Two Weeks In Miami

CHAPTER THREE

March 25, 1995 (Saturday)
JULIE'S THIRD DAY IN MIAMI
JULIE AND HORATIO SHOP FOR PROVISIONS


Horatio woke early, and looked at Julie as she slept, her back to him, his arm around her. He studied her closely--her breathing, her hands, the scars on her body. He thought she looked a little thin, as his hand brushed against her side and he could make out just the faintest outline of her ribs. He thought back to the night before, when she was all over him, and how he had finally taken her on the kitchen table. He could hardly believe it was the same shy girl he had met at The Brass Rail, and to look at her now, sleeping peacefully, he still found it hard to comprehend. He was amazed that she had been able to take him all inside. She looked kind of frail and small to him. His first impression of her was that she was such a timid, quiet little lady, but he had certainly seen a different side of her last night.

"Horatio." Julie's eyes opened sleepily, and she whispered his name.

"Morning," he responded, his arm still around her. "You okay?"

"Indeed I am." She turned her head to look at him. "Didn't I wear you out?" She smiled, her tongue sticking out from between her teeth. She turned onto her back and stretched, raising her arms over her head, and straightening her legs out.

"That--that you did, but you know what? I think I'd like to go again." He bundled her closer, kissed her head, let his hand encounter her breast, and lightly caressed it through her nightgown.

She started a little, as his touch surprised her. "What are you going to do?" She curled herself into a tight ball beside him.

"I--I wannu make love to you properly." He scooted closer to her. "I'd like for you to move over a little, honey, I'm falling off the edge of the bed."

"Oh--" She slithered over to make room for him.

"One thing I know--" he said as he kissed her ear.

"And what is that?"

"I know--you--are a heat-seeking missile."

With a wide yawn, she stretched her body out on her back, raised her arms up again, straight above her head. He took this as an invitation, and caressed her gently, and began to slowly lift her nightgown up from around her knees. He kissed her face, neck, ears, hair, and breasts, first through her nightgown, and then under it.

He paused a moment to observe her facial features. She had a way of laughing silently. Her tongue stuck out rakishly between her teeth, her lip curled, and she leered at him, licked her lips, gave him a seductive smile, fluttered her lashes at him, all of which made him laugh. He pulled her gown up farther, and his hand softly stroked her breasts.

Julie gave out a low moan and looked right into his dark blue eyes. Her breath was almost a whimper.

His touch became more insistent. His hands were all over her. Her gown was now up, around her shoulders, and he fell to kissing her breasts, pulling and sucking at her nipples, which drove her crazy.

Laughing, she twisted and turned, and tried to push his head away.

"Whatsa matter?"

"That tickles." She giggled. "Do it harder."

He did, and a shudder went through her body, and she gave out an exclamation of pleasure. Her teeth were tightly clenched, her hands clutching the blanket, in her own hair, in his hair, pulling at his nose and ears. This turned him on even more.

"Ah, you're quite the active lady," he teased, with a deep gleam in his eyes.

"Ahhhh---yessss," she hissed, her teeth clenched. "Keep doing that. Do not stop."

"I--I don't intend to." His voice took on a husky note.

He was hard, and she could feel him pressing against her hip. "You are quite eager, aren't you," she teased, raising her head to look down at his stiff length.

"All for you, baby."

She reached down to wrap her hand around him, and it elicited a sharp intake of breath, and a groan from him. "Oh, baby--I like that--Ah--" he breathed.

She tried to slither away from him with a sigh, and he slithered right along with her, trying not to rush things. In fact, he was really fighting it, trying desperately not to lose control.

"Am I too close to you?" She purred.

"Oh, no--no--baby girl--" His hands were all over her stomach, abdomen, legs.

"Oh, Horatio," she panted.

His fingers moved down, and encountered her wetness. He gently probed, his eyes never leaving her face, and she gasped as he spread her legs open, playing with her.

"Nice. Oh, yeah--you like that, baby?" His expression was one of amusement and curiosity.

She nodded vigorously. "That feels--soooo good---" She breathed loudly.

Two fingers. "You're tight, babe. And so wet--just for me--." Three fingers, very gently. "Yeah--easy. Try not to hurt you."

She fluttered her lashes at him. She still had him clutched firmly in her hand. "But--you can use your penis to open me wider," she reminded him, invitingly.

"Not yet," he whispered.

Lying beside her, his face was over hers, as he continued to play with her. His breath was on her cheek, his eyes looked deeply into hers, as she began to move her hips inadvertently. He tried to keep her legs still, and it became increasingly difficult as her excitement grew.

He got the feeling she was trying to hold back, and he was determined to change that, as he tenderly stroked her most sensitive areas, circling, caressing, making her shiver.

"Come on, baby," he coaxed. "Let go. I want you to come for me, okay?" His face held such a look of reverence and esteem. He was patient with her, as his caresses picked up momentum, bringing her closer and closer to fulfillment.

