9.
Elsie shut her bedroom door and switched on the light. She nearly screamed when she looked up and saw someone sitting at her vanity. She managed to hold it in but instinctively jumped and her heart began to pound. "Elsie, I'm sorry!" Cora whispered frantically. She tiptoed up to her and began kissing her face "I didn't mean- to – scare you" she soothed, between kisses. Elsie's heart was still racing and her breathing still heavy but she managed to whisper back "What the hell are you doing up here?!"
"I couldn't sleep." Said Cora looking earnest and somewhat guilty "I had to see you." Elsie felt thoroughly flattered, as far as she knew she had never kept anyone from sleep before, certainly not for being the cause of infatuation. She hugged Cora and rested her head on her shoulder and her hands on her hips as she waited for her own heart rate to return to normal.
"There is no one and nothing I would rather find unexpectedly in my room than you." She reassured Cora. Cora stroked her hair and smiled. Elsie felt steady enough to undo her corset now. "I'll get changed now. Will you be lady and avert your eyes?"
"Oh, Elsie" Cora began as if it were obvious that was what she would do, but then smiled mischievously and said in a lower voice "absolutely not." Elsie rolled her eyes but smiled, once again, she was flattered. So Cora sat on her bed while she sat at the vanity and unpinned her hair, then reached behind her and undid the fastenings of her dress. She stood and pulled the dress off then hung it up in her wardrobe. She then began untying and unlacing her corset, once it was loose enough she slid it off and placed it her vanity chair. Now she and Cora were in equal states of undress. She walked over to Cora, who still sat on the bed looking at her. Cora looked up and down her body, making her feel a bit self-conscious again, but that was silly at this point so she did nothing. Cora placed her hands on Elsie's hips, she leaned in and kissed her belly through the thin fabric of her shift. It felt very nice. Then Cora's hands began exploring Elsie's torso, they moved slowly up her sides, committing her curves to memory. The deft, delicate hands moved up, and up, and cupped and massaged her breasts. Elsie closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation. Soon, all too soon, the hands moved on and to her shoulders and guided her downward for a kiss and then a very low, hot whisper "Elsie, I want you."
After quiet, frenzied lovemaking they lay staring into each other's eyes, hands interlocked between them and legs intertwined. "You know" Cora whispered "I didn't come up here with the intent of getting you into bed."
"Are you sure?" Elsie teased. Cora laughed and wrinkled her nose
"Well I might have thought about it." Taking a more sincere tone she continued, "I really just missed you, Elsie. I'm surrounded by people I love every day but when I don't get to see you it's like there's this… emptiness in me. I've never felt that emptiness before."
"I know what you mean, I get it as well. I think I love it as well as hate it, as heavily as it weighs on me it makes me feel more alive. Being in love with you makes me feel more alive." Cora smiled and blinked away tears.
"Elsie, that is single most wonderful thing anyone has ever said to me."
"You deserve wonderful things; they ought to be said to you all the time"
"Elsie, tell me about your life. I know so little about you."
Elsie lamented this was true of both of them. "What do you want to know?"
"Where did you grow up? What was your life like before you came to Downton?"
"I grew up on a farm in Argyll" she bit her lip while she thought of what to recount, "I have one sister, called Isla, no brothers. My parents had very high hopes for us, but of course that meant they hoped that we would marry well and have as many children as we could afford. They didn't really approve of me in service because they knew it meant I might get a bit lonely, might never give them grandchildren. But I liked it; I liked being a housemaid far better than working a farm. The long hours didn't bother me but I have always preferred to stay away from hay bails and heavy lifting whenever I can." Cora giggled a bit and continued listening intently as Elsie told her all about her first days in service and about Joe Burns and the rest of her life until she came to Downton. Cora was enthralled; her own life seemed so dull by comparison. Elsie's thumb absentmindedly caressed Cora's hand as she talked. Cora was fascinated by everything about this woman. As she listened to her story she admired the shape of her nose, the pull of her mouth, her high cheekbones, the depth of her jewel colored eyes; it was all so perfect. Cora couldn't help but count herself extremely lucky that Mr. Carson was so very professional and rigid, she was sure that must be the only thing keeping him from falling head over heels for Elsie. How lucky he was; to have Elsie by his side every day, to have time alone with her to share a glass of wine and just talk. Cora envied him and pitied him, he was so concerned with perfection but she doubted that he had ever realized that it sat next to him at breakfast every morning.
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