As I think befits stories in the 'beginnings' section, this one is a little slower paced and more about the build-up, and in fact has very little sex in it compared to my others.
If you like the story, support the Nifty archive. All rights are hereby donated to the archive. If you want to contact me drop a note to krchr@hotmail.com. I may or may not answer, but feedback is always read and appreciated.
Other stories by me:
2011: gay/young-friends/sock-wrestling
2010: gay/young-friends/the-cast
2009: gay/college/2am-at-the-pool
2009: gay/adult-friends/balcony
2008: gay/beginnings/naked-on-film
2007: gay/college/barefoot-in-the-stacks
2007: gay/encounters/airport-feet
2002: gay/young-friends/naked-boy (posted under a different name).
"So you get to stay here all the time, huh?" the guy said.
"That's right," I said. "When y'all are done partying I stay and clean up. If I'm lucky I'm on my boat by nightfall," I pointed vaguely at the 25' Catalina sailboat anchored a couple hundred yards off, "but sometimes not. I've had to sleep here more than one night. And when there's a storm, it can be pretty dicey."
"Still, doesn't sound so bad," the tourist said. "Work your ass off, but peaceful at night I bet. At least when there's no storm."
"Yeah, it's the right job for me."
This guy was better than most but making nice with the tourists was my least favorite part of this job. I didn't mind busting butt but bartending I just endured. Here's the way it worked: The company I worked for owned this flyspec pair islands in the Bahamas. They looked like a pair of parenthesis which meant the water in the middle was sheltered and the islands had some sand beaches on the inside. Also a small reef the tourists could snorkel. The opposite sides were just sheer rock to the sea. Rumor has it that it used to be a drug-smuggling waypoint but hell, what island out here doesn't have a history?
Six days a week (the owner was a devout Christian) two power boats hauled a load of tourists out to these islands from one of the resorts. They showed up about 11am, hung around on the beach for 5 hours, got fed lunch and lots of booze, and then the boats set off at 4pm.
My job was to get up in the morning and make sure the place was ready, and clean it up again at night. First thing in the morning I'd remove any debris from the beach, set up the chairs and umbrellas, and rake it clean. Then I'd open the bar. This was the only structure on the island except for the outhouses. Maintaining those was the only really unpleasant task. The bar was built right on the beach and jutted out into the water on pilings. It had a bunch of tables, a fully-stocked bar, refrigerators, and a generator. I preferred to do the beach first before it got too hot. After I was done with that I'd open the bar and start the generator to get the fridges cooling down. In the height of summer it was so hot they were barely ready before the boats arrived. But the boss hated it if I ran the generator longer than necessary because the gas, like everything else, had to be hauled out here on the speedboats. But while the fridges were cooling I'd also flip on the satellite TV and watch one of the 24-hour news channels.
This morning I was sitting back in one of the chairs watching the news when I heard the boats. They never snuck up on me because part of the routine was to play some stupid movie soundtrack as they came whipping around the tip of the island into the sheltered area. I flipped the TV to a football game and put the chair back. Behind the bar I pulled out my shorts and t-shirt and got dressed then headed out to the beach. I hadn't worn shoes since the last time I went to the big island a couple months back.
I waited, smiling as ordered, as the boats pulled up and grounded their bows in the sand. I took the tossed line and tied it up to the stake, then did the same for the other boat. The deck hands set out the plank so today's batch of tourists could waddle down.
I gave my usual speech to both groups introducing myself and the island, pointed toward the bar, and then headed there myself. The deckhands got to haul all the supplies including lunch up to the bar, because we'd learned what happened when we left the bar unattended. I gotta say that my boss was one cheap bastard and sometimes hired complete morons for his boats, but the current batch were all good guys and I liked 'em. Three islanders and one Aussie. They worked hard, were nice to the tourists, and even nice to me. I spent the rest of the day tending bar and watering down the drinks -- also per orders. There were the usual number of drunks by the end of the day but none of them belligerent. This batch was off a cruise ship and they seemed to have worked up a good alcohol tolerance already. And the lady who showed up barfing on the beach -- there's always one but usually they don't do it right at the end of the gangplank -- had finally accepted that there was no other way to get home other than to get back on the boat.
