Alex caught herself shuffling back and forth slightly as she wound up the long, meandering, barely coherent and deeply embarrassing speech she was giving to the girl sitting in front of her, staring at her somewhat incredulously. “So… will you go out with me?” Forcing the words out took the last of Alex’s courage, and she dropped her gaze to the floor as she tried to keep her breath under control.

  “I… wow.” Winter replied. Just from her tone of voice, Alex could tell she was probably raising an eyebrow. As well she might. I’ll just ask her, was what Alex had decided, but she’d felt the need to give a little prefix about how she knew a girl like Winter probably wouldn’t be into a girl like her, and somehow it had turned into a large prefix about herself and half her life story. Alex grimaced. She’d ruined it, hadn’t she? Not that she’d had much of a chance to begin with. Alex considered herself quite pretty, in the right light, but she was shy, socially awkward, unbelievably nerdy, and way, way too plain. She’d always thought the perfect way to describe herself was: she looked like an extra in a movie. An extra. Never a main character. She wore glasses and never bothered with much makeup, and always wore her mousy brown hair in a ponytail. She never wore anything that showed her shoulders or her legs above the knee. She was curvy, kind of, but her mother had always commented that she could afford to hit the gym more often, to burn off that puppy fat that clung insistently to her belly. ‘Plain’ really was the most suitable word.

  Whereas Winter was… Winter. In Alex’s eyes, she was the coolest girl at her whole university. She wasn’t conventionally popular, but Alex knew she had a few admirers. She stood out everywhere she went. As if her almost 6 feet of height wasn’t enough already, she wore heeled boots that put her a head above even a lot of the men around her. And then, of course, there was her style. Winter was a goth, through and through. Black hair, black lipstick, black clothes, black everything, set off magnificently by porcelain-pale skin, arching cheekbones and a slender, elegant physique. You could write a poem about her dark beauty! And Alex had, almost, before stopping herself. She’d been crushing on Winter pretty much forever. They shared a common haunt in the university library, where Alex spent most of her days between lectures, studying up. Winter seemed to like it there too, although she was as often reading novels or scrawling in her notebook as studying. Alex had taken to sitting near her  - not too near, of course, just near enough to be able to see her when she looked up from her books. More than once, she’d caught herself staring. Winter was just so beautiful. She was the kind of girl Alex had always been attracted to. She wished she had the courage to pull of a style the way Winter could. And the fact that she spent her time in the library made it perfect. Maybe they could bond over books! Maybe Winter was just as much of a nerd as she was! That would be so cute! Alex had all kinds of fantasies about the pair of them as girlfriends. But today, she’d decided her fantasies weren’t just going to be fantasies any longer. She was going to ask Winter out, get rejected, and then spend the night bawling over a pint of ice cream. And then maybe she could move on and stop crushing so hard. Maybe. But if there was even the slightest chance Winter might say yes…

  “No,” Winter finally said, dashing the small hopes Alex had been harboring. “I’m sorry, just, no. I’m not really interested in you that way.”

  Alex gripped the fabric of her skirt tightly. She could feel tears coming on already. She should leave it there, she knew. She should scurry back over to her desk, pack up her things, and run home. But a strange feeling seized her, and she asked: “Why not?”

  Winter seemed surprised by the question. “You’re just not my type, I guess.”

  “Not your type?” Alex repeated. “But… why? What’s your type?”

  “It’s a little hard to explain.” Winter was looking at her strangely now.

  “But, but,” Alex knew she should stop, but she couldn’t. This was her one chance, even if it wasn’t really a chance at all. “Won’t you even give me a chance? Get to know me a bit? Maybe I’m your type after all.”

  Winter’s expression softened. Maybe she could see Alex was on the verge of tears. “I don’t think so, I’m sorry.”

  “But, just,” Alex was struggling for a words like a fish on land gasping for oxygen. “Please! I know this is silly, I know, but I have such a crush on you, and… I really want to be your type. I’ll do anything! I… I don’t mind changing a little bit, if that’s what it takes. Just, please, give me a chance to be with you!”

  Alex had gotten quite worked up, she realized, and was breathing hard. Daring to look up, she found Winter wearing a strange expression. A very strange expression indeed. Slowly, a curious, crafty smile spread across the goth girl’s face. “Well… OK, maybe. I said maybe!” she added quickly, seeing Alex become suddenly delighted. “Sure, we can get to know each other better. Sure.” Winter looked around. “Hey, let’s go somewhere we can talk better. Somewhere a little more private. Follow me, we can use one of the study rooms.”

