While her brother guided his small power boat through the busy harbor, Jennifer admired Jack Harlan's yacht at a distance, and the was even more impressed when they came aboard. It had more than all the comforts of home – it was luxurious, a floating palace. Jonathan led her to a large main room which featured a bar, a high ceiling with heavy beams, and large windows which afforded a fine view of the hotel on one side and a panorama of the sunset on the other. In the room Jennifer saw only the group she was already familiar with – Jack and Bonnie Harlan, Laura Langley and Kip Kovak, Harold Witherspoon and Ouida – but she assumed that the press would be along shortly.
"Here's our twin." Jack boomed. "Hi, there, Jonathan – I see you persuaded her to come after all!"
"Well," Jennifer smiled, "I could hardly stay away on such an important occasion. Laura, congratulations!"
Laura gawked. "Congratulations on what? Jonathan, what did you tell this girl to get her out here?"
Suddenly Jennifer understood. She reddened and turned to her brother. "You rat," she said coldly. "It was all a lie, wasn't it, to get me to another party?"
Jonathan smiled blandly. "Oh, tell!" chirped Laura. "What fantastic tale did you invent, you clever boy?"
Briefly he explained, and while Jennifer fumed, everyone else laughed and applauded. Kip remarked in an aside, which no one but Jennifer heard, "Me engaged to that old barracuda? That'll be the day!"
"I somehow fail to be amused, Jonathan," Jennifer interrupted. "I would like to be taken back to the hotel. The sooner I leave this place, the better."
"Now, now!" Jonathan put an arm around her shoulder and led her to a sofa. "It's too late to go anywhere tonight, Jen. Why don't you just relax, have a few drinks, and enjoy Jack's yacht?"
"That's right, little lady!" thundered their host. "Anything you want, you just name it! You just stick around and enjoy yourself, hear?"
"Yes, darling," Laura added. "We'd be devastated if you left!"
Jennifer shrugged and accepted a drink. Her brother was right. She could not get a plane, even a bus, at this time of night, and she might as well spend her last evening being amused by the antics of the group. She had no intention of participating, however; if Jonathan tried to force her, she'd jump over the side and swim ashore.
Besides Laura's customary exhibitionism nothing much happened for a while – people got drunk, the room slowly filled with the rich odor of marijuana, some pills were passed around. Jennifer confined herself to a couple of drinks and enjoyed the view of the harbor. Jonathan insisted on arguing with her, though in a friendly way, about her decision to leave.
"Jen," he said at last. "You're an invaluable asset to the business. Not only do you have good ideas about hotel management, but you're half our image – the twin image. Everyone is fascinated with us, you know. I can't go along without you. Please reconsider."
"No, Jonathan, I won't," she replied wearily. "You can make it alone. Our father did. I could never live like this, taking part in the guests' orgies for the sake of business."
He seized her hand and bent close to her and whispered, "Oh, but I think you could! Remember how it was with Kip? You're learning to enjoy it, whether you know it or not! That's why I brought you here tonight. It's just a matter of getting used to it, den – one more time, and it won't seem unusual or distasteful at all."
She pushed him away. "Take me home!"
He grinned. "No, darling, not yet. Stick around, enjoy the party!"
She was about to make an angry reply, when Jack Harlan clapped his hands for attention. "Ladies and gentlemen! A contest! Miss Ouida here has kindly consented to perform a little feat of skill – and then the other ladies can offer their talents and see if they can do better. Miss Ouida to the center of the room, please!"
The tall, graceful black girl walked languidly to the middle of the floor, while Harold Witherspoon remarked, "I believe you'll all be amazed and delighted with this trick. I read about it – used to be performed by whores in the better houses, around the turn of the century – and then I taught Ouida to do it. Go ahead, my dear."
Ouida was wearing a red gown; she unzipped it down the back and let it fall lightly to the floor.
The men whistled and stomped their feet, while the women, in various degrees, looked envious of Ouida's slender beauty. She was now wearing only a tiny pair of red bikini panties and red slippers. The shoes she kept, but she whisked off the panties and tossed them to Harold, who sniffed them adoringly and then ticked them in his pocket. Light background music played, and Ouida danced to it for a few moments. Then she looked at Harold and snapped her fingers, as if demanding something from him. The poet fished in his pocket and took out a quarter, which he tossed at Ouida. It fell at her feet, and she snapped her fingers again.
"Throw her a quarter, gentlemen," instructed Harold. They all laughed and obeyed. Ouida danced around the four coins, stood directly over one of them, then suddenly squatted and snatched up the coin with her cunt. There was a gasp from her audience, then wild applause.
"Isn't she marvelous?" exclaimed Harold, as his mistress danced across the room to squat over his hand and deposit the quarter there. "It takes a great deal of practice, and good muscular control, as you might well imagine," he added proudly.
Ouida did not acknowledge his compliment or the applause. Maintaining her usual languid expression, she danced back to the center of the room and picked up the remaining quarters one by one, bringing them to Harold in the tight grip of her cunt. Jennifer, although revolted by the nature of the trick, could not help but admit that Ouida made it into an artistic performance. There was prolonged applause when she finished. She bowed in a mocking manner, scooped up her dress, and went to sit beside Harold.