As we toasted marshmallows to make s’mores, it was only natural that we told each other ghost stories—some from when we were kids, some we had heard over the years. The random unexpected events in those spooky tales were not unlike what had led us to that campfire.

I had met Julia some twenty years earlier when she was sleeping with a friend of mine. By the time they broke up, I had moved to another part of the country, but we had kept in touch ever since. Although we enjoyed each other’s company, we had never both been unattached and nearby at the same time.

This trip was caused by her latest break-up. She had been living with Jason in Montana near the Canadian border and was ready to get back to civilization. I rented a truck to help her move to San Francisco, which is where I had been for a few years. We loaded the truck and her car with her stuff and hit the road.

We were still an hour from the interstate when the truck stalled. The mechanic from the closest town concluded it was the electronic ignition module. It was Friday and the soonest he could get the part was Monday.

As the truck was towed to the town, Julia suggested that we head into the national forest. We could find a place to stay for the weekend and do a little hiking and canoeing.

The “motel” consisted of a collection of small cabins around a building with shared toilets and showers. There was no restaurant and not much of a store, but Jake the owner sold us some hot dogs as well as the graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows we were enjoying for dessert.

Besides the ghost stories, we used the time to catch up with each other. As the flames died, we made plans for the next day before adjourning to our separate cabins.

The cold woke me up. Somehow, the bedcovers were gone. I felt a cool soft weight on me. Opening my eyes, I looked up into a face, barely visible in the dark, as if illuminated by moonlight.

I could hardly move. As sleep cleared from my brain, I was able to see that a naked young woman was lying on top of me. Her firm breasts pressed against my chest, not hard enough to account for my immobility. Her long hair tickled my cheeks as dark eyes looked down at me with a smile that could have been a grin or a grimace.

From her movements, I realized she was riding my hard cock and it easily slid in and out of her. That the grip of her cunt was cool only slightly reduced her effect on me. My hands stroked the contour of her back down to her tight butt. From the infeasible glow of her body in the dark cabin, I decided that I must be dreaming and gave in to the growing excitement.

It is hard to judge time in a dream, but things progressed. The delightful pressure built in me as her motion increased in speed and intensity. Her mouth slowly morphed from a smile into an open “O” as she drove me to the edge.

She lowered her head to my shoulder and a loud moan pulsed in my ears; my dopamine-drenched brain recognized my own voice. My body spasmed as my orgasm exploded. She bounced and squirmed as I pumped again and again. The waves of pleasure didn’t stop—at least the last thing I remembered was how impossibly long they continued.

The next thing I knew, I was again waking up; this time it seemed more normal. There was noise, and sunlight leaked through the shades helping me remember where I was. The warm quilt was all that weighed me down. The sound was a banging on the door and a frantic voice calling my name.

“I’m coming!” I called as I got out of bed, discovering my underwear on the floor. Remembering the dream, I expected to find semen residue on my boxers or the sheets, but saw nothing. Urged on by the resumed pounding on the door, I dressed quickly. When I guided my balls into my jeans, they did tingle as if they had been emptied recently. Pulling on a shirt, I opened the door and my friend burst inside.

“Someone… attacked me… last night,” she screamed, hyperventilating. Startled, I took her in my arms to comfort her and guided her to sit next to me on the bed.

“What happened?” I asked when she caught her breath.

“I woke up and he was on me. I couldn’t push him off,” she sobbed. “I yelled but no one heard me.”

Holding her close with my arm around her back, I felt her shudder as she recalled the details. “He felt cold. Even though there was no light, I could see his leering face and his naked body.”

Julia’s eyes flashed as she replayed the events.

“I don’t know how long it was. He went faster and faster,” her voice rose with intensity. “Suddenly he slowed, I think he was cumming, but he made no sound.”

“Then I heard a moan,” she struggled to continue. She held me tightly, tears filling her eyes. “It was me.” Her voice became a raspy whisper. “I was cumming.”

If it hadn’t been for my night, I would have been just as upset as she was. I didn’t want to immediately discount her story, so I waited for her to finish.

“The next thing I knew, it was morning. I was naked, my underwear and pajamas were on the floor. I jumped out of bed and checked the door. It was locked and the chain was hooked. I don’t know how he got in or what he did to me. It was so horrible!” She was full-on crying now, and I stroked her hair as she released her emotions.

“I’m here, Julia,” I said. “You’re safe now.”

“We have to report it,” she said when she was back in control of herself. “We have to get that guy.”

