Unwinding

At forty-thousand feet in the sky, with the hum of powerful engines reverberating throughout the cabin, Shalini slept with her head tilted to the side. "X-men: origins" played in the entertainment console, the faint sound of James McAvoy screaming escaped out of the earphones now draped around her neck at an awkward angle. The seat-belt signs came on with a soft chime. A tall blonde air-hostess made her way through the rows of passengers, instructing people on either side her to prepare for landing, in an almost mechanical routine. Once she reached Shalini, she bend down and softly patted her arm in a gentle attempt to wake her up.

"Ma'am," she called in a firm, yet soft voice. With no response she shook her gently. "Ma'am!"

At this she stirred, her eyes jumping open, unaccustomed to the strange surroundings. Quickly focusing on the strikingly beautiful face a few inches from her, she sat up straight.

"Ma'am, we're about to land at Nuremberg airport. Please retract your seat and fasten your seat-belts." she said with a smile that was quite opposed to the hardness of her eyes.

Shalini felt herself blush with embarrassment, as she nodded and whispered thanks. Once the iron lady had moved along to the row behind her, she fixed her seat and untangled the blanket that had slipped down to her lap and lay over her legs. Spreading her hands on top of her head, she stretched herself as best as she could. Sitting in the aisle seat of the middle column in economy, wasn't the greatest of joys of air travels. The man to her left, was perhaps forty years older than her, almost in his sixties from what she could gather off the scant conversations they indulged in just as the flight departed. However, and more importantly, it wasn't unpleasant.

As the lit horizon came into view and she braced herself for the bump of tires hitting concrete, she peered towards the window at the left of her row. The terrain seemed green and white from the sky, like a miniature diorama viewed from further away to make out the details of. Soon she was pulling her small luggage bag behind her towards the gates of immigration.

An hour later she stood with her over-sized trolley and beige shoulder bag, looking at a screen filled with a map. It showed where she was in the airport, that much was clear. Suburban railway lines went round and round around the city. She thought better of it and decided to take a cab rather than risk deciphering the map.

Sleeping was on the verge of taking her when she the cab finally trundled its way in-front of the hotel she would be staying at, after half an hour. The ride there was smooth enough even at afternoon. Traffic was well behaved, sounds markedly different from the ones back home. Outside the clean granite facade, it proclaimed in Gothic script "Hotel Drei Raben". The cold air filled senses, energizing her for the final stretch. She pulled her trolley in and marched up-to the reception desk through the entrance. A woman in a red blazer with tightly put together bun and heavy makeup with lipstick matching the blazer, smiled at her as she stopped at the counter. The badge on her pocket said, "Julia". The doors closing behind muted the world outside, not that it was very loud to begin with. But now it was almost like a mausoleum.

"Welcome to Pearl Hotels. Do you have a reservation?" she started with small bow, and thick accent. Shalini gave her a tired smile.

"Hello. Yes. I have a reservation. Right here."

She rummaged through the files on her phone before holding it over the counter with the details open. The lady quickly typed in the code on the screen and pulled up the details.

"Yes. Mrs. Shalini K."

"Could you please give me your ID?" the receptionist asked in a steely voice.

"Of course." Shalini handed over her passport.

The receptionist read through it and then scanned it, and handed it over. Then she dipped below her desk and brought out a card, scanned it on a terminal and held it over for her with her passport.

"Thank you. Your room number is 310. If you need someone to carry your luggage for you we help you. We have complimentary breakfast at 8 AM to 9 AM. Please use the console in your room if you need to do laundry. Please reach us at 001 from the room phone for any help. We hope you have a great stay."

Polished and perhaps oft repeated words, she spoke quickly, and bowed to her. Shalini bowed in return and made her way towards the elevators on the right. It was big and bright and completely empty. A tiredness was swiftly washing over her as the metal container climbed three floors. Her legs were starting to itch within her jeans. Her toes were screaming to be let out of the black boots she wore. Sweat from pulling the bags for the last fifteen minutes had already wore off, but had left behind irritations all over her body. She needed a shower.

As soon as the door closed behind her, and she had double checked the locks, she went around the room to inspect for anything out of place, heeding advice from friends that understood that the world is not a fair place.

The room itself wasn't quite big. One bedroom with some space beyond the leg of the bed where a table and two chairs sat adjacent to the wall on the right. On the left was the bathroom. Thank fully there was a full sized bathtub for her to use, and a large mirror. Facing the foot of the bed were the windows to the balcony, or rather, the view of the balcony and whatever lay beyond, since the windows looked like they didn't open and she was not about to find out if they did given the 'Do not open' sign imprinted on the glass.

She was grateful for the warmth in the room. The thermostat was set at a comfortable twenty-eight degrees Celsius. The building across was similar to hers, but with smaller windows and looked to be a residential building rather than another hotel. Laundry hung to dry inside them and potted plants sat in some window sills. The windows in her room were ceiling to halfway down the wall. It suddenly struck her that privacy would be a problem.

Exhibitionism was thrilling to read about, but in reality she already felt self conscious, and immediately reached for the curtains. The room now glowed mutely with sunlight leaking through the long curtains. She switched on the lights, and the room was now brightly light with a white-golden light. She pushed the jacket off her shoulders and put it on the chair. Beside the chair and table was a large wall mirror.

