Ignis: Animus

You be careful, now, old Lempi said with a sly grin.  A pretty thing like you, the sauna spirit 
might take a liking to you.

Right, I said.  And then what?

She shrugged, but the smile still glinted in her eyes.  Well, its all hot and ready for you, she 
said, handing me a handmade wooden bucket with a birch whisk in it.  Water from the lake to 
make it steam inside, so youll sweat more.  And a little birch to wake your skin up!

Well, I said, if the sauna spirit tries to get me, Ill just beat him off with this!

Lempi turned away then, waving, but I heard her cackle from the nearby house as I undressed.  
Sauna spirit indeed.  Probably just having me on because I was a greenhorn when it came to the 
real thing, sauna in Finland.  Id taken saunas before, but this would be different as a hot springs 
from a hot tub.  I braced myself for the heat, opened the door quickly and shut it fast behind me.

It was dark inside, but not yet unbearably hot.  The cedar walls seemed to whisper promises 
with their fragrance.  Gradually my eyes became accustomed to seeing by the dim glow in the 
heart of the rocks piled up in the kiuas, the heater. Theyd come from a volcano once, and you 
could tell the fire still lived in them, easily roused by the touch of tongues of flame.  I set the 
bucket down and made my way to one of the shelves.

My skin warmed gradually.  There was a draft from somewhere, but it was warm.  My breath 
seemed to come out hotter than it went in.  I got warmer and more relaxed, and could almost 
imagine a presence in the sauna, as though I was floating in somebodys breathing.  Anybody in 
there? I murmured in the direction of the kiuas.  No answer.

A little sweat was beginning, and to encourage it, I took up the birch whisk and flicked water 
from its leaves onto the rocks.  Immediately, a cloud of scalding steam sprang up.  Another 
sprinkling, and my lungs began to clear, stinging.  When the wooden walls absorbed the steam, I 
would throw on more water until finally the sweat was pouring off me.  I dashed from the sauna 
and before my rational mind could make me hesitate, dove head first into the lake.

At least it wasnt freezing.  At least not actively.  But I was glad to scramble ashore and let the 
water evaporate off my glowing skin, cooling me just enough.

Inside again, my sweat came up quickly this time, and the drops trickled over my skin like a 
caress.  I closed my eyes, enjoying the dark, the touch of the warm draft.  It would be nice to have a lover here, I thought, but the Finns are very proper when it comes to sauna  One should 
behave in sauna as in church, I said aloud.

*whose church?* said a small whisper from somewhere.  I jumped up and banged my head on the 
ceiling, which made me sit down again, hard.

Whos there? I demanded, but there was only silence, and the hissing of the kiuas.  Hearing 
things.  I lay down again, my head beginning to ache.

I stiffened as the hissing made words again: *in the churches of old time  if one may call them that  the act of love wass thought mossst proper.*

I dont believe in you, I said.  Youre a figment of my rattled brain.

There was a broken hissing, like laughter.  *if you truly want a lover here, throw libation on the sstones, and then ssee whether or not i exissst.*

All I need right now is a cure for my headache, I said testily.  Silence.  Finally I reached down 
to the birch whisk and flung water into the kiuas; as an afterthought, I threw water on twice 
more, then lay back again, ignoring the sudden roar of steam.

I began to relax again, and could almost imagine warm, gentle hands massaging my temples. *It is ssaid that lovemaking is a sssovereign cure for headache*.  This time, strong hands and solid 
held me back from hitting my head again.  I looked up and saw, sitting on the bench at my head, 
a powerfully-built and noticeably male body, glowing from within with the same red light of the 
kiuas.  His beard was golden and curled like the ends of flames, and stood out dramatically 
against his red skin.  And his eyes were the colour of amber, lit from within.
*Let me help you to relaxss, he said, you are over-tensse.*  He took up the birch whisk and 
brushed it over my skin until it tingled as from electricity.  Then he laid it aside and began to 
massage me.

