Many a morning and even more moments throughout the afternoon and evening were spent wondering where it was they would go in the future. The French woman was hardly a creature not to know what it was that she wanted out of this story known as life. Ever since she'd been young and discovered for the very first time that the world was so much bigger and so much fuller than she could ever have imagined, the dark-haired woman knew that a life behind those heavily guarded iron gates on the large estate of any pompous son of some wealthy French nobleman was that last thing she would ever want. Her already wild spirit which craved a little more with each new day had started to become restless and discontented with the life of luxury, the only existence she knew of. Large homes, custom-made clothes, fancy cars, and priceless jewelry far beyond the affordability of most average individuals... it all came to a point where she could hardly even look at all the comforts which only came naturally to the world she had been born into. Still it baffled her how there were beings out there that reveled in such a life where they had no worries, had all the money as well as all it could buy. How long would it take before they drowned themselves in their empty riches before they might just wake up one day and realize how shallow their life was? How could anyone simply lounge around a mansion five sizes too large with servants waiting on them hand and foot to satisfy those ever so fleeting and fickle fancies without looking into the reflection of their world and see just how grayscale it all was? Adelaide would never understand how people could live such monotone lives, not when there was a world so full of vibrant color just waiting to be seen, to be felt. She'd been like a thoroughbred racing restlessly along the fences that once held her anxious spirit captive, eyes hungry for the horizon and longing more than anything to race across the wild and untouched mountain ranges with the wind in her long hair and not a single reminder of her past life anywhere to be found. She'd been like a songbird trapped in those walls of stone and concrete, silently pleading for that day when the door to her cage would open so that she could spread feathered wings open and take to the sky far above, never to look back.

Knowing without even the smallest degree of doubt that she had wanted a life the rolling hills of Paris, of France could never be able to give her, she had seized the chance to place as many miles between herself and the part of her life she found herself wishing every day that it could have been different in so many ways. What she hadn't expected was to find almost everything she'd been looking for as quickly as she had when she settled into the folds of Sacrosanct. And she definitely hadn't expected for it to change into something entirely new, but when she found Taylor and that first moment of unspoken understanding sparked into a roaring fire between the runaway rebel and wayward woman, it truly has. It wasn't like Adelaide lost the desire to explore the world to see the wonders that called the her soul untamed, because she may certainly still craved the thrill of finding those paths less traveled and discovering where they would lead her. But now, she wanted Taylor to be there with her. No, she didn't need him in the sense that there was no way she could see herself blazing that trail through the chapters of her life on her own because she was confident - always had been and always would be - that she very much could, but she didn't want to, not anymore. Suddenly, wanting and needing became a more like one another than they had been before. Before Taylor, for Adelaide to need once meant that going it alone and living how she desired would be impossible without another in her world to guide her every step of the way, and to need in such a way couldn't be farther from how the dark-haired woman was and what she wanted. Now, she wanted Taylor to be in her world. She wanted to share it all with the roguish man, and it was in this wanting that she found herself trying to picture standing there on the edge of the grand canyon alone only to find that it didn't quite hold the same amazement she was once so certain that it would have. With him, the world only seemed to grow that much more vast with so much more that she wanted to experience with him.

Taylor was the first man she'd ever known who saw themselves in such a low light that it still continued to surprise her. For him, it was all a matter of being good enough. It was about working hard for what he wanted to feel like he deserved, even when Adelaide told him that she saw him in such a different view. Only then did she feel that most miniscule desire to return to Paris, to take him with her and show the man just how disgustingly arrogant and proud the men who had previously pursue her hand were, how empty and full of shadows they were. She wanted to show him just how much more he truly had that already made him so much more deserving than all of those pathetic suitors combined. There wasn't a part of her that didn't want to try and make him see that he had something that no amount of wealth, pedigree, or success could ever offer. Adelaide saw him for the goodness in his heart, the way that he was humble. Most of all, she saw him for the way that he truly cared about her, how he didn't want to try and be the hero she didn't need or want but rather how he wanted to be there beside her whenever she might struggle against those unknown riptides that life had a talent of disguising until it was too late to find a way around them and one was forced to push through them, or even up and over. If only there was a way that she could show him the true worth she could see in him every time their eyes would meet. He was just as wild as the French woman, just as wounded, and that meant so much more to her than he seemed to understand. It was enough to have the dark-haired woman reminding herself to be patient when she felt herself wanting to try and show him. Whatever he was waiting for, there was no denying she wanted to encourage him a little more. She admired him for his want to become a different man, one that was stronger and more successful so that he might believe himself to deserve her. Truly, she did, and yet she couldn't help but wonder how it was that he couldn't see that just in wanting that for himself he was already there. It almost had her wondering if perhaps there was something that she wasn't doing, growing even more certain what they needed was to escape this city for a time to really see - or at least catch a glimpse of - things could be like. Gods only knew that she was beyond ready to have a taste of adventure and what it would be like with the one and only man she would ever want beside her through it all. Good, bad, or ugly. And she was almost entirely certain that he wanted the same thing.

