Despite never having been that little girl who had grown up on fairy tales of dragons, dungeons, and damsels in distress, even when she never cared to dream of finding the nearly mythic and true love that so very few were ever fortunate enough to find, the dark-haired woman couldn't help but feel that was what she and Taylor had. Some would doubt that the French woman could be so sure on something that was still so new, how it was that she could think of the days, weeks, months, and even years to come and be so certain that he would be a part of her life until she turned old and grey. They would say that it was just the spell of falling in love for the first time, infatuated with the fierce passion that so often burned much too hot to last a lifetime. And perhaps she couldn't say that things would go the way that either of them wanted. Something like this, something so passionate and unexpected was bound to come across a bump or two in the metaphorical road. In truth, Adelaide expected the world - for life - to test them and the promises that they'd made to each other. It would be foolish for her not to expect such things to make their presence known eventually. That would make things much too easy, and reality was hardly ever so kind to those living in it. There was so much that went unseen, so many trials and challenges she was fairly certain of that would find them, but that wasn't going to stop her from loving him. The world could try, but even should Townsend dare to try and divide her from Taylor, they would all fail and feel so very foolish for having attempted such an act. There were many that fell too quickly and only ever ended up regretting everything. How could she be so certain that the same fate did not wait for her in the near or far future? She could not see into the future, and even then, wasn't it that which had yet to be written on the pages of one's life that could be changed? If anything, it was ever-shifting simply for the fact that each and every choice one made would, in the end, affect the way that each chapter to come was etched into those figurative pages and predetermine the obstacles that would arise. It hardly required a fortune teller to know that life was not without its difficulties no matter the aspect, whether it be a new love life or the pursuit of a dream or career. And yet, it was through those moments when strength, hope, or courage was hard to keep that one found out just how much stronger or braver they truly were when faced with adversity and hardship.

No, there was nothing that could really be done about the past, about the chapters of heartache and hurt that littered the pages before the dark-haired woman and her roguish champion had come to know one another in a way and place that neither of them would have ever imagined. What's more is that they each had their own demons. Taylor knew of the French woman's past. He knew that she had been born into a family of wealth and had come to hate it for the cage that such a life had created to trap her. He knew of how her father had pushed suitor upon suitor after her only for each and every one of those hollowed and deceitful men to be turned away, one in particular having left with a painful souvenir given by the snapping jaws of Rose and Reginald. He knew of Julien and how he had taken from her something that she wished almost desperately she could take back and give to Taylor instead. In turn, Adelaide knew of the monsters that haunted him. He hadn't quite given her the more intimate details, and yet she didn't truly need them to understand. She knew that he owed money to less than civil people that would likely not hesitate in harming him should they manage to catch up to him. She knew that he had once had his heart broken by a woman he'd once loved, leaving his heart wounded in a way not too unlike how her own had when she found out about that snake in the grass. She remembers Taylor revealing to her his own cruel father that had been so unjust to him as a young boy. It couldn't be clearer that they had both suffered through a past that no one should ever have to endure. And, it was because of all the deceit and the scars left behind by the hands of others who had once touched them - both figuratively and literally - that they both had demons that they once had to fight alone every waking and sleeping moment, but now, they would fight through them together. So, let them come. Let those around them question just how long the love she and Taylor felt for one another might last. For all that she cared, they could debate between weeks or even years. Adelaide had no intentions of letting him go so long as he wanted to stay with her, stay in her life. She would never stop loving him, even if the stars threatened to fall from the heavens and the sun stopped burning. Mountains could erupt from the earth below Sacrosanct in an attempt to try and move between them, tear them apart and place worlds between them, but it would all be for naught. No matter what came their way, she would be there beside him. Those same mountains would be moved and those same worlds would be crossed so long as he would have her.

Excitement, that was the very first feeling that took hold of the French woman when she woke this morning. To say that she was eager to see what Taylor would have to say for what she had planned would be a gross understatement. It had been on her mind since that morning, when she'd left the comforts of that small apartment to face the reprimands that she knew were readily waiting for her. And, as both Townsend and Taylor should know by now, once Adelaide's mind was made up, changing it was a feat that none had been able to make. Not her wretched father, not Julien, not her gentle yet complacent mother. Even her beloved companion held no hope in attempting to try and convince her otherwise â€" well, not for very long anyway. Gods knew that the two of them had had their disagreements about a few things in the many years that they've known one another, and even when she had yet to cross the figurative threshold from child to young woman, the Englishman's will was always the first to bend. And yet, with Taylor, things were different. She was still the same fierce and strong-willed creature that she'd been when they first met, and even before she'd set herself free from Paris and those that tried to bridle her wild spirit. However, she wanted to see him happy. She wanted to hear his laughter, see the way that his eyes would illuminate like how they did when he played with Reginald in the yard as he worked on whatever tasks Townsend had given him. She wanted to see him smile like when he did as they shared that stolen night beneath the stars on that hill just outside the city limits, when they'd shared their hearts' deepest longings and their very first kiss. Her heart that had once only ever carried within it concern for William and a fiery determination to chase her dreams was no so full of that same fierce desire to help Taylor become all that he wanted, to be there beside him as he overcame his demons just as she was. And so, as she walked up to the apartment, slender fingers trailing along the seat of his Harley, she couldn't help the way that her own heart raced within her breast. So, while she was not nervous about tonight, knowing without even the smallest doubt that tonight and the days to follow would be perhaps even better than she hoped, there was an anticipation all the same that caused safe eyes to glitter brightly.

