Constanze sat, her eyes heavy and begging for sleep but her mind fighting adamantly to stay awake.  The strand of hair that twisted and coiled around her fingers had started to move with just a suggestion of her touch.  The movement was hypnotic, taking her back as she tried to make sense of what had happened.

She remembered the close of another work day and heading to the boxing club with a familiar nervous excitement in her stomach; recalled the concern that brought her crashing back to reality as she heard Katja quietly sobbing in the locker room.  She had offered her shoulder and it was quickly accepted, the confessed words lost to the overwhelming warmth of Katja’s arms around her, the weight of her pain bearing down on Constanze’s gentle frame. 

Her words had been soft, reassuring, that much at least Constanze could remember, before her memory was drowned in a wave of freckles and the full, warm lips that had enveloped hers.  The journey home was a blur, nothing as trivial as who suggested it or just how they made the trip so quickly seemed to matter when Katja moved against her body like a snake, long limbs holding her with a tender strength that she was unaccustomed to.  The focus and attention Katja paid to Constanze was unlike anything she had experienced with the vain centre patrons, people who had lazily indulged her interest for their own gratification. 

Katja was an entirely different animal; a burning passion hidden behind a sweet smile.  Constanze smiled, the hair in her hand curling around her fingers as she tried to push her conscious mind to recall every kiss Katja had bestowed on her skin and how for a time she had become the focus of her entire world.  Her hands stopped and a dizzying wave drove through her body, the crest of it intangible as her senses awoke and she could recall unchallenged and irrevocable ecstasy.

As the last stubbly remnants of his beard washed down the drain Axel padded from the bathroom, the cold air in his temporary abode nipping at his exposed skin until he slipped between the covers, every inch of his body coated in offensively cheap polly-cotton sheets.  Axel closed his eyes and thought of his upcoming victory, a quick wedding and he would be in the Steinkamp villa.  He ran his hands across his stomach as he considered how well thought through and carried out his plan was; a painstaking attention to detail that would bring him power, that would bring Maximillian von Altenburg to his knees.

            
A smile crept across Axel’s mouth as he imagined Max shattered by his plans, of the anger and fury that would well passionately in his eyes as he watched Axel take what was rightfully his.  He let his hands wander lower at the thought of Egyptian cotton gracing his skin, how the towel would rest warmly on his hips as he left the bath, his skin rich with essential oils and glistening like the gold mouldings that surrounded him. 

            
His breath catching Axel gently bit his lower lip at the thought of the imported marble beneath his feet as he walked to the bedroom, a fine expensive carpet cushioning his footsteps as he stopped to find Max, Maximillian von Altenburg, contrite and docile at his bedroom door.  Axel’s hand established a steady rhythm as he thought of how Max would plead for something of his former glory, beg to be allowed some modicum of power; he would ask for forgiveness, he would entreaty Axel’s compassion with mentions of his innocent wife and child, he would use all of his strength to fight the recriminations and accusations he wanted to utter.  He would look up from the ground with anger in his eyes.

            
Leg muscles contracting Axel instinctively pushed his hips up, his shoulders pushing the single foam pillow into a mass as they bore his weight and his grip tightened.  He thought of how Max would look up and see the fair locks, finally free of product and how they fell poetically around his face, how his blue eyes betrayed a pure desire normally obscured by an arrogant smile.  He would notice the soft, tender skin and think of how compliant it would be to his firm and insistent touch. 

The fire in Axel’s stomach flared, heightening the sensation that shot through his body as he thought of how Max would rip the towel from his hips, how his hands would grasp eagerly at his flesh as his teeth played across his skin.  Axel closed his eyes tight as he thought of larger hands stroking him, of full lips exploring his torso and the rich black hair that would move against his body like an oil slick as Max lapped up the fresh spray on Axel’s stomach.