Chapter 10 - Warning - Excerpt from a trashy novel

I arrived back at the great Hall around lunch time to find Adele and Mrs. Fairfax sitting at the kitchen table talking about tonight's festivities. Even though Adele could barely eat because she was excited, Mrs. Fairfax was trying to shove food down her throat throat so she wouldn't be light headed later. Feeling ravenous because I skipped breakfast, I indulged in a huge turkey and cheese sandwich with veggie chips and an iced tea. When I finished my meal, I headed to my bedroom.

I still had some time to kill before the dinner, so I decided to read. I flopped on the bed and continued on in my trashy novel. I couldn't help but picture me and Mr. Rochester in the story. . .

Their eyes met over the table.

'I'm bored with this game. I think we need to make it more interesting,' said Ed, the dark, ruggedly handsome man that Janet secretly had a crush on.

'What did you have in mind?' she asked innocently.

'Strip poker with a twist.'

The hairs on the back of Janet's neck stood up. She had trouble containing her excitement.

'What is the twist?'

Ed smiled.

'The twist is when the winner of the hand exposes a body part he gets to do what ever he wants to it.'

Janet was feeling confident. She had won most of the hands this evening.

'You're on!'

The first hand is played and Janet wins.

'OK, Ed, I want your jeans.'

Ed stands up and pushes his jeans to the floor leaving him in his boxer briefs and t-shirt.

Not bad, Janet thinks to herself as she studied the large bulge between his legs.

The next hand is played and Ed wins.

'Take off your t-shirt, Janet.'

Janet stands up, and slowly pulls her shirt up over her head revealing her lace push up bra.

Ed smiles, but says nothing.

The third hand is played, and Ed wins again.

'Your shorts have to go, and do it slowly.'

Janet moves away from the table and unbuttons her shorts. She unzips them and begins to slowly inch them down her hips. At the last minute she turns around to tease him. As she pushes them down she bends over so he gets a good view of her silk covered bottom. Ed lets out a soft moan. She then stands up, steps out of her shorts and returns back to her seat.

The forth hand is played and Janet wins this time.

'I want your t-shirt, Ed.'

Ed stands up. She walks over to him and quickly removes his shirt. Since she uncovered part of his body she is now able to do anything she wants to it. Janet eagerly takes Ed's right nipple in her mouth and swirls it with her tongue. She has wanted him for so long she doesn't know if she will be able to stop herself. Her hands eventually work their way down to his sexy ass, but Ed stops her.

'You haven't earned that privilege yet, Janet,' he says in a half serious tone. 'Go back to your seat.'

The fifth hand is played and Ed wins.

'Get over here,' he orders.

Janet stands in front of him between his knees. Ed pushes her right bra strap down her arm and then the left. He takes a deep breath and buries his face in her cleavage, licking and kissing her while undoing her bra. When it falls to the floor, Ed's mouth is immediately on her left breast. Janet throws her head back and moans loudly. While his mouth is busy with her nipple, his hands wander down to her silky bottom. Using his own words against him, and herself, Janet says,

'You haven't earned that privilege yet, Ed,' as she reluctantly returns to her seat.

The sixth hand is played and Janet loses on purpose. She can't wait to see what Ed does to her now and is up and out of her chair before he can say anything.

He laughs.

'Take off your panties, Janet, and get on the table.'

Janet steps out of her panties and sits on the table in front of him.

'I've been waiting a long time for this,' Ed says as he gently lays her down and . . knock. . knock. . knock. .

I quickly pushed the book under my pillow.

'Come in,' I said nervously. Thank God it was only Adele!

'Miss Eyre are you OK? You don't look well.'

I fanned my overheated face.

'I'm fine, Adele. What do you want?'

She laughed at me.

'I'm here to see if you need any help getting ready for tonight, silly.'

'Is it that time already? I asked looking at the clock.' I was surprised to see that it had gotten so late. 'Give me twenty minutes and then come back.'

Adele left the room and I took a very cold shower, but it didn't help. The twenty minutes continued to fly by as I fixed my hair and applied a little make-up. I was zipping up when she returned looking beautiful in her dress. Adele took one look at me and said,

'We really need to do something with your hair and make-up.'

I rolled my eyes and laughed,

'You don't like it?'

'It's fine for everyday, but not for tonight. Let me help you.'

I couldn't believe I was about to get a makeover from a nine year old, but she said she knew what she was doing. I guess Adele wasn't wasting her time reading all of those fashion magazines after all.

By the time she was done attacking me with a curling iron and a tube of mascara, I was ready to see what she had done. Expecting the worst, I looked in the mirror and was pleasantly surprised with what I saw. I looked like myself only better, much better. My pin straight hair had a nice wave to it. I had cheek bones for the first time in my life. My lips looked absolutely kissable, and my eyes! My eyes looked twice as big and greener than ever. Who knew?

'You look positively beautiful, Miss Eyre, but then you always do in your own way.'

I hugged and kissed her.

'Now what about shoes?' she asked while looking at my bare feet.

'I don't know. Let me see what I have,' I said as I walked over to my closet. 'How about these?' I held up a pair of clunky black heels. 'It's all I've got I'm afraid.'

She shook her head.

'They won't do at all. What size do you wear?'

'Seven.'

Adele sat down on a chair and removed her beautiful silver sandals.

'Take these. I'll wear something else.'

'Adele, you love these shoes.'

She looked me straight in the eyes.

'But I love you more. Take the bag too, it goes really well with the shoes,' she said as she headed back to her room.

