Lily was relieved to find that she could remain in bed for the better part of the next two days. Richard, like most men, assumed she was suffering from some female malady and never questioned her absence. Elizabeth may have sensed that she was feigning sickness, but to Lily’s relief, she said nothing about it. Best of all, Mason didn’t return.

Sitting at the breakfast table, she sipped her morning tea and absentmindedly flipped through the newspaper. The warmer weather had settled into Regent’s Park, and bees buzzed around the honeysuckle bush below the open window. Inhaling the flowers’ sweet fragrance, Lily closed her eyes and concentrated on the beautiful day that lay ahead of her.

“Are you feeling better today, sister?”

Opening her eyes, she saw Richard settling in to his chair to begin breakfast.

“A little.”

“Mason was concerned about you. I spoke to him yesterday afternoon, and he asked about you.”

“That’s nice of him,” she murmured as she returned her attention to the newspaper.

“I’m very pleased you two have gotten on so well, Lily. I know you were hesitant at first, but I think you can agree he’s a fine man. You’ll have a good life together.”

Lily forced a weak smile and nodded. There was no point in trying to change Richard’s mind this morning. She just wasn’t up to it.

While her brother ate, she focused on the Times, hoping her brother would depart to begin his workday and leave her in peace. Her wish was granted just a short time later, but as she skimmed the Agony Column, she was greeted by yet another reminder that she wasn’t truly free of Mason quite yet.

“M. misses L. and urgently wishes to reunite with her.”

Lily closed the newspaper and sat back in disgust. Mason had posted a notice similar to that one the day before, which had made her nothing but irritated.

“Does he think I need to be reminded every day of his feelings?” she wondered aloud.

For Lily, the idea that Mason would use the Agony Column to relay messages to her—the very place she’d found Kadar—was too much. She’d kept alive the tiniest hope that she’d find a notice from Kadar one of these mornings that would tell her his longing for her was like hers for him. Instead, what she read were the words Mason would use, at once flowery and almost officious.

But she knew the truth that Mason was part of Kadar and vice versa. She still loved the man, regardless of what she called him. That’s why his deceit hurt so much.

Rising from the table, she pushed the paper away from her. She couldn’t go on thinking about him, even if her brother wanted her to marry him. Today was the start of a new life for her.

 

“William, please eat your oatmeal.”

Lily looked up from her breakfast to wait for her nephew’s reaction. For so long he’d been so difficult, it was a habit to cringe at any request made of him.

“Yes, Mother.”

Everyone around the table let out a collective sigh of relief, and Lily winked at him to show how impressed she was at his behavior. As she looked at the relaxed look on Elizabeth’s face, Lily smiled at her happiness and congratulated herself for being the architect of William’s change. The governess she’d chosen had worked miracles, and the child’s transformation had changed everyone around him.

As the rest of the family scattered to begin their day, Lily took the time to consider an idea that had nagged at her since she’d seen Mason’s second Agony Column message. Could she truly condemn him for acting one way in public and another in private?

Yes, he’d deceived her, but as both Mason and Kadar, he’d never shown her anything but sweetness and love. And hadn’t she intentionally meant to deceive him as she allowed Mason to court her while secretly sneaking off to meet Kadar in the countryside? That she never truly did deceive him didn’t alter the fact that she’d believed she was and had been fine with her own actions.

The truth of the matter was that both had hidden their behavior in Hertfordshire, but it was that time with Kadar that she missed most. Each visit to his home had aroused something deep inside her she didn’t want to lose.

For the third day in a row, she read the Times Agony Column hoping today would be the day she saw a message from Kadar. In her heart, she knew she would eventually relent and see Mason again. More than because she had to was because she wanted to. She loved him and could forgive him. But it was Kadar she truly missed.

Like each time before, she read the notices detailing the misery and loss of her fellow Londoners, feeling each writer’s suffering with every word. Her heart went out to a woman seeking her long lost love she’d missed for decades and the man desperate to regain the love of a woman who’d left him for another.

And then she saw it.

“K. will see L. at his home in Regent’s park at three today.”

