It was a beautiful July evening in the Pacific Northwest. A thin sliver of moon graced the skyline and the air had a mystical quality to it, while the crickets chirred in the underbrush and a few frogs croaked here and there. The temperature was around 70 degrees at 9 pm and I walked slowly from the house to the sauna, savoring the perfection of the night.
Some friends of mine had asked me to house sit for them for a month while they were on vacation. Not being very flush at the time, house sitting for them seemed like a vacation to me, so it was a good deal. They had several acres on the edge of the Puget Sound and the house was a classic shake roof affair with amazing wood construction throughout. Surrounded by fir and alder trees, it overlooked the water and had several outbuildings that also sat among the trees behind the house, including a sauna constructed of cedar wood. The glow of a light on the building led me to it in the dusk, and I was looking forward to an evening with myself, some music and a bottle of wine.
I arrived at the sauna and opened the door. There was an entryway before you walked in that would keep the heat from escaping and I stepped into it and checked the thermometer on the wall that showed the temperature in the main room. A perfect 100 degrees. Perfect for me, anyway. I could stay in longer this way without getting a headache.
I hooked up my phone to the stereo system with a cord and then picked out an old jazz Trumpet album, one of those funky, stretched out albums from the 70's. I chose a tune I liked because it was a nice slow, sensuous groove that seemed to go on forever, maybe 30 minutes, then set it to repeat. Just let it play, I say.
I got undressed and grabbed a towel, then poured a glass of wine before I went inside. I opened the door and quickly was met with a welcome blast of hot, moist air. I closed it and headed towards one of the reclining benches in the room, laying down an extra large towel that I'd grabbed so I could have something to lie on. Then I stepped over to
the sauna heater unit and poured some water with eucalyptus oil on the coals. It hissed angrily, emitting a cloud of steam into the room that smelled great combined with the scent of cedar.
I was ready. I took a few sips of wine and lay down on the towel, soon becoming absorbed in the music, letting the heat soak into my body. It didn't take more than a few minutes before I broke a sweat, but I could stay in a long time at this temperature setting. I just rubbed it around on my skin, glistening in the golden half light of the inner room. I had turned the lights way down to stay in a kind of twilight time, I guess. Perfect. I was grooving.
I had been there in a blissful trance for about 20 minutes when I thought I heard... a knock at the door. Yes, there it was, not very loud, but definitely there. I got up and put the towel around myself and went out into the entranceway. I had no idea who it was and it gave me kind of a start; I thought that I was out here all alone.
"Who is it?" I said.
"Oh... I'm so sorry," I heard a voice say. "I'm a neighbor that knows the owners."
I opened the door a crack. Standing there was a lovely woman, in her 20's. She smiled. She had shoulder length curly black hair and beautiful eyes. I realized that we were not strangers. I had seen her at a barbecue at the residence before the owners left. We had talked a little and that was it. Kira was her name. I was about 10 years older than her, I guessed.
"Hey, I know you."
"Yeah, I saw you at the party the other day. Are you sitting the place?"
"Yes I am." I was growing a little nervous, not sure what to say.
"Well" she said "Maybe I should go..."
I said "I could probably say something stupid now, but I don't want to... I, ahh..." I trailed off.
She laughed. "I... I... maybe I could just spend 20 minutes in there and I would be out of your hair. I know you're a nice guy. does that seem really forward of me?"
"No. No." I smiled. "We have to come to some sort of decision here, and I'm starting to get cold. Look, I'm going back inside. Grab a robe or a towel, and there's some wine if you want. I'm grooving, so I want to continue grooving."
She laughed again. "We all want to continue grooving!" she enthused. I went back to my previous location and resumed my position, wondering a little about the situation. Me, a gorgeous night, sensual music, trees and moss all around, a slice of moon in the sky, the air still and warm, and a beautiful woman showing up at the door with no one around for a mile.
As I pondered the amazing nature of all these synchronous events, she stepped in, wearing a dark red robe and holding a small paper cup that she'd filled with wine. She closed the door and breathed in the scent of eucalyptus and cedar with pleasure
before taking a seat on the bench across from me.
"Thank you so much for letting me share your space, friend. I promise, I'll keep it down over here and just sweat for a while. Hey, that's some really nice music. Is that Miles?"
I was immediately impressed. "Yeah. I've been grooving on that music for ages. It's perfect for situations like this, hanging in a sauna, or just cultivating an otherworldly atmosphere."
"Grooving. I like that. We all need to groove more. I know I do." She sighed and closed her eyes, leaning back and adjusting to the heat.
We just left it at that for a while. We conversed about various subjects, music, things at work, hiking. Meanwhile, other things were happening. I had pulled the towel around me out of modesty, but being in a darkened room in the proximity of a lovely female had yielded predictable results; as my mind wandered a little, I started to get an erection. I tried to will it away, but to no avail. I just put my hands over that part of me and hoped that the dim light would keep it from being obvious. I took a sip of wine, keeping my hand over my rigid member.