It was not often that those less than desirable memories would find the French woman, but when they did, they awoke in her a fury tangled in a mess of deep pain and disgust. When she would look back on those afternoons she'd spent with that snake with pale blue eyes, of how he would offer her effortless smiles and words smooth as silk, it all came rushing back to her like it had only just happened the few short days ago despite reality reminding her that it had been months since that heartbreak she'd really only had herself to blame for falling into. After all, the more she would remember about that ever so breif time in her past, to more she would come to realize that the signs really had been there for her to see. And she should have. She could have saved herself so much trouble, so many years... she could have saved her maidenhood for someone who had truly deserved to have it. There was no getting any of that back now though, no pretending that she hadn't done something so foolish that summer night when her parents had been preoccupied and she'd thought Julien was the man she could be happy with, no denying that the heat of that evening had gotten the best of her when she should have simply had her head on right. There were some nights that had found her where that abundantly supplied cellar full of exquisite wines and various other French liquors, the young woman having hardly experienced that which the bars of this new city had to offer, would call to her so that she might just be able to lose herself a little. Adelaide was hardly the sort to try and drown her problems in alcohol, but she would be lying if she hadn't felt the want to get a little tipsy just so she could forget for a little while the very things she never wanted to look back on. As much as she wanted to unsee those glass blue eyes that had once caused those sage depths to soften beneath those words that has dripped from his lips like honey, as much as she wanted to forget how he'd touched her body, she couldn't and she hated it more than anything - aside from her wretched father whom she would always hold the most malice for. He haunted her in those thoughts of the past she had been so very adamant on burying and moving on from like they'd been nothing more than bad dreams, but where some hauntings would bring on a sense of longing, the only thing that the idea of the French man ever made Adelaide feel was nothing short of a wild fury. It would take time for his dreadful face to leave her, this she knew she would just have to be patient for, but there were no words to express just how ready she was for that time in her life to come when she couldn't remember him anymore.

Being with Taylor, it helped quell that anger because he would help keep her away from those unpleasant memories that tended to find her when she was alone. Yes, Townsend was always there and whenever the past would try and catch up to her, the Englishman was always content to muse the young woman so that their conversations or fleeting tasks might just prove to be enough of a distraction for the day. Back on the estate, when those wounds had still been fresh, the two of them would go on walks with the beaucerons along a road very few would travel. Perhaps they would even find themselves turning the canines loose in a field beyond the furthest reaches of the iron fences as the two of them would indulge not only Reginald and Rose but themselves in a game of fetch, their laughter ringing out over those gently rolling hills as the two dogs would fight over who would bring that ball back to their humans. That, or they would even go out for an afternoon or evening on those streets of Paris, just to get as far away from her parents as she could manage back then. They'd shop, they'd indulge in that element food culture and watch the world move around them, making humorous remarks about whatever happened to catch their fickle attention. Townsend would always listen to her rants without a bias ear, and even on that one particular night only days after the betrayal when she'd just be so overwhelmed with those feelings of hurt that he'd taken her and held her close to him until she'd managed to calm herself, let those sage eyes rain down salty tears into his well-kept and always perfectly pressed clothes, helped her put those cracked ans broken pieces of her heart back together. The blonde man was every bit the big brother that she would surely have fallen apart wholly and completely if not for his ever present support and care that delved deeper than the calls of duty. Maybe in a different world, Adelaide might have cared for him more than just her companion or big brother figure, but the dark-haired woman was also entirely aware of his... preferences in who he might care for in such a way. Perhaps that was exactly why it was that the two were so close almost instantly when that very first day they'd been introduced to one another all those years ago came along, why it was that as they essentially grew up together desire the age differences between them, they had become inseparable. They'd even bickered like siblings when the one would test the other's patience until it threatened to snap altogether, but in the end they would always forgive the other and later laugh about whatever foolishness had managed to ignite those hard-to-rouse tempers. She confided in him so much, just as dear William had confided in Adelaide those feelings of his own that he had battled against. As unlikely as it seemed from the refined man upon first glance, he had his own demons that haunted him, only adding to that unbreakable bond that existed between him and the French woman.

