It was the first day of the semester and I was late. It was odd, this lateness was in fact something that had perpetuated throughout my whole academic career. I was always late or absent on the first day of classes, it was like I couldn’t actually bring myself to be there on time. But this, this really took the cake, this was graduate school, and not just any graduate school. I was enrolled at one of the most prestigious universities in the world, I had a full scholarship and I was late.

   My feet couldn’t move fast enough as I ran down the hall, my legs burned as I pushed passed students and faculty in the old hallway. It was stuffy and somehow full of people, people who all looked at me like I was some form of oddity hurrying as I was. Maybe it was because I was a stranger in a strange land. Or maybe it was because they had the sense I was lacking and actually woke up when their alarm clock went off. Either way, they stared as I multitasked to the upmost, checking the numbers printed above the wooden doors, while running down the hall and sending a quick text to my cousin. I swallowed and let out a sigh as I stopped in front of the door, peering into the room at the twenty or so seated students. The only thought really on my mind was why the fuck couldn’t the door have been closer to the back. As it was the heavy wooden door sat at the very front of the room.

   Yet, surprisingly enough, there wasn’t a professor in sight, which confused me until I turned to look at the clock. That was when I came face to face with—well more like face to chest with—a tall man with mischievous blue eyes. I was a sucker for good eyes and his were amazing; looking at them you could tell he had a great sense of humor. He had the very definition of smiling eyes.

   “Looking for someone?” he spoke with a thick British accent and a smirk spreading his surprisingly kissable lips.

   “I—” I swallowed. “Well, the professor… I thought I was late but apparently they aren’t here yet.”

   “Ah well, I would suggest going into the classroom then.” He reached for the door and grabbed the handle—he actually held the door open for me the simple act made my heart pound. I went in before him and took a seat in the back. He, however, did not follow to the back of the room to take a seat. He didn’t take a seat at all. Instead, he set his brown leather messenger bag down behind the lectern and pulled out a flash drive and a folder. And I stared slack-jawed and shocked at the gorgeous man who was…hopefully just a teacher’s aid.

   “Sorry for being late, I had a bit of row with the department chair.” He took a breath and grinned, “Who by the by is a complete idiot. No… that’s wrong. He is not an idiot. He’s simply not very well versed in how much we will have to cover in this class and how two hours a day three days a week is barely enough time to even scrape the surface of Tudor court life. He’s a very nice fellow but knows very little about the Tudor period for an Englishman,” he continued speaking about the course and I just stared.

   He couldn’t be a professor. He was too young, too attractive. Oxford Dons were supposed to be wrinkly old men in jackets with tweed patches who wore glasses, drank port and smoked pipes. The very fact that he was young-ish, attractive, happy, playful and wearing a dark blue sport coat over a black shirt without a tie seemed very… wrong.  This was an impossibility. I almost took out my cell phone to text my cousin but I didn’t. I just sat still at my seat with my bag on the table in front of me and tried not to look at him. Maybe he was just filling in?

   “I know many of you who are new don’t know me, but I’m Dr. Ethan Adler. If you haven’t taken one of my courses before the name might seem familiar if you have ordered your text books already that is,” he laughed and held up the book. “I have two doctorates one in history with a focus on the Tudor Period and one which I will never ever use, in Medieval literature; It has been fifteen years since I received them and I am still confused to this day why I even took the time to go down that dark path,” he paused and took a breath and I did math—he couldn’t be in his forties.  However, he looked directly at me and said: “For those of you wondering I’m only thirty six. And no, I was not the youngest professor ever. I missed that by two years and one hundred and some odd days. I might have been the youngest history professor, but they don’t specialize like that or at least they never asked me about such a thing. However, on this campus, yes I am the youngest professor. Yes, I was one of those child prodigies. Also, yes being a child prodigy has buggered me up socially so if you have little prodigies someday I recommend against pushing them,” he went on to speak on the syllabus and I turned him out and kind of stared blankly at him. I did, however, pull out my phone and covertly google him with my phone sheltered in my bag. He had a slew of books under his belt, even more articles.

   After the class had ended I sat in my chair and hung my head, it was impossible, and at the same time of being impossible it was so inexplicably what would happen to me. I finally find a man in England attractive and he is a professor; not just a professor but a professor of a class I am taking at my university.  He was busy erasing the board when I finished stuffing my things into my bag. I started down the aisle to towards the door when he spoke.

   “You seemed surprised. Am I not what you were expecting from a professor at Oxford?” he chuckled a bit and set the eraser down, looked over the new cleared board and nodded. “I hate this room, all the new technology and we still have this bloody ancient chalk board,” he mumbled wiping his hands on his pants.

   “When I did my undergraduate in the states I had professors younger than you,” I shrugged. “I just…” I laughed and trailed off.

   “Ah, so you’re an American. I have such a hard time with Canadian, American and Australian accents,” he slipped a folder into his bag.

   “I’m Canadian but I attended University in the states for five years, this is my first semester here.” I stopped at the bottom of the walkway and he turned and looked at me. Those mischievous eyes looked me over with a fierce hunger that made my skin breakout in gooseflesh, after a moment he looked away and cleared his throat.