Winter swept to her feet and started leading off, long black skirt trailing behind her. Alex trotted after her, after taking a moment to drink in her astonishingly sudden reversal of fortune. Nothing had really happened, she told herself, it was only a maybe, she told herself, but nonetheless, her blood was pounding in her ears with excitement. Winter led her down the steps out of the library and into an adjacent corridor with a number of doors leading into small rooms. They quickly found one that was empty, and went inside. The rooms were for small study groups, and had little more in them than a table and a few chairs. Winter settled into one of them gracefully, and beckoned for Alex to sit opposite her.

  “I’ve noticed you, you know?” Winter said. Alex blushed. “You’re always up there, peering over textbooks. Do you have any hobbies? Ever go to parties?”

  “Umm, not really…” Watching movies and playing video games didn’t count as hobbies, Alex decided. “I just care a lot about my grades, I guess. I know that’s super nerdy.”

  “It is,” Winter replied, in a good-natured, teasing way. “To be honest, I don’t think you’re my type. At least not right now. But maybe we can find a way to help you cut loose a bit, what do you think?”

  “Uhh…” Alex wasn’t sure what Winter might be hinting at, and started to feel nervous. But she remember what she’d promised earlier: anything. “Sure. Yes. OK.”

  “Great!” Winter sounded delighted, and the way her black lips parted in a smile made Alex blush all over again. “Then, let’s get started! No time like the present, right?”

  “R-right.” What were they going to do, here in a study room? Why had Winter insisted they be alone? Could it be… no way! Alex forced her silly hopes right down, as far as she could, but she almost lost control when she saw Winter pull down the front of her own top, exposing her bra slightly, and grope around. She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding when Winter fished out a small silver pocket watch, hanging on a chain around her neck, and fixed her top.

  “Let’s play a game.” Winter’s grin was so wide now. “I bet you’ll be really good at it, since you’re so smart.”

  “I hope so.” Alex swallowed and smiled nervously, failing to match Winter’s mirthful expression.

  “It’s easy.” Winter opened the pocket watch, revealing the clock face. She held it up by the chain in the air between them, letting it swing just slightly. “All I want you to do, to begin with, is look at the watch. That’s all you have to do. Look at the watch.”

  Alex did, staring intently at it. It was quite beautiful, really. Almost a work of art. She wondered if it had been expensive or not. It looked old, with the numbers written in pretty Roman numerals and the clock hands ornamented with fine details. Alex’s eyes worked over it, taking it all in and noting it all down, eager to notice whatever it was Winter wanted her to see. Winter laughed.

  “No, no, not like that.”

  “Sorry,” Alex squeaked.

  “Don’t worry,” Winter’s voice had turned all soothing and quiet. “Just relax. This isn’t a puzzle, or an assignment. It’s a game, it’s supposed to help you feel nice and calm and relaxed. Perfect thing for after a long day of studying, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Yeah. So just relax. Don’t think to hard, don’t force anything. Just keep looking, nice and natural. Let your eyes go wherever feels right. Understand?”

  “Mhm.” Despite what Winter had said, Alex was still very eager not to be a disappointment to her. She was determined to do it properly. But all she had to do was look, right? That was so easy. Just look. It felt a lot less stressful once she acknowledged that. It felt very natural to keep looking at the watch, gently spinning, keeping time with methodical, clockwork tick-tocks.

  “Good,” Alex’s smile grew wider at her crush’s praise. “Now, focus on the second hand. Can you do that for me, Alex? Just look at that second hand.”

  “Of course”, Alex murmured, and did as she was told. She kept her eyes locked on to the tip of the second hand as it traced a path around the clock face. 5… 6… 7… 8…

  “Good. Good girl.” For some reason, those words made Alex shiver. “That’s perfect. Now for the game. You have to make the second hand stop. It’s not as hard as it sounds!” Winter added, noting how Alex’s face had started to scrunch up. “You know how sometimes, it feels like time is moving slower than usual, so slow it feels like a second is a minute, and a minute is an hour? It’s like that. You’re gonna concentrate and relax until the second hand slows to so much it’s barely moving. Until it stops. Understand?”

  Alex didn’t, and clearly it showed on her face.