Yet, what it was that seemed to grow and tie Adelaide and Taylor to one another was something altogether and entirely different, going even deeper and farther than anything that she would ever have believed could come to life in so little time. It was nothing like the brother-and-sister bond that existed between the young woman and the Englishman as it had for a large majority of her life, reaching back into some of her clear, earliest memories. When she was with him, he would make her laugh and every time that he did it felt as though it would make those painful memories fade even just a little more. She knew that they would probably always be there somewhere in those darkest recesses of her heart and mind, but when those sage eyes would find that warm smile on those handsome and chiseled features of his face, it was almost effortless for her to forget them, pretend that they could never reach out and touch her again. His gentle charms and even gentler gestures, they helped her not to feel the sting of those scars, even if she knew that they would find her again when he left her to return to that hotel or apartment that he might have gotten himself today with that small paycheck she'd given him. As she stood there tucked into him, his warmth melting into her own skin and making her want to never leave that place beneath the stars, she can't help the gentle yet deepnsigh that ushers quietly through her. With Taylor, she felt like she could tell him those feelings that she'd even kept from Townsend for the fact that he would likely worry for her. No one knew that just because she was strong and defiant against the trials that this world placed before her, every struggle it made her endure to reach that unattainable freedom until at last she came out on the other side bloodied and bruised but victorious, didn't mean that there weren't so many nights where she'd wanted to spill saltwater tears from those sage eyes. She'd bitten them back each time they would threaten to surface, that guarded mind of hers convincing the French woman that it would only show another crack in her thick armor and like blood in the ocean it was certain to guide those sharks to a place within Adelaide that she wasn't so sure she could fight. With the man standing there beside her with that arm wrapped around her waist, she felt like she didn't have to be strong with each and every stride that she took. With him, she felt like it would be okay if she faltered, metaphorically stumbled keep tripped because he would be there to catch her... Maybe even hold her close until she found that seemingly indomitable strength and fierceness that was a large part of who she was, though even the most fearsome and powerful of warriors would have a moment where they needed to take off that armor and lay down those weapons.

Taylor allowed for her to do that, made her feel safe in that weakness she was determined not to let the world see for the certainty that it would surely find it and shatter everything that she'd worked so diligently, so tirelessly to build around herself so that she wouldn't have to worry about getting hurt again - at least, not like how she had been hurt in the past. Strong though she may be, deep down there were still those scars that weakened those walls around her heart from what Julien had done, what all those years of having no one who knew exactly what it felt like to have those meant to only ever love and build one up be the very beings to tear it all down. Despite just how little time had passed between Adelaide and Taylor, it was nothing short of amazing - breathtaking even - how the pain in their hearts served almost as a reflection of the other's. They were two wounded hearts that just seemed to call out quietly to each other, like a part of her had been able to see something that she hadn't and it had gone out to him only to be answered with warmth and a truthfulness that the young woman could help but admire and hold a deeper appreciation for than Taylor could ever guess at or see. It was a sensation that didn't fully make sense to her, how it was that she could feel as though he'd always been there somehow even when she'd never known his name or seen his face, but she didn't question that near instant and deep connection that came to life between them and only seemed to strengthen with every glimpse of the past that they shared, every feeling of hurt or doubt that they made vulnerable to the other. Something like this, it seemed much too good to be true, and Adelaide knew it was. Whether they only ever stayed as friends or became something more, it was as real as the countless stars above them that danced with one another. For the first time, she felt herself wanting that very thing that she'd once told herself was not for her. She thought she would never find that soul to burn brightly beside her own, but remaining there with Taylor made her hope that she had at last. But he had to feel it, too. If he didn't, then there would be no hope for those feelings she held for him.

