Chapter 1

It was near winter when I docked the boat at the cove near the cabin. It was foolish to come up here so late in the season; there was no fishing to speak of and the cabin was built for summer use not for the winter weather that one could expect this time of year.

The cabin is located in a little cove near Gottard hot springs just about two hours by boat from Sitka Alaska. I had come up here to enjoy the scenery and to take one more plunge into the healing waters of the natural thermal springs in the area before winter really set in.

The City of Sitka had erected two log shelters with large wooden tubs where one could enjoy the hot waters that flowed through.

After I secured the boat, I went to the cabin, lit the lantern and started the fire in the wood stove. I wanted to start the fire in the fireplace also but I also wanted go the springs before dark and the fireplace is too risky to leave unattended.

I started up the quarter-mile-winding path from the cabin to the springs. When I arrived, I checked the first tub enclosure to see if the tub was filled. It was empty. Everybody is supposed to open the drain valve when you are finished using the tub, to let the water run through and out so that alga does not form when the tubs were not in use. I was hoping that someone had forgotten to let the water out of one of the tubs, for it takes a while to fill.

I looked at the other shelter and I saw to my delight that the drain valve was still closed and hot steaming water was spilling out of the overflow.

I went into the shelter to remove my clothes. I was there later than I should have been, the sun had gone down and inside the shelter was very dark. After hanging up my clothes I padded over to the tub that was barely visible in the dim light.

I climbed up the ladder and started down the interior steps.

"Excuse me"! A feminine voice called out.

"Oh I'm so sorry." I said. "I didn't know anyone was here."

I started to leave.

"Please don't go." I heard the haunting voice again.

"But lady, I don't have anything on." I said.

"That's ok I don't have anything on either." She replied.

"My name is Alvin, Alfie everyone calls me." I said.

"My name is Toni." She replied.

"How did you get up here?" I asked.

"I have a canoe." She replied.

"A canoe this time of year?" I asked in amazement. "You could have gotten killed with the way the weather is up. Sudden storms can come up with absolutely no warning."

"Well to tell you the truth I didn't care if I ever got back." She lamented.

"What do you mean you wanted to do away with yourself?" I asked.

"I guess not, but I wanted to do something to get away and be alone." She said.

"Well you are certainly all alone out here." I said. "Well until I came around that is."

"I'm really glad that you showed up, I guess I didn't really want to be alone after all." She confessed.

The conversation suddenly stopped. Each of us was wondering what we might talk about next. I didn't want to pry into her troubles so I waited until she felt comfortable enough to continue the conversation.

Finally, she broke the awkward silence.

"How did you get up here?" She asked.

"I have a boat docked at a cabin in the next cove." I replied.

"Where were you going to spend the night?" I asked.

"I have a tent." She replied.

As we were talking we could hear the wind picking up outside.

"Sounds like a storm brewing." I said.

"I think I'll be heading back to the cabin. If there is anything that you need, my cabin is right over the hill." I offered.

I climbed out of the tub dried myself and dressed; then I walked down to the shore to see what kind of shelter that the lady had. From what I could see, she was not prepared for the weather for this time of year. Her tent was made for summer use and she had yet to set it up. It was just rolled out on the ground. Her canoe was too close to the water and not tied up; the next tide would carry it out to sea. I pulled her boat higher up the beach well above high tide and returned to the shelter to offer her a stay at my cabin for the night.

When I arrived, Toni had a small lantern going and was drying herself with a large towel. She hadn't noticed me standing there. I was caught up with the sight of her nude body as she went about drying herself. After a few moments of watching her, I regained my gentlemanly good sense, and moved out of sight before calling her name.

"Toni." I called. "Maybe you had better come to the cabin tonight; the weather is really getting bad."

"I'll be alright." She said as she stepped out of the shelter.

She still had the lantern and I could see that she was wearing only the towel, as she passed me and walked down towards her camp.

"MY CANOE"! She yelled. "Why did you pull it way up here?"

I walked over to the pile of seaweed and flotsam that the last high tide had deposited.

"I pulled it up because the tide comes way up to here." I said quite indignantly. Pointing out the line where the last tide had left its' debris.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know. I guess I'm not very good at this." She said.

Just then, it started to rain. A little at first then it started down in buckets.

Toni's tent and sleeping bag became soaked immediately. Toni was soaked and chilled as well.

"Come on, grab what you can carry and lets go" I insisted.

I grabbed the tent and used it as a makeshift umbrella. Toni grabbed her backpack and slung it over one shoulder. By this time everything was soaked. I tried to hold the tent over us as we ran up the trail. Toni tried to hold the towel around her in a futile attempt at modesty but modesty was of lesser concern. Keeping from freezing to death by running for shelter was her first concern.

