher could see the doubt in her eyes and wanted to make sure that she understood what he was trying to say.

"I....I.." He tried, in a breathless whisper, his breathing shallow and fast all of a sudden. His eyes locked with hers as he pulled her even closer towards him. No words came to him so he did the only thing that was on his mind, the thing he'd been wanting to do for a long time. Leaning in he closed his eyes and planted a soft kiss on her lips. "There," he said while leaning back again, a small smirk on his face.

Emily just stood there, dumbstruck and staring at him while raising an eyebrow. Had he really just kissed her? "Did you...did you just kiss me?" she asked him, not really interested in the answer. He laughed at her rhetorical question while reaching his arms around her, pulling her close against his chest. "Listen, Emily," He said, his serious voice making her look up to his face in shock. Smiling back at her, he tried to calm her again, "I shouldn't be here, telling you all this. But I've grown so fond of you Emily. I value you as a friend...as a..". Christopher didn't finish his sentence, looking into her brown eyes, all he could think of doing was to kiss her again. Leaning down slowly, he pushed his soft lips against hers. Both their eyes closed, taking in what was happening. Their bodies pressed up against each other as the kiss slowly grew deeper and more passionate. Both knowing this wasn't supposed to happen between them, but at the same time both convinced that this was inevitable.

His lips were burning on hers, she felt like she was nailed to the floor. Unable to move as he slowly raised his hand, placing it on the back of her neck and pulling her close against his chest. A small gasp escaped her lips as his tongue pressed against them, begging for entry to her mouth. Her knees trembling and her legs shaky as their kiss deepened. Two tongues starting a dance, struggling for dominance between their lips. Her head started spinning and Emily felt like she was going to lose her balance any moment now. Just before she would have stumbled over her own feet, his strong arms wrapped around her middle and slowly lifted her up in his arms.

He had placed her on her bed, sensing that the kiss had made her somewhat wobbly on her feet. Emily was convinced that would have been it for the night. A passionate kiss between them that nobody could know about even though it made her feel like shouting from the rooftops. But as she laid her head on her pillow, taking a deep breath to make the room stop spinning, he sat down next to her. Before she could realise what was happening his arms were around her again. Lying down next to her, he pulled her up against his body. Cuddled up like that they talked again, like those nights before, but for the first time being so close together while chatting.

The warmth of his body radiating through the thin fabric of her night gown, making her feel like her skin was on fire.