The number of years he had spent alone was unimaginable to most.  He had not held a woman in the intimate act of  love or lust in over two hundred years!  Certainly he had flirtations, kisses and gentle caresses with women but nothing beyond a shy or promising kiss had been his for so long.  The thoughts of desire for someone, something overwhelmed him.  He found himself staring at women and picturing them undressing before him, slowly, seductively.  His mind had focused on these thoughts, these preoccupations for weeks.  While everyone around him seemed to be embracing a new sexual freedom, casual sex they called it, he could not participate.  He wished that he could but his one foray into a meaningless sexual escapade had ruined more than one life.   Barnabas slammed shut the book he had held in his hands for hours.  He was turning the Victorian characters into illicit, driven, mad lovers.  His mind could not remain focused on the true story.  I must get out of this house!  A walk, a long walk!  But he had walked miles along the paths of the estate and the walks had no eradicated his unfocused lust. Or the lust that he forced to remain unfocused.  He struggled fiercely to not let it settle where it wanted.  While he had illicit thoughts now about many women, it was due to his reluctance to indulge in fantasies about one woman in particular, that unnerved him.

It had been months since his return, curse-free, from 1840.  His whole life had changed.  He had no remnants of the curse, no lingering mental obsessive tendencies.  When Angelique removed the curse, it was almost as if it had never been.  His less than desirable personalities traits, obsessive fixations, temperamental moodiness, sullenness, they had faded.  He felt young again.  He found hope for new things and a future before him.  He had not known hope since he was a young man, a young man awaiting his bride.  The fears and anger that had so obsessed him since being released we gone, vanished.

“What are you so preoccupied with?”  Julia stood in the doorway, dressed to go out.  She had spent several hours in the Library reviewing cases files.  A cold snap had ensured traveling to Wyndcliffe, nearly a hundred miles north was not wise for today.

“I was thinking of dinner.  Would you care to join me?”

Julia, pleasantly surprised, replied dryly.  “Only if I don’t have to cook it too.”

“No, certainly not.”  He stood and prepared for a trip into the cold winter night.  “I heard of a nice restaurant about forty miles west of here.”

Skeptical about traveling too far, she asked. “What is the weather forecast?”

Not wanting to appear at a loss of information or news, Barnabas assured her that the forecast for that area was good.  Once outside the house, Julia naturally walked toward her car.  She was not about to argue who was driving on uncertain roads with a two-ton vehicle.  Barnabas, naturally arrogant about male and female roles, did not argue with her about this particular duty. The drive away from the coast inland was beautiful as they moved away from the cragginess of the gray coast to the inland hills and snow.  Snow was a rarity in Collinsport due to its nearness to the coast.  Fog, rain, sleet and ice were common but snow was not.  Julia did enjoy seeing the white hills and heavily burdened tree limbs. 

“Its quite lovely.”

Barnabas lost again in his own thoughts, barely heard her voice.  “Hmm?”  Julia turned to see him staring down inside the car rather than out the window.  His eyes were glassy, his expression unusual.  She noticed the flushed shade of his skin.  He had not mentioned feeling ill.  It was best to wait before asking, he  had become fairly testy about inquiries into his health.  He had accused her of being preoccupied with his health.  Darting glances from the road back to him, she noticed his eyes open wider and a contented sigh pass his lips.  Her own eyes followed the trail of his stare and noted that it rested on her own thigh.   Her skirt had hitched up to her mid-thigh when getting behind the wheel.  The presence of a small slit in the side of skirt revealed even more of her sheer stockings.   Julia caught her breath.  She quickly jerked her focus back to the road.  Could his glassy-eyed gaze really be on her leg?  What was he thinking?  Did she dare interrupt his thoughts, steer him back to something else?  Hell no!  She had hoped for years that one day he might view her with a bit of romantic interest.  Romance or lust, whatever was going through his mind she was not going to intrude. 

Barnabas knew he needed to break away his gaze.  She was going to notice, Julia noticed everything.  He had always appreciated her finely toned legs.  He had never seen this much of one though.  The finely toned muscles flexed when she pushed on the accelerator or slowed by using the brake.  He wanted to touch the skin and know if it was as soft as her face.  He had touched her cheek a few times over the years and had been appreciative of the softness of her skin. Given the noble structure of her face, he had expected a firmer feel, similar to marble since her face deserved to be sculpted.  Good Lord!  He screamed at himself.  He had ogled every woman in Collinsport and now he was getting warm thinking of Julia’s thighs, her face, the idea of her hands on his body.   He exhaled loudly and  jerked his head toward the passenger window.  Outside the snow gracefully covered the trees and occasional buildings.  The snow clung greedily to the tree branches, hanging on ‘til sunlight tore it away. 

