"I've been waiting for you, Barnabas Collins. I've been waiting for a very long time."

"Have you?" Even now that his prey seemed to have gained the upper hand on him, Barnabas kept an arrogant edge in his voice, determined not the let the frail woman in only her nightgown know it.

"Yes. Because I know what you are."

Had Barnabas's heart still beat, in that moment it would have frozen.

"What do you mean, you know what I am?" He quickly erected a stone exterior in an attempt to maintain control of the situation, but as Julia Hoffman began to saunter around the room, casually grasping the posts of her bed and unraveling Barnabas's cover, it was painfully obvious that Barnabas was not the one in control.

Desperately grasping for anything remotely resembling control, Barnabas decided to intimidate her. If this woman really understood any of what she knew, it would require very few threats from a monster such as him to quickly right the situation.

"You realize the danger this puts you in." As Barnabas advanced on the thin woman, nothing short of a passionate burning rage was sparked within him by the cocky smile the woman directed at him.

"Of course. That's why I took the precaution of putting the dummy in the bed." Her eyes sparkled a little with a distasteful mirth that only stirred the embers already burning deep in Barnabas's belly.

He moved to close in on her, "But you didn't take the precaution of getting as far away from here as possible." He trapped her then, without any struggle on her part between himself and the bed. His close proximity, originally intended to frighten her, was only serving to further frustrate Barnabas himself as he could smell her perfume, see her veins pulsing underneath the delicate skin of her long neck, and see with absolute clarity the delight, not fear, twinkling in her eyes from her knowledge of exactly what he was.

Barnabas tried desperately to convince himself that the tightening of his insides was from his repulsion and worry about her curious reaction. Although he knew on some very quiet conscious level that his reaction to her like had more to do with that weakness he had always had for the fairer sex, and as engagingly frustrating as Julia Hoffman was, she was certainly fair, and marked with exotic eyes that twisted in his core like a knife, and of course, two centuries in a box was very very long time…

Barely registering that Julia was speaking to him, only that she knew, Barnabas pulled closer, almost snarling at her.

"What is it that you want?"

"You."

Barnabas's entire body, flesh and all seemed to alight at her one, soft word, as a familiar feeling of tightness from far too long ago in his loins presented itself, and joined with the sensation of feeling her veins pulsing under his palm, and the delicate feminine smell of her filling his nostrils, Barnabas snapped.

Throwing the small woman backwards on the bed, Barnabas tearing at her clothes and tasting the flesh of her neck, careful not the break the skin just yet. Barnabas found himself quite pleased with the idea of using her to sate his bloodlust after sating this other lust first.

As a cold breeze licked at Barnabas's chest he looked down to realize, that as opposed to his expectations of Miss Hoffman being terrified of and trying to escape his attack, or even resignedly laying back cold and still. No. Julia Hoffman was tearing away at his clothing with a voracity matching his own, all the while soft moans and keens fell from her lips in time with his attack on her throat.

Barnabas pulled back then, to take in not only the situation but the sight of her.

Oh and what a sight it was, pale skin glowing in the moonlight, the hardened nipple of one breast peaking through her shredded nightgown, and smoldering eyes seemingly dissecting him and his every movement.

With an impatient growl, she wrapped her legs tightly around his waist pulling him yet again flush against her, before she proceeded to attack his mouth with her own, her tongue briefly entangling with his own, before teasingly following the points of his fangs.

Her passion proved to further excite his own, to the point that he was sure his skin had actually caught fire.

He felt then her cool hand wrap around his manhood, before giving a light squeeze that sent a volt of electricity down his spine, followed by a splash of water that was Julia's low sensual gravely voice moaning his name, and he was suddenly brought back to an enraged reality.

Taking control of the situation again, Julia barely had time to gasp before Barnabas had captured both of her wrists high above her head with one hand as the other wrapped around the base of her throat and began to squeeze.

"This won't matter, you know. Because, I…am going to kill you, Miss Hoffman."

She twisted her head back and forth, looking for something, anything, it seemed.

"Doctor Hoffman. Doctor Hoffman! I can help you!" She nearly cried to him.

Unrelenting with his hold on her, Barnabas decided to indulge his curiosity.

"Help me?"

"You don't have to live this life!"

Barnabas felt something closely akin to hope join the battle of sensations and emotions within him, and just as quickly as it came, it was slaughtered by his monstrous hate, and with that death came a resigned disappointment. Dropping his hands and pulling away from Doctor Hoffman, Barnabas admitted to himself as much as he accused her. "You are merely trying to save yourself."

She looked up at him then, one hand timidly stroking the remains of his lapel in a soothing way, as the other gently massaged her own throat. "Would I let myself be in this position if I didn't have something of value for you and for me."

"There is no other way of life for me."

"There is!"

How could she possibly be so calm, so assured?

"It isn't possible!"

"It wasn't possible, but it is now. I've spent my entire lifetime studying conditions such as yours."

Boldly, but slowly, Julia began to move, up onto all fours before pushing Barnabas onto his back and straddling him. The soft flesh of her breasts and abdomen exposed to him, her eyes narrowed as she leaned forward to quickly lick across his lips before pulling back, her eyes dark with conviction as well as lust.

"I can cure you, Barnabas Collins."

A little spark of hope reignited all the rage he had felt from her audacity and the lust her body created in him all at once, and with a strength he had forgotten he possessed he threw Doctor Hoffman off of him and onto her back.

Freeing himself from the remains of his clothing, all the while his mouth ravaged Julia's glowing flesh as she called out and moaned his name, thrusting her hips into his impatiently. As he felt the warm wet heat of her on his pelvis he lost all control and in one thrust buried the length of himself inside her.

Taking only the briefest of moments to revel in the way Julia threw her head back and cried out at his entrance, Barnabas began a rough and frantic pace, with the woman below him quickly matching, as each thrust was punctuated by low moans and breathless cries.

Suddenly he felt her nails clawing at his flesh, certainly leaving marks, and the sensation pulling him closer to the edge as his own noises of pleasure began to come from his mouth.

Julia must have been close, as her breathing became erratic, her cries constant and he felt her muscles tighten around him.

All the closer himself, Barnabas began to thrust wildly within her.

Soon Julia went rigid underneath him as she cried out his name, digging her nails into his flesh as her inner walls convulsed around him, pulling him to the edge himself.

Exhausted, he collapsed beside Doctor Hoffman, still struggling to regain her breath.

"Well then Doctor, how do you propose to cure me of my affliction?"

With that aggravating sparkle in her eye, Julia laughed a small laugh before beginning to explain….