By the time we reached the cabin, the wind had picked up and it had begun to snow.

We both burst through the door to be met with the warmth of the wood stove that was putting out its maximum heat. I brought Toni over to the stove and went to the bathroom to get some fresh towels. When I returned Toni was standing over the stove trying to absorb as much heat into her naked body as she could. I wrapped two large fluffy dry towels around her and went to start the fireplace to add its heat and light to the cabin.

In a few minutes the fire was filling the room with added heat and a warm glow.

"Do you drink coffee? I asked.

"No" She said. "But I'll take tea if you have it."

"Good it's more of a hot tea night anyway." I said.

I brought out the teapot to heat on the stove. Toni was sitting between the stove and the fireplace staring at the fire. She had wrapped herself in the two towels and looked reasonably warm.

"You know, if you hadn't come along I might have died out there." She said.

"I don't know if you would have died, but you would have been very uncomfortable." I said.

I went up to the loft to change. I could see Toni down on the main floor as I changed and I wondered what could have caused her to almost throw her life away. She was attractive and smart; what could have hurt her so?

I returned to the living room with a large heavy robe a pair of heavy socks and a tee shirt for her. She thanked me, deftly dropped the towel and donned the tee shirt without waiting for me to turn my back or leave. She put the oversized robe around her and put on the socks.

"Thank you... Alfie is it?"

"Alfie will do just fine." I said.

The water was boiling and I went to get our tea.

We sat on either ends of the long couch talking. I tried to get Toni to talk about what ever was bothering her enough to try to get away from people the way she did.

It took a while but I finally found out the reason.

It was a man.

Toni told of her ex-husband who left her unexpectedly. Toni had made a commitment for life and he had thrown that commitment and her life away. I tried to tell her things that I thought were true and that would help her, such as she was attractive and smart and she could start a new life with someone else, but she wasn't buying it.

The fire was dying out and I explained to Toni that I had to let the stove and the fireplace go out. It wasn't safe to let them burn while we were sleeping. The danger of smoke inhalation or carbon dioxide poisoning was too great.

"I'll sleep down here on the couch and you can have the bed in the loft." I told her.

"Are you sure you will be warm enough?" She asked.

"I'll be ok; I've slept down here plenty of times."

I lied. Who would want to sleep down here on this hard couch when there was a big soft feather mattress and a down comforter up in the loft?

I went to the closet and got out everything there was to cover myself; this was going to be one cold night. I thought.

The storm continued to howl outside. There was a lot of snow and the wind was blowing it around the cabin in large drifts.

I heard the rustling of the comforter as Toni crawled into bed. Oh how I envied her. That had to be the most comfortable bed in existence.

Soon the cabin was silent.

'She sure went to sleep in a hurry' I thought to myself. I tried to hunker down under the pile of blankets that I had arranged. Sleep was not going to come easy for me tonight.

Then I heard her voice.

"Alfie." Toni whispered. "Alfie are you awake?"

"Yea Toni, what's wrong, are you alright?" I asked.

"Yes, I'm ok, I was worrying about you." She said.

"You could come up here if you wanted to, I don't want to do anything like, -- you know, but I could use a warm body to cuddle if you are interested." She said.

"Are you sure that's what you want?" I asked.

"I can trust you can't I?" She said.

"Yes I think so." I replied.

I climbed the ladder to the loft.

I eased myself into the bed and settled down. Toni lay on the other side of the bed with her back to me. After I settled down I lay on my back and was just about to fall asleep when she abruptly rolled over and put her arm around me and laid her head on my chest.

"You don't mind do you, I need someone to hold tonight."

Then she promptly fell asleep.

I lay there listening to her soft snores feeling her warm body partly on top of mine and then I finally drifted off to sleep.

I woke several times during the night, and I found Toni in the same place every time. Except for the fact that she was holding me even tighter. She had wrapped her body around me even more. I had to think about something else besides her near naked body doing crazy things to me. I didn't think that she needed my male libido putting stress on her right then. I forced my desires from my head.

She stirred again and gained more ground on my body. Her leg was between my legs and she had moved up so there was more of her on top of me then before. Then she resumed her gentle snoring that was not the least bit unpleasant.

I finally went back to sleep.

It was the bright rays of the sun streaming through the window that awakened us. Toni looked up at me and smiled. I was taken by how pretty she was even in the morning.

Toni made no move to disentangle her self from me.

"Thank you for last night." She said.

"Thanks for what, I didn't do anything." I said.

"That's what I am thanking you for." She said.

"Oh that." I said.