“Penny for your thoughts.”  Julia quietly laughed.

“Penny?”  He turned.  He had thought her uncommonly attractive from the first moment he had seen her.  She stood in his home, arrogant and pretending.  It was her personality that he found unattractive at the time. 

“You seem fairly introspective this evening.”  Julia leaned forward and observed the dark gray sky.  What weather forecast had he checked?  Where was his mind these days?

“I am famished is all.  We should be there shortly.”

She nodded.   Whatever moment of reverie he had while staring at her leg was now over.  She squirmed behind the wheel and pulled her skirt down as best she could.  Next to her Barnabas closed his eyes, embarrassed. 

Dinner at the tiny family-owned restaurant was less pleasant than rumored.  Dry bread, a poor wine selection, overcooked fish and a thin crème caramel for dessert left both exiting the restaurant sincerely disappointed.  By sitting near the fireplace at the restaurant, they had not noticed the snow coming down.

“That was—“  Barnabas stood outside the door, searching for a kind word that would not be a lie.

“Dreadful.”  Julia deadpanned while pulling on her gloves.  She looked out at the falling snow which had left an inch on the ground since they entered the restaurant.  “That is coming down pretty fast.”

“Shall we stay here and wait it out?”

Julia shook her head.  “The coffee was worse than at the doctor’s lounge at Wyndcliffe.”

Barnabas nodded while opening the car door.  He knew Julia would be a careful driver if perhaps slow.  He wanted desperately to get home, away from her and his all-consuming thoughts.  Throughout their dinner he had stolen glances when she watched the fire.  When she almost caught him on several occasions, he would quickly glance at whomever was in the room.  Making love to her before the fire had preoccupied him for most of the meal.  Christ, he muttered to himself.  He was going to have to find a way to deal with his preoccupation with sex.  He felt as if he was sixteen again.  He could not introduce sex into his relationship with Julia.  She loved him, it would be asking too much of her.   There was no way in which he could request one night from her without it being incredibly cruel and crude.  His need to feel a woman in his arms, to touch and taste her in secret places, he would have to find another way in which to satisfy this need.  But Julia. . .

They drove in silence for nearly fifteen minutes before he noted Julia leaning forward tensely watching the road.  “Visibility is almost non-existent.”  She muttered.  The car slowed and she gripped the steering wheel.

Ahead of them were flashing red lights.  They slowed, the local sheriff bent down as Barnabas rolled down the window.  “Evening folks.”

“Good evening Sheriff, has there been an accident?”  Barnabas naturally took over with the law enforcement official.  Old habits die hard, Julia reflected.

“No, no accidents yet and that’s how I aim to keep it.  The road is closed, you’ll have to go back.”

“Back?”  Julia moaned.

“Sheriff, we live in Collinsport, its just a few miles further. Surely this eases up as we get closer to the coast.”

“Sorry, Sir but the roads are pretty bad for the next twenty miles.  They’re closed and I can’t let anyone pass.  There is a hotel back there.  I suggest you go back and get a room.”

At the Lone Pine Motel, Barnabas and Julia stood at the timeworn counter.

“That’s all you have?”  Barnabas questioned again, one room, one bed, there had to be an alternative?

“Sir, the weather plus the Jaeger’ Family Reunion has done took all my rooms.  I got this one room left, take it or not.  Its as good as any of the others.”

A questioning look toward Julia predicated his nod.  The clerk pushed forward the register.   Julia quickly took the pen.  “I’ll fill this out, why don’t you pay him in advance so we can leave as soon as possible in the morning.”  Barnabas appreciated her good sense.  After handing over the money, Barnabas noted what Julia had written in the register book, Allen and Alice Smith.  

“Here’s ya key.  It’s the last room at the end.  You’ll have neighbors only on one side, part of the Jaeger Family Reunion.”

