Andre kissed Mielle's forehead. His lungs heaved as he struggled to catch his breath from their prolonged kiss.
He said, "God, you're so beautiful!"
Andre's eyes memorized every detail of her youthful face as he stared at her. Tracing his fingers over her swollen lips.
The sound of a broken dish and the cook's gruff cursing from the kitchen sliced through the silence between them, bringing Andre out of his reverie.
He had responsibilities to look after, and that would include finding the strange man from the hallway.
He gazed at Mielle, still curled in his arms. His body did not want to relinquish her warmth, but his brain was saying otherwise.
"We should both get back to work," he said.
"Go, take care of the Duke and Duchess and heed what I told you."
Andre added as if warning a child not to speak with strangers: "Mielle, stay put with the Duke and speak with no one. I will come find you as soon as I am finished."