The deckhands helped me clean up, and we hauled up the garbage to the boat. I stood on the beach and waved as they pulled off to the shouted "did you have a good time?"
When they were out of sight I walked back to the bar where I'd saved myself a bit of dinner. The deal was I could have any leftover food (because it was garbage anyway) but no booze. My other supplies were carried here by whichever deckhand seemed somewhat reliable this week as I had to pay him in advance and hope he still worked for the company by the next day, and that he'd gone shopping for me. But like I said, this was a good batch and I was well stocked.
The first thing I did at the bar was shut off the generator. I loved this part. It sputtered out, the humming stopped, and all I could hear was wind and waves again. I dropped my shorts and took off my t-shirt and put them back away behind the bar. I settled back in a chair nude to eat my leftover dinner. When I was done with that I started cleaning up. I had to inventory all of the booze, sweep, and batten the place down. About 6pm I stepped out (I lied to the guy, cleanup really didn't take that long) to police the beach. I was picking up a few stray bits of trash and was stacking chairs when I saw a figure in the distance. I stopped to stare wondering if we'd forgotten a tourist. That had never happened before as both me and the deckhands took a careful count. I stared stupidly at him wondering what to do when I saw him collapse in the sand.
I dropped the trash bag and ran toward him. He was a youngish, rail-thin guy, maybe a teenager, and he didn't look that great. He was wearing only a pair of shorts and was sunburned, though not much more than my usual batch of tourists.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Luis," he said, weakly.
"How did you get here?" I asked.
"Water, please."
Stupid of me. I was busy wondering who he was meanwhile he was maybe dying.
"Can you walk some more?" I asked. "We should get you out of the sun. There's food and water up at the bar."
"Yes," he said.
I helped him up and he staggered down the beach leaning against me. I set him down in the shaded area while I went inside and got a bottle of fancy mineral water. Boss would be pissed, but I'd just deduct it from the count the next day and pretend a tourist drank it.
I told him to sip slowly and he did. When he had a little down and had stopped coughing I asked him if he was ok.
"Yeah," I think so. "I wasn't actually out there that long but I didn't think I was going to make it."
"So you shipwrecked?"
"Yeah. Kind of."
"My boat's over there," I said pointing to the anchored sailboat. "I should radio this in. I'm sure people are looking for you."
"No," he said. "Please, the people who are looking for me... I don't want them to find me."
"Are you in trouble?"
"Yeah, I'm a drug runner. Or I was. The boss accused me of stealing the stuff to use it. I didn't. I've never touched the shit. I just help smuggle it. They were gonna kill me before we got to port I was pretty sure, so at night I took an inflatable life raft and some supplies and jumped. I floated with it until the boat was out of sight, then I inflated it and started paddling the other direction. I had looked at a chart earlier and I thought we were near Cat Island but I guess they took a different way this time. Or I miscalculated."
The story took him a long time to tell he was so weak. He kept pausing to take a sip of water then cough.
"How long were you out?"
"Not sure. Three of four days."
"You did pretty well," I said.
"I thought I'd prepared, but I couldn't take more than a couple bottles of water and a sun blanket. They'll figure out what happened when they find the raft missing, but I hope that'll take a while, and that they won't know where I went. Actually I don't know where I went. What is this place?"
I gave him a quick summary of this little tourist trap and what I did.
"So you are out here by yourself?" he asked.
"Yes, until tomorrow morning anyway."
"That must be why you're naked."
I looked down and laughed. I'd forgotten.
"Sorry about that," I said, but I made no move to get my clothes. "I'm not used to having company."
We sat in silence for a while then I said, "Well, you got lucky to land at this place, but I'm not sure what to do with you. First things first, where's your life raft? We need to do something with that in case people do come looking for you."
