Promising Kate that he would arrange for them to meet soon, he then suggested that she go back to join Lady Danbury.
"Do not keep me waiting this time, My Lord." Kate tells him before pulling him for one last parting kiss.
Once she was gone, Anthony sighed and relaxed against the pole as he tried to come up with a way to meet her without anyone getting suspicious about them.
He tried to come up with many solutions, but none fit at this time. After all, it's not like he can visit her at Lady Danbury's house at night, and bringing Kate out to visit him is entirely risky.
The rest of the evening passed with his mind far away, lost in his own complex world. Once Anthony was inside his study, he thought about scaling the walls of Danbury House to visit Kate, but then scoffing at the absurdity of it while imagining what would happen if, by chance, he was caught scaling Danbury's walls at late hours. He was Viscount Bridgerton, not some Romeo.
A knock startled him, and seconds later, Benedict stepped inside. "Alright, brother, tell me what is going on with you. You were acting so unlike you, and after today's display with Miss Featherington,
"Miss Featherington? What has she got to do with anything?" Anthony inquires, feeling completely baffled as to why his brothers are jumping to these absurd conclusions.
"Well, you dragged our entire family so you could sit besides her. I swear there were times I was convinced Colin would commit fratricide; he still can if you do not stop perusing Miss Featherington."
Anthony groans at this absurd accusation. "I am not perusing her; for God sake, she is like a little sister to me, much like Eloise and Francesca."
At his admission, Benedict sighed in relief as he dropped onto the chair. "Well good because I have this feeling that Colin cares about her more than some friend and we know how smitten Miss Featherington is with our brother."
But as he said this, Benedict then realised something else. "But if Miss Featherington is not the lady you are perusing, then who is this lady who is turning you into a lunatic?"
Benedict watched as his brother went silent and looked nervous as he twiddled with his fingers. "If you really want to know, then you will swear not one word of this will be said to anyone else. You have to give me your word that you will keep my secret buried in your heart."
Benedict nodded without any hesitation, and Anthony gave him an assessing look before he shared his secret. 'Its Miss Sharma I was speaking about earlier today, the one I had chosen for my Viscountess, but she is not interested in marriage."
"Ah." Benedict said it with a sympathetic tone because, after today, he was certain Miss Sharma was as headstrong as his brother. "Maybe you could ask our mother's help to convince Miss Sharma; after all, she and Lady Danbury are known for their matchmaking skills."
"It's complicated, but I suspect Lady Danbury knows something, and I am hoping she hatches some plan with our mother to convince Kate, but for now, my problems are of a different kind." As soon as Anthony finished, he realised his slip-up as Benedict smirked at him. "Kate, is it? Tell me, brother, how can this lady cause you problems if you already dropped all formalities with her?".
Benedict's smile gets wider as he notices how his brother's ears turn red as he loosens his cravat. "Kate is not the problem, but her request could."
When Benedict raised his eyes questioningly, Anthony finally decided to let it out. "She does not want marriage or courtship, but instead she requests that I be her lover, and today I agreed with her request."
Anthony finally dared to stare at his brother and found his eyes widening in shock and his mouth hanging open. 'She asked what? And you agreed?"
Anthony could not say it again, so he nodded his head, and Benedict seemed stunned by his confession. "Wow! I have met many women exploring their desires but never heard an unmarried lady making her desires known; she must really trust you if she made this request directly to you."
Benedict thought about the ladies he saw at parties, all wearing masks to hide their identities until they chose a lover they trusted with their reputation, and here is Miss Sharma, who took great risks to be with his brother. "She must really like you a lot."
"As do I; she is maddening and stubborn, but there is something about her that makes me want to put the entire world at her feet."
Benedict's eyes widen because, for a man who often claims to use his head over his heart, something made his brother pour his heart out. Clearing his throat, Benedict tried to bring his brother back from his thoughts of Miss Sharma. "So the core of your problem is not Miss Sharma, but something related to her request?"
Anthony sighed as he shared his problem. "Kate wants to meet me alone, but I have to be careful so that no one can find out about what is going on, at least until I could convince her to accept my suit, but until then, I need to be careful."
Benedict realises his brother's dilemma; with Kate living in Danbury House, it will be hard for them to meet as lovers, but maybe he could help his brother. "I can help you with your problem, but you may not like it much."
