-1-

Olivia Benson had, so far, spent her Friday morning suffused in a warm glow that was entirely a result of her Thursday night. She had struggled to pull herself away from Alex this morning even to get dressed, much less to head back to her own apartment to get changed for work. Though she briefly contemplated going to work in the same clothes she'd worn the day before in exchange for the 15 extra minutes, she thought better of it. For a bunch of detectives, the guys weren't necessarily observant enough to spot it, but having Rollins around was another story. She'd be sure to notice.

And Olivia couldn't be happier to have spent the night in Alex's bed—would shout it from the rooftops, when the time was right—but right now, she wanted to keep it to herself for just a little while. They hadn't discussed it explicitly, but she knew they were on the same page. Soon, very soon, she'd be willing to write it across the sky over Central Park. But she felt just a little selfish, and just a little protective of this newborn thing, and wanted to hold it close and out of the world's grasping hands.

It was a quiet day in the precinct, no new calls coming in and everyone trying to run down leads by phone, or finish up the week's paperwork. Cragen had spent enough time on her ass over the years over how bad the late paperwork made him look—now that the Commissioner had appointed a panel to comb through files in search of unreported and under-reported crimes, she knew he'd be on the hot seat for any perceived deficiencies in his squad. She'd find plenty of other things to do that would make trouble for him, so she put her head down and filled out DD5's like her life depended on it. God knows her weekend did.

Amaro was off today, so while that added some paperwork to Olivia's side of their desk, it meant there was one less set of eyes staring at her when her iPhone buzzed about 11 o'clock. Seeing the name and number on the screen, she was smiling before she even answered the call.

"Benson."

"I love you, Benson."

Olivia knew she was blushing, just as she knew that blush would have been noted and dissected if Nick were here, or if everyone else weren't so wrapped up in their own files. She'd never before been so grateful for paperwork. "I love you, sweetie. How are you?"

"Perfect. Or, I was, until a delivery guy from Brighten Florist just brought in 2 dozen cream and red tulips."

"And now?"

"I'm beyond perfect. Perfect is fading fast in my rearview mirror."

"I'm glad to hear it, honey. I miss you."

"I miss you, too, Liv." Alex paused, then laughed. "How pathetic are we?"

"Not so pathetic, I think," Olivia replied. "We've waited a long time. I'd say we're entitled."

"Right you are," Alex agreed. "Now that we've established our well-earned mutual state of love-sickness, thank you for the flowers. Tulips. You don't miss a thing, do you?"

"Not where you're concerned. And you're more than welcome. I'd have sent you all of Rotterdam if I'd thought it would fit in your office."

"What do the colors mean?"

"Come on, I'm not making it that easy for you. You've got the internet over there, don't you?"

"Ah, making me work for it. Glad to see some things won't change." They both laughed. "Now, I'm going to hang up, and I'm going to call your desk phone about some work-related matter, and you're going to have to act like you weren't in my bed 6 hours ago."

"You could just tell me about it on this call, you know," Olivia suggested.

"Oh, no, I never mix business with pleasure."

"Never?"

"Okay, maybe sometimes. But not now."

The call ended, and her desk phone rang not a minute later. She answered with a smile. "Benson."

"Cabot. Got that report yet from the Phillips case? I needed it yesterday."

"My, my, Counselor, you are all business on the landline."

"Yes, and don't you forget it, Detective. Better make sure that's done by Monday morning. When I call and ask for it again, I won't want to have to wait." Now, a dial tone signaled the end of the conversation.

The ADA's tone was professional, but there was definitely an undercurrent that suggested Olivia would get that report in, as requested, one way or another.

The remainder of the day was blessedly unremarkable. Olivia grabbed lunch with Fin. They'd not broached the subject, but their earlier contretemps over Alex was simply ignored, if not forgotten. She'd resisted the urge to go to Hogan Place, have lunch with Alex. She knew that the attorney had lots of work to do, and she didn't want to come on too strong, to overdo anything, though she didn't feel like that was possible.

Olivia was catching tomorrow for most of the day, and guessed that Alex would probably go into the office as well, so it wasn't quite the weekend for them yet, but she knew that Sunday would likely be a day they could spend together, and she was looking forward to it.

Since she was pulling a full day Saturday, she didn't hesitate to leave before 5 when the Captain told her and Rollins to pack it in. She was just locking up files and straightening the desktop, already thinking about stopping by Alex's office, when her desk phone rang. Hoping against hope that it wasn't something that would keep her here, she answered as brusquely as possible.

"SVU, Benson."

"Is this the police?"

She felt sure this was Alex, but after a long day of typing up reports and answering the phone, her brain was tired. She decided to play it safe. "Yes, it is, how can I help you?"

"Is this Sex Crimes?" Now, this was definitely Alex's voice, a little deeper than was normal or even proper, but Alex nonetheless.