He described the position and I jogged off down the beach. It was around the bend up after the sand ended and caught up in some rocks. I was impressed that'd he'd survived in this. It looked like a two person raft, but still it was just a survival raft not a real lifeboat. I freed it from the rocks and, with some difficulty, managed to tow it around the rocks by wading/swimming back to the beach. When I finally staggered back to the bar I had some small appreciation of what Luis had been through.
When I got back, Luis had slumped down on the decking asleep but his breathing was strong and steady. Looked like no matter what I had a guest for the night. There was not much chance of getting him to my boat, so the porch of the bar seemed the best place for him to sit. I went and got a couple of chair cushions and tried to wedge them under his head and lay him out flat. I left the water bottle beside him then turned my attention back to the raft.
It was bright orange and had a water-activated strobe light. It was designed to attract attention. I looked around and there was no obvious way to let the air out. Probably that's not a feature you'd want on a life raft full of delirious people. The simple thing to do was puncture it with a knife and sink it, but for someone who'd spent as long on the water as me that was a hard thing to do. I had nowhere to store it though. Whether Luis was a good guy or not he was probably telling the truth about bad people looking for him and I didn't want to meet them any more than he did.
Reluctantly I took a knife from the bar and stabbed it. Maybe I could patch it later if we needed it. Then I pushed it under the bar pilings and threw a large rock on top of it to sink it to the bottom.
I usually went back to my boat at night but not always, so I had a few supplies at the bar and I decided to wait here with Luis. I finished cleaning the beach and my usual chores then got some more cushions and lay down next to him.
I woke up a lot through the night and kept checking on Luis. He barely moved but his breathing remained steady. When I awoke the next time at dawn he was up and looking at the horizon.
"How are you?" I asked.
"Ok."
"Look, I have to get the beach ready for the tourists, and I imagine you don't want to be seen. We need to get you over to my boat."
Luis agreed and followed me stiffly to where I'd tied up the dinghy. I rowed him over to my sailboat and showed him around. Most of the forward cabin which was meant as the main sleeping area was taken up with supplies. I tended to be out here a while. I normally slept on the bench in the main cabin.
"It's nice," Luis said.
"Thanks. It's not much but it's home. I have to go back and do the tourist thing. I suggest you stay out of sight and rest. I'll come get you when they're done for the day." I showed him where the supplies were located. Told him to drink water slowly and eat lightly. It's harder than people think recovering from exposure.
I was taking a risk trusting him. I mean there wasn't really anything stopping him from taking off with the boat and leaving me stranded but I believed his story. And I thought there was a good chance I could get to him if he started trying to get under way. Even firing up the small engine took some preparation.
I did the morning routine and was there to greet today's batch of tourists. I smiled and did the usual shtick with them. I'm sure that I glanced at my boat more than usual, reassuring myself that it was still there. I saw no sign of Luis and it all started to feel like a dream. When today's batch of tourists were gone I rowed out and checked on him. He was sitting below deck reading an old paperback John D. MacDonald novel. Most of my books were electronic now but I kept that one around. He of course heard me coming but stayed below reading until he saw me. Then he smiled.
"How are you?" I asked.
"Feeling much better," he said. "Shall I come help you?"
"No need to help, but you probably want off the boat. I saved some dinner for you."
I rowed him back to the island where we ate leftovers sitting at one of the tables. Luis told me about how he'd joined the smugglers as kid. He had no family left and didn't really mind the work. He was morally ambivalent about the drugs themselves. And the people weren't really all that bad. Most of them were just trying to make a living, until the new boss got suspicious of him and it all turned ugly. In return I told him about my much more pedestrian life and how I ended up with the boat and working here. I craved the time away from people but didn't have the funds to be completely isolated. When I'd built up enough savings I'd be taking off again though.
"Plus," he said. "You don't have to wear clothes."
I laughed. "Well, that has two purposes. One is that I don't really have a way to do laundry out here except in the ocean, so the less I have to wash stuff the better. Second is I just like it."
"Don't let me stop you," he said.
