*pops up nervously* Hey guys…. Did we enjoy the hotness of the last chapter? I know those who reviewed loved it :) Seriously adore each and every one of you My Dear Reader Chums, all my followers and those who have favourited Against, I'm overwhelmed.

Disclaimer: I don't own Downton Abbey or Anna and John. Mores the pity.

Erm, bit of a warning in this chapter guys….. Green's nature was gonna come out eventually…

xXx

She was warm.

She was very warm.

Anna's body ached with the comfortable lassitude of a hard day's work or a woman who'd been very well loved. Grinning to herself, she buried her face closer against John's chest to hide her blush, the memory of his gentle touches filling her with more warmth.

His breath was blowing softly on her forehead, clearly still held in a deep sleep. He deserves it, she thought. They had been quite enthusiastic about learning each others body with precision. The curves of her hips, the wiry feeling of his chest hairs, her soft sighs in his ear when he found a particular weak spot. They were in heaven.

After Mary had left them alone, John had been very thorough in his explorations. Anna had never been treated better. He brought her to her peak time and time again, finally succumbing to sleep in the early hours of this morning.

However, their privacy wasn't to last.

"Good morning!" Mary suddenly burst in for what felt like the umpteenth time, carrying a breakfast tray loaded with items.

John was immediately awake, conscious once more of his state of dress.

Anna sighed. "Good morning, Mary." and unwillingly sat up. She scooted over towards the middle the bed, nudging John slightly to his left as he firmly held the sheet up around his torso. Completely undeterred, Mary handed Anna the shirt she had literally torn off John last night for her to slip on, as well as one of the cups of coffee from the tray.

"To what do we owe this pleasure, Mary?" John asked stiltedly.

"Oh, I came for the details." She also passed him a cup as she sat down next to Anna with her own mug in her hands.

"The details?" he stammered, wishing he was elsewhere.

"Yes, details. I got the soundtrack but now need copious details of your evening."

"Surely, you're not-"

"Mary, I don't think we need to do this with John here," Anna intervened.

"I suppose that's true," she took a sip from her mug.

"I'll come to your classroom when the children are outside during br-"

"Hold on, so you're actually going to tell her.. about.. you know..?" John was worried now. He had never been in this situation before. Did women really do this?

"If you'd rather, I doubt Anna would mind sharing now. Plus I'm sure you could benefit from it." Her smile was quickly turning into an evil grin.

John was flabbergasted. What was the correct response for this? Was there even an established protocol?

"I don't, well, that is to say… I'd like- but then you're… I'm not-" He was really struggling.

"Oh, Anna, save the poor man."

"Need I remind you, this is your fault." Anna turned to face him and rested a hand on his arm. "John, stop. We don't have to do this now."

"But you're still going to-"

"Yes, I will probably share some things with Mary, not all. I promise." Her hand stroked his cheek now in a calming manner. "Besides, I can give you a private narrative later too."

He was still speechless. But now with… other… thoughts in his head.

"I think, I'll just go and have a shower. Then, when you're ready, would you like me to drive you to work?"

"That would be lovely." Anna gave him a soft kiss to his lips and it tingled when they parted. Maintaining eye contact, she lifted her right hand suddenly and skilfully laid it behind her on Mary's face across her eyes.

"For goodness' sake," Mary muttered.

"Go on." Anna instructed. He swiftly swung out of bed and retrieved his trousers as quickly as possible. John paused at the door, holding an armful of his clothes. He decided against saying anything and left the room.

Anna giggled to herself. She had half expected him to bow before leaving.

"Well," Mary said as she removed Anna's hand. "That was interesti- Ow! Was that necessary?"

"Necessary? You're asking me about necessary? Anyway, I didn't hit you as hard as you deserve. That was totally out of line, Mary!"

"But we always share, it's what we do."

"Not after the first night and certainly not when the man in question is so close to your family!"

"Honestly, that makes it all the more interesting," she teased. "I take it, he was… good?"

Anna had paused as she stared into her cup. Good was an understatement, she thought. She could never stay mad at Mary for long anyway. With a blush spreading up her neck, Anna looked at her friend. "He was very good."

xXx

It hadn't worked.

