AN: Firstly I am SO sorry that it's taken me nearly two years to update this. I got a huge case of writers block coupled with feeling like I had bit off more than I could chew when it came to writing the 'grand finale' scene if you know what I mean haha. I also had so many different scenarios playing out in my mind as to where to take this and how far to go and I just wasn't sure which direction to take. But in saying that before you get too excited this chapter isn't a massively long one but I'm hoping it springboards the momentum needed to get this baby going again. I promise I won't leave you again for years! I also need to reference some people here:

The Human Whip - thank you so much for your gorgeous padlet of Ripples imagery, it's a mood board she made for times when I need Ripples inspiration and it clearly worked!? You can check it out on twitter (eotopia_ff)

firetipmyballs - also needs an honourable mention because somehow her young Olivia from UD has made a cameo guest star in this chapter for a hot 5 seconds? Lmao. I feel like that version of her is now 100% canon in my head so I hope you don't mind me borrowing her youth/likeness in this. That fic is truly something and if you haven't already read it, check out Undisclosed Desires under firetipmyballs on FF dot net

natnightsade - thank you so much for your advice with this chapter and for helping me find Olivia's inner voice with regards to her confusion/conflict

ughthatbitch - has also waited 84 years for this to continue and has been so patient. I think I promised her this several birthdays ago! So happy birthday for October love - lmao.

nitty_skitty - and finally thank you SO SO SO much for my Ripples birthday poster which Mariska Hargitay actually LIKED on twitter confirming she has in fact read this trash and loves it lmao. Kidding, but honestly Nikki - best birthday present I could have asked for.

And to anyone else who has been patiently waiting far too long for this (I'm probably missing some important people sorry?) I do apologise! I also wanna point out that this has 193,555 views for reasons I can only begin to imagine and I'd love to see it crack 200,000 by the time this story is out. Thank you SO much for all the love!

Without further ado.

X

She thinks she must be on auto pilot because somehow she is managing to put one foot in front of the other.

Her heartbeat is thrumming, her pulse racing, her bare feet leaving a trail of pool water behind her as she grabs her towel off the sunbed.

She is trying to catch up to it all - his request. Move in with me. Hers. I want to play a game.

That explosive orgasm they'd publicly exercised against a pool wall. She had come hard and loud, her unmistakable climax capturing the attention of just about everyone on board. She had still been contracting around him, her fingernails sinking into the edge of the pool when her eyes had lifted instantly locking with Charlie's.

She had seen the whole thing.

Every last detail.

This wasn't her.

That's what she was wrestling with.

She doesn't have sex in public, she doesn't have sex with women and she certainly doesn't encourage a threesome with her partner.

But it was like a drug.

One hit had started it all.

Elliot fucking Stabler.

She was trying to reconcile the confusion culminating in her chest about the choices she had made on this boat but it was overridden by want. She thinks they must have put something in the water on board because she's in her late forties and she's acting like a teenager on heat.

She shouldn't be this relentlessly turned on. She has lost count of how many orgasms she has had in the past 72 hours and she keeps waiting to feel a level of reprieve.

But it never comes.

She just wants more.

Perhaps it was the endless years of platonic foreplay she and Elliot had milled their way through. A look, a touch, a slight graze of their shoulders, a finger swipe when they'd exchange files. On rare days his gaze would linger a little longer than it should, others he'd be up close and personal, leaning in, leaning over her to casually grasp something. And when they'd speak he'd always stand much closer than Fin or Munch ever did.

She knew back then.

God she knew.

He knew.

The whole damn precinct knew.

She just didn't realise it would implode all over the fucking Atlantic. She naively thought she could contain their tumultuous energy but it was like housing a tornado in a glass bottle and that's the thing about trapping something against it's will, it's bound to break eventually and when it does, it's fury is unleashed tenfold.

And their bottle didn't just break, it had shattered into a multitude of shards that they now had to carefully navigate through. There were no walls for them now, no boundaries, no limits, no rules, no marriage, no case - and there was an eerie freedom to that that she couldn't even begin to compartmentalise.

They had nowhere to be but here and he'd just given her the ultimate permission.

'Whatever you want to do on this boat Olivia,' he murmured against her damp locks as the final pulsations of her orgasm contracted around his cock. 'You have full rein.'

Full rein.

That's what he was telling her, that's what he was gifting her - the ultimate permission.

'But,' he warned as his lips scraped the shell of her ear, 'once we're back in the city,' he murmurs. 'Mine.'

She wants to believe she doesn't need anything more. She wants to tell herself she doesn't crave the excitement, the risk, the unknown, that she could just as easily pack up and go home right now but it was a lie.

