The Lord Won't Mind (The Peter & Charlie Trilogy) (23 page)

When their breathing was steady she lifted his head, still holding it by the hair, and looked searchingly into his eyes. “Was it good?” she demanded.

“Mmm,” he murmured drowsily. He was unprepared for her clown’s face. He was lost in a sensual dream of Peter: his arms held his big, smooth, richly fleshed body; his rapturous laughter sang in his ears; he saw his replete smile after they had been overwhelmed by shared orgasms. Recalled by Hattie, he resolutely closed his mind to Peter.

“I could die when I think of all the time we’ve wasted,” she said. “I feel as if you’d made about ten babies all at once. What bliss.” She released his hair and ran her hands down his back and over his buttocks. She slipped one hand down between his legs and fondled his balls. His whole body jerked in response, and his sex began to grow inside her. She swivelled her hips slowly, and her face was once more blotted out by animal hunger. “You’re going to do it again,” she gloated.

“Sure.”

She continued to fondle his balls. “Lovely. Oh, yes. What a guy. More and more. God, yes. Take me, dammit, take me. I’m all yours.”

His second orgasm came almost as quickly as his first. When he was done, she disengaged herself. “That’s enough of
that,”
she said, “or I really will have ten babies. I feel as if you’d reduced my little gadget to shreds.”

“What little gadget?”

“The thing I wear, silly. So I won’t have babies.”

“Oh. Do you wear it all the time?”

“Always when I’m going to see you. I’m an optimist. How right I was.” She rose and left him. He noted as she left that the hips were just too wide for plastic tension; the buttocks looked slightly sprung. He closed his eyes and drifted, luxuriating in the freedom of not having to run off to the bathroom himself. He felt a sense—if not of joy—of at least a job well done. He could give her what she wanted as well as anybody. And there was no doubt that she wanted it. That was exciting. Her frail body seemed totally consumed by him. It was thrilling. What if she did have a baby? That would be rather exciting, too. It had been exciting to think of this power in him when he was inside her. They’d have to get married. He would have achieved man’s estate. It was a reassuring thought. There was no room for strain or conflict between them. It was so straightforward—her wanting him, his taking her. And aside from that, she was a lot of fun. If he were married, there would be a reason for staying on at the job. He knew he was a success at the office; there were already hints of promotion. Perhaps it was silly to knock himself out in the theater. He heard her returning and half opened his eyes for a glimpse of her breasts and closed them again. She lay down beside him. He put his arm around her and drew her to him, but remained indolently on his back.

“Fancy us,” she said with laughter. “What a gorgeous way to spend an evening. Why haven’t you done this to me before? It must’ve been obvious. I was a pushover.”

“No opportunity.”

“And all this time I’ve been thinking you didn’t really like girls.”

“Satisfied now?”

“My, oh, my. I’ll tell you a secret. I don’t know as much about it all as I pretended. The first time was when I was still at school. At a dance. He must have been a very wicked boy because he had me before I knew what was happening. The other wasn’t so long ago. I was touring in
Our Town
. Well, last spring. I told you. I met this divine man out of town. I fell in love on the spot. Well, perhaps not quite like you, but it was the first time I really knew what it felt like. That’s terribly important for an actress. It wasn’t much of an affair. He was married and was nervous about me being emotionally involved. I’m afraid he rather ditched me. Agony. Tell me about you.”

“Oh, only three or four times, really. I told you. They never seemed to know what they wanted. It always spoiled it.”

“You can’t say that about me.” She laughed and fondled his sex. It responded lazily.

“No. You’re perfect.”

“Fascinating. Your cock, I mean. I’ve never had a chance to see how they work. It goes on getting bigger. What does it feel like when it’s getting hard like this?”

“I don’t know. Like I want to have you.”

“Like you want to fuck me?”

“Sure. Like I want to fuck you.”

“Does it ever get hard when you’re out? I mean, in public?”

“Sometimes.”

