Alex smiled to herself as she hung up the phone and began gathering up the case files on her desk. She'd been planning on staying late, like she usually did, to go over Monday's court appearances one more time, but Robert had called, explaining that he'd be going to a last-minute dinner meeting and would be home late.

With a little luck, I can have a nice, relaxing evening and be asleep before he gets back, she thought, packing up her attaché bag. The case could wait. She needed a break.

"Calling it a night already, Alex?" Jim Steele asked as she turned off the light in her office and locked the door. "I don't think I've ever seen you leave before 9, even on a Friday. Got some wedding planning to do?"

Alex smiled. "Nope, not tonight. There's a glass of wine with my name on it at home, and after the way court went today, I've just decided to give myself a night off for once."

"Well, have a good weekend. I'll see you on Monday to go over the Stahl case.

"Yeah, that's what I'll be working on this weekend. See you Monday. Have a good weekend, Jim."

When Alex turned the key in the lock to the penthouse she was relieved to find the lights out and Robert's coat wasn't hanging at the door. She hung up her coat and her bag at the entrance, and slipped off her heels. There would still be time to put them in the closet before Robert got home, after her bath.

Since she'd gotten engaged, she rarely had time to herself. Work was work, and since she was still new in her job as Bureau Chief, she justified her long hours to Robert by explaining that she had to make up for the three years she'd lost in Witness Protection. She still wanted to be District Attorney someday, so she had to prove herself all over again. And scumbags never sleep, she told him, so neither did she.

And of course, when she did get home, there was always Robert.

Alex went into the master bathroom and started running the bath, throwing in a handful of lavender bath salts and some bubble bath. She took her robe off the hook and brought it into her walk-in closet, slipping off her suit and hanging it up before she put on the robe. Crouching in the back corner, she pulled out a shoebox from the middle of the pile, smiling as she pulled out the paperback with the Georgia O'Keefe painting on the cover and the small waterproof vibrator from their hiding place and slipped them into her pocket before sliding the box back into place. Good thing Robert wasn't interested in her shoe collection, she thought.

She took a deep breath and went to the kitchen, pouring herself a generous glass of Chateauneuf de Pape, a red Bordeaux, from the open bottle in the wine fridge, and took a sip, relaxing almost instantly. She checked the batteries in the vibrator to make sure they still worked.

It's funny, she thought, as she plugged in her cellphone next to the bed and slipped her 2.5 carat ring onto the jewellery tray on the night stand. She never wore it in the tub so it wouldn't accidentally go down the drain. I don't think I ever felt this alone in Wisconsin.

In the bathroom, she turned off the faucet and tested the water temperature, hung her bathrobe over the heater and took her guilty pleasures out of the pocket and put them on the shelf next to the bathtub. She sighed audibly as she slipped into the hot water, and reached over to turn on a CD of classical music.

Alex sat for a few minutes with her eyes closed, felling the tension leave her body as the jets worked on the muscles in her back and she made a conscious effort to forget about work and about Robert.

When she finally felt relaxed, Alex reached over for the paperback and flipped it open to one of the more erotic passages. She'd read the romantic chapters another time. Tonight, she wanted to enjoy the smut.

By the time her wine was almost gone, she felt flushed, and she thought she might be sufficiently relaxed to take care of business. Putting down her glass of wine, she slipped one hand between her legs, running one finger over her clit and shuddering. It had been far too long. She dragged her fingers between her labia and began sliding her index finger in and out rhythmically, rubbing her thumb over her most sensitive part. She let the book fall to the floor next to the bathtub, breathing deeply and reaching up with her other hand to grab her breast and run her fingers around her nipples, arching her back away from the water jets.

When she felt like she was close, she stopped moving her thumb and left her fingers inside, picking up the book again and flipping to her next favorite passage. She had all night, and she wanted to enjoy it.

The next time she felt her muscles twitching around her fingers, she put down the book and reached for the vibrator, turned it on the lowest setting, and ran it across her nipples, down her flat stomach, and up each of her thighs. She made contact tentatively, applying light pressure to her clit before pulling it away, teasing herself until she was almost there.

Her heart stopped when she heard him growl. "That is so hot."