“Absolutely,” I said, wanting to be supportive. “But before we do…,” the words caused her to stiffen in my arms.

“I think I should tell you what happened to me last night,” I said. Her eyes, red and wet with tears, began to turn angry.

I summarized what had happened to me, omitting any detail that made it seem pleasant—no sound, the cold body on me, the eerie illumination, being unable to move.

“Like you, the only sound I heard was my groan when I climaxed,” I said. “The next thing I knew, you woke me up knocking on my door.” Julia had moved away from me and pushed my arm off her.

“Julia, I’m not denying what happened to you,” I tried to reassure her. “Men commonly have wet dreams like that, so it isn’t as upsetting to us. Our ghost stories may have inspired it and it has left me with a creepy feeling, but I think that’s all that happened to me.”

“Is it possible that that’s also what happened to you?” I pleaded.

She was not ready to concede. A little less frantic and in the light of day, her expression changed from angry to uncertain.

“Let’s take a look at your cabin,” I suggested.

We checked the door lock and chain and they seemed sturdy. “You hooked the chain before you went to bed, and it was hooked when you woke up,” I confirmed to her nods. Both windows were locked and had cobwebs and dust that would have shown any entry. We moved the rug, looked under the bed and scanned the walls and ceiling for any possible entrance.

“It seemed so real,” she said.

“I don’t doubt a word of what you said,” I tried to be as empathetic as I could, “but isn’t it possible it was a dream?”

“Whatever happened, it was terrifying and I don’t want to be alone for a second until we get out of here,” she said.

Since we didn’t want to live on hot dogs and s’mores all weekend, we had planned to get more provisions that morning. We looked for Jake in the registration cabin to find out the nearest grocery store.

“How was your evening?” he asked, a little apprehension tingeing his cliché greeting.

I stopped Julia before she could launch into her story. “Actually, I had an unusual dream,” I said. The change in his demeanor told me something was up, and I could see Julia coming to a boil.

“Let me show you something,” he said, taking a framed picture off the wall and holding it out to us.

“That’s him!” Julia screeched, and I was glad there were no weapons within her reach. The faded old black and white photograph showed a couple, bride and groom. The woman certainly looked like the one I had encountered.

“Some people say they have seen these two around here,” Jake explained. “This was taken a long time ago.” Indeed, scrawled at the bottom of the picture was October 31, 1919.

“It’s a tragic story. He had survived the war and she had survived the flu epidemic. They came up here for their honeymoon. Their cabin caught fire and they both died. No smoke detectors or sprinklers back then. Our cabins look rustic but they meet all regulations today,” Jake added.

“It’s usually late in the season like now that people report seeing one or the other or both of them. I think it’s the early sunset, not as many people around, Halloween, who knows? I think people spook themselves.” He sounded like he had said these words many times.

“But I had never seen him before, and that’s definitely him!” Julia blurted out, not ready to accept this explanation.

“Maybe you saw the picture on the wall when you checked in,” he offered. “My grandfather was here when it happened, and he saved the picture. All I know is people have been claiming to see them for years. Last year, some ghost hunters came with a bunch of gizmos looking for them, but they never got any evidence. I can’t say one way or the other. I’ve owned this place for 30 years and I’ve never seen them.”

“In any case, I want to get away from here right now,” Julia was shaking her head slowly, trying to make sense of it all. We got the directions and headed to the store. In the car, we discussed the situation.

“We could look for another place to stay if you want,” I said.

“Rationally, I have to conclude that it didn’t happen,” she said slowly, “I don’t believe in ghosts, so I have to accept your dream explanation.”

I let her ruminate on it while we picked up some things we needed for the next two days. There was a coffee shop next to the store, so we had some breakfast and managed to talk about other things for a while.

“Okay, we can stay,” she said as we drove back to the motel. “It was just so strange and upsetting. I don’t want you to think I’ve gone wacky after living out in the middle of nowhere for so long.”

We drove in silence for a few more miles before she asked, “Do you get those wet dreams when you’re horny?”

“It’s usually when I haven’t ejaculated in a while,” I said. Being in a dry spell with women, I had, in fact, jacked off before I left on the trip. I wasn’t going to admit that I was thinking of Julia as I did.

“Well I haven’t had an orgasm in a while,” she mused. “Things were over with Jason for months, and I have been busy planning the move.”

“I’ve had erotic dreams before,” she confessed, “but this felt so realistic and frightening. She paused before adding, “and the orgasm was so….” She didn’t supply a word, but I knew what she meant.

