John and Julie

"I never realized how handsome you are."

He laughed. "Now I think you really did die and some alien life form came and took over your body. Thanks for the compliment...And I never realized how beautiful you were. I always sort of knew you were pretty, but your sour attitude turned everyone away. You were pretty, but not beautiful. You seem softer now. I'm seeing an entirely different Julie, one who seems capable of loving and accepting love. I see beauty."

"Even without makeup?"

"Makeup doesn't create beauty. True beauty comes from within. Without makeup I see the real Julie – I see real beauty."

She put an arm around him, turned her head and kissed him on the cheek. He returned the kiss on her forehead and caressed her arms and shoulders as tears ran down her face. He pulled her close and rubbed her back as she quietly sobbed on his chest until she was asleep.

He eased out from under her, pushed the chairs away, pulled the bed down from the wall, pulled back the covers and then gently carried her to the bed and covered her up. Her eyes opened. "Sleep with me tonight. I want you near me."

He was too tired to argue, so removed his rumpled shirt and pants, leaving his underwear, and stretched out on the bed next to her, on top of the covers. It was good to feel a real mattress under him again, and he sighed as he stretched out.

"No, under here with me."

"I don't think that is a good idea, Julie. Something might happen and we're cousins."

"As if I've recovered enough for that. I feel...well, I feel like everything will be all right when you are near."

"Julie, I told you, you're a beautiful woman. I've grown to think of you in ways I never thought I could. I don't think I could trust myself to lie in bed next to you without wanting to caress you all over. I wouldn't trust myself to not touch you and kiss you, and even make love to you."

"I don't think I have the energy for all that, but I would like it very much if you held me close. When you brushed my hair and when you held my arm as we walked I thought what a fool I've been. I grew up thinking that I could go through life on my own. I've missed out on so much. I never realized how good a loving touch could feel. I can't get enough of it."

He slid in bed beside her and she immediately snuggled close to his side. They turned toward each other, hands reaching out to touch faces and arms. After sharing a kiss on the cheek, they fell asleep.

John awoke to sunlight streaming into the room through the front window. Lying on his side he felt an arm draped over his chest, a warm body molded to his back, and soft, rhythmic breathing on the back of his neck. An overwhelming sense of contentment, contentment like none other he had ever experienced, and a feeling that all was right with the world washed over him as he covered her hand with his and pressed her hand against his chest, dozing back off to sleep with a sigh.

The next time he awoke it was to the sensation of fingers on his face. He felt the touch glide over his hairline, lightly around his closed eyes, around his nose and lips, as if studying his face. The roving touch caressed the stubble on his cheek and traced around an ear. He turned his head and opened his eyes to gaze into a pair of beautiful smiling blue-gray eyes.

"Hey there, sleepyhead," she said, then leaned over, kissed him and began to rub his chest. The warmth of her hand set his skin tingling.

"How do you feel this morning, Julie?"

"Much better. Much, much better, thanks to you." She nestled into the crook of his shoulder, ran her hand up under his undershirt and rubbed his chest some more, playing with his chest hair.

"Oh, oh. I knew this would be a bad idea, Julie. Your touch is arousing me."

She scrunched up her nose and stuck out her tongue as her hand began to wander south. He tried to move away, after all it wasn't right, them being cousins, but he found himself frozen in place.

She wrapped her fingers around him. "Yep. You're aroused, all right," she said as she leaned in for a real kiss.

He had had girlfriends before, but never felt like he did then. He was on fire. In spite of himself he grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her with a passion and urgency that was new to him. When they finally separated he continued to hold her face and, with pounding heart, looked into those loving eyes.

"Oh, Julie. This is so wrong."

"No, John, it is so right. I realized this morning that underneath my mean exterior, I've always wanted to be loved. I realize now that I am finally ready to experience it. All of it."

His hands acted as if they were not attached to his body. He had no control over them as they caressed her face, her hair, her body. She kissed him as he'd never been kissed before.

"Julie, you are so beautiful, and I find myself loving you like I've never loved anyone, ever."

"No one has ever told me that they loved me. I mean really loved me. I've never felt like this before either, and I feel my heart will burst!"

His resistance melted, and he pulled her close. There was no turning back. Her hands were liquid fire on his body, kindling a blazing passion that he couldn't control. In an instant his underwear and her pajamas disappeared. Their relationship was consummated in an explosion of passion. He felt like a volcano erupting, and she, despite her inexperience, wrapped her arms and legs tightly around him, as if she was trying to pull his entire body inside her. The two became one – one body, one spirit – and the heat of it all left them spent, their bodies pressed together for minutes afterward as they enjoyed the warmth and feeling of oneness with each other. Cheek to cheek, they heard and felt each other's labored breathing as it slowed, their bodies seemingly glued together by a film of perspiration and they could feel their hearts pounding against each other.

When he finally regained control of his senses he rolled onto his back as his heart gradually slowed its relentless pounding in his chest, and when he finally began to catch his breath he contemplated. "What does this mean, Julie? Our relationship is changed forever."

"And I am so happy!"

They snuggled for awhile, just enjoying being close before she spoke. "John, I've been thinking."

"I thought I smelled something burning," he teased.

She playfully punched him on the shoulder. "Seriously. You have an apartment that must cost a bundle, and my income is enough to live on but isn't steady. Why don't we pool our resources and share one place? Yours would be ideal, because it's close to the garment district where most of my jobs are."

He was stunned. A week ago she was practically throwing brickbats at him and now she wanted to move in. What a turn of events.

"What would the rest of the family think?"

She propped herself up on one elbow. "I've got it all figured out. We tell everyone that since the city is so expensive and my income is erratic, it seemed to make sense to split the cost. No one has to know the details. I know mom would be pleased to think that you were taking care of me."

They lay quietly as he took it all in before they finally got up, bathed, and dressed. Sitting at the tiny table for breakfast they lingered over coffee.

She picked up her portfolio, the very one that had caused such a commotion before, and scooted her chair next to his to willingly share the record of her work this time, relating funny stories about how embarrassed she was the first time she did a nude art school pose, and about some of her location shoots. Her favorite was St. Thomas in the U.S, Virgin Islands. "It was so beautiful! I remember thinking that it was a place I'd like to go back to someday when I didn't have to work. There were a lot of young couples there on their honeymoons."

With her elbows on the table she held her coffee cup in both hands, looking down into the black liquid.

"John?"

"Yes?"

"I was serious before, about sharing a place. But there is something more to it than just saving money. I have discovered deep feelings I've never before experienced."

"Julie, I..."

"Let me finish, please, John. I need to get this out. This is difficult, something I've never said before." She took a deep breath and raised her eyes to his. "John, I...I love you."

"Julie, here with you I have felt a love like nothing I have ever felt before."

He stood and gathered her into his arms. Holding each other, they slowly rocked back and forth as he gently stroked her silken hair and she rested her head on his shoulder. He spoke into her ear "I'd love to take you to the Virgin Islands."

She raised her head and looked at him with astonishment. "John, that would be a dream come true!"

They kissed and her head went back to his shoulder and he nuzzled his cheek against her soft hair. As they continued to embrace they made plans for a future neither of them had any inking of a short week ago. 'Who knows,' he thought, 'we could be one of those honeymoon couples. After all, we are only second cousins.'