"Ah, Mrs Hughes," Carson smiled as he walked into the housekeeper's sitting room.

"Good afternoon, Mr Carson." She smiled back.

"I was hoping to catch you before you left as I was wondering if you'd like some company?"

With the family away, the servants did not find themselves with half as much work as usual, leaving their hot, summer afternoons free to do as they pleased. Her smiled widened as she nodded, "That would be lovely."

And so, they headed out of the house and into the luscious green grounds of Downton. On the way out of her sitting room, Mrs Hughes had picked up both of their books that they usually read in the evenings when sharing the leftover wine. The sun shone bright and the temperature was the hottest it had been in a long time but, unlike the rest of the servants who had decided to keep cool inside, Mr Carson and Mrs Hughes had agreed that it was too much of a beautiful day to waste and so settled under a large oak tree in the shade. After a while of light conversation, they both became engrossed in their novels.

An hour or so had gone by when she felt him looking at her. She met his gaze and smiled. When he hesitated, she asked, "Charles? What is the matter?"

"You just look so beautiful when you're concentrating."

She half laughed and half coughed, "What did you s-"

But before she could finish, she found his lips crashing down onto hers. She moaned in surprise before throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him closer. He torturously moved his lips from her lips, to her cheek, to the sensitive spot behind her ear.

"Oh!" She gasped. "Oh, Charles!"

He moved slightly away from her, receiving a whimper in protest. However, that soon turned into another moan of pleasure as his hand disappeared under her skirt and he pressed his palm to her centre.

"Charles!"

He slowly slid her underwear down her legs and threw them to the side before quickly replacing his hand. His fingers brushed against her soft curls before dipping between her folds.

"More, Charles! There!" She moaned once again. "Oh, Charles!"

She felt someone else's hand shaking her shoulder although she knew that they were the only two people there.

"Mrs Hughes?" She heard a voice say.

She looked back towards Charles to find that he had gone.

"Mrs Hughes?"

The sound of her name being called the second time pulled her out of her dream. Her eyes shot open. Mr Carson was watching her, a look of uncertainty on his face.

"Are you quite alright, Mrs Hughes?" He asked.

She cleared her throat and touched her forehead with the back of her hand, "Yes, thank you. I… What happened?"

He quickly looked to the floor, "I… erm… I think you were dreaming."

Oh, God! Did I cry out in my sleep? "Why did you ask if I was alright?"

This time it was his turn to touch his forehead. She wasn't the only one that was feeling rather flustered. "You were making quite a bit of noise, Mrs Hughes."

Oh, God! "Noise?"

Why is she torturing me like this? Surely she knows better than I what she was dreaming? "Yes."

"Well, you needn't have worried yourself. It was quite a… pleasurable dream." The words had escaped her before she could rethink them.

Charles' breath caught in his throat. "Oh?"

"You were in it."

"I know."

She quirked an eyebrow.

"You said my name."

"Funny…" She smirked. "I don't remember simply saying anything."

He shifted uncomfortably.

She glanced down at the sizable bulge in his trousers.

"What do you remember?" He managed to choke out.

"A lot of moaning, Charles."

"Anything else?"

She leant onto her hands and knees and moved forwards, pushing him onto his back. As she moved over him, she whispered in his ear, "And a lot of touching."

He twitched beneath her and by the sound that escaped her lips, he knew that she had felt it. He moved his hands to massage her breasts and she threw her head back in pleasure. He then moved his right hand under her dress to the cotton of her underwear. He gasped at how damp they were.

"There was a lot of gasping, also!" She laughed.

He suddenly rolled them both of over so she was lying beneath him. He ran his hand over her cheek before leaning in to kiss her. It was a gentle kiss at first but she soon deepened it by demanding entrance into his mouth with her tongue. As they kissed, he used his hands to bunch up her dress at her waist. When he had pushed her underwear as far down her legs as he could reach, he pulled away from her to remove the material from her completely. She expected him to kiss her again but he placed his mouth on a completely different part of her. His tongue licked up and down her folds before slipping between them. She moaned and bucked her hips.

She grabbed at his hair, "Charles! Oh, Charles!"

He moved his tongue faster and faster inside her.

She pressed his head against her, "Yes! Right there!"

He smiled at how she responded to his actions before flicking his tongue over her most sensitive parts.

"Oh, God! Charles!" She cried. "Oh, God!"

He moved his hand up to massage one of her breasts again and she massaged the other as her orgasm washed over her. When she had finished, he moved back up her body, pulling her into an embrace and kissing her softly. He chuckled as she laughed and sighed contentedly, "Man of my dreams."