Feeling like I was going to cry, but not wanting to ruin my makeup, I composed myself before putting on the sandals. Then I went to work putting some items in the evening bag. I really wanted to wear my locket, but it didn't look right with the dress, so I wrapped it in a tissue, and put it in the inside pocket of the purse. After taking one last look at myself in the full length mirror to make sure I was presentable, I headed out the door.

I didn't want to miss Adele's grand entrance, so I went down the back stairs, through the kitchen, and snuck in the front hall were Mr. Rochester and Mrs. Fairfax were waiting. Mrs. Fairfax looked lovely in her dressy pantsuit, and Mr. Rochester, do I even need to say it. He looked so hot in his tuxedo with his shirt collar open that I thought I was going to swoon right then and there. I quickly composed myself and stood quietly behind Mr. Rochester who was looking up the stairs at Adele. As she descended to the oohs and ahhs coming from Mrs. Fairfax, Mr. Rochester turned to me and did a double take.

'Jane, I don't know what to say. . . You look amazing,' he said while looking me up and down.

I blushed.

'So do you, Mr. Rochester.'

'How come you aren't making a grand entrance?'

I laughed thinking he was joking.

'Come on, Jane. I want to see you come down the stairs.'

'But, Mr. Rochester,' I began.

'No buts. We are not leaving until you walk down these stairs in that dress.'

'Oh, yes, Miss Eyre!' Adele added while jumping up and down.

'Pretty please, Jane,' Mrs. Fairfax begged.

I looked at Mr. Rochester. His eyes twinkled as he smiled at me.

'See. Your adoring fans eagerly wait for your appearance.'

Reluctantly, I went back through the kitchen, up the back stairs, down the hall and stood at the top of the stairs feeling ridiculous. Then the voices in my head said, Work it girl. You know you look fabulous! So I did.

I posed at the top of the stairs like the models do in the fashion magazines with one foot in front of the the other and my knee slightly bent. After Adele let out a cheer of approval, I glided down the stairs with my head held high and a huge smile on my face, but secretly praying that I wouldn't fall. I was not use to walking in high heels! About half way down the huge staircase I noticed that Mr. Rochester couldn't take his eyes off of me. When I got to the bottom he took my hand, kissed it and said,

'Promise me you will save me at least one dance tonight.'

I laughed at him.

'I don't think that will be a problem.'

'Just you wait, Jane. You will be the belle of the ball, and I will be forced into fighting men off of you with a stick,' he said sounding a bit jealous as we all went out the front door.

Adele ran on ahead while Mrs. Fairfax locked up. Mr. Rochester dropped my hand as soon as we got outside, but he quickly placed his left hand on the small of my back as he guided me over to his car. I felt the butterflies rise up again in my belly. I was still very turned on from picturing me and Mr. Rochester in my book and I didn't know if I would be able to control myself tonight.

The car ride was quiet. Adele sat in the front with Mr. Rochester and Mrs. Fairfax and I sat in the back. Because I was not use to sitting in a dress, I was very careful to cross my legs at the knee and keep them there. Then I relaxed back into the soft leather and remembered that I didn't see Mrs. Poole this evening. Since Mrs. Fairfax said she was such a huge help to Mr. Rochester, I was really surprised she wasn't coming with us.

After a minute or two of being on the road, Mr. Rochester began playing with his rear view mirror. I laughed.

'Valet mess up your mirror again?'

He stopped adjusting it and mumbled,

'Yeah, something like that.'

Not long after we arrived at the country club, Mr. Rochester was greeted by some bigwig who led him away. He looked back at me with a pained expression on his face, so I laughed as I waved him goodbye. Since us ladies were now left to our own devices, we decided to check out the food. When we went into the ballroom we found out that there was not going to be a sit down dinner, but an extensive cocktail hour that was going to run all night so people could walk around and network.

I immediately grabbed a plate and dug into the huge pile of shrimp. Adele went for the strawberries and chocolate while Mrs. Fairfax piled on the crab legs. We then found a small table out of the way and ate. Everything was delicious and when I was on my way to get more shrimp, I inadvertently walked into a man because I wasn't looking where I was going.

'I'm so sorry!' I cried out.

He smiled at me.

'No harm done. I'm Charles and you are?' he asked as he held out his hand.

'Jane, my name is Jane,' I stuttered as I shook it. Charles was so good looking it should have been illegal. He was about 6' tall, had beautiful blue eyes, dark wavy hair like Mr. Rochester and a smile that made me melt. I knew if I didn't get away from him quickly I was going to make an ass of myself like I usually do when I talk to handsome men.

'Are you here alone?'

I blushed.

'No, I'm here with some friends.'

He leaned into me.

'That's too bad. I was hoping you were here alone so I could keep you company,' he said as he took a sip of his drink.

I didn't know what to say. At that moment Mr. Rochester came walking up.

'Eshton! I see you have already met Jane!'

Charles glanced at me and then glanced at Mr. Rochester before taking a step back and looking really nervous.

'So you're Adele's governess,' he smiled before taking another sip. 'I'm afraid he didn't do you justice, Jane.'

I frowned and shot my boss a dirty look.

'What is that supposed to mean?'

He looked very uncomfortable as Charles interjected,

'Edward said you were pretty, but. . . you're down right hot! I wish I had a niece for you to take care of.'

Mr. Rochester immediately pulled him away and said over his shoulder,

'I think my friend has had too much to drink. Will you excuse us for a minute?'

I watched as Mr. Rochester and Charles had a very animated conversation at the other end of the room. It was then that I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned around and there was this tall woman standing behind me. I would describe her, but there are no words that would do her justice, she was that beautiful. The woman held her hand out to me.

'You must be Jane Eyre. I, am Blanche Ingram.'