A/N: Hi, this is Greenfield's. Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter! This is The Point of No Return from The Phantom of the Opera, with a pairing of Thomas Seymour/ Anne Seymour (nee Stanhope). Please review.

You have come here
In pursuit of your deepest urge
In pursuit of that wish which till now
Has been silent
Silent.

When Anne Seymour entered the rooms of her brother-in-law, she was not quite sure what to expect.

She had received his message to meet her there, and although she thought she might possibly know what he wanted, she couldn't be sure. She could never be sure with Tom, though she had known him for many years, and wondered more than once what her life would have been like if she had married him rather than Edward.

"Oh, good. You came" Thomas smiled his wolfish grin, eyeing her smugly. Anne was not cowed by his attitude. If there was one thing she knew better than anything, it was how to handle men. Smoothing out her crimson skirt and bodice, she took a few steps further into the candlelit room.

"Your note was intriguing" she said casually, in answer to his unspoken question. Thomas laughed.

"Was it? I thought that you must surely know why you are here"

Anne straightened, dignified, "Of course not"

"Playing the innocent lamb today, are we?" he taunted, "We both know what you really want. And that's why you are here"

I have brought you
That our passions may fuse and merge
In your mind you've already succumbed to me, dropped all defences
Completely succumbed to me
Now you are here with me
No second thoughts
You've decided
Decided.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean" Anne persisted. They had moved a few steps closer to one another without her noticing. She took a step back, suppressing a smile. She did so love a dance of desire.

"What do you dream about, Anne?" he asked abruptly, still smiling his all-knowing smile. Anne's dark eyes snapped to his and fixed themselves there.

"I dream about all sorts of things" she replied vaguely, playing with the necklace whose magnificent ruby rested on her collarbone.

"What do you fantasise about then, Anne? When you lay in your cold bed at night next to my wet fish of a brother, what is your fantasy?"

Anne laughed, harshly, "I don't have any. There is no point to dreams and fantasies. If you want something, then you must take it"

"A man's attitude" Tom observed, "But I believe that you have fulfilled one of your fantasies just by being here, in this room, alone with me in the dead of night. Am I correct?"

"You know nothing about me or my life, dear Tom. That is all I can conclude"

Past the point of no return
No backward glances
Our games of make-believe are at an end.

Past all thought of if or when
No use resisting
Abandon thought and let the dream descend

What raging fire shall flood the soul
What rich desire unlocks it's door
What sweet seduction lies before us?

Past the point of no return
The final threshold
What warm unspoken secrets
Will we learn
Beyond the point of no return?

"Of course I know about your life, Anne. I've lived with Edward, I can feel the way you feel. Bored. Lonely. Lustful" he reached out, moving her hand away from her necklace so that her arms swung, loose and defenceless, by her sides. She smiled sensuously into his gaze.

"Who says that I feel any of those things? I make my own amusement"

"Oh, yes, I had quite forgotten. Francis Bryan, wasn't it? And Henry of Surrey, most recently?" Tom asked innocently, "But they are both gone from court now, I hear"

"They are" she gave no more information than this, though the frustrated Thomas longed for a deeper insight into her mind.

"Then you need fresh amusement. And I am here, willing to provide it" his hand strayed to her neck, caressing the smooth white skin.

"But if I am not willing to take it...then we may have a problem"

"We may. But you are willing, are you not? Thinking about the two of us together...I know you want it, too"

You have brought me
To that moment when words run dry
To that moment when speech disappears
Into silence
Silence.

Anne could not reply to the suggestion. She suddenly realised, though she had secretly known all along, that she was willing, she always had been willing. Of course she had. She and Tom were similar people – ruled by their need for power, passion and possession. They had been leading up to this moment for years and, now that they were there, words were not needed.

As his palm moved to her face, Anne turned her head slightly to kiss his palm, lips soft and warm against his skin. They stayed frozen, both of them lost in the heat of the moment.

I have come here,
Hardly knowing the reason why
In my mind I've already imagined
Our bodies entwining
Defenceless and silent,
Now I am here with you
No second thoughts
I've decided
Decided.

"Yes" she whispered at last, still against his palm, "Yes, I am willing"

"You would not have come here if you hadn't been" Thomas concurred. She closed her eyes briefly, pulled away from him slowly.

"I had already decided, hadn't I?" she looked suddenly amused, and so did Thomas.

"Yes" he agreed, "I think we both decided many years ago, that day we danced the Volte"

Anne remembered it well, a night when Edward had been ill and she had looked to Tom to be her partner. Everytime he had touched her her skin had burst into flame, and even once they were apart again each patch of her skin seemed to hold on to the impression his hands had made there. She had been wearing pink and gold, and he had told her how lovely she was, how Edward did not deserve her. And that night she had lain in bed beside her husband and realised that he was right, that she was too good for Edward, and the burning desire that she had to be loved needed to be fulfilled if she was to continue in this miserable marriage. It was Tom who had changed her, all those years ago, and now it was Tom who would finally put a seal on that change.

Past the point of no return
No going back now
Our passion-play has now at last begun.

Past all thought of right or wrong
One final question
How long should we two wait before we're one?

When will the blood begin to race
The sleeping bud burst into bloom
When will the flames at last consume us?

Thomas lifted her coif from her head to allow her mahogany hair to tumble loose, touching each curl of hair with a look of wonder upon his face. He traced the outline of her lips before moving in to kiss her, his tongue sliding with ease between her hungry, parted lips.

Anne's body suddenly yearned towards his, pressing in to him, hands clawing at his doublet as though to tear it off herself. Thomas smiled against her lips.

They would not go back. And they would not regret it.

Past the point of no return
The final threshold
The bridge is crossed
So stand and watch it burn
We've passed the point of no return.