Maybe she was being careless. Maybe she wasn't thinking clearly, seeing only the things that she wanted to think might be there, but she doubted it. There was nothing that she could do to convince herself that he was just another fraud, another wolf dressed in sheep's clothing with wicked intentions glittering in those hunter green eyes that only seemed to hold warmth and a softness she was so unused to seeing. That uncertainty in the back of her thoughts would try and tell her that it was all just some act, that even if he were genuine that he was simply being kind and courteous. That voice of nearly unreasonable doubt kept trying to whisper into her heart that he was just a man that was new to this city and needed a job, that there was nothing more to it than the simple fact that he needed a source of income to live as all beings did. It tried to tell her that he hadn't taken her job offer because just maybe he wanted to be around her, that he was open and warm to everyone that he met. It even went as far as to try and make her believe that those stories he'd shared with her about his past were hardly the truth, that he was no better than the puppets that the nobleman insisted the dark-haired woman find a husband in. Those thoughts, those doubts, they tried and tried to warn her away from him, tried to tell her that he was no good just as the Englishman seemed almost certain of. Yet no matter the forces that seemed to try and sever that sudden and wordless bond between Adelaide and Taylor, every time those sage eyes would search his own, she would see only that whisper of something more, something that seemed to call out to her in a way so new and unfamiliar that she couldn't help but believe he was nothing like those suitors, nothing like the miserable man that reigned over that estate like he was a king. All that she saw in Taylor, she could dare to say she felt within her own spirit, even if the circumstances themselves were oceans apart. Their lives could not be any more different from the other, and yet somehow there was an attraction that had ignited from an ember into a flame. Never before had she felt so much with little more than a soft smile or warm glance, and it was enough to tell her that whatever it was that drew her to him, it was real.

Driving through the night, with each twist and turn they ventured down, Adelaide can't help but allow for her thoughts to drift just as they did through the darkness, guided by only the sparse street lights until eventually they were traveling down a two-way road that just seemed to stretch on and on into forever, disappearing around a bend before revealing another straight stretch only to melt into another curve towards the west. It took them farther and farther from the city, and as they left Sacrosanct in that rearview mirror, that past of hers grew smaller and smaller until it felt almost like it had been nothing more than a bad dream. She dared to imagine for a small fraction in time that all she ever knew was this. There was no Townsend - the only thing she would have missed out on from her life in France - or large estate tucked away in those rolling hills just outside of Paris. There was no controlling father with a determination to see that his daughter lived her life as he intended for her to, no man to take those carefully guarded wants and desires for the singular use to steal away what she had been so unwilling to give to just anyone who thought themselves to be so suave and debonair that they could have her without a doubt in those arrogant heads of theirs. She dares to dream of a world where this moment, this ride to wherever it was that he would take her, was just another adventure with the roguishly handsome man that had so much more to him that he seemed to know. She is thankful then that he couldn't look into that mind of hers in that moment as the young woman with her arms wrapped around him dares to think of of a world where it was just the two of them and no one else, a time where this was just something that they did every night when that desire to feel that rush that filled every part of her spirit that had never felt freer than it did now. How foolish she was to think that she would feel this way about Taylor whom she'd only known for a little more than a full day's time now. Yet, she'd always read that some of the greatest things in one's life often came into existence so suddenly that if one wasn't careful, they might just blink and miss it altogether. If that were true, then surely what seemed to have blossomed between the two wandering hearts could not be anything less than amazing, right? She didn't know for certain, though what she did know was that when the moment was right, she would know without question what it was that tied her to him and him to her. She only hoped that just maybe, Taylor would feel the same, but that was all she could do, all she would ever dream of doing; she would hope.