He's cracked a part of her open that she'd thought had long since died. He had sparked her back to her former self - that bold, reckless woman who used to take risks and daring chances. The cocky, ambitious, confident detective who sailed through her early years on the force - the woman who was the life of the party, the one who laughed a hell of a lot more than she does now. She wants to blame the job for slowly chipping away at her, for stealing fragments of her soul with every heart wrenching case and close call. She wants to blame the horrors and torment for taking the shine off her exterior and the smile off her face. She wants to blame the job for numbing her.

But it was him.

She had made herself numb to him.

She'd spent so long shelving her desires, stifling her feelings, suppressing their connection, compartmentalising it into neat little boxes - friendship, partnership, colleagues, best friends.

For better or worse.

She would lie to herself, constantly dismissing their glances, their exchanges, their playfulness, their flirting and from the beginning she has stifled every sexual urge she'd ever had towards the man and as a result the rest of her had shut down too. She'd extinguished her needs along with her feelings and now her former vibrancy had morphed into lacklustre greyscale.

So that's why she has found herself here - now, standing outside the steam room entrance, towel clad, still slick with Elliot's desire, her heartbeat hammering in her chest as she tells herself she wants this.

Because she does.

She wants to feel free.

She wants to feel alive.

She wants to lose her inhibitions.

And she wants him to lose them with her.

She wavers momentarily, gripping the neck of the chilled champagne in one hand and two frosted champagne flutes in the other.

Charlie was unwinding in the steam room, but it was Olivia who had a proposition for her that couldn't wait.

Olivia takes a deep breath.

She wasn't even drunk or tipsy, that's what is throwing her now. She should have had a damn shot before she decided to do this, or several, because then maybe her nerves would have succumbed to a tolerable level.

It should be a good thing that alcohol wasn't a factor in this decision, it means that she'll have a clear head in this, an element of control but it also means that it's blatantly clear that this is something she craves and there is no going back now.

She presses her shoulder against the metal door and it opens with a quiet puff. A cloud of steam hits her like a wall and it's several degrees warmer than the morning sun.

She spots her against the back wall - flat on her back, a hand strewn over her forehead.

Charlie's turquoise bikini stands out against the white tile and her leg is raised and propped up against the wall as she looks away.

Olivia sets the champagne quietly down on the step, followed by the glasses that are already fogging up from the steam. She twists off the lid, tugging at the foil until the cork is lifting up and out.

A loud pop echos through the small room and Charlie just about jumps out of her skin.

"Jesus," Charlie looks up. "Give a girl some warning Olivia."

She pours the first glass, hiding a smile as the fizzy liquid reaches the rim. She holds it down as Charlie rises from her elbows to claim it. She takes a welcome sip before she sinks back down into her initial position.

"What's the occasion?" Charlie runs a finger across her damp lips, her leg returning to it's position against the back wall.

Olivia's still filling up her own glass when she answers.

"I just wanted to say thank you."

The words ring abundantly true in that moment - none of this would have happened without her.

Elliot.

Moving in with him.

Rediscovering her former self.

Charlie is gazing up at her, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"For what?"

Olivia looks at her with an air of appreciation.

"For bringing out a side of us we didn't know existed."

The truth of it fills her in that moment, her gratitude extending far further than she'd anticipated.

"Well after your performance in the pool, I find it hard to believe you two need any help in that department. I bet you're both animals at home."

Another smile graces Olivia's lips as a surge of modesty moves quietly through her chest at the thought - still unable to process what they had done in full view.

Charlie's eyes slip down to the towel that's wrapped around Olivia's body as she caresses the weeping champagne glass.

"So are you planning on staying?" She motions to the step below her as her open legs rock absently against the tile. "Or is this just a delivery?"

Olivia hesitates for a few beats before she places her glass down lightly before fingering the knot between her breasts. She gives Charlie her answer when she lowers the towel down to the step beneath her. She feels the steam gloss over her exposed skin as Charlie's eyes follow suit, coasting across the damp gold bikini that hugs her curves.

She lies down, stretching out and onto her back propping an arm to rest behind her head. She can still feel Charlie's eyes on her body but she lets her eyes slip closed as she settles into the step. She takes a deep breath but she can feel her nipples hardening beneath her gaze.

"Any other reason that you're here Olivia?" Charlie whispers, her voice impeccably low.

Her eyes slip back open and she catches Charlie's emerald irises staring back at her as a short lock of blonde hair falls forward.

Olivia lifts a thigh, shifting her hips towards her to get more comfortable, her eyes falling downward until they're focusing on Charlie's parted lips.

"I just came in here to relax." She gives her a small smile but lets her stare linger just a little longer than it should.

Charlie's gaze is locked on hers and Olivia's heart-beat thuds in anticipation.

"Well," Charlie whispers softly, as her hand moves down, her finger lightly trailing across her hip. "Let me know if I can help with that."

TBC