“How too utterly embarrassing. I’ve watched it a lot. Crotch-gazing. It sometimes looks enormous.”

He chuckled a trifle self-consciously. “I guess that’s when I wanted to fuck you.”

“I’m glad you waited, really. It feels so natural now. I guess because I’ve imagined it so often. Even when I thought you never would, it was such divinely agonizing suspense. What bliss for it to’ve actually happened. This is really you I’m holding. Amazing. You feel as if you want to fuck me again. It gets so hard. It’s incredible. Fuck me again, lover. I have to go soon.”

“What do you mean, you have to go?” He opened his eyes at last and looked at her.

“Of course I have to go. You don’t think I’m going to stay here all night, do you?”

“You certainly are.”

“Oh, no. I live with my family, remember.”

“What difference does that make?”

“They leave me alone if I stick to the rules. One of them is not sleeping out.”

“But you’ve
got
to stay.”

“If you only knew how I want to. Don’t talk about it now. Here. Let me put it in. There. Oh, there.” All he could think of was her leaving. He couldn’t face a night alone. It was too late to get drunk. She had to stay. He was scarcely aware of the act he was performing. Slowly he realized that his orgasm wouldn’t be quick this time. He wanted to postpone it as long as he could. Anything to keep her here. He left the active role to her. He took a deep breath and thought about being alone and felt the orgasm receding further. He became aware of an increasing intensity in her activity. He moved his head and looked at her. Her eyes were rolling, drugged with wonder. The hunger in her face was mingled with incredulity.

“Something’s happening,” she gasped. “I don’t know what. I’ve never had anything like it. It’s fantastic. Charlie. Oh, Charlie.” She flung her legs up and wrapped them around him. She bit his shoulder. She sank her teeth into his neck. She let go to roll her head wildly on the pillow. “Oh, God. Oh, Charlie. Fuck me. Fuck me. Don’t come. More. More. Please. Christ. Oh, yes. All of it. Please don’t come.” She unwrapped her legs and beat on his buttocks with her heels. Her hips writhed frantically. She began to croon as he took control. He drove into her in long thrusts. He felt complete mastery of himself and her. He was on the edge of orgasm, but he was able to withhold it as he awaited the climax of her extraordinary frenzy. Her crooning became a shrill ululation. Her fingers were tangled in his hair. Her mouth was all over his shoulders and chest, biting hard. Her knees clung to his flanks, moving to his rhythm. She screamed. Her body was convulsed by a long shudder, and she burst into sobbing laughter as he felt himself streaming into her.

He lay on her, dozing. He didn’t know how long he had been there when she stirred and pushed at him feebly. “Let me up,” she said. He rolled over onto his back, but she didn’t move. “I guess that’s what sex must be all about. Coming together. It’s never happened to me before.”

He didn’t quite grasp the significance of what she was saying, but it appeared to score in his favor. He felt for her hand. “You’re not leaving?”

“Of course I am, silly. I have to. What would my family think if I came traipsing in in the morning? Well, they’d be right. What would the servants say? It would cause the most frightful row.”

“I’m not going to let you go.”

“What difference does it make? You’ll go to sleep. You can’t go on fucking me all night.”

“Who says I can’t?”

“I understand boys have their limits. I know a girl who says it happened to her nine times in one night. She seemed to consider it a record.”

“All right. Six more times and I’ll let you go.”

She put her hand on his sex. “Boasting. It gets so much smaller. That’s what I don’t understand. Where does it all come from?”

“Leave your hand there and you’ll soon find out.”

She removed it. “No. Please. I
have
to go. It’s horrid of you to make it more difficult.”

“I want you here in the morning.”

“That would be bliss, wouldn’t it? Maybe over the weekend. I could make up some story.”

“What if we were married?”

“What do you mean, married?”

“I mean, if you told them in the morning you’re going to get married, there wouldn’t be any row.”

“Oh, wouldn’t there be.” She hooted with laughter. “Married! Are you serious?”

“Of course. Why shouldn’t we get married? The amount of time we spend together, we might as well be. And now there’s this.”