They both murmured a quick ‘Thank you’ and hurried under the falling snow to the last room.   The door opened to reveal a dark and musty cavern.  Even the new coat of green paint had not removed the smell of the hundreds who had slept in this room over the last thirty years.  They stood just inside the door staring at the centerpiece of the room, a large king-size bed.  Neither of them moved.  Each stared at the bed uncertain what to say.  It stood there mocking each of them in their own silent torment.  Barnabas cursed under his breath.  How was he going to maintain his composure and remain a gentleman?  Standing quietly by his side, Julia reflected back on Barnabas’s wandering eye during their dinner. She had noted that his eyes wandered over many women’s bodies, not just her own.  It was a disappointment, again.  The cold wind and snow blew in around their feet.  Julia sighed with resignation and walked into the room.  The television had a handwritten ‘not working’ sign taped to the screen.  ‘Great no entertainment, news or books to read.’  Julia groaned inwardly.  This was going to be one of the most uncomfortably awkward  evenings she had spent in years. She dropped her purse atop the malfunctioning television and continued to survey their surroundings.  Behind her, Barnabas finally closed the door.  His posture was stiff and his expression reflecting some internal trepidation.

“Why did you write Allen and Alice Smith on the register?” 

Julia turned toward the bathroom, the porcelain was pink and the tile gray.  It looked atrocious.  Mold grew around the tub fixtures.  “I’m not going to bath in there.”  She turned back to the larger room.

“You did not answer me.”  He chided.

“Excuse me?”  Julia threw open the closet door to find extra blankets and pillows. 

“I asked why did you sign the register Allen and Alice Smith?”

A mischievous smile and wicked twinkle in her eye disarmed him.  “I know how important your reputation is to you Barnabas.  I didn’t think you’d actually sign Barnabas Collins and Julia Hoffman. There is enough gossip about your family as it is.”

Barnabas considered the accuracy of her statement.  “True I would not have wanted to compromise either of our reputations.”

“I understand that ‘Smith’ is commonly used when people check-into motels and do not wish to be identified.”

Suddenly curious, he asked.  “What do you mean ‘you understand’?” 

Julia arched an eyebrow and gravely answered.  “I understand from books, television, the movies—“

Barnabas nodded.  Why had he hoped for a moment that she had some personal experience?  “I see.”

“I damn well hope so.”  An irritable edge snuck in where she had not originally intended.  Of course he would see and think I’ve never even had sex, let alone in a sleazy motel. 

“Since there are extra blankets and pillows, I shall sleep here on the floor.”  He indicated the area  between the foot of the bed and the television. 

“Suit yourself, the bed is fine.  It’s large enough for five people let alone two.”

Why was she being irritable so suddenly, he wondered.  “Julia, why are you angry?”

Julia’s slapped her thighs with the flat of her palms.  “I’m not angry just irritated. The dinner was not very satisfactory, this hotel is dive with no working t.v. and its damn cold in here.  Also, I really wanted a long bath tonight because my back aches and that tub is filthy.”  Julia spun on her heels, grabbed her coat.  “I’ll be right back.”  She was gone out the door.

Barnabas sat on the one chair in the tiny room.  A spring from the cushion stuck into his thigh.  This hotel was a disgrace.  The dinner has been mediocre and what was worse, his mind was still preoccupied with being with someone.  Someone?  Be honest with yourself man, you’ve been looking at other women to try and stop wanting who you want.  When did it begin?  What started it?  He knew exactly when it had been.  Autumn had been quiet, almost boring.  The residents of Collinwood walked about searching for excitement, anything.  They were unused to calm and sedate lives.  One evening Quentin had suggested a drink at the Blue Whale.  Only Julia had enthusiastically responded.  Barnabas and Roger, also seeking relief from Collinwood’s dreariness, found them there after finishing work at Collins Industries.  Only Quentin had known of the existence of a pool table in the back room at the Blue Whale.  He had gained them all entrance but they stood waiting to play.  A group of four traveling salesmen had monopolized the table since earlier in the day. 

“You gonna let up on the table and let us in?”  Quentin finally ventured after forty-five minutes.

“We’ll play you for it.”  The soberest of the drunken quartet offered.

Quentin advanced to the table.  “All right but I gotta warn you—“

“Not you man,”  Quentin was shoved aside by two of the men.  “her, we’ll play her for it.”

Julia, peering above the rim of her glass of scotch,  shook her head.  “No, I don’t think so.”