   “Well, I…” he trailed off and smiled. “Welcome to England, and welcome to Oxford. It’s rather dull but it’s only an hour or so from London.” With those words he left me standing in the room staring at him. I just stood there for a moment trying to process everything. I could always drop the class… but that was stupid. Shaking my head I made my way out into the hall.

  “He’s a fucking Adonis!” I screamed at my cousin as we sat in her London flat, she had sent me a text after class begging me to come see her.

   “And an Oxford Professor at age thirty six, well ladidah,” she snickered and ran her fingers through her pale brown hair. She was a very successful lawyer—erm, barrister—and a handful of years older than me. However, she took after her father’s side, and as we were related through our mother’s we looked very little alike. I was swarthy with long black hair that fell to my hips in loose curls when not tamed properly, and she, she was pale and mousy brown hair in a cute bob.  The only thing we had in common genetically was that we were both short—I was five foot two inches and she was five foot four.  Together sitting on her couch we looked like friends talking about the day, and we were friends. My move to England had made us closer.

   “It’s hell,” I breathed as I leaned my head back over the edge of the couch and looked at her kitchen, “I have no clue how I am going to concentrate. I’ve been here for… five months now and only just now am I finding an attractive man and he is completely untouchable.”

   “You need a very good bang,” my cousin snickered shaking her head. “A good no strings attached how’s your father.”

   “I… I can’t believe you actually just said that.”

   “What?”

   “How’s your father… do people actually say that here?”

   She tilted her head from side to side laughing. “Sometimes. But my advice is the same,” she sighed and looked around the apartment for a moment. “I have just the thing,” she stood and walked into her room. A moment later she appeared with a black mask and an envelope.

   “What’s that?” I raised a brow with a snicker.

   “This… this will help you through the semester.” She sat back down next to me and placed the envelope and the mask on the table. Looking around for a moment, her hazel eyes flit back and forth like she were trying to remember something. After a few moments, she took a breath before continuing. “Once a week in London, a very wealthy gentleman throws a very… interesting party.” She pursed her lips, “This is a sex party, it is totally anonymous. You show up at the time and place in the envelope—it’s usually at a gym after closing. You strip down in the locker room, lock up your clothes and parade around naked.  There’s very little talking as a rule. No names are exchanged, no numbers. You simply approach a gentleman you fancy and touch him on the shoulder. If he touches you back…well, then you go off and have some fun,” she smirked. “Everyone is clean and professional, so no need to worry about disease. Every man uses a French letter as per the rules; it’s very safe. I go often. I’d be going this time, but I believe you need it more and referrals happen often.”

   I picked up the mask and looked at it. It was one of those elaborate Venetian masks that covered most of the nose and eyes. I thought about it…and it made my mind just scream with the very explicit immorality of it.

   “Can I show up drunk? I mean uhh, pissed?” I stuck my tongue at her and she giggled.

   “I usually do. But then I know who I’ve become a favorite of, like Bryce Allen. He actually runs it, and he has even visited me outside of the parties.”

   “I thought you didn’t speak to anyone? Like Fight Club but with sex.”

   “Ha. You can… though most frown upon it and I will warn you most will look for women they know. We are after all creatures of habit,” she giggled. “So are you going to go?”

   I scratched my neck and thought for a moment with my lips pursed. The thought of being in a room surrounded by naked men was in a way as arousing as it was terrifying.  I let out a sigh and she giggled again.

   “Everyone is for the most part fit and attractive; it’s essentially a place for us professionals to play without worrying about ramifications. You know morality clauses and what not,” she let out a sigh. “So are you going or not, dearest cousin?”

   I took a breath and nodded after a moment before pushing off from the couch. I had the hope that it would actually take my mind off of Dr. Ethan Adler.

   “I’ll do it. I’ll go.”

   “You’ll have fun; by the by, everyone needs a good uncomplicated fuck every now and again. Doubly so when you’re single.”

2

   That was how that night found me standing at the back entrance to a gym in London a stones throw from Covent Garden. The gray metal door was highlighted by a single fluorescent bulb which hung over the entrance.  All sorts of people in masks came up to that daunting metal door.

    On the piece of paper, it said that you had to wear the mask coming and going and no one should see your face. So I stood there, the hood of my coat pulled to cover my masked face as I stared at those well-dressed individuals in their expensive skirts and immaculately tailored suits. My brows furrowed as I slowly walked towards the door. I was determined. I can do this, I won’t chicken out. There would be no judging, no one would know.

   Swallowing, I opened the door and stepped into the dimly lit back room. On the far wall were two doors, one said Men and the other Women. I stepped through the door that said women and into the fluorescent lights of the locker room.  There were rows, upon rows, of white lockers with bright shiny locks. I undressed quickly and stuffed my things into a locker, carefully checking the number—five sixteen. My fingers fumbled with the zipper of my skirt as I stripped down completely and stared at myself in the mirrors. I looked like something out of a bad porn, even with the knee high boots I had borrowed from my cousin. Running my fingers through my long dark hair I headed out of the door that lead to the Gym.

