They went on until dawn broke through the curtains and semen continuously flowed from between Rae’s trembling thighs. Ortíz stared down in satisfaction. “That’s hot.” He suppressed the urge to take her again as she teetered on the edge of consciousness. 

"Amor, how are you doing?" Rae's eyes opened at the sound of his voice. She opened her mouth but nothing coherent came out. Ortíz's laugh rumbled over her as his arms pulled her into a sitting position. "Let's get you cleaned up." Ortíz carried her to the bathtub and filled it with hot water after tying her hair above her head. Love bites and teeth marks starkly contrasted against her pale skin under the white, fluorescent lights. “Open up for me,” he murmured, guiding her thighs apart. She held onto the edge of the tub as her muscles trembled and Ortíz felt a twinge of regret for pushing her to such an extent. Her eyes narrowed at him. “What are you thinking about?” He bit his lip and massaged her legs, rolling the tension from her cramped muscles. “Nothing.” She saw right through him. “If you’re feeling some sort of remorse for how hard we went at it, then take care of me.” 

He grinned and kissed the top of her foot. “That’s the plan.” Her frown was replaced by a smirk but her eyes didn’t leave him until he scraped her insides with his fingers. Her head fell back and she shivered at her extreme sensitivity and tenderness. Ortíz suppressed a groan as he felt the mess he’d made of her and carefully cleaned out the remains of his countless releases. Her walls had become soft as if she’d been molded into his shape and he twitched at the thought. Rae’s body shook, coming as he finally withdrew his fingers. Content with her pleasure, he leaned down and kissed her and released the drain-stopper. He lathered her with her rose-scented soap and rinsed her down with warm water before asking if she wanted him to work on her hair. She shook her head. “I’ll wash it later.” He nodded and helped her stand before wrapping her in a large, fluffy towel. She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at him, eyes widening as she finally got a good look at his neck. From the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of his back in the mirror and she stepped away, bringing a hand to her lips. “Maybe you’re the one that needs aftercare after all,” she muttered to herself in disbelief, unable to meet his eyes.

 Ortíz didn’t seem to hear her and led her back to the bedroom. He walked ahead to strip the bedsheets and searched the room for clean ones. Quickly redoing the bed, Rae watched him in awe, feeling incredibly fortunate to have been his partner. “Come here,” he beckoned, swiftly changing the bandage on her shoulder and disinfecting any other open wounds. She held onto the kit when he moved to put it away and shooed him to the shower. “Go, clean up and come back so I can take care of you.” He gave her an odd look, still completely unaware of the scratches that covered every inch of his back, shoulders, and triceps. A bruise had formed around his throat in the shape of her fingers, evidence of her use of breath-play. She bit her lip as she tried to remember if she’d ever left bruises on anyone she’d choked before. She couldn’t think of anyone, but then again, no one had encouraged her to tighten her hold like Ortíz did. A shiver of excitement crawled up her spine as she remembered the sense of power he’d let her feel. 

She watched as he turned to go and called after him, wanting to reciprocate his care.“Do you want me to join you?” 

“No, it’s fine.” He disappeared into the bathroom and returned with her robe. “Dry up and stay warm.” She took it gratefully and melted when he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Get some rest.”

He was gone before she could protest, but she knew she couldn’t follow him. She’d barely made it to the bed without his help. As his round, muscled buttocks disappeared from view, Rae wondered if Ortíz would ever be open to pegging. She scolded herself when she caught the train of thought and breathed out heavily as she felt the exhaustion sink into her bones. After she slipped into the robe and warmed, she sat at the edge of the mattress next to the open first-aid kit, doing her best to stay awake as she waited for him. 

Ortíz paid no mind to the sting of the cold water as he turned on the shower. He knew he needed to cool off and calm down after such intense, mind-blowing sex, so he stood in the ice-cold spray until the adrenaline finally resided. As he felt the tiredness settle in, he quickly washed himself and turned off the faucet. Steam filled the bathroom, caused by the cold water evaporating on his feverish skin. He didn’t bother to wipe down the fogged mirror and went into the bedroom after quickly toweling himself. Rae lay asleep with her legs dangling from the edge of the mattress. He chuckled, commending her attempts to stay up for him. He closed the kit beside her and placed it on the nightstand, still wondering what she needed it for; there were no visible open wounds on his body. The teeth marks around his nipples and down his abdomen were already fading and he was faintly suspicious that Rae’s fingerprints were imprinted on his neck. He might even be missing chunks of hair, but he didn’t care. He lifted her sturdy body further up the bed and rested her head on the pillows, drawing the covers over them. She murmured something as he spooned her and kissed her hair, asleep by the time her own breathing evened once more. 

Rae woke up deliciously sore and aching the next morning, her bedside empty but still warm. She crawled out from under the covers and squinted against the sunshine, wondering about the condition of Ortíz’s back. Cherry walked into the kitchen at the same time she did, giving her a bright smile and placing a mug of highly sweetened coffee in front of her. “Honey, are you okay? You look so… tired.” 