Her hands gripped the sheet on the bed. She tossed her head, and swung it back and forth on the pillow, as she finally gave in to his touch, and she grabbed hold of his arm as he lay beside her. He held her tightly as she twitched involuntarily, and moved her body in response to him. She sighed loudly, gasped, flung her hips and the rest of herself from side to side. He had to hold her down to keep her from getting away from him. He was really enjoying himself, knowing that he was responsible for her wild gyrations. She seemed to be everywhere at once, raising and lowering her legs, as he tried to keep them down and wide apart.

He kissed her cheek, and with one slow move, he straddled her in an effort to keep her from getting away from him, his arms and legs on either side of her, and he attacked her mouth with his, forcing her lips apart with his tongue.

She reciprocated by shooting her own tongue into his mouth, until her teeth clicked against his. She was very excited, and she forgot to release her hold on his penis. In fact, she gripped him even tighter, which served to excite him even more.

He gently, but firmly, disengaged her fingers. "You've got to let go of my cock, okay? I tell you what, I'm gonnu scoot you up a little." He did so, by lifting her behind her shoulders, and positioning her farther up to the head of the bed. "Now. Good girl. That's better," He rasped.

"Time to go to town." His voice exuded grim determination.

"You can be rough or gentle," she wheezed. "I will do what you ask."

"I'll be as gentle as I can," he tightened his body, bunching it up. "But it's not easy for me."

He pushed into her and thrust home with a loud grunt. "Spread your legs a little more for me--can you do that?" His voice was desperate, as though he were drowning. "Spread--open!"

She did so, with the hoarse cry, "I want you inside me!"

Her words turned him on even more. I want you--I want you--

"Horatio! Nnnnuuhhh--oh--oh--!" Such a wide-eyed look of wonder as he penetrated her deeply, with a shove that moved her up a few inches. Two more times he thrust in and out, and she groaned deeply, clutching him around the back with all the might she had.

Instinctively she curled her legs around his, her heels pulling at his calves, and moving up to lock around his back, allowing for deeper entry, holding on, pulling herself onto him as he repeatedly pushed in and out with a consummate grace.

He made a coughing sound. "Piper, you're--squeezing my neck--help."

"Oh. I don't want you to fall off." She released his neck and moved her arms to encircle his shoulders.

"I'm not gonnu fall off." He wondered why she would think he could fall off.

"You like that, Piper?"

She didn't answer, just groaned loudly in ecstasy.

"Sweetheart, does that feel good?" It was important to him that she was okay with this.

"Oh, Horatio! Yesss!" She moaned loudly.

He loved hearing her call his name as he brought her pleasure.

"You are so beautiful," she whispered into his ear.

"So are you." His mouth covered hers with a reckless abandon.

Although he tried to keep things slow and easy, he gathered momentum in spite of himself, and drove in deeper and harder, until she grunted into his ear, "--it's--it's--dah--dah--dah--mmm--mmmm--nuh--you're like a horse--!"

"Ss--s--low--d--down!" Her wheezing plea caused him to cradle her head in his hands and soothe her with kisses.

And he tried, with everything that was in him, to slow down for her, to control himself.

She whimpered, and he tried to stop.

"Are you okay? Have I hurt you?"

"I can take all of you," she puffed. "Oh please, do not stop!"

"Oh--th--that feels--so good--" she croaked.

"You like that, baby? Hmmm? Hm?"

So wet--so warm and tight around him--so wrapped up in her arms and legs--so wonderful--so wanted, as she clung to him as though she would never let him go.

Her range of facial expressions fascinated him as he moved in and out, back and forth. She was so happy to have him with her, and it really showed. She seemed to anticipate his every move. She tried to hold him to her, as tightly as possible.

He thrust deeply, and she cried out, still trying to reassure him everything was alright.

"I'm okay, 'Ratio." She stroked his hair, held his face buried in her neck, and wrapped her legs around him, arching her body into his, trying to make it as easy for him as she could.

"You're juicy--and--so wet." His breath was in her ear. "Oh, yeah--sw--eetheart." He was like a desperate little boy clinging to a saving hand, as he sank deeper and deeper into an abyss of pleasure and satisfaction.

And she offered herself to him, helping him, encouraging him, soothing him with words and caresses.

"Go--ahead. You are fine--it is alright--I need you."

"Can't--get--enough--of you!"

Encouraged by her words, his hips pounded into her again and again, until they were both atop a mountain of unspeakable euphoria.

"You--are--so--big--nn--nn--nn--"

She spread her legs wide, and raised them up, wrapped them around him, clung to him with a wild desperation.

He fought to hold himself in check, wanting her to come first. He raised his body up, and drove into her with a piston-like up and down motion, and she became absolutely beyond control, as she cried out again and again, and flailed her arms and legs everywhere, to his great delight and satisfaction.

"C'mon, baby. Come for me--oh yeah--uhh--uhhhh! Unnhh! Uhhhhnnn--!"

"I can't see it--I want to see it! Uh--uh--uh--uh--wanto see you--" She raised her head to see his appendage between her legs, and it excited her even more. It made her happy. "Aah--ahhh--!"

