The next room turned out to be the bedroom Sheila shared with Lucia, her partner. The bookcases and several artfully done watercolor portraits of lightly clad women adorned the golden-yellow walls of hand-hewn pine planks.
A queen-size, four-poster bed overlaid with a beautiful handmade quilt took up one wall. An antique handcrafted wrought iron table lamp with a stained-glass shade provided most of the light for the room. The remainder came in the form of the hazy glimmer of smoldering embers within the stone hearth.
An impressive woody-brown bearskin carpeted the floor at the fireside and several hefty throw pillows offered comfy seating. Overall, the pleasantly warm and dimly lit room had an elegant and cozy aura about it.
The colony's mistress retrieved an amber-colored bottle and two glasses from the bookshelf and sat down on the furry floor.
"Would you care to join me in a glass of home-brewed brandy?" Sheila asked. Her hand patted a spot next to her side and she beckoned me to sit.
"Sure, but only if you make mine a double," I answered and lowered my body to the rug.
Tempting as it was, I decided not to ask for a triple. Perhaps later, this will do for now.
I took a sip of the offered spirits. The silky-warm glow of liquid heaven slipped down my throat as smooth as glass.
"Tell me, Dennis, how at-ease are you with public displays of nudity?" Sheila invited before taking a swallow.
The drink nearly snorted out of my nose as I coughed and choked in shock at her weird question.
"Don't gotta problem with casual nudity," I said as I fought to regain my composure. "Back in the day, I visited lots of unclothed beaches in my lifetime."
"Did you undress or only visit as a voyeur?"
"Yes, I got as sunburned as everyone else. Why do you ask?"
"FYI, our dress code is clothing optional when we're home. Most of us go skyclad when we aren't working or cooking or if safety requires, we stay covered up. I'm glad you're comfortable with this," Sheila said as she pulled her sweater over her head and revealed her braless chest.
I used to think myself as jaded as jewelry, and nothing would surprise me. Wrong.
She folded her garment neatly, rose to her knees, unbuckled her blue denims, and slid them down to her ankles. My eyes widened in wonder. Sheila wore no underwear, and her unclad body exhibited no trace of tan bands. My head spun.
The same dizzy sensation I had when standing at the edge of a cliff swept over me in a wave of cultural vertigo. I struggled to keep my mental balance. The standard familiar landmarks outlining the boundaries of acceptable behavior were either missing or obscured in this strange new world. After placing her jeans on top of her pullover, she leaned back on her pillow and closed her eyes.
"Aha, much better. I'm getting to the point where I almost despise attire," the leader said with a deep sigh.
I took a second to examine Sheila's exposed body and paused to engrave the image in my memory for later replay. The moment might make more sense the second time around. Her tanned breasts had thus far won the war with gravity. Apart from a few stretch marks, they were teenage firm. Nice.
Except for a few creases above a thin patch of reddish-brown hair, Sheila's toned and brown body was almost wrinkle-free. She was in better physical shape than most women half her age and me. She could've been a high mileage thirty-year-old. Whatever the odometer reading, the view was soft on the eyes.
Her face had the typical lines and weather-worn features of someone who spent most of their life outdoors. She opened her eyes and caught me studying her body.
"Do I meet with your approval?"
Damn! Stone-cold busted.
"er, sorry," I blushed and half-smiled.
"Didn't mean to stare. It's not often I find myself alone with a naked lady I've only just now met," I stammered.
"This whole thing is way too wild. Talk about being on the wrong side of easy; you're nude, and you tell me an entire flock of natural jaybirds is roosting beyond this door." My eyes darted about the room, "and err, all this, this place half-way to nowhere, a few dozen zip-codes away from my comfort zone. I need time to process."
Taking a deep breath, I hesitated for a moment and glanced about.
"Take this cabin, for example, almost new, ten or fifteen years old at most and it must have cost a fortune. What'd you guys do? Win the lottery or something?" I said, waving my arms about the room.
"You're either a wonderfully good guesser or a rather lucky boy. Luck is how this place came to be. Remember twenty years ago when everyone freaked out over an unclaimed seventy-five-million-dollar jackpot? It was the sisters and me," Sheila said with a wink.
"We cashed the ticket on the last day after taking a year to plan and set up a corporation to hold and claim the prize. We elected to fly under the radar. We didn't want the media attention. I'm sure you can understand." She caressed my thigh.
"You needed tons of supplies to build this place, and there ain't no roads in or out of the glen. How the hell did you construct this mansion? "
"We cut and milled the wood we required on site. A French Canadian heavy-lift helicopter service hauled in everything necessary to complete this building and several utility structures. I'll give you and Darlene a tour tomorrow," Sheila offered.
I nodded and reached into my shirt pocket. A smoke would calm my nerves.
With cigarettes in my hand, I asked, "Okay, if I light up?"
"What! Cigarettes? It's been years!" She took the pack from my hand and emptied two cigarettes out before setting the pack next to her leg.
Sheila gave me one before rolling on her stomach. Her legs spread a little wider for increased stability as she inched forward and reached into the fireplace and searched for an unburned sprig to use as a match.
Each rounded cheek of her firm, compact, and well-tanned fanny was on vivid display, as was the scenery in the valley between. The little guy in my shorts stiffened in response to the vision before me. Damn, I'm going to have to control my aging and raging hormones in check if nudity is going to be the new normal. I had a hunch becoming aroused every time one of the women of the colony bent over wouldn't pass muster.
Reaching into my pants-pocket, I pulled out my Bic and lit my cigarette. I took a thankful puff and studied Sheila while she worked to ignite her twig. I tapped her leg and offered my torch.
Sheila relaxed against her cushion for the next few minutes and puffed away at her first cigarette in years. "Gosh! I had forgotten how much I enjoyed nicotine." She laughed and blew a perfect smoke ring, paused, and exhaled another.
"Keep the pack, my treat. Plenty more in the car."
My eyes followed the misty circles until they dissolved in the air. I was impressed. Not many smokers can blow quality cloud-circles.
"How much is plenty more?" Sheila asked.
"I brought enough to roll at least twenty-four thousand cigarettes. Enough to last a few years." I told Sheila about my bulk tobacco purchase in Rifle, Colorado.
My eyes kept drifting back to Sheila's chest and down to her thighs as we talked.
"I know staring is rude. You're an attractive woman and it's difficult to keep my eyes from wandering." I twitched.
"So I see, don't worry about it. I didn't give you much warning. This was a test. I wanted to know how you would handle female nudity. You did fine," Sheila replied with a grin.
"Honestly, I'm flattered when someone, even if it's a man, admires my body." She stated and smiled at my crotch.
"I understand the usual norms around social nudity, and unwanted sexual aggression isn't included. Nudity doesn't give a man permission to grope or gawk. I get it."
I averted my eyes and rested my hand on my lap, for safety's sake.
"Hmm, almost a feminist viewpoint. Not bad for a man. Perhaps you'll fit in here after all." Sheila stretched and stood on her tiptoes as circulation returned to her legs.
"Dinner-time is almost over. We need to get to the dining room before nothing is left," she said and extended her hand.
I have the creaky joints of a man twice my years.