8

In the morning both were looking pale, with dark color under their eyes, avoiding looking at each other in the eye hoping to erase the last night encounter from their minds. Both were determined to forget everything and continue with their path.

The next days were similar; she was even more occupied with the children while he was spending more time with guests.

His sarcastic comments and brooding also helped, reminiscent of his earlier distant behaviour and aloofness. But as the days went by, they both felt their provoking and bickering had grown to be an easy friendship and they simply missed each other.

Simply said, somewhere, during a rocky journey, they changed, not that either would say it out loud.

While, still fighting their internal battles, they maintaining feigned indifference with minimum contact and same time paying close attention to what the other was doing was, like having a "sixth sense".

But, something happened that put things, "back to square one".

It took a few days for Maria to compose herself and go back to her routine and forget about the book, and about her dream and her embarrassing actions towards the Captain. His annoying and distant behaviour helped but not too much since she had already seen the other side of him. At the same time she was having an internal battle, should she finish the book or not?

The book was hidden in the library, but that was not a good place to read it, considering what happened last time when she got caught. Her room didn't give much needed privacy because of the children barging in all the time and the possibility of the book being found by a maid.

So she figured out a master plan.

Every day in the afternoon she had about an hour of break while children were also free to do things on their own. That rule was established before her time and she was very grateful. She loved the children very much but an hour of solitude was very refreshing.

So, she went to the library and searched for a book and put a fake cover on it from another one. She was very proud of herself, she could read and nobody would figure it out. Then she went to her favorite oak tree with large canopies of branches and sat in its shade and began to read as the wind lightly ruffled her hair.

Georg had just finished his work, got up to stretch his back by the window, when he noticed her. He smiled, he would notice her everywhere with her halo of blond hair as she walked fast like gazelle. He would usually observe her unnoticed and from a distance, stay rooted to the spot and enjoy the view. That was what he did the last couple of days and was very pleased with how he managed it.

But this time he felt a familiar excitement running through his body, as he saw her hold the book tightly to her chest and look left and right, with a smug smile on her lips.

Yes, his Fraulein was again in some kind of mischief and he had to find out what it was.

Before he could apply strategic thinking or think over anything, he was out of the house and his legs carried him to her. He approached her quietly, but immediately froze, because his Fraulein, judging by how flushed and engrossed she was in reading that erotic book again.

Oh God, she would be the death of him, he was sure. But something else caught his attention, immediately putting a smirk on his face.

"Hello, enjoying yourself?", he said softly, with a smug smile still on his face.

"Yes, I am!" she gasped in horror at the sight of him, but quickly composed herself. He had surprised her, she hadn't expected him to be nearby.

Over the last couple days, ever since their last interaction, their contact had been minimal, not including the usual pleasantries. Which suited her perfectly. But that did not mean that they ignored each other, rather it can be said that they studied each other carefully.

"I am sorry I didn't want to frighten you!" he said, apologizing, waving with his hand, trying to ease the situation, fully aware that it was the first time they were alone after the library encounter. God, he missed their time together, when he had her full attention.

To prolong the conversation and simply enjoy her company he asked her about the children, their progress and outings plan. Probably she didn't know he was acquainted with all that, but just listening to her was enough for him, while she elaborated. Her eyes lit up, beautiful pink lips and that gentle melodic voice and look of adoration whenever she spoke about his children captivated him. She would melt any parent's heart, he thought.

But he hadn't practically run to her for chit-chat; he came to take his revenge for occupying his mind day and night.

"I have never seen you rooted to one place, longer than a couple of minutes. I assume the book is very interesting?" he said with a smirk, directing the conversation to the main topic, while he slowly wove a spider's web, enjoying himself immensely.

She was so alluring that the last couple weeks he had spent more time than he would have admitted, observing her like a lion waiting for his prey. He could say without false modesty that he knew her well.

"Yes it's very good, it gives me ideas for bedtime stories!" she said proudly with a beaming smile absolutely sure of her trick, looking up to stare at him with confidence.

Aha, she was caught, he though proudly with an amused smile. It was a great satisfaction to have her like this, very stimulating indeed but perhaps too stimulating.

"Well I hope this book will NOT give you ideas for bedtime stories!" he said, challenging her in a low husky voice, feeling his desire all over his body, devouring her with his eyes. His fingers beside his legs were twitching, while emphasizing the word "not".

"Why not, it's a perfectly harmless story about a princess and, and..." she said, visibly annoyed with his arrogance. She felt he was on to something but couldn't figure out what was going on.

"Because, my dear Fraulein, I assume my children would become flustered like you and get a headache," he cut her off, with his trademark smug smile. How he would like to kiss her senseless just to find out how flushed she would get.

"A headache?" Now she was confused, she puffed.

For once, please God, for once, she would like to erase that smug smile from his face and his attitude of "I know everything!". But no, no it seemed he enjoyed just toying with her, like a cat with a little mouse, not wanting to eat it, but just have fun with it.

"Well, yes Fraulein, beside the content of the book, your fake cover is upside down!" Emphasizing every word, he pointed his finger to the book and with a roar of laugh.

By her furious look he knew that he had pissed her off.

He was delighted and proud of his marvelous job of pushing her over the edge. It was irrelevant that he was her employer in that moment. Sure enough any other book would have hit his back, but that would have totally exposed her. But he heard her cursing.

Future nun indeed he thought sarcastically with a huge grin that never left him until the next morning.

After recitingg every curse she had ever heard and calmed down a bit, Maria decided she didn't want to read anymore. How do you solve a problem called the Captain?

He was such a mystery. Why did he relish to torturing her like that? She didn't have enough experience with men to figure it out.

It must be because of that damn whistle!

She had woken up a sleeping bear and now he wanted revenge, that was the only explanation. Like a pirate from her book he was daring and gently provocative and he drew her towards him by challenging her and that had always been her weakness. She couldn'ts help herself, she just had to respond to that call.

Also she was watching him with Baroness. With her he was distantly polite, charming, playful, witty but somehow remote. But maybe that was the way among aristocrats. But the sparks between Maria and the Captain were the same as between schoolchildren; sometimes it seemed to her that he would pull her by the hair and run away just so that she would chase him.

Oh, it was much easier when he paraded around with that silly whistle!

xxx

I hope you liked this chapter...