Reaching the top of that hill, the roar of the machine calms to a growl before it grows silent altogether and she is welcomed by the gentle chirping of crickets hidden in the grass and the gentle, hushed whisper of a passing breeze that brushes lightly against her pale cheeks flushed from the chill that she didn't feel. He smiles as she takes his hand and again she can't help but wonder what it was the man was thinking, but she says nothing of it as he leads her to that split in the fence. He laughs at her bold teasing and she nearly laughs in turn at the thought of Taylor climbing the fence only to land easily on the other side like the troublemaker Townsend was determined to think of him as. She only hesitates for a moment when he mentions that drug dealers might have once used this place, perhaps as some sort of place to coordinate the next sale or even hide the product, and she feels the smallest touch of sadness that passes through her as quickly as it came. It was such a pity that such terrible things could take place here beneath the stars that sparkled and danced in that blue-black sky, but just as he shrugs it away, so also pushes those thoughts away. Adelaide didn't want such heavy thoughts or feelings to be a part of this night. No, she wanted for everything she felt to be because of him. Perhaps she should have become hesitant or fearful that such souls might find themselves here, but she wasn't worried in the least for her safety. If Taylor had defended her from some drunken fool at the burlesque, she trusted that he wouldn't bring her to a place that could be dangerous. It was almost foreign to have so much faith in another as she did with him, but she found herself feeling lighter because of it. They appear on that crest and the sight that greets them is enough to make her breathless for a moment and as he nods in reply, making the remark that it was the only place he'd found where the stars filled the sky, she can here a subtle yearning in those tenor tones, glittering sage depths give him a fleeting glance to see that wistful smile etching gently into his features. She turns back to the city lights below then, leaning into him as a hushed sigh falls past those gently parted lips. The air here was so much sweeter, the scent of his cologne surely contributing to that breif moment of bliss."Where was it that you came from, Taylor?", she asks softly before her own eyes lift to those far away diamonds, a gentle smile dancing upon her own lips."I could see them from the estate as well. They just seem so much brighter tonight.", she says thoughtfully as remains there pressed lightly against his strong frame, relishing in that closeness as they gaze at the stars together, finding herself wishing then that time might just stop for a little while.

Caught up in that moment, that fleeting thought that she could linger here until the sun would rise on the eastern horizon, something she hadn't expected happens. Adelaide feels the movement of his arm as he wraps it around her waist, those strong hands brushing ever so gently along her side and she feels her heart flutter as that increasingly familiar warmth washes over her. Yes, she'd been touched by Julien, but it felt nothing like this... His hands had roamed her body with hunger and selfish wanting where Taylor's was warm and comforting. She'd never known such a touch and she finds herself leaning deeper into him then, her head shifting from his shoulder to the side of his chest now as she moved further into his embrace, bringing a hand to rest over his own while the other simply dangled between them. How was it that two people who still had so much to discover about the other could be so close only to have it feel so natural, like this was where she was meant to be? She can feel him draw a breath and those sage eyes fall from the glittering night sky to linger on his face, hunter greens slowly moving to meet them as she asks him what it was he would think of here. She listens as he lets her in, his gaze lifting back up the stars with longing in his softly spoken baritones and her heart almost aches for him."I'm sure you'll get there, mon cher. I'll do whatever I can to help you, just as I promised", she replies gently as he gaze remains upon his face as she blinks thick lashes slowly over her sage eyes. When he glances back down to her, she looks at him in surprise when he tells her that there was no one special in his past, shares with the dark-haired woman how she'd broken his heart by sleeping with someone he'd worked with. She can hear the hurt in his voice and it hurts her own heart. How anyone could do that to him, it angered her... She hardly flinched beneath that harsh word, disregarding it entirely even as he offers her a sheepish grin accompanied by an apology. She holds his gaze in that moment, understanding burning brightly there."I am sorry to hear that. She doesn't deserve you if she could dare to do such a treacherous thing. You are a good man, Taylor. You deserve someone who sees that, someone that will cherish you", she whispers to him, sage depths refusing to falter for a moment longer before she looks back out to the city.

Silence only lingers between them only briefly as she remains there against his side as she gathers her own story to tell."I know what it feels like to be betrayed and have your heart shattered. I'd opened up to a man once, shared with him what I wanted most in the world... He'd been the only one then who told me that I was not being foolish to want such things. He'd promised me that he would take anywhere I wanted to go...", she begins, pausing as that same bitterness she felt at just the very thought of Julien finding those lilted words."I thought I loved him... He made me believe I did. As it would turn out, he was no better than the rest of those arrogant and empty men. He lied to me, told me only what I wanted to here so earn my trust. He was just another puppet of my father's, but that didn't make it any less wounding", she says quietly before she presses a little more into him as if being there with that arm around her would make her forget what she only ever wanted to forget. It is then that, when his gaze flits away from her own for a moment in contemplative thought, hunter green eyes find glittering sage once again, the pain having vanished from those depths as they illuminated by something bright, something yearning. His words are gentle as they are ushered and it stirs in her that fire once more. It awakens those feelings, leaving no room for all the cautious doubts to try and chase away that warmth that filled her as he searched her gaze how she so often searched his, a sadness flickering through those depths, only softening hers further as they take on a tender, affectionate gleam. There was more meaning to his words than she knew, she could feel it."How can you be so sure until you reach for them?", she asks him gently, encouragingly, thick lashes fluttering halfway over almond eyes as she tilts her face up towards his, almost forgetting the stars that littered the heavens as she sees only Taylor, her own accented words holding within them a deeper meaning all their own that she hoped he might hear. Slender fingers intertwine with his as they lingered there upon her waist, tender gaze flickering down to his lips in a wordless question before holding fast to those hunter green depths once more.