“We play you or we keep the table.  We can push these balls around all night and never finish this game.”  All four men leaned against their cues.  The implications that they could still continue playing all night because Julia seemed a pool neophyte was obvious.

“That’s your con, huh?”  Julia set down her drink and hopped of the high bar stool.  She applied a very innocent smile. “You’ll have to talk me through this.”  She stood aside sweetly as the balls were racked up, a cue selected for her height and chalk applied to the end. 

“What have we come to?”  Roger moaned.  “Are we so desperate for entertainment, we have Julia participating in a pool hall hustle with four drunken out-of-state salesmen?”

Quentin raised his glass.  “That’s exactly what its come to cousin.”  Quentin noted Barnabas’s irritated expression.  Following his line of sight, he observed the four salesmen helping Julia bend over the table and position her pool cue.  Two of the men kept glancing down at her legs which were more exposed by her position over the table.  Quentin smirked, Barnabas doesn’t want her but he doesn’t seem inclined to let anyone else to have her either. 

“Now just jab the stick as hard as you can and scatter the balls.”  The drunkest man patted Julia’s left hip and stood back to join his friends in observing her form. 

“Just jab it hard, as hard as I possibly can?”  Julia turned to them, questioning their instructions.  They all verbally affirmed their earlier instructions.  Julia focused her attention on the table.  At the head of the table, Barnabas, Quentin and Roger held up their drinks.  She smiled wickedly and winked.  Her hand pulled back the cue, she closed one eye, stared down onto the table and jabbed the pool cue forcefully.  The loud clicks of the balls as they collided and scattered around the table, jolted the four drunken salesmen.

“Whoa!”  One of them cried as three balls disappeared off the table.

“Solids,”  Julia said calmly.  She walked around the table with authority.  She held up the cue and pointed to two balls.  “blue in the side pocket, purple in the end pocket.”  She bent forward, executed a move wherein  two balls hit two others to sink her targeted balls.

“Wait!  You’ve obviously played this before.”

“Obviously.”  Julia smiled with satisfaction before returning to the table to sink the remaining solid balls.  She again applied chalk to the end of her cue.  “Too bad we didn’t wager any cash.”

“You didn’t say you’d played before.” 

Julia continued to sink every ball she indicated with élan and style. “I don’t believe you asked.”  Julia eyed the 8-ball.  “8-ball, side pocket.”  With one full sweep the 8-ball was gone.  All stripe balls remained on the green felt table.  “Now, I think the table is ours?”  Julia smiled sweetly at the astounded salesmen.   After much grumbling they exited the backroom.

Quentin and Roger stood.  “I think we’ll need to be two against you doctor.”  Roger selected his cue. 

“Chicken.”

“Julia, where did you learn—“  Barnabas was confounded by what he had seen.  Julia flirting with four men at once, four men leering at her and then her display of pool hall talent.  “I didn’t know you –“

Julia stepped before him while retrieving her drink, and in a volume to be heard only by the two of them she replied.  “There are a lot of things I know how to do, you’ve no idea.”  She winked again and turned away to join Quentin and Roger at the table.  “Either of you betting men?”

“Heavens!”  Roger exclaimed.

“Ten dollars too steep Julia?”  Quentin pulled out his wallet.

“Why not make it more interesting?” 

“Who taught you how to hustle pool?”  Quentin slapped twenty down on the table.

“My Uncle Leo,”  Julia prepared to break again.  “He became a legitimate developer but he got his start by owning a few bars.”  Again her hands released a volley of power and the balls scattered to several different pockets.  “You can win a lot of money putting a skinny twelve year old up against any number of drunks.”

***********

Barnabas looked down at his watch, Julia had been gone ten minutes from their hotel room.  Where had she gone?  As he prepared to stand and begin a search, the door opened and Julia entered with a bucket and several magazines. 

“Here’s something to read, they’re years old but they’re something.”  She tossed him several “Field and Stream” magazines and then disappeared into the bathroom with the bucket.   He heard her run water and from his chair observed her remove a scrub brush and some cleaning powder.  She attacked the tub vigorously.  After a thorough scrubbing as only a medical professional could affect, she dumped the bucket outside the front door of the hotel.  “Do you need anything in there? I’m going to soak for about thirty minutes.”  Barnabas had no need for the bathroom and watched as Julia sat on the bed to remove her shoes.  Once discarded, Julia stretched her toes and sighed contentedly.  Just take a bath, come back out here, read for another thirty minutes and try to sleep.  Try to sleep, right, she shook her head.  Her back didn’t really ache, she just wanted some activity away from the discomfort of this room and Barnabas, hence the scrub job on the tub.  Just make this as normal as possible.  Make this normal, pretend you do this all the time with him in the room.  Pretend, oh God, I don’t pretend anything about him or else I’d be insane.

