Chapter 16:

Julia had returned to William's while waiting for him. At the end of the afternoon, the young woman, sitting on one of the armchairs in the living room, heard the front door open. She looked up from her book and put it down beside her. She got up, walked to the entrance, and was stunned to see William with blood on his shirt.

"William?!" the young woman exclaimed, rushing towards her lover. "What happened?!"

William closed the door behind him, took his lover in his arms and hugged her very tightly.

"I love you, Julia."

The young woman was totally surprised by the reaction of her companion but said nothing and hugged him in turn.

"Everything is fine?" she whispered to him softly.

"Yes… Your husband came to the Station and hit me…"

"What?! But how?"

"How did he know?" William cut in. "We weren't very discreet, apparently. Even the chief inspector had guessed…"

"And my girls surprised us at the Perkins party…"

William looked at his companion in amazement.

"Well…"

Julia then told him about the discussion she had had with her oldest daughter Rosemary. William listened thoughtfully, trying to imagine if Julia's daughters might ever accept him. Finally, the young man dragged Julia with him to his living room and they both sat down next to each other, holding hands while quietly drinking tea. William recounted his "interview" with Ethan Brenks and Julia could hardly imagine her husband being so violent.

"He…loves you like crazy…" William said with difficulty.

He did not want to tell her that. He did not want her back home and with Ethan Brenks. He wanted to keep her with him. She was his soul mate; he was sure of it. But he did not want to force her. If what she really needed was proof that her husband loved her, she had it now.

"If…if what you wanted was for your husband to show his affection for you and return to him…I…I would understand, Julia." choked out the young man.

"But William. I don't want to go back to Ethan. It is you that I love. I have never loved anyone like you. You are the man of my life, and I am sure of it, William."

William let out the breath he had been holding while waiting for the young woman's response and laughed in relief.

He cupped Julia's face and pulled her closer to kiss her passionately. The young woman grabbed hold of her lover's jacket and tried to pull it off before he laid her under him on the couch, the tea forgotten.

Making love to Julia had been wonderful, William thought. He had felt the happiest in the world. He had felt so much pleasure that he had thought, more than once, that he was fainting. He was now lying on the couch, Julia's head resting on his chest, sound asleep. She was completely naked and so was he, without any cover or anything. He smiled at the complete lack of embarrassment between them. Everything seemed so natural… He hoped things could go their way. If the chief inspector accepted the possibility of taking Julia on as coroner, she would have a stable job and an income. She could have shared custody of her kids with Ethan.

Adultery most often precluded custody of a child, but in this case, there was normally no evidence. Nobody had surprised them, apart from Julia's daughters. And he hoped they would not talk. Although he knew perfectly well that Julia and himself would be incapable of forcing them to lie.

He wanted to do it right, but right now it seemed like 'right' was way out of the way for both.

He turned his attention to Julia, who stirred a little and smiled tenderly at the memory of their antics. The way she threw her head back when he did something she liked. And the way she had moaned uninhibited when she had come, trying to stop herself from vocalizing. How could he spend time with her in public now that he had seen that? It was unthinkable.

Julia stirred a little, then opened her beautiful eyes. She turned her head to him and smiled. She had had the most amazing time of her life. She had felt such a connection with her lover that it had been breathtaking. She had seen him in such a state… So different from his quiet, calm, and strict character… It was so intoxicating and captivating.

"William? Are you awake?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, and you?" he joked.

She chuckled gently, before sitting up to stroke his hair. William wanted to close his eyes, but the sight of her nakedness prevented him, and he could not help but smile impishly.

"What?" she also asked playfully.

"Nothing… nothing." laughed the young man.

He freed himself from Julia's arms and got up quietly, as if nothing had happened.

"I'll take a shower." he declared quite naturally as his lover stared at his naked body.

She watched him walk into the bathroom and close the door behind him. The young woman looked at the clock in front of her and sighed. It was late… But at the same time, she had nothing to do. And she would have nothing to do for days now… Her mood dropped a little bit, but she decided afterwards to join William who was so kind to welcome her into his home.

Note: William and Julia's relationship is progressing quietly.