Excitement raced through her body as she savored the sound of each word as she read his message aloud again and again. It was a command, but its gentleness touched her, arousing her even as she sat alone in the breakfast room.

She would go to him as he ordered. She had no choice. He was the man she adored, and he’d realized what made her happy. To have the private Kadar, she’d marry the public Mason.

Mason’s Regent’s Park home was smaller and far less secluded than his Hertfordshire home, but he needed to show Lily that Kadar was a part of him even in their proper London suburb. He’d tried to win her back as Mason and had failed. She didn’t want to return to the man who wore the face of a proper English gentleman because society dictated it. She wanted the man who’d introduced her to a different world, a world he knew she craved.

So he’d give her that man.

At three o’clock she arrived, and as he’d instructed Akil to do, he showed her into the study. Kadar waited in an alcove and watched with a full heart as she positioned herself with her back toward the window, just as she’d always done in Hertfordshire.

His heart leaped in joy as he saw her acceptance of him. Quietly, he moved behind her as he always had, and wrapped his hands around her neck. He leaned in next to her ear and kissed her sweetly.

“My Lily. Tell me why you returned to me,” he whispered.

She leaned back to feel his body against hers and swallowed hard. “I missed my Kadar.”

The need in her voice sent a jolt through his body, and instantly his cock was hard. He’d missed her too. This time would be different, though.

Slowly, he turned her to face him and looked into those gorgeous green eyes he’d waited so long to see as Kadar. He tipped her head up toward his and bent down to kiss her deeply, loving the feel of her soft lips on his. Drawing her to him, he buried his hand in her hair to release it from its pins. It tumbled over her shoulders, covering his hands, and he pulled back to look at her.

“That’s how I love to see my Lily.”

Shyly, she smiled up at him. “I love you. I know you must be Mason Danvers to the rest of the world, but can you always be Kadar with me?”

He was sure his heart filled more than it ever had at her request. No more would he be forced to indulge his fantasies with frustrated society women. Finally, he’d found a woman who truly accepted his desires and wanted to share them with him.

“Always.”

Lily’s wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled his neck. “Please make love to me. I need to feel you again.”

Quickly, he drew the curtains and stripped her clothes from her as she worked to unbutton his shirt and trousers. In seconds, he lifted her to him, positioning his cock at her wet entrance and teasing her with the tip.

Kissing him desperately, she wriggled in his arms to force him to bury himself inside her. “Please, Kadar. Don’t make me wait!”

Turning to his right, he placed her on the edge of his desk and carefully lowered her to her back. She impatiently wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him toward her.

“Hurry, please. I need you inside me.”

Looking down into those beautiful eyes pleading for him to satisfy her, he couldn’t deny her and let his self-control slip away as he buried his cock in her slick channel. Her body welcomed him home with every thrust, and he reveled in the joy of making love to the woman he’d spend the rest of his life with. Bending over, he took her in his arms as they came together, each giving the other the acceptance they sought.

Kadar carried her to the couch and placed her between his legs as he leaned back against the arm. Pressing her body to his, she whispered, “Your fantasy.”

“Exactly. And it can’t be my fantasy without your favorite treat.”

From a table behind the couch, he took a piece of baklava from a plate and placed it in her mouth.

“I love this fantasy, Kadar. It’s so delicious to have you hold me as you feed me.”

“I’m happy you love it. I want nothing more than your happiness.”

Lily moaned her pleasure as he fed her another piece of the dessert. “Kadar, please promise me it will always be like this.”

Kadar ran his hands over her breasts, tenderly teasing her nipples, and then to her stomach, stopping just above the juncture of her legs. Every inch of her excited him, and he wanted to spend the rest of his time on Earth exploring every part of her to take her body to heights she’d never thought possible.

“Your submission is a gift I cherish, Lily. I promise to always adore you as I do right now.”

He slid one long finger into the dark triangle and teased her swollen clit before plunging into her. With his other hand he gently encircled her neck. One finger led to two, and she writhed in ecstasy under his control.

She was so wet, so open to him. Each dip into her cunt covered his fingers in her juices, and his stiff cock pressed against his belly, wanting what his fingers were enjoying. A few swift movements and she’d be on top of him, his cock buried to the balls in her.

