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" 'No, don't do that. We'll have a wreck. I think all this is a hallucination. ¡¯

" 'No, it's not. Did you bring any condoms?¡¯

" 'God, no,' I said. We had reached Canal Street. I knew where the LaFreni¨¨re Cottages were. Lynelle and I had eaten three times in their tasty little French bistro. 'Mona, Mona, Mona,' I said. 'We have to get condoms! Where?¡¯

" 'No, we don't,' she said. 'I have tons of them in my purse. ' "

Chapter24

24

"THE LAFRENI¨¨RE COTTAGES WERE nestled around a central brick courtyard crowded with the de rigueur palmetto and banana trees, and in the center of the courtyard was a wishing well that may once have served some purpose. Now it was merely decorative, and people had taken to pitching all manner of change into it.

"Mona handled our check-in as if it were nothing, even telling me to put away my money, the bill would go to her family.

"When I protested she whispered, 'Show your strength when we get in bed. ¡¯

"And off we went, into the little flag-paved cottage, to do just that, in a modern pewter ironwork bed with an enchanting canopy of metal leaves and grapes, and a light breezy fabric wound loosely around its four corners.

"As soon as the door was latched we both stripped off our clothes with the utter abandon of beasts, and when I beheld her naked, when I saw the pinkness of her nipples and the little blaze of red hair between her legs, I went appropriately crazy.

"It was Mona who helped me on with the condom and Mona who had the presence of mind to pull down the covers, so that we didn't stain them, and finally they wound up on the floor as we went at it like little jungle animals.

"Whatever was going on with my life, I figured, I had fulfilled one of my wildest dreams, no matter that it was newborn, it was wild and from the heart and I would never never forget it. I would never forget Mona's face as she blushed with the spasm that sent me into the final explosion of pure nirvana.

"When it was over we lay together, embraced, warm, contented and kissing each other playfully and gently.

" 'Oh, thank God,' she whispered into my ear. She helped me with the soiled condom. She went for the towel to clean me off. She kissed me again and she said, 'I wanted to put my mouth on it. Come, let me wash you in the bathroom and then I'll do it. ¡¯

"I protested gallantly. I required no such sacrificial adoration!

" 'Tarquin, I want to!' she said. 'I wanted to do it in the car. I just had an overwhelming desire to do it. And I never got to do it. Come on, out of bed!' and I was led like a slave into the tiled bath where she performed the arousing ablutions and then we were back amid the swirled sheets, only she had her mouth on my cock, stroking it hard, fast, and licking at the tip, and then I died when I came. All strength, all energy, all dreams went out of me.

" 'Nobody's ever done that before?' she purred in my ear as we lay there.

" 'No,' I said. It was all I could do to speak. 'Could we sleep, just like this, snuggled up together?¡¯

"In answer I felt the warm weight of the covers and then her cool arm against my back and her lips kissing my eyes. There was a moist heat coming from her breasts and from between her legs. And the breeze of the air conditioner, chilling down the room, made the nestling all the more wonderful.

" 'Tarquin, you are one beautiful boy,' she whispered. 'And your ghost is here, and he's watching us. ¡¯

" 'Go away, Goblin,' I said. 'Leave me now, or I mean it, I won't speak to you for the longest time, I swear it. ' Then I turned over and looked around the room. 'Can you see him?' I asked her.

" 'No,' she said. 'He's gone. ' She lay back on the pillows next to me. 'I am Ophelia once again,' she said. 'I am floating in the water, with only "nettles, daisies and long purples" to hold me up, and I will never sink to "muddy death. " You can't imagine how it is with me. ¡¯

" 'How so?' I asked. 'I see you borne along forever, vital, precious, oh, so sweet --. ' I tried to stay awake, to listen to her.

" 'Go on, sleep. Men want to sleep when it's over. Women want to talk, at least sometimes. I am Ophelia drifting in "the weeping brook," so light, so sure, "or like a creature native and endued unto that element. " They won't find me till tonight, and maybe not even then. I tip these hotels pretty high, I think I may have them won over. ¡¯

" 'You mean you've done this before? You've come here with others?' Now I was wide awake. I rose up and propped myself on my elbow.

" 'Tarquin, I have a huge family,' she said, looking at me, her hair exquisitely mussed on the pillow. 'And one time it was my goal to be intimate with every one of my cousins. I succeeded with more than I can count without the aid of a computer. Of course it wasn't always in a hotel. It was more often in the cemetery at night --. ¡¯

" 'The cemetery!' I said. 'You're serious?¡¯

" 'You have to understand that my life isn't normal. Most Mayfairs don't seek for a normal life. But my life isn't even normal for a Mayfair. And this goal, this goal of sleeping with all my cousins, it's been over for some time. ' Her eyes looked suddenly sad, and she looked up at me imploringly. 'But yeah, I've been here, I have to confess, I have christened this room before with my cousin Pierce, but it doesn't matter, Tarquin, it's all new with you, that's what matters. And I was never Ophelia with Pierce. I'm going to marry Pierce but I'll never be Ophelia. ¡¯

" 'You can't marry Pierce, you have to marry me. My life's not normal either, Mona,' I said. 'You have no idea how strange it is and you and I are no doubt meant for each other. ¡¯