WARNING: This is the chapter that it is rated M for. (I switched the rating, if you didn't notice) If you do not wish to read anything that is "Mature" themed, skip down until you get passed the X's. After that it is perfectly T again. And you won't miss anything too important to the storyline.

Anyway! Thanks for all the reviews, guys! They make me happy! And yet, somehow I still wish for more...oh well!!!! I guess, just like any other human being, I am greedy. But hopefully you like the chapter, even if I think it's a little...well, it's not my best. So read on!

Bella

I had let myself in the gate this time; I didn't feel too comfortable standing under the thick blanket of black clouds that looked ready to pour water at any time now. I was walking through the gardens - under the overhang of course - before going inside. All of the flowers looked beautiful with the small droplets of mist sprinkled on them. As I was leaning over to smell a rose, I saw Mike walking towards me. I waved to him and he jogged over.

"Have you come to deliver your millionth message, Bella?" he joked. He was right. I had been here just about a million times delivering messages, which would be bothering me, except for the fact that I got to see Edward.

His question had also made me wonder about the true reason for coming here. Sure, I knew that Tanya had wanted me to deliver a message to Edward to thank him for coming to her ball, but though she usually sent me in the afternoon, she didn't like to with the amount of rainclouds overhead being as it is now. I shook my head to clear my confusion and focused once again on Mike.

"Oh, haven't you been counting? I'm at least at four million now!" I teased, a look of phony shock crossing my face. Mike laughed and then sighed.

"Why do you put up with delivering all those annoying love messages to Sir Edward?"

"No reason," I lied, but Mike had been watching as my cheeks turned a light pink when he mentioned Edward.

"Why, Bella?" He asked. "Do you really love him? Look at him, and then look at you. I mean, you're beautiful, but he's a duke, and you're…"

"Nobody," I finished for him, but he shook his head.

"No, you're just…different. As much as you wish, don't you think it just wasn't meant to be? It's almost impossible. Couldn't you love someone else?"

I could only faintly hear his last sentence. Mike's other words shocked me and crashed over me, putting sense into my head. "I mean, you're beautiful, but he's a duke and you're…" "Don't you think it just wasn't meant to be? It's almost impossible."

Impossible.

Of course it was impossible! How blind I must have been to even have that small amount of hope. It was impossible. But it was impossible to love someone else! Then I remembered Mike's last question.

"Who else Mike? Who else is there? I don't know who else I could love! I work for my lady, and no one that waits on her is that of Adam. I barely know of more men than my brother, Edward, and you!"

This time it was Mike's turn to blush, and the truth dawned on me. "Mike," I sighed. "Mike, I can't. I just…I can't picture it."

"Try," he whispered. I was at loss for what he meant. But then Mike pushed me against the wall and started to bring his lips upon mine. I barely had time to register – not to mention understand – what was happening before my mouth touched his.

My hands fell against his chest, trying to push him away, but they didn't make him budge an inch, just chuckle against my lips. After two minutes, I gave up, and my hands fell uselessly to my sides.

I wanted this to all go away, for me to just wake up and realize that this was all just a horrible nightmare, but I knew that was never going to happen. I was just thankful that we weren't standing in the middle of a garden, but instead in a corner, pushed up against the castle wall. I would've died if anyone came towards where we were now, especially Edward.

Mike coaxed my lips gently open with his, and finally my mouth came wide open. His breath was tangled with mine, and I couldn't pull away. I kept my tongue to myself, and tried to keep as much of the rest of me away from Mike as well, but with no obvious success. As I backed away – as much as was possible, what with him pushing me up against the wall – Mike's tongue continued to trace my lips over again, and coated mine with one of the most disgusting flavors I had ever tasted. I was frightened to death at this point, but unable to break away.

Finally, I was able to split my lips apart from his for a split second, and tried to turn my head away. His hand, which had been leaning on the wall, grabbed the side of my face and forced me to look upon him. His rough voice came out like a demand, "Bella," before he continued to kiss me again.

This time though, something was different. His lips moved against mine more urgently, and his hands rested on the sides of my waist. Then, his hands glided ever so slightly upward before continuing in a slow pace. His hands stopped right below my breast, and they then proceeded to move to my back. I only had a second to wonder what he was doing before his hands – not at all shaky from being nervous or ashamed – started to untie the back of my servant's dress.

