Jack and Jessie struggled their way down the stairs in the pitch black. Jessie turned an ankle and stubbed a toe in her high heels until she abandoned them. Jack hit his head on an overhanging branch. But, eventually, they made it to Jay Bird. They slept, restlessly and still in their clothes, for a few hours.
When they woke, hungover, they both wondered if perhaps a warm bath, and a night in a real bed, might have been worth the price of hanging out a while longer with some slightly scary freaks. If it hadn’t been for the note, essentially telling them to get out, it had been an odd, but entertaining evening. They didn’t acknowledge it to one another, but they were each more than a little turned on by the flirtatious Clare and Winston. And the pictures of all those beautiful servants fucking around with them, while shocking, were exciting, as well.
“It would be even weirder if we went back up there, now. Right?” Jessie asked, knowing the answer. Jack acknowledged her rhetorical question with a nod as he handed her a cup of tepid instant coffee.
“Yeah. Awkward on top of awkward. Let’s get out of here,” Jack said. Jessie quickly pulled-off her useless skirt and blouse, but didn’t take the time to put on a bathing suit. In just her lace thong she untied the dock lines and pushed Jay Bird off as Jack backed her out.
They took the boat out of the cove under power in the pre-dawn light. In the partial darkness, navigating the shallows was especially difficult. When the wind picked up, it got even harder. And when the tide seemed to drop right before their eyes, it was positively frightening.
Jack worked the helm with white knuckles. Jessie stood at the bow, clinging to the forestay and leaning over the bowsprit marking coral heads. She pointed and called out directions to Jack as he motored forward at just a couple of knots.
“It wasn’t this hard coming in,” Jack shouted over the hum of the diesel.
“My god,” Jessie called back, “it’s like someone pulled the plug on the ocean. And between the chop and the light, it’s hard to see anything until we are right on top of it. We have to get to deeper water, Jack,” she said, looking back toward Jack in the stern. “Um…looks like we’ve got company.”
Jack turned to see Winston and Clare’s yacht, Talkies, in full sail. What in the hell? Jack thought. He wasn’t sure he was reassured, or alarmed at the site of it, but he was definitely impressed. That is some sailing, he thought to himself as he watched Talkies heeled over in the wind while still making precise turns to avoid every coral head.
At that moment there was a horrible crunching sound and Jessie was nearly thrown over the bow as the boat came to a very sudden halt.
“God dammit!” Jack shouted. They had hit the reef and run aground. A quick inspection showed the hull was undamaged, but the fin keel was wedged into the coral. They wouldn’t be going anywhere, and the way the wind and seas were going, the boat, and perhaps they themselves, would be battered to death. Over the wind they could faintly hear someone calling to them.
“Jack! Jessie! Here!”
They turned to see Clare and Winston on deck. Clare was shouting into an old fashioned megaphone. Winston stood on Talkies’ stern, a life saver in hand. He threw it out, and then expertly managed the current and the line in his hand to angle it toward Jay Bird.
Jack and Jessie hesitated, but when white caps flowed over the transom, they knew they had no choice. However weird it was going to be, it was better than being dead. Jessie gave Jack a kiss and then jumped into the sea. She was a strong swimmer, but it was still a challenge to make it the fifty feet through rough water to get to the life line. Jack battened the hatch, tore-off his clothes, and dove in after Jessie. For once, I really wish I hadn’t gone commando, Jack thought as he swam to Jessie. Winston pulled them to the boat, and Clare tossed down a rope ladder.
Clare wordlessly handed them white Turkish towels, then set about reefing the luffed mainsail and jib, as Winston reefed the mizzen and turned Talkies back to the wind. In a daze, Jack watched their saviors scurry about the long yacht. With her self-furling job, and easy-reef mainsail, Jack or Jessie could pilot Jaybird, single handed. Hell, they could even set the autopilot for long stretches. On more than one occasion they had gone below to tear-off a quick fuck, as Jay Bird happily went along on her own.
Talkies had no such modern conveniences. What winches she had were archaic bottom-turners. The lines, remarkably, were made of hemp. The oversized blocks were made of brass and wood. The masts and booms were Canadian birch. The decks were thick teak. And, yet, everything was as if brand new.
As much as Jack was astounded by the vintage accuracy of the yawl, Jessie was amazed at Winston and Clare’s unwavering obsession with vintage clothing. They were running about the deck in old fashioned wool tank suits. She itched just thinking about it.
As absurd as their bathing suits were, they still showed more of Winston and Clare than either of them had seen up to now. Clare had the legs of a Ziegfeld dancer. Her staggering rack had already been on display the night before in her emerald gown, but somehow bouncing around on deck it was all the more mesmerizing. Jessie glanced at Jack, and she smiled as his eyes followed Clare around the yacht. As a brief balancing, Jessie gave Winston the once over. The square jaw, the shoulders, the pecs, the tennis thighs, were all fine, but it was the bulge at the bottom of the tank suit that captured most of her attention.
Once Talkies was in deeper water, the waves quickly settled and the battering gusts became a steady ten-knot breeze. Clare and Winston set the boat downwind and everything was suddenly calm. With the wind behind them the sails didn’t much need tending, and it was quiet and warm. Clare took a seat next to Jack and Jessie.
“You had us scared. It’s lucky Winston saw the top of your mast headed out. That king tide has taken more than one vessel in these waters,” Clare shared, as Winston shot her a look.
“What are the odds Jay Bird will survive?” Jessie asked, realizing in that moment that while they may have saved their lives, they may have lost their living.
“I think she may make it,” Winston answered, “These freak tides don’t last long. We’ll take a wide circle around the island. By the time we get back, there should be enough water for safe passage. Cynthia and Thomas will meet us there, and between the two of us, we might be able to get Jay Bird off the reef.
Jack and Jessie would have relaxed at that point, were it not for the fact that they were naked, or nearly naked, in front of these odd strangers. Clare sensed their unease.
“I’d offer you clothes, if we had any on board,” Clare said. Jack, with just the towel covering his groin, gave her an understanding wave. Clare smiled and shrugged, and then peeled her suit off. Jessie glanced around to see Winston doing the same.
“We wouldn’t want you to feel uncomfortable, darlings,” Winston said with a laugh. Neither Jessie nor Jack were sure that mutual nudity was the solution they were looking for. Bizarrely, however, they found themselves getting excited by their beautiful hosts, once more. Jessie eyed Clare’s full body, and full chestnut bush, and peeled-off her thong to share her waxed peach.