Chapter 6
Innocence was gone. The snake had invaded Eden.
The cabin and its surroundings had become Satan's Lust Paradise.
Able, naked, waited in bed for Daisy to come out of the bathroom, just as he had done during the early evening, not so many hours ago.
But this time when she came through the door she was wearing a pair of green pajamas. This was the first time she'd worn pajamas since they'd arrived at the cabin. She climbed into bed and turned her back to him.
"Turn out the light," she said.
He put his hand on her shoulder. "Daisy...."
"I want to get some sleep."
"Daisy ... turn over. Look at me." He hardly knew what he wanted to say.
She flopped over onto her back and looked up at him with indifferent eyes.
"Now what?" she said, a touch of sarcasm in her voice. "Are you worried about something?"
"Yes, I am."
"Are you going to tell me that you still love me or that you don't love me or what?"
"I'm going to ask you why...."
"Oh, for cryin' out loud." She tried to pull away from him. "Because we were all a little bit high, isn't that obvious? Because we all got excited together. Because you didn't try to stop me-"
"Are you trying to put the blame on me?"
She looked exasperated. "Able, I'm not blaming anybody. And don't try to make a big thing out of what happened."
"Wasn't what happened a big thing?"
She laughed, suddenly and shortly. "Yeah! Four times! Real big every time! I really detonated like atom bombs!"
Her words were like knives, and she saw his face drain.
"But just the same," she went on, "all that happened was a lot of drunken nonsense. What we did didn't mean anything."
He hesitated to object. "You could have waited for me, Daisy."
"Waited for you! Waited all night! A fine stud you turned out to be!"
Everything she said diminished his ego more.
"You've always said I was good. Are you telling me now that comparison proves a lack?"
She groaned. "They didn't do any better than you do. Does that set your mind at ease?"
"I'm sorry I let you down. I think that having all those people watch-"
"They watched Chuck and Ben, too. Their own wives."
"Yes, but I tried first."
"Able, listen." She took on an air of infinite patience. "Maybe what happened wasn't your fault. It was nobody's fault. Just don't blame me when you didn't even try to stop me, knowing how wrought up I was. Maybe I should have been able to stop myself, but I couldn't. I doubt that we'll ever do anything like this again. Now, the party is over and everybody has gone to bed, so let's get a good night's sleep."
She rolled away from him.
If she would just be a little patient, a little gentle, he thought, he'd be able to make love to her right now. If he blamed her, he did so only to the extent that he blamed himself. And to make love now, as soon as possible after what had happened, might seal the breach between them.
He put his hand on her shoulder again. She didn't move.
He slid his hand up her spine under her pajama jacket.
"No," she said flatly.
"I can, Daisy. Let me show you that I can."
"Tomorrow."
He moved his hand down her back and under her pajama pants to touch her buttocks.
"I love you, darling. Let me show you how much I-
"Able!" She shoved his hand away. "I said no! I know you're good, you don't have to prove anything. All I want right now is some sleep! Do you mind?"
He gave up.
He rolled away from her, turned off the lamp at the side of the bed, and settled down in the darkness, reflecting on the fact that he and Daisy hadn't even kissed good night.
His mind was still in turmoil, still refusing to function properly. He couldn't quite absorb the shock of what had happened. He pictured Daisy lying naked on the couch, first Ben loving her and then Chuck, but the vision didn't seem quite real. He felt as if he'd dreamed what had happened.
What would tomorrow be like?
He didn't know. Would he make love to Daisy? Somehow he couldn't imagine himself doing such a thing. The idea that he'd ever make love to any woman again seemed strangely remote.
A vast sickness grew in his guts.
What would Daisy think of him from now on? What would Ben and Chuck, with whom he had to work everyday, think of him? If Ben first made love to Daisy and then beat Able out of the promotion.
Daisy, Ben, all of them would look down on him....
He realized that his self-esteem was shot. Perhaps if he could get the promotion for himself, he could win back his ego and show Daisy that he was a real man after all.