A gasp came from my mouth, and it instantly became part of Mike's new breath. But instead of breaking away, he mistook the gasp as one of longing, and continued to kiss me deeper still, pressing his body against mine even harder so that there was no space for even an ant between us. His hands were now beginning to untie my corset.

Never in my life had I been this scared, not even when my parents had died. Not even when I had been separated from my brother, one of the most painful days of my life. The second knot came undone.

I tried to walk to the side - the wall was against my back - but only ended up crashing down so that Mike was now on top of me and I had no escape.

My hands shoved against Mike's chest and stomach, and my feet came up to kick his legs. I couldn't scream; it would only be a part of him. And yet he didn't seem affected by any of it. If anything, his hands were quicker, untying the third knot. This was too much to bear. I was praying for God to let me out of this situation, but nothing that could help happened.

Mike slid the front of my servant's dress down to where the neckline was in line with my bellybutton and my sleeves had dropped almost to my wrists. All that was keeping my breasts from sight was the corset, and Mike was already undoing the fourth knot. The storm clouds started to pour rain that mingled with my tears.

There he stopped, not needing the corset to be any looser than it was for his job. He slid the corset down a little so that it was not so effective, but he hadn't slid it down to where it was under my breasts. Now, instead of kissing my mouth, he moved his lips to where they were right under my own and he continued to kiss me down my chin, down my neck, and on my collarbone.

I couldn't say anything, for I was trying to catch my breath after he had so forcefully kissed me. I was gulping in an air supply, happy that when I took these breaths, they weren't tainted with the scent or taste of Mike.

But I brought enough strength out of myself when Mike's lips started a slow trail down to my chest. "No, Mike. Stop." It was barely more than a breath, but he heard it.

"Why, Bella?" He growled through his teeth, yet he hadn't stopped what he was doing. He might have been slowing down a little, but I was almost positive that it was just a hopeful frame of mind that led me to thinking that. "Why do you not want this to happen? Edward can't give you what you want, but I can. Why do you have to damn me to hell? Why? Just let me love you."

With that, he gave a little tug on my corset, and the top was now just barely covering my nipple. I felt so invaded and uncomfortable, though I knew that I was not strong enough to stop this. Mike's face, because he was still leaving a trail of slimy kisses down my front, was almost pushed into my breasts, and for a second, it seemed like he nuzzled against them.

"No," I snarled. "I did not want to love you, and now I'm sure that I will never want to. You keep asking me all these questions, so here's one for you; why must you put me through this hell? I am sick of you, and I do not find it at all attractive when men do that to me. Just leave me alone."

Mike didn't answer, but put his lips to mine once more. I turned my head so I could talk to him. He continued kissing me, proceeding to my neck and below. This time, it was not so slow.

"Mike, do you really want this?" He stopped right below my collarbone and tilted his head up to look at me.

"Do I want what?" His lips moved against my skin, and I shivered. His face broke out into a smug grin. "See, I told you that you would want this," he murmured.

"Why are you forcing this upon me? Do you really want to do this to me? I am already disgusted by you, and I want no part in your life. If you stop now, I may consider not telling Edward." I knew that what I was saying was a lie, but I needed to get away from him.

He looked up again to stare at me.

"Remember Edward? Your master. If he finds out about this, you will probably be fired, or worse, killed." He closed his eyes and sighed. He moved his hands to my shoulders and shoved me against the wall.

"I don't care about that. All I want is you. And even if I die, I will die knowing that one of the last things I did was love you, and that somewhere in that head of yours, you knew that you enjoyed it." At this, he started the trail again, though he was not kissing my skin. Instead, he grazed his lips over it, and I felt my eyes fill up with tears. There would be no way to stop this.

When his lips got to the top of my breasts, he started kissing my skin again. They were proceeding closer to my nipple, and he lightly tugged on the corset again so that the top was under my chest, not helping at all. My top was fully exposed. At one point, Mike bit me, and I let out a soft whimper, afraid once again. It was another signal that he mistook, and he lightly bit me again.

"Mike," I gasped, my breath turning into sobs. "Mike, please, please stop. I can't handle this."

"No, I won't stop. You need to know how much I love you." And he wasn't going to stop. He continued to lie on top of me, kissing me and touching me with no shame. His lips got closer to my nipple and he bit down again, making me bit my lip in order to stop from screaming. He planted a kiss between my breasts before he started to kiss the other one, brushing his hand over the nipple he had just bit.