"Yes you were a perfect gentleman, and for that I thank you." She added. "I don't think that I could have refused you if you had wanted to make love to me last night.

"It wasn't easy." I said.

"I know it was hard for you, I could tell." She said laughing at her own pun.

"I'm going to have to get up and start the fires." I said.

"Oh don't go please." She asked. "I'm not cold and I don't want you to leave, we could never find this comfortable position ever again."

I didn't move, I didn't want to break the spell either, but there was a danger of me demonstrating vividly exactly how I was feeling about her if I didn't move soon.

Toni looked up and into my face and kissed me. I kissed her back. She then laid her head back on my chest and snuggled in tighter. There was again the evidence of how much I enjoyed her kiss but she seemed to ignore it.

We talked again about her life and problems and at the end of our conversation, she agreed that she did have something to live for and she was going back to her life in Anchorage with a renewed vigor. But for now she was just going to relax with me here in the cabin for as long as I would let her stay. I told her that she could stay as long as she needed. She soon drifted off to sleep again. I think that she had a renewed sense of well being and I had the idea that I had just met someone who excited me very much.

Soon after Toni went back to sleep, I gently slid out from underneath her and went down to stoke up the stove and fireplace; it must have been almost noon. The bright sun of early morning had turned into more storm clouds.

After both fires began to blaze, I went back up to crawl into bed. Toni had rolled into my spot and there was little room left on my side of the bed. I slid in to the space that was left. Toni reached for me in her sleep and was shocked to find a very cold Alfie. She woke up trying to decide what had happened to her warm bed partner. When she heard the stove crackling she understood and moved back to her original position. She was soon asleep again.

I must have gone to sleep for awhile, for the next thing that I remember is hearing the rattling of pots in the downstairs kitchen. I also smelled bacon frying.

As I came down the ladder I saw Toni in the kitchen fixing breakfast. She was at the wood stove holding a frying pan getting ready to flip some eggs.

"Did you finally decide to wake up?" She asked.

I answered her by putting my arms around her from behind and thanked her for the wonderful smells that she was putting into the cabin. Toni laid her head to one side as I hugged her and I accepted the invitation by gently kissing the nap of her neck. I think I did the right thing because she moaned and laid her hand along side my head to hold it there, so I continued kissing it until there was a danger of our breakfast burning.

After breakfast I cleaned up the kitchen while Toni tended to her gear.

"We should have hung your clothes up to dry last night." I commented as Toni moved around the cabin hanging up her things.

"Its ok they will dry quickly in here and I can wear your tee shirt until they do dry." Toni said.

"I hope you're going to keep that robe on." I said.

"It's getting much too hot in here to keep this heavy robe on." She said as she dropped it off her shoulders.

"You are making it har--, I mean difficult for me, just wearing that shirt." I said.

"I'm sorry but I don't see the real harm, even if you couldn't control yourself, after all you saved my life in more ways than one; there should be something that I can offer you in return; unless, of course, you find me totally unattractive."

She had that playful look in her eye that made want to carry her up to the loft and collect my reward.

"I think you know that I find you more than attractive. I consider you someone that I would really like to get close to. And there, fair lady is the problem. If we were to jump into bed now, before we really got to know each other I fear that it would doom any chance for a lasting relationship." I reasoned.

"Ok, it's your call; I will remain ready for you when ever YOU think that we know each other well enough. I feel as if I owe you that much.

I guess you're right though; it might be too soon for us to get intimate. Besides being around an iron man like you should be fun just to see how long you can hold out." She said with that same playful look.

She busied herself by moving around the cabin hanging her things over chairs and anything else that was available. Toni would stretch and bend and otherwise move in the most provocative ways around the room. Or was I just imagining it. No, she was a sexy woman moving in her natural way; it was just extremely unsettling for me.

The only solution to my problem was for me not to watch her, but I found that very difficult.

"Can we go to the hot tubs today?" Toni asked.

"I don't see why not, when would you like to go?" I replied.

"How about right after we finish up cleaning the kitchen." She said.

"It's a date." I said.

"Is this our first date?" She said with that same playful look.

"If you are counting, I guess it is." I said.

The weather was still uncertain outside. Although the wind had stopped there were snowdrifts that were three feet deep that we would have to wade through to get to the tubs.

I looked for something for Toni to wear. I found sweat pants and a flannel shirt of mine that were much too large for her, but all her clothes were still too wet. She would have to wear her wet hiking boots though I had nothing that would fit her feet. I brought the clothes down for her and laid them on the couch while I finished up in the kitchen.

Toni didn't seem to have any inhibitions in front of me. She lifted the tee shirt from her body and stood there in full view as she donned the shirt and pants.