She suddenly stiffened under him, and gave herself a savage yank to her own hair, as her mouth opened, and she screamed, throwing her head from side to side as she let go totally, giving a single loud cry, and dissolving into tears that cascaded down her face. She sobbed uncontrollably, and he held her while he continued to plunge up and down, making her writhe and scream with wild abandonment.

He cried out in desperation, "I'm not going to last--Piper--oh--oh--" He attempted to slow himself a little, concerned that he was hurting her, but when he felt her sudden gush of warm wetness enveloping his penis, and her wet, velvety interior pulling at him, he lost all semblance of control, and he drove into her with a sudden lunge as she tugged at him, milking his essence.

His strangled moans permeated the entire apartment as he shot his love juice into her, grunting. His entire body convulsed, and he shivered as she grabbed him and cradled him like a baby. His body shook uncontrollably as he lay on her, trying to regain his breath.

"Sshhh--it's okay, my love. It's alright--" she soothed him, kissing his cheek.

Their bodies wet with sweat, tears in their eyes, they embraced each other, and lay for awhile, until their breathing returned to normal. Still, they were reluctant to let each other go.

He stayed inside her afterward, until her own spasms pushed him out, and she shifted her position, turned, and looked at his penis closely, examined it thoroughly, played with it, kissed it, licked it, talked to it, caressed it, and even said it was beautiful. He was fascinated with this, for no woman had ever given this part of him the kind of attention he was receiving now. She was not repulsed in the least, by the moist fluids trapped under his foreskin. Indeed, some women would be disgusted by it, others would say he should get it "fixed". He loved the attention he was getting from Julie.

He studied her body more closely. Like him, she had a few scars on her, and he wondered if those scars had been the results of abuse, as his had been. He was fascinated by a certain scar on the outside of her right thigh, a scar that looked like a perfect fish skeleton. He saw the stretch marks around her navel, and the long, thin white line across her abdomen, and surmised that quite possibly, she was a mother. Then, there was the one on the back of her neck, just below the hairline, on the left side, a long jagged furrow about three inches long. It seemed not to bother her when he looked closely at the burn scar on the left side of her lower back. She was totally involved with a certain part of his anatomy, and it kept her occupied as he looked her over carefully.

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It was after 10:00 AM.

Julie was in the bathroom, rubbing her left jaw vigorously, to try to relieve the aching molar. She mentioned nothing to him about the flare up of her tooth, although he looked at her curiously, when she massaged the tooth with her finger. She wasn't thrilled with her hair, either. She was having a bad time with her hair, wishing that she had never dyed it black, and it was too short after she had cut it. She tried to braid it. She scowled into the mirror.

Horatio was in the kitchen, making his morning coffee, when he heard her alternately growling and laughing in the bathroom, so he went to investigate.

She stood over the sink, looking into the mirror, highly amused. He looked at her braided hair and smiled silently, averting his eyes. He, too, was amused, but was too polite to laugh outright.

"This makes me look like Pippi Longstocking." She mumbled, to no one in particular.

His eyes raked over her hair. "Or," he added, "That gal on the Wendy's Hamburger sign."

She laughed again, and this time, he did, too. Julie unbraided her hair and brushed it out. She let it flow free around her neck, as he continued to watch. "Now I look like Cleopatra," she stated. Her tooth was aching, but she tried to ignore it.

Horatio went back into the kitchen, while Julie finished dressing in the bedroom.

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Horatio was still in the kitchen, stirring his coffee, when he heard a sound behind him. He turned around, and Julie had her suitcase, packed and in hand, and she sat it down in the foyer, with her Care Bear on top of it. He was surprised, and he froze in place. He looked down at the suitcase, up at her, then down at the suitcase again, and back up to her.

"What's going on?" He wondered. "I--I thought--we agreed you were staying two weeks."

"But, Horatio, you said last night, in the car, that you wanted to do it for just one night, and we would see how it went. Don't you remember? It is morning, so now I have to leave." She pulled the cuff of her jacket down to her wrist. "You have not told me you want me to stay. I will go find a different hotel. I will be alright," she reassured him.

"Well--um--I--I'd like for you to stay. Please. Please stay." His hand, with spoon in it, was poised in mid-air, over his coffee cup.

"Was I that good?" Her gaze was head-on.

"Well--" He wasn't quite sure what to say, so he blurted out, "You're mine for the next two weeks."

And Julie laughed joyously, "No. You are MINE for the next two weeks." Her gap-toothed grin made him smile, and made the day seem a little brighter.

She flew to him, and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Oh, Horatio. Thank you."

He put down his coffee cup and embraced her.

"But I do not want just sex." She sounded determined. "More than that. I want other things, too." Her eyes were clear and bright. I want to talk to you. I want you to talk to me. And I want to put my arms around you--a lot."

"I want that too."

She added, as an afterthought, "And I want to be your friend."

"Oh, yeah." He gave her an extra squeeze, and looked out toward the foyer. "Will you do me a favor and put your suitcase back in the bedroom? And put your bear back on the sofa."

"I will, Horatio."

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She and Horatio were in the kitchen making their lunch. They talked about the Everglades and airboats, and he knew of a good place where he could take her this afternoon.

