Apologies for the delay. Thank you for all of your lovely reviews! Please keep them coming.

Here we go, the final chapter.

"Get out." It took three long strides for her to reach the front door of her apartment and pull it open. Her heart was racing and her lips were on fire. What the hell was wrong with him?

She refused to be an easy replacement for his wife and she hated him for not realising just how much this could damage them. He didn't love her, not the way that she loved him. She had no doubt that he cared for her, that he had been attracted to her at some point but he didn't feel the same way that she did and damn him for making her remember. She had tried to so hard to push all of her feelings for him to the deepest and darkest part of her mind, it had taken too long.

The year after coming back from Oregon had been hell. Every stare and touch drove her to the point of insanity, she had really thought that something was going to happen, that he cared for her in the way she had been secretly longing for. She'd held it together pretty well when he'd told her that Kathy was pregnant and after crying herself to sleep for the first time in her life she woke determined to move on. She had moved on, she'd even managed to convince herself that she didn't think of him that way anymore…yeah, right….

It was a game to him, or just a chance to get laid. He probably didn't even realise it, he was a dumb ass sometimes. He probably thought it would be perfect, and no hard "getting to know you" work. Screw him.

"What?" he stood up with a confused look on his face. She looked from the door to him, and then back again to the open door that she was still holding. He took a few steps forward before stopping. "Really?" he asked, still looking completely dumbfounded. Did she realise what had happened? They had kissed, he had kissed her and…and now she wanted him to go?

Did she not realise that he was trying to show her how he felt? That finally, after years of wanting and needing her that he was ready to take the next step. It wasn't just sex. He wanted sex, he wanted sex like he'd never wanted it before but it wasn't just that. He could barely function without her. He thought that there was a small chance that she had felt the same…

"Really." She refused to meet his stare, she simply gestured to the open door. Again he took e a few steps forward before stopping. She looked up at him.

"You want me to go?"

"I would like you to leave, yes." She couldn't look at him, the second that she looked at him she would want him, she would want his lips back on hers. She couldn't risk it.

"I…did I miss something?"

"Elliot, please-"

"No. I…we kissed. We just kissed and now you want me to leave?"

"I'm sorry were you expecting an invite to the bedroom?" she asked finally meeting his gaze. Big mistake. He looked so confused. So unbelievably confused.

"No, no…well…no." He walked towards the open door, still frowning. How the hell could he have misread her so much? As she tried to close the door behind him he spun around, pushing it open. "I kissed you." He forced himself back into the apartment. "We don't kiss, but I just kissed you and you just want me to leave?"

"You're my partner. You can't kiss me." This was the most surreal conversation she had ever had.

"I wanted to kiss you-"

"You can't just do what you want all the time. You can't just…you can't just kiss me Elliot-" she turned away from him, why the hell was he so confused. "I'm not Kathy, I'm not a rebound-"

"What?" What the hell was she talking about? He knew she wasn't Kathy, he was very aware of the fact that she was not his ex wife. He was very aware that she was the woman that he had accidently thought of sometimes while he'd made love to his wife. She was the woman that he'd been trying to forget.

"You can't just come here and…and kiss me and think that it's okay. It's not okay."

"I wanted to kiss you, Liv." It was time to be honest. "I've wanted to kiss you for-"

"Stop it, no, you haven't." She sighed. Maybe he didn't even realise how fucked up it was. She was going to have to tell him. "I'm convenient Elliot. I'm not hard work, I put up with your bullshit and now you want to add sex into the mix? No way."

"You are not convenient, and hey, you're not exactly easy all the time either-"

"Says the guy who showed up at my door, even knowing that there was a chance that Mark was going to be here? You came here to intimidate him. You came here to scare him away so that you didn't have to share me with another guy-"

"Bullshit!"

"You don't get to share me Elliot! You're my partner not my boyfriend and you can't throw your toys out the pram because you think that I won't be around to listen to your problems, or stop you from killing someone-"

"Oh, so that's what you think this is?"

"That's exactly what this is! Jesus…" she sighed. She looked up at him, and for a moment they simply stared at each other. "You came here the other night and you-"

"I apologised for that!" He threw his hands into the air. She was infuriating.

"Do you know how long it's been since I've had sex?" her words shocked them both.

"I'm gonna guess five nights ago…Unless you've had company since-"

"Screw you!"

"That's your department!" He was being a bastard. He didn't care. He had kissed her and she was acting as though he had stabbed her. He had no idea she was so turned off by him.

