of summer heat, the sky was finally a little overcast, the air blessedly breezy.
By the early evening, it was cool enough for me to go in search of a cardigan. The sun peeked out from behind the clouds for the first time that day, just in time to disappear into the azure water in a stunning sunset.
“I’m gonna go give that steam room a try,” Josh announced, dropping the third novel he’d finished in as many days and stretching his arms over his head.
“Great idea.” I abandoned my search for warmer clothing and took Josh’s hand instead.
“Talked me into it!” Ethan flashed his dimples and followed us out.
Tyler grunted, still buried in his laptop at the table. Alec was napping in the bedroom.
The three of us took a slow, lazy walk in the post-sunset glow, following a cobbled path to a building near the back of the cottages. A couple of outdoor showers stood in the building’s little courtyard, just outside a spacious changing room and bathroom. Past that, a glass door led to the steam room.
Josh fiddled with the controls on the wall, and it started to fill with steam.
“Shit.” I grimaced. “We don’t have bathing suits.”
“Who cares? There’s no one around.” Ethan shrugged, whipping his T-shirt over his head and pushing his shorts and underwear down in one go. Every large, defined muscle was on display; his fire tattoo curved tantalizingly over his shoulder, making me want to lean forward and lick the flames.
“This is a Turkish hammam,” Josh mused as he too stripped down to nothing. “Traditionally, they were used in the nude, the men and women having separate facilities or times of the day to visit.”
Now there were two glorious specimens of male beauty before me—all that corded muscle, masculine spatterings of hair, smooth skin, and abs . . . so many abs.
Josh startled me out of my trance by stepping around me to grab three thin Turkish towels from a shelf. “They did, however, use towels from time to time.” He handed one to Ethan and one to me, then secured one around his own hips before giving me a light kiss on the cheek.
He opened the glass door and walked into the steam that billowed out, his ass looking incredible even in a light pink towel. Ethan flashed me another mischievous grin and followed Josh, not bothering to wrap the towel around himself. I could’ve sworn he put a little extra swagger into his gait, and I stared at his bare ass unashamedly. It was my ass after all.
They were right. We hadn’t seen anyone else in the cottages. It was unlikely anyone else would be coming to use the steam room any time soon.
I still wrapped the towel around myself after undressing, just in case.
I walked into the steam room and took a deep breath, letting the warm, moist air envelop me and drain some of the tension from my shoulders.
The room was an octagon; each side, apart from the glass-doored entrance, had tiled bench seating. Two of them, on opposite sides of the room, had a little sink on the bench with a beautiful mosaic pattern over it.
The entire room was tiled in dark gray and teal marble, including the pitched ceiling, which met in a point in the middle of the room, like a tent. Everything was very symmetrical and oozed opulence.
Ethan and Josh sat on the bench opposite the door, leaning back against the wall, their towels haphazardly resting over their laps.
In the center of the room was an octagonal, low platform, about the height of a coffee table. I wasn’t sure what its purpose was, so I stepped around it and sat between Josh and one of the little sinks.
Steam had already filled the room and warmed the tiles. Even the light fabric of the towel felt heavy and sticky on my skin. Just as I reached to undo it, the door opened, and I paused just shy of exposing my boobs to the newcomer.
“This was a great idea, Josh.” Tyler’s voice echoed around the room. Alec closed the glass door behind them. They both had matching towels around their hips, which—except for one corner covering their crotches—they removed as they sat down. Tyler settled in on the other side of the little sink, and Alec sat on the opposite side of the room.
Once I was sure no one else was following them, I let my towel drop at my sides and leaned my head back against the tiles,