"Are you ready for that airboat ride?"

"Will we really get to go to The Everglades?" Her lovely face was hopeful and full of excitement.

"Honey, we're really going to The Everglades." He emphasized.

Her smile lit up the entire apartment. She took some money out of her pack, and laid it down on the table in front of him. "This is for the one-half months' rent. I want to pay you now, before I spend this money on something I should not."

They had a quiet lunch of grilled cheese and a sort of tomato salad that he had prepared. He talked to her about his work, about living close to the ocean, and she listened intently to everything he said. She was a very good listener.

"And will we be able to do this without a reservation?" She asked as she thought about the airboat ride.

"Leave it to me." He stood looking out the kitchen window. He had a worried frown on his handsome face, and said nothing for a time.

She sipped her tea, waiting for him to speak, and when he did not, she cautiously asked, "What troubles you, my love?" She surprised herself. She had called him 'my love', and she hardly knew him.

"I--I'm sorry. I should have been more careful."

"Careful?" She was puzzled.

"We--have to get you some protection." He turned away from the window to face her.

It dawned on her what he was getting at. "You mean--like condoms?"

"Mm hm." He sat his cup down. "You might already be carrying my child." His gaze was deadly serious.

She looked down at the table, and her eyes wandered over the surface of it. She frowned. He made it sound as though it would be a tragedy if it happened. From this, she had the thought in her mind, that he did not want, or particularly like, children.

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After lunch, she insisted on washing the dishes by hand, claiming she could do better than his dishwasher. Then, they departed for the airboat rental place, and he pointed out landmarks and buildings as he drove. He was not used to such a quiet girl, and he wondered if she understood what he said. She seemed a little distant, and standoffish, and he was undecided about whether he had made a mistake in agreeing to her staying with him for two whole weeks. He found he was making an extra effort to be sure she was understanding him. She didn't seem to have any questions about anything, but appeared to be enjoying the ride, and processing the information he was telling her.

There were three people on the airboat--Julie, Horatio, and the guide. She had a great time. She was upbeat and happy, and Horatio noticed that she stayed as close to him as she possibly could. She was looking out of one side of the boat, when Horatio tapped her on the shoulder and pointed out the other side of the boat. She jumped up when she saw the alligator, just as it slithered into the water. She grinned at him happily, and he grinned right back at her. Too late for her to take a picture, the reptile had already disappeared from sight.

After the airboat returned to the dock, Julie rummaged through her pack, looking for her wallet. "How much will I owe you for the ride?" She asked the airboat guide.

"Piper, put that away." Horatio was reaching for his own wallet. "No, no, honey, I've got it covered." He paid the airboat guide, and they departed.

On the drive back to his apartment, she began to talk about that alligator, and he started telling her about the other wildlife in the Everglades. She found him to be very knowledgeable about the natural order of things in this area. She had thought a city man like him would not know a lot about nature, but he did. She had under-estimated him. She began to look at him in a different light.

He decided to stop at a grocery store on the way home, where they could buy some provisions for her two-week stay with him. They sat quietly in the car outside the store, while Horatio smoked a cigarette, and they observed the people coming and going out of the store.

She grabbed her jaw, and vigorously wiggled it back and forth.

"What's wrong?"

"My tooth. It hurts when the air hits it."

"A cavity?" He tilted his head toward her.

She shrugged, and shook her head.

"Let me take a look." He transferred his cigarette to his left hand. "Open your mouth."

She opened her mouth wide and flattened her tongue. She indicated which tooth it was.

He looked into her mouth, and with his finger, gently lifted her lip aside for a better view.

"A molar? I don't see any sign of infection."

She closed her mouth.

"Maybe you should see a dentist." He settled back into his seat.

Her head shook. "I will wait until I return home to Connecticut, and see my own dentist."

"Hm," was all he said, as he continued to look at her with a kind expression.

He took a final drag on his cigarette, and crushed it into his ashtray. He had smoked only half of it. He blew the smoke out with a loud exhale.

Julie pulled up her pants leg, and scratched her left knee. While she did it, she absentmindedly stared out the car window, unaware that he was viewing her leg as she rubbed it.

He reached over with his right hand, and pulled at the light dusting of fuzz on her leg. "You've got hair on your legs."

She giggled, moving her leg back and forth. "That tickles."

"Mm mm."

"You do not like it, do you." Her glance was direct and challenging.

"Oh, no--it's okay--I'm--just looking." But he didn't take his hand off her knee, just kept rubbing it with the back of his hand. She let him do it, while they both looked down at his hand.

She looked thoughtful. "Horatio?"

"Mm hm."

"When--how old were you when--you--uh--"

"When I what?" He left off rubbing her leg to look at her face.

"When you--the first time you--were with a woman--?" She was very curious.

"You mean the first time I had sex? I was eighteen." He smirked a little at the memory. "I got it from a little cocktail waitress in Greenwich Village."

Julie looked a little surprised, and her brows raised in interest. She looked away, a little embarrassed.

"You remind me a little of her."