We stashed our provisions and spent the afternoon on a pleasant hike. Putting the troubling night behind us, we enjoyed the crisp fall air and the companionship, joking and reminding ourselves of people and stories from our past.

We shared some decent backpacking meals and a bottle of wine around the fire that night.

“Would you think it’s silly if I want to sleep with you tonight?” she asked. She preempted my wisecrack, continuing “I mean sleep, not have sex!”

“I knew what you meant,” I laughed. “Don’t worry! I’ll hang a blanket in the middle of the bed like in an old movie. I have my reputation to protect!”

She didn’t insist on that. With me in a t-shirt and sweat pants and her in flannel pajamas, we weren’t going to be tempted. I waited for her to fall asleep before nodding off myself.

It didn’t take long for me to figure out what was going on this time. I opened my eyes to the same sight of a ghostly woman lying on me. The bedding and my clothes were gone. Straining my eyes, I saw Julia next to me in the same state.

Her body was illuminated by the glow of the man on top of her. I had never seen her naked, and my spank bank image of her was twenty years out of date. Strong arm and thigh muscles flexed as she strained, showing she was in good shape. Her full breasts were flattened by the glowing chest on top of her and they jiggled as he moved against her.

My crude voyeurism was slapped out of my mind when our eyes met and the look of terror on Julia’s face stabbed at my heart. I could see her screaming but heard no sound. She tried to push and hit and gouge the eyes of her attacker, but he didn’t react to anything she did. I did the same to mine, my blows landing silently, my shoves only pushing me into the mattress.

I reached my hand out to Julia, taking hers; her grip was hard enough to break bones. I wanted her to know we would get through this together. Her look of fear and revulsion made me worry she would blame me for making her stay another night.

As I struggled, I tried squirming out from underneath my assailant. She maintained her perch, but I managed to move an inch or two closer to Julia. That small success encouraged me and I reached across with my right arm to pull on Julia’s arm. Maybe we could pull ourselves out from under them.

Sensing some movement, Julia got the idea and reached across with her left arm. Grabbing each other as best we could, we pulled. The glowing couple moved with us as we writhed closer together.

Shoulders almost touching, I reached across to Julia’s neck to get a better grip and she did the same to mine. Silently, I mouthed “One… two… three!” and we both pulled with all our might.

I wish I had thought of this plan, and in future retellings of this story I will say I did, but it just happened.

As we pulled, our bodies began to rotate. Defying more laws of physics, my apparition leaned to maintain her relative position and her purchase on my cock; Julia’s did the same. We pulled harder, encouraged by the thought that we might escape from under them. The two seemed completely unaware as their bodies passed through each other.

There was a moment of worry when I realized that his body was about to touch me and hers was about to touch Julia, but there was nothing to do but continue.

His contact was cool, but it wasn’t solid like hers. His arm passed right into mine. The same was happening to Julia. I shook my head in resignation. What else could we do?

A chill filled more and more of my body as I felt him overlap me. But I noticed another change. Maybe it was just relative to the infringing cold, but my ghost’s right breast began to feel warm on my chest as it merged with Julia’s chest.

The last degrees of rotation went quickly as we grabbed each other’s hips. Not only did I feel cold, but I realized that I was feeling Julia’s body, not the ghost’s. Her large soft breasts warmed my chest, and my hand gripped her full ass. The couple was superimposed on us and provided the glow that let me see Julia’s face—alternately confused, fearful, and angry.

It seemed so natural to be holding her that I almost forgot our predicament. I was reminded when I noticed that my movements had become more active. Not just responding to the phantom woman, I was also being moved by the man.

Julia’s left leg bent and lifted over my right to open herself to me. As my hips thrust forward, it was a warm pussy that enveloped my cold cock. She met my thrusts, her left hand on my ass, urging me deeper.

I tried to express my helplessness to her, shaking my head, not wanting her to think of me as attacking her. Perhaps driven by the woman who controlled her body, she moved to kiss me. Her breath and lips were hot on mine, and I returned the kiss with unbidden ardor.

However long it had been since we awoke to this dream, despite the distractions and exertions, the continuous stimulation was about to bear fruit. Whether natural or supernatural, waking or dreaming, my body tingled everywhere it touched warm soft flesh. With a mind of their own, my hips drove my cock into her again and again.

I felt the tension in her body as she clutched me tightly. Her mouth went slack and her thigh twitched against my leg. Suddenly the chill within my body was displaced by heat and the room was lit by the glow of the spirits that had invaded our bodies. Like the night before, the ecstasy was intense and seemed to go on forever. After long ecstatic minutes, the pleasure and the light slowly dimmed.

