Chapter Three

The next room turned out to be the bedroom Sheila shared with her partner, Lucia. A floor-to-ceiling bookcase and a trio of artistic watercolors 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 bearskin carpeted the floor at the fireside, and scattered throw pillows promised comfy seating. Overall, the aura in the warm and dimly-lit room was pleasant and cozy.

The colony's mistress retrieved an amber-colored bottle and two glasses from the bookshelf and sat down on the furry surface.

"Would you care to join me in a glass of home-brewed brandy?" Sheila suggested. 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.

While I was tempted, I decided not to ask for a triple. Perhaps later, this will do for now.

I took a sip of the fragrant 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 the human body?" Sheila invited before taking a swallow.

I near snorted the drink out of my nose as I coughed and choked in shock at her weird question.

"Don't gotta problem with casual nakedness," 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 remain covered up. I'm glad you're comfortable with this," Sheila 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, rose to her knees, unbuckled her blue denim trousers, 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.

"Ahhhhhh, much better. I'm getting to where I almost despise attire," she said with a deep sigh.

I took a second to examine Sheila's exposed body as I engraved the image in my memory for later replay. The moment might make more sense the next time around. Her tanned breasts had thus far won their war with gravity. Apart from some stretch marks, they were teenage-firm. Her attentive spirit and youthful voice belied her years.

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 women half her age. Whatever the years, 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 blinked her eyes and caught me studying her body.

"Do I meet with your approval?"

Shit! Stone-cold busted.

"Aha, err, sorry," I blushed and half-smiled.

"Didn't mean to stare, but I don't often find myself alone with a naked lady as attractive as you" I confessed.

"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, um, all this, this place is half-way to nowhere a dozen zip-codes from my comfort zone. I need time to process."

I hesitated for a moment and glanced about while I took deep cleansing breaths and tried to gather my wits. A mind is a terrible thing to lose.

"Take this cabin, for example, almost new, ten or fifteen years old at most, 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 wonderful guesser or a rather lucky boy. Luck is how this community came to be. Remember twenty years ago when everyone freaked out over an unclaimed seventy-five million dollar jackpot? We were the winners, the sisters and me," Sheila said with a wink.

"We cashed the ticket on the last day after taking a year to plan and establish 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 the glen has no roads in or out. 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 as my fingers searched my shirt-pocket. A butt would calm my nerves.

I held my tobacco-filled tube before Sheila and inquired, "Okay with you if I light up?"

"Shit! Fags?" She took the tin case from my other hand and emptied two and set them next to her body.

Sheila gave me one before rolling on her stomach. Her legs spread a little wider for increased stability as she inched forward and reached for an unburned sprig to use as a match.

Her bare buttocks were on vivid display. So was the scenery in the valley between. The little guy in my shorts stiffened in response.

Down boy! I better learn manners if bare-assed is the new normal. Woodies wouldn't cut it.

I lit my cancer-stick and took a thoughtful drag while I studied Sheila as she worked to ignite her twig. I tapped her leg and presented my torch.

Sheila relaxed against her cushion for the next few minutes and puffed away at her first cigarette in years. "Thanks! I had forgotten how much I enjoyed nicotine." She laughed and blew a perfect smoke ring, smiled, and exhaled another.

"My treat. Plenty more in the car."

My eyes followed the misty circles until they dissolved in the shadows. I was impressed. Not many smokers can blow quality cloud-circles.

"How many cigarettes is quote-plenty-unquote?" Sheila asked as her fingers did quotes around the last word.

"Oh? About twenty-four thousand, enough to fill two-hundred cartons, should last a few years," I told Sheila about my bulk tobacco purchase in Rifle, Colorado.

My eyes kept drifting back to her chest and down to her thighs as we talked.

"I recognize staring is rude. You're a beautiful woman. I'm having a difficult time keeping my wandering eyes at home." I twitched.

"Obviously," she chuckled. "Don't worry. I didn't give you much warning. I was testing you. I wanted to find out how you handle female nudity. You did fine," Sheila replied with a grin.

"To be honest, I'm flattered when anyone, even a man admires my body." She stated and smiled at my crotch.

"I understand the usual nudist norms. Unwanted sexual aggression ain't welcome. You being au naturel doesn't give me permission to grope or gawk. I got this."

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." Sheila stretched and stood on her tiptoes as circulation returned to her legs.

"Dinner-time is almost over. We gotta' hustle if we wanna eat," my hostess said and extended her hand.

I have the creaky joints of a man twice my years.