Lilted words are soon telling him about the Englishman that she so clearly adored, hardly able to stop herself when those first few words fell over her lips. She can feel the air shift into something heavier as she shared the tragedy of what had happened to dear William's world, and perhaps in that story Taylor might come to see why it was that he was so diligent on keeping Adelaide nearby and more than happy to keep a ruler's length between the two wild spirits so hungry to be pressed up against one another like two lovestruck adolescents at a school dance. He had seen what Julien did to Adelaide. He had seen how she despised each suitor who came her way and how her father would continue to force those dreadful afternoons upon the defiant woman. Despite how much she knew that the Englishman didn't approve of Taylor, she hardly cared in the sense that she would allow from Townsend to keep her away from the place that she wanted to be. There would always be a place in her heart and her world that only her brother by bond could ever occupy, but in turn there was also a part of the dark-haired woman that Townsend couldn't and Taylor did. He would need to learn to trust Taylor as she did, and Adelaide had a fairly good idea on just how she would make such a thing happen with a little bit of a push she was more than happy to give Townsend. That was a thought for another time though, and when the sadness passes over like a sudden rainstorm chased away by the sun, Adelaide is smiling coyly as Taylor chuckles, making the remark on how things might have been had they grown up together in that world across the ocean."Could you just imagine all the trouble we would get into?", she says impishly as she takes her plate and her glass from him, electricity igniting her skin at the slight brush of his touch. Watching as he makes his way back over to grab his own plate and glass before moving to sit on the couch beside her, she can't help the mischievous smile that dances across her lips."I'm fairly certain that we would have run off together so many nights, days even if given the chance", she continues as gentle laughter tumbles over her lips. What she doesn't say though is how, if he had been part of her life then, she could see him having been the one to take her innocence beneath those glittering stars... how they could be in a different place had things been the way they dared to imagine in this moment.

Chuckling as he settled there on the couch beside her, just enough space lingering between them that she would have been very much happy to diminish to nothing if not for the fact that she didn't wish to crowd him, having calmed the fire that still flickers within sage depths beneath those dark lashes for now, she takes that first bite. The flavors were simple and yet satisfying, American food being a category that she didn't often get to indulge in. Townsend much preferred the more refined dishes for their complexity and the amount of time that he could spend in the kitchen cooking or baking. But the French woman found herself thoroughly enjoying this meal, also fairly certain that it was the company which truly made it perfect. She can see Taylor light up with pride when she compliments his cooking after she takes another mouthful, chewing and swallowing happily."I can certainly say that I am already eager for two nights from now if this is but a small sample of your talents", she replies warmly before taking yet another bite. He confirms her suspicions that his mother had been the one to show him around the oven and something about the thought of a young Taylor helping his mother whisk eggs or press ground beef into patties had Adelaide smiling affectionately at him as they continue to eat."Perhaps one of these days, you might find it in your heart to spare me a lesson or two", she purrs playfully to the man then after finishing the last of her cheeseburger, sage eyes glittering as they watched him, that desire having her give Taylor a coquettish look as she sets her empty plate on the table. Perhaps the tequila was beginning to warm her now, fraying that restraint even further as she boldly shifts closer to him, though she was still entirely sober and aware of herself - and those desires that found her once again.

Adelaide can feel her thighs and knee press into his own leg as she shifts in her seat then, closing the small space between them while she folds a bare foot beneath her, the other remaining draped over the edge of the couch. She has her elbows resting on the back of the couch so that her hand is hanging there just above his shoulder before fingertips brush teasingly against his broad shoulders while her other hand toys with the button of her ivory blazer, sage eyes watching him all the while with a sultry smile upon her lips."I wonder...", she begins in a soft whisper, her chest brushing against his muscled arms with their new nearness as she banishes the space she'd been content to allow between them while they indulged in that deliciously simple meal he'd made for them. Those fingertips travel along the length of that shoulder and up the side of his neck before suddenly they begin to weave ever so slowly through Taylor's brunette hair on the back of his head."... what would be a fair price for culinary classes. I can assure you, I won't allow for you to teach me without payment", she continues as that sultry smile grows while she continues to play with his hair. Now that the man had fed himself as well as the dark-haired woman practically pressing entirely against him, refusing to cease those explorations of his hair as her hand runs through it and back, Adelaide hardly felt guilty for those darker thoughts flickering visibly across her gaze as she resumes her previous ventures."Oh, and speaking of payment", she says softly, nearly whispering in his ear now, she steals that empty plate from his hands and, before he can even utter a word of protest - which he may not even be able to get out as it is - she lifts her slender frame up just enough so that she can bring her other leg over Taylor's lap, effortlessly sliding over the man so that she is straddling him. Sitting there in his lap and silently hoping that he might find his hands on her hips, out of reflex or his own desire, sage eyes bright with those less than innocent intentions as she bats those thick lashes at him while leaning forward to wrap her arms around his neck, she presses her lips to his own in a deep kiss. Gods, how she had missed the taste of him from the night on that hill outside the city limits. She pulls away just enough so that the tips for their noses are brushing, sage eyes looking into hunter green depths as she gives him another sultry smile."That was for dinner tonight. Although, I now find myself wanting a little... dessert. Maybe you might have something in mind?", she purrs softly to him then as again her fingers run through his hair while she watches him, the want in her gaze matching lilted words clearly suggesting that she was interested in much more than cake or ice cream.