   On the other side what I saw was a surprise. I hadn’t expected it to be so… lavish. The machines were all pushed to the side and the place was lit with candles that cast a dull glow over everything, and everyone.

   There were a good forty people there beside myself, all nude, and all surveying each other like a piece of meat with a glass of wines in their hands. There were tables set up here and there throughout the room that had condoms, food and several bottles of wine, champagne and beer on them. There were also couches everywhere and the windows had a thick black film over them so no one could see in.

   I approached a table and picked up a glass of red wine and looked at the food on the table, cream puffs and something which looked to me suspiciously like caviar. I opted out of the food and sipped my glass of wine as I walked about the room trying my hardest not to stare at anyone. It took a few glasses of wine, but after a while I was comfortable with everything enough to wander around to the second floor. Apparently, the second floor was where they had aerobics classes during the day. The rooms were transformed to little strip clubs, which didn’t surprise me strip-aerobics was popular even in the states.

   However, there were also a few rooms set up that had mattresses on the floor. ‘Shy room’ followed by a number was written on the door of a few rooms. It was roaming around on the second floor when I had my first and only proposition.

   He was tall, roughly average build and yet, he was fairly defined with a few tattoos on his chest. In his hand was a champagne flute, and in the lighting his short cropped hair looked dark. His hair, however, didn’t concern me as much as his mouth did. He had gorgeous lips, and in my mostly drunken stupor I blatantly stared at those generous, kissable lips.  At first, he simply stared back at me, but the heat behind those eyes made my pulse rise in my throat, and my mouth grow dry as between my thighs started to moisten. My knees pressed together as I felt my body spring to life at the prospect of having sex with this beautiful stranger. It was thrilling, to know just what was going through his mind as he stared at me. It frightened me as much as it delighted me to know for certain that as he stared at me he was thinking of having me, tasting my body…the feel of being inside me. I had never done anything like it before and as he approached me that thread of fear that wove its way through me along with the pleasure made my dark eyes widen as he neared.

   She had said they would touch my shoulder, but he didn’t. No, he approached me and stepped just far enough away that our nude bodies were barely touching. I trembled from the near contact, my skin breaking out in gooseflesh as he leaned in and kissed me. I kissed back, and as if on cue he get more adventurous with his kissing. His tongue probed gently at my mouth, slipping and sliding over my teeth and tongue like he was eager to taste every last part of me.

   That was how it started, with those luscious lips pressed to mine. We made out for a while, kissing hard in the hall way, almost as though we weren’t where we were and the muffled sounds of sex weren’t filling the room.

   I would have been happy to just have that moment with him in that hallway. To just know the feel of his lips and nothing else. But as those soft deep kisses continued he started walking us towards one of the shy rooms and broke our kisses only long enough to open the door for me. What a true Gentleman.

   After closing the door he stared at me half panting He closed it after us and he said one simple word.

    “Rough?” his voice was dark and lush. And the heat that lurked in that single word made clear what I could already see just by looking at him—he was as aroused as I was. Between his legs his erection stood proud and thick and faintly pulsing in the warm dim lights. A ragged breath passed between my lips, as he slipped his hands over my shoulder. The simple caress made me suck in a little gasp in a half moan. It was the point of no return and he was so gentlemanly about it. Standing there naked before him I didn’t feel pressured. Something about the look he gave me made me think that even if I chickened out he’d have been content continuing to kiss as we were before.

   Licking my lips I reached out and touched him, my fingertips trailing over the dip where his shoulder muscle met his bicep. The lush heat of his skin made me bite my bottom lip as my gaze trailed back up his powerful shoulders, his long graceful neck, those lips which were still bright red from our kisses to his eyes which seemed blue even in the dark—I was a sucker for amazing eyes.

   I nodded once, which drew a dark little chuckle from him as he pulled a condom from the bottom of the champagne flute. My cousin had told me I needed a good uncomplicated fuck, but as he began kissing me again, and he nipped at my lips I didn’t want it to be uncomplicated.

   Keeping the condom in his palm his kisses trailed their way down my shoulder leaving a path of what seemed like fire in their wake. The room was warm, but my nipples were hard like little diamonds as his fingertips traced maddening little circles around my nipples making me sigh and my hips twist as those satin soft lips continued their descent. As his tongue snaked out to trail the path that his fingers had taken moments before his hands slid to my hips.

   Lulling my head back I moaned as he closed his mouth over my right nipple and suckled hard on that sensitive flesh, bathing it in the soft moist heat of his mouth. As he drew hard on my nipple he caressed across my hips, inching his fingers towards my throbbing, needy slit. His finger just barely grazed between my nether lips and I gasped, setting my nails into his shoulders. Clearly, it had been entirely too long since the last time I had sex. He purred appreciatively as he switched his attention to my left nipple.

   My nails left a little red path in their wake as I dreamily traced my hands down his shoulders. My body was practically aching with impatient need by the time he finally stopped toying with my nipples.

