A Late Arrival (Spicy!)

[zozee9]

Illi laughed as Davishire dismissed his painting skills, though she bet he was better than her. By the sound of it, he had at least touched paint at some point in his life, something she could not say herself. She smiled in elation as he offhandedly said he would read with her, though she did not know if that was a proposal or not. She was just about to get up her courage to ask when—

"Nice?" Illi repeated slowly, raising her head and meeting his eyes with her big green ones. Then, with no attempt at flirtatiousness or normal civility, she quickly covered her face with her hands. She could feel the heat of her blush, which, consequently, made her blush more. "Thank you, oh my goodness, thank you," she bumbled even faster than normal. "No one says that to me, oh, except my siblings, and that old aunty at the bookstore, but"—she moved her hands down so they were now only covering her cheeks and not her eyes—"thank you." Her mind was so blank she hadn't even thought to compliment him back.

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Davishire could easily say he was not expecting that reply, but his grin grew a bit wolfish as he looked at her and leaned in a bit closer.
"Is that a blush you're hiding, Miss Illi?" he teased, rather liking seeing her so flustered.

[zozee9]

Illi's hands dropped down to her chest, where the clenched them together over her heart. If Davishire hadn't moved just that tiny bit forward, she would have surely looked down or away or anywhere else to regain any amount of composure possible. But that small lean was enough for her to be mesmerized by his brown—no, dark green—eyes. After a brief moment of silence (created by a combination of her shy, mesmerized self and the suddenness of being so boldly called out), Illi hastily replied, "Oh, oh definitely not. Not a blush at all." Although her tone was almost the same as before, there was a hint—just a hint—of flirt. 

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There was a silent chuckle only seen in his dark eyes as his grin grew.
"You must have low standards. I should have used bolder words, like beautiful, radiant, or any other such word." His playfulness died away at that as he waved it off. "Bah. I never was all that good with words to describe the fairer sex in such a state." As embarrassing as it was to admit.

[zozee9]

Davishire's grin grew and Illi's blush did the same. "Bolder words may have caused more harm than good, my King. Too much shock is bad for one's soul, wouldn't you say?" Although she was slowly gaining the appearance of calmness, her thoughts were repeating he called me beautiful, radiant, beautiful, radiant over and over again. "And I believe your words were quite enough... and that my standards are not low at all. I dare to say that being called nice by you would be better than being called beautiful or radiant by any other man."

After a brief second, Illi realized that her words could have easily sounded like she was saying his compliments mattered more to her than anyone else's, that she liked him. Her attained calmness vanished and, trying to escape saying this truth, she quickly added in, "Ah, I mean, just, because I doubt you are the sort of man that gives compliments to any woman, I mean. Unlike most 'gentlemen'. Not that you aren't a gentleman. But, oh goodness, I've done it again." She paused, took a deep breath, and slowly stated, "If this was a book, you would be the sort of character that would only give true compliments in a situation like this. So, I suppose I assumed, when you called me... nice... that your words were genuine. And that means a lot."

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Davishire's grin, once again, became wolfish.
"And I'm certain you've repeated all that three times over, Miss Illi."

[zozee9]

"Would a fourth do any good? I'm sure I could continue," Illi responded, finally laughing at herself. "Oh, here I am, here to see you on your birthday, and all I'm doing is making a fool of myself. And yet I remain determined to stay, even though better judgement may tell me to leave before I worsen the situation." Of course, however embarrassed she was, she loved the situation.

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"And here it is, on my birthday, and I thought you were trying to make a fool of yourself for my own entertainment. Either way, I'll take it." And he eyed her up before feeling the need to look away. He wasn't like his sister, to let himself get carried away in such a situation. Though it wasn't the first time he considered stealing a kiss. He wasn't entirely the sort of man to do it, but he was enjoying himself thoroughly, and glad to be away from the rest of the party.

"Shall we continue on this tour? There's still the wine cellar and the gardens."

[zozee9]

"Ah! If only I had known you thought such a thing, I would have gone right along with it." She paused. "No, that's a lie. I would have felt too guilty in the end." Completely oblivious to Davishire's thoughts, Illi smiled gleefully. "I do not know much about wine, but I would love to see the cellar. As for the garden, well, nothing sounds better!" She knew it was probably best for them to not stay in this hallway, alone, just standing there, for any longer. Though she was innocent, she wasn't foolish. What if some passerby thought that they had snuck away for a kiss! Such a rumor would spread like a wildfire. The thought of it having just entered her head, Illi found herself surprised by her eyes' new desire to wander down and look at Davishire's lips. Instead, she turned back toward their path and said, "Lead the way!"

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And just as he was about to lead her onward, he heard the familiar clicking of heels coming down the hall. Panicked, he grabbed onto Illi's hand and said, "Keep close and quiet." And slipped into the closest room they were near, which was a small music room that over looked the back gardens. It was dark in there, as it wasn't a music room for entertaining, more but practice, and as he guided Illi along, he pressed them near the wall as he held his breath and listened to the sound of foot steps in the hall.

[zozee9]

Illi let out a small gasp as Davishire grabbed her hand and led her into a room. She had heard the footsteps and, although she obviously did not recognize the clicking of heels like he did, she had a suspicion that it must have been Davina. She could think of no one else who would cause him to act in such an unpredictable—and improper—way. But this conclusion was reached in half a second, for her thoughts otherwise remained completely focused on the feeling of his hand on hers.