"Do I?" She half-way smiled capriciously.

"Mm hm." He nodded his head.

"Did--did it hurt? I mean--was it painful? The first time? For you?"

"Nooo--no." He chuckled at the memory. "It felt pretty damn good."

She shifted in her seat to face him squarely. "I will be to you whatever you want me to be." She waggled her finger back and forth at him seriously. "But not your mother, or your maid. No, never."

He laughed broadly, raised him eyebrows at her, and said, "Let's go do some shopping."

He got out of the car, and waited for her to come around from the passenger side. She stopped behind the car and waited for him to join her. She noticed that he was not moving, but rather standing there, gazing off into the distance. He appeared to be waiting for something. She thought this behavior was a little odd. At length, she walked toward him, which was what he was waiting for. She was oblivious to what his intentions were.

He watched her approach, his head tilted downward, his eyes slits, and when she was close enough, he grabbed her, turned her around, and pinned her against the car door with a guttural growl.

She was startled at first, but when she realized what he was doing, she squealed with delight as he pressed himself into her. His lips sought hers, and he lifted her head up to kiss her. She grew very quiet, and her arms went around him securely, allowing his tongue to explore the inside of her mouth.

His groin pressed into hers, and he held her arms down to her sides. He left off kissing her, and they stood quietly for a few minutes, and he hugged her tightly.

"We're going to take this further." He whispered into her ear.

She giggled, nodding.

They went into the store to do their grocery shopping, and he clasped her hand, holding it all the way into the store.

Shopping with Julie was quite an experience, and took awhile, as Horatio discovered. He wanted to buy a box of condoms. He had already made the selection, and she took the box out of the shopping cart, and read the outside of the box with a careful scrutiny. She was looking for flavored ones, but they were not available. Then she saw a box of ribbed ones, and almost decided on those, but they were more expensive, and she wanted him to get something that was comfortable, and he could still use out of the box, after she was gone. He mentioned condoms were hard to buy for himself, because they were not made for uncircumsised men. This thought had never occurred to her before.

After spending about one-half hour discussing it, he asked, "Do you always take this long to buy condoms?" He was a little impatient to get home.

"I do not have a reason to buy them that often." She decided on the original box he had chosen, and threw it back into the cart, and Horatio rolled the cart on down the aisle.

Their grocery cart was half full of provisions when they passed by the frozen pie display.

"Did you notice the way the strips on the pies are arranged in sort of a grid pattern of dough?" She held a blackberry pie in one hand, while she measured it with the fingers of her other hand.

"Yes--like a latticework fence, huh." Horatio picked up a blueberry pie from the display case and placed it into their cart. It was his intent to buy both pies.

"Which one shall we get?" Seeing the blueberry pie in the cart, she started to put the blackberry pie back into the display, but he stopped her.

"Go ahead, sweetheart, we'll get them both, and keep one in the freezer. We'll have one for dessert."

The blackberry pie joined its neighbor in the cart.

Moving on to the frozen meat section, Horatio inspected the fare and picked up a package. He showed it to Julie. "You like chicken breast? These are on sale."

She nodded, and he put the package into the cart.

Horatio pointed with his pinky at another package in the freezer. "Uh--those ham rolls look pretty good. What'dya think?"

Julie took the package of ham rolls out of the freezer, and studied them blandly. "I know a place where you can get a nice warm breast." She didn't look at him.

Her words were so unexpected, that he wasn't sure he heard her correctly. After looking at her for a minute, still not sure of what he heard her say, a smile tracked across his face. "Are you offering?"

Julie's expression was deadpan, as she asked, "Are you accepting?" She still hadn't looked at him.

"Ah--sure, ma'am."

"You can get a good roll, too." She casually dropped the package of ham rolls into the cart. Nary a smile or a smirk, just still that expressionless look, as though she had these types of conversations as a matter of course.

"Looking forward to it." He still was not sure she was serious, but his smile got wider.

She started to walk away suddenly.

"Where you going?" His gaze followed her.

"To take a walk. Before my mouth gets me into any more trouble. I am not sure what I mean, even after I say it." She looked back at him. "I will be back."

"I'll be here. Don't wander too far."

She heard his laugh as she rounded the corner into the next aisle.

Horatio finished his shopping, and suddenly he missed her. After looking up and down several aisles, he found her in the hair-color aisle. He hinted he would like to get home, and make supper. She couldn't decide on a hair color, and she was having no luck finding a color to match her own. She didn't want to wreck her hair any more than she had already done. He wondered what her natural color was, and she tried to describe it for him. Somewhere between a light brown and a dark blond called tawny, she explained. In the end, she decided to not buy any hair color at all. She resigned herself to just letting her hair grow out to it's natural color. He paid for their groceries and they returned to his car.

Back in the car, groceries safely in the back seat, they decided to rent a movie, stop at a Wendy's, and go home.

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They sat on the sofa to watch the movie, with their take-out food and their soft drinks. Julie soon moved onto the floor, where she was more comfortable. Horatio stayed on the sofa. They watched the movie, a science fiction vehicle called "Tremors".

