Mary Margaret worked during the day at a local hair salon shop and earned enough money to pay the bills, along with Regina's small income but generous health insurance benefits from her part-time job at Starbucks, supplemented by her hours spent tutoring Latin and philosophy for students at the nearby private school. Both of them marveled at the casual way parents handed over fifty bucks for an hour of Regina's time just on the off chance it might get their kid into a better college than their neighbor's kid.

They still took on the occasional supernatural job, but after everything they'd already endured, they were happy to leave the heavy work to the next crop of hunters.

On this particular night, it was time for Mary Margaret's absolute least favorite part of their domestic routine – grocery shopping. Especially at this time of year, when it was cold outside and the stores were all mobbed, ridiculous Muzak-versions of Christmas carols piped in everywhere you went. Regina generally did it herself, but tonight she felt like having company and Mary Margaret had grudgingly agreed to go along.

"Regina, come on, these apples are identical. Seriously. Pick one and let's get this done, for the love of Christ."

"Fuji apples are not identical to Galas, Mary Margaret," Regina replied, rolling her eyes. "I'm just trying to decide which one I'm in the mood for this week."

"Glad you're in the mood for apples 'because hanging out at the Kroger all night isn't gonna put me in the mood for anything else."

"Fuck off, Mary Margaret, like you're ever not in the mood."

"Don't treat me like an object, Rea. I'm not a sex machine." She briefly reconsidered, then grinned lecherously. "Well, okay, maybe I am a sex machine."

That comment earned her one of Regina's exceptionally put-upon sighs, plus a bonus "you're a total perv" bitch face.

Finally, (fucking finally, Mary Margaret thought), they were done, a cart full of dinner ingredients and snacks and beer and one copy of this month's celebrity magazine. The checkout girl was kind of cute, stealing glances at Mary Margaret as she was ringing up their purchases. Regina took a minute away from putting their bagged groceries into the cart as Mary Margaret was handing over their debit card to the cashier. She said something Regina couldn't hear, giggled, and in return received one of Mary Margaret's trademark chick-slaying grins, her face flushing bright pink as she lowered her eyes, still smiling.

Regina shot a smoldering at glare at her mate, who, to her credit, seemed properly chastised, but she wasn't satisfied with just that. She moved back away from their shopping cart and slid her arm around Mary Margaret's waist. "We're done here, babe. Say goodbye to your friend."

The girl's eyes widened and she visibly stiffened under the weight of the tension that was almost palpable in the look between the two women. "Thank you, ma'ams , have a good night", she mumbled, as she turned toward the next person in line.

They weren't even out the door before Mary Margaret started in. "Way to get all cavewoman, Gea. You didn't have to scare the poor girl, she was just being nice."

"You didn't have to flirt with her. Right in front of me. Asshole." Regina was practically throwing the bags of groceries into the Impala's trunk.

Mary Margaret was running interference between herself, Regina, and the car. "Ease up, woman, that bag's got eggs in it. Calm down, chica. Don't throw the detergent on top of the bread! Jesus. It's not" and Mary Margaret was cut off right there with a withering look from her mate. For just a moment, she was quiet, but when Regina slammed down the trunk lid, that was it. "Hey! What the fuck?" she asked Regina's back as she watched her walk to the passenger side of the car. She ran her hand lovingly over the top of the trunk and whispered, "She didn't mean it, baby, sorry" as she made her way to the driver's door and started the car.

Regina didn't speak the whole ride home, so Margaret kept her mouth shut too. Partly because she thought Regina was being a baby, and partly because she didn't really want Regina to be any more mad than she already was. Stupidly mad, mad for absolutely no reason at all, but still, mad. Which was a situation Mary Margaret generally tried to avoid, because Regina's moods were unpredictable at best, and there was just never any way to know how they would manifest.

When they got back to their little house on the outskirts of town, Regina grabbed as many bags as she could from the trunk and Mary Margaret told her she'd get the rest, hoping to spare her baby another trunk-lid-slamming. Once all the groceries were inside, Regina grabbed what she needed to make their dinner and said "Put the rest of this shit away."

So Mary Margaret put the rest of that shit away, then wandered back to her mate's side and asked if she could help. Regina didn't raise her eyes from the vegetables she was chopping on the counter and she pointed to the kitchen table and said. "Sit down and stay there."

Mary Margaret felt like an idiot, like Regina had just sent her to timeout or something, but she walked over to the kitchen table and pulled out her chair. She sat down. And she stayed there. She suspiciously eyed the little snowman ornament that Regina's co-worker had given her, as if Frosty were going to be mad at her too.

After a little while, Regina brought their dinner out to the table, and they ate in complete silence. Mary Margaret started gathering dishes and brought them into the kitchen, only to find Regina right behind her at the counter by the sink. "Go upstairs to the bedroom, Mary Margaret. I'll take care of the dishes."