"Yeah, of course it is! Remind me to call you next time so that you can be sure to accidently walk in!"

"It was an accident! I didn't want to see what I saw-"

"Could have fooled me." She stopped. She was taking it too far. She met his gaze and he looked furious. Suddenly he was coming towards her. He pushed the door shut and pushed her against it until her back was against the wood. He was so close to her, if she had moved an inch then her lips would have touched his. His chest was heaving, his arm pressed against the wood just above her head, keeping her in place.

"I…I can't stop thinking about it…" as the words hit her she let out a gasp. A shiver ran along her spine as he met her gaze. He was too close. "Seeing you…seeing you with him, Jesus, seeing you like that.." he shook his head. "This isn't jealousy." He promised. "This isn't about a rebound. This is about constantly seeing you with assholes who are nowhere good enough and wishing it was me…" he trailed off as she swallowed the lump in her throat. She had never been more turned on in her life. She slowly brought her hand up to cup his cheek, a jolt of electricity running through her as her skin touched his. He couldn't want her the way that she wanted him, could he?

"I know that I'm a bastard, but I can't stop thinking about you…it was hard enough before I'd seen you naked…I don't stand a chance now…"he gave her a soft, almost nervous smile. She brought her hand around to the back of his neck. He closed his eyes. He couldn't help but moan as his erection pressed against her thigh. He was so hard it almost hurt.

"We can't do this…" she whispered, her fingers skimming across the back of his neck. "We're partners…" she could feel his erection against her thigh and in that moment she had never wanted anything more. She released a shakey breath as he brought his free hand to rest on the curve of her hip. His fingers stroked her bare skin as they found the gap between her pants and top.

"I know…" he could barely breath. She was right. This was wrong. He had dreamt of touching her like this, just holding her but he'd always let his loyalty to the job and sheer pig headedness stop him from doing anything. He shouldn't have kissed her, he had crossed the point of no return. He couldn't help but press himself into her, again, she gasped. What were they doing? She was going to lose her job. She was going to fuck her partner and lose her job. She took a deep breath as he rolled his hips against hers, his erection rubbing against her.

"We can't have sex…" she barely recognised her own voice. She hated those words, she hated the fact that he was her partner, hated the fact that she was so wet she could barely stand it.

"I know…" he pressed his forehead against hers. Jesus, he wanted her, he wanted her so much and she wanted him too. It had taken them ten damn years to get to this stage and they couldn't go a single step further. He knew why, he did, but he hated it. She would never jeopardise her job, their partnership… This was just a moment of weakness of complete and utter horney craziness. It was fine, they were fine, he just needed to peel himself off of her. Her chest rose suddenly as he rolled his hips again, shit, he hadn't meant to, it was involuntary.

She couldn't catch her breath. What the fuck was she doing? Practically dry humping her partner against her apartment door. She shifted slightly, she hadn't meant to but Jesus she was so glad that she had. His erection was now situated directly against her centre and as he made contact they both gasped. He couldn't help but press himself against her. Holy Christ. He could feel her heat.

"We can't do this…" she whispered as he rolled his hips against hers. He was so hard, she was sure that without clothes and with a little bit more force he would have been inside her. Her legs were shaking, her heart was pounding and her centre was throbbing. What the fuck was she doing? Her partner had her pinned against the door, and she wanted nothing more than to take him, right there, right now. "We can't do this…" she repeated, trying to remind herself.

"This…this isn't sex…" he told her, struggling to keep his composure. He kept his arm pressed against the wall, if he had use of both of his hands…it wasn't worth thinking about because he couldn't…they couldn't…. He was a bastard, it wasn't sex but it still wasn't right. He just didn't want to let her go. Apparently she felt the same way. He closed his eyes a repressed a growl as she rolled her hips against his.

"It's not sex…" she repeated. It wasn't sex, maybe they could just stay like this for a little while… This wasn't as bad as sex, they could accidently brush against each other like this if they were in an elevator of if they were chasing a suspect…this wasn't sex. They were just touching, touching was allowed. He'd touched her before, he'd touched the small of her back as she'd walked in front of him. She's touched his arm when she was trying to comfort him, this was just touching.

