I am maiden protected by being in fruit tree (9)
I believe the answer is:
persimmon
'fruit tree' is the definition.
(persimmon is a kind of fruit tree)
'i am maiden protected by being' is the wordplay.
'i am' becomes 'im'.
'maiden' becomes 'm' (cricket abbreviation).
'protected by' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'being' becomes 'person' (person is a kind of being**).
'im'+'m'='imm'
'imm' going inside 'person' is 'PERSIMMON'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for persimmon that I've seen before include "Orange fruit resembling a plum - miner's mop (anag)" , "Tropical fruit" , "Edible fruit" .)