“Julia—“

She jumped.  Her wide eyes told him that she feared being caught at something.  “Yes?”

“Perhaps I could take a quick shower before you.  It will help me sleep.  Then you could enjoy a leisurely bath.”    She nodded.  “There are towels and some bathroom toiletries in there.”

“Thank you, I will be less than ten minutes.”  Barnabas quickly retreated into the bathroom.  Steam filled the room as he turned the shower on to its hottest temperature.  As he stood alone trying to wash away thoughts that distracted him, his own body acted out a betrayal.  He tried thinking of ship building, the cannery but his mind did not stay away from wishing Julia stood in the shower with him, washing him with her hands, loving him with her mouth.  Damn!  How would this night pass if he did not get constrain himself.  God how he wanted to push her down on that bed, pin her hands and watch her writhe beneath him. The proper little doctor, proper; he had begun to suspect she might not be so proper and prim. 

Julia lay back on the bed listening to the sounds from the shower.  Water fell onto his body, his lean and trim body.  It would be so delicious to stand there with him, to suckle on his body under the hot water, to smoothly play her hands across his back and buttocks.  He did have a small, round behind, she had noted that long before.  With a start, Julia sat straight up.  I can’t get myself all hot and bothered while I’m in this damn room with him!  Perhaps I should just take a cold shower rather than a long hot bath.

The door opened.  “Its all yours.”  Barnabas stood in the doorway.  He held his jacket and vest in his arms.  She could not remember seeing him appear so casual, just his slacks and the white shirt, untucked and open at the collar. 

“Thank you.”  Julia moved quickly to the bathroom but he did not move from the doorway.  He stood firmly rooted and Julia pressed by him. She avoided his eyes.  Rather than quickly darting into the room as she had intended, she hesitated, her footwork slowed.  They both imperceptibly pressed against one another feeling one another’s breath on their skin, hearing the quickened breath, feeling their racing pulses. After she was gone and the door was closed, he sighed.  How desperate was he to employ such an adolescent move?  Within the bathroom Julia, pressed her hands to her flushed face.  What were they going to do here tonight?  What was he doing?  He had intentionally wanted her to press against him.  She felt his arousal.  There was no disputing that he was turned on by something, could it really be her?  Julia lingered on the idea of running her hand across the front of his pants.  There was no disputing it, he had been at attention and in need of relief.  In the hot water, Julia slowly stroked her own arms and thighs.   Her hands traveled across her flat stomach up to her small breasts which were already aroused.  She couldn’t go out there and start something with him, some one night stand that would destroy their friendship.  But her body ached to be touched, held, kissed.  It had been so very long since anyone had touched her in love or desire, so very long.  Her hands traveled to the place aching the most to be caressed and stroked.  All the while, knowing he was less than ten feet away, she allowed her own hands to provide the sensuous, trailing strokes which turned to probing fingers.  He was so close.  Would he find the idea her ministering to her own needs revolting or desirous?  She shut out what he might think, refocusing on the idea of his hands exploring her own inner depths.  The very thought brought about the quickening breaths she knew would signal a fantastic explosion of delightful pain.  Trying to keep down the sound but also wanting to fully embrace what she knew was imminent, her hands quickened the strokes.  A series of muscular contractions steeled her legs against the porcelain walls of the tub.  Her head fell back against the tile and a sound escaped her throat involuntarily. 

A quick rap at the door alerted her again to his close proximity.  “Julia, are you alright?” 

Rather than fumble in embarrassment, she raised a wet hand to her face and breathily responded.  “I uh, hit my elbow—“

Barnabas walked back to the makeshift bed he had put together.  He lay down.  He wanted to bust into that room.  She was in there obviously very confused and yet enticed by him.  Think about the cannery, think about the cannery.  He turned to avoid seeing her when she would eventually leave the bathroom.  Why was he so afraid of intimacy with her?  She loved him, he knew this.  He knew as he’d always know, Julia Hoffman could swallow him up.  Once they passed a certain threshold, there would be no turning back, she would have a power of him and this is what he feared.

