Morgan Manor

As he felt she was not resisting his touch - for somehow James had hoped her to try to shove him aside in order to land a kick upon the bastard's ribs herself - he started to envelop her into a warm embrace, making sure she would not gaze over his shoulder, nuzzling against her forehead gently.

"He has not.", he confessed. "Both I and the Constable had interrogated him, twice. We thought about putting him to torture, but... he is too weak. He'll die.", he told her trully as he slowly started to lead her off the Stables, one of his arms running along her back in order to push her softly forward.

"He is saying nothing but his name. Bernard. Bernard.", he told her once they were out of the Stables. And there, he laid a soft kiss upon her cheek. "You should not be worrying yourself with this, Kat."
 
"Maybe he would tell me, James. I could talk to him. I could..." Her voice trailed off. "Sometimes,a man will tell a woman things..."

She looked up at James through her lashes. Even in mourning she was stunning.

"He held that knife to my throat and cut open my dress. there had to be a reason."

She shivered as she thought about that night in the garden.
 
He started deeply into her eyes. She could not be implying that, now, could she? "A man tell woman things...", he nodded, but he would not let it. He would not suffer it. What was she thinking she would do? Lay with that bastard, that murdered?

"No. You will not talk to him. We used everything on him. He will only laugh and mock and attempt against your honor. I'll not suffer it.", he told her as he stared at her eyes. She was almost melting him, almost. She was just so beautiful. Ben had been lucky in taking a wife as James had never been.
 
"James, please. I just want to ask him.... I won't get too close. I just want to look in his eyes and ask him."

Kat wet her lip with the tip of her tongue.

"Isn't it worth taking the chance. Maybe he will think that by telling me he can horrify me or hurt me."

Kat looked up at James with her big, trusting brown eyes. "Please..."
 
He stared into her deep, pleading eyes. Those were eyes a man could lose himself into. It was as if she was staring deep into his very soul, and unveiling every desire, every dirty thought that had ever passed through his mind regarding her. How he had been jealous about their love. How he had always loved and desired her.

James blushed, and then looked away. "Damn it, Kat. I can only protect you if you don't throw yourself into harm's way.", he told her as he blinked her stare away, looking at her once more. "If is that what you want... go to him. Speak to him.", he told her as he took her hand and motioned, meaning to lead her inside.
 
Kat walked into the stable. The guards watched as she knelt before the spot where the man was slumped on the floor.

"You don't me. But you killed you husband. You have destroyed me. And there is nothing I can do to save your life. But I can make sure you die well and with comfort. I will have them get the doctor and dull your pain."

He just snarled at her.

"I need to know why you killed my Benjamin. And why you tried to kill me. Tell me, please." Kat pleaded with him. She was too far away from him for him to touch her. But he could see just how broken hearted she was.
 
That pitiful beast that was once a man squirmed, but was otherwise unmoved by her pleading. His eyes stared at Katherine with contempt, hatred, and even into his situation a savage state of lust that made Lord Morgan wish to kick his face right where the bastard stood. That lewd gaze, corrupting the very image of his sister-in-law.

"Your Benjamin?", the man's nose was dripping with blood and mucus. "Some might say he belonged to another." That had James reaching to take one of the Constable's men batons, but he could not really reach it in time before the bandit spoke again.

"And you are some fine piece o' ass, Lady. We figure'd a girl like you would need some real man to make her feel... feminine."

At that Lord Morgan could not stand it. The guards tried to reach for him as he darted forward, but it was futile as the man laid a powerful kick into the wounded criminal's belly. "You talk about my brother's wife, you maggot!", he bellowed. Damn you, Kat. You should have never come to see him, he thought.
 
Kat looked at the ciminal with hard eyes.

"Your words don't hurt me. I have full confidence in my husband's love for me. You are just trying to cause more pain."

Kat left the stable with hurried steps. Her skirts rustling as she ran for the gardens. Her eyes were blurred with tears.

She could hear James behind her and she longed to be in his arms but she couldn't ask him, she didnt want to need anymore. He had been right, she had no business talking to her husband's murderer.
 
His gut ached for him to tell her "I told you so", but how would that help the fragilized woman? Mockery was never the awnser to ease her mind and soul, if he'd ever manage to do so. How he wanted the best for Kat. It was his fault that he had allowed her to speak to that fiend, no matter what.

He reached for her as he runned behind her. For a moment, his eyes had come down to the preponderous sway of her hips and the snaking waves of her dress as she run.

"Kat!", Lord Morgan called for her as she started to hurry upstairs. "Kat.", he told her once he reached his arms around her waist and brought her to his chest, her face against his shoulder as he tried to seek out for soothing words.
 
Kat allowed James to take her in his arms.

"Why would he say such hateful things? Why would he say that I need another man to make me feel feminine? Ben loved me, we shared our bed every night." Her words escaped between gulps of air.

Kat snuggled in tight against James' chest, her cheek rubbing against the soft cloth.

"Please don't let go." Kat whispered. She felt comforted against his chest.
 
James held her tight. She was so warm against his arms. The way she sought him to hold her, craddling the woman against his chest was simply delicious. She smelled so good. "...I won't.", he whispered back to her. Slowly, he started to move, leading her back towards the Manor. There was no need for her to suffer anymore.

"...I fear he might be speaking about Ben, Kat. Not about you.", for a moment, he hoped it had been about her. How wonderful would it be to have her into his arms.

Someone would have to take care of Katherine. She was no Morgan by blood. He had all the rights to sent her away from the Manor grounds on such words. But he would not. James had not the guts to do it with the woman he had so desired before his brother took her in marriage.
 
"What do you mean.... he is talking about Ben? That Ben had a lover? That Ben ..." Her voice trailed off. She looked up at James adoringly. She was truly perplexed, her innocent nature not understanding what the criminal was accusing Ben of.

"Take me back to the house, please." Her voice was soft and thin. Her hands were shaking. She leant against James. "This is madness. I am not sure how much more I can take."

The constable emerged from the barn. "He is dead, my lord. The only thing he said was Bernard."

Kat shook off James' touch. She ran back to the house. She couldn't stand to be anywhere near the criminal. She wanted to be near Ben's things. She wanted to wrap in his cloak and smell his scent.
 
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