OK…here's the M rated chapter… I made it as sensual as I thought fit given their mutual desire for each other…. I hope you like it…
Mary slipped out of Matthew's room in the early morning light and back to her own. He saw her to the door and kissed her good-bye. She said she had to return to Oxford as soon as she showered and dressed. He told her good luck with the library project and they finally exchanged mobile phone numbers.
Matthew did not ask if she had made her choice. He did not want to put any pressure on her. He sensed this decision had to be hers alone. But he felt he had made his position clear. He did not want to be without her. He slipped his hand from hers and whispered a safe travels as he closed the door behind her.
Over the course of the next two weeks, with the wedding announcement getting more and more imminent, various TV presenters arrived at Downton with cameras and web enabled equipment. They walked around the gardens and the interior rooms like they owned the place and Cora trailed in their midst trying to keep up with them while at the same time trying to maintain calm and order.
Matthew took refuge in the archives and got down to serious work. The papers of Thomas Branson were finally located in various filing cabinets and cases on the floor. He had also, to his great surprise and excitement, found a diary left by the man starting soon after his first wife died and continuing for many years after he returned to Ireland.
Matthew scrutinized all the boxes and containers in the room. It was slow work but he was good at methodical research. This project was taking a different turn than he first expected. The rather academic study of Anglo-Irish legal relations in the interwar years was being transformed into a biographical study of a man and his times.
Sybil, home on the weekends, walked down to the archive room to see Matthew. Usually not interested in his 'shuffling papers around,' she wandered around the room. Returning to the desk, she leaned over his shoulder and looked at the picture Matthew was examining of a handsome, light brown haired young man wearing a three piece tweed suit and a driving cap. He was leaning against a 20s roadster. "Oooh." Sybil cooed longingly. "He is a darling."
Matthew glanced up, amused. "That is Tom Branson." Handing the photo to her, he continued, "I think I actually have enough material her to start a biography on the man. He lived a fascinating life both inside the aristocracy and yet able to maintain objectivity and a sarcastic, jaundiced eye on their activities. His diaries are fascinating."
"Did he have a family?" She asked, picking up another picture of the same man with an adorable curly haired girl in his arms.
"Yes, but unfortunately his wife died in childbirth leaving him widowed while still quite young. He eventually remarried and returned to Ireland to begin his life as a newspaperman and eventual keen observer of the times he lived."
"Oh, how sad. He has such a kind face." Sybil responded. "I'm glad you're letting him live again through your work." Matthew smiled his mouth quirking at the corner. That was exactly what he was thinking.
XX
Mary and Matthew fell into the habit of texting each other several times a day at first just too keep in touch and later because they found the contact enjoyable.
Matthew liked to keep the texts at first light and diverting:
Well found out today that the 2nd Earl liked women, gambling, and drink in equal measure.
Surprising himself, he found researching Mary's side of the Crawley family intriguing. It was to him, a middle class boy from the colonies, like looking at the other side of the coin. The Grantham family, their title having been won in battle during the Restoration period, served in many governmental capacities and as combat officers in the Boer War, the Great War and World War II.
Soon after his arrival Robert fell into the habit of coming down to the archive room and peer over Matthew's shoulder rumbling in approval as the younger man slipped documents into acid free folders or pointed out a new fact about an ancient relative. Although disconcerted with the knowledge that he has not been entirely (or indeed at all) truthful about his relationship with Mary, Matthew found himself accepting invitations to walk the estate and have a smoke after dinner, 'just like the old times' Robert said. In point of fact Matthew had given up smoking after college but he found just sitting and having a drink with Robert more relaxing than he would have imagined. While appearing on the surface to be, at least what Matthew assumed, a typical aristocrat who had no real purpose in the 21st century, Matthew realized that Robert's time in the army followed a tradition and a legacy he felt important the family should uphold. That sense of family and birthright, and the financial troubles the family faced today that Robert merely hinted at in Matthew presence, resonated with Matthew and he better understood Mary's predicament with regards to her love of her family home and its owners.
His texts got a bit flirtier…
Robert showed me some pictures of you and your sisters as teens handing out ribbons at the village flower show…uh rocking the side pony tail LOL
Btw he also told me they called you 'lazy legs' cos u did not do 'unladylike' chores. That's being logged for future use!
Tell workmen to be careful with the Andromeda statue. I want it returned in all her glory to its proper niche!
Mary retorted:
Oh too late…there it goes…crashed to the ground. Smashed to smithereens!
She was enjoying the texting with Matthew way too much. While embarrassed about her father showing Matthew her rather questionable fashion choices, Mary was jolted into a memory of the conversation with her mother than followed the 'lazy legs' label. After haughtily refusing, as only a teenager could, to participate in menial chores around the house Mary declared she wished she lived in an earlier time when servants could be called upon to do such tasks. Then dramatically taking a seat and refusing to budge.