   This wasn’t what I expected when he asked me if I wanted it rough. Was he being gentle because I hesitated? His fingers slipped over my hips once again and he guided me to kneeling. His eyes locked to mine the entire time, like he wanted to be sure we were on the same page.  A soft sigh escaped my anxious lips as he stroked himself with one hand as he opened the condom with the other.  That thick veiny shaft seemed so much wider than it had when we started. Before he was of modest size, now he was probably the biggest I had seen up close and personal.

   There was a moment of stillness in him once the condom was on. He looked like some obscene statue as he knelt there with his proud erection pulsing almost visibly in his hand. But the moment was only a moment, and it was over quickly as he moved behind me. In one swift blissful minute, he grabbed the back of my neck, pushed me forward a little and slammed that massive length into my sopping, greedy sex. His thrusts were hard, brutal, deep and fierce. My eyes rolled back in my head, it just felt so fucking good. The heat of his body just made me melt as his hand roamed over my sweat slickened skin. I clawed behind myself at his hips as he continued pistoning into my sensitive folds.

   My body was white hot with pleasure as I rode his hips, eagerly meeting him thrust for punishing thrust. He kept that one hand on my throat the entire time, the possessive gesture tickled something deep inside of me as his roaming hand continued lower, resting low on my stomach as he continued that almost impossible almost crazed rhythm. I knew I’d be sore in the morning, but I didn’t fucking care. All I cared about…was that he was inside of me and that his hand continued moving towards that aching pearl of flesh which thudded deafeningly with my pulse as he rode me roughly.

   I bit hard into my bottom lip to keep from crying out. I wanted to scream expletives at the top of my lungs. I wanted to yell the name of the beautiful creature who was giving me the best sex I had ever had up until then. He seemed to know just how to angle his hips to hit all of the right places inside of me in all the right ways. And then his fingers finally reached that kernel of flesh. He teased that throbbing nodule of flesh with surprisingly delicate little circles. As his thrusts increased in ferocity I felt my inner thighs started to tremble, I was getting close—so achingly close. He growled a little, and then that hand toying with my achy nub gave it a playful slap. The quick biting pain tipped me over the edge. With a little muted cry my body arched back against him as he continued to thrust into me, pressing his hand over my swollen clit, forcing me to ride out the entirety of my orgasm. I felt my tight sex clench and spasm around him as he practically growled in my ear with his hand slowly starting to tight around the base of my throat.

   “Oh, fuck,” he hissed almost silently as I felt him throb and twitch inside of me. He stilled behind me and placed lazy almost loving kisses on my shoulder. He pulled me over his lap and held me as our hearts raced and our breathing came in desperate breathy pants.

   And that was how it was, all night. We made love three or four times, the latter of which was full of a certain lovely laziness, a certain tenderness which a one night stand should never have. On the surface, however, that was essentially what it was only without the pretense of knowing the other person.

   Afterward, we laid in the bed in the middle of that room next to each other and completely spent with our fingers entwined as we savored the ache of bodies. That was of course until the lights were flickered on and off, the signal that we all had twenty minutes to leave.

   We were reluctant to untangle from each other but I was the one who made the first move. I slowly pulled my hand from his. Those blue eyes seemed almost sad as I slipped my leg from on top of his. With a slow nod and a shaky breath he stood and stretched looking me over for a moment.

   Then, unexpectedly, he leaned over, gave me a quick kiss and then rested a finger against a bite mark on my neck and those lovely lips of his curled into a lazy smile. He opened his mouth to speak and closed it. Instead, he nodded to himself with his brows furrowed and headed out of the room. I waited a moment before I got up and left. My body was beyond sore and throbbed where he left his teeth marks indented in my flesh but that was to be expected, soreness was often a side effect of amazing sex.

   After I had dressed again and exited the building I found my cousin’s car outside waiting for me. I walked around, got in and she drove away. My eyes lingered on that gray door until it was out of sight. After we were a while away I took off the mask and looked at her.

    “That was interesting,” I said at a light, she looked at me and we both broke out into a giggle fit. “Oh it was just… wow. There was this guy he was just… wow.” I covered my face and ran my fingers through my hair. “I almost wish I hadn’t met him there. It was just…”

    “Well they do tend to be that way. My first time there wasn’t that great though, the first time I went to one of these things I ended up taking a guy into a shy room and snogging all night like I was in prep school again.”

     “Is it bad that I want to go back to see if that one guy is there again?”

   “Kind of. It depends. As I said, there are those who go to the same person over and over again, like me and my lovely Mr. Allen, who actually came over last night. We had dinner and talked, it was… well.” She held out her hand, showing a very large engagement ring.

   “That is a ring.”

   “It isn’t an engagement ring because I don’t want it to be one. He said he’d wait until I was ready to take that step.”

    “Congratulations?”

    “Thank you! It was very surprising, but he’s a very accommodating kind of fellow so I suppose it makes sense. But I could be Mrs. Bryce Allen, do you know how much he is worth? His net worth plus my net worth…well, I suppose I wouldn’t have to work again, if I didn’t want to—but I actually like my job.”

