His laugh startled Malou, her eyes widening in concern. Had she said something wrong? Further warmth crept into her cheeks and her eyes flashed down to his throat rather than his eyes in a sudden onslaught of nerves. Of course she had said something wrong, wives weren't supposed to be cheeky.

But then his lips sought her's and she found her nerves igniting for a different reason. Anticipation and calm twined through her as well as she murmured against his lips, "Not too much, I hope." But really her mind had rather wandered from the conversation at hand to the fact that, once again, she was alone with a man - her husband! - in a room and there was a certain duty to be preformed. One that his kisses reminded her of, and, she was quite embarassed to admit because she was quite certain it was unbecoming of a woman, she rather felt she wanted very much when he spoke his words in the breathe between them.

  

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An amazing MJ set

He’d sensed something had shifted, but there were few tangible indicators that he could point to that would back up that assumption. Instead, he encircled her waist with his free arm, his right hand moving from her chin to cradle the back of her head. “That may be where we differ in opinion, Mrs. Prewett.” He gave a low chuckle as he dipped his head once more, this time savoring the moment and hovering his lips just above her own before deepening the kiss.

“Though if you protest, by all means take the lead.” It was his turn to give a mischievous grin before going in for another kiss, hovering again, and pulling away at the last moment. Faustus had done it to counter her, perhaps to counter his own nerves that seemed to be making an appearance, but most of the reason was that he wanted to give her a little breathing room. He backed away to slip off his jacket. It would be the first time they were in such an informal setting with each other. If her blush was enough to go off of, he was guessing she might be a bit overwhelmed. “But I warn you, I’ve got years of practice in arguing with people. There may come a time when you wake up and find a grand piano in the tearoom just because I felt like getting you one.”

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Malou was all too aware of the sensation of the warmth of his arm wrapping around her, holding her tight. So driven to dsitraction was she that she hardly heard the words, only taking in her new name which filled her with a tingling excitement which was all to quickly laid aside by the feel of his lips once again on her's.

It really wasn't fair to have a conversation while kissing. Malou couldn't follow any of it, nor could she form a proper - or logical - response. She made a humm of noise in response instead, having forgotten what it was she was supposed to be protesting in the first place. It was, therefore, probably a good thing Faustus had stepped away from her for she found she rather disliked being at such a disadvantage.

It was, she realized, the first time she had seen him without his jacket when he was not in a moment of crisis. Taking off a jacket was something that she saw every day and ought not to shock her. But in this intimate setting, alone together, with a man who had just throuhghly kissed her, it was intimate and warmed her cheeks. What ought she to do now? She wondered. It wasn't as if she had a coat to remove. Did he remove something now -

Her thoughts were cut short by his words and a sound a mixture of a laugh and gasp slipped across her lips as she exclaimed, "You wouldn't!"

  

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An amazing MJ set

“Oh, but I would,” he replied immediately, his grin only growing more mischievous as he reached to take out his cuff links. It was so odd, he hadn’t felt this desire to make someone laugh and smile so much in quite some time. Yet with Marie it was fresh and he knew he would buy her a thousand pianos if it meant he got to see her smile for him.

“But for now I supposed you’ll have to settle for me buying you a new dress.” He’d had this recent vision of seeing her in a soft lilac color, or perhaps something to bring out the soft caramel of her hair. He pulled out a chair at the table and sat down, still smiling at her and marveling how he’d managed to get so lucky. Their first meeting had been at the orchestra, but he could never have forgotten the shock that settled over him when she had shoved a bloody piece of fabric at him that day at the Sanditon close.

He hadn’t realized she was a healer then, so to see her in such a setting had been burned in his mind for weeks after that. His eyes traced along the curve of her shoulder until he found her eyes. “Will you do something for me?” He murmured softly, reaching his hand out to her.

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