Bella sat silently through the cleansing, avoiding his gaze if only to hide the shifting expressions on her face. It was pain, mostly, but there was also also a pink flush of embarrassment that touched her cheeks when his fingers brushed across her palms. "I should have attacked... your logs," she said, finally breaking the silence. "... and you, I suppose. You - You didn't deserve that." She met his gaze finally—nervously.

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— MJ is MAGICAL —

Jamie tried to simply focus on the task at hand on not pay much attention to the close proximity of the young woman or the fact that her hand was in his essentially. He was just tending to a wound, after all. There was nothing more to it. Even if it was all a bit strange feeling. But then her apology caught him unawares enough to where he started some. He tried to cover the small jump, however, by simply offering a shrug of his shoulders.

"Feel like telling me what it was all about?" he asked as he started to wrap her hand with a thin bandage to help keep the wounds clean.

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Yay Bree Set!

Their exchange was full of awkward silence, uncomfortable remarks, and quiet observation, but there was something strangely endearing about having him tend to her. His raised voice had spooked the dramatics out of her, but not her honesty; Bella glanced up at him and, with a contemplative sigh, nodded.

"My father died," she answered, examining his features in a light pause before continuing. "I was angry. At him, at my siblings, at the world—but not you. I'm sorry." And she was.

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Jamie had looked to her once he'd finished wrapping her hand, not really sure what sort of answer he was expecting to hear from her. He was, however, a bit surprised when she did answer and what her answer ended up being. The surprise was well evident on his features as well as he tried to think of what to say. Truthfully, he didn't have a clue what to say.

"It's alright," he finally managed. He found he was still holding her hand gently and thought he should perhaps let go but didn't before adding, "Are you alright?"

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Yay Bree Set!

Bella nodded quietly, her eyes shifting back and forth between his face and the held that hand hers.

"I'll be alright," she answered, boldly rubbing her thumb against his hand. "It's just... I'm not very good at bottling up my emotions for a long time," she explained. "It gets worse as time passes."

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— MJ is MAGICAL —

The rubbing off her thumb against his hand should have been the sign for Jamie to release her hand but he found himself not doing so. And then gee found his free have moving to cup her cheek just slightly after she had finished speaking. It was a recipe for disaster but he'd never really been one to think things through before.

"So don't bottle then up," he said quietly, his eyes focusing directly on her own as that recipe for disaster continued and he leaned forward to kiss her softly.

Mac was surely going to kill him.

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Yay Bree Set!

A gasp escaped through her parted lips as he reached up to cup her cheeks, and her blue eyes grew wide as he moved closer. Over months of observation, Bella had complied a mental list of traits to describe Jamie MacFusty: narrow-minded, blunt, rooted in routine, hardworking, practical—but most importantly, he was predictable. So predictable, in fact, that Bella had also compiled a mental list of what comments, attitudes, tones, and actions upset him, accompanied by the reactions he gave to them. It was Bella who was supposed to be the impulsive one; the one who lost all sense of societal standards the moment she was overwhelmed by a flurry of emotions.

And in this case, she supposed, it was her who was the predictable one.

Bella reached up and cupped his stubbly jawline with her hands, shifting in her seat until both feet were flat on the ground. She didn't break the kiss she rose from her seat and moved closer until she was nearly in his lap. Her hands wandered down to his shoulders and then around his neck, her fingers knotting themselves in his cropped hair.

"Jamie," she murmured, momentarily pulled away for air before she moved back in. It was both a warning and a plead; he would have to pull away, because Bella was not prepared for the inevitable embarrassment that would follow. At the same time, she didn't want to stop. With Jamie's strange sense of self-righteousness, he was just as likely to request that she leave as he was likely to invite her to stay a while longer.