"What do you want me to do?" Mary Margaret asked, a little breathless from Regina's tone and her own guilty feelings of having made her mate angry.

"Sit down and stay there."

Mary Margaret trudged up to their bedroom and sat in the armchair by the far wall near the window. She didn't turn on the television or look for a book to read, she just did what Regina had told her to do, sat down and stayed there. It seemed like an interminable amount of time before her mate walked through the door to the room, her hands a bit pink from dishwashing, and her cheeks a bit pink from…well, as far as Mary Margaret could tell, it was because she was still kind of pissed off. For no good reason. At all. But she didn't say anything, just waited. She knew Regina was going to spout off any second.

"You had to flirt with some random grocery cashier while I was standing right there? Really? No control over that, Mary Margaret?"

"Regina. Come on, don't be like that, baby. You know I didn't mean anything by it."

"What do you think that girl thought you meant by it? Making some sly comment to you, and getting your tried-and-true Mary Margaret Mills grin turned on her? Huh? What do you think she was thinking?"

"She wasn't thinking a goddamn thing, Regina, after your little dominance display in the checkout line. Christ, you could have just let it go, you couldn't possibly think I was trying to"

"Enough, Mary Margaret. Get up and take off your clothes. All of them."

As per usual when Regina was like this (Mary Margaret knew it was PMS but never said it out loud), she did as she was told. Standing up from the chair, she pulled off her shirt her bra , toed off her shoes and socks, and pulled her jeans and underwear down, stepping out of them and standing in the middle of the room buck naked, looking expectantly at her still fully clothed mate.

Again, as if she thought it would get her anywhere, she asked, "What do you want me to do, Regina?"

"Edge of the bed. Sit down and stay there." Mary Margaret quickly complied. She watched as Regina moved casually through the room. There was a box in the bottom of the closet. Shit. There was a whole lot of stuff in there. But Regina turned back toward Mary Margaret with just a simple pair of cuffs in her hand. Those got tossed onto the bed.

Yeah, this wasn't really what Mary Margaret thought was going to happen, but she wasn't complaining.

"Mary Margaret. Do you know that I don't like seeing you get flirty with other people?"

"Y-yeah, yes, I know. I didn't mean – I'm sorry, Regina."

"Don't waste your time on sorry. Just do not let me see it. Ever. Again. You got that?"

"Got it, Gea, honest, I didn't mean to upset you, don't be mad, please."

"This isn't about me being mad,Mary Margaret. This is me showing you why you need to tame that instinct to give that look to anyone else. That look is for me. Just me. Not a crime scene witness, not a stranger in a bar, not a fucking grocery clerk. Me."

"Okay, Regina, I know, I didn't think about it at the time, it was thoughtless and you know I love you. Don't be angry with me, please."

"Shut up. And be still. Not another word." And that was the last thing Mary Margaret registered before she felt herself being laid on the bed, and Regina started to make love to her.

Regina reached to her right and grabbed the cuffs, binding Mary Margaret's wrists before she even realized what was happening and pulling her cuffed hands above her head. "Keep them there", Regina instructed, and Mary Margaret wasn't about to do anything else. The next thing she knew, Regina had pushed her own jeans and underwear down

"Mine" was the only thing Regina said as she pushed all the way into her mate, one swift movement that left Mary Margaret moaning and breathless. It hurt, but Mary Margaret was okay with it, knowing that it would only hurt for a minute.

After just a few seconds of letting Mary Margaret relax, Regina pulled almost all the way out of her then slammed back in with a force that sent Mary Margaret an inch or so closer to the head of the bed. A brutal pace was set, and Mary Margaret welcomed every thrust. Regina was quiet, none of her usual possessive kisses or markings, just a loop of "Mine. You. Are. Mine. Mine, mine, mine," she continued. "Say it."

"Yours, Regina, I'm yours, only yours, for always, believe me, please, I swear, I'm only yours."

Within a minute or two, Regina couldn't resist any longer, and her last litany of "mine" was drawn out and punctuated with a low, deep breath as she bit into Mary Margaret's neck, leaving a mark and drawing a little blood.

They took a few minutes to catch their breath, and Regina removed the cuffs, throwing them onto the floor.

Mary Margaret was the first to speak, kissing Regina on the top of her head, which was lying contentedly on her chest. "OK,Regina. I get it. I'll try harder, I swear. I know I'm yours. Please tell me you know I'm yours. Please?"

"Yeah", Regina replied, "I know. Sometimes I just think I have to remind you. Or maybe remind myself."

The post-coital sleep was closing in fast.

"I love you Regina, there's no one else for me, not ever, I swear."

Regina sighed and yawned, tightening her hold across Mary Margaret's chest. "I know. Promise."

Hanging on to each other like this, physically hanging on, was the top priority.

I hope you enjoyed the story. Reviews are welcome

The Great Uniter

Ps flames and saying I am not the creator of this ship and other ships are not welcome thank you