Close Harmony (Food Of Love 3)

She would keep.

He wasn’t going to let her go.

Chapter Eight

Lydia was not exactly thrilled to find herself backed into a corner by Sarah Latimer. She glanced desperately over at Meredith and Katja, but they were flirting with some brass players. Karl-Heinz was with Creep Ap Hughes—she didn’t fancy making up that threesome. And Vanessa had obviously left the reception at the first opportunity.

Ever since Karl-Heinz had made the revelation of his bisexuality, the knowledge had burned inside Lydia, with no outlet for disclosure. It felt disloyal and insensitive to discuss it with Milan, so she hadn’t mentioned it, even though she had a nagging suspicion that he might know.

But the tragic loss he had suffered—so similar to that which she and Milan had endured with Evgeny—weighed on her mind. If it explained some of his unusual sexual behaviour, how was it to be overcome? She wanted to ask him about his relationship with the sailor, Hans—had they practised BDSM? If so, who had topped? Or perhaps they had switched.

She lay awake wondering, but could never summon up the courage to ask him. The situation seemed too complex to disentangle, but how could she walk away from him now, knowing the pain he was in? It seemed that, the more she tried to have fun, the more intense and serious her relationships grew.

How the hell did this fun thing work anyway?

Perhaps Sarah Latimer knew, though she looked sour enough, stepping in front of Lydia, wielding her glass of champagne like a weapon.

“We should talk,” said the blonde harpist dully.

“Why?”

“Von Ritter’s orders.”

“He doesn’t control my social life. Or yours.”

“Well, in a way, he does, you see. My boyfriend idolises him and has ordered me to obey him. And you know what kind of relationship Julius and I have. So I have to talk to you. I don’t have any choice.”

Lydia snorted. “What rubbish,” she said.

“It’s not rubbish. Julius and I have a total power exchange relationship now. You should try it. It’s changed my life and I feel turned on all the time.”

Lydia was taken aback. “You mean he’s your master outside the bedroom as well as in it?”

“Exactly.”

“God, I couldn’t live like that. Karl-Heinz is bossy enough as it is. If he got to run my life as well…” She broke off with a mild shudder.

“Ju’s ordered me to apologise about the Milan thing. Even though it was his idea.” For a second, Sarah looked a little less rapturous about the whole D/s arrangement.

“It was a shitty thing to do,” said Lydia. “But it’s over. We’ve moved on.”

“Good. I don’t suppose we can be friends, but Julius wants to invite you and Karl-Heinz to dinner next weekend. And maybe we can play afterwards, if it’s okay with you.”

“Oh!” Lydia looked around for Karl-Heinz, wondering if he knew about this invitation. But he was still with the ghastly Dafydd, locked into conversation with him. She supposed by ‘play’, Sarah didn’t mean they make up an after-supper musical quartet.

“I hope you’ll say yes. You know, if you’re serious about Karl-Heinz, you’ll see a lot of Julius. And if you see a lot of Julius, you’ll see a lot of me. But perhaps you aren’t serious about him.”

“I haven’t decided yet,” said Lydia primly, although she felt it was hard not to be serious about Karl-Heinz, given the kind of man he was.

“I hear you’re still seeing Milan,” said Sarah after an awkward pause. “That must be hard for Karl-Heinz. Julius can’t believe he’s standing for it.”

“I don’t want to discuss my private life with you, to be honest. It’s not really any of your business.” Suddenly Lydia thought better of her stiffness. “Though…if you could shed some light on why Milan and Julius hate each other…”

Sarah smirked. “He’s never told you?”

“Karl-Heinz said it was to do with something that happened when they were studying in Paris. Years ago.”

“But he hasn’t told you what?”