We've weaved our way into each other's lives in a way I've never thought was possible. We're two flames colliding, igniting at the touch.

On those frigid midnights when I find myself alone, I run to him. His heartbeat becomes a refuge to a life I've been attempting to escape from for years. He can be the remedy, the cure—as if my reputation were tainted by this uncurable disease.

In the days and weeks that pass by, we learn so much about each other:

His favourite colour is yellow, because his mother used to love the colour so much.

His guilty pleasure is listening to classical country music on nights he can't sleep, but hasn't done that so much since I came into his world.

He's ambidextrous.

He hums to himself when he drinks his morning cup of coffee on the balcony.

He sometimes drives out of the city just to get away from his life.

He thrives on secret afternoon naps because his nightmares keep him awake at night—nightmares that sometimes awaken me, but he fears to confess and keeps them at the tip of his tongue.

Soon, I forget that he hired me for a purpose: to be a seductress. Instead, we morph our worlds in a different way. I run to him at night, in the day, every hour and breath. And he reciprocates every action with open arms. Every waking moment seems to be away from the Leveque's estate and rather, spent in Thomas' apartment.

The door to his apartment closes behind him. The latching of the door causes me to shut my eyes, because even I know what's to come. Thomas' palm settles on my lower back as he ushers me up against his apartment door, lips pressed against mine. His kiss stains me, leaves me with a lingering need for another.

I ruffle up his dirty blonde locks. They may be in need of trimming, and tied back in a small knot, but there's a wave to them and softness to the touch.

"Daffodil?" his low voice whispers.

I hum in response.

"Wanna fuck?"

I snort a little at the question. How could such an unromantic and blunt question suddenly turn on every nerve in my body? He certainly wants to skip all the sweet talk.

I tap his chest, my fingers dancing over a crease in his shirt. "You certainly have a way with words."

His lips curve upward. "I'm sorry, let me try this again. I'm gonna fuck you. Right here. Right now."

"Against this door?"

"Would you like that, daffodil?" he takes a side glance towards the balcony, his playful tease winding me up. "What if I took you over the edge of the balcony? Head and hair spilling down over the edge? Screams echoing through the street?"

"People would see."

He lifts me up, and I straddle my legs around his waist. My fingers graze the gun beneath his shirt. His covert weaponry still remains a dilemma I need to come to terms with. If I have learned something about danger these past few weeks, it's that danger tastes like Thomas. Sweet. Tempting. Addicting. I want more, even if the consequences of it leave me with deep cuts in my heart.

He frees his wide beaming grin, and it nearly sends me over the edge. "Then they'll know how well I treat you."

"Thomas, we are not—Thomas!" I giggle as he rushes over to the balcony. I close my eyes and cling onto him to prevent giving the entire street a scandalous show.

His laughter bellows from his chest. Instead, he lays me down on his bed. I settle my lips up against his own in the most tender of kisses, to which he rolls his strong figure over me to commence his pleasures.

── •✧• ──

Our hands entwine as Thomas hauls me down Smyth Street. It's a beautiful sunny day, with golden light slipping between the buildings and onto the bustling villagers. Music plays from apartment windows, and laughter streams from children playing through the crowds. Store owners and customers wave at Thomas-the man who gave them a place to live, a business to curate, and so forth. What he's done for these people is unfathomable.

He tells me there's blood on his hands, and yet all I see is the light within him. He's a good man, whether he wants to admit that or not.

"Ah, Thomas!" a man calls out as we brush past a produce stand. I stare at the fresh crops, plants, and floral arrangements. There are a handful of times Augustine sends me and Annie out to the market just to collect groceries, but I'm so used to the prime packaged goods—clean and blemish free, to admire the imperfections of these.

"Erwin," Thomas releases my fingers, and instead sets his palm on my lower back. If I did the same to him, my fingers would scathe the gun beneath his shirt.

"You have a friend, I see," he comments, smiling at me almost humorously. It's clear to me that Thomas works closely with the business owners on his street, and it's becoming quite obvious that he's also never appeared with a woman at his side.

Thomas' usually stoic cheeks blush a little. I step on my tiptoes and kiss the blush, making the rose burn a little more.

He squeezes my torso. "This is Maureen. Maureen, this is Erwin. He rents a farm from me just out of town."

So Thomas owns farmland as well. How big is this empire he runs?

