25 Kisses

Adora Adams brushed an auburn ringlet away from her face and began her descent down the staircase to greet the guests that would be staying for a visit. The Beckett's had been family friends of the Adams's since before Adora was born and both families had resided in London. Lord Ralston, Lady Edeline and their son Cutler had sailed all the way to Port Royal for a two month long visit. The Lord and Lady had been very kind to her in the past, but Cutler was about five years her senior and the last time she had seen him was ten years ago when she was only nine and he was a lad of fourteen. She fondly remembered pestering him day in and day out trying to get him to play dolls with her, which he would blatantly refuse every time. He had once offered to read her a story but revoked his offer when she demanded that he read her a princess story.

Adora reached the entrance hall, and was confused to see that it was empty save for the butler, who was busy carefully hanging coats.

"I believe the company has adjourned to the tea room, Miss Adams." Adora blushed.

"Oh," Adora said dumbly. "I mean, thank you, Walton." She set off towards the tea room and took a deep breath before entering. Warm smiles greeted her, soothing her somewhat.

"Lord Ralston and Lady Edeline, what a pleasure it is to see you again." Adora curtsied and gave a small smile when nearly lost her balance, but no one seemed to notice.

"Adora, my dear, look how you've grown!" said Lady Edeline.

"Last time I saw you, you barely came up to my elbow," chuckled Lord Ralston.

Adora blushed at the attention and tried to fix her eyes elsewhere to hide her embarrassment. A pair of shiny black shoes caught her attention and her eyes slowly traveled up to the face of the person that wore them. She couldn't believe that the man standing there before her was Cutler Beckett! All hints of boyhood were gone, leaving a man with a delicate complexion and the bluest eyes she had ever seen. Her breath caught in her throat when he looked directly at her.

"Miss Adams, I am delighted to see you again after so long." There was a short pause and Mistress Adams discreetly cleared her throat, bringing Adora to her senses.

"Yes, likewise, but please call me Adora." She smiled weakly due to her heart pounding in her chest. Cutler gave her a fleeting smile.

"Very well, but only if you will call me Cutler." Adora smiled and her mother once again cleared her throat.

"Please, sit down. The tea will be arriving shortly," she said. The others resumed their seats as tea was served and Adora took the only seat left—a gilt chair right across from Cutler. She tried to concentrate on the conversation between her mother and Lady Edeline, but her gaze kept straying to Cutler. He was in a conversation with the other men and seemed not to notice. However, as he took a sip of tea, their gazes locked. His blue eyes bore into her green ones, if only for a fleeting moment, but she was the first to look away when Lady Edeline included her in a conversation.

The next night, Adora found that sleep just would not come to her. She sighed and slipped out of bed, pulling on her dressing gown before going to the study to retrieve a book. A light was on inside, meaning she was not the only one sleepless in the house. She knocked softly at the threshold before entering, so as not to startle whoever was in there. The person who looked up at her was Cutler Beckett. He was seated at the desk with a quill pen poised over paper, his blue eyes gazing at her inquisitively.

"I'm sorry to have disturbed you," she apologized.

"No, not at all," replied Cutler, setting down his pen. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you still awake at this hour?"

"I've found myself rather restless, so I thought I'd find the perfect book to lull me to sleep."

"Ah. I think I have the perfect book right here." Cutler stood and took a thick gray book off of a nearby shelf. "The History of the English Language. I couldn't help but beg for sleep after reading the first page." He walked over to give it to her. Their hands brushed as she accepted it and his fingers lingered on hers a little bit longer than necessary. When he still hadn't withdrawn his hand, Adora's gaze went from the book to Cutler's face. He was looking at her with an expression she had never seen before. The only word to describe it was 'heated.' He took one step closer and her heart skipped a beat. Slowly, the hand that wasn't already preoccupied with touching her hand started reaching towards her as if to cup her cheek. Their eyes were level, and Adora found herself getting lost in that blue gaze. His hand disappeared beyond her range of sight and then drew back—holding a down feather from a pillow that he had just plucked from her hair. She felt her face grow hot. For a few seconds she just stood there not knowing if she should make a dumb joke about the feather or just take off down the corridor, and all the while he stood there looking at her with that expression. She wet her lips nervously and his gaze flickered, offering her freedom to think for just a moment. She decided to take her leave for the sake of propriety. Really—staring at each other like animals in estrus!