Rae grinned devilishly around her mug and grunted in response. “I’m great.” Ortíz walked in then, shirtless with black sweatpants low on his hips. He carried take-out paper bags and smiled at the sight of her. Rae’s breath caught in her throat and the pit of her stomach free-fell. “And my morning just got so much better.” Ortíz greeted Cherry and placed the bags on the table between them. “I ordered Chinese.”

 “For breakfast?” Cherry asked in disbelief. She turned to face him then, her eyes bulging at the purple and green welts curving around his throat and slowly followed the trail of love bites that led below his navel. Blood rushed to the manager’s face as she furiously blushed a bright red. “Lord, have mercy,” she prayed into her mug. One of Ortíz’s dark brows went up in amusement and he turned his back to her to gently kiss Rae. Cherry choked on her coffee, spitting the liquid back into the mug and covering her mouth as she fell into a coughing fit. “Oh shit, Cherry. Are you okay?” Ortíz quickly placed a cup of water in front of her and patted her back. The small woman blinked through her teary eyes and saw the Arachne watched her with the biggest shit-eating grin Cherry had ever seen. She gulped down the water placed in front of her and whipped her head to him. 

“Are you okay?” 

   Ortíz frowned. “Is Chinese for breakfast that big of a no-no?” 

    Cherry wiped her mouth and cradled her head in her hands. “I can… order something else for you if you want?” he asked softly. 

Ortíz stepped away from her when she lifted her face and glared daggers at Rae. “Can you feel your back?” she directed to him, agitated. “Well, now that you mention it, it does feel a bit numb and tingly.” “Did you even treat him afterwards?” she scolded Rae. “Actually, I know you didn’t. Those scratches look angry at the whole fucking world. What were you thinking?! I know you were taught better than leaving your partner untreated after inflicting that amount of injury.” Her tone was hard and disappointed and Rae’s shoulders slumped, her robe slipping off to expose the bandage there. 

“HE even treated YOU? I-” Cherry leapt across the table, reaching for the Arachne with the intent to end her, but Ortíz quickly pulled her away. “Woah, woah. Calm down, Cherry! What is this about my back?” She allowed him to sit her back into her chair with a nasty look in Rae’s direction and answered, “Honey, your back is the ugliest mess of scratches I’ve seen in my entire life. Big cats could not do worse. You look like you were thrown in a fucking shredder.” 

Rae didn’t meet his eyes when he turned to her for confirmation. “Sorry,” she murmured sheepishly into her mug. Cherry sighed and moved to stand. “Sit down, detective. I’ll return with a kit.” He stopped her and sat down with a sigh, then jerked forward when his bare back met with the cold metal of the chair. He stood and flipped it around to straddle it. Rae barely held in her laughter and Cherry hissed at her. She immediately sobered, biting her lip and staring down at her hands. Ortíz shook his head and began unpacking the paper bags. “Food first.”

They ate in silence and Rae cleared the table after they finished while Cherry went off to bring her first aid kit. She claimed hers was better equipped than Rae’s as she’d developed her own remedies. When she returned, she placed it in Rae’s arms with a pointed look and walked away without a word. “Thank you,” Rae called out to her back. She sighed and intertwined her fingers with Ortíz’s, leading him back to their room. As she began to disinfect his back, she felt a punch in her gut as she got a closer look at how some scratches were struggling to scab. “Why did Cherry get so angry?” Ortíz asked, trying to look back at her. She gently held him in place and continued working. “While sex-work has its own challenges as any other profession we recognize that our occupation is more… impactful and mistakes can be costly. Sex is a delicate and unexplored part of life for most and it is our job to make sure our clients come out on the other side sound of both body and mind. We should always display a certain degree of care for our clients as they are usually placing an immense amount of trust in us to fulfill them.” She finished the upper half of his back and blew on his skin to dry the disinfectant. He shivered. She took Cherry’s salve from the kit and rubbed it on her palms. “This will feel cold and then burn a little.” He nodded for her to go on, lifting his chin to stretch his neck as she gently rubbed the salve into the bruises. “This same way of thinking also bleeds into our personal lives,” Rae continued. “Even if there is no prior emotional attachment involved, we hold the expectation for ourselves to always make sure our partner makes it out okay.” 

Ortíz’s head leaned back, offering his mouth to her. She kissed him softly. “I made it out okay,” he reassured her in a whisper. She sighed. “Still, I’m sorry for not staying up to treat these.'' He straightened and turned to face her, placing his hands on her lower thighs. “You’re forgiven.” She smiled into his gorgeous eyes grateful for the best response she could have asked for. “Sit still,” she told him, reaching for the gaze to wrap around his tender throat. Once she was done, she had him lie down and worked on his lower back and arms. He was asleep by the time she finished, expression soft and breathing slow. As she packed, put aside the kit and watched him sleep, she knew Ortíz meant something to her. What she felt for him had grown fast and stronger than she’d ever felt. If he'd have her, she'd take him as her forever person.