"Yes, it is. Can I help you with something, ma'am?"

"I hope so. There's a naked woman in my apartment."

"And I take it that this is unusual?" Olivia was playing along, enjoying this immensely, but wishing she was having this conversation on her mobile so she could head toward Alex's loft now. Instead, she was held to her desk, knowing Alex could say whatever she wanted while Olivia's own responses were necessarily limited.

"It is unusual, especially for this early on a Friday evening."

"Is that so? Is it a problem, this...woman?" She'd almost said naked but was glad she'd bit it back at the last minute. Munch was nosy as hell and sitting four feet away, doing absolutely nothing.

"Well, I suppose so. She seems to be suffering a bit."

"In what way, may I ask?"

There was a moment as the caller pondered her response. "If I had to guess, I'd say she was going through some sort of withdrawal."

Now Olivia was sure she was blushing, and choking back laughter. At the same time, she found herself surprisingly aroused. "Where is she in the apartment, ma'am?"

No hesitation now. "In my bed. By herself."

"I'll send a squad car over right away, then. That sounds like a potentially dangerous situation."

"I don't think a uniformed officer will be able to handle this. I think you'd better send a detective," Alex said. And then she practically purred the rest. "I think there's going to be some investigating to do. Could take all night."

"Well, I'm heading out now. I'll handle it myself."

"I think that sounds like a great idea, Ms. Benson. You sound more than capable."

Olivia hung up the phone, more eager than ever to get out of this squadroom before anything could possibly happen to delay her departure. She stood up quickly, grabbing her jacket and cellphone. "See you tomorrow, Rollins." Then, to Fin and Munch, "You guys have a good weekend, see you Monday."

Fin waved, Rollins called out a goodbye as she tidied up her own desk. Munch, however, said not a word. He had a feeling that Olivia had a secret, and he sat silently, spinning a conspiracy theory far more provocative than those he normally considered.

Olivia arrived at Alex's building about 20 minutes later and found a parking space surprisingly quickly. The gods were looking out for her. She entered the building, prepared to have the doorman call up to the apartment. He surprised her, though, greeting her as she approached the desk.

"Detective Benson, good evening."

She frantically tried to remember his name. Damn, but Alex was so good with everyone's names, even though all of the doormen Olivia had ever seen here looked quite a bit alike to her. Or, perhaps she was just preoccupied every time she visited. He either didn't notice her memory lapse, or didn't care.

"Ms. Cabot left this for you, said you should go on up." He handed her an envelope.

She made her way to the elevator, opening the heavy cream-colored envelope as the door slid open and she stepped in and pressed 5. Inside was an equally heavy card, with Alex's monogram in dark grey letters on the front. As she pulled it out of the envelope, a key fell out. There was, of course, a note on the card.

A key for you. I hope you'll make frequent use of it.

-A.

Olivia smiled, and stepped out on the fifth floor. She arrived at Alex's door, and wondered briefly if she should knock. This new closeness—even the friends closeness, not to mention the last night closeness—was a shock to the system, and she didn't want to ever be an intrusion on Alex's privacy. But tonight, she figured, it would be okay. There was a reason Alex had left the key with Michael—now his name came to her—rather than simply having him call up like normal. She used the key.

The apartment was quiet—she could have heard a pin drop—and even though Alex was nowhere in sight, the place just looked like her, smelled like her perfume. Felt like her, even. Olivia called out.

"Ma'am, it's the police. You called?"

"In here, Detective." The bedroom. Of course.

Olivia made her way in, and when she stepped across the threshold she was greeted with a sight that she'd previously only dreamed of. Alex Cabot was naked, lying in the middle of a king-sized bed with dark red sheets undoubtedly made of some hybrid organic cotton grown in rarefied air, harvested for kings and queens and woven by fairytale creatures on some secret island or in a cave halfway up Mt. Everest. Alex didn't surround herself with luxury, but like the Mercedes, she splurged where it mattered. These weren't the sheets they'd slept in last night, Olivia knew, but even with the obvious distractions, she'd noticed how soft those were, and how Alex's bed felt like heaven. Though that was, admittedly, down to more than the linens.

"I've come to take care of your problem. The naked woman." Olivia was a bit lost, wanting to be witty here, and keep this little charade going a bit longer. But she was completely flummoxed by the gorgeous creature in front of her.

"Thanks for coming so quickly. You must have raced over here with the lights and sirens, the whole nine."

Alex's eyes were locked on her, looking her up and down, and she still lingered a bit nervously, just inside the bedroom door.

"Oh, I didn't bring a cruiser over. I didn't think I'd need any backup. I just rode my white horse."

"I hope you left it in the lobby, then. This building doesn't allow pets." And a smile crossed Alex's face. It put Olivia immediately at ease.