  “That’s OK, I’ll talk you through it.” Winter seemed so kind and encouraging now, it made Alex feel so warm and safe. “To begin with, just keep looking at the second hand. Stare at it. Keep your eyes locked on it. You’re going to need to concentrate really hard, and you know what’s really important for that? Blocking out everything else. All the distractions, all the intrusive thoughts. Just imagine those fading away, into the back of your mind. Like you’re turning down the volume on them. Everything fading away except the watch  - and my voice, of course. Because I’m going to help you, so you need to pay really close attention to what I’m saying too. OK?”

  Alex just nodded, keeping her eyes on the watch.

  “Great. Now you’re nice and focused, you need to start to slow down. Focus on your breathing. Start to take slower, deeper, fuller breaths. Whatever feels natural to you. Just, nice, slow, deep breaths, like the ones you might start to take as you drift off to sleep. Good, that’s it. In. Out. Just like that.” Alex was following Winter’s instructions intently, her chest now rising and falling in a slow, pronounced rhythm. “And I’m sure”, the goth girl continued, “that as you do that, you can feel yourself relaxing, your mind slowing, just like when you lie down to sleep at night. You might even feel your eyes starting to close. But you must keep them open, remember. You need to keep looking at the second hand.”

  “Yeah…” Alex breathed. Just as Winter had described, she was feeling slightly sleepy. Her eyelids were growing heavy. But she was determined not to take her eyes off the second hand for even a single moment. 
    
    “And now you’ve slowed down a bit,” Winter continued, “you might find the the second hand of the watch is also slowing down. Can you see it? It’s subtle, but it’s there, I promise. It’s getting slower and slower. Each second taking just a fraction longer than the next. Can you see it?”

  Alex just nodded dumbly. It was subtle and slight, but it was definitely happening. She was sure of it. It was just as Winter was describing. It would be easier to see if the watch wasn’t still swinging slightly, making Alex have to keep her eyes moving in time with it to track the second hand, but it was happening. The methodical ticks and tocks of the pocket watch, only just audible, were slowing down. Time was dragging its feet as it passed. Each breath, deeper. Each second, slower.

  “That’s right,” Winter encouraged. “You’re doing it! All you need to do is keep going. Keep concentrating. Let all the distractions fade away. Let your mind become totally calm and relaxed, and nice and slow just like your breathing, just like your watch. Wonderful. So slow now. Slowing to a crawl.”

  To Alex, each second was now an age. The whole of her concentration, and all her thoughts, were bent on the second hand of the stop watch. Slower and slower and slower. Keeping her eyes open was so hard now, but she would do it. For Winter. She would make the second hand stop. She was so close now, she could feel it. The second hand was about to stop. She just needed to look a little deeper. In the end, Alex was concentrating so hard she didn’t even notice that Winter was reaching out with her free hand until the goth tapped her in the center of her forehead and uttered a single word.

  “Stop.”

  For a single instant, Alex could see the watch come to a complete stop, but then her eyes slammed shut involuntarily.

  Blackness

***

  Alex sighed, closed her textbook and threw it over onto her bed, and resignedly clicked her bookmark for Netflix. Picking a movie more or less at random, she slumped back in her seat. It was useless. She couldn’t concentrate. She didn’t know why, she just couldn’t. Her eyes kept skimmed over the words, not really reading them, and she found herself reading one line over and over again and it made less sense each time. All she was doing was making herself more frustrated. As much as she disliked the idea of slacking off, maybe what she really needed was to take the rest of the day off to relax.

  Or maybe it was her environment, she wondered. For a change, she was working in her dorm room. Normally she always went to the library to work. It was quiet and there were never any distractions, and the atmosphere was perfect for studying. But today she’d ended up staying in her room. But… why? Why had she done that? Just for a change, Alex supposed. But was that really the reason? It didn’t feel right. Had… something happened yesterday, in the library? Disconcertingly, Alex found that after a certain point, she couldn’t really remember what had happened yesterday. It was all so fuzzy and blurry. Had something bad happened… Winter! Alex remembered. She’d decided that yesterday would be the day she finally asked out the cute goth girl she had such a massive crush on. But in the end, she hadn’t managed to muster the courage, and she ended up running home alone, her cheeks burning with shame and embarrassment. That was it, right? That was why she hadn’t gone to the library today. Winter would be there, and she couldn’t face seeing Winter again so soon. Alex told herself off for being so silly. It’s not like anything had actually happened… right?