As he did this, he started to let go of the ground beneath me and then all his weight was on top of me, every line of his body pressed into mine.

"Better," he sighed, kissing me again while his hands roamed over my body. I was shaking with sobs as he did this, but he didn't care.

He didn't seem too cautious as he slid my servant's dress down tow my feet, pulling the corset fully off and throwing it to the ground beside me. His pants started to slide off too, and I closed my eyes, trying to get away from the discomfort. My panties came off next, leaving me lying naked on the ground. Mike's disgusting hands roamed over my bare stomach, my hips, my thighs, and then - ever so slowly - around my womanhood. More kisses were planted on my body, invading every inch of me.

Mike slid his pants off all the way and then started to take his undergarments off while his tongue traced circles in my bellybutton. His body was left fully unclothed as well, and I turned my head away. I didn't want to look.

"See? We fit together," he whispered, and before I could ask, he slipped himself inside me, making me gasp. His bare chest pressed up against mine and he started to thrust himself into me. Every movement of his body caused me pain and I was about to cum as he continued to be connected to me.

After what seemed like an endless amount of torturous moments of pain and suffering, a figure came out of the castle and he seemed to be heading toward us. I silently wished for him to be my savior. I needed to get Mike off of me. As he came closer, I was able to identify through the swirling rain that it was Spoden, and I pleaded with my eyes for him to get Mike off of me. In a swift movement, Mike was yanked off of me, and I was left on the ground feeling dirty and worthless. This was too much.

"What are you doing?!" Spoden roared in Mike's face before throwing him to the ground. "Don't you ever do anything like that to a woman, especially Bella. Do you hear me?! I have to take you to the master to get you dealt with."

Spoden turned to me, his face apologetic. His eyes stayed only on my face, for which I was grateful. But I still felt uncomfortable. "I'll send someone out as soon as I can. Hold on." I nodded at him and watched as he dragged Mike away.

I lay in the same spot, shocked and afraid to the point of being petrified. I curled up into a ball and immediately got covered in mud. The cold made me shiver violently, but I wasn't in any state to let that get to me. I stayed there for about ten more minutes until I saw another figure walking towards me. On a closer inspection, I found that it was a large woman holding a thick blanket.

"Oh dear," she exclaimed as she saw me, and she started walking faster towards me, engulfing me in the wet blanket when she got close enough. Though it did little to keep me warm, I was thankful for the protection it provided - I had my privacy envaded enough for one day.

The lady picked up my servant's dress before scooping me up in her strong arms and carrying me to the castle. I cried harder as we walked through the rain, and the woman kept sending me pitying glances. I closed my eyes, but all I could see was Mike and my eyes shot open again.

We finally got to a door in the back of the estate, and another woman opened it and ushered us inside.

"Send for Lydia to draw a bath full of hot water. This one's been out in the rain for quite a while with nothing to cover her, and she might be sick. Hurry up." The other woman scuttled off, glancing over her shoulder right before she turned down the hall.

"Don't worry, dear, we'll get you cleaned up and into fresh clothes soon enough." Her kind black eyes held a warm soul, and I relaxed a tiny bit. She placed me on a small chair and went to throw my servant's dress on top of a pile of clothes before picking up the basket that held the pile and walking away. I waited until the second lady came back and then silently followed her back down the hall.

X X X X X X X

I gazed out the window, which still displayed rain pouring down in sheets. The storm showed no sign of stopping soon, though it had been going on for hours - long enough for me to bathe and dress into new clothes with plenty of time to spare. A servant had drawn a warm bath, which felt awkward because I was used to being the one drawing the bath, not having the bath drawn. Then I had come out to see a dark blue sleeping set, though I was supposed to go back to Tanya after the storm let up, along with a new set of underwear. I had put that on a little reluctantly; I didn't like receiving things from people, especially without a holiday to go with them. Now I was in the sitting room, waiting for the rain to let up.

Edward had come in earlier, asking how I was and apologizing. I hadn't understood why he felt he had to apologize, but I was grateful for it all the same; it was nice to know that he cared.

A clap of thunder broke out and sent me cowering against the sofa. The storm was getting worse. Another loud boom confirmed my suspicion; the storm was getting worse instead of letting up and I was stuck here.

