"Fine. Just fine," Bernard said gruffly as he climbed off the bed.

Michele would have to wait until he was horny again before she could plan on receiving any of his attention.

She decided that a shower was in order and got off the bed to throw a bathrobe over her shoulders.

Bernard quickly put his clothes back on so he could go downstairs and resume his television viewing.

Michele moved out of the room and into the bathroom where she closed the door securely behind her.

Sometimes she wished that Bernard was a loving, affectionate, caressing sort who would touch her gently and whisper sweet nothings in her shell-like ears during those contented moment after sex.

But she told herself that she should be grateful for what she had. She knew that she got off on having sex with her husband a hell of a lot more than most women her age.

She slipped the robe back off and hung it carefully on a hook behind the bathroom door, so that the dark blue robe blocked her view of the full-length mirror that was mounted there.

She pulled back the translucent shower curtain and turned on the shower, adjusting the temperature so it was just right.

Michele liked her showers to be very hot after sex.

She loved to fill the bathroom with a thick fog of steam.

Michele liked her post-sex showers to be just short of scalding.

That way they seemed to sooth her inevitable wounds more completely.

She stepped into the shower and turned her back to the spray.

Michele winced as the water struck her reddened buttocks.

But she knew that those wounds would soon feel a lot better, and she could tell that sitting was not going to be a major hassle the next day.

She soaked her long dark hair so that it clung to her shoulders and to her back between her rather sharp shoulder blades.

She reached down into the soap dish and pressed her toes against the white porcelain in the bottom of the tub.