  Not that it really mattered. What mattered was that it was long past noon and she hadn’t managed to get a single piece of work done the whole day. She couldn’t make herself concentrate on her textbooks the way she normally did. Her current assignment involved some particularly technical stuff, and all the long, unfamiliar words were giving her a headache. It sucked. But at least now she’d decided to give up, Alex could spend the rest of the day relaxing and watching movies.

  Or so she thought. To her great frustration, she found she couldn’t concentrate on a movie either. At first, she just thought she’d picked something she wasn’t in the right mood for. But after her fifth pick, she was forced to accept that movies just weren’t doing it for her. Damn it! Normally, curling up in her comfy chair with a hot cup of tea made it so easy for her to lose herself in a movie. But now, it was no better than studying. Staring at the screen was making her head hurt, and she kept losing focus, clicking randomly on various bookmarks or fidgeting so hard she almost fell out of her chair. Alex felt restless somehow. It wasn’t like she was tired. Quite the opposite  - she was wide awake and full of energy. She just couldn’t manage to channel the energy into her studies, the way she was used to. Actually, Alex realized, maybe that was the problem. Maybe she had too much energy. She’d heard people say that before, that they needed to go for a run or a swim before they could properly concentrate. Alex had never had that problem before, but she figured there might be a first time for everything, even that. In high school she’d been incredibly un-sporty, doing pretty much anything she could to get out of gym class, but for some reason at that moment going to the gym didn’t seem like too terrible of a proposition.

  Fuck it. Maybe she’d lose some of that belly fat her mom was always commenting on.

  Alex got out of her chair and managed to find a comfortable t-shirt and a pair of old, loose fitting shorts that she sometimes wore on laundry day, stuffed them in a bag along with a towel and some sneakers, and set off. Weirdly, doing all that felt almost automatic, once she’d set her mind to it. It didn’t take long for her to get to the gym. She lived on campus, and her college provided free gym access to all students. Alex knew where she was going because as a freshman, she’d once made a half-hearted attempt to work out in order to get in better shape. It was about a ten minute walk from her dormitory, and Alex made that in little more than five. She was practically skipping along, brimming over with energy. Alex smiled. This had been such a great idea! Wearing herself out a little bit, in a nice healthy way, was just what she needed. Maybe she’d even make this a regular thing! She could go the gym twice a week, or hell, why not three times? Alex pinched herself, still smiling. Best not to get ahead of herself. As out of shape as she was, she was sure her enthusiasm and energy would evaporate quickly.

  But it didn’t. Alex went into the changing rooms and got changed into her impromptu workout clothes. They felt nice and comfortable  - even though she’d worn the same thing many times before, she was suddenly enamored with how much freedom of movement the shorts offered compared to her usual choice of a knee-length skirt or high-waisted jeans. Feeling a little self-conscious over her plain, distinctly out-of-shape appearance, Alex slipped out of the changing room and made her way over to a treadmill. She remembered to start out by stretching a little bit, which only really reminded her how inflexible she was, and then started running.

  She very sensibly started out on a nice, low setting, but she soon bumped herself up, desiring more of a challenge. Running felt natural. Simple. Easy. So much easier than studying, that was for sure. It was so different. When Alex was studying, she was always trying to force her head around all the big words and complicated ideas. Every single moment was an effort, trying to keep her focus. It was so draining. It was so nice to, for once, let her mind switch off and let her body do the work for a change. No having to focus, to think, to understand. She just had to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Keep the rhythm. Alex found herself grinning, and reached out to increase the speed. The rhythm she was pounding out with her feet quickened, and beads of sweat formed on her forehead. Alex felt alive!
    
    As she kept running, Alex’s body started to burn, hotter and hotter the faster she ran. Her body ached with the heat, every muscle in her legs on fire. But still, she ran. She embraced the pain and heat. It hurt, but it felt good. She wanted to keep going. She needed to keep going. The more she burned, the more her running consumed her. Her studies and her social awkwardness mattered less and less. Those things felt so distant now. They were nothing compared to how visceral, how physical it felt to run, to push herself and keep pushing herself until there was nothing in her head but pain and fire and the glorious exhilaration of feeling her body hit its limits. Alex didn’t question why it felt so good, she simply rebuked herself for waiting this long to enjoy it. She should have started hitting the gym years ago! Alex imagined what she might have looked like if she had. The image hit her, so clear and detailed  - it was recognizably her but slim, toned, athletic, with a slim waist and flat stomach but wide, powerful hips. She’d always wanted to look better, of course, but the possibility now felt so real, so close within reach, that her stomach filled with butterflies.