Julie commented, "Those graboids look like giant hydras. Or hagfish." She turned her head sideways toward the television screen. "It looks obscene to me."

"There's a Chinese hookworm," Horatio commented. "It's about ten inches long. Parasitic worm. Uncinaria Stenocephala."

Julie held up two hands and measured about ten inches. "Do those worms get on you? And inside you, like tapeworms?"

"It's an internal parasite, yes."

"Sort of a cross between a hagfish, a roundworm, and a nematode?" Her eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, something like that."

"Aye, those are nasty things." Her face screwed into a look of distaste.

Horatio studied her expression, fascinated.

They heard the sound of pattering outside the apartment. Julie jumped up and ran to the sliding glass door to look out onto the patio. "It is raining," she observed, casually, as though he would not have the sense to figure this out for himself.

He just could not figure her out. First she acted like a mature woman, and then she did something that made him think she was giddy, like a teen-ager. This had never been the type of woman he thought he would ever be interested in, yet here he was, and he was puzzled about his own feelings for her. He was still wrestling with the thought of this woman/girl as his wife, Try as he might, he could not get the vision out of his mind.

She came back to Horatio, who was still sitting on the sofa. "So, there you have it," he remarked. "Cabin fever."

Her smile was wide. No doubt about it, this young lady was much too cheerful. "Do you like spinach?" she chirped in her vague Irish accent.

"I do. It keeps me regular." He beckoned his head toward her. "Eat your lettuce. It's an excellent source of folic acid." He looked at her stomach, wondering if there was a baby in there, from their love-making of last night, or this morning.

"That is my last french fry." She waved it at him.

"There are more in the bag."

She reached for the other bag.

"Ah, the infamous half-eaten bag of fries." He handed the bag to her.

She grabbed her Care Bear from the back of the sofa, and sat him on the edge of the sofa. "Brandon is hungry, as well." She held up a french fry to the stuffed bear's mouth.

"Brandon has strange tastes."

"Brandon is a chef. He knows his food." She popped the fry into her own mouth and chewed it slowly.

Horatio decided to test the waters a little. "Don't you think you're a little old to play with teddy bears?" He upped his eyebrows at her.

"I do not, Horatio. If I thought that, I would not be playing with him, would I."

So that was it, he suddenly realized. She made no apologies for her actions, or her behavior, and probably never would. With her, it would be, accept me the way I am, or leave me alone. This was like an epiphany to him.

"Put that down. I am a glutton." She indicated the fry that he had in his fingers. He gave it to her.

She wiped her hands on a napkin. "I cannot help myself." She lay her hands on his ribs, and rubbed seductively up and down. "I am finding you irresistible. Just like that french fry. Leave all hope behind." She walked her fingers up his arm to his neck.

He was amused by her. "And I thought you were such an innocent young lady."

"Do you want me to fix your leaky faucet for you?" Her nostrils flared in an impudent way.

"No--no, I'm good." He thought for a minute. "You mean the one in the bathroom?"

"Aye." she seemed a little puzzled by his question. "Where did you think I meant?"

"This one here?" He leaned back, and opened his legs wider.

She shook her head, glancing at him.

"Well--um--I wasn't sure." He was a little embarrassed at his own actions.

"It does not need fixing, Horatio." She spread his legs a little farther apart with her hands. "I like it." She smiled at him. "If it is not broke, do not fix it." She stared brazenly at his crotch. She turned back to her meal. "I may have to remove your clothing again," she said in an offhanded fashion.

"If anyone can do it, you can, Piper."

She was suddenly bashful, and with a downward flutter of her lashes, turned back to the television again, but she could feel his eyes on her. Was was she doing? She asked herself. She did not even know this man that well, and here she was, acting like an idiot in front of him.

For his part, Horatio did not understand her sudden aloofness, her turning away from him, this change in her, and he observed her curiously, trying to understand.

She asked him, rather accusingly, "Why do you stare at me?"

"Well--I--am just--um--I don't know." He really didn't know, and he blushed, tilted his head, and turned his eyes toward the floor. He felt like he was on uneven ground. He asked himself the question if he would want a wife like this, who kept him off-balance, not knowing what to expect from her.

"I have to finish watching this movie." She turned her back to him, and sat cross-legged on the floor. Once again, he got that feeling of her distance, suddenly aloof from him.

"Tell me, Piper, why do you stare at ME?"

Ah, so he HAD noticed. She turned to him, and made him her main focus. "Be--cause--I find you very attractive--and beautiful--and that is the truth." Now it was her turn to turn red, and her eyes sought out the two top buttons on his shirt.

"--oh--hm--" His redness went clear to his ears.

A few minutes passed, and she asked him shyly, "Can--can I take your picture?"

"Uh--no--"

Why was she not surprised? A little disappointed, surely, and she said nothing more for a moment.

"You should see my strawberries, Horatio."

"Your--strawberries?"

"You saw my limes."

"You mean--your underwear?"

"Aye. I have peaches, strawberries, oranges, apples, and bananas, as well as the limes.