After nearly twenty minutes, Julia emerged from the bathroom.  Her suit in hand, wet stockings and panties ready to be discretely hung in the closet.  Feeling satiated by her time alone, she returned to the idea of pretending none of this was out of the ordinary.  A one-night stand was not the right scene for either of them.  He lay on the floor, feigning sleep.  She decided to allow him that although she had to step over him and his makeshift bed to place her suit skirt and jacket in the closet.  He spied her at the closet.  He was surprised to see her standing in a peach colored slip, and not her suit.  The satin slip clung closely to her thin figure.  It was shorter than her skirt.  He again admired her nicely toned long legs.  When she moved slightly he shut his eyes tight.  He heard her move about the room eventually crawling into bed and dousing the lights.  Ahhh, they had made it.

Julia awoke with a start, where was she? What time was it?  A quick look at the glowing arms of the alarm clock told her it was 2:00 a.m.  She rose for a drink of water.  Careful not to stumble over Barnabas on the floor, she quietly crossed to the bathroom, fumbled for a glass and downed the cool water.  She had been dreaming of sleeping in Collinwood, alone.  She had not enjoyed that view of her life.  Always a solitary figure, rarely reaching out.  In truth, she had never reached out to Barnabas either, not in the way she had hoped he would approach her.  She had come close to confessing her feelings but not completely.  It seemed futile, why confess something that was so obviously not returned, or so she had thought.  Maybe I should think about this more clearly with the help of a professional.  Do not make rash decisions at 2:00 a.m. in a sleazy hotel room.  Julia refilled her cup and stepped out to the room.  Shadowed light from a nearby streetlight filtered into the room.  In the corner chair, Barnabas sat staring in her direction.  His eyes almost glowed.  “Barnabas?”  She stood before him.  “How long have you been there?”

“For nearly two hours.”  He murmured. 

Julia could feel the despair in his voice.  “What is it?”

He only shook his head.  “I can’t trouble you with this.”

“Is there anyone else you can trouble with it?”

Again he shook his head.  “No.”

“What is it?”  She looked down at his head which he was supporting with his right hand.  He looked a bit forlorn.

He reached out his left hand.  “I want---“  his hand rested on her right hip.

“Yes?”  She tried to remain calm.  She grasped the glass of water now with both hands, to steady them. 

His right hand deserted his falling head and came to rest on her other hip.  “I want –“  He pulled her forward and laid his face against her stomach.  He could no longer deny how much he wanted her, damn what it might mean to his own independence. 

Julia let one hand fall to his head.  Her fingers ran through his clean and unruly hair, free of pomade.  “I’ve been worried about you all night, tell me what it is you want, please.” 

“You, Julia, I want you.”  He pulled her down.  On her knees, she quickly set aside the glass of water.  “I feel I have no right to ask you, to be with you, to expect anything.  All the pain I’ve caused you—“

Julia shushed his further protests with a soft, lingering kiss.  When she paused, staring him directly in the eyes, Julia normally so hesitant and shy had one thought.  “I just want to know so there is no confusion.”

“Yes?”

“However you answer this question, either way, Barnabas, I for tonight, I want to be with you but  I need to know,  is this a one-time thing or are you asking for more?”

In the darkness his eyes sought out the deeper meaning of her question.  She was so honest with him.  She would sleep with him tonight even if it was only tonight.  But he had long known, there was no way he could take her just for a night, only one night.  He had never taken her in love or bloodlust because somehow, he knew she would absorb him and many of his freedoms would be forsaken.  “Forever Julia.”  He was rewarded with the most beautiful smile  she had ever displayed.  Her eyes glowed with delight, her lips curved slightly, she was pleased, he knew.  Her hands touched his face, stroking his chin and neck.  He bent forward touching his lips to hers.  So soft, her lips meshed to his.  Her breath was hot, inflaming his desire to proceed at a less cautious pace.  Julia’s hands moved down his chest, unbuttoning his shirt all the way.  They found themselves matching one another’s movements as if choreographed expertly.  His hands lingered on her most sensitive spots and she teased his.  He became surprised by her desire and forward approach to being fully engaged in their dance.  He pulled back a bit  confounded by what this might mean.  How many lovers had Julia known?  He had assumed she’d only had one or two, perhaps none at all.