That impish smile dancing across her lips hardly falters as he opens the door and stands there in the door way, hunter green eyes drinking in the ensemble that she'd chosen for tonight, her own gaze leisurely wandering over his. There was something about the way that he dressed in a style all his own, giving that carefree and laid-back feeling, that Adelaide adored about him. Whether he simply didn't have anything fancier than jeans and t-shirts or not hardly ever crossed the dark-haired woman's mind, though she finds herself now mildly curious on just how dashing he might look in a tuxedo should there ever come an occasion that might call for slightly more formal attire. In all honesty though, she would much rather have him... well, without a shirt on. She mind is guided away from its attempt to carry her back to two nights ago as she watches Taylor feign being wounded by her words. How unthinkable it might have been to her once, for someone to coerce a genuine and even playful smile to her lips as effortlessly as he did."It is difficult to run away from home when that's where I happen to be right now", she purrs sweetly up to him then, sage eyes illuminated with that kittenish playfulness that has her smile growing ever so delicately as he gives her that smirk and steps aside."Besides, I hardly consider this 'roughing it', mon cher", she adds then, batting long, dark lashes up to the man that had so swiftly captured her heart she pauses there before him with her hand upon his chest, a coquettish smile finding her lips as she feels his heart beating wildly within his muscled chest. How she could never get tired of enjoying the way she sent him into moment of sheepishness with bold words and actions... His tenor tones reach her and it is then that the sheepishness was gone as he places a strong hand on her hip and pulls her closer. Now it was her heart that was fluttering as he looked down to her with that same fire that had been there two nights ago. A soft and melodic chuckle leaves her as she traces her index finger across his chest coyly, not trying in the least to hide just how much she was enjoying his attention, his touch, the want that flickers across his gaze."Of the latter, I am sure", she agrees impishly. It had been quite clear in so many ways that there was only truth in his words, and it was that very truthfulness that she couldn't help but fall ever deeper in love with. Despite the desire that ignited the way their eyes locked, deep in her heart, there was a comfort and tenderness that washes over her, knowing that she would never have to fear being lied to again - at least, not with Taylor.

Silence lingers only briefly between them then, and Adelaide is content in the quiet that falls between them, their eyes staring into one another's. He leans down then and kisses her gently. The taste of his lips against hers sends a warmth through every part of her as she as her heart raced ever so slightly than it was earlier, happily returning that tender and sweet kiss. There was no question in her mind or her heart that this was real, that every moment they spent together was honest, and if two nights ago wasn't testament enough that Taylor wanted the same thing that she did, that kiss most certainly was. She was hardly ready for it to end, but the anticipation that had subsided still brushed against the forethoughts of her mind, and so when they part, she moves the rest of the way into the apartment and set the backpack on the carpet beside the couch before turning to face him once again, tenor tones finding her in reply to her remark on the aromas of the cooking food."Medium-rare, s'il vous plait", she replies in lilted accent words as she smiles almost too innocently to the roguishly handsome man. When he turns to the food, likely ensuring that all was going smoothly, she could hardly stop herself from closing the space between them that she had come to dislike. She can see him visibly swallow and oh, how it only encouraged her boldness, the smirk he gave her then doing nothing to help the desire that was beginning to burn within her as it had that night. He raises a brow daringly as deep tenor tones have her smiling oh so mischievously up at him, slender fingers still brushing ever so lightly against the skin of his forearm even as wraps his arms around her and pulls her into him."Hmm... If that's what you had in mind...", she says whispers through a sultry smile, her voice trailing off then, pausing for a moment as she contemplates how she should reveal her true master plan."Oh, and I hope you don't mind if I borrow a shirt for tonight â€" though it sounds like I might not need one. I have no intentions of returning to Dupont Circle after dinner, or in the morning for that matter", she purrs smoothly to him, moving her hands so that they are exploring the hem of his jeans just like their first night that they had stolen away together, fingertips toying teasingly at the button that help them loosely over his hips. There is a note of mischief within those accented words that fall effortlessly from her lips, eyes of glittering sage falling to his lips for a fleeting moment before flickering up once more to meet daring hunter green. So caught up in the moment, she hardly feels her hunger, simply wanting to exist in the moment for a little longer before the food required Taylor's attention.