Gently spoken words have that smile of his melting into something tender as those hunter green eyes take on a light that rivaled the moon that painted this quiet place away from the commotion of Sacrosanct in sterling silver. Warmly spoken words usher with all that was genuine as he lifts those fingers up when he promises that he would be nothing but honestly and true, that it was what she deserved ans she feels those words pulling at her heartstrings like nothing she'd felt before. It was as though they strummed tenderly across her soul then, only further silencing the doubtful voice that would have surely warned her against that promise he made to her beneath the stars. His smile grows playful in that moment before softening once more and she knows then that he meant those words."I trust you", she whispers softly in reply. I trust you... She couldn't remember the last time she'd ever said that word, told someone that she had given them the very thing she had always hesitated to give away. She'd told Townsend once before, years ago, but she hadn't even told Julien... Yes, she had trusted him, but never had that word fallen from her lips to the man. Saying it only made it all the more real and strong, so perhaps that was why she hadn't then with the only man who had managed to break her spirit for a time. And yet, when she allows for that word to fall from her lips for Taylor, there was a weight that seems to lift from her heart then, a relief that finds her as if she'd been holding onto it for so long for fear of having to all shattered again. Then, he reaches for her and kisses her gently, awakening that flame she'd thought would never come to life again. She knew in that moment that those feelings she'd been hesitant to show were reciprocated and she hardly allows for him to pull away for more than a moment before she brings herself to press against him and answers his gesture with her own. They kiss and everything falls away until it's just the two of them, each one deeper and yet just as gentle in that wordless exchange as she feels herself melt into him, hardly ready for that moment to end at all. She can feel his breaths quicken in time with her own, and she feels that long-forgotten desire for more flicker through her then. She knew what that desire was, but she calms it, for now. Another time... Another stolen night...

Finally she forces herself to break those intimate touches, moving her hand to rest over his chest only to feel his heart beating wildly beneath those defined pectoral muscles. She smiles affectionately up to him, sage eyes twinkling as they search his face in turn, wanting to know just what it was that he was feeling, what he was thinking. He smiles gently down to her as she tells him that she believed he would be that man he wanted to be, soft tenor tones whispering past his lips then and she has to stop that swell of emotion that causes those sage depths to glisten with the threat of tears. No one had ever wanted to be worthy of her. They'd just wanted to win her. His smile shifts into something sheepish then and thick lashes blink slowly, tenderly up to him as she moves to rest her head against his chest, the drumming of his heartbeat a sound that soothes her even more and allows for those withheld tears so full of so many different emotions to be forced back down as she lays there against him, sage eyes closing in a silent bliss, both of her hands now settling over his chest as she relishes in that warmth and strength that wraps her into an embrace she didn't know she'd wanted so deeply."You've done so much more for me than that, Taylor... More than you can imagine. I don't even truly know how to show you just how much your words are appreciated, what your promises mean to me... I've never felt so much, never felt this way about anyone before, not even him", she says softly as her cheek remains pressed against his chest, nearly burying her face into him as she refused to name the man who'd stolen away what she would have gladly given to Taylor, the one who should have been the one to take that maidenhood and just maybe she wouldn't have been wounded as she had. Her hands slowly move from their place on either side of his chest then, caressing the sinew of his sides before they trail behind him and she finds herself holding onto him. Hugging herself to him, as if bringing herself even closer to him would allow for their hearts to share unspoken words as they beat against the other's, she tilts her head back again so that those glittering sage eyes can find those hunter greens they yearned for."With you, it is easy to have such faith. You are the first, mon cher, and something tells me that you will be the last", she ushers quietly through that tender smile, lilted words so full of the emotions that filled her in this moment as she pauses gently."You may not think you are deserving Taylor, but you should know that I think you more than worthy, just as you are. More worthy than anyone could ever be, and I will wait until you think you are as well", she confesses softly to him, that tender smile still dancing upon those dusty rose-colored lips as she refuses to let go of his gaze. She bares before him those feelings she held in her heart that she could not be more certain were true, but in the same moment those gentle accented words silently spoke of what she already knew about Taylor, that he wanted to prove to her somehow that he was. If only he knew that for Adelaide, as impossible as it seemed in such little time, he already had. She would not try and convince him otherwise though, would not try and force or rush him in whatever path he seemed certain he needed to walk first, the young woman wanting for him to see in himself the man that she could. Only when he was ready... She would wait, walk beside him every step of the way until he felt he'd earned that which she found herself willing to give him, because he was very much worth that wait.