The Good Life

by Gordon Merrick

  “You find him attractive even though you’re suspicious of him. He’s quite beautiful and eager to please, especially you. You intimidate him, which couldn’t be better for him. I’d love to see you making love together.”

  A spark of rebellion flared up in Perry. Did anybody have the right to expect him to perform on command? Billy had every right. Rebellion died. He had accepted the bargain. It was about time Billy made some demands.

  An impression remained from last night that there was nothing wrong with Sylvain in bed. What was wrong with him? Absolutely nothing that Perry could make a real point about. He should be glad to give Billy something he wanted.

  “We can’t leave him out there all night,” Perry said as he sat forward and handed back the spent pipe. “Shall I let him in?”

  “I’m so glad you’re a pushover.”

  Perry pulled himself to his feet, shaking off his agreeable lethargy, and straightened his dressing gown in case there were any surprises on the other side of the door. He opened it and stepped aside to admit Sylvain.

  “I left everything in order on deck,” he reported to Billy. “I am free.” Sylvain turned to Perry, and a wary look came and went as it was absorbed into a winning smile. He had removed his bow tie, and his shirt was unbuttoned to expose his brown chest. Perry guessed that he’d been coached by Billy. “You don’t need me to show you where your cabin is tonight,” he said.

  Perry laughed. He could be friendly if that was what Billy wanted. “You’re a very good guide,” he said, acknowledging the intimacy with the bantering warmth of his voice.

  Perry tossed his dressing gown onto the bed. Sylvain stripped with a few effortless movements as if nakedness came naturally to him. He seemed to blossom as his sleek brown body emerged from the commonplace working outfit. Perry envied his color. He was glad to see he had no need to envy his cock; Perry’s own was much bigger.

  Sylvain’s hands moved on him with possessive familiarity — smoothly, expertly, seductively. Perry laughed as they came to grips with each other at the end of the bed. He stepped back to give Billy a moment to admire the two handsome, well-developed young men in the hard pride of their manhood. He knew instinctively what was expected of him. He doubted he could do anything worth $250,000, but he could try.

  Perry suspected that Sylvain enjoyed showing off as much as he did. After a moment he understood that Sylvain wouldn’t object to being taken. Feeling his surrender was an unexpected triumph for him, but he didn’t feel like making the effort. Let Sylvain make all the effort; he was adept and willing. Perry was content to drift lazily to climax. He was in control.

  They took turns in the head, and when Perry came out, Billy was alone. “The party’s over?” he asked.

  “I sent him on his way. A pretty creature, don’t you think?” His eyes wandered over Perry’s nakedness. “You’re magnificent, however. You always win.”

  Perry put his dressing gown on, smiling to himself. Billy understood completely.

  As Perry started along the passage, his eyes settled on Bet’s door, and he cringed with shame. He had done it for Billy — the bargain — but he shouldn’t have accepted a bargain that required him to put on a show of queer sex with a hired hand. He was a hired hand himself.

  He thought of Bet’s sweet young kiss. Billy was right. He wasn’t fit to fool around with a decent girl. He was tainted.

  He closed his own door silently behind him, wondering how it had started. His moving in with Hubie had been a straightforward expedient to solving his housing problem. He hadn’t been tempted by sex with him. He hadn’t even known he could enjoy sex with a guy. That had crept up on him slowly, the first few times taking him by surprise. It wasn’t until Timmy that he’d realized he could actually want it.

  So he was queer — or queer enough for it to play a part in his life. That didn’t excuse his putting on a show for Billy. He was corrupt. If he really cared about Billy, he mustn’t corrupt Bet.

  He was awakened by the motion of the boat, a gentle lift and sway that started to put him back to sleep, but he couldn’t resist going to see what they were doing and where they were going. He could feel the motor in a slight vibration more than hear it.

  He rang for breakfast while he was waking himself up in the head. Emile brought him coffee and a flaky croissant. Out the window, if it was permissible to call it that, he could see that the sun was shining and that they were out in the bay. A blue ridge of land was visible in the distance.