She noted his unease. After what she’d felt all these years, where the cheap wine had taken her head and the lingering hot bath, she was not about to demure, even for Barnabas.  “Do you want me to pretend I don’t like it?  Just lie here?” 

“No, I’m—Julia, I haven’t been with a woman in nearly two hundred years, some things have changed but I can adjust.”

“All you have to do is tell me, just say what you do and do not like.” 

“Tell you?”  He was aghast.

“Or show me,”  Julia stood and pulled him toward the bed.  “and I’ll do the same.”

Once together on the bed, the passion Julia had stuffed for five years overflowed.  While their movements were languid and slow, her thirst for him seemed stronger than his own.   The electrical charges he felt as her hands caressed him, nails scratched his back and legs wrapped around him, kept his thoughts dizzied.  His body acted by itself as if he had little control.  The warmth that emanated from her, the blazing fire  of her passion engulfed him.  As long foretold, this was not going to be a one-night encounter.  He wanted this forever.  He wanted a woman who responded so to his lightest touch.  He wanted to always feel the complete synchronicity of movement they shared.  Why had he feared she would be shy and hesitant, himself awkward?  It was as she had suggested at the Blue Whale, she did know how to do many other things, more than he ever suspected.  Her hands knew his body, her mouth pulled at his inner longings causing them to blossom and burst forth.  The small unexpected noises she made excited him further.    Feeling Barnabas nearing the final assault of painful pleasure, Julia pulled herself upright, her back pressed against the headboard.  As they continued their union, her satisfied moans of pleasure coupled with the dilapidated furniture banging against the wall filled the room.  Reveling in Julia’s own ease and satisfaction, expressions of pleasure began to spring from Barnabas’s vocal chords.  The illicitness of the room, the noise of the bed moving against the wall and the deliriousness of what was finally hers, caused Julia to laugh wickedly.  Barnabas quickly quieted her with an engulfing kiss.  Julia clasped his sweaty body to hers in one last moment of frenzied fever.  Together their bodies screamed out for final release.  Barnabas exhaustedly fell against Julia,  he gasped. “oh my dear, dearest Julia.”

She chuckled quietly between kissing his wet forehead.  “You needn’t seem so surprised.”

The sun rose early.  Barnabas peered out the window at the blinding snow.  Behind him, under a mound of blankets, Julia stirred.  He had sat for the last thirty minutes watching her sleep.  He rarely saw her so calm, her face so free of worry.    And all the worry over the last several years had been due to him.  He had caused her much grief, pain and concern.  But now he was prepared to balance all of those emotions with joy, pleasure and contentment.  She would be easy to love.  Barnabas smiled recalling the way he had intended to wake his new lover. 

The delightful fog of sleep hung about her senses.  Out there, all around was wakefulness and the startling realities of daylight.  They could wait.  Now, lingering in the warm bed, she luxuriated in the tantalizing thoughts of hands pressing against her flesh and warm lips exploring between her legs.  Knowing that any movement would immediately awaken her and chase away the smoldering morning fantasy, she remained still.  Soon the insistent caressing and the burning responses of her body alerted her to reality of what was happening.   She was not dreaming or fantasizing, Barnabas was welcoming her to a new day and their new life together, as lovers.

“Just get in there David and stop grumbling.”  Roger held open the car door outside the Lone Pine Motel.

“Aunt Elizabeth and Carolyn aren’t ready yet.”  David continued kicking the curb and ignoring his father’s plea to get into the car while playing with a yo-yo he found abandoned in the motel room.

Quentin appeared at the door, stretching and moaning as he greeted the morning.  “That was the worst night’s sleep I ever had.”

Roger snorted.  “I’ll make sure our bill is settled, then we can get out of this flea-ridden bordello.”

Quentin and David watched him walk away. 

“Why is everyone in such a hurry this morning?”  David rubbed his eyes.  “Its not like we slept well crowded in there with all that noise from next door.”

“My dear cousin, it would be advisable for you to act as if that never happened.”

“Why?  It was just two people having sex right?” 

Quentin, startled by his young cousins openness, replied.  “True, that’s all they were doing, a bit loudly perhaps but your Father and Aunt Elizabeth would not want anyone to mention it.  It embarrasses them.”

“But they’ve done it or else neither Carolyn or I would be here!  What’s the big deal anyway, animals do it, everyone does it.”