"I guess I would have to say that we are getting to know each other pretty well." I commented as she dressed.

"I hope you don't mind. I didn't see any point in climbing way up to the loft for the sake of modesty, since we are sleeping together." She said as she pulled a brush through her hair.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

"I'm ready." She said.

I gave Toni my heavy parka, and she and I began the trek through the snow to the springs.

It was laborious work, plodding through deep snow is the most strenuous thing that a person can do. We were both winded by the time we reached the tubs. I was glad to see that I had not obeyed the rules and left the tub with out draining it.

Toni immediately began removing her clothes. I politely left the enclosure with the excuse that I was going to check on her canoe. I found it just where I had left it. I felt that I should tie it down better in case the wind came up any stronger, I lashed it to a tree.

When I returned to the tub I found Toni submerged to her neck with a very contented look on her face.

"This is wonderful." She said. "Hurry up and get in here."

I removed my clothes except for my jockey shorts and slowly lowered myself into the pool.

It wasn't long, as we talked about the places in Alaska that I have been, before I felt very hot. I got up and sat on the edge of the tub to cool off.

Toni felt too overheated also and she climbed up on the seat that encircled the rim of the tub. She sat across from me, and in the semi-dark shelter, I could gaze upon the body that I was slowly becoming infatuated with.

I told about an experience that I had in one of the villages that I traveled to.

"When I was in the village of Kavlina, the bunya or sauna was the only way that the villagers had to wash. They would sweat and wipe themselves down with wet towels; this method was extremely effective in getting clean. The plains Indians call them sweat lodges they were the same-thing. Anyway the villagers would get too hot in the Bunya and would run outside and roll around in the snow. I even tried it out myself a few times; it isn't as bad as it sounds.

"Let's try it." Toni said.

"I'm game, but I'm getting back in the tub to warm up a bit before I do." I said.

I slipped down into the tub and completely submerged myself. Toni jumped in from her side but she caught her foot on the underwater seat and fell across the tub straight into my arms. She ended up sitting on my lap facing me.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

"I think so." Toni replied. "But I think that I had better sit here a while until I am absolutely sure I didn't break anything." She had her arms around my neck and I was staring into the most beautiful breasts that I had ever seen.

"Do you think that you are alright now?" I asked. I attempted to look into her face as I spoke but I don't think that I quite made it.

"I had better stay here for a while longer." She replied as she started to shift from side to side on my lap to the other.

"I think that I might have pulled something in my back." Toni said.

Toni was twisting in every direction possible on my lap as she tried to determine what the extent of her injuries might be. She arched her back and leaned forward which put an erect nipple in close proximity to my lips. I am only human. I could not resist. I captured the rigid morsel between my lips and fluttered my tongue across the surface.

Suddenly I felt a not so strange a sensation between my legs; my friend had found his way out of his confinement and was about to enter Toni's aroused opening.

'It can't happen like this' my mind shouted. 'I've got to stop this before it's too late.

I jumped up, dumping Toni into the tub and she disappeared completely into the dark waters, before she came sputtering to the surface. As I stood up I realized that for the moment before Toni hit the water, we had actually been coupled.

"You have strange ways to seduce a girl." She said as she spit out water that she had swallowed.

"I'm sorry but I don't think that we should be doing that. Besides what ever happened to safe sex?" I reminded her.

"Well you are right about that part." She conceded. "Don't you have any protection with you?"

"Not with me." I lied. There was nothing at the cabin but I was almost sure that there were some condoms on the boat.

"Well I don't have anything either." Toni lamented. "I guess you were right we had better wait, until we get to a drug store anyway."

"Of course I was right." I boasted. Having hardly ever heard the words "You're right" spoken to me very often, I felt the need to be self-righteous.

I left Toni in the tub as I got out and ran out into the snow-covered meadow. Toni ran out soon after and found me making a snow angel in a deep drift.

She took a position next to me and flopped down to create her own angel.

We both lay in the snow stark naked, well I still had my jockeys on, and we were not the least bit uncomfortable.

"Since we can't have sex because of the protection thing, does that mean that I can't tease you any more?"

"To tell you the truth I like the teasing. The teasing will only make it better for us when we finally do it." I said.

"Oh good, can I go around naked then?" She asked. There was that playful sound in her voice again.

"You can do what ever makes you happy." I said.

"Will you be naked too?" She asked. There was that coy voice again.

"There are two things that I know for sure, and both of them are: Women naked very very good. Men naked very very bad." We both laughed.

We also started to feel the chill of the air and the snow. It was time to go back to the hot tub.