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— MJ is MAGICAL —

This was bound to end in catastrophe, of that much Jamie was certain. But it didn't really stop him from doing so. Which, probably, wasn't all that like him despite how reckless and thoughtless he normally could be. Times with a woman, however, were not spent with Bella's sort. Not in the slightest. She was far from a pretty barmaid hoping to make a few extra coin at the end of the shift or a well trained and prideful prostitute that was only looking to be paid at the end of the night. Bella was neither of those. And, from what he'd gathered, she was a woman that was doing her damnedest to remain as respectable as possible despite being a bit too spontaneous and independent for her own good. As such, she'd be a woman with expectations and ones that he wasn't really sure he could fulfill.

There was also the fact that she's was Mac's assistant. Fuck.

But hearing his name as a whisper on her lips and the fact that she hadn't pulled away entirely and stormed out or slapped him across the face caused a strange sort of feeling to flutter in his chest. Was it hope? He wasn't sure and that was a bit terrifying. Why would she really want to be or stay with someone like him? He'd yelled at her on more than one occasion and he wasn't exactly the easiest to get along with. Not to mention how ridiculously dangerous his job was. He may not even return home one day.

But she was leaning in to kiss him again and it was all he could really think about. He finally relinquished her bandaged hand as it fell to her waist to actually pull her into sitting in his lap. She'd been close enough as it was, anyways, so why not just take the leap as his kissed her back. The need and desire was certainly felt even as a calloused thumb rubbed gently against her cheek. It was his turn to break from the kiss and regain his breath, hopefully to grasp the small bits of composure he might still be capable of. "It might be better if you leave," he said softly though there was no real push or heart in his tone. He didn't want her to. It would hurt like hell if she did. But he had to offer the option. He had to at least give her an out before she crossed a point that she couldn't come back from. "I don't know that I'll be able to stop if you stay," he added, perhaps the scariest of truths he'd ever admitted.

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Yay Bree Set!

Bella let out an approving noise as she lowered herself onto his lap. It wasn't, then, a momentary lapse in judgment; he wanted to be kissing her, and he was continuing to kiss her as she moved closer and closer. Even as he pulled away to offer a warning, his tone and body language made it apparent that he had no desire to quit.

"You don't want me to leave," she breathed, her fingertips gently massaging into his scalp. She pulled back just far enough to look him in the eye, but close enough to feel his breath on her lips. "I don't want to leave."

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— MJ is MAGICAL —

A pleased sort of humming sound left Jamie's lips as she pressed closer to him and gently rubbed his scalp with her fingers. It was enough of an enjoyment that he couldn't help the faint sigh that left his lips as she responded to his own words. It wasn't what he wanted to hear but it was. It was all so confusing and contradictory but she spoke the truth, at least in regards to him not wanting her to leave.

"You can leave at any time," he said softly, still wanting to make sure she was aware of that, that she'd have an out no matter what, "I'll not force you to do anything you don't want." And that was the truth. He may be portrayed as something of a barbaric heathen with the way he chose to live but he would never stoop so low as to force any woman into his bed, no matter how much he wanted it.

He stood up slowly then, though, arm sliding under her legs as the other wrapped around her back. Cradling her against his chest some, he waited for a response. If she still chose to stay, well, he really hoped there'd be no going back.

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Yay Bree Set!

Bella leaned forward pressed a chaste kiss to his lips to shut him up. A defiant woman, she was the only one capable of dissuading herself from making poor choices, and unless he made it evident that he no longer wanted any part in this, she was going to press forward. She made more experience with men than most "well-bred" ladies, but there were places—namely a man's bed—that she'd never been before.

"Are you going to kiss me? O are you going to spend your time explaining why I shouldn't kiss you?" she questioned, wrapping her arms around his neck as he lifted her off the ground. Bella had always been thin—too thin, according to her mother—but it still surprised her just how small she felt against his chest. "Because," she added, moving one hand to caress his cheek, "I would prefer if you'd just kiss me."

