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She looks up from where she sits in bed with her book.
"You're home early. Case closed?"
"Yeah... Early? It's 10pm," Spencer says, glancing at the clock.
"Baby, I'm lucky if I see you before breakfast," she teases as he carefully hangs his cardigan on his side of the closet. He steps over to kiss her forehead, then starts unbuttoning his shirt to change.
"You caught me,” he says, voice low and warm. “I only married you for your pancakes." She squeals and playfully pushes him away, laughing. He's undone most of his buttons now, and she glimpses a necklace that she's never seen before. It bounces gently on his chest as he removes his shirt—his wedding band, looped on a simple silver chain. He's reaching for his sleep clothes at the end of the bed when he notices her gaze, and flushes all the way down to his stomach. He’d meant to put the ring back on his finger before coming home.
"I- I- got this chain just for the ring. Safety reasons. Your safety, I mean," he rushes to explain. What if she thinks I’m pulling away? His gaze flicks to her own ring—simple, steady, and still on her finger since he slid it on her in Vegas. "After what happened when- with Colman-" He’s rambling now, words spilling out too fast. In his anxiety he doesn’t even notice her slipping out of bed until she’s standing in front of him, her massive old band shirt coming to rest just past her buttocks, "After what happened to you I couldn't risk an unsub knowing I was married again. It's just for while I’matwork. Thechainisverysturdy. Imadesuretheclaspwon’tsnapifpulled-" She reaches down, and in one fluid motion, pulls off her sleep shirt, startling the doctor into quick silence.
“Spencer,” she says, her tone quiet and tender. She lifts her hands to cradle his face, and kisses him gently on the lips. Soft, reassuring, and full of love. "I have your love no matter where you wear your ring. I know that." Another kiss, this one on his jaw. He feels the tightness in his shoulders—and in his heart—begin to drain away, "Just as you have mine, even if I kept my ring in a safety deposit box." She kisses the chain against his neck. Gooseflesh rises across his exposed skin, but wherever her lips touch, he burns. Other than his shuddering breaths, he is completely still, fully surrendered to her care. "My sweet husband. Always thinking of me, how to keep me safe," she murmurs, bending slightly to kiss the ring where it rests between his nipples, now drawn tight at the sight of his wife naked before him. He cranes his head down to kiss her, expecting her to come back up to meet him. But instead, she kisses lower—at the base of his sternum. Another lower still, just above his belly button.
Spencer tries to swallow as he deduces her trajectory, trying to control his body, trying not to expect more than she gives. But God she's so beautiful. She's resting fully on her knees now, eyeing the bulge in his slacks before pressing one last kiss above his belt buckle. His body braces in tight anticipation. "How about I take some time to think about you tonight?" Big doe eyes glance up at him beneath long lashes, with the audacity to look innocent.
He nods.
She undoes his belt.