"One for each day of the week," he commented.

She suddenly slumped her shoulders, and gave the last of the cheeseburger her full attention."

"Well--you're just a veritable fruit salad, aren't you."

They went back to watching 'Tremors' in silence.

Julie got up to go to the bathroom, and she returned by way of the kitchen, where she drew a glass of water, and picked the newspaper up off the kitchen table. Wrapped up in her floral American Indian blanket, she returned to the living room.

She handed the glass of water to him, and waited for him to finish drinking. He gave the glass back to her, and she drank from it, and sat it on the end table with a coaster under it.

She adopted her usual position on the floor in front of him, and opened the newspaper. The movie ended, and she read the end credits.

Horatio cleaned the wrappers and paper bag off the couch and deposited them into the trash can sitting under the kitchen sink. When he returned to the couch, Julie was re-winding the tape.

"Well, that was an interesting movie," she said.

"You wannu watch it again?"

"I do not," she answered adamantly. "But if you want to, you can."

"No, not really. I'm fine. You know--sweetheart--you don't have to sit on the floor. I have a sofa and chairs available. Why don't you give them a try?" He indicated with a nod that he wanted her to join him on the couch.

She moved onto the sofa, newspaper in hand, but maintained her cross-legged position.

He sat facing her, his left arm on the back of the couch.

She studied the newspaper page silently, her lips moving as she read an article within. It concerned a man named Salinger who had a dead girl turn up on the beach behind his house. The girl had signs of being stabbed, raped and beaten before she died.

Julie noticed Horatio's name mentioned in the article. "Horatio, what is this?" She jabbed her finger at the article, holding it up for him to see. "I am seeing it in this newspaper."

"It is--just work."

"Will you tell me? Your name is in here."

Horatio stretched his body out to lie on the sofa, his head and shoulders on the arm rest on the end of the sofa. He began talking, after a moment of silence. "All over again--Deja Vu."

She shot him a questioning look.

He explained. "About three years ago, February 16, 1992, a drowning in Salinger's backyard swimming pool in Coconut Grove. Girl in the pool, dead. She'd been stabbed. Salinger was nowhere to be seen. I drove up to the beach house where he lived. I was welcomed like a celebrity, lot of handshaking, smiles, etc, etc, etc--- He'll be right down, his wife said."

Horatio took a sip from his water glass and sat it back onto the end table.

"Well, he did come down two hours later, with a high-priced attorney in tow, and something about how he didn't know the girl, she was trespassing, and the family had been out of town, blah, blah, blah--" Horatio signed deeply. "So, with no close at the scene, and a rock-hard alibi, we had nothing. Charges were never filed. He walked, with no investigation."

Horatio tensed his body and nodded his head grimly, a look of anger in his eyes.

"The M.E.--that's the medical examiner--later told me that the girl didn't die from the stabbing. She had drowned. The knife wound was superficial, and that all he had to do was pull the girl from the pool and dial 911 from the house, and she would have lived. He didn't do that."

"He let her drown?" Julie asked incredulously.

"Mm hm." Horatio didn't say anything more.

Julie read the article again. "From what it says here, you have got him now."

"I got him now." Horatio's gaze bore deeply into Julie's eyes. "I should have arrested him three years ago," he declared.

"Well, we can only hope that he will get what is coming to him now, can't we."

"Yes, let's hope that."

Julie's eyes returned to the article, and she finished reading it.

As Julie continued looking at the newspaper, Horatio didn't take his eyes off her. He could look at her all day and all night, and not mind at all.

Horatio put his hands on top of his head, and locked them together as he studied Julie reading the newspaper. After many minutes of silence, Horatio ventured, "Why don't you remove my clothing?"

She let the newspaper fall to the floor. She lifted his feet up and put them into her lap. She carefully removed one tennis shoe, then caressed his foot. Her touch felt very good to him.

"Horatio, what is hermetically sealed?"

No doubt about it, this girl was very adept at changing subjects, or talking about one thing, while doing something totally unrelated.

"You mean, like a window?"

"Aye. Like a double pane, maybe."

"A double-paned window prevents contaminants or moisture from getting between the two panes of glass. It's easier to control the climate within a building space."

"That is what I thought."

Julie rubbed his foot conscientiously. "Does that feel good?"

"Oh, yeah--been a long time since I've had a foot massage."

"Now, the other one as well." She removed his other shoe and rubbed his toes.

"Take my socks off too, honey."

"Socks too?"

"Mm hm."

She carefully peeled his socks off and rubbed her warm hand across the tops of his feet, and up around his ankles.

"Mmmm--hmmm." He moaned softly. And then, "Ahhhh--" Who would have ever thought a foot massage could be so sensual?"

Julie's face broke into a radiant smile as she looked at him.

The corners of his mouth went up until he gave her a toothy grin.

Julie's fingers continued to knead Horatio's feet, and he lay back contentedly, hands behind his head, and he couldn't take his eyes off her.

"Please do not be sad, Horatio."

Her plea was a surprise to him, and he was startled at her perception.

"Who says I'm sad?"