"It's about time you made yourself happy for once," Erwin's voice drops a little as if he were sharing some sort of secret. "I think we're all tired of seeing how miserable you are when you walk down here."

"I'm not fucking miserable," Thomas counteracts. "Just busy."

I laugh at how unbelievable that lie is. Erwin only chuckles.

"Take what you need from the stand," Erwin gestures at his products. "Anything for you is on the house."

Thomas picks up a bouquet of yellow daffodils. "How much for this?"

"Don't worry about paying for that. You do enough for us-"

"How much, Erwin?" Thomas leans in, his blue eyes blazen.

"Twenty dollars."

Thomas pays, and takes the bouquet of daffodils before handing them to me. The raving blush on his cheeks is worth more than any bouquet of flowers ever could.

"You didn't have to get this for me," I chide, smelling each individual flower closely. "Where would I even keep these?"

"My apartment," he smiles, almost proud that I can keep some things at his place.

"Do you even have a vase?"

He stops in his tracks. The blank expression on his face tells me that no, he does not own a vase I giggle at the reaction.

He spins me around as we proceed to go back towards the marketplace.

The man's on a mission to buy a vase, and I'll admit this: I'm in love.

── •✧• ──

"Steady there," Thomas whispers in my ear, as he places a palm on my spine, straightening my back. The gun within my grasp trembles slightly from the adrenaline rushing through my veins.

Today, Thomas brought me out of New Aberdeen to an old ranch—which I learned his family owns in addition to the street. The ranch doubles as a training ground for new recruits for his business, including facilities for close combat, exercise, and well, shooting.

I'd asked him long ago if I could shoot his gun, and he finally took me up on the offer. I thought maybe that by learning to shoot myself, I could understand why Thomas needs to take so many precautions for himself.

"Okay, eyes on the target—Maureen, stop looking at me," he takes my chin and reroutes my focus to the wooden circle painted with spray paint about twenty meters away.

I can't help myself. He's just so damn cute.

"You're very distracting," I manage to say.

He kisses my ear. "I know, but keep your eyes on the fucking target."

I focus on the bullseye, resting my finger on the trigger.

He exhales, his breath hot against my skin. "Fire."

I pull the trigger, my body recoiling back against Thomas' firm chest. His arms lace around my waist as I lower my arms, basking in his suddenly intimate nature. He suckles hard kisses down my throat, fighting back a devilish smirk with each kiss.

"Tonight?" he hums eagerly.

I nod my head. "Tonight."

He chuckles and takes the gun from my hands and slips it back to it's original spot: beneath his shirt. With a swift swing of his arms, he lifts me up and carries me back over to his car.

── •✧• ──

"Thomas, unlock the door," I try opening up the car door to leave for the evening, but he keeps it locked.

Tonight, Thomas has some "business" to take care of, which I learned means he's doing something completely illegal that he refuses to tell me about. Long story short, it means I am sleeping alone at the estate tonight. He won't ever admit it, but I do think he seems more upset about the matter than I do.

"You'll see me in the morning," I rouse when he gives me this almost boyish pout.

"I better," he grumbles.

With a quick kiss to his lips, I leave the car. I dash through the open gates towards the estate. Weeks have gone by with my thoughts on a high from Thomas' affections. I love him. No, I'm so madly in love with him. Long ago, I told myself to refrain from getting scorched, but his love burns inside of me like oil in a lamp.

I enter through the front doors into the manor, only to be pushed into a corner by Annie. She leans into me, her eyes sparking with mystery.

"Who is that?" she whispers.

"I don't know what you mean."

"You've asked me to cover for you for the past few weeks, but I didn't know it was to run off with a man! I can see him from the windows sometimes! Gosh, Maureen, he's a hot piece of ass-" I throw a hand over her mouth and glance up and down the corridors for any sign of listening ears. Fortunately, no one's around to hear her.

My heart accelerates within my chest. That blissful little bubble that Thomas and I created for ourselves is about to burst.

I can trust Annie with the knowledge of Thomas, can't I?

"Follow me," I hiss, then drag her up the stairs.

My bedroom door shuts behind us, and Annie claws herself away from me. Her brows furrow as she sets her hands on her hips, and she purses her lips so tightly. The determination within her nearly bursts at the seams. I know I'm about to be heavily interrogated.

She releases an annoyed huff. "How could you?"

"How could I what?"

"Follow your mother's footsteps? Becoming a prostitute?"

