Of all the books that she'd ever read, all the hours that she had spent searching those seemingly countless shelves in the library of that lavish manor, the books that had most captivated the young French woman were those about the world outside her own. All those fairytale novels of princes slaying dragons to reach the highest tower where the maiden fair that patiently awaited for her savior to come to her side and sweep her off her feet only to place her tenderly upon that noble steed and ride off into their happily after, all the stories of princesses under the spell of a powerful enchantress that could only ever be broken and set free by true love's first kiss... None of them ever compared to the images painted across her thoughts as she read of jungles untamed, or raging rivers that ripped through the earth with a power to carve out great and glorious canyons, or of those towering mountain peaks draped in eternal winter that so few dared to climb. Those were the books that Adelaide had craved, hungered for. There was so much out there in the world that she would never have been able to see had she allowed for that father of hers to control the paths that she chose to venture down. For her, the bonds of an arranged marriage to some wealthy man that thought her a beautiful thing to add to his menagerie of sparkling trinkets was so much more than that. It was a ball and chain, a cage . So many men always seemed to think that the sacred bond between man and woman was intended only to tie them down, but did they not think of all that the woman would sacrifice for a domestic life promising nothing more than daily chores and the responsibility - no, the expectancy - to devote all that she had and all that she is to him and the children that she bore him? Adelaide was nowhere near ready to settle down into wifehood. She was far from ready to see the day where she gave away her last name for another's, to know that the most exciting thing she might have to look forward to would be a girl's night out with other married women affiliated with man who she was so tied to. Perhaps someday she would want such a life, but it would take finding that man to tame the wilds of her fierce heart before that day would ever appear on the young woman's horizon.

Daughters were supposed to listen to what their parents said. They were told to mind, to smile sweetly and say 'please' and 'thank you'. When she had been little, these were the things she'd been told, and back then, all those years ago when she'd been no taller than her mother's waist, these were the things that she had done to please them. She would always remember the pride in those soft jade green eyes of her mother as little Adelaide would grow taller and taller, every brighter with a radiance that she had always told the girl put the stars to shame. When she'd been so young, her life had been simple and practically perfect. She'd been given almost everything she'd wanted from her own pony when she'd turned eight to that fire engine red Peugeot RCZ R when she'd turned sixteen (that she hardly ever got the chance to drive), all the dolls and fine jewelry in between. All these fancy and expensive things, they only kept her charmed for so long, until one day when suddenly those diamonds didn't seem to glitter and gleam in the sunlight like they used to and that fancy sports car went without a single glance. She'd grown tired of them, and it was that day when she'd wandered into the library and idly grabbed that first book from its place, seating herself amidst those soft pillows and opened those worn pages. It was that winter morning when she'd been taken to a world anew. The more she read, the more she wanted to know. It hadn't stopped at one book, for each one that she finished she had found herself wanting to see more, learn more. Those history books and been enticing enough, but they have been a required read for her schooling education, and what her tutors never told her was that there was more beyond all the Shakespeare novels, more beyond all the ancient books that carried her through each and every century since the beginning of time. They hadn't told her about the wonders that rested in the worlds beyond their own and suddenly, that once enormous estate became so terribly small. She'd only been given the briefest of glimpes into the pyramids of Egypt, the vast and deep jungles of South America, the sun-scorched grasslands of the Serengeti. It had made her realize then just how... empty her life was. No amount of money could ever buy that which she wanted then and thereafter. As time passed she grew older, stronger, more defiant, and in those same moments she began to feel like a bird with clipped wings, staring at the sky left with only her dreams of flying.

Sage eyes watch him attentively, curiously for a moment despite the flames of determination that flicker within those depths and she finds herself wondering about the man before her, the lights of the night gleaming faintly off his exposed skin. What was his story? Surely it could not be farther from any that had been so easily seen upon the men whom she'd stood so close to once on the grounds of her father's estate as yet anther courting commenced. Those men in their hand-tailored and hand-made suites with hair slicked back and a dashing, debonair smile playing across those handsome faces that any other woman would have surely swooned over, they could not be more different than Taylor. Where they had been poised and refined, there is something about him that is almost roguish in nature and yet she had only just witnessed an act of valor that, while far from those gestures in those books of old her thoughts had eagerly explored all those afternoons in that bay window overlooking the gardens she so often walked through. Where there had been nothing but overpowering colognes and perfectly pressed shirts, she finds only the faint remnants of tequila, notices the worn fabrics of the clothes that shielded him from the weather. There was nothing about the man who held her gaze that reminded her of those arrogant sons of wealthy men who sought her hand only for expanding their own assets and pedigree. There was no self-entitlement that found those hunter green eyes, no smugness in the way that he smiled or smirked, no haughty chuckle that slid like molasses over his tongue. And though she knew nothing but his name and the warmth that had found his smile only moments ago, she could not help but want to know more. It was... refreshing, like a breath of cold mountain air in scorched lungs, or a cool drink of water on parched lips. To be looked at as Adelaide, not just some prize to be won through false promises that would never be fulfilled, it only further assured the French woman that her decision to leave her old life behind for the unknown and unexperienced had been the right one.

He does not try to move away as she advances closer to him so that she can take a better look at the wounds that broke the tough skin of his forearm, though ever sharp sage eyes do not miss the raised brow that suggests he wasn't entirety sure what it was she was up to. Again his expression changes as he realizes that he almost didn't have much of a choice other than to agree with her and perhaps to a certain degree, this was true. Adelaide was used to getting what she wanted, but that had little to nothing to do with her concern for his well being and her insistence on helping him. Despite the fire in those almond eyes and the persistence in her accented lyrics, he still could very much refuse her and yet, as that smile remains upon his chiseled features while a long breath ushers into the cold air between them, he doesn't. A genuine yet short-lived chuckle erupts from him before he gives a small shrug of strong shoulders and his tenor tones confirm his willingness to muse her, encouraging that small smile to grow upon her lips."It is settled then", she says in reply as if those words were needed to seal that spoken promise. His smile shifts then into a smirk as he replies to her offer of allowing him a glass or two of the liquors that filled the oak shelves of the cellar. He then waves out his arm in a sweeping motion, ushering her to lead the way before he looks to the parking spaces around them. She could call Townsend to come and retrieve them from the front of The Cat's Meow, but he was already likely to be displeased with an unexpected guest so late in the evening. He gestures then to the motorcycle parked only a short walking distance from where they stood and she hesitates. She'd never been on one of those before... and it certainly didn't look like it was as safe as her Peugeot 5008 SUV, but leaving it here for the night also wasn't an option. Yet, when her gaze returns to his she can see that smirk of his widening and a daring look in those hunter greens as he makes mention of her not minding wind in her long dark cocoa locks. Her own smile takes on a bolder appearance now as she begins to move towards what would have to suffice as her way home."You say that almost like a challenge", she purrs smoothly through accented lyrics to the man as she walks past him and towards the Harley. There was a first time for everything, and she was ready to seize this new experience for what it was worth if only to rise to that hint of a challenge in Taylor's offer. After all, how bad could it be?