Free Shades of Gray: A Jude Magdalyn Novel by L. M. Pruitt

until it stopped altogether. When I opened my eyes, I could see tiny particles hanging suspended, waiting patiently to continue on their journeys. The air was so thick, so full of the moment, breathing it was like inhaling maple syrup.
    Keeping my eyes open was too hard, and I closed them again as Williams’s mouth moved over mine. I hadn’t been wrong when I’d assumed he’d had a few lifetimes of experience and knew how to use each one of them. Gradually, all the tightness went out of my muscles and even though Williams held me in a firm grasp, I felt my knees give way. I let out a little whimper of disappointment when the move pulled my lips from his. His mouth swallowed it up as he shifted us smoothly, as if he’d anticipated such a thing.
    I think we could have stayed forever in that moment, in the kiss, as impossible as it seemed, if a few things hadn’t happened. The first was the sound of someone cursing furiously, in what sounded like French. With it, everything—sound, time, gravity— poured back in on us. I felt my pulse accelerate until I thought my heart would burst from the sudden pressure. I pulled back, gasping for air as my lungs fought furiously to inhale and the air around me fought for me to exhale.
    Williams helped me slide to the floor, pushing my head between my legs, kneading the back of my neck. I don’t know what the conversation above me entailed as it was conducted in French at a furious pace, with people joining in at random moments, but I had the feeling at least one person was not happy with the pair of us kissing. Probably more, as the yelling increased.
    How long the argument would have gone on I have no idea, except Gillian and Williams had the brilliant idea of asking me my opinion of me kissing him. They asked simultaneously, in French. When I raised my head and gave them a confused look, they both exhaled a deep breath.
    “Gillian is concerned you were… forced into kissing me,” Williams explained, throwing her a look full of disgust. Gillian crossed her arms and returned his look with one of her own.
    “Right. Because in the brief time you’ve known me, you’ve been able to use force at every juncture, and I’ve just followed as meekly as a lamb.” I sent Gillian a withering look of my own before shaking my head. “Any more concerns, Mother Superior, or does that cover it?”
    The second thing that would have brought an end to the perfect moment, if it hadn’t been interrupted by angry chaperones, was the peal of the doorbell. You would have sworn there were a thousand church bells in one little button. And the longer you pushed the button, the louder and angrier the bells got.
    One of the guard stepped around the pile Williams and I were making on the floor. I noticed the slight bulge at his back, and when I would have asked what it was, Williams laid a finger over my lips. I glared at him, but kept quiet. The hall had gone silent, except for the rejuvenated clock. There was a click to my right, and I turned my head to see one of my guard crouched on the stairs with an absolutely enormous gun in his hand.
    On a silent three count, the guard at the door grasped the knob and wrenched the door open, moving to block Williams, Gillian and I as the rest of the guard moved forward. The bells were finally silenced, and the guards gathered in front of the door, staring down at something on the stoop. One of them called back to Williams and he and Gillian stared at each other.
    My heart was still pounding, but now it was adrenaline making it race. “What’s at the door?”
    “The guard will take care of it. Right now, you need to familiarize yourself with the house, and—.”
    I cut Gillian off, pushing to my feet despite the continued wooziness I was feeling. “I want to see. What’s at the door?”
    I was already moving down the hall when Williams made to grab my arm. I eluded his grasp easily. I pushed the guard aside, it was easier thought than done considering the