I thought about it for a minute. I couldn't tell what he was thinking. Being guarded with your emotions was necessary in his line of work I supposed. But what the hell. He saw me yesterday and I really didn't care. I'd never been shy anyway.
"Ok," I said.
I stood up and stripped off, folding the clothes behind the bar as usual, and came back to finish our meal. Luis seemed to take no notice of my nudity. After we ate he did help me police the beach and get things set up for the next day. Just as we were finishing up, a powerboat came through the channel slowly, looking around. This wasn't all that unusual so I stood on the beach and watched to make sure they didn't anchor anywhere. Occasionally people did that. Usually I'd just warn them off, but once in a while the owner has to send out the goons for a few days. I hate that because I like having the place to myself. This boat just kept going, accelerating away when he passed the tip of the island. It only belatedly occurred to me that Luis should hide but he'd thought of that first and I saw him emerging from the bar.
"It happens sometimes," I said. "They weren't necessarily looking for you."
"I didn't recognize them or the boat," he said. "But that doesn't mean much."
He seemed rattled and kept glancing around as we rowed out to my boat. There wasn't much to do but we sat reading until nightfall. I had cleared a space amongst the supplies in the forward cabin and planned to sleep there, leaving him the bench/bed in the main area. I didn't really like being in the enclosed area, but it was ok.
Just after dark the wind kicked up a bit and a small squall rolled through. There was some lightning and rain but not bad. I was always nervous about the mast getting struck but other than that I enjoyed the storm and I lay awake rocking with the boat. After a while I saw Luis' silhouette in the hatch.
"Are you awake?" he asked.
"Yes. Are you ok?"
"Yes, it's just that.... It's silly, but can I come in here with you?"
"Yes," I said, "but there's not much room."
He crawled in and pulled himself up beside me where he lay, because of the cramped space, on his side right up against me. This was a problem because I was still nude and it'd been a while since I had any sort of physical contact. Luis was definitely my type, but at this point it wouldn't take much anyway. I think that barfing tourist might have been enough to get me going. I tried not thinking about it but the more I tried to ignore it the more I was aware of the warm body pressed against me. He smelled faintly of the ocean and his breath was caressing my neck. I just laid there on my back trying to breathe slowly yet I still felt my cock pulsing it's way to an erection. I hoped he wouldn't notice.
Without warning his whole body jerked and he let out a sob. I felt like a total asshole again. He wasn't in here to feel me up. He was in pain. The excitement faded as quickly as it had come and I pulled him close to me and said that it was ok. Luis put his head on me and cried. The kid was probably still coping with the realization that he could have died out there on the open ocean. It was only sheer luck that got him to occupied land. Then there was that boat that came cruising through today and might have had people who wanted to find him and kill him.
"I should go back to the bunk," Luis said.
"It's ok," I said again.
"I shouldn't have intruded," he said.
"Really. It's ok. I can't imagine what it's been like for you."
"Thank you. For saving me."
"I think luck, or God, or whatever saved you," I said. "But I'm glad to help."
I don't know how long we lay there in total darkness. There were no light or stars. Just the occasional burst of now distant lightning. Eventually his breath slowed and he fell asleep. I lay there awake for a long time, no longer sexually interested but worrying about Luis and wondering what I should do with him. I wasn't due to leave here for another two months when the main tourist season ended. It'd be hard supplying the two of us that long. And I wasn't sure I wanted the company either. On the other hand, I didn't know if I could trust the tourists and the deckhands to take him back to the big island.
I'm not sure if I fell asleep or not but at some point I became aware that Luis had gotten hard. Happened to all guys in their sleep I guess, but because we were squeezed in with nothing between us but his shorts, I could definitely feel the hardness against my thigh. I tried to resist the urge to reach down and squeeze it. He moaned and moved a little bit, momentarily pressing his hard cock into me. I felt my own stirring.
A few minutes later he said softly, "Sorry. I fell asleep on you."
"It's ok," I said. Even though I could still feel him against me, the darkness was so complete it felt like I was talking to a disembodied voice.