    “You’re rambling.”

   She paused for a moment and grinned as we careened through the streets of London back towards her flat. I checked the clock it was shortly after three in the morning.  We walked up the stairs keeping silent all the way until her door was shut behind us. I looked over all of the signs that she had someone over. There were two wine glasses on the table, the couch pillows were strewn pretty much everywhere, and there was a used condom in the trash can that sat next to the couch. That must have been some dinner. I smirked at her and shook my head, she practically danced around the place picking things up.

   “I’m not going into work tomorrow. Bryce is going to pick me up and we’re going to go on holiday to the south of France so you will be without me for a little,”

    “Is there going to be another… get together now that he’s found you?” I teased, well if I was honest it was a half tease and half honest question as that delicious ache low in my body refused to let me forget that blue eyed masked man.

   “Oh yeah. He doesn’t have to be there to have it, and you’re welcome to go. In fact…” She walked over to a drawer and pulled out a key. “Here’s a key to my flat. You can come and hang out here whenever you want over the next week.” I took the key and nodded

   “I have class in a few hours.”

   “Well, sleep here and I’ll drive you back to your flat when you wake up. You can sleep in the bed. I couldn’t even sleep if I wanted to I’m so wired.” She giggled as she emptied out the trash can, I took her invitation and collapsed on the bed and fell asleep dreaming of those blue eyes, those amazing lips and perfect body.

3 

Maybe it wasn’t surprising that I was late to class. My cousin dropped me off, but still as I ran through campus with the bagel hanging out of mouth, I scrambled desperately to make it to class. Making matters worse, my whole body ached with every step I took. The bite marks, and bruises from my Mystery Man’s fingertips were hidden by my clothes, and the addition of a silk scarf I borrowed from my cousin. I was only two minutes late as I climbed the stairs to my seat. Professor Adler was running late. It was terrible, I couldn’t stop thinking about the Mystery Man. But luckily, it did take my mind off of Dr. Ethan Adler. I could sit in his class and take notes without thinking about him. So when he finally arrived, I didn’t stare at him like some love sick teenager. He became as all professors had been to me before, a mouth piece of knowledge and nothing more. I felt like I had accomplished some sort of victory as I took out my notebook and quickly penned a handful of notes. It was bliss, but the bliss ended as by the end of the week.

   That Friday, I found myself drawing frantic correlations between my Mystery Man and Dr. Adler. The lips, the body, the voice, the hair; it was all the same to me. However, a question lingered in my mind that made me doubt if it was him. Did I see him that way because it was what I wanted, or was it because that was how it really was?

   That weekend I went to another party, and he had me again. In many ways it was a repeat of before. We sequestered ourselves off in a room all by ourselves and made love like animals.

   On Monday, needless to say my neck looked like I had been mauled by a rabid animal…and I was almost certain my Mystery Man wasn’t much of a mystery at all. It had to have been Dr. Adler. There was no way it couldn’t not be him. And then a bomb went off, destroying all of my cocky certainty. It wasn’t literal, but it was life shattering enough that maybe an actual bomb would have been less devastating.

   We were taking notes on the most appropriate of subjects, courtly love. We started discussing the Romance of the Rose when there was a knock at the door, and yet instead of the person waiting politely, they walked in.

   That man who so rudely burst into the room looked exactly like Dr. Adler. There wasn’t a difference between them that I could see other than his clothes. He wore a black leather jacket and held a motor cycle helmet in his hand.  The eyes were the same, the lips the same, the hair cut the same.  The only other difference I picked up on was that this new man looked like he had been crying.

   “There’s been an accident. Mum…” he trailed off and sniffed. “Mum’s dead,” he croaked out in a hoarse voice as he wrapped his arms around Dr. Adler who stiffened with the contact and seemed for all intents and purposes generally angered.

   “We’ll continue this discussion next time I guess,” he nodded, slamming a book shut. “Sophie,” I froze as he said my name. “Can you close up the computer for me? I’ll be in my office.” They left after and the room emptied out quickly, leaving me to sit and stare at the projector. This is a problem. There were two of them. Two. Why did he have to be a twin? I tugged at my hair as I threw a mini fit in the empty room.

   After a few minutes of composing myself, I shut down the computer and taking the flash drive out of the port I started off for his office. Part of me was suddenly confused, there was a twin. Was it Dr. Adler or his twin who had been going to the parties? Dr. Adler had the kind of position that people expected from those who went, but I didn’t exactly have a prestigious position and I had been there, not once but twice now.

   I lingered in the door way a moment before knocking on the door.

    “Come in,” one of them called. I opened the door and found them both on the couch, red eyed. “Ah, Sophie. Thank you. Umm… where are my manners,” Dr. Adler pursed his lips. “This is my twin brother Evan.”

