Never had it been in her initial plans to get away from that immaculate estate only to end up finding a man that left her wholly and utterly captivated by him. She'd battled against the wills of others that called for her to find someone, to settle down when she had yet to live her one and only life the way that she wanted even for just a little while. So many arguments had been had between the dark-haired woman and her father, almost yelling matches even as he demanded that she leave all those "foolish and impossible daydreams" in those pages of the books he insisted she spent far too much time reading through so that she could lead the life expected of her. And, if there was one thing that Adelaide simply couldn't stand even more than her wretched father, it was the idea that her life was nothing beyond predestined fate, already mapped out for her before she'd even been able to discover for herself what it was that she wanted, not for her parents or the world, but for herself and no one else. For it to be expected of her that she honor her family name by encircling herself with nothing but frauds, shadows, and empty promises designed only to deceive as she contented herself with some arrogant buffoon that would never see her for all that she was beyond her beauty and status, it was enough to make her sick. It was enough to drive her as far away from that life as she could, never to look over her shoulder with the slightest or most fleeting glimmer of longing to return. Yes, she'd told her mother and father that she only wanted to live on her own for a few years just so she could say that she did it, and even though the French woman hated lies, it was what it had taken to get her here. Maybe a part of it had been true once, that she would have surrendered to their wants and plans for her if she couldn't find all that she had been looking for, but the moment that she'd stepped off that plane and tasted that freedom, she knew that there would be no looking back. There would be no going "home". She knew then and there that this place would be all that she wanted and more. How much more, she hadn't known back then, but the night that Taylor stepped into her life, she quickly began to realize what "more" might just come to mean.

Chance had been what brought them to each other, and it would be chance that she would and was willing to take each and every time if it meant keeping the roguish man in her life. For the very first time, she found someone that understood those desperate wants and dreams that she chased, believed that she would get there if it was what she truly craved out of this world. And not only that, but he wanted to be there with her through it all, no matter the challenges or obstacles. Maybe at first she might have questioned him, wondered for the smallest fraction of a moment in time what he might get from being there in her life as she dared to spread those flighted wings and soar to wherever the whispers only she could hear might beckon her to, but not even for a second did she find a motive beyond wanting to show her that everything she wanted was really out there somewhere just waiting for her to find it. And he had promised that morning, when the pain and desperate wanting had brought forth the torrent of those secret emotions which had nearly overwhelmed her, as he took her hands in his and locked his hunter green eyes with hers of sage, that he would do whatever it might take to give her that adventure that she was starved for. If only he'd known how close to tears of joy that she had been the morning he'd said those words to her, made that promise she knew was far from empty with every syllable that fell from his lips in that moment. She knew then that he was everything she'd given up on believing could ever exist in a man. It didn't stop there, though. No, it was only the beginning of something so much bigger as he opened his own heart up to the French woman. When he told her of his own demons, of how his father had treated him, drilled into is young mind how he would never amount to anything, she knew without question that she'd found something even more rare. She'd find a soul that was just as wounded, a heart that was just as guarded against the hands of the world they lived in... She knew, when he placed in her that same trust with those dark thoughts and old wounds that she had placed in him, that she had found a soul that had seen and felt the same ache, fought the very same inner war which left had only scars so unforgettably deep in its wake that there was likely no chance that it would ever be able to forgive and forget.