Until now he'd more or less taken for granted that Ben would get the promotion. But now he knew that he had to win it for himself. He absolutely had to....
Chuck left the bathroom, pulled down the covers on the bed, and threw himself onto it. He lit a cigarette and stared at Edna.
She thumped around, pounding her feet, slamming drawers with unnecessary force. Finally she found a lightweight nightgown and started pulling it on.
Chuck knew the signs.
"Are you sore, honey?"
"Sore? Why should I be sore?"
"I haven't the slightest idea." He tried to sound bland and more innocent than he was.
"Well, if you don't know, I can't tell you!"
"If you're feeling frustrated, just give me a little time, honey."
"Oh, don't be a fool!"
Her vehemence shook him. He let a few seconds pass.
"Honey, you told me that you wouldn't care as long as you could watch."
"Yes," she said bitterly, "but I didn't think you'd be such a fool as to actually do it!"
He shook his head. "You did tell me that, Edna.
And you were the one who started it all."
In the act of climbing into bed, she paused to glare at him. "I started it all! I certainly did not! You and Ben-"
"Well, you certainly kept the ball rolling."
"You and Ben were the ones who actually jumped that witch! Nobody forced you, you know!"
"Nobody stopped us, either. And you did say that you wouldn't care-"
"I don't care what I said," Edna declared as she scrambled the rest of the way into bed. "Maybe I meant what I said. But I certainly didn't think you'd be such a fool as to try anything with either of those two witches!"
That brought Chuck up short. "Why not with either of those two?"
Edna rolled over onto her side to face him. "Look! You want the job of manager of the engineering division, don't you?"
"Of course I do. Though I don't think I have much chance."
"And what chance you had you may have thrown down the drain, do you know that?"
"No, I don't know that."
"Both of those men are going to be out to cut your throat from now on. Able, because of what you did to Daisy. Ben, because you saw what he did. Neither one is going to trust you from now on, not the way they used to. Either one of them will take the first possible opportunity to cut your throat and get rid of you!"
"Oh, I don't think so."
"I know so! I know how people act, I know how they react, and from now on they'll be waiting for any and every chance to push you down the ladder!"
Chuck gulped. He was a genius at engineering, but where human relationships were concerned he'd always felt that Edna had a cunning that was beyond him.
"What do you think I ought to do?" he asked weakly.
Edna turned her back. "I don't know. Maybe there's nothing you can do. I'll have to think. All I really know is that I intended for you to get that promotion. I have no intention of being the wife of a nobody all the rest of my life. And if you don't become the new division manager...."
Her words drifted off, and Chuck was left in suspense. For the first time he realized just how ambitious Edna was. And at the same time he realized that her ambition, perhaps to be frustrated, wasn't the only reason for her anger. And neither was her sexual frustration. The fact was that, though she'd told him she wouldn't mind his loving another woman while she watched, his doing so had made her intensely jealous.
And he knew how dangerous a jealous woman could be.
If he didn't get that promotion, Edna might never forgive him. Never. And then she might prove capable of doing anything.
I've got to get that job, he thought. I've got to!
Holy smoke!
Lying in the dark, Fern's bare buttocks pressed against Ben's hip; he could hardly believe what had happened had been real.
Had he actually given Daisy Crowell a loving? Right there in front of her own husband? In front of Chuck and Edna?
In front of Fern?
It was unbelievable! He must have been crazy, he must have been drunk, he must have been so aroused that he didn't know what he was doing!
How was he going to face all those people in the morning? How was he going to face Able and Chuck at work? Especially Able, since Chuck had done the same thing to Daisy right in front of them all.
And Fern. How would she feel about all this tomorrow?
As if sensing his thoughts, Fern shifted and groaned.
"Are you awake, honey?" he asked.
She turned toward him and said, "Yes."
"Baby, are you ... mad at me?"