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Jamie couldn't help but to smirk at her chaste kiss and then her following words. He couldn't really argue with that. Kissing, and other things, were far more fun than talking about it. Or trying to dissuade her. But he had to at least let her know the options. He knew he couldn't handle it if she felt like she was pressured to do anything or forced to stay. He may be a bit of a mess but he was still an honorable man and honor was something that he held high. Even if he was thinking of taking a proper woman to his bed in a very improper manner and in all the wrong order. He was pretty sure bedding a woman before anything else wasn't how it was supposed to go, anyways.

He kissed her again, no longer feeling the need to warn her or speak, but it was a short and fierce sort of kiss before he was moving and having to focus on where he was going. It wouldn't do very well to knock her head against a wall or doorway after all.

He continued going, his movements more than obviously taking them into his bedroom. He paused at the foot of the massive bed that took up most of the room before he set her on the edge. His gaze remained on hers, still trying to gauge if she was really sure of this even as his fingers began to slowly undo the buttons of his shirt to gradually bare the chest she'd seen on more than one occasion. This time, however, felt much more intimate but it didn't stop him from continuing on until it was all the way undone in front of her.

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The giddy fluttering in her chest did not cease when he placed her down on the bed, and arguably got worse when he began shedding his clothes. She averted her gaze, a silly gesture given that he was undressing for her. Cheeks tinted pink, she gathered her courage to meet his gaze once again, and, taking a deep breath, moved to her feet and began working his shirt off his shoulders. This part was easy; she'd undressed him before (albeit not for this purpose), so her hands did the work without much thought.

"So handsome," she murmured approvingly, running her palms down the plains of his chest. She had no idea where to go from there; the only men she'd undressed further were patients incapable of doing it themselves, and Jamie was... the complete opposite of helpless at the moment. "Tell me what to do. I've never..."

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Jamie was grinning again, almost smirking, at her murmur. He'd never been a vain man really but it never hurt to hear such things. Especially from a woman he felt ridiculously drawn to even if he shouldn't be. She was everything that a proper woman shouldn't really be. She was too independent, too stubborn, too feisty. And, oddly enough, he liked every on of those aspects.

The feel of her hands along his chest caused the hairs on his arms to stand straight up and goose-flesh to sprout all along his exposed bare skin. He'd been about to lean forward and kiss her again but her following words gave him pause. It should have been another red flag. It was a red flag. And for a brief moment, a war raged within him on whether he should be the one to put a stop to it all. He should, he really should.

But he couldn't.

"Turn around," he said quietly, but not at all in a harsh or demanding sort of way. There was a softness to his tone and to his face now. As much as he wanted to take her then and there, he knew he had to take things slowly. Even if it killed him.

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Yay Bree Set!

There was a momentary pause in which Bella questioned what would happen next. One moment he was smiling, and the next minute he seemed deep in thought, his gaze burning into hers. Fortunately, it was not a long enough pause to make her question herself. She slowly turned around, instinctively glancing over her shoulder to meet his eyes. "What now?" she asked. It was very difficult to kiss when she was faced away from him!

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"Shh," Jamie all but whispered. If she kept talking, kept asking questions, he knew he'd question himself further. He probably should continue questioning himself but he was still fighting that inner battle in regards to continue.

He leaned forward as he brushed the loose braid at the nape of her neck aside and kissed softly along the back of neck. Feather soft kisses were placed along the top of her shoulder as his hand pulled the band loose of her hair so that it call fall freely though was brushed over the opposite shoulder. His kisses drew back up her neck and along the bit of her jawline he was able to reach as his hands slid down her arms and to her waist before drawing back up to deftly begin making work of the ties and laces that held her dress in place.

Once the laces were undone, he puled away from her just enough so that he could turn her to face him again. He didn't dare to really look her in the face for fear of seeing a look of fear of her own and instead pulled her up against him and kissed her on the lips once more. Once again, the hunger and desire was felt in that kiss as his hands ran along her arms and the bodice of her now loosened dress.

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Yay Bree Set!