James wasn’t sure exactly what made him suddenly want to go for a swim at nine o’clock at night, but something had and here he was, sitting in the suffocating heat of the sauna, deep in thought. Life was proving to be excruciatingly stressful for him right now. He shook water droplets out his damp hair as he contemplated. He had just broken up with his long-term boyfriend, Matt, because he’d felt that Matt was getting a little possessive. Now, this would normally be a good thing to get away from… but… Matt was James’ boss. And he had since then doubled James’ workload in revenge for being dumped, for no extra wages. James looked up as a young girl entered the sauna. She must have been about eighteen. James, himself, was forty, but was regularly confused for early-thirties. “Hi,” the girl said across the sauna.

James offered her a small smile, “Hey.” The girl was pretty; James imagined she got a lot of male attention. Dark blonde hair that looked to be about shoulder length was tied back into a neat bun at the back of her head. Her facial features were delicate, with fair skin and a small nose. Her eyes were a clear light blue.

The door opened again and other girl strode in. “Sam? There you are. Mum was looking for you.”

“Well, you can tell her you found me,” she responded through gritted teeth. “I’m Samanie, by the way.”

“James.”

The other girl turned round at the sound of his voice, “Oh. Hey, I’m Rebecca.” James assumed she was Samanie’s older sister, not that you could tell if you looked at them together. Rebecca was a much lighter shade of blonde and her hair- still wet- hung around her beautifully sculpted face. Her eyes were a hazel colour.

“Nice to meet you,” James said. He judged her age with his eyes- early/mid-twenties.

Yet another female walked into the sauna. “Samanie, Rebecca. Ah, so you are in here… Your father and I split up to search for you.” This woman was older, probably about James’ age, but she looked good for it. James could see parts of both the younger girls in her. Her long fair blonde hair was tied back, and there were clear like blue eyes set within a delicate face. She was slender and had a graceful appearance. And she spoke in a very proper manner, though she still sounded incredibly friendly. She turned to smile at James, “I hope these two weren’t annoying you too much. I’m Camilla, their mother.”

He raised a hand in greeting, “I’m James, the random in the sauna.”

She laughed with good humour, “Can I ask you why you’re here so late? My husband just suddenly got an urge to swim, and the girls wanted to come along. So, here we are.”

“The same basically happened to me,” James admitted. “Except I didn’t have anyone to drag along.” Camilla laughed again before turning to deal with her daughters, who were bickering over something in furious whispers. James leaned back against the back wall of the sauna- which was behind him since he was on the top step. The wood heated his back, and he drew in one steady breath of air.

“Right. Both of you. Out. You can argue outside. I’m not having you wrecking James’ relaxation.” James opened one eye at the sound of Camilla’s stern, impatient voice. She was ushering the two younger girls out the sauna door. “Sorry about this,” she apologized.

“No, its fine,” he told her. She gave him one last grateful smile and shut the door behind them, shutting him in with the overwhelming heat that he couldn’t quite will himself to leave. James flopped down on the top step so he was lying full length across it. He dragged a hand down his face, his eyes closed once more. James felt a welcome blast of cold air as the door opened again, no doubt admitting someone. He stayed where he was; there was plenty of space around him for whoever it was to fill. Then his eyes flew open as he heard a clear snap.

He turned his head and took in the man stood by the door with wide eyes. He was tall, with broad shoulders and a perfectly muscled chest. James realized this must be the husband. Dark blond hair fell past dark eyebrows into hazel eyes, and his face was the same beautifully chiselled shape as Rebecca’s. His hand was on the lock of the sauna door, which James hasn’t even known was there. “What are you doing?” he managed. His throat was suddenly dry, and James was pretty sure it wasn’t just because of the heat of the sauna.

Charlie didn’t reply, but crossed to the coals. He wasn’t sure what he was doing. All he knew was that he’d come in to see a picture that ought to be in a painting. A slender male- wearing simply black swimming trunks- laid out on the upper shelf of a sauna, one elbow suspended in the air as his hand rested on his forehead. His features peaceful, but with a sense of something deeper stirring underneath. Soft blond hair falling around the face, adding to the delicacy. One leg was also bent, so the knee was pointed upwards, while the other leg simply lay flat. It was a beautiful sight, to be sure. “I’m adding to the coals,” Charlie finally said.

The man’s eyes, a clear piercing blue now they were open, were fixed on him, “So that gives you a right to lock the door?”

Steam shot up from the black rocks with a hissing sound as Charlie poured the clear liquid over them, and James’ heart was pounding at about the same speed. Charlie turned his head and looked at him, then moved towards him. With no apparent hesitation, he swung himself over James so he was straddling the smaller blond.  James stared up at him. “Of course,” Charlie said softly. “We don’t want anyone to walk in…”

James looked shock as he realized what Charlie was suggesting, then his face relaxed into an easy smile. “No. We don’t…” Charlie moved down on him, and James’ back screamed as it was pressed into the scorching wood beneath him, but he ignored it. Their lips met, and that’s when it happened.

*****

“Where have you been?” Camilla asked as Charlie took a seat next to her at the table in the members’ café in the sports centre.

Screwing another man in the shower, Charlie thought. But he decided to keep that morsel of information to himself. He still had no idea what had happened to him when he’d seen James- he’d just been overcome by a sudden animalistic urge. “I was in the sauna for a while.”

Camilla nodded, “I had to take these two out of there because they were fighting.”

“What about?” Charlie asked, but he was distracted as James walked in and went over to the vending machine to get a drink. They’d had sex that had made it even harder to breathe in the sauna, then James had ambushed him in the shower as well. They had no plans to do it again, even although Charlie was sure they’d see each other around. James seemed to get that- despite what had happened- Charlie still loved his wife dearly, and had no plans to go gay.

“We were trying to work out someone’s age,” Samanie explained. “There was a really cute guy in the sauna.” Rebecca nodded her agreement.

“Oh,” Charlie said. “Was there?”