My head was swimming and for once not because of the amasec. I was... well alot of things. Excited? Infatuated? Maybe. Part of me tried to tell myself that it was the cover. Maybe Hadrian was that good an actor, but I certainly wasn't. I melted against him, returning his kiss with a fervor I doubted any Adept of the Administratum was likely to employ. I held to him for a long moment, enjoying the feel of muscular arms cradling my body, enjoying the scent of leather, soft cologne and the slightest frisson of psy which I didn't really smell so much as... well if you aren't a psyker you wouldn't understand. By the time he broke the kiss my heart was pounding and a flush had crept into my cheeks that had nothing to do with theatrics. There were a number of people watching us through the glass but a bunch of nobles on a planet I didn't much care about didn't loom very large in my mind.

"I think we should probably make our exit," I said, a little embarassed to hear my voice a trifle breathless.

"I think you are probably right," he agreed, lifting me gently upright. I smoothed my dress and cleared my throat and then touched the door. It gimbled open and the sound of the ochestra swelled back to full volume. Numerous faces looked back at us, only to be snapped back to their own bussiness by a brief swipe of Hadrian's eyes.

"I am afraid..." he began.