Usually finding some random blonde to shag fixed his problem. Imaging them as Anna from behind. Carl wasn't fooled anymore, though.

He had been there. He had witnessed the joy play across her face as some other guy had finger fucked her. Now, with his replacement blonde lying next to him, he found no satisfaction in it. How could one woman cloud his mind so much? He could have hundreds of other girls. In fact, he's had hundreds of girls.

But he hasn't had her.

He will, soon.

xXx

As he promised, John drove Anna to work. After a long kiss, she reluctantly left the car and said she'd see him soon.

She walked towards the library feeling like everyone knew. As if she had a big sign around her neck letting everyone know exactly how she'd spent her evening. Sitting at her desk, Anna still had a hard time concentrating. She was constantly staring off into space remembering every touch or caress.

She thought back to how at first, she had had the control, the dominance in their delicate dance. Although, she really wasn't all that delicate with him. He soon had his turn. With her pinned to the mattress, John had her practically writhing and begging beneath him. He had her tiptoeing the edge of release, right before pulling away slightly to draw it out even longer, over and over again.

"I think I can guess what you're thinking about."

Anna jumped slightly as she was brought back to reality. "I suppose you're here for the 'adults only' version of last night?"

"Naturally," Mary beamed.

"Hm, I thought as much." Anna shuffled the few papers back into a folder she was supposed to be focussing on. "Well, I'm afraid I can't right now.

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Because of the fact that your former paramour has summoned me to his office."

"Ugh, how horrid." She shuddered. "Obviously, I've still been avoiding him."

"How are you managing that?"

"By ignoring him, mainly."

Anna huffed a laugh as she shut the library doors behind them.

"I never thought I'd say this but fortunately I have been rather busy with classwork recently and so have a good excuse to not stay in his presence for very long."

"And how long do you expect to keep that up?" Mary could be very conniving when she wanted to be.

"I'm hoping 'til the end of term, but he's bound to come up with some ghastly Plan B. Be careful, won't you?"

"I'm sure I'll be fine," she smiling reassuringly. "I'll see you later."

Anna watched her continue down towards her classroom as she stood at the entrance to the principal's office. It had seemed less domineering when Matthew was in charge. The two men were very different. Separate ends of a spectrum. Mary had never had a type, she thought.

Gathering her courage, Anna knocked on the door. Hearing a muffled "enter" from inside, she strode in.

"You wanted to see me, Mr Carlisle?"

"Anna, yes, I did. Please have a seat."

Just when it seemed he couldn't possibly be anymore intimidating, he had barely looked at her. He was looking out the window, behind his desk, arms folded at his back as if he was in some intense scene in a movie. Anna was sure if she looked in a dictionary, his photograph would be next to the words "arrogant", "foul" and git".

"I want to ask a favour of you."

"Of me?" Anna questioned as she sat stiffly onto one of the available chairs.

"Yes, you. I've been waiting to speak to you for some time and thought now was as good a time as ever." he rasped.

Anna stayed silent.

"You're friends…. with Mary, Mary Crawley. I understand you've known each other a long time."

"Since we were teenagers, sir."

"And recently, shortly before I arrived, you've changed job descriptions and now attend to the school library," he turned around to face her before continuing. "You must be kept very busy."

"I do my best," she answered hesitantly.

"Because I would be very willingly to increase your stipend."

Anna was confused. "I'm not sure I understand."

Carlisle swivelled his impressive high-backed leather chair around for him to sit, his elbows resting on the desk and his fingers steepled under his chin.

"You may be aware already of my previous…. endeavours with Mary in the past and I'm anxious to become reacquainted, shall we say, with her."

Ew.

"I still don't see where I fit in with all this."

"I'd like to know more about her interests: where she goes, whom she sees, what she says to them-"

Anna was shocked. "Excuse me, sir. Do you mean you want me to give you a report of Mary actions?" she stuttered.

"It'll be extra work, but I'm happy to pay," he was unfazed by her reaction.

"I'm sure, but I'm afraid I wouldn't have the time. Nor would I readily agree to spy on my friend." she said icily.

"It's your choice, of course."

