Chapter 11

When Eric hopped into the car and closed the door, he gasped. I rubbed my hand over my chin.

"Bad?"

Roaming my face with wide eyes, he opened his mouth and closed it again, no sound coming out.

"It's bad, isn't it?"

I'd tried to smooth out my beard this morning, but then I got frustrated and buzzed it short with a trimmer.

"No, no. You look great."

"Didn't I ruin your Viking lumberjack fantasy?"

Eric glanced around, checking our surroundings, and leaned in for a kiss. He paused a breath away.

"Without the beard, I can see your face," he said, his lips curving into a soft smile. "You have a very handsome face."

I felt myself blush.

He kissed my cheek and leaned back. "The stubble is lovely. Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

After a short drive, I parked on the side of a gravel road and led Eric to the dinghy.

I hoped that my surprise wouldn't freak Eric out. The lakes were deserted at this time of year, with no campers or kayakers disturbing the quiet. As I was only using the small electric motor, the dinghy bobbed over the waves, barely causing any noise. The forest around us bustled with life, birds shrieking. A herd of roe deer watched us pass by the shore. The buck stood the tallest, balancing on a rock, his growing antlers fuzzy with velvet.

"They're like statues," Eric whispered. "Do they think we can't see them if they don't move?"

"Ha, no idea. I think they're just waiting to see if we come closer."

Eric was smiling as he looked around.

"I checked the map," he said. "The lake system is much bigger than it seems."

"Yeah. In the summer, we have the occasional kayakers here. You can paddle around for days. The three main lakes are connected through small ones, but since they're narrow, you never have big waves or streams like on Stora Le."

"The water is so clear. Can you swim here?"

I shrugged, playing it cool. "Sometimes. It's cold right now."

Eric dropped one arm over the edge and dipped his fingers. "You ain't kidding. Feels icy."

"Around ten degrees Celsius? When it's sunny, the upper layer warms quickly."

The sky was cloudy but there was a chance of drizzle in the middle of the day—ideal weather for what I had prepared. We slowly moved along the curving shore. I navigated between the rocks and shallows until our pier came into view.

Eric sat up straighter.

"There's a cottage. There." He pointed, waiting for me to respond. I didn't say anything. "And smoke's coming from the chimney. Does someone live in that? It looks tiny."

When I remained quiet, Eric turned to me, holding on to the edge of the dinghy.

"Bj?rn?"

I bit back a grin.

"What's going on?"

"Shh. You'll ruin my surprise."

His eyes twinkled.

I stopped by the pier, holding on to a pole while Eric climbed out. I threw him the rope, and he slid it through the iron ring as instructed. I tied the boat properly. It didn't have far to go if it drifted away on this lake, but I wasn't keen on swimming to retrieve it. Then I faced Eric again.

"It's chilly. What now?" he asked, hopping up and down.

"Now we get naked."

He spluttered. "Here? I hate to break it to you, but it's barely eight degrees Celsius, and it's supposed to rain later. I'm not opposed to some shenanigans in the outdoors, but in this weather, my dick will crawl into my body."

Laughing, I nudged him forward.

"We get naked in there."

Puzzled, he shook his head. "It's your cottage? I should have known. You own everything around here, don't you?"

"It's mine, yes, but it's not a cottage."

He squinted. "What then? A spaceship in disguise? Are we flying to the moon on our first date? Because that would be cool."

"Close, but no."

We reached the door, and when I opened it, humid air washed over my face.

"Get in. We're losing heat."

I ushered Eric inside and closed the door again.

"A sauna?" he all but squealed.

"A bastu," I corrected. "As in badstuga."

His gleeful smile made me giddy. "I'm so getting naked. But how come it's already warm?"

I shrugged.

He pointed at the prepared towels, bathrobes, and jug of drinking water. "You've been busy." Unzipping his jacket and undoing his pants, he blinked at me. "So you had to take the boat here twice today?"

"There's a gravel road that leads from our house to here. It ends just fifty meters away from the pier. You and I took the scenic route."