Although I was not directing it, the passionate way I kissed and stroked Julia was not far from what I would do with a lover, and her forced response seemed sincere. My mind was torn, trying to resist being compelled to do something I could only have wished to do. After the strange, intense battle and tsunami of euphoria, I expected things to conclude and allow us to escape this insane situation. Before I was able to have two consecutive rational thoughts, however, Julia was rolling onto her back and pulling me on top of her.

It had been a long time since I had been able to perform again so soon after climaxing. I don’t know if I was still hard or hard again, but Julia’s hand gripped a steel pole when she reached down between us. If it had been up to me, I surely would have interrupted to taste her pussy, but she spread her legs and pushed my cockhead against her opening.

Julia looked up at me with hungry eyes. I needed no sound to hear her mouth say “Fuck me” over and over. Both vigor and endurance exceeded my normal standards, but I took her on a rollercoaster ride of fast, slow, deep, teasing, pounding, and grinding fuckmanship. She responded in kind, hips, legs, hands, and arms encouraging, demanding, guiding and answering my incursions.

As we reached the summit, her hands slowed me, keeping us on the edge, drawing out the anticipation, until at last the slightest movement contorted her mouth and I felt her cunt contract around my dick. That triggered my eruption. The sudden brightening reminded me of the reality—or unreality—of our situation. Motionless, welded together, we bathed in the exhilaration.

The darkness and our breathing had barely returned to normal when I rolled off Julia, only to find her completing the maneuver and ending up astride me. Once more I had to accept the implausibility of my erection as I was mounted, this time by my friend, yet certainly with the inspiration and augmentation of someone or something else.

It was much like last night, but with Julia’s large, pillowy breasts dangling over me rather than the ghost’s small firm ones. My hands cradled and massaged them, then roamed her body, ending on her soft ass.

The face that looked down at me was Julia’s, but it portrayed unexpected desire. The smile encouraged me, and I bucked up against her hot, moist pussy. As we got closer, she leaned forward, her hips bouncing as the spirit’s had last night. My still rigid penis gave her something to grind her clit against as she took advantage of its surprising abilities.

My guilt about what I was being forced to do was overwhelmed by her apparent pleasure and my certain gratification. Reaching my peak, my light shone as the hot liquid spurted out of me from whatever reservoir my body had found. She waited until my light began to dim before she triggered her own ecstasy, her joyful face bathed in saintly incandescence. As her light faded, the feel of her warm, soft, quivering body on top of me was the last thing I remembered.

In the morning, I woke first. Julia was on the other side of the bed as we had started the night. Slipping out from under the quilt, I discovered my t-shirt, boxers and sweat pants on the floor. Her underwear and pajamas were on the floor as well. I quickly put on jeans and a shirt, then sat on the chair and waited for her to wake up.

When she stirred, it took her a moment to open her eyes and remember where she was. “What the fuck!” she screamed as I assumed the memory of the night came back to her.

“Good morning, Julia,” I said as sweetly as I could. She looked at me in horror and embarrassment, reflexively pulling the bedspread up to her nose.

“You! Fuck you! How could you! Asshole! How did you! Shit!” she ranted. I let her blow off steam, blushing and looking sadder and more ashamed than I ever had.

“I’m sorry,” I said when she took a breath.

“You’re sorry?” she yelled, then repeated her litany of insults and curses.

“Should I stay here, or should I go so you can get dressed?” I suggested when she temporarily ran out of expletives.

She had been too agitated to notice that her nightwear had been removed, and the sudden realization triggered another minute of vocal rage.

“Get out! Get the fuck out!” she ended. As I rose to leave, she reconsidered, “No, wait.” She shook her head, mumbling to herself. Halfway to the door, I waited patiently as she looked at me, looked around the room, stared at the bed, and lifted the quilt to glance at herself. Anger had cooled to befuddlement.

“If you don’t want to be alone, I’ll blindfold myself,” I said, picking up my sweatpants. I sat down and wrapped them around my head, facing the wall as well.

“Okay,” she said quietly. I heard her moving about, opening her suitcase, apparently getting dressed. She talked to herself as she did, but not distinctly enough for me to know what she was saying. Then she was silent. The minutes dragged on.

“Alright, I’m dressed,” she said finally.

Uncovering my head, I saw her sitting at the foot of the bed. We just looked at each other for a while.

“Julia, I have known you—and cared about you—almost half my life,” I began. She seemed willing to listen, so I continued. “Whatever happened or seemed to happen last night, you know in your heart I would never do anything to hurt you.”

