The heat shimmered over the forge, red embers glowing against the dull crags and valleys of charcoal as yet unconsumed by the fire. Several thick rods of iron protruded from the forge, the ends heated to a deep cherry red ready for the last few blasts from the bellows that would bring them to a glowing white heat.
Over at the anvil, the smith worked at another piece, rhythmically striking the malleable metal with a large hammer, shaping it from anonymous rod to a sinuous, twisting implement, the ancient alchemy of man, fire and imagination.
I leant on the bellows, watching him as I rested for a moment, loving the ripple of muscle in his broad chest as he worked. Fearless of sparks he wore only heavy trousers and a thick leather apron, his chest bare and lightly sheened with sweat in the glow of the fire.
His movements were powerful, yet it was so obvious that he was only using a fraction of the muscle and skill at his command, the hammer blows had an almost languid quality, there was no increase in breath rate, no urgency though each blow fell deftly exactly where he felt it should.
His concentration on the task in hand was absolute, I could almost see the metal taking shape in his mind's eye a moment before the hammer landed, every time exactly where he had envisaged it, his strong hands constantly rearranging the tong held metal to receive the blow.
I loved watching him work, even though I had been here all winter and had helped every day in the forge, I didn't tire of the work. There was a knack to the bellows, a way to lean your whole weight into them which took much of the strain out, and after the first week when I had been so tired after each day's work that I slept like the dead as soon as we had eaten, I quickly hardened to the task and found time to watch and enjoy.
He never said much, though he always spoke kindly and I'd yet to hear him raise his voice to anyone. If a rare customer disagreed with him over a price or the timing of a job, the smith would just stand there with his arms folded across his chest and regard them thoughtfully, and soon enough an agreement was reached.
Now he plunged the iron back into the fire, and needing no cue I turned back to the bellows, using both hands to bear down on the handle, letting my weight carry the heavy beam down, compressing the air and forcing it through the forge. Quickly the metal started to glow again, and I found myself mesmerized as always by the bright glow of the fire.
No matter what the weather, inside the forge it was always warm, and I worked in a short sleeved linen dress and a leather apron. Putting my back into the task I soon felt my body glaze with sweat, making the thin linen cling tightly to my skin. I knew the smith watched me as I worked the bellows, just as I watched him as he shaped the iron, but as he had not made any indication of being interested in more I felt I could not press myself on him, though I confess I lusted after him more and more as the winter passed.
He took the piece from the fire with stout tongs and turned again to shaping the metal. Quickly the final form became clear now, a slim shepherd's crook with a shape designed to slip round the neck of a wayward sheep or lamb and turn them back to the shepherd's bidding. Satisfied at last with his work, the smith plunged the crook into a bucket of water, tempering and cooling the work, raising steam in a hissing cloud.
Recognizing a good time for a break, I walked over to the door of the forge and stood in a shaft of thin sunlight that fell in at the open doorway, breathing the clean air and luxuriating in the feel of fresh air on my sweat dampened skin. After months of cold, damp weather, today it felt as though spring had finally come, and the day was warm even outside the forge.
Stripping off my apron I stretched in the doorframe, feeling my muscles unwind, loving the feel of the breeze that brought scents of grass and may blossom with it. I felt, rather than saw the smith watching me, and I realized that the sunlight must be blazing right through my thin dress showing him every curve of my body. The realization made my nipples tighten abruptly, I could feel them stretching the damp fabric, and knew they must be highly visible to him.
I turned, very slightly, trying to make it appear unconscious to show my shape off to him the better. I felt compelled to offer him the same voluptuous pleasure that I got in watching his body as he worked. The very thought made my chest tighten and my breath catch, and I turned again to see him staring more openly than ever before at me, his eyes appraising me just as I'd seen him do a thousand times with a project that inspired him.
I looked him in the eye and smiled at him, a little shyly, for although we had lived close together for months now there had been no intimacy beyond the sharing of daily tasks, but I knew that this was as fine a time as any to see whether my lust was requited, or whether I would be quietly refused.
His eyes smiled back at me, then his gaze slipped slowly downwards, tracing the line of my chin and throat, gazing openly at the hard pebbles of my nipples, then lower, and I realized that the sunlit door behind me must be showing him every detail of my legs and hips as well. My breath caught again, just a little gasp, and I know he noticed. His own posture was no longer as calmly relaxed as usual, there was a tension in the way he held his stomach muscles, and I wondered if he was having as much trouble controlling his breathing as I was.
I took a few steps towards him, then suddenly flustered and fearful of refusal, I caught up a jug of water and offered it to him. He drank deeply then handed it to me, I took a drink myself, suddenly aware of how dry my mouth was, then went to say something insignificant to cover my confusion. He stopped me with a finger laid gently to my lips as he took the jug away and placed it on the workbench.
Standing now just a step from me, he towered over me by well over a head, and he looked down at me, capturing my eyes with his own, deep brown eyes that seemed both warm and concerned at the same time. I reached for his hands, pulling him a little closer, reveling in the spicy odour of his skin, not at all unpleasant despite the tang of metal and charcoal.
My breath caught again, this time I didn't try to hide it, and my heart fluttered wildly in by breast as his hands clasped mine, accepting the contact. For a moment I drowned in his eyes, then very gently he bent to kiss me, tentative at first as if he too was unsure whether he was reading the moment correctly, then as I responded, a firmer kiss, warm and sweet, long and skilful. I slipped my hands from his and allowed my hands to brush upwards, tracking the contours of his arms and shoulders until I could wrap my arms around his neck and deepen the kiss even more.