Chapter: The Confrontation
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Sunset was when James and Nayla made their arrival at the Chamber House.
James walked in the house, not a word to Lorna as she tried to confront him, scowling him for arriving home at the last second. Tonight, James, Lorna and Nayla will be going to a party that was hosted by Countess Musgrove's place. No response from James caused Lorna to turn to Nayla who was making her way up the stairs.
"And you! You have to get more prepared than him...and why do you smell like-like pond water?" Lorna scowled Nayla.
Both Nayla and James paused in their steps when Lorna mentioned pond water. The two glanced at one another in the corner of their eyes. Nayla decided to face Lorna, putting on a fake grin.
"I fell in." Nayla said smoothly before resuming in climbing up the stairs.
"I will prepare a bath." Brace said, knowing that if Nayla smelt like that, he could only imagine what James smelt like.
Nayla walked down the hallway and entered the bedroom. A gasp escaped her when a hand suddenly came around her neck, holding it in a gentle manner. The brush of a mouth touched her left cheek.
"You fell in?" James mumbled, pressing his body up against her back.
"Yes."
"Hmm." James mouth pressed against the shell of her ear and then he was gone.
She turned around to see the tail ends of James's coat vanished around the bedroom doorway. A shaky breath escaped Nayla, feeling her body raise in temperature from such a short encounter. She moved forward to shut her bedroom door, but all the while she began to think if every moment with James will get her hot and bother now.
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James knew he had to wash to look presentable for tonight.
He traveled down from the attic in just his pants to burst through the door of the upstairs bathroom. A short gasp from within the room for the sudden appearance. He shut the door softly behind him, flipping the latch for no one to disturb.
"You couldn't wait your turn?"
"No." James dropped his pants and he stepped into the tub. He laid his arms on the rim of the tub, eyeing Nayla with a challenging look for her to say anymore.
To James, the sight of Nayla made a twist in his stomach. He did not enjoy the feeling, but it was one that must be good since once he got the twist in his stomach, he felt himself drawn to her. It was as if he was a bird lured to a shiny object; a moth to a flame; a bee to a flower. She was alluring and now that he had her, he felt the need to taste her again and again and again.
It was clear that Nayla wasn't trying to pay attention to him. She went back to washing herself. His eyes watched her every move. He wanted to feel her skin against his again. Gripping the rim of the bathtub, James pushed himself forward toward Nayla until her back was pressed against the other end of the tub.
Placing his hands on either side of her, James bent his head down to skim his nose up against the side of her neck and straight up to her ear. He let his right hand come off the rim of the bathtub to sink underneath the water and pressed his palm in the area just below her bellybutton.
An image of her filled with his child blossom in his mind. James knew that he had to keep her close to him or in safe hands. Even though Nayla could defend herself, when she got bigger, it will be harder to do so. But the idea of a child echo through his mind, thinking how he agreed to have a child.
"Time will tell if your vision came true." James whispered into her ear. The vision that she had, James will only have to wait and see if it came true.
Nayla did not say anything, but shut her eyes. Her eyes reopened to stare at him directly in the eyes as he sat back a little.
"I guess so."
Satisfy enough with her answers, he let out a low hum with a smirk appearing on his lips. James pulled away, but took the washcloth from her to begin cleaning himself. Once again, he kept his eyes on her as she got out of the bathtub, pulled her robe on and walked to the door, unlocking it. She casted a glance at him over her shoulder for a brief moment, but she left him alone.
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"We are going to be late." Lorna paced the foyer.
"Calm yourself." James mumbled, adjusting the necktie around his throat as he did not enjoy something tight around his throat.
"Nayla, where are you? We are going to be late!" Lorna shouted up the stairs impatiently.
"I am here. I am not a fan of powdering or dressing up." Nayla voice was heard from upstairs.
"Well, you can't always run around in pants and…" Lorna stopped talking at the sight of Nayla coming down the stairs.
The sudden pause of Lorna screech made James curious due to Lorna wasn't known to stop talking. He turned around to face the staircase to perfectly understand why Lorna had stop talking and stared.
