Maid for a Duke (A Christmas Novella)

Chapter 6

December 20th

When Katherine regained consciousness, she felt a throbbing pain in her head. She also seemed to be surrounded by warmth. When she opened her eyes, she saw a hard chest in front of her. Large arms seemed to be holding her and she heard the sound of light snoring.

Panic set in and she jumped out of the unknown embrace and looked around. She was in the cabin. She remembers the cabin. She looked to the man on the floor. Elijah

He groaned as he tried to sit up. There fresh blood seeping from his wound.

"What happened?" She asked nervously. "Why aren't you wearing a shirt? And why were we..."

He tried to catch his breath as he strained to get in sitting position. "You want to know what happened, Kitten? You snuck out of the back door to get wood. You must have gotten turned around and slipped. You hit your head and passed out." His expression got serious as he continued, "I had to carry you back in here. I was able to get some wood for the fire, but you were ice cold. You needed warmth. That's why we were laying like that."

He let out a long breath and put his hand to his wound as if he were in pain. "I promise nothing dishonest happened. My shirt is off because it got soaked in blood from my wound."

She listened to what he said and memories from the incident flashed through her mind. He was telling the truth. "I'm sorry. I just--"

When she trailed off, he said, "Don't apologize. I understand your alarm."

She remained quiet for a moment before something he said dawned on her. "Did you call me Kitten?"

He let out a low chuckle. "It fits you perfectly. I couldn't believe you snuck out of here without me hearing you. Just like a kitten."

She never liked nicknames. Her sisters tried calling her Kat for a long while and she hated it. For some reason, when he said Kitten, she got a shiver.

Ignoring the unknown feelings, she stepped closer to examine his wound. "This is my fault. I apologize that your wound tore open. Let me get something."

She went to get up and he caught her wrist. "My wound will be fine. Can you just sit down and rest for a moment? You were injured also."

She took his advice and sat next to him on the blanket. This is all just too much, she thought.

"You shouldn't cover your hair."

She frowned with confusion. "Excuse me?" Surely, she hadn't heard him right.

"You must have lost your bonnet outside." He gazed at her hair and started reaching out towards it. "May I?"

She nodded her head nervously. No male has ever touched her hair. She wasn't sure how she felt about allowing this one. But she seemed unable to say no.

He ran his fingers through her long red curls, and she felt her eyes closed slowly. That feels very nice.

"Like I said, you should always wear your hair down. It makes you even more beautiful."

As if sensing her unease, he dropped his hand.

"This was not how I expected these few days to go," she said with a laugh.

"Me either," Elijah said in amusement. "How were you supposed to be spending your days?"

Where to start? He was a complete stranger and she didn't know how much she should tell him. She didn't want to give away where she would be working...just in case. "I'm supposed to be starting as a maid. I've never left home before so I'm a little overwhelmed. I just hope I still have the position if I make it there."

"You will make it. I believe the snow is finally starting to slow down. Hopefully we can leave tomorrow for town."

She sure hoped so. It would be disappointing if she had to go back home as a failure.

"You haven't failed," he said as if he read her mind.

When she gave him a confused expression he said, "You haven't failed. Not yet. This wasn't your fault. When you get to town, explain what happened and if they turn you away, that's their choice. After everything that happened, it shows strength that you would still show up for the job."

When he said it, it made sense. She sure wasn't going to turn around and go back home. She was going to see this through. If she got sent home, it wasn't going to be because she gave up.

"Thank you," she said with a smile. "So, what would you be doing if your day wasn't interrupted by highwaymen?"

He was quiet for a long while before he finally spoke. "I fled from home." When her eyes widened, he continued. "I told you that my mother wants me to do certain things and live a certain way. Do you remember?"

"Yes."

"She...she wants me to wed another. It's an arranged marriage."

Katherine didn't know what to make of that. She never liked the idea herself, but she knew that when arranged marriages were made, they were rarely broken. "Is she a nice woman, at least?"

Elijah ran a hand through his loose dark hair. "She is nice. But she is so...quiet. As if she's afraid to voice her opinion around me. I've only met her three times."

"So, you are not in love with her?"

"Not at all. That sounds terrible, but I don't. My mother expects me to just go along with this plan and...I don't think I can. Anyway, that's why I left. I needed a few days to come to terms with all this."

When their eyes met something seemed to pass between them. Katherine looked away and got to her feet. "I'm going to get you something to clean your wound. Please, don't get up."

As Katherine went into the kitchen, she needed to take a few deep breaths. She was starting to feel strange things in regards to this man. This...stranger. Who, not to mention, was betrothed. He didn't appear at all happy with the situation. But, then again, neither would she. So much has changed in the past twenty-four hours. She left her childhood home, got attacked by highwaymen, spend the night with an unknown man and nearly got hypothermia.

She wasn't sure of anything, anymore. Well...maybe not everything. She rather liked the feeling of Elijah stroking her hair. Even more, she liked how it felt to wake up in his arms.