  He pulled on swimming trunks and hurried up to the deck, hoping Bet was up. In the bright light of day, he was feeling less of an evil influence. Drugs had peculiar effects on people, but he wasn’t going to become an opium addict. She must have heard of guys playing around with each other. He might be a model of virtue compared to the people she was used to.

  Nobody was sitting on deck. A sailor was standing at the wheel. They were running along the shore, close enough to see roads and houses and trees. A stretch of beach made him wonder if they’d driven along here yesterday.

  Henri approached with a cheerful “Good morning” while he was looking around. “Do you wish a beer, sir?” he asked.

  Perry grinned at him. “You guessed.” It was 11 o’clock. “Am I the first one out?”

  “No, sir. Miss Bettina is there.” He nodded toward the bow.

  “Oh, good. Give me a beer, and I’ll go see her.”

  He stood at the rail on the land side — the starboard side — and looked for familiar landmarks. The town was already behind them, the hill and tower still visible. He supposed that all this was part of the Saint-Tropez peninsula and that they would have to go around it before they saw more of the coast. There was nothing but sea ahead of them. They were towing a small dinghy from the stern. It bounced and bounded about in their wake like a puppy.

  Henri returned with the beer, and Perry took only a hasty swallow before starting forward on the uncovered deck.

  His heart gave a leap of delight as he spotted her among the mattresses. There was no doubt about it. He felt a special pleasure looking at her and knowing he was going to be with her. It was different from anything he’d ever felt. They somehow seemed to belong together. It wasn’t just that she was strikingly attractive. She made him feel good. She was fun. He could feel it even looking at her. She was wearing one of her skintight one-piece swimming suits, yellow today. It did wonders for the rich golden tan she was acquiring.

  “Not fair, Miss Vernon. You’ve been in the sun ahead of me,” he said, standing over her.

  She sat up quickly and looked up at him with a smile that made him feel she’d been waiting for him.

  “What a lazybones,” she scoffed. “I’ve been out for hours.”

  “Have you really?” He dropped down onto the mattress beside her.

  “Well, about an hour, May be. Since we left port. Are you going to give me a sip of your beer?”

  “I’ll get one for you.”

  “No, just a sip of yours. Hold it for me. I’m all oily.”

  He held his glass out for her. She put her hand on his to guide it. He felt the electric jolt of her touch all through him. How could he hope to keep his distance if she treated him with such adorable familiarity?

  They had become intimates; that couldn’t be undone. Her sharing his beer was like another kiss. It created pressure in his trunks that made him long to put his arms around her.

  She took a swallow and drew back, letting her hand drop from his. His burgeoning erection subsided.

  She licked her lips with a gurgle of glee. “That’s almost too good to be allowed. Don’t let me get fat. Have you come out without any sun-tan stuff? Really!” She had her carryall beside her and delved into it to pull out a bottle. “You’re the absolute limit. One would think you wanted to get burned.”

  She nudged him into position with his back to her and began to apply oil liberally to his neck and shoulders. She may not have meant for her hands to feel as if they liked what they were doing, but
they slid over him in long, thrilling strokes that seemed to take possession of him. They moved down the sides of his ribs to the top of his trunks. He had a hard-on.

  “That’s wonderful,” he said when he was thoroughly oiled. “You don’t mind taking care of me?”

  “You’re such a big baby.” She left a hand lying idly on his waist. “You have a lovely body. Somebody should take care of it.” She leaned against him and gave him a quick kiss beside his shoulder blade.

  “What about you?” he blurted to show that a girl kissing his back was nothing to get excited about. “Let me put some on you.”

  “I’m all right. I have special Swiss stuff that’s supposed to last all day.”

  “Okay. You can take care of yourself. You don’t know what you’re missing.”

