Elle had a vision of herself stark naked with Ben and Stuart’s family in the sauna, and it filled her with dread.
“Don’t worry; you don’t have to sauna at the same time as the rest of us. You and Ben can go into the sauna on your own after we’re finished.”
“But —“
“Is that okay?”
“Just Ben and me?” she said.
Kirsty nodded.
Elle tried to think. How could she refuse? She was supposed to be living with him.
“But…” She could not think of any excuse. And as she thought about it, she felt a nervous tingle of excitement in her tummy. Would it really be that bad? “I guess that would work,” she said. “So I don’t need to get naked in front of your whole family.”
Elle noticed that the pub had suddenly gone silent. It was as if you could hear a pin drop. Everyone must have heard what she said.
“I think we had better go,” said Elle.
They laughed and giggled most of the way back to the cabin. Back at the cabin they sat down together on the jetty. Kirsty took her boots and socks off and dangled her feet in the water.
“Oh that feels so good,” said Kirsty.
Elle did the same, removing her trainers and socks.
“It does feel good,” said Elle, kicking the water. “It’s so hot today; I’m beginning to melt. I thought Scotland was supposed to be cold and wet.”
“I’ve got an idea,” said Kirsty. “Why don’t we take a dip together?”
“But Ben and your dad will be back any minute.”
“So what?”
Elle frowned at her.
“They’ll be away for hours yet.”
Kirsty kicked the water. “Well, if you don’t want to, do you mind if I do?”
“Why would I mind?”
“I don’t know. Some people might be offended.”
Elle shrugged her shoulders. “It doesn’t bother me. Just don’t expect me to join in.”
Kirsty’s face lit up. She was already pulling off her top and in a couple of seconds had removed her bra, shorts and panties. She ran down the jetty and jumped. There was a big splash and a moment later she surfaced.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come on in?” said Kirsty, splashing about in the water.
Elle laughed; she was tempted. Kirsty swam out to a buoy and waived to her. She waived back.
She watched as she swam back towards her.
“It’s fantastic,” said Kirsty. “You can change your mind if you want.”
Elle was melting in the heat. Would it be that difficult? No one but Kirsty was there. She took a good look around her to see if anyone was watching.
“All right,” she said. She stripped off her clothes as quickly as she could, and jumped in without daring to look back. The cold water hit her shocking her system into action. She surfaced almost immediately. “Oh my God; it’s freezing,” she said, breaking into a breaststroke.
Kirsty swam towards her. “You get used to it. Want to swim to the buoy over there? I’ll race you.”
“Okay,” said Elle.
They raced to the buoy, and Elle easily beat Kirsty.
“I won; I won,” said Elle laughing.
“Well, what do you think?”
“It feels… different,” said Elle.
Kirsty nodded.
“Wait until you get out of the water; no soggy swimming costume to worry about.”
They swam back and forwards from the buoy about ten times or so and then Kirsty swam to jetty and climbed out. “I’m tired. I need to get out and dry off,” she said, and sat down on the jetty to dry.
“Aren’t you afraid someone will see you sitting up there,” said Elle.
“No,” she said shaking her head. “Why don’t you join me? The sun will dry you off in minutes. You can’t stay in there much longer; you’ll get cold.”
“You couldn’t get my towel for me from the cabin?”
“No,” she said giggling. “You should have thought about that before you got in.”
“You pig,” said Elle, climbing out of the water. Kirsty just laughed. Elle sat down next to her.
“Don’t worry, no one will see you here,” said Kirsty. “You would have to use a telescope to be seen from the other side of the Loch.” Elle looked around her nervously. Why did Kirsty’s words not reassure her?
They continued to chat and Elle gradually started to relax. Nothing bad had happened; no one had chastised her, or made fun of her. And she was beginning to enjoy the feel of the sun and breeze on her skin. Time drifted by, and the minutes turned to hours. Before Elle knew it, the sun was setting.
“It’s getting late. I’ll have to go,” said Kirsty.
Elle felt almost a sense of disappointment that her brief adventure with naturism was over. But it was getting late and Ben and Stuart would be returning soon.
“Thanks,” said Elle. “I really enjoyed it.”
“We can do it again sometime if you want,” said Kirsty
“Maybe,” said Elle.
“Next time you can bring Ben along,” said Kirsty.
“Mixed bathing doesn’t bother you?”
“Why should it. I often swim down there with my school friends and some of them are male,” said Kirsty.
“But aren’t you afraid they might get… frisky, carried away…”
“Look, we swim and play games; it’s not an orgy. It’s about how you feel about the world around you and about yourself. It’s not about sex.”
“You make it sound so simple,” said Elle. “You mean you never think about sex when you’re naked.”
“I wouldn’t say that exactly,” said Kirsty chuckling, “just not any more than I would when dressed.”
Kirsty reached into her rucksack and pulled out a bottle of after sun. “Here,” she said, “you might need this.”
“But the sun wasn’t that hot.”
“But there are parts of your body that haven’t been exposed before. Trust me. You might need it.”
Elle took the bottle.
