Max eased herself into the soul saturating heat of her soaker tub, swirling the rose scented bubbles around her aching body. Laying back, she immersed her body fully, save for her face. She closed her eyes and let out a small moan of pleasure as she felt muscles start to loosen. She had gone hard at the gym, clinching a personal best for both squats and deadlifts.
Max lifted her left hand out of the tub and encircled the wineglass on the edge of the tub with her well-manicured fingers. She had earned this indulgence. She was proud of herself; Max had never been an athletic person until a few years ago when she joined a gym. She had started awkwardly with the usual runs on the treadmill and machine weights and had eventually developed enough confidence to tackle the free weights low and steady, she had gotten stronger. Her work outs now comprised of stairmaster and hill runs punctuated with powerlifting. Max looked down through the bubbles and glimpsed her thighs. Yes she was proud of how her body performed and of how it looked.
After draining her chianti she stood up and examined herself in the full length mirror. Her body was thick from her love of good food and wine and firm from her newfound passion for fitness. Not allowing herself to linger any longer she wrapped herself in a soft housecoat and started her nightly routine of creams and oils. Every inch of her flesh was left soft and hydrated. After all, her job involved looking after her clients skin, so she made sure she practiced what she preached.
As she sauntered dreamily into her bedroom, she realized her husband had come home. He stood with his back to the entrance removing his shirt. Max lifted a corner of her lips in an appreciative smile as she watched his unintentional strip show. He undid his belt and let his pants fall to the ground before turning and realizing he had an audience...
His expression, while slightly startled, was neutral and returned none of warmth Max had felt while watching him. Her heart sank.
"Hey, I didn't realize you were there," he said.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," she replied, no longer smiling. "How was your day? Were you guys busy?"
Geoff was a chef at a popular restaurant downtown.
"Ya," he winced, stretching his back. Max couldn't help but allow her eyes to caress his well defined legs. "You?" he asked as a courtesy.
"Was a good day. I hit a personal best at the gym," she said, allowing a little enthusiasm to enter her voice.
"Nice. Good for you," he replied, without any real interest.
He had already pulled out his phone and started his nightly ritual of scrolling through social media and sports highlights. He climbed into bed as she set about getting dressed.
Opening her drawer she decided to put on a lacy plum nighty. She was feeling sexy and hoping maybe he would notice her. Even for just a few minutes. Dropping her robe she glanced over her bare shoulder. Nothing. She may as well not even be there. She pulled the nighty on and felt her nipples harden under the fabric. What was it about lace that did that to her?
"I did 3 sets of 6 squats at 225 lbs today," she said as an attempt to continue the conversation and regain his attention.
He glanced up, "That's really great. I know you've been working hard."
He threw a small, neutral glance at her body before looking back at his phone.
"Ya," she said quietly, "I really have."
Not that he noticed. In fact it had been a long time since he'd noticed her. One of the reasons she had started at the gym in the first place was because he had stopped pursuing her sexually. It had dwindled slowly at first. What had once been an amazing, passionate sex life filled with experimentation and lust, became boring and mundane and then just nothing. Complete and utter nothing. Once every couple of months she would initiate something, thinking that if she just got the ball rolling he'd be into it. They would have awkward, to the point sex with just a pinch of standard foreplay but he never seemed all that into it. In fact, sometimes he wouldn't even orgasm and she was left to feel embarrassed and foolish.
Afterwards, she always felt undesirable and unloved, so she wouldn't try again for awhile. Occasionally he'd feel up for it in the middle of the night and he would, under the cloak of darkness, just go right for it. Not even kissing her, touching her as little as possible.