"Just be gentle with her, man," Harold told his brother.

"Sheesh, Hal," Lance said. "Why act the heavy, suddenly?" Sam was the girl of dreams, the woman he planned to play in quartets with for the rest of his life. She trusted him. So why was his big brother acting like he was her big brother these last three days?

"Because she'd tell Lauren, for one reason." Hal had only met Lauren through Lance, and her parents weren't exactly thrilled about her dating a college guy four years older. "She's sure to think that your brother is as big a klutz as you. The first time is special to a girl. It's your first time, too, isn't it?"

"Well..."

"Look you can BS your friends at Interlochen that you have a harem back home, and you can tell your pals here that you went through the entire string section at Interlochen; but there is one person you shouldn't BS."

"You? Why should I tell the truth to you?" Hal didn't tell him the truth. Leaving aside all the other stories, he'd claimed to have had Lauren on their third date. Now he claimed that he'd never got to second base with her. Lance had actually believed his brother's stories until his first summer at Interlochen. He'd retold enough of them there to figure out that Hal might have borrowed his stories of conquests, too.

"Not me. Why should you tell me the truth? Samantha. You just tell her that you both are on a journey together. You've read a few books, is all. And that you're going to go at her pace. You did read those books?"

"Sure. For all the good it's going to do."

"And you have our little friends."

"Four. Think that will be enough?"

"One will be enough. You're carrying three spares." Lance wasn't sure. "And get them back to me; I don't want Mom finding them in your pockets. Have everything? Let's go!"

"Just remember," Harold told him as they followed Sam's car, "you have all the time in the world. Treat Samantha like a Strad, not a fiddle. Take it easy, kiss and pet like you usually do, just don't stop when you usually do."

"I swear, you're more nervous about this than I am."

"Well. There's two things. I'm nervous about my night, too."

"It's been years since Dad drove up to check on us," Lance pointed out. "I don't think that you have much to worry about." Lance and Hal camped out on the mountain every solstice and equinox. Sam's parents knew this, but not just where the mountain was. So they weren't going to check up on their daughter. The only hole in the story was that one set of parents thought that the brothers were camping out once again; the other two sets thought that Sam was camping with her friend, Lauren. But no story is perfect.

"That's not it." Hal was still being the practical big brother. "I might not be going to 'sleep with' Lauren, but I'll be sleeping right next to her. This is an event in our relationship, and it is not dictated by the timing of our relationship, capish?"

"I understand." Lance understood that Hal didn't appreciate the difference. Lauren was Hal's current girlfriend; the night would be one more step. Samantha was the light of Lance's life; this night they were sealing that relationship in blood.

"And then there is my WSC syndrome."

Lance had to laugh at this. At the darkest hour of World War II, when the Wermacht had conquered a score of countries and England was next on Hitler's list, Churchill had been called to form a government. He said that he had slept soundly for the first time in a month that night. At last, the power to change things was in his hands. Their father told that story, apparently out of the blue, several times a year. Often, it was just after their mother, and -- much more recently Hal -- had expressed satisfaction for having some control of things. "You want to direct my life as your own private porn movie. No way Jose."

Soon they turned in to the last wide spot before the dirt road. Hal walked back to Sam's car. Sam joined Lance in the jeep. They kissed.

"Nervous?" he asked. She nodded. "Trust me?" She nodded again. "I love you."

He followed the Suburban as far as cars could go. Then he got out and helped Hal attach a rope to the rock face beside the trail. The two of them carried up the tent and the space blanket. Conscious that this process was being watched by Sam, he was glad that Hal treated him as an equal for this part. They set the tent up in the usual place, across the hollow from the path. They maneuvered the space blanket into the tent and lay it out over the floor. They both went down again; Hal's sleeping bag was still in the Jeep.

He carried up some of what Lauren had brought along. You would think she was going to spend a week. Sam needed to bring a bag, after all; she was going to be seen checking into a motel. Lauren didn't need anything but a sleeping bag.

Still, he placed her stuff in the tent for her. She chucked her sleeping bag after. Anxious as he had been to get this show on the road, he was somehow reluctant just then. Still, it was time to get going. "Gee, thanks, guys," he said. Then he went back to join Samantha in the Jeep.

He drove back to the main road, and then down the road towards the motel. Sam wasn't saying a word. He noticed a motel with a vacancy sign as they passed it. He was tempted to drive in. Well, he'd remember the place in case the one they'd planned on was full.