I scowl. "Gods, Annie! Do you really think that's what I've been doing?"

"Then who's the man that picks you up and drops you off, hmm? You expect me to believe that he works at the hospital too?"

"I don't work at the hospital anymore," I retort with an almost ironic laugh edging my voice.

"Then who is he?"

How would I even begin to describe Thomas? Do I tell her he's my boss and that he pays me to seduce Cato? Would she even believe that story in the first place, despite it being the truth? Do I tell her that he's the man I've chosen to be intimate with, the man who currently holds my heart in place?

"His name's Thomas," I admit.

"Thomas," she repeats, raising her brow questionably. "Is there anything else I should know about this man?"

"I've been seeing him," I say, trying to avoid any details about him.

"Okay, what is that supposed to mean? Like do you just visit him, or do you actually kiss the man? Because from what I've seen from the windows, he's quite a handsome guy."

My cheeks blush. "He is..."

Annie studies me more intimately with her dark eyes, until I catch something snap inside of her. She nearly jolts back at the realization. A wide taunting grin stretches across her cheeks.

"You've kissed him!"

"Annie," I hiss, looking past at the closed door. "Nobody knows about him, okay? If Evelyn finds out that I don't work for the hospital, it'll break her heart."

"I need every single detail," she whispers excitedly, grabbing onto my shoulders just to brace herself. "Do you work for him? Have you slept with him? Have you—gosh, your cheeks are red right now! You've slept with him?"

"Can we talk about this later?" I'd rather not mention something that might cause rumours. My reputation already sits on the edge of humiliation. If rumours spread that I've been sneaking out to see a man, then I might never be hired for another job again. "Evelyn's probably wondering where I am," I lie.

Annie grumbles at my response, but I'm already pushing her out of the room to continue her chores. She wanders down towards the basement to fetch the laundry to hang in the gardens. It's a chore I don't mind doing, due to the solitude and fresh air, and who doesn't love the smell of fresh soap on clothing? Nevertheless, that's Annie's duty, not my own.

I head off towards Evelyn's study, nearly bumping into her as I turn the corridor.

"Maureen! You nearly gave me a heart attack," she jives as she dramatically sets her hand on her chest.

'I apologize, madame."

"No need too," she takes in a deep breath, settling her heart rate and clearing her rattled mind. "Do you mind cleaning the floors in the gathering hall? We plan on having a small intimate party this weekend with some of the board members for the research centre."

Right. I forgot about the research centre. These past few weeks have been filled with the temptations and allure of Thomas, that I've shoved all that brokenness of the displaced families to the back of my mind.

At once I feel guilty, almost selfish for doing so.

"We have a board meeting tonight, and Audwin and I plan on extending the invitation to the rest of the members to come on the weekend."

"How many guests would that be?" I question.

Evelyn lifts her fingers as if to count. "Oh, there's the Patton's, the Beaulieu's, Cato-" She gives up after mentioning Cato. "Fifty or so? It's a celebration for the most elite individuals of New Aberdeen."

I nod my head, although I can't say that I'm impressed with the celebration at the Leveque's estate. Having it located here means that I will probably be on duty, serving bowls of soup to guests and tripping over floorboards, when I'd rather be sneaking out to spend the night with Thomas.

Unless, Thomas finds his way onto the guest list like he did for the party for Cato's return.

Evelyn sets her hand on my cheek and smiles warmly. "I really must be going. Important decisions are going to be made tonight for the research centre, and for the first time, I get to be apart of it."

I smile back at her. "They are lucky to have you."

"Damn right they are," she kisses my temple and sighs softly. "What would I do without you, Maureen?"

But the question is, what would I do without her? I feel like I have my whole life indebted to Evelyn. She housed me when the city wanted me to perish. She raised me like a daughter, when the world tried to convince her that I never deserved to be loved. Although servanthood was the best she could give me, every choice she made went against the societal norms she knew.

The world needs a woman like Evelyn in charge, and I know the research centre will work wonders with her on the board.

Evelyn makes her way down the corridor to meet up with Audwin, and the two of them disappear to attend the board meeting.

For now, a mop and bucket await me as I head towards the gathering hall.

── •✧• ──

Have you officially fallen head over heels for Thomas yet? Do you trust him with Maureen's heart?

While daydreaming of him, make sure you hit the vote button, as well as comment your thoughts and even share the story!

Updated on October 29, 2022.