With a sudden burst of daringness, gained from the adrenaline of the hiding, Illi quietly teased, "So is this the special place you wanted to bring me?" It was uncharacteristic of her to be so gutsy, but she was nearly positive the darkness of the room would hide her nervous red face. Furthermore, Illi decided that it was her turn to try to make Davishire flustered, finally having realized that he was doing it purposefully to her just beforehand.

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Davishire gave a heated snort and glared at her.
"Hardly," he hissed beneath his breath. "I just would rather not-" But he froze, swallowing his breath as he heard the foot steps approach. Heart pounding in his ears, he pulled Illi closer and prayed Davina would simply leave. She just had to pause right outside the door, but once he heard the click of heels leaving, he released a breath, but not his hold on Illi.

"Wretched woman," he growled, body shaking. "She's worse than a hound. A wolf."

[zozee9]

Well, Illi decided, she should have known better than to think she could have succeeded in her teasing. In fact, just saying the words had likely embarrassed her more than him. Her eyes widened as he pulled her closer. She knew he wasn't doing it to be intimate, and that he likely thought nothing of it, but that didn't stop her mind from racing. Illi could only imagine how hot her hands must be getting, for her whole body felt like fire. She didn't let go.

"Throw her a treat?" Illi responded quietly. "... Or a dead rabbit, I suppose."

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Davishire snorted.
"I wouldn't throw her a bone. I'm sure she could find a way to use it against me."
He moved away from the wall, creeping towards the window.
"I think the coast is clear." But then his shoulder hit into a music stand, and he swore beneath his breath as it clattered to the ground.

[zozee9]

Illi gasped as the music stand fell, its sounds echoing throughout the room and into the hall. "Oh, um, um, um, we could, ah, can you sing? Or something?" Despite being a story teller, Illi couldn't think of any good way out of their potential predicament. Her mind was too cluttered and too scattered.

"Or we could just run for it." Not a very high class thing to do, but it was the only other thing she could think of.

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It was too late to think. The door was swinging open. And  the only way he could think to cut Davina back was to give her exactly what she was looking to find-
And he moved forward, powerful arms pressing Illi swiftly, though gently, against the wall. And were she to protest or speak any further on the matter, she'd find his lips sealed heatedly over hers.

[zozee9]

Before Illi even knew what was happening, she was pressed against the wall with Davishire's lips on her own. Maybe Davina said something, maybe she hadn't. Illi didn't know. Her big eyes stared up at Davishire for a moment in astonishment. She could feel the heat from his lips travel throughout her body, a spark that set off all sorts of connections. It felt, well, amazing. But she did not want it.

Illi pushed him away from her as hard as she could, even though she felt so weak. Her face was full of despair—and even a tinge of betrayal. She could feel her eyes start to water, but she wasn't going to cry. She was determined not to. Illi bit her lip to help her hold back her tears. But there wasn't anywhere she could go, not with Davina at the door. So she just stood there, quietly, praying for an escape to present itself.

She had wanted to kiss Davishire, she wouldn't deny that. But she dreamt of a perfect first kiss, like one from a book. She hadn't wished for her lips to be taken so halfheartedly. To be used. Illi lowered her head, feeling foolish and frail. She didn't want to have to look at anyone, not Davishire, not Davina, not anyone. If only she could leave and write and escape...

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Two clicks of her heels and she stopped, and Davina found herself staring at the pair against the corner wall.

"And here I'd think my dear brother would remain a virgin on his birthday."

Davina's words made Davishire shake with rage, as he paused a moment before turning from Illi, every bit of him as menacing as a wolf.

"And you have no right to speak. So help me Davina, I'll remove you from this god damn estate, that I will!" He was shaking, anger over loading all senses. But he kept himself infront of Illi- to hide her, protect her from Davina and any prying eyes. But Davina was thankfully alone.

"Tut, tut, such threats," Davina drawled. She hung back by the door, however, and didn't bother to give Illi a good look over. "But really, what you do behind closed doors... " she went on with a sigh. "It is my concern. And whatever transpired here... will end here."

[zozee9]

Illi kept staring at the ground. She wish she could tune out all the noise, something that she was normally good at, but her ears were acting more sensitive than normal. Of course. She was scarlet red in humiliation, but also in a bit of anger. Why did she have to deal with all of this? She had known Davishire to be despising of his sister, but had not expected that he would go this far just to upset her.

Although she still didn't move or raise her head, Illi had enough irritation to finally speak up. Her words were quiet but pointed as she said, "Nothing transpired here."

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The words were mos unexpected, as Davishire looked down to Illi, and only then did he feel the effects of his action. As a gentleman, he had done an unjustice to the sweet woman before him-
but the unending nerve that was his sister always sent him into a mindless rage.

He was tired of it. Tired of it all.  He tensed, hands clenching into a tight first before he turned around again, glaring at his sister.

"Nothing would have happened," he snapped. "But if you want to be so meddlesome go back to the party and take your venomous gossip with you. And you can tell them whatever tale your dark spider's silken tongue can weave because I'm through with it. And this is through. I will not have such unsavory things transpire infront of Miss Treyburn." His neck was red, as was his face. "I can court whomever I wish, whenever I wish with lack of insult. Status will only sting at your back, and not mine."
And he turned to Illi, his face twisting in both guilt, and rage.

"Will you allow me to escort you out?"
He hoped she'd say yes. He needed to apologize to her. To explain. And his hands sweat at the prospect he might have lost everything by doing one act to fool them all.