His hands were warm and insistent, and I relaxed without thinking, leaning back against his 
body.  His fingers found every aching muscle and worked every tension out.  But I was very much 
aware of where his hands were on my body, and as he continued to avoid touching my breasts I 
began to long for it.  Touch me! I thought at him.  This is a fair, young body, touch it!  He didnt 
make a sound, but the next minute I felt his breath on my ear, and then he ran his teeth along 
the rim with great delicacy.

He ran his hands down my body, pausing to cup my breasts and press my nipples firmly before 
he laid one burning hand on my pubis.  I reached up to touch his face; he turned his head to my 
hand and pressed the mount of Venus, the fleshy mound at the base of the thumb, between his 
teeth.  My whole body was shaking with wanting him.

I reached behind me, searching for his cock; touching it was like touching sun-heated iron.  
*Ah,* he breathed, and slid alongside me as he turned me so that we faced each other on the 
bench.  He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight for a long moment.  Then he cocked 
his head back and looked piercingly at me.  *If you lie with me, he said, you will bear my mark all 
your life long.  Is this truly your will?*

I tried to still my mind even as my body trembled.  This is scarcely an appropriate time to ask, 
when youve already got me wound up like an alarm clock, I said, stalling for time.

He smiled.  *I am required to ask sometime before; when is not specified.*

If it will not keep me from enjoying love with mortal men, I said after a moments careful 
thought, then I do will it.

His own body shook, with laughter.  *Mortal woman, he said, when you have known my 
passion, your passion will be fed like fire; you will love the act of love even more than you do now, 
and both you and the men who lie down with you will rise up energized.*

Then let it be so, I said.  And quickly...  I couldnt control myself; I thrust my pelvis toward 
him, all the more excited by the touch of that truly hot cock, and in the rising heat of the sauna 
my breath came short and hard.

A quick, limber tongue flicked between my parted lips, but even as it explored my mouth, what 
felt like two more tongues tickled my nipples, and then, amazingly, a fourth began to tease at my 
clit.  He must have sensed my astonishment, for he leaned back to look at me with his golden 
eyes and smile with his sharp, perfectly white teeth.  *Have you never heard that all my kin have 
nine tongues?* And indeed, tongues like flames appeared and disappeared all over his body  but 
never more than eight at a time  while one reptilian forked tongue flicked out of his mouth and 
back.

He ran his fingers over my skin, and his flesh had the heat of hard-working engines.  Sliding 
his hands under my buttocks, he lifted me up to him and slid that amazing organ deep inside me.  
I nearly went wild as a mouth opened up just above his cock and started licking my clit.
Then I felt a gentle probing at my anus.  *Most of my kin also have tails,* he said with a chuckle, 
and when he slid it inside me I couldnt be still any longer.  But even as a howl of animal lust 
gathered itself in my throat, his fiery lips closed over mine and all I could do was wrap my limbs 
around him as he penetrated every opening and planted the fires of ardor there.
Just before I came, he took my hand again and bit into it, pressing with his tongue the flesh 
caught up between his teeth.  Then, I think, between heat and orgasm, I slipped ecstatically 
out of consciousness.

When I finally came around, my head was light as I left the sauna.  Been in too long, I thought 
to myself as I took the icy plunge.  Been hallucinating. I groped for a towel and stumbled back to 
the house.

So, said Lempi.  You were a long time in the sauna.  Have a drink of mead.

I think I fell asleep, I said, reaching out to take the earthenware cup she offered.  Only then 
did I notice that the pad at the base of my thumb still bore the prints of his teeth in a perfect oval, just beginning to swell a little.  I had not dreamed it!

Lempi smiled, and her eyes were soft as she saw the marks.  He is good, isnt he, she 
murmured, and I saw her hand as I took the cup from it; it bore the scars, white with age, of 
twelve keen teeth like a fairy ring.