   Evan turned and looked at me for a moment before nodding, and I stared back trying my hardest to keep the shock off of my face as my Midwestern sensibilities started to revolt in my head. It was an odd moment, I was certain I was sleeping with one of them but which one…

   “Oh, your flash drive and folder,” I held them out to Dr. Adler but he just gestured to the desk. I set them down and Evan took off his leather coat, revealing a tattoo which I knew all too well. I had traced the tribal pattern with my tongue. Dr. Adler caught me staring at it and rolled up his sleeve revealing the same tattoo with a small smile.

   “We got it on our eighteenth birthday,” Dr. Adler laughed some. “Mum was furious,” he closed his eyes a moment and shook his head.

   “What’s wrong with your mother?”

   “She was in an accident this morning on her way to Morrison’s. I told her she shouldn’t be driving but she… she never fucking listens,” this from Evan who buried his face in his palms.

   “Overall, she will probably be okay, in spite of how Evan is acting. He’s Mum’s favorite, but she’ll pull through, she has a few broken bones but the worst is over.”

   “Why aren’t you up there with her?”

   “She lives so far north it’s almost Scotland. We’ll be going up tomorrow, or tonight,” Dr. Adler patted his brother and the back.  “I hate to do this but could you sit with my brother for a bit? He’s very broken up over this and I have two more classes.”

   “Sure, you’re my last for the day.”

   Dr. Adler nodded, wiped his eyes and grabbed some things off of his desk before he left the room without a second glance in my direction. Maybe it was Evan who went to the parties?

   “It’s worse than he thinks, she was in a coma. She is still in a coma and he’s pretending that everything is okay. He’s always been such a cold fish.” Evan took a ragged breath, and I sat down on the couch next to him.

    “I’m sure it’ll be fine. The best thing to do is just to take your mind off of everything.” I smiled at him and looked around, “So what do you do?”

   “I’m sorry, I am not very good with American phrasing.”

   “What do you do for a living?”

   “Oh, I run a little software company with some friends…apps and stuff.”

   “That’s interesting.”

   “Yeah, it’s really not. I helped write the code that made WISE possible. WISE actually stands for Winston, Isaac, Simon and Evan. I met them after being kicked out of Eaton. Most parents would have been furious, I think mum was just pleased that she didn’t have to deal with tuition anymore.” He laughed a little and those amazing lips tugged into a smile. “I tested out when I went into the public school system, around the same time Ethan did.  But Ethan went on to be the darling of everyone and I dropped out of Uni at sixteen and we launched WISE that very month. Mum was supportive, she was the first person to buy a public share. She liked to joke that he was left brain and I was the right brain, which is funny when you think of code as nothing more than logic puzzles.” He smirked a little, “I just really hope she pulls through. Dad died when we were teenagers, I suppose I clung more to mum than Ethan did,” he shrugged. “He’s always been very independent, aside from me. I’m apparently the only one he’s close to or ever been close to. How do you like his class?”

   “It’s… nice? It’s a class, very informative and interesting,” I nodded as I spoke and looked around,

   “I hated Uni myself. Hats off to you and those who excel in academia but that’s not me. I barely made it through two terms.”

   I shifted a bit and looked him over trying desperately to find a difference between the two of them, something I could look for next party. I licked my lips,

   “You’re just… gorgeous,” he spoke softly as he slowly looked me over his eyes devouring me, but after a moment the sadness returned to those expressive blue eyes. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that,” he laughed a bit and covered his face. “God I hope Mum is okay.”

   “I’m sure she’ll be fine.” I smiled to him, patting him on the back.

   We sat in silence for a while after that, staring around Dr. Adler’s office. I enjoyed just sitting next to him. Something about it was calming, and not stressful at all. I wasn’t nervous in the slightest, in fact I felt compelled to comfort him.  I reached out and held his hand, the instant his fingers brushed mine I remembered laying in that room with my Mystery Man, and how sad he seemed when I pulled my fingers from his.

   “Thank you. I know you don’t have to sit here with me. I’m sure there are about a million other things you’d rather do.”

   With a shrug I leaned back and let go of his hand, I thought for a minute, I didn’t have much to do in reality. I had a few papers to read to for.

    “Little do you know, this is how I always spend my spare time. Comforting billionaires is a hobby of mine.” We shared a brief little laugh. “I have some reading to do but that’s about it, and… well I like to think you know…if I do something nice for someone if I find myself in a similar situation someone would be there for me.”

   “That’s very decent of you. There are very few decent people left in the world,” we shared an awkward moment and I rubbed the back of my neck, shifting the scarf that hid the hickies that covered my throat. His eyes swept over the maimed flesh and a smile slipped over his lips. However, that was when Dr. Adler returned. Evan dropped the smile as his brother looked us over. Dr. Adler’s eyes lingered on my hickies, and he didn’t smile. But the look he gave me made my heart jump into my throat. I quickly rearranged the scarf a little flustered…so it could be either of them. But I was sure of one thing, one of them was my Mystery Man.

   “I got someone to cover my next class,” Dr. Adler said as he started gathering a few folders and a laptop from on top of his desk.

   “We’ll take your car,” Evan said passing his fingers back through his dark hair.

   “Give your driver the day off?”

