Chapter 1: Prologue
I could hear the snapping of cane as Stephen stepped closer, trampling the hooping of my dress, and pressing me closer to the wall.
The space was tight—barely big enough for one person, as it was—and the stone wall was busy engraving it's tell-tale gritty tears into my over-coat.
This was why servants' stairs were not used for banter.
Wit went out the window when it became a game of balance and trying not to fall down the stairs, rather than vocal sparring.
His lips slammed against mine. They were aggressive, crushing mine with an overwhelming hunger until they became numb with the force.
It was slightly unnerving to see Stephen take charge so fiercely. But what unnerved me even more, was how okay I was with letting him lead.
It wasn't as if I had never kissed Stephen before. I had just never kissed him like this before. It was what William might've called concupiscence... add a rhyming couplet and we were almost something out of one of his plays.
The passion and adrenaline was far more than had accompanied those moments snuggled up in Stephen's tree house. Those moments were of simpler times-they were ours, fully and truly untainted. This was a stolen snog in a hushed corner. The danger was invigorating, but nothing short of terrifying. If my thudding heart didn't give us away, then my gasps of pleasure surely would.
He broke away briefly, leaving his fingers to skim the edge if my chin. His electric blue eyes bored into mine. It was as if he was trying to drink me in one last time before I became someone else. And in a way that was true. I wouldn't be his Amelie anymore; I'd be Gabriel's Mrs. Drake. "Don't leave me," he growled, before we were once again entwined.
Suddenly, light flooded the stairwell. Stephen didn't seem to notice. Only when I pushed his head away did he turn to look at the silhouette, standing aghast in the doorway. Gabriel stood there... still slightly unbelieving. His eyes weren't locked on Stephen's arrogant, annoyed face or my stunned one. His gaze rested on his crimson red, engagement ring on my left hand, that was draped, ever so daintily, across Stephen's shoulder.
