Mr. Ward's Nanny

Lily's POV

"Why does he keep staring at my breasts...?"

It was astonishing that this was actually happening. I could hardly believe my boss had the audacity to not look away while I breastfed his child. Worse still, I found myself secretly enjoying the shameless attention he directed at me. I knew I should have covered my breasts or slipped away to another room for some privacy, but instead, I lingered, savoring the bold, indiscreet glances my own boss cast my way.

Sometimes, he’d even pull up a chair and settle in comfortably, his eyes never leaving me. In those moments, a strange urge welled up inside me—to climb onto his lap and kiss him, or perhaps offer my breasts to him, letting him suckle as well. What would it feel like to have a grown man nursing at my breasts...?

When I was offered the job at the Ward mansion, I never imagined I’d end up in a situation like this. It had been the happiest day of my life when the Mother Superior of the orphanage summoned me to her office. Nervously, I wiped my hands on a kitchen towel—I’d been preparing dinner for the children—and hurried to meet her. It had been three days since baby Arthur was taken away by his father, carrying a piece of my heart with him. I missed him desperately.

That baby felt as though he’d come from my own womb; I couldn’t explain the depth of my love for him. He’d been placed in my care when he was just a few weeks old. My colleagues and some of the nuns at the orphanage had cautioned me about him.

"Lily, this baby isn’t fully orphaned. His mother is gone, but his father’s still alive—a wealthy man who owns that eerie mansion at the top of the hill. They say he’s so wicked he even killed his own wife. Don’t get too attached to this child. Just do your job and look after him."

But I foolishly ignored their warnings. I cared for that boy as if he were my own flesh and blood. So when they took him away, the pain was unbearable. Each day that passed, I yearned for my baby more, though I was painfully aware I might never see little Arthur again.

Rumors swirled that his father planned to move to London, taking the baby with him. Yet, as I walked through the cathedral corridors toward Mother Superior’s office, tears welled in my eyes at the sound of Arthur’s unmistakable cries echoing through the halls. He was back at the orphanage!

Heart racing, I rushed to the room. When they let me in, I saw him—my baby—wriggling and wailing in the arms of his new nanny. Mother Superior was there, along with the tall man in the black overcoat I’d glimpsed the day they took Arthur away. I knew he was the baby’s father. I bowed my head slightly, though every fiber of my being ached to run to Arthur and scoop him into my arms.

"Take the baby, Lily, quickly! Can’t you see he’s crying? Hurry up!" Mother Superior’s tone was sharp, but it didn’t faze me anymore. I’d grown up with that harshness in the orphanage and had long since adapted. I nodded obediently and approached. The moment I held Arthur in my arms, it was as if the stars in my universe clicked into place.

The cold, dark, dreary nights of my life transformed into bright, blossoming spring days. The love I felt for that baby defied words. He quieted instantly in my embrace. Cradling him in my right arm, I brushed his face gently as I always did, and he rewarded me with a toothless smile, as if he knew me. A goofy grin spread across my face; my heart swelled with uncontainable joy.

"Goodness, this is incredible..." the nanny who’d been holding Arthur marveled, clearly stunned by the maternal bond I shared with him. How long had he been crying? Surely he’d missed me as much as I’d missed him.

"Is this the girl you mentioned, Mother?" The deep voice of the man in the black overcoat cut through the room. Mother Superior let out a fawning chuckle and spoke warmly to the wealthy man.

"Yes, Mr. Ward. Lily is truly an exceptional caretaker. It’s no surprise your son Arthur has grown so fond of her. She may look young, but she’s a twenty-two-year-old woman. Abandoned at this orphanage as a child, she’s lived here ever since. She doesn’t have grand ambitions, so she’s stayed on to care for the orphaned children." My entire life was summed up in her words, but my focus remained on the baby, who was now hungrily sucking my index finger with determination.

"Is your name Lily?" Mr. Ward’s voice was curt as he addressed me, and I nodded shyly.

"Yes, my lord." My reply was soft and timid. Looking up at that towering man stirred a flicker of fear in me.

"I want you to work for me as my son Arthur’s private nanny."

That very afternoon, my small suitcase was loaded into the trunk of Mr. Ward’s car. With the baby still nestled in my arms, I was permitted to climb inside. My new boss sat beside me as the driver eased the car along the roads of York.

Peering through the tinted window, I watched the Saint Laurent orphanage gradually disappear into the distance. That place had been my home for over two decades. I held onto the good memories and buried the bad ones. Looking forward, I realized a new chapter of my life was unfolding before me.

The man next to me sat like an unyielding statue, utterly impenetrable. He didn’t speak, and I half-wondered if he was even breathing. But when Arthur began to cry in my lap, he turned to me abruptly.

"Can you make him stop crying?" His tone was harsh, and I nearly burst into tears from the sting of his words. Swallowing my emotions, I replied.

"He’s hungry, sir."

"He won’t take the formula. How did you feed him? Do whatever it takes—now!" I knew Arthur had never liked formula, and I had no other option. I unbuttoned my dress at the chest, revealing a breast that felt heavy and tender from days without nursing. Adjusting the baby in my arms, I guided him to latch on, and he eagerly began to suckle, satisfying his hunger.

I sighed, stroking his face, brushing aside the faint ache in my nipple from the three-day break. Then I felt it—the heavy weight of the man’s gaze beside me. When I glanced at him instinctively, Garrett Ward didn’t look away for a second.

His eyes roamed from my face down to my exposed breast, brimming with suggestion and desire so intense I half-expected him to lean over and claim it for himself right there in the car.