Shrugging out of his flannel shirt, he glanced around the small front room and peeked through the glass door into the actual bastu.

"You built this, didn't you?"

"Not by myself. Theo's dad, Peter, has a construction company, so he sent me a couple of his guys. The pier for swimming and fishing is old. We repaired it and built the bastu two years ago."

Shirtless now, he ran his hand over the paneling. "This is amazing, thank you for bringing me. The last time I was in a sauna was at a gym in Stockholm. I interrupted someone's hand job there once." He giggled. "This is much nicer."

"And if I give you a hand job, there'll be no interruptions." I waggled my eyebrows, and he laughed. "Drop the pants and come inside. We might need to rekindle the fire and get it going. It's been a few hours since I added the last log."

True enough, the thermometer by the higher bench showed only fifty-five degrees Celsius. I busied myself with the stove, adding a couple of hefty birch logs to the glowing coals. They caught fire immediately. I closed the door and poured some water onto the hot stones, heating the air with the steam.

Eric sat on the higher bench, looking out through the narrow floor-to-ceiling window. The view showed the lake shore with pine trees curving over the granite boulders, their branches skimming the water's surface. The levels were high after the amounts of rain and snow we'd had.

"This is incredible. I didn't know they made saunas with a view."

I climbed onto the bench next to him. "Sure. I mean, it's not super smart because, with every square centimeter of glass, you're losing heat. But if the space is small enough and the stove big enough, it works. I wouldn't want to sit here and sweat just looking at the wall when I can watch the sunset over the lake."

He glanced at me, pointing at the window. "It faces west?"

I nodded. "Water?" I offered him a wooden mug with drinking water.

"Thanks."

"It's not warm enough yet, but we'll get there."

"Feels pretty warm where I'm sitting."

"Nah. We need to get it to at least seventy. Then we go for a dip in the lake."

"What? The water is freezing!"

"It'll feel great once you're roasting."

He eyed me doubtfully, but I could see the excitement in his eyes too. "I'll happily watch you splash around from the pier, thanks. Besides, I really am afraid of deep water."

"It's not deep. By the pier, it's barely to your shoulders. The ground is sand and stone."

"I might dip in my toes in the summer then."

I didn't try to persuade him. After a few rounds in the bastu, he'd be jumping into the water with me.

"You won't be pouring vodka down my throat and beating me with birch whisks, will you?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"No. That might be a Finnish thing to do. But I got beers and snacks for later."

He rested against the wooden planks, smiling. "This is a great first date, Bj?rn. Thanks."

I leaned in for a small kiss. Touching wasn't tempting in the rising heat of the bastu, with our skin getting sweaty and clammy. But a kiss? I would always want to kiss Eric.

He caught my upper lip and nipped softly.

"You're welcome," I told him. "Thanks for indulging me."

With his gaze sweeping over my features, he gave me a lopsided smile. "I'm getting used to the stubble. You're still scruffy enough to pull off the lumberjack look."

The first timewe went out to cool down, Eric stayed on the pier, sitting on a bench, while I dipped into the lake and swiftly climbed out.

He glanced between my legs.

"Look, your dick is still with us. Miracle of miracles."

I sat next to him and rubbed my shoulder against his.

"Ow, you're cold!"

"That's the point. You get hot, then cool down, then get hot again."

"I'm cooling down enough, sitting naked outside. I hope you're not disappointed with me." He shivered, goosebumps rising on his arms.

"Are you cold?" I asked.

"A little."

"Let's head back inside."

The temperature was now seventy-two degrees Celsius, which seemed to be more than enough for Eric. He slumped against the wall and exhaled loudly.

"Damn. I'm too hot already."

"Told you. You need to get into the lake with me next time."

"No way in hell. I'll splash some water on my arms, but that's it."

"Give me your hand."

I grabbed his wrist and placed it on my thigh. His hot palm pressed into my cool skin.

"Feel that?"

"You're still cold."

