a/n: Prompt: Return
Original sentence: She brought him down on top of her on the staircase of the home she shared with her husband, hands fumbling for clothes...skin...whatever they could reach as she prayed that Tom wouldn't return home early...knowing without a doubt that he would.
Liz knew she was a coward.
Liz knew it, Red knew it, and Tom would know it too.
The charade had to end. She could no longer live with her husband, lying in bed night after night imagining all the possible ways he could kill her.
She often wondered if he was doing the same thing.
He kissed her goodbye that day, promising a talk and some Chinese food when he got home, and she voided her mind and kissed him back.
It had to be the last time.
She never left for work that day, opting to spend the day in solitude, her cell phone playing between her fingers.
Nick's Pizza was ever so tempting.
He could end all of this, one way or the other.
Dusk settled over the house without her pressing the button.
She didn't have to.
He was on her doorstep without having to be summoned, exuding subtle concern and mild annoyance at her absence.
Liz looked at the biggest problem in her life, and for the first time, saw only solutions.
If he was surprised when she pulled him to her, he didn't show it. It felt natural, his hand on her breast and her back against the wall, pushing and pulling in no discernable rhythm. It felt like they could have been doing this all along.
Maybe one day they could do it without the cloud of impending drama hanging over their heads.
She was bolder with Red than she was with Tom. Maybe it was the possessive way he kneaded his fingers into her hips; or maybe it was the way he sucked on her skin until it bruised... or maybe she just needed an outlet for the rage that had taken over her soul and wouldn't let go.
It was probably the rage.
Her teeth dragged across his skin, lightly at first, then harder when she realized that he was responding.
He liked it.
She drew blood.
The last ray of light danced through the window for a long, dazzling moment.
It was time.
She brought him down on top of her on the staircase of the home she shared with her husband, hands fumbling for clothes...skin...whatever they could reach as she prayed that Tom wouldn't return home early...knowing without a doubt that he would.
The sound of a car pulling into the drive played throughout the otherwise silent house. She expected everything to stop.
Nothing stopped.
Her panties slid down her hips and were promptly stolen, shoved into Red's back pocket. She couldn't cover up now if she tried.
Footsteps fell on gravel and he moved faster, pulling her legs around his waist and entering her in one hard thrust, scraping her back against the rough wood of the stairs.
There was nothing gentle about this.
It was exactly what she wanted.
She met him thrust for thrust, using their awkward position to her advantage, urging him not to let up.
He didn't.
He brought her legs around his neck and she cried out at the new angle, prompting the footsteps to fall faster.
The faster the footsteps, the faster the thrusts.
Keys fell from shaking hands onto the ground before finally finding purchase in the lock.
She was almost there.
Hands gripped her waist so hard that it hurt, and with one final thrust they were both over the edge, screaming for each other in triumph.
The door opened slowly.
"Liz?"