  He swung around hoping to catch her off-guard with that special look in her eye, but her lively smile was full of fun, not innuendo. She kept throwing him off-balance. When her manner misled him into thinking of her as a child, she became an adult — a very assured and sophisticated adult, capable of taking men in her stride. There was nothing girlishly silly about her. She said things at times that sounded daringly suggestive, but he still wasn’t sure how worldly-wise she was.

  “Do you know where we’re going?” he asked.

  “Around the point, I suppose.” She looked in toward land. “We’re passing Tahiti, where we were yesterday. All that’s Mado’s property. Mado from last night. We’ll see the lighthouse soon. There are pretty deserted coves on the other side.”

  “Shall we go exploring?”

  “Onshore? If you can get us there. Can you row? We always anchor off. The boat can’t go in very close.”

  “You mean it’s not deep enough. It’s pretty impressive to have such a big boat all to ourselves. You probably take it all for granted.”

  “Don’t make me sound horrid. I’ve never known anybody like you. You don’t think like most men, but I don’t suppose I’ve really known many men —just silly boys. That’s the difference. You’re a man.”

  “It’s about time.”

  “I don’t mean just being twenty-one and grown-up. Men are interesting. They have experiences. I just do the same thing year after year, like most girls. We’re such tiresome creatures. I wish I were going to New York when you go.”

  “I do too.”

  They shifted about, making room for each other on the mattress, and stretched out on their stomachs side by side, touching here and there. They cradled their chins on their folded arms and looked at each other. It was like being in bed together.

  “What are you going to do?” Perry asked. “I mean, aside from finding a rich husband.”

  “What else can a girl do? You don’t think you’ll find a fortune before Christmas? Without marrying a rich wife, that is. That wouldn’t do me much good.”

  “We don’t sound as if we’re going about it with the proper determination. I thought fortune hunters were single-minded.”

  “Wait till you see me when I’ve sighted my prey.”

  They laughed at their absurdity, and their eyes assured each other that they could be easily distracted from their hunt.

  He edged closer to her. His erection was trapped uncomfortably under him. He wished he dared let her feel it. She wasn’t shy about liking his body. May be she would like that important part of it.

  If she turned out to be as willing as he was beginning to think she might be, he was going to have to decide what to do about it. The difficulties of clandestine meetings on board would make it easy to put her off if he could think of any reason to.

  Lying beside her with a hard-on, he felt heroic for giving it even a moment’s thought. He would try to leave the initiative more or less up to her; nobody could ask more of him. He couldn’t help it if she had plenty of opportunity for seeing that he wanted her. He hadn’t designed the little swimming trunks or decided that it was permissible to wear them in public. So far his erection hadn’t popped out of them, but he couldn’t go on worrying about shocking people. They wouldn’t see anything if they didn’t look.

  He sat up and checked. He had a hard-on. He could see it, and anybody who knew anything about men could see it too, which probably included Bet. She was an innocent but not necessarily a virgin.

  He raised his empty glass and signaled toward the stern. “I think I’ve ordered beer,” he said, looking down at her. “They must be getting used to me by now.”

  She rolled over and sat up. “I didn’t know anybody could drink so much of it without turning into a barrel.”

  “It agrees with the poor.”

  “I forgot. That’s us. That ring should take care of your poor starving babies for a month or two.”

  “Do you like it?” He laid his hand out flat on his thigh. She put her hand on it, toying with the ring. His heart accelerated, and his erection swelled against the taut fabric of the ridiculous trunks. They were beginning to handle each other with the freedom of lovers.

  “It’s stunning. I was going to tell you.”

  Emile arrived with two beers. She withdrew her hand but not hastily, as if she would gladly leave it. Perry took both glasses with a smile and a nod for the steward.

  “I’ll drink them both if you don’t want it,” he assured Bet.

  “Oh, no. We’ll get fat together. Give me that.”They laughed at the alacrity with which she took a long, thirsty swallow.

  “We’ll sweat it off,” he said, smoothing back a lock of dark hair from her brow.

  She tilted her head to his hand. If she was aware of his erection, it didn’t ruffle her composure.