It was in finding that they were kindred spirits running from all that had hurt them, two wild hearts ever-searching to find the life they wanted for themselves which the bond between Adelaide and Taylor had risen from and only seemed to intensify with each passing day. She'd promised him she would help him just as he had promised to help her, and it was in the depths of those promises that had Adelaide falling for him spilling unexpectedly. She'd never seen herself ever becoming so tangled up in someone else simply for the fact that she couldn't bring herself to believe that she would ever find someone who knew what it felt like to be hurt in so many different ways. What's more, she never would have been so bold as to enter into a man's home and find herself wanting his touch. As wild and fierce as the dark-haired woman was that those flickering flames on her eyes foretold of, it had seemed nearly impossible for another to ever find a way to close the distance she so readily, so stubbornly kept between herself and the rest of the world. And yet, here she was, defying even her own boundaries she'd held onto for so long as she felt her body desire to feel his own against her smile. It was more than the heated desire that electrified the air between them, though. It was not something driven only by the lust that darkened his hunter green gaze and encouraged the sultry smile upon her lips. There was a wanting just to be there against him, to bring in full force the feelings he gave her when those strong arms of his would enfold her. She didn't care about whatever dangers might be hunting him. She didn't care that he was wanted by those he had borrowed from. None of that mattered, and she'd be damned if she allowed for him to think she would turn her back on him for it. She fully intended to keep that promise she made to him, and if she was fierce enough to defy a dishonest nobleman with secrets she still didn't know the very depths of, there was no way in heaven or hell that she would be afraid now. Not of loan sharks, not of his father. He made her more fearless than she'd ever been, more determined to give him all that she could which in and of itself was entirely new. No one else had ever given life to this fire in the woman, and no one else ever could. She wasn't truly certain how she knew this, but she did and that was all that mattered when all was said and done. All the men in the world could chase after her, and they would all fail miserably. She'd made her choice the day she'd made her promise to him, the night she'd told him that she would wait for him... She'd chosen him to be the man she deserved, and if there came a day where he no longer wanted to be that man, then there would be no one for her and the world would have to accept that.

Keen eyes hardly miss the way his hunter green eyes grow darker and the muscle in his jaw seems to flex as he gives her that smirk which was more than enough to tell the dark-haired woman all she needed to know was churning within his mind. She was nearly certain that the lust flickering across his chiseled features almost perfectly reflected her own desire wearing on any control she might have had if not for the two of them being so very alone in his small apartment. He murmurs daringly down to her then and she can't help the way her sultry smile grows ever bolder. Had he no idea how he only intensified her want of him with that challenge he readily placed before her? How fortunate for him that the bottle of tequila separated them only just barely."Ah, but something tells me you hardly want me to stop as it is", she whispers coyly to him in reply as sage eyes glitter boldly as if challenging him now to deny that she could see his desire for her as he surely saw her desire for him. He groans softly as she toys with the button of his jeans, remembering quite clearly the very sound he'd made when she had done so beneath the stars that night, revelling in how his breathing quickened at her bold gesture. His hand reaches for hers as he halts those teasing explorations, hunter green depths intense now as they search those of sage. She meets him with that same intensity, her gaze seeming to say without a need for words "I want you", burning brightly with the clear awareness that his control was fraying fast just as hers was, and how in the same exact moment she was hardly afraid of where this night could go with dangerous ease. He licks his lips then as her eyes drop briefly before turning to that eyes tinged with lust, her sultry smile shifting into a silent dare for him to show her that he knew what she wanted.

Even when his attempt to lighten the mood between them by bringing up Townsend is acknowledgment by the French woman, the desire hardly shifts an inch although there is a softness which finds her through his tenor tones as he smirks and leans forward to press his forehead against her own, dark lashes fluttering closed softly at the feeling of his nearness."I do, and that's all that you should care about ", she whispers gently to him, smiling back as he draws away only enough to kiss her nose softly, sage eyes softening further at his gentle gesture in spite of the lust that still danced there between the pair. Everything he did only continued to remind her of how different he was from the suitors in Paris, continued to deepen the feelings she had for him as she watches Taylor move to place the bottle on his kitchen counter. When he poses that challenge to her as they move out of the kitchen and back into the living area which she boldly meets, he gives her a deep chuckle, his next string of words having her smiling coyly to him yet again. She is quite for a moment as she feigns contemplation with a soft "hmm" before allowing that impish smile to grow upon her lips."Saturday night, eight o'clock. I'm sure you can gather all your necessary supplies in two nights' time, no?", she replies daringly as she lifts a brow at him, wondering just what he might think of a little dinner date here in the confines of his own little apartment. If tonight wasn't tempting enough for the two of them, gods know how much more tempting a date might actually be. She was curious though to see how he might prepare for that evening she chose, already eagerly looking forward to his cooking. It would be a very different change from the more delicate and refined dishes the Englishman prepared, but she was excited to experience this new culinary world - especially when it was prepared by his hands.