Kirsty said goodbye, picked up her boots and clothes and headed up towards the house. Elle watched her as she meandered up the path. Half way up she turned and waived at Elle. Elle took a deep breath, stood up, and waived back. She was now standing naked on the jetty in full view of the world around her; something she would never have thought of doing in a million years. Elle continued to watch Kirsty as she walked up the path until she disappeared from sight.
Elle was surprised at how calm she felt standing naked on the jetty. Could anyone see her from the opposite side of the Loch? Did she really care? All she could think about was the feeling of the wind blowing over her skin; she had never felt so much alive. She picked up her clothes and wandered back to the cabin. What would Ben have thought of her antics today? He thought she was a prude. Not anymore.
Dinner that evening with the Stuarts had been fun and Elle had not enjoyed herself so much for some time. She liked the Stuarts a lot, and she was starting to admit to herself that she actually liked Ben an awful lot. He was not the brash man she had first met. He didn’t have to bring her to Scotland, but he did. A promise, he said, shouldn’t be broken; and he was true to his word. As she watched him over dinner, she felt a warmth towards him. It was difficult not to. When he smiled, she smiled. When he laughed, she would laugh with him. It was as if they were a couple. She didn’t have to act; it was something inside her that was making her respond in that way.
As they walked down to the cabin that evening, they were both quiet. What was he thinking? He opened the door, and she walked in. She was hot and tired and wanted to go to bed. Ben went into the bathroom, and she started to undress slipping out of her top and skirt.
When Ben came out of the bathroom, she was still in her underwear.
“Who’s been skinny dipping?” said Ben.
Elle turned to face him. “What do you mean?”
“Your back’s a little pink; you’ve caught the sun.”
>
“But it wasn’t that hot.”
“You’d be surprised how hot it can get here; particularly, when you’ve not had sun tan lotion on. Do you have any after sun?”
Elle thought for a moment. “Yes. Kirsty gave me a tube.” She went over to her rucksack and pulled it out.
He held out his hand to her. “Lie down on the bed and I’ll do your back for you.”
She gave him a puzzled look, but he simply gestured for her to lie on the bed.
She lay on the bed on her tummy.
“I thought you had chickened out?” he said.
“I had. But, Kirsty was persuasive.”
As his hands touched her skin, her back muscle gave an involuntary spasm. Then the cold of the creme caught her, and she let out a long sigh.
“Oh that feels so good,” she heard herself say without thinking. She reached behind her back, undid her bra catch, and moved the straps to let him at her back. She felt the light touch of his fingers on her back as he gently covered her back with the creme. She closed her eyes and started to relax.
“So you’ve gone naturist?”
“Not exactly. It was just a spur-of-the-moment act.”
“How did you feel?”
“I was terrified at first. You know, that you and Stuart would come back early.”
“Why? Kirsty does this all the time, and nobody takes any notice.”
“I know; but I’m not Kirsty.”
“Did you enjoy it?”
Elle thought for a moment. “Yes, I think I did. It was fun… I might even do it again. But only if it’s just girls together.”
Ben stopped for a moment.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It’s just you may have caught the sun on your rear.”
“Oh.”
“You need to move your briefs down an inch or two.”
“What!”
“Trust me. All you need to do is slip them down a bit lower.”
Elle bit her lip. “Okay,” she said as her mouth went dry. She slipped her thumbs into the side of her briefs and pushed them down an inch.
“A little more,” he said.
She looked at him open-mouthed.
“Trust me.”
As she felt his fingers touch her lower spine, she closed her eyes and gave in; she slid her briefs down to the base of her spine. As Ben moved his fingers in tiny circles on her lower back she clenched her tummy muscles. She could hardly believe what he was doing to her, but she didn’t want it to stop. It was driving her wild.
“There,” he said, “finished…” He pulled up her briefs for her. “Nothing to fuss about.”
She turned over onto her side and looked at him. Finished? Did he have any idea what he had been doing to her?
“You’re lucky you didn’t burn,” he said. “It’s just a little pink. It should be back to normal by the morning.”
Burn? She was on fire; but it had nothing to do with the sun. It took all her powers of self-control to stop herself jumping him. But she couldn’t do that, could she? He had a girlfriend he adored, and they had just got back together. Drat.
Ben got up and headed into the bathroom, leaving her time to get ready for bed. She slipped out of her underwear, slipped on her nightshirt, and climbed into bed. A few minutes later Ben came out of the bathroom, turned off the light, and climbed into bed. Like the previous night, they said goodnight and turned away from each other.
Elle closed her eyes and drifted into that place somewhere between a daydream and sleep. She could not stop thinking of the way his fingers had caressed her lower back and sent shockwaves down her spine. She started to imagine Ben snuggling up to her back, kissing her gently on the nape of her neck, and wrapping his arms around her body. She could feel him covering her neck and shoulder with kisses and feel the light touch of his fingers slowly gliding tantalisingly down her tummy. She was so hot. Suddenly, her eyes flashed open, and she let out a gasp. Her pulse was racing, and she was wet with perspiration and desire. She bit her bottom lip wondering if it had been real as she listened to the sounds of the night. She could hear his slow breathing beside her: he was fast asleep. Perhaps it was for the best. For minutes she stared at the ceiling as her heartbeat started to return to normal. What was happening to her? She had not felt this way since she was a teenager. Then she smiled to herself, closed her eyes, and tried again to get back to her dream.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Ben woke up to the sound of a blackbird signing outside the cabin. He found Elle’s arm around his waist and Elle cuddled up against his back. The warmth of her body against him felt amazingly good. She must have moved in the night. Ben lifted her arm and slid out of the duvet, yawned and looked at his watch. It was 7:23. Ben was confused; he thought he had set his alarm for 7:00.