Taking this as a dismissal, Anna stands and rushes to the door. As she reaches the handle, he speaks again, back to staring out the window.

"I would be grateful if you didn't mention this to Mary. I wouldn't want her to think I was checking up on her."

Even though you are.

Prat.

xXx

Anna was still stunned and was trying to mentally process what had happened. Sitting quietly in the empty staffroom helped with her melancholia. It was late in the day. She doubted many teachers were still lingering after their students had left.

Richard Carlisle had proved to be an interesting character, but unbelievably shady. She had felt tremendously uncomfortable the minute she had stepped into the room with him. Should she tell Mary about this? What would she say? How exactly had their…. relationship, ended?

Rubbing her temple, she sighed. Doubting that the mystery would be solved without speaking to Mary, Anna decided to drop the matter for now. Her day had started well and she wanted it to end well too.

It seemed that some higher power was determined to contradict her.

"Hello, Anna."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Mr Green. I was just about to leave, act-"

"Oh, come now. Don't be like that. Stay awhile. Chat."

He sat down at her table in the seat directly across from her. She didn't like the way his eyes were looking at her closely. She felt vulnerable.

Really, I've finished with these records now and was going home, hoping to have dinner on the table before Mary got home." She stood, collecting her bag.

"How's your boyfriend? You should bring him the the school show him 'round."

Anna stared blankly over his shoulder. "John's already been here actually, Mary and I gave him the tour not too long ago." With her bag over her shoulder, Anna went to leave the staffroom. Green followed her.

"You and Mary, huh? That's very social of him. Doesn't really seem the type to me. Sure you didn't just explore the school together? Alone?"

She quickened her pace, hoping he'd get the message.

"I.. well, he has been he more than once."

"Show him the library, did ya? Since you spend so much time there now. You know, funny thing happened this morning," he stopped walking and put a hand out to stop her as well. "I came into the library, not too long after you had opened it, I s'pose, and there was this shelf, surrounded by books on the floor. It looked like an earthquake had happened to just that one spot. Any ideas how that might've came about?"

Anna was breathing harshly now, eager to leave as soon as possible. Her glare didn't stop him.

"That's right. I know."

"I don't know wha-"

"Yes, you do," he hissed, crowding her as she stepped back. "I saw you. You and your John." His gaze wandered over her body. "So, I thought, maybe one day I'll come 'round to this special shelf and you and I can cause an earthquake of our own. Though, I doubt he has a higher magnitude than I do."

Oh, he was smug, the bastard.

"You!" Anna breathed, her eyes flashing. "You are such a- such a…"

Green leaned forward a little. "This is usually the part where a well thought out insult is used. But I can understand why your mind might be a bit foggy at the moment. I'd have trouble too, if just yesterday I had let that old codger anywhere near me. Although, my feelings wouldn't be nearly as positive as yours seemed to be. Do you have to throw away some of the books because of the damp?"

The slap to his cheek echoed through the corridor, Anna still panting in her anger.

"Stay away from me,' she snapped.

Green lurched forward and seized her about the waist. He spun her around, causing Anna to drop her bag and folders she was carrying. With her face and front pressed against the wall, Green held her arms behind her back.

"You need some fun, don't you Anna?" he snarled in her ear, she could feel tears forming in her eyes as he pinned her in place with his body. "You need to be shown some good fun,' he whispered, rubbing up against her suggestively.

He ignored her as she choked on a sob, when one hand started to snake down her front.

"This was always going to happen eventually, Anna. It was inevitable." The hand roamed down and forcefully cupped her between her legs. She struggled against his hand, desperate to free her own hands. If she could just free her hands.

A door squeaked open somewhere nearby, and slammed back closed. Both heads turned towards the noise. One hoping it was nothing, the other begging for a rescue.

Turning back to his conquest, Green moved his hand back up her front and across her ribs. "Maybe now isn't the time. But rest assured, I will come for you, Anna. And you can't do anything about it. I'll tell Carlisle about you and your little rendezvous. Me and him go back so who do you think will come on on top?" He licked at her neck and groaned. "In more ways than one."

He abruptly let go and Anna slumped to the floor.

xXx

Soooooo…. what do we reckon then?