Anthony's eyes widen as he eagerly leans forward and asks. "Will your solution protect Kate's reputation?" Benedict nodded his head, and Anthony sighed as he assured his brother. "Then I will agree with anything you say."
Benedict sighed because it seems his brother is as desperate to meet his lady love as she was for him. "If it's discretion you want, then you both have to attend my parties."
And just like that earlier, excitement drained from Anthony's eyes as he asked again. "We have to do what?!"
Kate was feeling thrilling excitement coursing through her veins as she got dressed in her black lace gown. The gown itself is quite scandalous, but it was necessary for parties like these.
"Trust me, child, I have worn more risqué dresses than this in my days." Lady Danbury assured her while thinking about her exploits after she and Lord Ledger parted ways.
"Lady Danbury!" Kate gasped in shock before curiosity got the better of her. "So these parties are not that uncommon?"
"In a society like ours, no. I had learned in my earlier days that people of Tonne are entrapped in their own miserable lives, and these types of parties are their way to rebel, but with their secret intact."
Once she was dressed, Kate admired herself in the mirror and found herself completely unrecognisable as Lady Danbury's trusted maid. Emily covered her face with a bronze mask as Lady Danbury looked out her window. "It seems your carriage has arrived; now remember you must return before dawn and use the same passage where you are leaving from."
Kate nods her head, and Lady Danbury smiles as she pats her shoulder. "Now go, and do not worry about your mama and sister; I will take care of them if they wake up."
Kate stood up, and Emily covered her body with a black hood. Before leaving, she kneeled down to rub Newton's ear, who seemed unbothered and slept peacefully as Lady Danbury opened a secret door inside Kate's room that led to a secret passage.
Emily led her downstairs and then turned the copper key to open the door. "Take this key with you, Miss, and when you return, use this entrance, and these stairs will bring you back to your room."
"Thank you, Emily." Kate stepped outside, and luckily the carriage was parked right outside the door that opened to the deserted lane of Danbury House.
The carriage door opens, and Kate quickly enters as it starts moving without delay.
Kate still cannot believe how quickly Anthony found a way for them to meet, and luckily Lady Danbury agreed to help her sneak out and gave her the safest route.
As empty roads passed by, Kate remembered each letter she received from her lover. For three days since he agreed to accept his request, he sent her letters, and she eagerly replied back. Luckily, Edwina and Mama were too busy with Prince and Edwina's courtship to notice how sometimes footmen brought letters for her. Nor do they realise how much happiness these letters brought to her life. Lady Danbury was right; the memories she will create with Anthony will be something she will cherish for rest of her life once she returns home.
Her musing was interrupted when the carriage stopped and the door opened. Kate made sure to check her mask as she stepped outside the carriage.
The house was huge, and according to Anthony, it belongs to London's famous artist, Sir Henry Granville, who was the dearest friend of Anthony's brother Benedict.
Kate, nervous from inside, appeared to be confident as she stepped inside the house, and she felt lucky she was wearing a mask; otherwise, everyone would notice her shock face. Even Anthony's warning in his letters or Lady Danbury's past tales about this party did not prepare her for what she was witnessing.
There were many women in masks dressed as scandalously as hers, dancing or enjoying the company of men.
Two women particularly caught her interest as they roughly pushed Benedict Bridgerton against the wall and then commanded him to please her.
Kate felt her blood rising as she watched Mr. Bridgerton smile charmingly at them as he grabbed one woman in a passionate kiss while others began to kiss his neck.
It was not just them. As Kate walked around, she could see many indulging in various ways of making love, while few were painting these acts.
Kate was watching these paintings when she heard a deep voice whispering in her ears. "You kept me waiting, my darling. I thought we were not going to keep each other's wait."
"How did you know it was me?" She inquires as he inhales her neck before kissing it. "Your scent led me to you."
Smiling Kate slowly turned and saw her lover, dressed in a black suit, holding a lone purple tulip in his hand. "For you, my lady, since I am not allowed to bring you flowers as a suitor, I thought I would give you one as your lover."
Anthony watched as her eyes filled with unsaid emotion, and he really wished to take her mask off to see her reaction as she finally said. "Thank you, Anthony. I really love it because this is the first time anyone has given me a flower."
"What?" He almost shouted in disbelief, and a few heads turned towards them, but Anthony quickly pulled Kate away and led her to the chambers that Benedict had arranged specially for them.