Her mother gave her a withering look and sardonically observed "Oh yes…the so called good old days. When women could not vote or hold jobs outside of domestic or educational service and young girls like you would have been married off to the first eligible titled man sitting next to her at dinner."
And yet here she was, on her own accord, doing the very thing she had dramatically rolled her eyes at fifteen years earlier. While not exactly marrying the man next to her at a formal dinner, Mary had accepted a proposal based, not on love or passion, but social compatibility and financial security.
These were things the teenage Mary would have been aghast to acknowledge in her older self. Where had the free spirited, opinionated girl who told her family she would go to university and get an engineering degree. Her father, scoffing first at the notion, upon graduation proudly told everyone who walked by that his daughter had graduated at the top of her class.
Mary mulled over these thoughts as she supervised the work at the James Library. She had done exactly what she wanted and earned a managing partner position in a prestigious engineering and design firm. Ronan supported these efforts. They made a handsome couple, or so the OK and Hello mags told everyone, complementing each other's strengths and family ties.
But thoughts of Matthew invaded those affirmations with memories of intelligent yet teasing arguments, a seeming ability to read her thoughts and respond accordingly, and an uncanny ability to disarm her with a look or a flirtatious smile. And in leaving Ronan for Matthew, was she just putting herself out of the frying pan and into the inferno. She had to force herself to remember that they had barely known each other. He made her body weak from desire every time she saw him. But as enticing as that was, it was no real foundation for a life time commitment. Was she simply finding a sexual escape from a relationship she increasingly found stifling?
Leaving work after an exhausting day of dealing with contractors and escaping the clutches of the likes of Ken Wray, she wondered what did she want from her future? It was more than a choice between two boys as she and her sisters would talk about crushes in the all girls' school they attended. That night while resting with a glass of wine in her condo, Mary made a decision for her future. She got out her mobile and punched Ronan's contact number.
XX
Matthew, working at the desk and attempting to decipher the handwriting of Tom Branson, heard the sound of footfalls on the stairs. He turned towards the door and saw Mary come into the room. He pulled back from his chair startled at her appearance. He had not been expecting her to return to Downton until tomorrow night. And she had never been to the archive room. He was about to smile and express a greeting, but he stopped and just continued to regard her crossing the room.
Mary walked toward him with a seeming purpose. And she had an enigmatic smile he could not quite capture the meaning behind. She walked up to him and knelt in front of his chair. Matthew gazed at her as she touched his face and moved her fingers through his hair sweeping it back from his face. She felt his stubble as he had not shaved in a couple of days. While not exactly sure this was the right course of action, Mary felt herself unable to resist this encounter.
"This is unexpected" he murmured enjoying the sensation it was casting through his body, "but…"
"Unexpected," she interrupted , "but nice," barely whispering the words in his ear as she took her tongue and danced it in and out around his ear lobe.
"Oh yes" he managed to respond his voice raw and gravelly "...very, very nice."
Mary turned to his lips and they kiss with more hunger and fervency since their night in Oxford.
She let go of his mouth and sat up.
"...What" Matthew swallowed hard, "what is going on?" His words caught in his throat.
"...I've left him," Mary answered. Her words calm and composed.
Matthew locked eyes with Mary. He blinked rapidly. He could not believe what he heard. He swallowed again.
She smiles and nodded in acknowledgement. He cupped her face in his hands.
"Mary…" his voice unsure still, but she understood his need and his unspoken question. She stood up on her knees and he pulled her towards him and his restraint held no longer. Matthew, kissing her cheeks and lips, lifted her up onto his lap on the chair feeling her firm bottom as his hands moved under her skirt. He could not resist this urge any longer. That night she stayed with him in his room had been exquisite torture but he had been determined to prove his restraint that night. But not anymore...
His hands moved up her back and under her shirt and he unhooked the bra clasps and slipped his hands around the front to cup her breasts pinching slightly until they're erect. While enjoying Matthew's fingers squeezing and tightening around her firm breasts, Mary's hands undid his jeans and grasped his hard member until he started to groan and gasp. He'd imagined this happening again so many nights of late...
Suddenly Matthew stopped and slipped his hands out of her shirt and looks at her with a look of both incredible need and panicked fear.
"We…we...can't." He gasped.
"Why ever not?" Mary responded confused and a bit put out.
Matthew spitted out in a rushed whisper. "Your Dad, "he swallowed, "he," and looking around still in a hushed panicked voice, "he pops in all the time when I'm down here. And he never tells me he's coming..." He put his hands through his hair and down his face. "What if...what if…." And his voice, trailing off, glanced around to the door nervously.