A grandmotherly-looking woman, who I believed to be the cook, bustled into the room with a steaming cup of hot tea and a blanket.

"Here you go, dear," she adressed me. "How are you feeling?"

I gave her a small, sad smile. "Thank you for the dress," I whispered. She seemed to get the fact that I wasn't up to talking much.

"I'm sorry for what happened today. Always knew that boy was trouble," she tsked, shaking her head. "Sleep, hon. It'll help take your mind off of such things."

I smiled as she walked out of the room, pulling the blanket around me. I didn't go to sleep, though; it would only give me nightmares.

I took a sip of the tea. It tasted like apples and cinnamon. Delicious. My head turned to stare out the window again. The lightning would flash, creating a brilliant strip of light before the thunder would rumble its disapproval and darken the sky and the mood once again. It reminded me of the internal battle I was having at the moment.

The lightning was like my desire - I wished for the duke to be mine, as irrational as it was. I wanted to be at his mercy, for him to do what he wanted to do with me. I would go along with it as if it was the best thing in the world. But then came the thunder - that longing would get me into immense trouble. Even if the duke liked me a little, nothing would work out and everything would go up in chaos. It wouldn't work. And yet I was trapped here under his roof for the time being, though I had no place here. I had no place with Edward. So it seemed the thunder won.

With that decision made and the tea cup emptied, I found myself falling asleep. Right as my dreams took off, I was lifted and taken away.

Marissa (A servant)

I tiptoed out into the hallway, leaving the door to my master's room open, the way it had been before I had come in.

Sometimes when I was cleaning in this wing of the estate, I crept into the master's room to look inside. I always looked at the small, hand-crafted wooden animals that rested on top of the drawers and his study tabel. I also liked to study the paintings in there every now and then, when I had enough time. My favorite was a portrait of the duke's family, but he had that taken down some time ago. Now there was another portrait, and this time there was another man. Though he was handsome, he was nothing compared to the duke.

Most of the female servants here would kill for the chances I got to go into the duke's quarters, for all of them were as much in love with him as I was. There were other servants that got to dust and clean this wing, but the ones that did either were older or just didn't fancy him too much. Sometimes I wondered if he had specifically picked out the servants to clean this wing because they wouldn't try to get into his things. But he had made a slip-up with that plan for choosing me, not that I minded.

I glided down the hallway for fifty yards until I almost ran into somebody. Startled, I fell onto the floor.

"Sorry," I apologized, quickly scampering up and dusting off my dress. I then chose to look up and was startled to see that it was the duke I had just made a fool of myself in front of. I was horrified.

"It's fine," he assured me, only barely paying attention. It was then that I took notice to the form in his arms. And yet it wasn't just a bundle of sheets or blankets or towels. Instead, it was the messenger that was sent by Lady Tanya almost every day. Her brown hair fell over her plain face and her pink lips jutted out a little as she took each breath. I didn't see why she captured the duke's attention instead of me.

Jealousy washed over me as I watched the duke walk, carrying the messenger, back down the hallway. This girl had snatched up the duke's heart in a matter of months while the rest of us had been trying for years to even get the master to give us a second glance, not to mention remember our names. The messenger wasn't even pretty, and I hadn't noticed any kind of charm that she might posses. Then again, she had been sleeping.

I followed the duke down the hallway, leaving a good fifty paces between us and making sure to take each step lightly. As silent as the shadows, I watched as he turned into his room. My eyes widened and my curiosity peaked. Sir Edward had left the door open a tiny bit, and I slipped onto my knees to peek through the crack.

I watched as he lay the sleeping girl on top of his bed, placing a thick blanket over her. He kissed her forefead and walked toward the washroom.

I turned away from the door and walked briskly down the hallway. I didn't want to watch the rest.

Okay, so I was writing the rough draft of the rape part on our downstairs computer, and my dad was in the room with me. He left after I wrote all of the stuff with Mike, so I felt really embarrassed/uncomfortable with him in there, but at least it wasn't my mom. Hehe…he. *blush*

And so here was chapter ten! Hopefully it wasn't too blech, as my friend Gio would say. (I'm calling it my monkey that eats pomegranets in some kind of fruit tree...I forget which.) Hopefully it wasn't too bad for you, and I would love it if you sent a review! Thanks! =D

P.S. I posted two one-shots about a week and a half ago, but I forgot to tell you guys in the last chapter. Go check them out!