Quentin, ready to try and educate his cousin on the conflict between societal manner and the sexual revolution was halted when he heard a woman’s laugh.  Slowly turning, both David and Quentin watched as Julia Hoffman exited the room neighboring theirs. 

“Wow.”  David quietly uttered.  His eyes wide and his mouth shaped into a large O.

“Wow is right.”  Quentin blushed at what he had pictured occurring last night so near to them all. 

Julia, preoccupied with pulling on her gloves and avoiding the glare of the morning sun on the newly fallen snow, did not see her housemates.  “We should hurry back so I can shower and change and head to Wyndcliffe if the roads are passable.”  Barnabas stepped up behind her and slammed the door closed.

“Perhaps we’ll have to remember this place,”  He looked toward the motel sign and between it and them, he saw Quentin and David with their mouths hanging open.  A tentative hand touched Julia’s elbow and a quick nod directed her gaze.   “Good morning cousins.”  There was no response.  “Were you snowbound as well?”  Together, calmly they advanced on the silently stunned duo.

“Snowbound?”  David asked.

“Yes, Julia and I came here for dinner and they closed the road.  We had to stay in this, dreary little spot for the evening.”  Existing in a world of reverie and joy with what his future now held, Barnabas remained oblivious to the confounded yet amused looks he was receiving. 

“David, get in the car.”  Quentin looked at him gravely and received no rebuttal.  Quickly David waved to Julia and darted into the car.  “Okay, we were here all night, we left the Jaeger reunion too late and some shuffling of accommodations got us this room, all of us, Roger, Elizabeth, Carolyn and myself.  Now to save you two embarrassment, let me just say, we didn’t get any sleep due to the over exuberance of our neighbors.  Now, I’m sure I can bribe David to remain quiet about who our neighbors were and protect everyone’s privacy but you need to skee-daddle out of here quickly.”

Julia looked at Barnabas.  While it was truly embarrassing to feel that the entire family overhead them consummate their relationship, she did not wish to run from it in shame.  But what would his old world sensibilities demand?  A slight touch of his hand at the small of her back was encouraging but not clearly indicative.

“Quentin, Julia and I are grateful for your discretion and while we both might find this somewhat uncomfortable, I do not believe either of us is ashamed of our feelings for one another.”

Startled by his frankness and by the apparent abandonment of his 18^th century decorum, Quentin chuckled.  “Okay, okay, to each his own.”

Julia smiled shyly to herself.  He had made love to her three times without restraint, and now his entire family was about to be aware of it.   What had happened to him, to them in that room?

Roger grumbling as he walked ahead of Elizabeth and Carolyn, each holding coffee and donuts for the ride, joined the tired members of the Collins family. 

“Barnabas, Julia, were you two stranded by the storm as well?”  Elizabeth was always cheerfully inquisitive no matter how tired.

Julia volunteered the barest bit of information.  “Yes, we dined at an Italian restaurant a few miles from here.” 

“We were here for the Jaeger reunion, my grandmother on my mother’s side—“

Roger lightly nudged his sister. “We’ll discuss the family tree later, let’s get on the road.”

“It would be advisable to stay together I think.”  Julia began to walk toward her car which was near the hotel’s entrance rather than near the room.

“But I want to see who our neighbors were.”  Carolyn looked toward the motel doors.

“I have no need to know about those two depraved people.”  Roger slammed shut the door and glared at the remainder of his party.

Quentin jumped in.  “I saw them already.”

“Well, who were they?”  Carolyn pleaded.

Quentin took Carolyn’s arm and steered her toward the car.  “Oh, a man and woman, clearly in love.”

Barnabas followed Julia to their car.  He opened Julia’s door.  “What he said was true for me, my dear, you do know that?”

“What exactly do you mean?” 

“I am in love with you.”  Barnabas took her gloved hand and kissed her fingers.

Julia lightly brushed his cheek.  “Finally.” 

“Yes, finally.”  While he knew they were under the blazing sun, in front of the Lone Pine Hotel, with his family sitting in an idling car waiting for them, he did not resist the desire to kiss her. 

“In love?”  Carolyn, squeezed between Quentin and David in the backseat, whispered.  Barnabas and Julia were obviously enthralled with one another cared little who saw. 

“Yes, at long last, in love.”  Quentin confirmed.

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