The fourteen hour journey had taken a toll on her. Her eyes looked tired, her shoulders sagged, her hair looked frizzy once she the black mane out of the tight ponytail she had tied up. She stood on her toes, intertwined her fingers and pushed her hands far above her head to stretch out her whole body. Joints creaked out all over in relief. She bent over to touch her toes with her hands and her spine and tendons felt like they were being used after ages. She liked to keep fit, doing yoga for an hour or more everyday, and three days a week of gym meant she was in good shape, and quite flexible.

She sported a curvaceous figure with wide hips and a plump bottom. Lifting weights had given her broad shoulders and a muscular upper body, complimented by large round breasts. She liked how she looked. Illusions of unattainable body standards did not infiltrate her mind. She took comfort in understanding her needs and put in the work to let her stay comfortable with her image.

A heaviness was now setting in her bladder. She had peed immediately after finding an empty toilet at the airport, but that was two hours ago. She took off her shoes, set them near the door, and walked up-to the edge of the bed. Resting her bottom on the edge, she unbuttoned her jeans and slid them with some effort down her hips and pulled them off her legs. The inside of her soft cotton underwear felt moist, faint smell emanating without the jeans to reign it in.

She took another look at the closed curtains to reassure herself that it was safe. Another thought flitted across her mind, even if someone did peek in what would it matter to her anyway? She was in a new country, in a place that hardly spoke her tongue, with almost absolute certainty that no one would recognize her or cross paths with her when she eventually went back home. She felt oddly lighter inside. Two whole months of freedom, to have new experiences, to see new sights, to feel new sensations. She felt butterflies in the pit of her stomach and tingling between her thighs. And only then did she remember that she had to use the toilet.

Shedding the last vestiges of her clothes, she wrapped one of the soft clean robes around herself, took out her skincare products and closed the door behind herself. It wasn't before two hours were up that she would step out again, wrapped in the robe, but with glowing skin, fresh from being washed, smelling strongly of vanilla. Once the tub had filled up with warm water she had gently laid down and let the womb-like warmth consume her, falling into a nap with her back to the wall behind the tub. It wasn't until she felt the water grow cold, that she woke. Her skin had goosebumps, and her nipples were erect.

Dusk was setting in, the sun was below horizon. The room looked darker now. Unfamiliar. She flicked on the switch on the bedside lamp, incandescent yellow glow diffused the dark space. She unwound the towel on her head and let her hair out. Rubbing down the wet strands with the towel, she laid down on the soft springy bed. It immediately swallowed her in its comfortable embrace. Her hair needed drying so she spread it around the pillow. Sore muscles all over her body sighed in gratefulness. The robe had parted at the knot around her waist. Moisture still clung to the unruly fuzz adorning her groin. She used the end of the robe to dry it out, rubbing against the sensitive bud, sending jolts of muted pleasure. Getting aroused was not something she struggled with. After a long a hard journey, the perfect way to unwind, was to fall asleep with a good orgasm.

She pulled against the soft knot holding both sides of the robes and laid herself bare. The coolness of the room ran up the bare skin, slightly damp still. Goosebumps spread up from plump stomach to the twin flattened globes. Her nipples gradually hardened. She used her the middle finger of her right hand to slowly rub against the nub that lay beneath her bush, the index and third finger parting the lips open and holding them there. Eyes closed, she bit down on her lower lip as loud, heavy breaths escaped her. Pulling her legs up, her pelvis constricted, she slowly pushed against her fingers rubbing heavy circles on her clit.

Those waves of pleasures, now jolts of electricity, were crashing in small pinprick waves across her whole body. She could feel it in her toes, she could feel it behind her knees, she could feel it hot on her neck, she could feel it in her erect nipples. She used the other arms to slowly fondle her breasts in vague patterns, squeezing hard and soft, pulling on each hard, dark nipple in turn. She imagined herself being taken, filled from behind in hard frenzy, hips colliding against hips, arm around her neck, teeth on her shoulders, hair astray, sticky with sweat, remnants of red blemished across her cheeks from her lips, an hand down the front of her, tribbing her clit with its thumb, while two fingers sheathed themselves alongside veined, hard flesh, wet from their combined juices. Her finger became more frantic, urgent. She let go of her breasts, as two of her fingers from the other arm made their way inside her, past the wet lips. Sticky wetness now poured out as she began to work them in and out rhythmically, her wide-spread hips pushing to meet her fingers. She moaned through gritted teeth, interspersed with soft whimpers bounding through the room. A tsunami wave had built, and now it had to crash. Her back lifted off the bed to arch itself against her hands working frantically, and suddenly her world went almost black, as the first jolt hit her core, and wave after wave of raw pleasure rode down her neck, through her rib cage, down the pit of her stomach and branched out into her legs. She crashed into the bed again, arms twitching, along with legs that she held crossed as if to stop her guts from flying out of her. She crossed her eyes with her arms and breathed out heavily. Her mind empty, numb. The only thought that entered, before she passed out blissfully, was that she could never put a face to the man in her fantasy.