"Thank you," she said, referring to both the book and the feather. "Good night, Cutler." He finally removed his fingers from hers—but not without giving her hand a brief caress. If at all possible, her face grew even hotter.

"Good night, Adora." He made no move to go back to his desk, so Adora gave a small curtsy before turning and walking out of the door. She didn't dare look back until after she went around the corner, for fear of being lost in his gaze once more.

Three weeks later a ball was being held for Cutler's birthday. A rumor had spread among the single women that the ball was a ploy to give Cutler a chance to pick a radiant Caribbean beauty to be his bride. Adora couldn't help but cringe whenever she heard it. To her, it wasn't like Cutler to want a trophy wife. It would seem like he'd want someone to match his wit.

Everybody who was anybody attended the ball. There was a feast and afterwards dancing and mingling. It seemed that Cutler was to be kept busy all evening dancing with all the maidens present. Adora spent her evening pleasantly chatting with her friends and dancing occasionally. She had just returned to her table after a dance with her father when a shadow fell across her, and she looked up to see a rather tired-looking Cutler holding out his hand.

"Miss Adams," he said. "May I have this dance?" Adora could only nod and she took his hand, letting him lead her to the dance floor. He held her hand in his and put his other hand on her waist. She kept looking down, not wanting to step on his feet. He put a hand under her chin and lifted her gaze up to meet his. She smiled shyly and they danced that way for a while until a foot came down abruptly upon his and a look of pain spread across his features.

"Oh my," gasped Adora. "Cutler, I'm sorry—"

"No—I'm fine. I—I just need to sit down." Cutler led her out onto the moonlit balcony where there were chairs set out for anyone who wished to enjoy the view of Port Royal at sundown. He sat and adjusted his shoe so that it wasn't cutting into his foot. He then sat back in his chair and sighed, looking out over Port Royal. He looked in dire need of sleep.

"Are you alright?" asked Adora nervously. He turned his head towards her and smiled softly.

"I am now." She smiled back. He reached over and put his hand over where hers was on her armrest. She turned her hand over, palm up, so that they held hands. Glowing inside, she turned her head and gazed out at Port Royal in the moonlight. Right beside her, Cutler gazed at her in the moonlight.

As the clock struck midnight, Adora walked towards the study. She walked around the corner and sure enough saw a light. She silently walked towards the door taking deep, calming breaths. She peeked inside and saw Cutler scribbling sluggishly on paper. She knocked softly, but he didn't look up.

"Cutler?"

He looked up through heavy-lidded eyes. "Yes?"

Adora hesitated before saying, "You look exhausted." He seemed to contemplate that piece of information before nodding.

"I believe I am." He yawned widely. "Yes, I believe it is time for me to turn in for the night." He gathered all of his papers together, put them in a drawer and put out the light. He was about to walk out, but he found that Adora blocked his way. He tried to blindly find a way around her, but she wouldn't budge.

"I just realized that I forgot something," said Adora.

"Oh. Sorry. You still needed the light—?" He was silenced by a finger on his lips.

"Happy Birthday, Cutler." Adora closed the gap between them and replaced her finger with her lips. Cutler responded almost immediately and ran a hand through her auburn locks. She moaned softly when he sought to deepen the kiss and they finally surfaced for air. Cutler rested his forehead against hers and murmured something inaudible. "Pardon?"

"It's my twenty-fifth birthday," he whispered against her lips. "You owe me twenty-four more."

END.

A/N: Just something I wrote at 2 AM and couldn't get out of my head until it was all written down. I love me some Beckett!

Possible series? Let me know!