“Do you love me?”

“Of course.”

“Then why haven’t you said so?”

“What’ve I been
doing
all evening?”

“There is that. But a girl likes to hear it just the same.”

“All right. I love you.”

She laughed at him. “You’re more convincing when you’re acting it out. I doubt if you know anything about love. You probably never will.”

He lifted his hand and put the back of it over his eyes. For a moment, he couldn’t hear her words, although he knew she was still speaking. Then she was saying, “—in love with you. I suppose I might as well consider myself. We’d better have a drink.”

He pulled himself up instantly and sprang out of bed. That was just what he wanted. He went to the kitchen and mixed two strong ones. Maybe it would put her to sleep. Noticing an odd musky smell about himself, he washed his sex at the kitchen sink. Stroking it with a towel brought it back to life. Her eyes went to it as he returned with the drinks.

“It never really gets all that small, does it?” She propped herself up in bed and took her glass. He moved in beside her. He was amazed that a girl could be so unself-consciously naked with him. She might as well have been clanking with all her fancy jewelry for all the difference it seemed to make. She took a swallow of her drink and choked. “Good God. Did you put the whole bottle in?”

“I’ve got the same. We need it. So what about it?”

“About getting married? Oh, I admit I’ve thought about it. I suppose a girl does. Ever since I first feasted my stunned eyes on you. Of course, I’ll get married dozens of times. Actresses always do. It’s the life, I suppose. The need to constantly renew oneself emotionally. But you’d make a lovely first husband. I can put a glamorous picture of you in my autobiography. Can you afford to get married?”

“I don’t make very much, but C. B. gives me an allowance. It’s been plenty for—” He took a quick gulp of his drink. “Peter and me” remained unspoken. “It’s been plenty so far.”

“But you’re not going on with that sickening job, are you?”

“Hell, no. It’s just till I get a break in the theater. The trouble is, if I become an actor, C. B. will probably stop my allowance.”

“What do you mean,
if
you become an actor. I’m not going to marry some little publisher’s clerk.”

“I’m not a clerk. Anyway, I’d quit tomorrow if anything turned up.”

“Nothing ever will turn up if you’re not out looking for it. I’m not going to marry a man who’s tied up in an office. At least, not till I’m a star. The hours wouldn’t work. You’re always having to think about going to sleep just when it’s time to go out and make the rounds and see the people who count. No, that’s out.”

“All right. All right. We’ll get married and as soon as we see how things are going, I’ll quit.”

“I have some money of my own. It’s not much. It comes to a few hundred a month.”

“A few hundred a month! Well, hell, what are we worrying about?”

“I don’t think my family will be beastly about you. You
are
in the
Social Register
, aren’t you?”

“Sure. In Philadelphia.”

“And you’re C. B.’s grandson. It’s really quite dismally respectable. They probably expect me to run off with some nigger jazz player. They might even be pleased.”

“Then it’s all right? You’re not going to go?” He spoke with such insistence that she studied him for a moment, the mockery in her eyes softening with defenselessness again.

“You’re sweet. Maybe you really do love me. There’s still an awful lot to decide.”

“I’m going to have another drink to celebrate.” Her glass was still quite full so he took his own and refilled it and returned to her. Everything was going to be all right now. It was marvelous to have the whole night ahead of them, drinking and talking, and comfortably naked together. He had never had drinks in bed before. The apartment felt agreeably inhabited, leaving no room for ghosts. He kissed the side of her mouth in a burst of high spirits. “Well, then. How do we go about it?” he demanded.

“Well, of course it’s got to be a deep dark secret until it’s done. I won’t have my family turning it into a circus. I’ll call home in the morning and say I had to stay overnight with a girl friend. They won’t believe me of course, but by the time they get around to grilling me, we should be Mr. and Mrs. I have a cousin who’s very big in city politics. President of something or other. I’ll find out all about it from him. He’s a pal. He won’t rat on us. I know we have to have Wassermanns.”