Author's note:  Although this reads as if it could be the final chapter, it isn't.  At this point, I'm anticipating one more chapter, and possibly a short epilogue.  Subject to change, of course…

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Slightly over an hour after the dinner party participants scattered to the four winds, they reassembled in the living room where they had begun their evening.  Their reactions to the immediately preceding events were revealing to the extreme.  Frank and Adrianna, the very picture of nonchalance, appeared more likely to have spent the time looking at wallpaper samples than engaging in sexual relations with two of their guests.  By contrast, the guests in question, Brad and Janet, were simultaneously exhilarated, nervous and perplexed.  The other castle residents, Rocky and Columbia, regarded the varying attitudes of the foursome with barely concealed amusement.  The only people unaffected by, and completely disinterested in, the two liaisons were Dr. Scott and Eddie, who continued their conversation heedless of the return of their companions.

Brad and Janet sat down in their previous positions on the couch.  Their posture was stiff, and they stared rigidly forward.  They seemed too embarrassed to so much as glance at each other.  Adrianna and Frank also resumed their earlier positions, but there any resemblance to Brad and Janet ended.  Adrianna put her hand on Frank's black denim-clad leg, and gently caressed his thigh.  Frank, for his part, softly touched her cheek, then ran his fingers through her luxuriant hair.

Their easy intimacy with each other did not escape Brad and Janet.  Before they could comment, however, the butler entered the room.

"Dinner shall be ready in fifteen minutes.  May I get anyone a drink while you wait?"

Brad and Janet, with a tinge of desperation, asked for glasses of wine.  Once they had their glasses in hand, Janet looked over at Brad.  Softly, she said, "We need to talk.  Let's excuse ourselves and go back to the study."

Brad, a bit apprehensively, nodded in agreement.  Standing, he said, "Would you excuse Janet and me for a few minutes?"

The Transylvanians smiled.  Adrianna said, "Of course.  Take all the time you need."

Brad and Janet, feeling all eyes upon them, walked out of the room.  Once they were out of earshot, Adrianna pulled Frank down toward her and put her lips tantalizingly close to his ear.  In a soft, seductive yet playful voice, she said, "You owe me an enormous debt for the past hour.  I will expect payment in full later tonight." 

Frank smiled and gave her a lingering kiss.  "You've known me a very long time.  When have you ever seen me fail to repay a debt…with interest?"

As Frank and Adrianna indulged in their verbal foreplay, Brad and Janet sat facing each other in the chilly study.  For the longest minute of their lives, they sat in silence.  Finally, Janet worked up enough courage to ask Brad, "How was it?"

Brad ran his fingers through his hair, then rubbed his forehead wearily.  "Well…Adrianna was gorgeous, and sweet, and patient.  She really knows what she's doing, and what she did to me felt incredible.  But…"

Janet waited for him to continue.  When he didn't, she prompted him.  "But…what?"

Brad sighed.  "But I got the distinct impression she wasn't exactly where she wanted to be, to put it mildly.  I know she was watching the clock on the nightstand.  She made sure the whole thing didn't last one minute longer than the hour she'd promised.  Somehow I don't think she watches the time like that when she's with Frank."

Janet was about to attempt to reassure him that it was undoubtedly just his imagination, but she stopped dead.  Her eyes widened.  "I was going to tell you it was all in your head, but I think you're absolutely right.  Frank must have done that, too.  He did amazing things to me, but it was just like with you and Adrianna…he timed everything so that we were finished after exactly one hour.  It couldn't have been a coincidence.  I didn't think about that until you mentioned it."

Brad got up and walked over to Janet.  He held out his hand to her, gently pulling her to her feet and taking her in his arms.  "Janet, I've learned something tonight.  It doesn't matter how gorgeous, or how skilled a lover, someone is…if she doesn't love me, something important is missing.  I hope you feel the same way.  I know I won't be able to, uh, 'perform' for you like Frank can, but nobody could ever love you more than I do.  I promise when I'm with you, I'll never be wishing I were somewhere else, with someone else."  He looked deeply into her eyes.  "Please tell me that will be enough for you."

Janet felt her eyes fill with tears.  She pulled Brad closer, and rested her head on his chest.  "I owe you a huge apology.  I can't believe how I flaunted my feelings for Frank right in front of you.  Even tonight, when he flat out told me it wouldn't mean anything if he went to bed with me, it didn't hold me back for a second.  All I could think about was the pleasure.  I needed to feel it again…and I did.  But you're right, there was something missing, and I think it fell into place for me when I watched him with Adrianna."  She raised her head and looked at Brad.  "What they have is what I want for our relationship…you know, the way they both love and want each other.  At least they've shown us what sex can be like, so maybe we can figure out how to do to each other what they did to us."

A worried expression crossed Brad's face.  "Janet, both of them have tons of experience, with God only knows how many people.  If you think we can recreate our experiences with them, I'm afraid you'll be very disappointed."

Janet smiled, pulled his face down to hers and kissed him.  "I know that.  I just meant that before, we really didn't understand anything about sex…but now we've experienced it.  At least now we have some idea of what we can do to give pleasure to each other."  She kissed him again, more passionately this time.  "We have the rest of our lives to work on our sexual relationship.  We already have the love, and that's the more important part.  You can learn how to improve at sex, but all the 'education' in the world can't make you love someone."

Brad was overjoyed.  Janet had never before kissed him with the fervor she'd just displayed.  Perhaps he owed Frank a word of thanks, despite everything that had happened.

Brad and Janet were so intent on their conversation that they gave no thought to one of the more unique characteristics of the castle…namely the electronic surveillance in most of the rooms.  Although there was no camera in the study, there were hidden microphones.  Therefore, their conversation was being broadcast, in rich stereo sound, to the living room where everyone else was gathered.

Rocky looked over at Frank and grinned.  "I can't believe that scheme of yours worked!  I must admit, I thought you were making a major mistake."

Frank smiled back at him.  "I suppose I've learned more about Earthling psychology than I'd realized.  Although there are Earthlings who manage to completely separate sex from love, they are relatively rare – and I never believed Janet to be one of them.  Her fixation on physical pleasure was both too powerful, and completely uncharacteristic of her.  She just needed to be reminded of what she'd be missing by having sex without love, before she did something she'd come to regret.  I rather hated involving Brad as well, particularly since it would be his first time with a woman, but I couldn't figure out another way to get Janet in bed without completely destroying her relationship with him."  He grinned.  "Besides, I figured Adrianna could give him some useful pointers on how to satisfy a woman in the bedroom."

Adrianna added, "Frank just told me to be a bit 'obvious' about keeping track of the time.  Not a difficult task, as unfortunately – if unsurprisingly – the young man's inexperience was quite evident."  She smiled.  "He was sweet, though."

Frank nodded.  "They're both sweet, and they belong together.  Fortunately it seems they have now been adequately reminded of that fact.  In all of our experiments, theirs was the only case in which I thought we might have done real damage to a previously strong relationship."

Suddenly they heard Brad say, with more than a bit of reluctance, "We'd better go back and rejoin everyone."  They quickly switched conversational gears, and started talking about their pending return to Transylvania as Brad and Janet walked back into the room.

Adrianna smiled at them as they reclaimed the sofa.  "Is everything all right?"

Janet smiled back at her.  "Never better."

At that point, the butler entered the room.  "Dinner is served.  Please follow me."

Frank nodded to him.  "Thank you."  To the others, he said, "The chef wanted to prepare a 'traditional American meal' for Adrianna.  Apparently he has discovered a delicious recipe for meatloaf."