She laughed. "Well, that's good to know, for future reference, I mean. Now, you said you were going through some sort of withdrawal. What are your symptoms?"

Now, Alex rose off the bed, and came over to where Olivia was standing, slipping her butter-soft brown leather jacket off of her shoulders and tossing it onto a chair in the corner of the room, watching it land before turning back to the detective.

"Oh, I'm not the naked woman."

"You're not?"

"No, I'm not," Alex replied, and unbuckled Olivia's belt, pulling it from the loops, and then taking her shirt and pants, faster than Olivia could have probably done it on her own. Olivia kicked off her shoes and socks, while Alex pushed the panties down the muscular legs, getting them as far as Olivia's knees before putting her own foot on the elastic and pushing them the rest of the way to the floor. A slight nudge with Alex's knee, and Olivia automatically stepped out of them, one foot at a time. The attorney finished by sliding both hands down from Olivia's shoulders, along the swell of her breasts, and unhooked the clasp in her cleavage, pushing the straps back off her shoulders and sliding them down her arms. Olivia didn't even know how Alex had known it was a front-clasp—she hadn't seemed to take her eyes off of Olivia's since she'd gotten off the bed.

"You're the naked woman I called about, Detective." And Alex stepped forward and put both hands on Olivia's face, kissing her like they'd been apart for years, rather than a workday. This was going to take some getting used to, but Olivia was definitely up for it.

Olivia took over now, backing Alex up toward the bed, pausing when they reached their destination so that Alex could sink onto the bed. Now she straddled her, one knee on the bed beside each of Alex's thighs, her arms around Alex's back, as they kissed, and kissed, and kissed more. Alex's hands wandered up and gently kneaded Olivia's breasts, alternately palming them and then running her thumbs lightly over the sensitive nipples. Olivia, for her part, stroked her hands up and down Alex's back, then through her hair, never breaking contact with those lips she'd dreamed about. Everything about this felt good, but neither of them was in a big hurry, it seemed.

Finally, Alex broke the kiss, taking advantage of their position to lick Olivia's collarbones, and her throat. "This was," she said, pausing to nibble an ear, "the longest day," now she put her hands on Olivia's rear, and pulled her closer, "ever."

Olivia couldn't speak. The languid, relaxed mood was gone, replaced now by an urgent need to feel Alex inside of her. Amazing what those two hands planted firmly on her ass could do. She pushed Alex backward, so that she was lying on the bed, and just stared at her for a long moment from above. A look came across her face, and Alex couldn't quite identify it.

"What is it, babe?"

"Nothing, just memorizing you." Olivia felt odd for saying it, but knew Alex would understand.

"No need for that," Alex replied, and gave Olivia a smile so sweet she felt it spread through her, calming her, claiming her. Alex reached up, with both hands, and pulled Olivia down toward her. When their faces were only a few inches apart, she spoke again. "I'm not going anywhere."

And Olivia was consumed again with desire. She lowered her lips onto Alex's and kissed her, thoroughly and with intent.

Alex, for her part, was wasting no more time. Her left hand went back to Olivia's ass, and grabbed hold, while her right snaked down Olivia's torso, stopping to give a pinch to a nipple that elicited a gasp from the brunette. She continued her path, down torso, then thigh, finally slipping between her legs. Olivia lifted her hips a bit, conscious of the hand on her behind trying to get—and hold—her into the position Alex wanted. But she wanted Alex's hand inside her, and rising just a bit on her knees, she gave her all the room she'd need to slide those long fingers into the velvety wetness there. Alex obliged, adding two fingers, then three, enthralled by the beautiful woman above her, moving now in rhythm. The position was perfect for Alex—her feet on the floor at the foot of the bed gave her leverage to move Olivia up and down with her thighs, or to spread her legs a bit wider by shifting Alex's own knees outward. This view of Olivia, riding her fingers, one hand behind her on Alex's left knee, the other subconsciously kneading her own nipple, pinching and rubbing, was so goddamned hot that Alex felt sure she would come before she could bring Olivia off.

She tried to pace things a bit, deliberately keeping her fingers from curling inside Olivia, avoiding the hyper-sensitive spot inside, removing her thumb from Olivia's clit. She didn't want to stop her, but she wanted to drag this out a bit, enjoy every minute of this sublime madness. She could see that her hesitation was having the desired effect: Olivia was still on the edge, but floating along now, not hurtling toward her release. She looked down at Alex now, really seeing her there, and seemed to realize that she was grasping and pulling at her own breast, and that Alex was watching her intently, mouth slightly open, tongue repeatedly wetting her lips.

Just seconds before, she'd been about to protest the slowed pace, to reach down there and move Alex's hand back to where she wanted it, but now, she decided to hold herself here, knowing she was close to orgasm, but wanting to put it off just a moment or two longer. "Alex?"

