Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, and some of these stories. They were created by the wonderful cast and crew of Desperate Housewives.
Like so many other things in their life, this, too, has become a routine. Having finished one of their sessions, Rex would step into the shower, placing his arms against the wall as support, while Bree carefully washed his shoulders and back, the places that were marked from the crop and her nails. She sometimes wondered if he thought of this routine as part of his concession, the give for having brought her into this world of whips and leather, of safe-words and commands, of handcuffs and wounds.
When she had finished washing his shoulders and back, she allowed him to take over with the rest of his shower as she turned towards the sink and washed the blood that had made it onto her fingernails. She runs the water over her hands for longer than is necessary to wipe off the blood, trying to clean away the physical and emotional remnants of the night's events.
She continued to look down at her hands and the running water, as usual, not giving her attention to the sound of the shower's spray stopping and Rex's moves out of the shower. Her gaze remains the same as he dries himself with a towel, wrapping it around his waist before he moves closer, behind her.
His touch on her shoulders is soft, as is the kiss he gives her is as he glides his hands down her arms and turns off the water. His movements are so different than the ones that they have committed against each other less than ten minutes before. He places his hands on her hips, rubbing his thumbs against her hip bones as he kisses his way down half of her arm. She tips her head back, and he uses the movement to turn her towards him, his hands still on her hips, but on the opposite sides, now, as he slowly backs out of the bathroom, taking her with him.
He lets her sit down on the bed as he slowly moves his lips, sucking and kissing down her body, taking in all of her like he used to in the earlier days of their marriage when he was taking her in.
And Bree knows that this is why she continues to role play every night. Not because Rex is making love to her in the way she likes, but because of what he tells her during it. Every other kiss is punctuated by an I'm sorry or by an I love you. And he repeats these words over and over again to her, until they become like prayers.
I'm sorry.
I love you.
I'm sorry.
I love you.
I'm sorry I love you
And she responds to his words in her head, repeating I love you and he loves me, echoing his prayers, because they are an answer to hers.