Chapter 4

The dining area was located just off a large commercial kitchen at the far end of the great room. A supersized picnic table lined with benches provided more than enough seating capacity for the thirty-seven females who made the colony their home. The table itself was a stunning thing of beauty. Over the years the dozens of layers of polyurethane on the table's oak planking had been sanded to a mirror smooth finish.

I took a good hard look around as we descended the stairs. Designed to appear humble, at least from a distance, the cabin functioned as a state of the art survival factory with enough solar capacity on the roof to meet the needs of several large households. All the lighting in the cabin utilized LED bulbs. The thousands of icicle lights deployed around the great room drew less power than two or three seventy-five watt bulbs.

The air temperature in the hall hovered at a pleasant seventy-five degrees. Most of the sisters of the colony were gathered in animated conversations around the expansive dining table, which Sheila said doubled as a conference table for group meetings. All the ladies were topless, and many were bottomless. Never before had I seen so much exposed female flesh in one place at one time.

In a daze, I tried to process a torrent of new information. I was kinda prepared for the sight before me thanks to Sheila's sudden introduction to public nudity. However, nothing Darlene had said prepared me for the strange reality of actually being here.

One of the women spotted us and shouted out a greeting to Sheila before we even descended a third of the way down the staircase. A naked Darlene waited for me with a hug by the time we reached the bottom.

My lady-love whispered in my ear as we embraced, "Give me a long, wet, sloppy kiss and play with my ass. I'll explain later."

I learned long ago that obedience was the best course of action when Darlene gave a command like that. We locked lips and traded spit in one of the most passionate kisses we'd shared in a long time. As I held her, I ran my hands over her and lovingly caressed her bare bottom.

Darlene let out a low moan. My hands cupped each cheek as I jiggled them so much she burst out laughing which ended in a loud 'yelp' when I playfully smacked her ass.

"What was that for?" she whispered.

"Payback for your excessively detailed account of my sexual deficiencies," I whispered back.

Darlene giggled, gave me a quick kiss, took my hand, and pulled me in toward the serving line, "You've got to get some supper before it's all gone. It's venison stew, and it is absolutely delicious."

Flavored with an assortment of tasty vegetables that I couldn't identify, the stew was thick, hearty, and spicy. She was right. The taste was out-of-this-world delicious. After allowing me a few minutes to eat, Darlene started to introduce me to each of the sisters.

My lady love possessed a natural ability to remember names. I, on the other hand, had already forgotten the first by the time I had been introduced to the third sister.

As I met each member of the colony, I shook hands, made and kept eye contact (to avoid staring at their naked bodies), and repeated their names in a futile effort to drill each pronoun into my memory. Most of the women responded warmly to my introduction, but several were very reserved, if not hostile. A few of the sisters clearly had "man issues," most likely the result of some abusive male in their history.

I couldn't say that I blame them. I could understand how my presence might be disquieting, to say the least, if I joined a remote all woman community to put the world of men behind me.

An attractive sandy blonde named Alice was the next to last woman I was introduced to. She was well-endowed, and a dark golden tan like the rest. I guessed her age to be about fifty, and stretch marks on her somewhat saggy breasts and her stomach suggested that she had given birth at least once in her life. She seemed genuinely happy to meet me. She gave me a radiant smile and held onto my hand far longer than is customary.

Alice turned to the young girl sitting next to her, and said, "This is my daughter, Starshine, and she's been living in the colony since she was three years old. You're the first man she's ever met. She just celebrated her eighteenth birthday two months ago."

I bowed and shook Star's hand as I wished her a belated birthday while doing my best to make and keep eye contact. Alice's daughter was drop dead gorgeous with small, perky breasts, and a slim elfin and athletic figure adorned in a beautiful amber tan. She had bright blue eyes and wore her waist-length blonde hair in a braid, which made her look like a young Scandinavian fashion model. She was, in a word, stunning.

I had a hunch that I wouldn't earn points from her mother if I started drooling over her nude daughter, so I kept my cool even as I felt the stirring in my shorts. Thank the Lord I was still fully dressed.

Her mother must have been a mind reader. Alice took my hand and pulled me close and asked, "Why are you still dressed, Dennis? Why don't you strip down and make yourself comfortable?"

I noticed her question elicited a few murmurs of agreement, including a nod from Sheila, and an, "'I'll second that motion" from Darlene.

"Moved and seconded. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye," Sheila announced in the voice of a true parliamentarian. A loud chorus of ayes filled the hall.

Sheila then called for the "no" vote; crickets. I half-heartedly raised my hand and quietly said, "No." My vote was as much a joke as an opinion.

Sheila smiled at me and said, "Hearing minimal opposition, I declare that the ayes have it. Motion carries."

After a long pause, Sheila said, "Okay, Dennis, you heard the vote. Now it's your turn."