Guiding her to the bedroom, Adelaide takes little time in drinking in the relatively fair sized room. She makes her way to the bed, content to make herself very much at home there for a moment as she finds herself practically crawling onto it, resting her head on that plush pillow as she tempts him with a sultry smile and glittering sage eyes. He clears his throat then as he goes rigid, a determination finding his gaze as it attempts to conquer the lust Adelaide knew he felt. It was rather remarkable how he seemed nearly desperate to cling to his self-control despite her wordless temptations, and it was hard for her not to admire his efforts to defend whatever it was that held him back. She could spared him, but she didn't. If not for that thoughtful scowl and recognition as he bit his bottom lip that Adelaide was taking pleasure in tempting and teasing the man to a near torturous degree, she might have eased her in boldness. When he answers her, running his hands along the frame of the doorway, soft and sultry lilted laughter falls effortlessly from her lips as she rises from the bed and strides over to him. It was practically a hunt at this point in seemed, the French woman being the mountain cat and Taylor the trophy whitetail buck."You and I both know that's not true", she purrs boldly to him as she crosses the room to him. She could see in his gaze that he was almost figuratively on his knees asking for mercy at this point, audibly swallowing the tension in his throat with eyes widened as she pressed herself against him. Very much aware of the way his body seemed to rebel against his will as the bulge is felt there against her lower abdomen, she can't help the near devilish amusement as his gaze darts up to the ceiling, Taylor biting against the desire she could physically and inwardly feel stirring deeper in him when she touches him and slips one hand into the pocket of his jeans. He was practically crumbling in her nearness and it only has the want in her growing ever higher, that control of her own waiting to break with his. No sooner than her hand started traveling along the sinew of his muscled frame, sultry words purring quietly through gently parted lips does he seem to find his legs again and he's moving away from her, Adelaide hardly disappointed as she let him place what little distance he could between them as his husky voice told her of just how weak that thread was becoming, finding it hard to blame him for wanting to try and continue fighting that urge so obviously adding to the tension several times over. It was all so new for her as well, and yet she couldn't help relishing in the rush that he gave her, how he unintentionally had her craving him like she never thought she would.

Trailing after him as he makes his way down the hallway and towards the kitchen, sage eyes travel over his broad shoulders and down his back, enjoying the view of the muscle subtly stretching the fabric of his shirt all the while just as readily enjoying the imagery of him without it at all. She could see his hands becoming unsteady as he pours the amber liquor into those glasses, turning to offer hers which she takes easily from him. He speaks familiar words that have her sultry smile growing on her lips, dark lashes blinking slowly as she takes a drink."So you've told me", she replies in smoothly spoken accented words ushered softly and yet wielding that impish delight all the same. Hunter green eyes still dark with wanting drink her in yet again and glittering sage depths are more than satisfied to return the gesture as he tries to hide his more apparent desire from her. She watches as he downs his glass before pouring another and gesturing over to the couch, tenor tones nearly stumbling from him She turns on bare heels slowly so that he might help himself to the full sight of her, only to look over her shoulder daringly as she walks easily over to the furniture with hips swaying naturally with each step."What else might we do if not chat?", she purrs coquettishly before settling on the soft fabric cushion."Only if you have enough, I wouldn't mind one. I've yet to eat dinner, though I'm surprisingly not very hungry", she says casually as she shifts so that sage eyes can watch the man while he begins moving around the kitchen, toying with long silken hair of rich dark cocoa as she pulls a majority of it to fall over her right shoulder."This is a comfortable little apartment, my dear Taylor. You seem quite at home here", she says softly, casually as she decides to be merciful and give the poor man a chance to collect himself enough so that he could get sustenance into his system... At least, for now. The evening was still young after all and the light of desire still illuminated those sage depths that watch him curiously. How much longer they could last, she was unsure, but what she did know for certain was that she was pleased with her decision to come and see him, no matter where this night might carry them.