Alex looked up from the haze of endorphins, and the effort it took for her to shift her focus from Olivia's chest to her face was obvious. When their eyes met again, she responded with the only word she could recall. "Liv?"

"See something you like, babe?"

"Oh, God, yes." Alex's response was verbal, but just barely. It was half-moan, too, and the sound of her voice coupled with the look on her face was a huge turn-on for Olivia, and focusing on her partner's eyes somehow helped her to stave off her orgasm for just a while longer, while she played this out.

"Tell me."

"What?" Alex asked. She was lost, confused by Olivia's command, and began to move her hand again, planting her thumb directly on Olivia's clit as she did so. This earned her a gasp from the brunette, but Olivia recovered quickly from the frisson of pleasure that had just shot through her. She reached down and stilled Alex's hand, but kept her own hand working on her nipples, shifting now from one breast to the other.

"Tell me," Olivia repeated. "Tell me what you see, what you like." She didn't know where this had come from. For someone who was assertive—even aggressive—in her work, she was normally surprisingly quiet in bed. But Alex brought something out in her, and she wondered if she could do the same for the blonde. She waited.

Alex searched for words—Olivia could almost see wheels turning inside that beautiful head—and Olivia could feel her trying to move her hand, trying to reach her goal, even as she struggled to articulate a response to Olivia's unexpected question.

"I see you." It was all she could say at first.

"Yes, baby, but you've seen me a million times," Olivia replied, her voice gentle and quiet, patient. "What are you seeing right now?"

"Your nipples," Alex replied, and now it all came out in a rush. "Your fingers are on your own tits, and watching you pinch and pull at them, watching you turn yourself on, is so fucking sexy I can't stand it. I'm going to come just watching you."

Olivia exhaled, She hadn't realized she was even holding her breath. How could Alex do this to her? She'd had sex with women, and men—was hardly a blushing virgin—but my God, this woman had already wrapped the detective around her little finger. She didn't want to wait much longer now. She let go of Alex's hand, but the stroking movement didn't resume quite yet. "Someday, soon, I'll put on a show for you, baby." Somehow, Alex's eyes dilated a bit more at this promise, but Olivia wasn't done. "But not now," she continued, and leaned back a bit, pulling Alex up to a sitting position. "Now, I want you to make me come."

Alex's eyes were even with Olivia's chest, and she watched as the brunette took both of her own hands, and pinched each nipple, hard, twisting a bit. As she let go of the left nipple, she reached out and pulled Alex's head toward her breast, tangling her hand in the blonde hair. Alex did moan, now, her pleasure obvious as she took Olivia's taut skin and straining nipple into her mouth, while her left hand resumed its kneading of gluteal muscles, and the right began a new and impatient rhythm inside Olivia.

This wouldn't take long. Olivia was beyond aroused, and the combined efforts of Alex's hot mouth and her surprisingly strong hands was going to send her flying in no time at all. She continued to pinch her own right nipple, and her left hand gripped Alex's shoulder now, hanging on for dear life. Three fingers of Alex's hand were buried inside her, pumping against her walls while the thumb kept up a rat-a-tat-tat rhythm on her distended clit. Alex sensed she was close, and slid one hand around, just brushing the soft skin around Olivia's rear opening, not providing any real pressure but stimulating that sensitive skin. Less than five seconds after that touch, Olivia's back arched, and Alex's mouth continued to stimulate the nipple while she slowed her hand, allowing Olivia to ride out an orgasm that had surprised them both with its depth and duration.

At last, Alex disengaged her mouth from Olivia's breast, and looked up to see Olivia coming slowly back down to earth. She slipped her fingers free, and wrapped both arms around the waist in front of her, resting her own head on Olivia's chest. As their breathing returned to normal, Olivia leaned back, and tipped Alex's face up, and said, "Hey."

"Hey," Alex said. "How..." She didn't get any more words out, before Olivia kissed her, deep and slow.

Finally, the detective came up for air, and all she could say was "Holy fuck, Alex."

Alex laughed. "Holy, huh? That good?"

"Well, normally I'd just say wow, but that doesn't even begin to touch what just happened here."

"I'm glad you liked it," Alex said. She was, suddenly, just a bit shy, and Olivia felt her stomach flip over a bit.

"Enough with the false modesty," Olivia teased. "You've got the magic touch, sweetheart. But now, I'm feeling a bit competitive." She pushed Alex back onto the bed again, and leaned over her, a hand planted on the bed on either side of Alex's head, careful not to tangle in her honey-blonde hair. "I want to show you what I can do."

Olivia flipped over onto her back, and pulled Alex atop her, then quickly down into a heated kiss. Olivia set about proving her prowess to her partner a few times, even though her skills were never in doubt. But Alex didn't stop her, and thoroughly enjoyed every moment.