The sight of Nayla dressed up in a dark burgundy red dress with a wide scope of the neckline. A sleeveless dress that Nayla wore black satin gloves that went just past her elbows. A black netting design went down the front skirt of the dress. The bodice clung to her torso and a peek of her cleavage showed. Her hair in a half down and half up style, soft waves, pinned back away from her face. A black choker necklace with a small teardrop blood red gem hanging from it.
"Oh, you don't like it by your sudden silence. Well, I guess that means I can go back upstairs and not go."
"Oh no, no, you are going. You look beautiful. You have to start wearing dresses like this more often. Don't you think, James?" Lorna glanced at James who kept his eyes on Nayla.
The foyer was in silence for a few seconds before James let out a small grunt and turned to the front door. He walked toward it, not seeing rolled her eyes at his response. Nayla came down the rest of the stairs to follow James and Lorna out of the house.
James had his horse hooked up to a small carriage that will bring them to Countess Musgrave's estate. He helped Lorna into the carriage first and Nayla next. He did hold Nayla's hand a tad bit longer, eyeing her with desire.
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Their arrival was not noticed at first due to how lively the atmosphere was.
The estate was filled with people all dressed up in a various design and colors of formal clothes. Most of the people already were formed in small groups throughout the estate and having loud conversations. Servants were going around with trays of food. Most of the people gathered in a couple rooms that were side by side with each other. The private party was definitely one that could be seen for high class status people. By everyone's clothes and jewelry, it screamed money.
James dodged people that tried to make way up to him in their drunken state of mind. He did not find any pleasure in any of these parties. Parties such as these were where people got louder and louder by the hour, their alcohol intake increases and as the hours went into the late evening, people began to get raunchy with their conversations.
Lorna went off to a group that contained some of her colleagues from her previous work as an actress.
Nayla felt out of place. She could see that James was in the same boat as her. He came to hover himself around her, growling in annoyance and in warning whenever a man dared to approach her with the clear intentions of bedding her. A few actually said they wanted to bed her right to her face. That led to James to wrap his right arm around her waist, clearly staking his claim. His mouth came down to her ear as they stood in the corner of a sitting room.
"Are you wearing a corset?"
"Why ask me that?"
"I do not want the strangling, rib-crushing contraption harming our child." James mumbled into her left ear, his nose pushed the shell of it and his mouth soon followed.
The mention of the child got Nayla to freeze for a split second in her spot. She didn't expect James to acknowledge the baby right away. Even if she had a vision and the two were going off the vision that she was pregnant. But Nayla could feel it. She had that feeling that she was right about being pregnant. A hint of concern laced in James tone made Nayla to know that he was in this with her. She couldn't picture him not helping her.
"I do not have one on. The dress fit just right to my body."
"Good. Don't wear one for now on."
Nayla would not argue with him. She never did enjoy the feel of corset in the first place as they were uncomfortable. If she did wear one, she did not tighten it to the point of her ribs aching. She kept it loose to actually breath normal.
As the time ticked on, the private party became rowdier.
Nayla still stood away from everyone. She did not understand the point of being at this party and so she turned her attention to James to question his intentions, but held her tongue. The way that James scanned the room, Nayla could tell that he was looking for someone and that made her to believe they will become apart of his future plans.
"I need to get fresh air."
James stared at her for a couple of seconds, a brief concern for a second that vanished just as quick. He gave her a small nod and let go of her waist. Nayla went off through the sitting room, brushing her way through the noisy crowd until she made her exit out of one of many french doors that led out to the vast estate backyard.
The temperature dropped when the sun went down. The coolness felt pleasant against Nayla's warm, flushed skin. She made her way down the stone steps and onto the perfect cut backyard lawn. She wanted to kick her shoes off and wiggle her toes in the grass, but it wouldn't be proper to do. Instead, Nayla continued to walk across the backyard until she came to a stop. She shut her eyes and took in a deep inhale before letting out a long exhale.
Clarity of the mind allowed her to recollect herself before she will make her appearance again inside the estate owned by Countess Musgrove.
The brush of a whisper in the breeze around her caused her to open her eyes. A chill ran down her back as she felt that the whisper become fanfic, warning her to stay on guard.
A presence was felt coming up from behind her that it caused Nayla to turn around to face a man that appeared to be a bit drunk. He was tall, dark blonde hair that appeared a light brown and dark eyes that held a glint of annoyance and anger as he stared at her. He wore an outfit that fitted the richly home where the private party was happening.
