I have a lovely niece who is only ten years or so younger than me (my parents took a break between my older siblings and myself), and we have always had a rather odd relationship, as we didn't meet until we were both adults. This resulted in our imprinting not as relatives, but rather as two nice looking people who were attracted to each other almost immediately.
Neither of us mentioned this mutual attraction for the first ten years or so, but it become obvious after a while, that we did things just a little differently than typical uncles and nieces do; like grabbing lunch or dinner together, going to the movies, flea market or gun shows, and just hanging out sometimes to watch a movie or discuss our personal relationship issues. Who discusses intimate sexual details with a family member? Us, apparently.
It began to dawn on us, that if we were not related, what we were doing could be called casual dating. We were frequently mistaken for a couple on several occasions, and neither of us ever bothered to correct the person making the mistake, further lending credence to the fact that we really liked one another in ways that could be considered taboo.
Athena and I - or simply Thena, as I typically called her when we weren't using pet names such as, Babe, Love or Darling (which might have been another clue that we were different) - had spoken many times over the years about my taking her up to my rustic hunting cabin up in the mountains. Since I typically like to take my clothes off as soon as I get up there, I had been hesitant about inviting her up there with me, as I thought it might dampen my enthusiasm to walk the land and masturbate freely. Over the past few months, however, things had changed in our relationship since I had actually confessed my feelings and made it official.
It hadn't been easy, but one night it just slipped out in a text. We both said, "I love you," but then I just HAD to follow it up with, "I'm in love with you." Once it was out in the open though, it was incredible easy for us to talk about our true feelings and what we might consider doing about them. She was in a relationship with someone else at the moment, but we both agreed to see where things went when it ended.
In the meantime, she had asked once again about going up to the cabin with me, and I started talking about building a fire and smelling the wood smoke coming from the Franklin stove I had up there. She said it sounded wonderful, and she loved the thought of being up there. The only drawback was my wanting be clothes-free, so I told her I liked to be that way when I was there. She told me she wouldn't be offended in the least, and liked being nude outdoors as well. At that point, there was nothing in the way of our sharing a weekend and my still being able to go for a walk'n'jerk every now and then.
I arrived at her house on a Saturday morning in November, while it was still dark out. It was the time of year where the weather can be rather unpredictable, with warm days turning cold, and clear days suddenly building up to rain or snow squalls. It looked okay though for this weekend; clear weather and daytime highs in the upper 50's; not really warm, yet still warm enough to go for nude walks through the forest. I owned several dozen acres of land, and it was quite secluded; backing up to a ten thousand acre state park on one side, and hundreds of acres of timber in private hands on the others.
I had all of my stuff in a large backpack, and had brought a smaller one for her to stow her gear as well. It was a half mile hike in from where I had to park, as the ford had washed out in the creek several years back and I had never gotten around to fixing it. It was on foot and all uphill from there on out.
It was daylight by the time we arrived, and dappled sunlight shone through the treetops overhead, illuminating the top of the hill where my cabin was located. We shouldered our heavy packs, and headed for the creek, carefully stepping across strategically-placed rocks to ferry us across; safely and dryly. One slip would result in a very cold and even worse, wet lesson, and I was not wanting that to happen.
We reached the far side without incident and headed uphill, stopping occasionally to rest our legs and catch our breath, which was visible in the crisp, clean air as we exhaled. After twenty minutes or so, we reached the openness of the orchard grass meadow atop my hill where the cabin was situated.
"Here we are!" I announced. "Cabin, sweet cabin!"
"Oh Jack!" Thena exclaimed. "This is just the way I pictured it!"
I slipped out of my heavy pack and helped Thena with hers; placing hem on the small open deck by the front door. We rotated our shoulders to help with the circulation, before I ascended the four steps to the landing. The cabin was built off the ground on telephone poles, and at this point, was about thirty inches above the ground. I unlocked the door and opened it; relieved that nothing flew or ran out as I did so.
I left the packs where they were for the moment, so I could sweep the floor before we brought our stuff in. Somehow, there was always a layer of dust on the floor, and I didn't want to step in it after I took my clothes off. A few minutes later everything was ready, and I motioned for Thena to join me in my humble abode.
I checked the thermometer on the wall, and it was a chilly 43 degrees inside the cabin. Not too terribly cold for me, as I can take it. In fact, one of my favorite things is to strip and run naked through the snow. It was still warmer than the crisp air outside, but that would soon begin to warm as the sun got higher into the Appalachian sky.
"Let me get a fire going, and while it's drawing with the doors shut, we can go outside for a smoke if you'd like, Babe." I suggested.
Thena nodded, and glanced around. The walls were covered on both sides with half inch thick yellow pine plywood, which made the place very sturdy, and I had painted the interior gloss white to reflect the light of the gas lamp at night and make everything a lot brighter. There was no furniture; just two outdoor chairs, and a foam mattress leaning against the wall to sleep on. There was also a generator that I had never wired up, and a large mower to keep the grass mowed every few years.
"You were right, this place sure is rustic!" she exclaimed. "But it gets you out of the weather. It's kind of cozy too, in a strange way; like old times."
I smiled in reply, and crumpled some old newspapers up; placing them into the shallow stove and then adding kindling and split oak firewood. I lit the paper and closed the doors, and within a few seconds, the roar of the fire drawing through the antique stove filled the room.
"Ready?" I inquired.
Thena nodded, so I began shedding my clothes. After a few seconds, she decided to join me for a smoke au natural. We stood on the four-foot-square deck, and gazed over the landscape as we smoked our cigarettes. I had quit years ago, but still enjoyed smoking up here or while it was snowing. Just a quirk, I guess.
"Oh Darling, this is beautiful!" she breathed. "You weren't exaggerating. I wish you'd have brought me up here years ago though. We could have had so many memories here."
"I was afraid you'd be offended if I told you I wanted to take my clothes off." I confessed. "On top of that, I love walking around without any clothes on, and masturbating outside."
Thena smiled.
"So do I." she responded. "Since we both know how the other feels now, maybe we can share that as a way to break the ice, you know? Then we'll have a whole lot of catching up to do if it feels right."
"Sounds good to me." I replied, as we reentered the cabin.
It was already a little warmer than when we had stepped outside, but as soon as I opened the doors on the stove, a wave of heat flooded into the room. Thena took one of the vinyl coated wire chairs and placed it in front of the stove, inhaling the scent of hardwood smoke as she sat down.
"This could be so romantic!" she burst out. "Oh Jack, I really wish we'd told each other how we both felt, a long time ago."
"Me too," I agreed, "but at least I finally came clean."
"It took a lot of courage to tell me how you felt, Sweetheart." Thena said quietly.
"Actually, it took a lot of vodka," I responded, "but thank you."
She giggled at my answer, and I pulled the other chair up. We watched the fire for several minutes, getting warmer and warmer, until it was almost too much. I glanced at the thermometer, and it was up to 58 degrees.
"That took the chill off." I remarked. "We'll let this burn out, and we'll be comfortable for the rest of the day, especially once the sun heats everything up outside. We can light another one this evening."