He seemed to realize that his erection was pressed up against me and pulled back a little.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"It was just a dream," he said. "I guess I was dreaming and um, I got stiff."
"It happens," I said, trying to sound like it's no big deal. "Happens to me all the time."
"I should go back to the bunk," Luis said.
"You can stay here if you like. It'll be dawn in a couple hours."
He seemed to relax a little and pushed back against me. He was definitely still hard and so I was I now. If he kept crawling in here nights it was going to be a couple months of blue balls for me. I think he fell back asleep or was at least silent.
The storm was long passed but it was still a little choppy and the boat was rocking. Luis added a bit of motion to it and was rubbing himself lightly against me. I didn't feel like stopping him. We went on like this for what seemed a long time.
Without any warning I felt something warm against my thigh. It took me a moment to realize he'd just ejaculated. Maybe as a wet dream. A moment later he pulled away and rolled on his back despite the tight space.
"Oh god. Oh god. I'm sorry. Don't... I'm sorry. I didn't mean... "
"Relax," I said. I was actually kind of amused. "It's ok. It happens."
He continued to apologize, seeming genuinely fearful. Then he started crying again. This was really unfair. I had no idea what was going on with the kid. He was trying to scramble out of the bunk but he seemed a little disoriented. I finally grabbed him, taking a minute to find his arm in the dark, and said, "Wait. What's going on?"
"You've been very kind to me. And I didn't mean to do that. It was a dream and I..."
"Calm down," I said. "You had a wet dream. It's no big deal. It happens when you don't have sex or let off the steam yourself once in a while."
"I know," he said, calming down a little. "Well, the second one. I wouldn't know about the first."
"What?"
"I'm a... I've never..."
"You're a virgin?" I asked.
"Yes," he said.
"How old are you?"
"Nineteen."
"And you've never..."
"No. I've been a smuggler since I was 12. My only chances were prostitutes. The other guys, that's what they all did. And they think that's what I did too, but I never went through with it."
"That's ok," I said. "It's fine."
"But..."
"Lay down," I commanded. "You'll hurt yourself trying to get out there now. You'll just have to live with jizz in your shorts until dawn."
He did as I said and lay back down beside me, touching me no more than he had to. I was still kind of amused.
"So, can I ask what you were dreaming?"
There was total silence, then finally, "Do I have to say?"
"No, of course not," I said. "It's not my business. I'm just curious."
"It was you," he said very softly. I thought that probably only the intimacy and the illusion of privacy in the total darkness could make him admit this.
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry," I said. "A virgin, eh? Can I show you what you've been missing?"
After a long moment he said, very softly, "Yes."
I rolled up on my side and reached out a hand, placing it lightly on his chest. I felt him tense. I ran my hand lightly across his nearly hairless chest and brushed over his nipples. Then caressed the side of his neck. He tried to move around and put his other hand on me but I stopped him.
"We'll get to that," I said. "But for now it's all about you. Just enjoy it."
I ran my hand down his chest, skipping over his shorts and touched the top of his leg. I stroked his legs and ran my hand up his inner thigh. He gasped. I flexed my foot bringing it up to touch the sole of his foot and pushed his whole body upward. He again tensed his whole body. I put my hand directly on his crotch and felt his restored erection and the wetness of his last orgasm. I lifted the waistband and started to pull his shorts down. He lifted his hips and helped me. Rather than letting him kick the shorts off I pushed them all the way down his legs caressing him the whole way. I pulled his shorts off and dropped them by the door, then ran my hands all the way back up his leg and onto his hip. I grabbed his cock firmly. Luis moaned.
His cock was nicely sized and uncircumcised. I pushed the foreskin back and forth resting my inner arm on his legs and hips. He'd turned his head toward me and I kissed him on his lips while he came for the second time. I squeezed and felt the pulsing and wished I could have him in my mouth. Luis moaned more and shot half a dozen times before relaxing.
"Does this mean..." he began.
"I think you're still technically a virgin for now."