  Feeling his way with such a young girl, a new experience for him, stirred an odd, almost paternal, tenderness in him. He wanted her sweet body, but he couldn’t really imagine having her. Touching each other with the familiarity of lovers was enough for a start.

  They sat hunched against each other, and she pointed out features in the landscape as they slowly passed. They reached the lighthouse, a squat building at the end of a lonely point, and shifted course to head in toward layers of blue distant hills. They ran along low wooded land with no visible houses. It looked deserted enough, but he couldn’t see if there were coves. The point had carried them quite far out to sea. There was plenty of open water between them and the coastal hills.

  Perry began to feel the excitement of being physically adrift and self-sufficient, in immediate contact with the elements, without a destination imposed by roads or timetables. In theory they could decide on the spur of the moment to go to the ends of the earth. It was an odd feeling even if it lasted only a moment.

  “Does your father ever go on long trips on the boat?” he asked.

  “Not often. He likes his comfort. Storms aren’t much fun. He went to Greece once.”

  “Greece? You can go to Greece on this? How amazing. Why not India? Wouldn’t you like to go to India?”

  “Of course. Let’s go to India this afternoon. They looked at each other and laughed as excitedly as children. He caught her hand and held it against his thigh. She left it in his possession.

  “Oh, Perry, hurry up and get rich,” she exclaimed. “We could do all sorts of lovely things.”

  “Together.”

  “If you don’t find anybody better,” she said blithely.

  “How can I? I’m stuck on the boat with you,” he said.

  “My choice is rather limited too,” she pointed out.

  “It won’t be for long. Billy is lining up likely partners for you.”

  She made a face. “They always want to arrange my life. Of course, Mummy had already warned me about you, so we know what to expect from her.”

  “I have one advantage,” Perry said. “Nobody cares if I throw myself away on you.”

  “You must have a family.”

  “In Seattle. They gave up trying to influence me long ago.”

  “Good heavens. I wouldn’t dare try to influence you. You have a mind of your own. Well, that’s what one wa
nts in a man. Monique says that if a man is waiting for a woman to lead him, he’s not worth bothering about.”

  “Monique seems to have a mind of her own too.”

  “She’s my best friend at school. We tell each other everything. I have to write her about you.”

  “Be sure to tell her how influential I am.”

  “It’ll just be a letter, not a book. I’ll hardly have room to get started.”

  “True. It’s a big subject.”

  “It is indeed.” She dropped her eyes and lifted them quickly with a wickedly knowing gleam in them. She knew what was going on.

  They pressed their shoulders together and burst out laughing. Did her school chums talk about their boyfriends’ erections? It wasn’t what he expected with sheltered young ladies, but she seemed to be encouraging him.

  He hastily revised the limits he had imposed on himself, preparing for the next advance in their growing intimacy.

  They were getting quite close to land. The wooded landscape still looked rather deserted, but he saw things that might be indications of coves — indentations in the shoreline, rocky fingers of land reaching into the sea.

  The vibration of the boat had subsided; they had probably slowed down. He looked back and saw that they had nosed in behind a long projection of land that seemed to enclose them from the open sea.

  The motor suddenly accelerated with a smooth roar of power, a chain rattled in the bow, and there was a splash. Then the rattle of chain began to die down as the bow swung around to face the point that they’d been running along since they’d rounded the lighthouse. The rattle of the chain stopped abruptly. The motors died.

  An enormous silence settled over them broken only by the grating rasp of the cicadas coming to them from the nearby land. He remembered them from somewhere he’d lived in the States: a summer sound.

  “India already?” he asked. Her laughter rang out in the silence. He loved making her laugh and chuckled with pleasure. “Will we lunch here? We’ll go exploring later.”

  “I think I’ve been here before. If I’m right, there’s a rather divine little cove that you can’t really see till you’re in it.” She sat forward, looking around. “I’m not sure. There’s a scrap of beach, but you wouldn’t see it from out here.”