But he wanted something else.

“Let’s continue where we left off,” he whispered as his fingers trailed over her inner thigh.

“Where we left off?”

Kadar heard the uncertainty in her voice but dismissed it. He wouldn’t be much of a Dominant if he couldn’t calm his woman.

Guiding her up from the couch, he stood her on her feet. “Stand here.”

He slipped into his pants and reached into the desk drawer for the cat o’nine tails. As he did, he saw Lily reach for her dress.

“No. You stay undressed.”

Coming out from behind the desk, Kadar saw her eyes grow wide.

“Kadar?”

He heard the fear in her voice but was sure there was curiosity and possibly desire buried underneath. “This will make you feel as wonderful as when I spanked you with my hand, my love. Now hold on to the arm of the couch.”

Lily did just as she was ordered and Kadar positioned himself behind her. His eyes traveled over her porcelain white skin as he tenderly stroked her back and hips, slipping his hand over her bottom. Gently, he prepared her for the mixture of pain and pleasure he would soon deliver. Caressing her back and legs, he explained the ways of his world.

“Lily, I’m a Dominant and you’re my submissive. That doesn’t mean I would ever hurt you or your emotional and physical safety aren’t important to me, but it does mean how we make love is different than how you and your husband did.”

He stopped talking to kiss her softly on the lips and then continued. “If you ever become frightened, I want you to say the word “sweet” and I’ll change what I’m doing. And if you ever need me to stop, I want you to say the word “apple.” Do you understand?”

In a tiny voice, she answered, “Yes.”

“I would never hurt you, Lily. I told you when we met that force is for brutes and blackguards.”

Turning her head to see him, she met his gaze and he saw nothing but love in her eyes. “I trust you, Kadar. I willingly submit to you.”

After softly placing a kiss in the middle of her back, he took one last look at her pale skin and flicked his wrist to bring the cat o’nine tails to her back. The buttery leather whips left their mark and instantly her skin began to pinken.

Lily’s obvious shock was evident in her sharp intake of breath, but she quickly calmed and just as he had when he’d spanked her, he tenderly smoothed her heated skin with his hand.

“My Lily,” he whispered as he readied the toy again.

Once more, he swung the whips toward her back, delivering the sting each inflicted. Lily’s hands gripped the arm of the couch tightly, her knuckles whitening, but Kadar knew one or two more swipes would change her fear to desire.

He soothed the skin with his palm, stroking her pain into comfort as he sensed her relax at his touch. “One more, love.”

One more became two and then three and as he’d believed, by the last time the leather touched her skin, she was almost consumed by need. Lovingly, he caressed her skin to sweet relief as she begged to touch him.

“Please, I need to kiss you, to feel you. Please, Kadar!”

“Turn around.”

He forgave her for not knowing a submissive’s proper role and let her take the lead for a moment when she pressed her mouth to his, so desperate to connect with him in her arousal. Her hands slid over his chest and shoulders as her lips and tongue took from his every ounce of pleasure he could offer.

“Tell me what my Lily wants.”

“Satisfy my need, Kadar.”

In a moment, he was out of his pants and on top of her on the couch, his body melding with hers into one. He entered her in one sharp thrust, their bodies joining in perfect pleasure. Her body clung to his, her cunt sweetly welcoming his cock each time as he sought that spot in her that would make her shatter into a million pieces. Her mouth devoured his, and she moaned her pleasure into him, exciting him more. More than ever before, he needed to satisfy her need to satisfy his own. When she finally cried out to signal her orgasm, he held her close to him as her shaking body dragged his own release from him. They lay for a long time in each other’s arms, their heartbeats and breathing the only sounds in the room.

For Kadar, this was everything he’d dreamed of since he’d returned home. There was just one more thing to do.

In her ear, he said, “Time to go, Lily.”

The look on her face as she sat upright was full of hurt and confusion. “Why?”

Kadar smiled. “It’s time we found the vicar. We’ve got a honeymoon to begin. How does a week in Hertfordshire sound?”

Lily kissed him and rested her head on his chest. “Perfect. Will there be baklava?”