"So, you're the new bitch sharing his bed."
The comment was unexpected and shocked Nayla. She did not understand what she had done wrong to this man that got him to stare at her with a grudge.
"Excuse me?" Nayla said, not finding anything else to say for a comment like that.
The man's hand shot up to grab hold of her left wrist in a tight grasp. Nayla held herself from gasping out. Her eyes stared into his own where she saw that he meant to be rough with her.
"He does have a good taste in a woman. You are beautiful. Maybe more than my own wife. Not only does he get to fuck you now, but he already had a taste for my wife, his sister. He sure knows how to pick the beauties."
Once the man pointed that out, Nayla knew that this was Thorne Geary who was the husband of Zilpha, James half-sister. Nayla knew about the rumors of James and Zilpha relationship. Nayla believed them as she knew that James wasn't quite all there in the head. He was not a mentally stable man. But lately, he was beginning to prove Nayla wrong about his stability. She saw how he appeared completely fine and normal around her. She saw how he threw away the letters that randomly appeared at the house for him in the early morning. There was no doubt in her mind that those letters were from Zilpha, but James had been throwing them out. Now, there was nothing but hunger and curiosity from James every times he stared at Nayla. She was all he thought about now.
But this man before her, Thorne Geary was pushing his luck. Nayla wished she was not in the dress that constricted her abilities to use her legs to send a powerful kick straight to this man's groin. The dress did not allow Nayla to use her agile skills to evade and attack with ease.
"Let me go."
"Since he and I shared had already before, how about I get a share of you so that I can rub it in his face." Thorne sneered, leaning close enough that the alcohol was evident on his breath.
"Fuck off." Nayla hissed, her pale green eyes darkening to a forest green.
Her free hand flexed on her side, waiting for the perfect moment to strike her fingernails across his face. For now, she held herself back, wanting to stay proper and not drawn attention. She did not want James gaining anymore attention than he already was.
When Thorne went to tug her forward to be pressed against him that was when he appeared.
James broke the hold Thorne had on Nayla by stepping in between. The hold on Nayla's wrist broke off and she clenched her wrist with her free hand now, feeling the beginning of a bruise forming. Her eyes shot up to see that James body was tensed, his stare was heated and his fingers twitched on his sides, itching to grab one of his blades that he hid on his body.
To Nayla, it was clear that James was beyond pissed off.
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After he had found and had a brief discussion with Countess Musgrove, James went about to search for Nayla. He had found Lorna in one of the sitting rooms and asked her if he caught sight of Nayla. Lorna told him that she was still outside so that was where he had gone.
When James stepped outside, his eyes were staring across the large backyard where he caught sight of Thorne Geary clenching Nayla's wrist with a dark mirth expression, especially as Nayla tried to get away.
James saw red. He did not like that Thorne was touching Nayla. He hurriedly went down the stone steps, jumping over the last few to land on the grass. He ignored the curious stare that Zilpha gave him as she stood on the last step. James had his sight on Nayla and only Nayla.
When he pushed himself between Thorne and Nayla, breaking the hold that Thorne had on her, James unconsciously reached back with his left hand to push Nayla further away from this scene. His hand touched her lower stomach where he pictured the little one growing. The thought of Nayla, plus their baby being put in danger by Thorne made James seething with rage.
"Nayla you go on up to see Lorna."
"James."
"Now." James said sharply, his tone clearly showing no room for argument.
A nod from Nayla and she strode off toward Lorna who came outside with others to see what the confrontation between James and Thorne was all about.
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To everyone standing and watching, they watched as James and Thorne seemed to go back and forth, Thorne talking more than James. As James began to walk away that was when Thorne called out a challenge to James; duel to the death tomorrow morning.
That sent a wave of shock throughout everyone. No one was expecting such a drastic measure.
On the steps, Nayla could not believe what she heard. Her left arm wrapped around her lower stomach, her right hand covered her mouth as she held back a gasp. She did not want anything to happen to James, especially the step that they took earlier today and what they had created, which grew inside of her.
Not one to back down from a challenge, James accepted.
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Here was a new chapter.
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