“It wasn’t real. Let me show you,” I said, standing up. Julia reacted, moving to the door as if to escape. I kept my distance, going to my side of the bed to pull back the bedclothes.

“Look at these sheets. Feel them. Smell them. Do they have any trace of the lovemaking we supposedly did last night?” I knew it hadn’t felt like lovemaking to her, but I was trying to lessen the trauma.

“I assume that somehow you had the same dream I did. Remember us both fighting them on top of us? Trying to pull ourselves free? Then somehow merging them into each other?” I prompted. Her eyes grew wide and teary at the memory.

“I came three times and my penis stayed as hard as a statue’s the whole time,” I said. Posing like Michelangelo’s David, I continued, “Is there any way this forty-something body did that? Even at my fittest and horniest, I was never that much of a stud.”

I knew I had hit home when I saw her hand move toward her crotch. She didn’t have to touch herself to realize that her genitals would be at least a little sore from that workout if it had been real. Frowning, she shook her head, trying to make sense of the nonsensical.

Balling her fists at her sides like a kid throwing a tantrum, she bellowed a long “Aargh!” in frustration; I hoped no one else heard it. With that catharsis, she came over and hugged me, saying, “I sorry.”

“I understand,” I reassured her. “It was horrible for me, too. Maybe not the same way, but I knew I was causing you pain, and I never want to do that.”

I had been coming up with a plan for that night. “Tonight, we’ll sleep in shifts. If either sees anything happening, we’ll wake the other person. I’m a night owl, so you can sleep first. The truck should be ready at noon and we’ll get the hell out of Montana!”

The sun was warm as we paddled and drifted down the river in our rented canoe. Out in nature, the sounds of wildlife and the flowing water settled us both. I let Julia broach the subject of the night before.

“Does it actually say ‘Thank you’?” she asked.

“Yes,” I laughed. Whatever these dreams were, they had all the details right. I had never told Julia about it. How could she have known?

“When I was with Madison,” I explained, “we both got tattoos just above our pubes. Hers said ‘Please’ and I got ‘Thank you’. Although we were drunk when we got them, in the fifteen years since it has served me well!” It was so good to hear Julia laugh.

That night, I watched her sleep, planning to wake her at four, playing a game on my phone to keep me awake. It was almost that time when I saw the glow appear in the room. The spectral couple stood at the foot of the bed, embracing lovingly. I shook Julia gently to wake her. She sat straight up, blinking her eyes as she stared at the shimmering pair. Jumping out of bed, she stood next to me.

We watched as they slowly turned in a silent dance, their naked bodies in the full flower of youthful sensuality. There was no aggression like we had experienced. I reached back to unlock the door in case we decided to escape, but Julia couldn’t take her eyes off them either.

After a few minutes, the newlyweds moved onto the bed. She got on her hands and knees and he knelt behind her, his hard cock sticking straight out. He moved into her and they fucked, slowly at first, then faster and harder. She lowered her head to the bed, taking him fully as he grabbed her hips. We could see but not hear the impacts on her ass.

“He’s really giving it to her,” Julia whispered.

“She seems to love it,” I replied.

They began to brighten. He flashed first, but she joined him moments later, the light almost filling the room. It lasted a minute, then he collapsed on top of her and they rolled to their sides, spooning. Julia and I watched as the glow diminished back to when they first appeared, then faded until the room was completely dark.

“That was… beautiful,” she said after a search for the right word.

Their final appearance seemed to change both our interpretations of the dreams we had shared.

As planned, she let me sleep for a few hours before we packed, retrieved the truck, and got back on the road. Driving separately, we kept each other company with our hands-free cell phones while the miles slipped by. Neither of us had ever believed in ghosts, but from what we had heard, spirits linger because of unfinished business. For these two, we decided that they must have died before they could consummate their marriage. By merging with them, we had allowed them to do that.

I helped her find an apartment in the Bay Area. It took a few months to put that strange confounding adventure behind us, but we refreshed the camaraderie that had sustained us over the years and across the miles. With the traumatic intimacy buried, a genuine romance blossomed. Eventually, we relived scenes from that hallucination, but under our control—and not all on the same night!

It was our fifth anniversary of that weekend, and we decided to return to that cabin motel. When we checked in, Jake recognized us.

“I remember you two. Your truck broke down, right? And you saw the ghosts,” he said, pointing at the picture on the wall. “You know, I haven’t heard a complaint about them ever since.”