"Yep. The hot air is heavenly right now. The whole fun is in the contrast."

"Huh." He stroked my thigh as it slowly warmed.

Then I reached for the wooden ladle and poured a scoop of water over the stones.

"Oh Lord," Eric groaned as the blast of steam washed over us. "I need to go out again."

"Nope. Ten minutes."

I turned around the hourglass on the wall.

"Can I get something to drink, at least?"

"Sure." I filled a mug for him from the pitcher I kept on the floor where it wouldn't get hot.

He gulped down the entire mug, then eyed the hourglass. "That can't be correct."

"It is."

"Full ten minutes?"

"Yep."

"Okay. I'm 25 percent Swedish. I can do this."

We burst out of the bastu ten minutes later, and I ran straight into the water. I dove under. The cold water prickled my skin and began hurting my feet, so I swam back, only to see Eric climbing down the ladder.

"This is insane!" he yelled. The waves lapped at his ass. Gorgeous, round little ass, perfect palmfuls, flushed from the heat of the bastu.

He rocked, clinging to the ladder, then sank to his waist.

"I can do this! One two three!"

He dipped, still clutching the railing in a white-knuckled grip. He made it all the way to his shoulders.

Then he pulled himself up, water cascading down his body as he scrambled out of the lake and onto the pier.

"Fucking hell!" he shrieked, laughing. "It's fucking glacial! What the heck am I doing?"

I swam to the ladder and climbed up onto the pier. Relief flooded my limbs when I got out of the cold water, heat and chill battling on my skin.

"Did you see? I made it!" Dripping with water, he threw himself at me, and I hugged him.

I had to kiss him. I held him to me, our wet, naked skin pressed together, and I could have lifted from the ground from the sheer exhilaration of the moment.

Eric let go and twirled with his arms spread.

"I can't believe I'm not cold. This is crazy."

I laughed. "Wait for it."

He wrapped his arms around himself and gazed around, chest heaving. I waited, taking in his glistening body. He was slim and wiry but somehow soft around the edges, his stomach flat but undefined, and his ass beautifully curved. His lean thighs made me think about sucking his cock, which was now soft and cringing from the elements.

"Okay, now I'm getting cold. Again?"

This time, we sat longer, and I added more logs to the stove.

When sweat was running down our faces, we waited for two more minutes, watching the sand pass through the hourglass.

"I'm going to jump," Eric said, nodding to himself.

"You sure?"

"The water's to my shoulders?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Hold my hand? If I get a cramp, you'll pull me out."

"I won't let you drown."

"Great. Appreciated. Let's go before I pass out and cook to death."

We ran hand in hand and jumped, the cold water swallowing us both.

Eric resurfaced, yelling incoherently, and I pulled him into my embrace.

"I love this!" he shouted into my face through a fit of laughter.

We climbed out of the water, and he hopped up and down, still laughing.

"I get why you Scandinavians do this."

"It's healthy. Good for the heart."

"One more time?"

"Aren't you hungry?"

He paused, frowning. "Huh. Actually, yes."

"Come on."

We wrapped ourselves up in the bathrobes, and I opened the picnic basket I'd hidden behind the bastu. Eric's eyes got big when I pulled out the cheese platter and sourdough bread.

We ate outside, and when our feet got cold, we went in to warm up.

Eric sat on the lower bench where it wasn't so hot while he finished a slice of bread with a piece of brie. Then he popped a grape into his mouth and climbed to sit next to me on the higher bench.

"I'm not sure this was such a good idea, Bj?rn."

"Huh?" He'd seemed to be having fun.

"You set the standard so high. I don't think we can top this experience on our second date."

I grinned, relieved he was joking.

"Well…um… I still have a few ideas about what we could do. And we can always come back here."

His face lit up at that. "We can?"

"Sure. I'm using the bastu less than it deserves. Most of the time, it stands empty. But now that I have company, we can fire it up every Sunday."

He gave me a soft kiss and gazed into my eyes with obvious intent. "Will you come home with me after?"

"I'd love to."