Once they were inside, he locked the door and then gently pulled her closer as he took off her mask. Anthony was correct because, once the mask was lifted, he noticed how her beautiful face was shining with tears. "Kate? Are you really telling the truth that you never received flowers before?"
She shook her head and sighed. "It was Edwina who always got flowers or compliments."
"But how is that possible? Was there no one in India who took an interest in you?"
Kate smiled sadly as she told him. "I was fifteen when my Appa caught sick and seventeen when he died from his illness; by that time, I became so fierce that no one dared to approach me. Even there, I was famously known as the thorn shielding my rose-like sister."
Anthony cupped her face as he gazed deeply into her eyes. "You are no thorn, Kate Sharma; if you see yourself through my eyes, you can see how breathtakingly beautiful you are in my eyes; you are my goddess, fierce, strong, and utterly remarkable, and those blind men can go to hell because it will be I who will be showering you with flowers, jewels, silks, and anything you ever desire."
Kate breathed as Anthony took a tulip from her hand and placed it gently on the crown of her hair. "There, now it looks even more beautiful."
Kate then jumped into his arms before she could stop herself, and she began to kiss him with everything she was feeling.
Anthony kissed her back with equal favour as he picked her up from his arms and roamed his hand over her lace dress until he reached underneath it. He then groaned when he realised that aside from stockings, she was completely bare under her dress. "You are killing me, woman!' He growls as she chuckles against his mouth. "Lady Danbury says wearing my unmentionables will be a waste of our precious time."
Kate noticed how he pulled away and gently held her in his arms as he asked. "Are you sure about this? Kate, if you have any doubts..."
His rambling was disturbed, as she says. "Kathani." Anthony stopped speaking and frowned in confusion as she spoke in her desired, filled voice. "My birth name is Kathani, and I want you to call me by my name as you made love with me."
Anthony's breath was taken away as she traced his lips. "Call me by my name, my lover."
"Kathani." Anthony sighed, and Kate beamed as she kissed him. Before she knew it, she was lying down on the bed as Anthony hovered above her. "Kathani, My Goddess." He moans while kissing her again and again.
Kate kissed him back with equal passion before turning him over as she started undressing him. Not to be left behind, Anthony starts unbuttoning Kate's dress and then groans when he finds her truly bare except for her black stockings as her dress slips off her body.
Kate, on the other hand, gasped in surprise when more of this gorgeous body was revealed to her hungry eyes. Her hunger increased tenfold when she finally managed to complete undressing him, and his throbbing member stood proud against his skin.
"You have to let me draw you, My Lord; this body is every artist's dream." She says this while greedily running her hand over his sculpted body.
Anthony chuckled and then sighed because, sadly, he could not wish the same. "I wish I had that talent because you, my darling, is a vision to hold.
Kate leaned to kiss him, and he kissed her back as she settled on top of his body. "You know there are some interesting acts happening at this party that I cannot wait to try with you, but tonight I just want you, Anthony."
Beaming excitedly, Anthony quickly switched their positions, and once again he hovered on top of her as he used his fingers to check if she was ready to take him.
Apparently she was not in the mood to wait, as she forcefully yanked his hair. "No more teasing, my lord?"
"It's Anthony, my lovely Kathani." She gasped in delight as Anthony replaced his fingers with something much bigger. "Are you ready, my lover?"
Kate could only nod her head as he gently slipped inside. They both hissed as Kate clutched him tightly as she endured the pinched sensation that soon turned into pleasure as he slowly began to move within her.
After a while, Anthony notices Kate moving her hips in sync with his as she moans loudly while clutching his body closer to his. "Faster! Harder!"
Bracing himself, Anthony moved hard and fast as his hips snapped wildly into his lover's heat.
"Uh! Ah! Anthony!" She moans loudly while Anthony suckles her breasts as he groans. "Kathani! My Goddess!"
Soon he felt her walls squeezing life out of his member as they sucked him deeper within her heat as she reached her pinnacle while screaming his name.
Kate gasped as Anthony thrust himself wilder, and then he slipped out and furiously stroked himself before spilling his seed on her stomach and thighs.
After that, they collapsed into each other's arms as they sighed and shared a sweet, dreamy kiss. Finally, Anthony pulls away as he caresses his lover's face. "Are you happy, My Goddess?"
Kate leaned in to kiss him joyously as she replied. "Today, you made me the happiest person in this world."
Anthony's heart glows at her words, and in that moment, he swears to himself that from now on, his Kathani will always feel like the happiest person on this earth.