  Alex felt the fire hit her cheeks. She couldn’t see herself, but she knew she was flushed red and was panting with breath, and strands of hair that had come loose from her ponytail were sticking to her forehead with sweat. None of that bothered her, not in the slightest. The joy of running far outweighed it. Her body was so hot and raw and sensitive and pleasurable. She felt in tune with herself, somehow. Normally she was so stuck in her own head that to give that up was unbelievably freeing. The pain was part of it. The pain and the heat were what stopped her from thinking and worrying the way she normally always did. It felt good to hurt that much.

  Alex had no idea how long she ran for. All she knew, as she felt the last of her strength leave her, was that it had been bright mid-afternoon when she had entered the gym, and now the light was fading. Alex slammed the stop button on the treadmill in triumph and let her pace drop quickly to nothing. She bent double, resting her hands on her knees as she gasped for breath. After such a great exertion, to finally rest was bliss. Alex was grinning like a madwoman. Every drop of sweat dripping off her was proof of what she had done, and she enjoyed the feel of each one running across her tender skin. She’d heard of a runner’s high, but she’d never imagined how amazing it would feel. Endorphins flooding her brain, she let out a little giggle, and was too excited to feel any embarrassment for it. This was better than she ever could have imagined.

  Once she had regained a little of her breath, Alex realized she couldn’t just stand in the middle of a gym giggling for much longer. She needed to get home and cook dinner, for one thing  - she found she was fiercely hungry. Maybe she could order pizza? No, that sounded like an awful idea. After such a great afternoon of exercise, she should try to keep her new health kick going as long as possible, she decided. She’d cook something herself, something nice and low-carb. That sounded perfect. Alex headed back towards the changing room, and located the showers. She slipped inside one of the shower cubicles, shucked off her shorts and, after a moment or two, managed to peel her t-shirt off her sweaty body and pull it off over her head. She hung them up on the hook on the door, and hit the shower controls.

  The feeling of the cool water on her skin was so incredibly pleasurable it made Alex gasped. She closed her eyes and let it wash over her, washing away all the sweat and grime and leaving her clean and pure, with nothing bad or unpleasant to detract from the immense satisfaction with herself Alex was feeling. It was like the water was also washing away her tiredness and the aches in her body, leaving her with nothing more than a faint, distinctly enjoyable tingling in each one of her muscles. Alex sighed contentedly. She was going to do this every single time she needed a break from studying, she promised herself. As uncharacteristic as it was, she could see herself spending a lot of time at this gym. She giggled again as she imagined how her mom’s jaw was gonna drop when she went home at the end of the semester and got a chance to show off her new body.

  After a few moments of standing still and just drinking in how good the shower felt, Alex started to wash herself properly. She rubbed her hands over all her limbs, helping wipe off some of the sweat that was still insistently clinging to her form. When she reached her thighs, she pulled back slightly at first as she felt how sore to the touch her legs were, after how strenuously she had worked out. But then she tried again, massaging herself experimentally as she found that she quite relished the pain. It was like a fond memory of what she had done. And that was when she realized that while the sweat had been washed away and much of the weariness had faded, the fire was still there. She was still hot, all over. The water was cooling her skin, but it was doing nothing for the fire she felt inside. And she was so sensitive too!

  Alex kept touching herself, enjoying discovering the way her body now responded to her touch. She found herself stroking her thighs rhythmically, enjoying the little patterns of sensation she could create for herself. And that was when she let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, it came out far more like a moan than she’d anticipated. Alex froze. Had she really done that? Had she really made that sound? She craned her ears, listening for any sign of life from anywhere else in the shower room, but there was nothing. She was alone. Alex thanked her lucky stars for that. She would have died from embarrassment if anyone else had heard her! She should really finish washing up and head home, Alex thought to herself. But then another voice entered her head, a voice that whispered: if there was no-one else around, why stop? Why not keep going?

  Alex couldn’t see a reason to resist. She felt so naughty and wrong for doing so, but started touching her thighs again. This time, her fingers traced a path further up, to where her skin was far far more sensitive. Alex gasped again, and felt herself blushing fiercely. It felt really really good! Something about how she’d worked out so hard was making her so sensitive. So in tune with her body. It felt special. She admitted to herself, with some reluctance, that the fact she was touching herself like this in a gym shower also lent it a certain thrill. She’d never done anything like that before. It felt dangerous and risky and exciting  - exactly the opposite of her normal life. It felt freeing.