“Elle, you need to wake up; we’ve slept in,” he said.
“What did you say?” she said yawning.
“We have to leave for the university by 7:45.”
Ben went into the bathroom and started shaving.
“What time is it?” Elle called out.
“About 7:25; you need to get a move on.”
Ben heard Elle jump out of the bed.
“You can’t take over the bathroom. I need to shower and my hair takes longer to dry,” she said, coming into the bathroom.
“You’ll have to skip the shower. We haven’t got time.”
“No way. I’m going to shower.”
“Then you’ll have to do it while I shave.”
She frowned at him. “But…,” she said, as though trying to make up her mind. “All right… If that’s the only way I get to shower. No big deal,” she said.
He turned back towards the mirror and continued shaving. He heard her open the shower door and turn on the shower. A minute later, he glanced into the mirror and saw her pull off her nightshirt over her head and climb into the shower.
“Ouch,” said Ben, cutting himself with the razor.
Elle put her head outside the shower. “Are you okay?”
“It’s nothing, just nicked myself.”
“You shouldn’t be peaking in the mirror,” she said.
After five minutes, Elle called out, “I’m finished; can you hand me the towel, please, Ben?”
Ben picked up the towel and handed it to her. His eyes focused on hers as she took the towel and wrapped it around herself.
About twenty minutes later, they were both walking up the path to the house. It was a beautiful summer’s day. Half way up the path Elle stopped and asked him what time it was. Ben looked at his watch — it was 7:44.
“A bit of a mad rush, but we made it,” she said, and turned around to look across the Loch.
“What’s the matter?” said Ben.
“Absolutely nothing. I’m just enjoying the view,” she said, slipping her hand into his. “Thanks for bringing me here.”
He turned to look at her. “You seem really happy today.”
“I am. Maybe it’s the mountain air; maybe it’s this place. I can see why Kirsty loves it here.”
Shortly after, they were heading to the university in Stuart’s Volvo. It was a beautiful ride through the Scottish glens on a brilliant Scottish morning. The air felt tingling fresh as it does after an electrical storm, and the sun’s rays sliced through the forestry to bring the world to life. The drive took almost forty minutes and included a short stop for coffee and bacon rolls. Stuart turned in to the car park and parked the Volvo in his dedicated car park space; the privilege of being a professor.
Stuart took Ben and Elle into one of the vacant research labs. It had a huge whiteboard that they could use for mathematical analysis.
“Ben said you wanted to talk about the possibility of Tachyon particles?” said Stuart. ”Where did you get this silly notion from?”
“Who said it was silly,” challenged Elle. “Just because no one has seen a Tachyon particle doesn’t mean that they don’t exist.”
“In science fiction perha
ps. You have a feisty one there, Ben,” said Stuart, as though he was relishing the opportunity for a good argument.
Ben realised that Stuart was being deliberately provocative and knew that Elle would not let it go unchallenged. Before Ben could calm her, she responded.
“In your paper, ‘The Myth of the Tachyon’, you place a lot of emphasis on your maths. But your so called maths proofs were flawed.”
Stuart’s jaw dropped with the cheek of the challenge. Ben’s eyes were wide with disbelief at the two of them. The fight was on.
“Remember this,” said Elle, scribbling and equation on the whiteboard.
“Aye,” Stuart replied.
“Which was derived from this,” she said, as she scribbled again.
“Aye, that it is.”
“But you have assumed in this transformation that the function is always well behaved. But why could it not be a chaotic function? If it is chaotic your analysis falls apart.”
An expression of shock came over Stuart. She had shot a hole through the middle of his mathematics.
“I’m sorry,” Ben said. “Elle can get a bit passionate about her work.”
“No need to be,” said Stuart. “She’s right. I didn’t prove the function is well behaved. This could change everything.”
“What else have you got young lady?”
“Okay, let’s go back to the basic field equation and start again, and I’ll show you where Ben and I got to.”
She started scribbling on the whiteboard, equation after equation, referring to her notes as she went along, with Ben and Stuart asking the odd question. In an hour she had filled the first whiteboard; then she stopped.
“That’s where Ben and I got to, Stuart.”
“You’ve got the makings of a major breakthrough here. It needs more work, but you have definitely got something. Perhaps we could work on a paper together.”
“It wasn’t really me,” said Ben.
“Nonsense,” said Elle, “I wouldn’t have got anywhere without Ben. He’s the real genius behind this.”
Why did Elle want to attribute all the progress to him?
Elle looked at Stuart. “Now, perhaps you can help. It’s this equation that’s causing all the heartache. What is the relationship between field strength and theta, the time dilation effect?”
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