It wasn't; one worry taken care of. The man at the desk didn't blink at his signing Hal's name, didn't even ask to see the ID he'd borrowed; another worry gone. He got back in the Jeep and drove it to their parking spot. Sam's shocking-pink Suburban was apparently the only one on the Front Slope. He'd never seen another. Any of their friends seeing it at a motel would jump to the obvious conclusion.

Hal's black Jeep Cherokee was just like a million others. Nobody would recognize it, and -- if someone did -- they would think of Hal and not Lance or Sam.

They got their stuff out of the Jeep and into their cabin. All the minor worries had been escaped. Now only the major worry was left.

He kissed her again.

She took a little time to get in the mood of the kiss. When she was responding, he broke away to spread little kisses all over her face. When Sam pushed him away, she disappeared into the bathroom. Was she going to come out naked? She hadn't taken anything with her. Just take off her underclothes to make things easier? His images necessitated an adjustment of his clothing. Since she couldn't see, he did it right there. He heard the toilet flush and the faucets run. Sam came back dressed as she had been when she left.

They kissed again until he grew uncomfortable with bending to reach her mouth. He led her over to the bed. She lay down on top of the spread and allowed him to remove her shoes. He lay down beside her and leaned on his left elbow. This time, the kiss was much more comfortable. When his tongue invaded her mouth, hers met it.

He finally cupped her breast with his hand. It was so sweet and sexy, even through her shirt and bra. He'd been resisting forever his need to touch her like that, since she'd got into the Jeep really. She held his hand there; clearly he'd waited long enough.

He broke the kiss again to kiss all over her face. He started unbuttoning her shirt when he arrived at her ear. She shivered at his sucking on her lobe, but she always did. Her hands were caressing his face, not resisting his. When he moved to her neck, however, she pushed him away.

"I can't have a hickey," she said.

"I'll be careful." She was right. Bringing a hickey back from a date with him was grounds for teasing, not even scolding this past year. Bringing one back from an overnight with Laurel would be something else again. And their excuses wouldn't stand much scrutiny. Her parents thought she was at the mountain; his parents thought that he was. As long as nobody talked about it much, they wouldn't compare notes.

He returned to her mouth. When he'd got her shirt unbuttoned, she pulled it out of her jeans. "Mom was there when I got dressed," Sam said. Finally, he realized what she meant. She was wearing a utilitarian bra, not one of her sexiest ones.

"I've been looking forward to being with you, not with your clothes." To tell the truth, he'd been looking forward to being with her without her clothes. Maybe it was better not to actually say that.

"You're sweet."

He went back to her mouth. When she relaxed into the kiss again, he rolled her over towards him and moved his hand back to her bra clasp. She let him fumble with it. When it came unsnapped, however, she sat up. She removed the shirt and the bra before lying back down.

He kissed her mouth again. This time, when he left it, he kissed down her neck and shoulder to her chest. Soon, the trail led all the way to her nipple. It was hard under his lips. "Oh, Sam," he said, "Sa - man -tha."

"Oh yes," she said. He moved over to the other nipple and she started unbuttoning his shirt. When she got to the last button, he stood up to remove it and his teeshirt. The boots would be a problem sometime, so he sat down on the edge of the bed to deal with the laces. Sam ran her hands up and down his back while he did.

He didn't say anything until he got the boots off. Then, "Two can play that game." He turned her over, not that her resistance used all her strength. He then pinned her down while he kissed up and down her spine.

She laughed, and said "Help, help" in a very soft voice.

He had to laugh, too. He flopped down on the bed beside her and let her turn over. He cupped a breast in each hand. She rose up above him and kissed him on the mouth. It was even more fun that way.

Soon, she held herself up above him by her arms. He scooted down in the bed to taste her nipples, alternating between them. He cupped her butt through the jeans. Soon, that was too much cloth.

"I want to take these off you," he said. She flopped down on the bed on her back. He leaned over to kiss her belly while unsnapping and unzipping her jeans. Then he got up to pull them off. He hung them on the back of a chair.

Back on the bed, he leaned over her legs to kiss them. Then he stroked them while kissing her breasts. Soon, he was cupping her mound through the panties. She pulled his hand more tightly against her.

He raised his head. "Oh, sweet," he said.

He kissed down her torso to her belly. He started to tug at her panties. Suddenly she sat up.

"Just a minute," she said. She had brought her bed bag in from the Jeep. She took it into the bathroom with her. He settled back, a little disappointed. The view of her walking around and bending over in just her panties was the sexiest thing he'd ever seen. Seeing anything just wasn't as sexy as feeling her and kissing her.