"And maybe this man would also look after this house and hearth with me", snorted Sarah "- handsome young beau's have to be politically correct these days you know".

She tugged gently at some fair hairs that tufted delightfully over the top of the neckline of his shirt and returned her attention to his face. His blue eyes were clear, his jaw firm and his lips curved into a natural smile.

"I once knew a lady very like you", he suddenly said. "We lived in the Devon countryside together and everything was just as you could imagine it. Domestic bliss. We loved each other and we were even planning a family, the whole works."

"Work was going well. I was spending time away but it didn't seem to spoil our relationship when I was back. In fact the very opposite, it made each moment we spent together more precious".

He stopped talking, looked into the distance, saw what only he could see. He didn't seem to want to carry on, as if the thoughts were too painful.

"Come on, you can't stop there", Sarah urged. He seemed to gather himself together.

"There's nothing to tell really. I came home as usual at the end of a week abroad on business and found her lying in the kitchen. She had been shot, execution style, in the back of the head. The coroner said it would have been instant death. She would have felt no pain. But that completely ignored her mental torture "Who knows who did it. It could have been any one of half a dozen people or any one of a thousand of their agents. It didn't matter. It was done and nothing could undo it. The worst of it was, we never had a chance to say goodbye". He paused to toss a little stone he had been twisting and turning in his fingers down the hill.

"Like everyone, I love to dream but I couldn't bear to think of that happening again. So for me no cottage, no wisteria, no loving lady waiting with my slippers by the fire".

Sarah felt the tears prick at her eyes. She wanted to remove his pain, hold him and tell him that he need never hurt again. But how?

Sweeping her hair back from her face, she addressed the possibilities of his situation.

"I suppose that if you came across a lady who was already living with danger, that could open up possibilities, couldn't it"? He smiled, and the ghost of a twinkle was back in his eyes again.

"I wonder who you might have in mind", he teased gently.

"Perhaps there is someone who could hold the secret of your therapy".

Her decision was made and she was determined to carry it through and enjoy her part in it.

"Now close your eyes and keep them tightly closed", she instructed.

Meekly he did as she said.

"Whatever happens next, your eyes must stay firmly closed", she said quietly.

Her voice was light and hypnotic now, words floated through the air like the down from a dandelion head.

"Now you will come with me to a world where you have complete control but no control... You can possess the dreams you most desire and feel the feelings you have denied. But you have no choice, you must enter this world. I have decided for you".