"I--I--can understand a lot of things that most other people would not. I know you have burdens you carry." She thought of the scars she had seen on his chest, stomach and back when he was undressed. "I can carry them with you, if you let me."

His eyes dropped from hers, and he blinked several times.

"I know you do not trust me, Horatio. And why should you? We just met."

"Do you trust me?" he wondered.

"I trust myself, Horatio. I trust my own feelings. I trust my instinct. And my instinct is telling me to stay with you, and--and--oh, never mind." Her brow furrowed so the dimple above her eye stood out. "I have been wounded, too. There are things I find very difficult to talk about."

Her hands continued their ministrations to his feet and ankles.

"You mean like your genealogy? Finding some skeletons in the closet, are you?"

"My genealogy? You have a very good memory."

"I have a lot of memories. Not all of them are pleasant."

"I see."

For what seemed an eternity, the only sound was their breathing.

"I--don't know, Horatio. There are some other things I want to do while I am here." Her hands moved up to his lower calves. She pushed up the legs of his sweats. She gave him a distant look.

"Family history is not something I can work on non-stop. I have to take a break from it sometimes."

"Mm."

Her mind took a different turn, and she traced the tip of her finger over his toe nail before she spoke.

"Of all the women you must have known, have you ever found a love that was true?"

Her question surprised him, causing his thoughts to turn to his ex-wife Elizabeth. "Well--I thought I did--once."

"Have you met anyone you wanted to spend your life with, or is love just a game for you?" It was a decent question, and it deserved an honest, forthright responwe.

"Well, I'll tell you, sweetheart. Love has never been a game--not with me."

"Do--do you--ever have someone you are--close to--and they leave?"

"I've known women--that I've cared for--who say they will stay with me, and they leave."

She flickered her eyes, and pulled them away from his. She was following his line of thinking, and her next statement turned the subject directly toward the two of them.

"But, Horatio, you already know I am leaving. I told you that. I have tried to be honest with you. It is with deep regret that I will be one of those women who will have to leave you." Her eyes fluttered again, downward. "I--I do not--want to leave."

Horatio didn't know what to say, so he said nothing.

"Maybe this WAS a mistake. My coming here, I mean." The silence of her voice made him unclasp his hands from behind his head and bend closer, to hear her.

"No, sweetheart, it wasn't."

"It was I who pushed myself on you," she reminded him, solemnly.

"Maybe I should not have--come onto you the way I did."

"Any regrets?" he asked.

"For me? No. But--I just want YOU to be alright." Her concern for him was genuine, and he was touched by it.

"Are you SURE you want me to stay?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said with conviction. "I wannu be with you for the next two weeks."

"Well, maybe--the reason I did come on to you this way--was because--we have so little time--together--I mean--to be--" She left off talking, and he cocked his head, wanting her to go on, but she did not.

She sat in deep thought, and they did nothing but absorb each other's gazes for a minute or two. She went back to massaging his ankles and feet.

She leaned forward with a sigh, and lay on her stomach between his legs, pulled up his shirt, started kissing his belly, then his ribs. She found out his sensitive spots with her tongue. She rubbed her head on his stomach and sides, over the scars on his chest, kissing the scar on his stomach, loving his scent. She teased him with her hands and her lips. This turned him on immensely, and he loved it.

His hands started removing her shirt. She made it very easy for him. Things began to heat up seriously, and he finally rolled her off the couch and he with her, then picked her up, and carried her to his bed, where he lay her down gently.

He hardly had the time to get his condom on, before she was all over him like a wet blanket. She was totally into him, wild and free. She was above him, to his left, to his right, under him, at one point fell off the bed, up and down, side to side, back and forth, kissing, licking, having an orgy of two, and he had a hard time keeping up with her, and she was in control, at once seeming to be out of control, and yet he knew that she knew exactly what she was doing, and how to achieve her desired results.

He had always been the kind of man who liked to control his own life in every way, but now she was in charge, and she left him breathless at first, but after some hesitation, he began to love this, and he gave himself over to this woman, and he settled back to watch, as she used his body, playing it like a violin.

Her hands and body were all over him. She mauled him with a cat-like precision. She was like a slippery eel, eluding his caresses and his kisses. She pinned his arms to his sides with her own hands, while she ravaged him unmercifully, all to their mutual unspeakable pleasure and giddiness. Such euphoric treatment as this, he had not experienced in years. Both were worked up into a complete state of electrical energy.

And when his explosive orgasm came inside her, he cried out and she wrapped herself around him, comforting him, protecting him, soothing him as though he were the child, and she the adult.

Afterwards, exhausted, they both slept soundly. Before he fell asleep, he knew beyond a doubt that this was no inexperienced neophyte. She even had moves HE had never tried before. The day before, she had told him she had a crush on him. Now, he had one on her, too. No, he realized, that was not quite true. The truth was, he was IN LOVE with her.

As he drifted off to sleep, he wiped his hands over his eyes, trying to get a certain thought out of his mind. WIFE. MY WIFE. I want to marry this woman/girl, this witch, this temptress.

END OF CHAPTER THREE