  Her fingers crept higher, and her gasps become more shameless. When she first touched her pussy, she let out a throaty moan, and realized she was wet from more than just water and sweat. Alex reached up with her other hand to grope her breasts, and found they were just as sensitive. She felt amazing! Why didn’t it ever feel this good when she was masturbating at home? The raw intensity of it was so great, Alex’s legs gave way and she slumped against one side of the cubicle, still rubbing and groping herself furiously. When she finally slipped a finger inside herself, it shot lightning bolts through her. She had to bite back a scream. It was mere moments before Alex found herself on the edge of a climax. She managed to find the strength to hold herself there for a time, savoring the pleasure. But it was all strange and new and after wearing herself out so much on the treadmill, she didn’t know how to control herself. She was about to take the plunge over the edge into orgasm, when she heard something terrifying  - the sound of the door to the shower room being pushed open.

  Alex froze. She strained her ears, and over the sound of the shower she managed to make out the distinct sound of footsteps. Someone had entered the shower room along with her! That someone, whoever they were, took a number of steps closer, then Alex heard the creaking of a shower cubicle door. And then, the sound of water. Her heart stopped at how loud it was. They were showering in the cubicle right next to her! That was it. She had to stop, she had to leave right now. Alex’s heart was pounding at least as fast as it had been on the treadmill. She was terrified. But… she was also still so horny. Her body was screaming at her loudly, complaining at her for denying herself the pleasure of an orgasm. Not that it mattered. Continuing now would be totally ridiculous. She would dry herself off with her towel, get dressed, and head home, where she could do whatever she wanted as loudly as she pleased.

  “Ah!”

  Alex clamped her hand down hard over her mouth the instant she realized she’d made the sound. Totally involuntarily her hand, still pressed against her pussy, had twitched, sending a fresh wave of pleasure coursing through her. Alex’s heart stopped. She felt totally mortified.

  “Hey,” a woman’s voice came from over the wall to the next cubicle, and the shower stopped. “Are you OK?”

  “I…” Even that came out horribly uneven, and Alex took a moment to steady herself before continuing. “Yes, I’m fine. I just slipped.”

  “OK,” came the reply. The shower in the next cubicle started up again.

  Alex sighed. That had been far, far too close. So why, in spite of that, did she still feel the urge to touch herself? Why wouldn’t it go away? Why was it growing stronger and stronger with each moment that passed? All of a sudden, the journey home seemed so very long. She wasn’t sure her body could wait that long. She was burning up. She needed to cum. Now. Her finger twitched again. Fuck, she was so sensitive. She was able to suppress the noise this time, but she clamped her hand over her mouth just the same. She started thrusting into herself again, each shrug eliciting a little muffled shriek of pleasure. After just a few seconds, she was at the point of orgasm again. Her body was desperate for it. 

  “Mmffff!” Alex screamed as she bit down onto her hand. She had hit the edge, and hit it hard. Her hand hit a frantic pace, fucking herself as hard as she could and fingering her clit with her thumb to give herself as much pleasure as possible. She kept screaming as she hit the edge, only just managing to cut off her own air and choke down on a massive scream that would have certainly been audible to everyone in the shower room  - if not the whole building. Alex rode the pleasure for a while before finally, she came. It was the best orgasm of her life. That wasn’t saying much, but it was enough to blow Alex’s mind. She screamed silently for what felt like an age before the waves of pleasure started to subside, and her hand fell still. As the aftershocks hit her her tired legs gave out completely, and she collapsed onto the hard tile floor. Her breath was coming in fits and gasps. Fuck, she felt so alive!

  “Are you sure you’re OK? I thought I heard you fall.”

  The voice from the next cubicle roused Alex from her post-orgasmic stupor, and she stumbled to her feet, still breathing hard.

  “Yes,” she called out in reply. “I just slipped, but don’t worry, I’m not hurt or anything.”

  Alex was uncomfortably aware that her voice was breathy and sensual, making her sound like she’d just been fucked hard. Maybe that was why the woman in the next cubicle didn’t say anything further. Alex didn’t stick around to wonder. Her post-orgasmic bliss was fading fast, and desperate embarrassment was taking over. Alex turned off the shower and dashed out of the cubicle, dried herself off haphazardly with her towel, put on her clothes and ran out of the gym as fast as she could, back home to safety.