"Matthew, "she said, giggling. "You look like a deer in the headlights. He's not here. … but I understand." His eyes wide and lips moving back and forth but with no sounds coming out Mary cannot help but continue laughing. Matthew looked at her, helpless with apprehension.
"Right." Mary stood up. And she looked around. "Oh yes" she finally said and taking his arm while he fumbled to rezip...which was difficult given his aroused state...he was led into an adjoining room which was connected to the archive by a small hallway. The old servants' dining room was a jumble of old furniture, kitchen and household items, toys, and nick nacks. And in the corner the gramophone that Mary remembered trying to get to play in her childhood.
Matthew said, "Oh. I never knew where that door led." She smiled knowingly and locked the door.
She went over to the gramophone, and turning an old record cover, looked at the title. She felt Matthew sidle up behind her.
"I just remembered this old thing." she said. "We used to come in here all the time when young. I'm afraid it doesn't work." She blew the dust off the title but was distracted when he entwined his arms from behind around her waist.
She said, "Mr. Crawley…do you realize you are going to make my life so complicated."
"Good." Matthew said low and cool, and started to kiss and nuzzle her neck. She turned and he removed her shirt. And guiding her over to the table, Mary perched on the edge leaning back with her arms at either side while Matthew continued to suck and nibble her taut breasts and rubbed his fingers against her back. His free hand moved under her skirt and pulled aside her bikini underwear. Mary moaned and slightly jerked in heightened anticipation. He slipped off her underwear and continued to touch. She pulled him in for a deep kiss feeling his scruff as it tickled her cheeks. She pushed her tongue past his teeth and deep into his mouth moving her lips around his tongue sucking and pulling on it. In and out of his mouth until Matthew weakened against her.
"Mary...I need… I need..." Matthew started. And she pulled him towards her and he pushed into her thrusting as she continued to pull his and squeeze his backside. He slowed his movement to prolong the pleasure of moving in and out of her. Her hips jerking and moving in unison. She felt his body and they looked at each other as he continued toward climax. "I can't …can't...hold it..." She kissed him and he pulled harder until he felt shattered and exhilarated. His moans and grunts of unadulterated pleasure shook his body. Mary leaned back against the table, smiling.
Matthew recovered and said apologetically. "I'm so sorry for not waiting until you…"
"...ssh ssh... It's alright." Mary said, taking her hand and moving his tousled hair back over his forehead.
"You are so beautiful." Matthew's lips quivered and his eyes moist. He picked her up his arms and carried her over to a sofa covered with protective linen. They stay alongside each other unable to let go.
"I love you." he said softly brushing his lips against her cheeks.
She leaned into him, feeling as if she stay in his arms forever, but shivered in the chill. "Maybe we could continue this upstairs."
"Yes...of course." Matthew responded and let her go. They dress quickly and Matthew led her to the back staircase that led to his room.
"Clever," Mary said, her eyebrow lifting in bemused approval.
Once there, Matthew, more slowly this time, undressed her and touched and caressed her. His strong hand and long sinuous fingers lightly tickling and moving down her body caressing her hips down to her thigh and in between her legs. She parted them and gasped pleasure as he moved his fingers all around into her warmth. He moved around slowly at first and then with added pressure on the sensitive spot and she tightened her thigh and then loosened them, opening herself to him. He sucked on her breast and pulled on her nipples which added more pressure until she whispered "oh …oh …that's it."
And he could feel her give in completely to the moment. She pulled on the coverlet while her other hand grasped his back. She pulled up and felt her climax as none she had ever felt before. She finished and laid back, her half naked body covered by the loose linen throw.
After an extended silence, where they absorbed the emotional and sexual connection they reignited, Mary touched his face and said, "We have to figure some things out." Matthew nodded in unspoken acknowledgement.
Each knew the next days would be difficult. Neither knew if they were prepared for the fallout Mary's decision would make on the family and the general public. Having to tell Robert would be uncomfortable and the possible media attention daunting in its glare of unwanted scrutiny. Matthew wanted to be fully supportive. But Mary told him, other than the meeting with Robert which Matthew insisted upon being a party to, she would handle the public side on her own. Matthew reluctantly agreed.
She folded herself into his arms, the sensations overwhelming, and they lay together with Matthew cradling to her giving warmth. He wanted her to feel safe in his arms.
For right now, in this moment, they were safe.
XX
The next chapter or two will be more angsty as the public fallout will be surprisingly personal and the confrontations with Robert and Ronan fraught with accusation and blame. And Mary will make a decision that will ultimately surprise Matthew. …. But don't worry too much… this is a MM story after all!