At this point though I seriously needed release so I rolled over on my back and started to stroke myself. Luis did not try to stop me, but he put a hand lightly on mine and felt me stroking myself until I unleashed across my own chest. We fell asleep like that, my hand on my cock and his hand over mine.
When I woke up it was light out and I panicked. On the bench in the middle the sunrise usually wakes me up. I looked at my watch though and realized it wasn't too late and I still had time to do all of the necessary chores. Luis was gone and I had dried cum on my chest. I got up and climbed out on deck. Luis was sitting near the bow and looking out at the water. I said good morning and he greeted me weakly. Before I talked to him I wanted to wash up. I dove off the side and swam around for a minute just washing myself off with seawater and my bare hands. When I felt somewhat clean I climbed the stern ladder back up to the deck and stood drip drying. Luis looked at me then turned back to the ocean.
I walked up behind him and asked, "Are you ok?"
"Yes," he said flatly.
"I'm sorry," I said. "About last night. You were looking for comfort and I took it too far. We're stuck together here for a bit but I won't touch you again."
This made him turn around.
"No," he said. "It was my fault. I..." He turned away to the sea again.
"We can talk more later," I said. "But in the meantime you have my promise that I won't touch you again unless you want me to. And I'm sorry but I have to go do my job. I'll come get you when they're gone and get you for dinner."
"Thank you," was all he said.
I got in the dingy and rowed to shore.
I had to rush to get things ready but it wasn't that big a deal. Other than that it was a normal day. A pretty reasonable batch of tourists. One of the deckhands commented that I seemed a little off but I told him that the storm had kept me up. That seemed to satisfy him. When the boats finally turned the corner and were out of sight I sat down heavily. I didn't really even have the energy to do the normal chores but then I remembered I had to go get Luis for dinner. I did the minimal routine of tidying still dressed. It wasn't until I stepped out on to the porch that I realized it. Boy was I really off. What was wrong with me? That wasn't even my first handful of bicurious cock which later regretted fooling around with me. I'd get over it, but of course I'd still have to deal with him until I could get him to the big island safely. I think I felt a little guilty. Even though he'd crawled in there with me it felt like I'd forced myself on him.
I went back inside and stripped off my clothes and put them away behind the bar, then went back outside. It felt like a relief to be nude again. It was normal, and normal is what I wanted right now. I was walking down to where I'd beached the dinghy when I saw him in the water. He was swimming to the shore. That was kind of a surprise. I'd swam the distance myself plenty of times but I guess this meant he was feeling better. I waved and stood waiting for him but I got another surprise when he started to rise out of the water. He was nude.
I'd held his cock last night but I hadn't been able to see it. He was such a thin guy that it looked big by comparison. His dark pubic hair was matted down too which helped. I'd vowed I wouldn't touch him but there was no way to stop me from enjoying this sight.
I waited until Luis approached. When he was a few paces away I said hello.
"Hi," he said, and stood a little awkwardly. I looked down at his crotch despite myself. He said, "I cleaned my shorts this morning in the water because, you know. And they were finally dry. Didn't want to get them wet again. Besides, I wanted to fit in around here."
"Ok," I said and grinned. "Fine with me."
"Also," he continued, "I did a lot of thinking. I'm sorry that I imposed on you last night."
"You didn't impose on me. I, I feel like I took advantage of you. You've been through a lot and it was unfair of me. And just to make it clear you don't owe me a thing. You can stay here until we can get you back to the big island safely." I'd been rehearsing that in my head all day, but it'd sounded better in my head. "If you're willing to let the deckhands know about you, that could be the day after tomorrow."
"Huh?"
"Tomorrow is Sunday. No tourists on Sunday."
"Oh," he said.
There was a long silence. Luis looked around at the beach.
"So this tonight and tomorrow we have this island all to ourselves?" he asked.
"Yes."
Luis took a step closer and looked into my eyes. "You said you wouldn't touch me unless I asked."
"Yes."
"I want you to touch me," he said.