Thank you for the reviews :) Now, let's see what happens in that sauna, shall we?

Chapter 25

Clara had her towel wrapped tightly around her body when she knocked on the wooden door and stepped inside the sauna a few seconds later. A gust of hot air and steam instantly hit her and for a moment she couldn't even see John. Then she spotted him sitting on the bench, his own towel tightened around his hips and his head leaned back against the wall. The first thing that caught her attention was the long, red scar that ran down his chest where they had performed the surgery just half a year ago. The second thing was his chest itself, pale as milk, with the traces of his workout more than obvious by now. Even with his body covered in sweat and his damp, curls flattened by the steam John looked good for his age, really good.

"Are you just going to keep standing there or will you sit down at some point?" John asked her after a while, not even opening his eyes. Of course he had heard her come in.

Clara cleared her throat. "Sorry, I-"

Suddenly John rose from his seat and approached her and Clara swallowed hard and braved herself for something to happen when he simply walked past her and opened the door to the outside again. A cold wind blew through the sauna, making her shiver.

When he came back John held another towel in her direction. "Here, you can sit on this. It's softer and less sticky than the bench."

She wanted to thank him, but her eyes were once more glued to the scar that was now clearly on display right in front of her. "Does it hurt?" Clara found herself asking.

"Does what hurt?" John asked back, his voice suddenly sounding a lot quieter and deeper than usual. She liked that sound.

"Your scar," she whispered and looked up at him. John was so much taller than her even when she was wearing heels but right now, without her shoes on, he towered over her even more. For a brief moment she wondered if he saw her as a dwarf.

"No," he breathed in reply, giving her just a hint of a smile, but his eyes. . . they weren't smiling along with his lips. His eyes said something else, something she couldn't quite place, and Clara thought she had never seen them so dark before.

She swallowed. "Can I touch it?"

Clara didn't even wait for his reply, she didn't want to give him a chance to say no because right now she was too curious to stop. Slowly she raised her hand and started to trace that red line with her index finger. His skin was damp and a little rough where they had cut it open and rippled in goosebumps under her touch, but Clara could feel his heartbeat fast beneath her palm. Jamie's heart.

She didn't think. It was as if her brain had shut down for a second and something else had taken over. Clara leaned forward and pressed her lips to his chest because that was all she really wanted to do at this point. She couldn't even explain why, she just needed to kiss him.

A part of her had expected John to step away, to stop her as she trailed her lips down his scar, covering every inch of it with soft kisses but instead she felt his hands on her shoulders, not pushing her away, no stopping her, just resting there until her lips had reached his belly and she stopped.

Clara took a deep breath before she dared to look at him because she had no idea what she would find but as she raised her head she could only see that John bent down to her level slowly enough for her stop him – but she didn't. Their mouths clashed in a kiss and Clara instantly parted her lips for him before she could feel his tongue on her own. John's hand wandered down her body, settling on her hips as he pressed her closer to his warm chest. Her towel slipped from her body, leaving hardly any fabric between them at all. In her mind all kinds of alarm bells went off, yelling and screaming at her, but Clara ignored them all. John felt too good, kissing him felt too good and, by God, she loved it.

Their teeth clashed when John pushed her backwards and Clara found herself cornered between the wall and his body on top of her that was beginning to stir the wildest emotions inside of her. A part of her mind still begged her to come back to her senses but when John moaned into her mouth as his pelvis dug into her belly all Clara could think about was to pull him closer. She wrapped her arms around him until her chest was covered by his and he sucked on her bottom lip, all the while still trailing his hand over her hip.

Clara couldn't remember the last time she had been kissed like this, maybe she had never been kissed like this and even the shortage of breath didn't seem to stop either of them. His touch was burning on her skin, tingling and her mind felt utterly blank. She needed him a lot more than air right now as their sweaty bodies were pressed together against the wall and she felt almost intoxicated by his touch and the smell of him that just seemed to send her hormones into overload. Clara didn't care what happened next as long as he didn't stop kissing her. Right now she was willing to do anything with him.

A sound from outside the sauna eventually made John pull away and Clara instantly cursed the source until Jenny's voice was to be heard. Slowly John stumbled backwards, away from her.

"We've still got some leftover Christmas biscuits. Do you want me to pack some up for the ride?" she called through the door.

John was panting just like her and his eyes remained fixed on Clara even when he answered Jenny. "That would be great, thanks!"

Clara swallowed hard as she heard Jenny's footsteps retreating and she realized that whatever had possessed them a moment ago, it had vanished with Jenny. When she looked at John now, still gasping for breath and sweaty and obviously aroused beneath his towel all Clara could think was that they had made a huge mistake. John was her friend and she needed him as such. He was too important to her to lose him over a moment of madness.

"I'm sorry," she breathed, "I don't know what came over me."

John opened his mouth to speak, but no word came out and even Clara had run out of things to say. There was nothing that could possibly justify what she had just done except that fact that she had wanted to do it. And she had enjoyed it. Oh damn, she had enjoyed it a lot because John was an insanely good kisser and she could still feel his hands on her body as vividly as if he was still touching her.

"John, please say something," Clara begged him when he was still gawking at her.

"I, uhm," he paused, "I'm gonna take a shower."

And with that he rushed out of the room, the cold outdoor air hitting her face again, and Clara bent down to pick up the towels that had landed on the floor during their little escapade. Yes, escapade was probably the right word for it. They had both briefly lost their mind and it would never happen again. Oh God, it could never happen again.