   “I should probably head home,” I stood and Evan grabbed my wrist. Our eyes locked and he pulled a card out of his pocket. Pressing it into my hand he released my wrist.

   “Ring me?” he flashed me a heart meltingly charming smile. I nodded a little.

   “Tally ho, you lecherous beast, stop trying to chat up the pretty student,” Dr. Adler said kicking at his brother who chuckled. “Thank you so very much, Sophie. I’m sure I’ll see you later.” Again I nodded as Dr. Adler held the door open for me. Stepping passed him and out into the hall I could feel their eyes on me and with my back safely to them I grinned as I walked down the hall.

   When I got to my flat I called my cousin, and twenty voicemails later she finally answered.

   “Darling, someone better be in the middle of murdering you as we speak,” she grumbled.

   “Lily, he has a twin.”

   “What?”       

   “Dr. Adler’s twin is Evan Adler who created WISE.”

   “The search engine company?”

   “Yes.”

   “That’s who was at the party.”

   “Are you sure?”

   “If you go again bite him somewhere he can’t cover up. But I know Bryce knows Evan Adler.”

   “He gave me his card and told me to ring him… that means call right?”

   “Yes.” There was murmuring on her end, a sleepy masculine voice. “Bryce says both of them have a standing invitation to the parties but he can’t tell you any more.”

   “Do you think he knows?”

   “Honestly?”

   “No, dishonestly. What kind of question is that?”

   “Don’t bite your arm off… I just mean Bryce created those rules for a reason. It’s to protect everyone involved. I mean, where do you want to go with this? Are you even looking for a relationship?”

   “I…”

   “Sex is fun, you had your good uncomplicated fuck. Don’t taint it, Soph. Accept it for what it is.”

   “So you’re telling me not to dwell on it.”

   “I’m telling you not to complicate something that doesn’t need to be complicated. Ring up Mr. Evan Adler and go on a date. This doesn’t mean you have to stop going to the party. If it is Evan he’ll bring it up probably before you will.”

   “And if it’s Dr. Adler?”

   “Then you’re going to get amazing grades?” she giggled.

   “Oh, ha ha. I meant what if I start seeing Evan and it turns out that it’s Dr. Adler at the parties? How do I tell him that? Oh, it’s been really fun going out these last few weeks, Evan, but this whole time we’ve been dating I’ve been going to those private sex parties your friend hosts and doing your brother.”

   “That is a really elaborate situation you’ve created. How many children do you have by this point in this little fantasy?”

   I sighed. “Lily!”

   “I know. If he wants to go out on a second date, let him know that you’re not interested in being exclusive. That should buy you time and if you make it to the third date with him… then you can compare notes on how Evan matches up to Mystery Man in bed.”

   “Uncomplicated fuck my ass!”

   “Darling, you’re the one who made it complicated.”

   “I had a connection.”

   “You had great sex.”

   “It was more than that. We laid together after and just…relaxed and enjoyed each other’s warmth and the sound of our breathing.”

   “Oh, god. Gag me why don’t you. Did it ever occur to you that maybe he didn’t feel the connection?”

   “No, he felt it too.”

   “Well, if you’re so certain, best of luck to you, Soph. I’m just going to warn you that it’s hard to say no to an alpha male.”

   “Evan doesn’t seem like that.”

   “Trust me, he is. Bryce can be like that. He created the parties because he didn’t have enough time to date and the idea of seeing a prostitute repulsed him.”

   “And now he has you, and you have a massive ring on your finger.”

   “Goodbye, Sophie. Oh, and Bryce says there’s a party tomorrow at the same place as the last two. We’re getting in on Wednesday, so I’ll ring you up and we’ll have dinner.” Before I could respond the phone was beeping in my ear.

   The next night I took the train into London. After stopping at my cousin’s flat to do my makeup and hair I took a taxi to the same Gym as before with the black lace domino mask obscuring my face. I dressed for it this time, not like before when I borrowed my cousin’s boots. This time I wore thigh highs, the kind that stayed up on their own without a garter belt. The shoes were tasteful black peep toe heels that went well with my charcoal grey mini skirt. However, the ensemble was far too cold for the September chill. Making matters worse, it was sprinkling. I paid the cabby and ran as quick as I could into that gray door.

   I stripped in the locker room down to only my thigh-highs and heels. My heart was high in my chest as I checked my makeup and hair in the mirror. In the bright fluorescent lights the bruises on my neck looked brutal, the purple was almost black and gave me a rather sinister appearance—like I was the victim of a vampire.

   Making my way out into the room, I scanned those gathered for my Mystery Man. He was waiting by the table with the wine. In his hand was a glass of red that he sipped slowly as he stared at me. Our eyes locked from across the room. Someone approached me, a tall, blond man with almost white gray eyes he touched my shoulder. He was attractive, but still, I shook my head no and he sighed, retreating from me as I made my way through the crowd to one of the Adler twins. I knew it was one of them. On my Mystery Man’s bicep was that tattoo they both had, that black ink on his white flesh taunted me. It should have been a mark to differentiate the two, but all it did was frustrate me. He approached me like he owned me, kissing me possessively, holding that wine glass just out of reach as his hand slid across my waist pulling me against him.