She laughed quietly and settled her head on his shoulder. "Silly. No. I can't sleep because I'm...." She swept the sheet down off the front of his bare body and her delicate fingers settled upon him. "Because I'm frustrated," she finished.
"I wish I could help you."
Her fingers moved. "Maybe later."
"Maybe." He reached for her legs. "Shall I pet you?"
"No. Let's wait."
"Sure you're not mad at me?"
She shifted closer to him in the darkness and raised up, sweeping the side of his chest with her breasts. For a moment she merely looked down at him and he could see her but dimly. Then she spoke.
"Maybe I should explain something. I don't want you to have any woman but me. But I know how some men are, especially if they're older than me and used to having their freedom. So I tried to prepare myself psychologically. I told myself that I wouldn't care what you might do as long as you didn't become emotionally involved with another woman."
"I'm not emotionally involved. Believe me, darling, I'm not!"
She shushed him. "I'm sure you're not. I think that what happened tonight was pretty silly and pretty awful in a way, especially for Able. But I'm not going to blame you. After all, I kind of egged things on myself, even if I didn't really think anything would happen."
"You didn't think so? Neither did I, until the very last."
"I thought we were all just a little high and all feeling kind of sexy and daring. That we were just going to be a little more bold and honest, in a way, than we had been before. But then .. "
She whisked her fingers over his stomach and his muscles jumped.
"How did it look, watching Chuck?"
"And you, darling? Wild! I never wanted loving more in my life!"
Her fingers dipped and cradled. "And then you had to be disappointed, poor kid." Her head bobbed down and she kissed him. "Only for a while," she said. "For a minute there, I thought that you and Able...."
"I felt sorry for him."
"So did I," Ben said quite truthfully. "I might have been the same way if you and I had gone first. I don't really think so, but who knows?"
"I consider that a compliment, darling, do you know that?"
"But Able really got a blow to his ego tonight."
Fern continued stroking him gently about the legs, and he felt little sensations and a kind of tightening.
"Daisy didn't help much afterwards. Did you see how she ignored him?" Fern asked.
"Well, you can't blame her much."
"I can! If I'd been in her place and you'd been in Able's, you'd have seen me doing all I could to restore your confidence. I'd make sure that everybody knew that there was no man like you for the real thing. And that's true."
She shifted in the darkness, and he felt her warm breath about his legs. Then for a few delightful seconds her kiss moved over him.
She shifted back again and looked down at his face as she went on caressing him, and he stroked one of her breasts, bending the thickened tip. After a moment he touched her stomach and felt her jump. Then they kissed, and she let him alone as he petted her.
"Ben," she said after a few minutes, "Edna was pretty awful to Able, too."
"She sure was."
Fern was quiet again and, knowing her so well, he could almost hear the wheels of her thoughts going around.
"Ben, do you think I should help Able out?" For an instant his heart seemed to stop. 'What do you mean?"
"You know. What we were saying about his ego. If I were to get him to give me a loving-"
"Now, wait a minute!"
"You'd understand, wouldn't you?"
"Honey, the party is over!"
"I know that, but-"
"Tonight was wrong. I know that. I admit that." He found that he was breathless. "I don't want to make the whole screwy deal any more important than it is, but I do want to get back to normal. I want you and only you."
"And I do think you're jealous!" Fern laughed with pleasure. "I was a little afraid that if I wasn't jealous you wouldn't be either!"
"Maybe I am. Anyway, let's let Able take care of his problems, and we'll take care of ours."
Her hand swept over his sensitive nerves again. "What problems do we have?"
"Well, for one thing, I've been counting on that promotion. When a guy gets to be my age, he doesn't get many chances to go up. And if he misses one, that's apt to be the end. And one way or another, this affair tonight could conceivably have repercussions in that department."
She pressed closer to him. "More," she said, her voice shaking, and he moved his fingers more.
"I don't care what happens," she whispered. "I hope you get the new job, but this is the only kind of promotion I'm really interested in!"