After an hour of enjoyable conversation we decided to return to the cabin. I started out barefoot with all my clothes bundled under my arm. Toni had the good sense to put her boots before starting back, however she remained naked feeling perfectly comfortable after the heat of the tub.

It wasn't long before I could not feel my feet and I stopped to put on my boots.

As Toni watched me don my shoes she got a thoughtful look on her face and then spoke.

"You know technically we did do it." She said. "I felt you inside me just before you tried to drown me."

"I know, I felt it too." I said.

"Does this mean that we can't have a relationship because we already did it?" Toni asked.

"I don't think that we can count that, it was an accident." I reasoned.

"It felt pretty good." Toni said. That playfulness in her voice again.

'She was really loving this.' I thought to myself.

We continued our way to the cabin.

By the time we arrived, the cabin felt extremely warm. We were almost chilled to the bone. I grabbed a blanket and put it around Toni. She folded into my arms and we hugged until the warmth returned to our bodies.

Someone should study the things that turn men on or maybe just what turns me on, for after spending the afternoon watching Toni naked, I got turned on by seeing her in her own clothes. The sight of her puttering around the cabin in a pair of her jeans and a buttoned blouse caused me the same effect as when I first saw her naked. Men, or better that I speak solely about myself are turned on by the most unusual things. I have seen a particular type of ankle that moved me, only because that type of ankle belonged to a woman that I had a most gratifying relationship with. I have never found slender women a tremendous turn on. Mainly because I prefer woman who are not too concerned about their looks but are concerned about how they react to other people. I consider kindness a better attribute for a woman then how her makeup looks. Women who remain busy in their lives I also find attractive. This woman seemed to have all these things working for her. Could it be that she is the one.

Toni did busy herself after she had arranged her dry gear back into her backpack she went about the cabin dusting and generally tidying up. I had completed the kitchen chores and had sat down on the couch in front of the fire.

"You don't have to earn your keep here you know." I said.

"I know, but I like to keep busy to keep my mind off things." She said.

"Why don't you sit down and read that's what I'm going to do." I said.

"We'll need some more light but first I have to start the generator, it's out back in the shed. I should start it anyway, there are batteries that operate the lights that need to be charged, and so we might as well enjoy the light and read and listen to some music."

I went out to the shed and started the small generator. When I returned the cabin was brightly lit with the lamps at either end of the couch.

Toni was lying outstretched on the couch with a book that she had found on the bookshelf along the cabin wall. She had selected "Petals on the River" by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss about a young lady during early American times who was falsely accused of theft in England and brought over to America in the chains of a debtor.

I was reading one of my old stand-bys a John D. Macdonald mystery "The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper", one that I had read a few times before. The couch was just long enough so that in order for Toni to get comfortable, she had to put her feet on my lap. This was not a problem until she started searching in my lap for "something." I held her feet away from trouble as I read. As long as I had to holding her feet anyway I started to rub them while I continued to read.

"Umm, that feels good." She said and she wiggled her toes in appreciation.

I concentrated my efforts by setting my book down and using both hands. Her occasional moans and whispered "Yes's" assured me that what ever I was doing, it felt good to her. She tried to remain deep into her book but with my attention to her feet, I invoked many moans of pleasure from her as she read. Soon she was quiet; she was lost in the novel and accepted the massage she was receiving as normal activity. I went back to reading and one-handed foot rubs. The cabin was peaceful; you could hear the sound of the generator faintly in the background. The wind was whistling around the windows and doors. The fire occasionally crackled or popped. My book was totally enjoyable.

I'm afraid that my hand had paused in the manipulation of Toni's feet because she suddenly moved them and said.

"Oh please don't stop."

I could tell that she had to travel a long way from where the book had taken her to encourage me to continue rubbing, and she was not happy that she had to make the trip.

"Do my legs." She said; it was almost a command.

I was happy to oblige. As I continued to read, my free hand kneaded her calf's first one then the other. I could feel some tense muscles when I started; soon she seemed to relax. Toni was very deep into the story, as she didn't move a muscle except for turning the pages.

I had done her calves as much as I thought needed to be done without starting to remove skin, so I stopped. When I did, Toni got up and went to the bathroom that was off the kitchen.

We used a chemical toilet during the winter months because the water system would freeze if we didn't. When she returned to the couch she laid her head on my lap facing away from me and picked up her book.

I started to massage her neck muscles with my free hand. Toni began to reward me with more moans of pleasure; she arched her neck and stopped reading for a few moments as I renewed my efforts to please her. I move both my hands down her back as I had stopped reading also.

When I had attended to all the areas of Toni's back, I stopped my massage, and picked up my book again. Toni grunted her disappointment and turned over.