Lux had always hated moving, especially on her own; hopefully, this would be the last time. After four years of college dorms and sharing leases with drunken housemates, she was glad to settle down in a place of her own. The house she was leasing wasn't any larger than it needed to be, and it was a fair distance away from the city. She liked that about it.
Her family had always told her she should try to get out and meet people more often, but she preferred to spend her time alone whenever she got the chance. It was more than just peace and quiet; it was the solitude itself that she wanted. There had always been too many people—family, housemates, classmates, coworkers. She got along with them just fine, but she was ready to escape the constant presence of others. It felt like she wanted to show the world that she would be just fine with no one but herself. She could be an island if she wanted to.
After she'd signed the lease, though, Lux began to wonder if maybe it was more secluded than she really wanted. Driving out in the moving van had made her realize just how far from other people the house really was. Some paranoid part of her mind wondered how safe she might be there.
The rooms had felt huge and devoid of life as she moved her things in, and she wondered why she hadn't felt this way when she was first looking at the place. An old desk and a few bookcases had been left in a couple of the rooms, making the place seem abandoned, rather than just unlived-in. She tried to convince herself that it was just the stress of moving again that made her feel uncomfortable, and that she would get used to her new surroundings soon enough.
By evening, the moving van had been returned and all the furniture was arranged exactly where she wanted it. With everything in order, she decided that she did feel better. Despite the dark clouds and wind outside, the uncomfortable heat of early June had set in—and she realized with pleasure that there wasn't any reason not to strip down to her underwear. In just her bra and low-cut panties, Lux made a quick dinner, and settled in on the couch with a book while the weather raged outside; before long, she was feeling almost like herself again. Still, she could never quite ignore that slight feeling of tension.
After a chapter and a half, the quietly tense feeling got too strong for her to read anymore, and she had to close her book. She needed a way to break the tension. A sly smile spread across her lips; walking around in her underwear wasn't the only thing she could do freely now that she lived alone. A pleased shiver of expectation rose inside her as she set her book aside, lay back across her couch, and began to relax.
Her long, soft hands moved up and down the smooth curves of her body, admiring her firm, fit torso. She lightly massaged her own breasts through her bra, and a quiet moan purred from her throat. Then her hands were slowly gliding down to her hips, sliding over her navel and teasing over her panties; her vulva tingled with pleasure, and a wet spot quickly formed in her panties as her fingertips gently traced around her lips, over and over. The unhurried feeling brought her skin to full sensitivity before she really got started.
Her breasts prickled with pleasure as she gently squeezed them, pulling down the front of her bra to play with her nipples. Lux moaned as they hardened and grew, and quickly took off her bra altogether. Tossing it aside, she went back to pleasuring her firm breasts, kneading them and teasing her nipples with her fingertips.
Then her hands moved downward again, slipping over her wet panties and reaching under them. Her lips were already wet and open, begging for more of her touch. She traced the folds of her vulva with her fingers again, brushing past her pubic hair, then slid inside the outer labia. Letting herself moan out loud, she began teasing her inner labia, as well, feeling her hot lips blooming like a rose.
She couldn't handle it anymore. She hastily jerked her panties off, and immediately put her hands back where she needed them, tickling and massaging her dripping cunt. The fingers of one hand slid inside her, while her other hand finally touched her begging clitoris. A shockwave of pleasure rolled through her as she indulged her pink jewel, first barely touching it, then rubbing it harder as ecstasy pulsed throughout her body.
This was part of what she had meant when she had talked of self-reliance. For her, at least, "self-love" was no euphemism. Gasping and crying out in pleasure, she plunged her fingers deeper and deeper into herself while grinding her clit, until she at last gave a convulsing, drawn-out scream of pleasure as orgasm seized every part of her body. Trembling on the couch, she gasped again and again as her every nerve burned with joy, darkness creeping into the edges of her pleasure-fogged vision.
Finally, haltingly, her body calmed and she lay still. She half-sighed, half-moaned in contentment, and lovingly wrapped one arm around herself while keeping the opposite hand on her vulva. She wished she could kiss herself. It wasn't conceit; it was simply a profound appreciation for the beautiful, independent person she was. She smiled as she thought about how fortunate she was to feel that way, and eventually got up to put her underwear back on. Living in this house wouldn't be bad at all, she decided, despite the anxious feeling that was already returning.
Through the howling wind, night gradually sank in around the house, creeping in through the edges of the windows. The encroaching darkness renewed the tension she had felt before. In the deepening dark, the still-unfamiliar rooms seemed to grow larger around her, reminding her just how alone she was. She shook her head; she had to stop being silly. She hadn't been afraid of the dark since she was a kid. There was no reason why --
Then the blackness swallowed everything. Her heart leapt into a panic; then the edges of the drawn window shades faded back into her sight, and she realized that the storm had just knocked the electricity out. That was all. There was no need to be afraid.