At that instant, his full power returned.
Her fingers moved.
"Oh, you're ready again, aren't you!" she said. "You're going to love me, aren't you, aren't you!"
"Yes! Yes!" he said, rolling her onto her back. "I'm going to love you! I'm going to make you go!"
She became a wildcat. The frustration which must have been torturing her was no longer kept hidden.
"Love me! Take me!" She panted and growled explicit commands as he advanced to her.
Then she moaned as he moved to the limit.
She whispered, "Rape me, let loose everything. I'm going to make you skyrocket, I'm going to make you go to the stars, I want to go with you, oh let's go."
They traveled.
Bucking, thrusting, sliding together in the dark, making the trip on and on together.
Until suddenly she slammed at him and gripped his buttocks and cried, "Oh, God!"
And he was quivering, again and again, burning and blazing, lighting up their dark night of love.
"Oh, sweet!" she said, sinking back again.
He sank down upon her softness, and they clung together in the afterglow of their loving....
Daisy couldn't sleep.
With great care not to disturb Able, she sat up in bed and lit a cigarette. She couldn't tell whether her husband was really asleep or not.
Well, tonight had been quite a night!
She wondered if she should feel guilty. She supposed that she should, conventionally speaking, but she didn't feel very conventional.
Able had been silly to act so worked up over what had happened. He was silly to give the matter any importance at all. They'd all had some fun. So what? Lots of people did the same thing. Nobody had really been hurt and nobody would ever say anything outside of their little group. They probably wouldn't even discuss the night among themselves.
Not unless the same thing happened again.
She wondered if it ever would.
She was surprised at herself. She would never have imagined that she could do such a thing. She would never have thought herself capable of loving another man, let alone taking on two of them and, to top things off, taking them right there in front of Able!
Well, that was his fault. She'd been feeling steamy, and he'd gotten her all ready to have him. And then he'd let her down. And she'd felt more in need than at any other time in her life, and he hadn't done a thing to stop her or the two men. How could he have expected her to stop?
She wondered if this would have, in some devious way, any effect on his promotion. That was a thought that chilled her. If Ben got the promotion or, worse yet, Chuck, Able would have to wait for years before he went any higher. Either that or go to a new company, and even there he'd have to wait, in all likelihood. And she didn't want to wait. She wanted status, prestige, and, of course, money.
If Able didn't get the manager's position, she'd never forgive him. Especially after tonight. After tonight, Ben and Fern would look down on them, and she wanted things to be the other way around; she wanted to do the looking down.
How did she really feel about tonight? She tried to be honest with herself.
She felt let down by Able, naturally.
And she had to admit to herself that tonight was one of the most exciting things that had ever happened to her.
Did she feel guilty?
Yes, she did. And somehow that was half the fun. That was partly why doing what she'd done had been so exciting.
Receiving Ben and Chuck in front of everyone had really been more exciting than if she'd done the same thing with her husband.
She had to admit to herself that, good as Able was and skillful as he'd become during the years of their marriage, making love to the same man all the time had become rather routine to her. Because they'd been so excited, perhaps, neither Ben nor Chuck had been very skillful. In fact, they'd been rather crude in their performances. But that very thing had seemed to excite her more, and she'd actually had two big moments with each of them, altogether four of the wildest moments she'd experienced in years.
Yes, she decided, the thing that had been missing from her relationship with Able had been a sense of sin, a sense of doing something daring and outlandish, a sense of doing something delightfully sinful!
She used to think that she'd be jealous if Able cheated on her, but now she could understand why some men cheated and said they couldn't understand why their wives minded. Not that she thought that either her husband or she should turn completely promiscuous or anything like that! But why should he be jealous just because she had a little fun that didn't mean anything?
She sighed and put out her cigarette. She slid down under the sheet.
Of course she'd probably never do anything like this again....
Drifting off to sleep at last, she wondered if she'd ever have the chance....