Chapter 1: Steam and Skin
The heavy sauna door groaned shut behind her, sealing out the quiet echoes of the locker room. The air was a thick, palpable blanket, redolent of warm cedar and the salty tang of sweat. JoAnn took a deep, burning breath, the heat searing her lungs in the best possible way. She’d been craving this—twenty minutes of solitary, silent broiling to melt the week’s stresses from her shoulders.
The low, rhythmic sound registered a moment before her eyes adjusted. A soft, wet gasp. A shuddering sigh.
The steam curled and parted like a curtain.
Two figures were coiled together on the lower bench. Blond hair, slick and darkened with sweat, stuck to glistening shoulders and foreheads. Britt—JoAnn recognized her from the occasional yoga class—was braced against the wall, her head thrown back. Kendra was arched beneath her, one leg hooked over Britt’s hip, her fingers digging into the meat of Britt’s thigh. Their bodies moved in a slow, urgent slide, skin sticking and releasing in the damp heat.
JoAnn froze. Her hand tightened on the knot of her towel.
Britt’s eyes, heavy-lidded and hazy, flicked open. They found JoAnn’s across the small, steam-filled space. She didn’t startle. A slow, feline smile spread across her lips. She didn’t stop the motion of her hips, her hand moving deliberately between her own body and Kendra’s.
“Well, hello there,” Britt purred, her voice rough. “We were just getting the place warmed up for you.”
Kendra turned her head, blinking dazedly. A blush, deeper than the sauna’s flush, spread across her chest, but she made no move to cover herself.