   Those claiming kissing trailed across my cheek, to my jaw and down my neck where they turned into playful teasing nips that tantalized my already tormented flesh. Each time he seized a bit of my flesh between his teeth I gasped and moaned as my hands slid over his body. My fingers traced along his obliques to the ridges of his abdominals and lower still until wrapped my hand around his already hard and willing length. He moaned against my throat, as I slowly stroked that velvety-smooth, hot, pulsing flesh. However, he didn’t let me stroke him for long. He bit my pulse hard, and like a kill-switch, I went limp like a ragdoll from that pleasure that skirted the edges of pain. My knees gave out, and he grabbed me with a hand around my waist supporting me.  And he was able to do it all without spilling a drop of wine.

   After I recovered, he led me up the stairs with a hand at the small of my back. He ushered me back into that same shy room from before, and closed the door behind us. Pressing the wine glass into my hand, he took a step away from me. When I had the glass firmly in my hand, he sat on the mattress and laid back watching me. I took a sip of the sweet wine and straddled his lap as I knelt on the bed and he opened a condom wrapper and rolled it over his length. With a little smirk I dipped my finger in the wine and wrote on his abs.

   Adler. He sighed and sat up a little. Below it he responded as I sat the wine glass on the floor.

   Don’t.

   He pulled me down onto his length, spearing that hard, searing girth into me, making me cry out. With one hand he pinned my hands behind my back. He took me brutally again, slamming his hips against me so hard I felt like he’d bruise that sensitive flesh between my tights. I halfheartedly struggled against his vice-like grip, as he continued to almost punish my insides. He silenced my cries with his mouth against mine, nipping my lips hard enough I knew they would certainly be bruised. I

teetered on that knife's edge between pleasure and pain, kept there by the force of his brutal lust, a burning force I was helpless to resist. My every synapse was confused by the all-consuming sensations. I didn’t know whether to cry or moan as he stroked himself inside of me, his thick length stretching and filling me with almost brute force. His fingers dug into my wrists, the nails indenting my flesh as his fingertips bruised the skin as he used his grip to pull me down, matching his thrusts.

   I felt like I was going to shake apart, like my whole world was going to end. My hands flexed and released, clawing primally at the air. My body felt like it was going to spontaneously combust. My skin was practically on fire as my thighs started trembling. As my orgasm over took me, I threw back my head and moaned. He released my wrists and pushed me into the mattress, he was behind me in seconds, thrusting into me so hard and fast I was almost certain he was trying to fuck through me, as again he forced me to ride out my orgasm in its entirety. He didn’t much last longer than I did, and before long he collapsed on top of me, lacing his fingers with mine as our hearts beat franticly and we panted in the dim light. He kissed the crook of my neck gently, letting his soft lips linger in just the right way to send shivers down my spine.

   He drew a breath like he was going to say something, but instead placed another kiss on my neck before rolling on his side and taking me with him. His strong arms wrapped around me, pinning me to his sweat slickened chest. Leaning over, he dipped his finger in the wine glass beside the bed and wrote on the floor.

   Just think of me as a third twin.

   Snickering, I glanced back at him and then wrote, M.M. Adler.

   And he replied, M.M ?

   Mystery Man. I wrote and he chuckled behind me before pressing a kiss to my shoulder. The lights flickered and we both sighed. Coffee?

   No, against the rules. And then he up ended the glass over our conversation. Pain shot through my body as he withdrew from me. Shutting my eyes from the discomfort, I cried out as he dislodged himself from me. Until the pain passed he held me close, placing a soft trail of kisses across the bruises on my neck as the lights flickered overhead, letting us know to leave. Once I no longer felt like my sex was turning inside out, I sat up and He started for the door, removing the condom as he went, tossing the used prophylactic into the garbage can before he slipped out of the door. I followed a few seconds later with sluggish reluctant steps.

   Once I was back at my cousin’s and fresh out of bath a checked my phone. I had a text message from an unknown number that was only minutes old.

   [Dinner tonight?]

   Smirking at my phone, I delighted in the decadent ache of my body. [How did you get my #? Who is this????]

   [Evan. Hacked registry system @ Oxford]

   [Isn’t that illegal?]

   [Yes. That a no?]

   [Nope. Dinner sounds great.]

   [wear something dressy & bring passport we’re going 2 paris]

   Biting my bottom lip, I half squealed with delight. Evan had to be the Mystery Man. The timing was perfect. I jumped on my cousin’s bed and pulled the big, soft, fluffy robe tighter around me and sighed.  My phone buzzed again and I looked down at it, it was a text alert from the university.

   [Paper on Henry VII’s taxation policy still due Friday @ 23:59 - Dr. Adler]

   Throwing my head back against the pillows, I growled at the reminder of Dr. Adler. He had to have initiated the alert system. Was it his way of letting me know he was M.M? Grumbling to myself I wrapped myself in the sheets and was lulled to sleep by the moans and thuds of my cousin’s neighbors having sex.