"It's not sex…" who the hell was he kidding? As she gripped the back of his neck and rolled her hips again he closed his eyes. He had never, ever felt anything like this. After years of convincing himself that he felt nothing for his partner, here he was. There was no way that he would ever be able to lie to himself again. "Jesus…" he growled, pushing himself against her. He had her pressed against the door, her ass was now completely against the wooden door. He couldn't pull away. He was now pressed against her completely, he tensed his ass and thrust against her.

"God…" She had to remember to breathe. She met his thrusts with her own as he began a steady rhythm against her. She hated clothes, she fucking hated clothes. "Mmmm," she was trying so hard not to make a sound but Jesus, he was pressed so tightly against her. His body was hard, his chest was now flush against hers and she could feel the pecks that she had often stared at. She brought both hands up to the back of his head but froze as he moved to press his lips against hers. "We can't…" she quickly turned her head, he sighed and instead buried his head in the crook of her neck. She couldn't kiss him. She knew that the second that his lips touched hers she would want him.

The door banged slightly every time he thrust against her, like the headboard of a bed. She closed her eyes as he reached behind her back, pulling her impossibly closer. "We need to stop…" she hated herself. "God…" she gasped as his erection brushed against her clit. Her fingers gripped the back of his neck, as she rested her chin on his shoulder.

"I know…We should stop…" He couldn't fucking stop. He was so hard it hurt. He could feel her perfect breasts as they rubbed against his chest and he could feel her heat, even through clothes. He pressed his lips against the column of her throat.

"Elliot…" she whispered breathlessly. She was getting lost. A haze of arousal was about to completely take over and then she'd lose all sense of wrong and right and she'd just feel… She whimpered as he pressed another soft kiss against her neck, did he have any idea what he was doing to her? She needed him to stop. "We have to stop…"

"Do you want me to stop?" He asked, knowing that he needed to. "Liv?" he asked as she didn't reply.

She didn't answer him, instead she lifted her leg, pressing it against his thigh and cried out as he thrust against her. She bit her lip as his lips moves along her throat. Jesus, she was close. She was actually going to have an orgasm just from dry humping. His lips moved to her cheek bone, and her cheek, then the side of her lips. "Elliot…"

"It's just a kiss… I just want to kiss you…" He needed to kiss her. He needed to kiss her. He pressed his lips against the side of her mouth, and then the other side. Her chest was heaving as she struggled to control her breathing.

"I want you to kiss me…" she mumbled, and it was done. His lips grazed hers ever so slightly, testing, tasting, it wasn't like the earlier kiss. There was no anger, no desperation…it was unsure. She opened her mouth against his and deepened the kiss. It was incredible and it nearly sent her over the edge. She moaned into his mouth as his tongue slipped into her mouth and his hard dick pressed against her clit.

She lost it. He lost it. They lost it. Gentle knocks as they pressed against the door were replaced with bangs. Gasps were replaced with growls and long overdue moans. She gripped his shoulders tightly as her tongue fought his for control. She felt a familiar feeling rising in her stomach and moaned into his mouth as each thrust pushed her further and further towards the edge.

"El…" she gasped, unable to keep his name from leaving her lips. "Oh God…" and then it happened. She gripped into him as tight as she could as she came, it was like the fucking fourth of July fireworks had gone off inside of her and she could barely take it. He grabbed her and held her as her legs threatened to give out.

"Fuck…" he growled as her orgasm pushed him towards his own. He came, hard. He held her tightly against him and thrust until he was finished. It was one of the most intense moments of his sexual life. As she struggled to catch her breath he pressed his forehead against hers.

"You okay?" he asked, softly, struggling to catch his breath. She nodded against him her chest still heaving. "Good…" he stared, unsure of what else to say "…good."

"I…think these are yours anyway so…" she handed him a pair of jogging bottoms, she wasn't quite sure why they were there. She couldn't look at him. She couldn't look at the man who had just made her come from dry humping.

"Uh…thanks. Do you mind if I…" he gestured to the bathroom. Standing in trousers after literally jizzing in his pants was possibly one of the most uncomfortable things he had ever experienced. He felt like a fucking 14 year old. The last time he'd come in his pants was the first time that Kathy had touched him, literally, the first time. Now, at forty five years old the embarrassment was just as bad, if not worse.

"No…no, not at all…just…help yourself…"

"Liv-"

"Please," she finally met his stare. She couldn't talk about this. She was so angry at herself. They hadn't had sex, no, but they may as well have. They had been intimate with each other, something she promised herself that she would never be with him. He nodded, unable to tell her that everything was going to be fine. She walked towards the kitchen, leaving him alone in the living room.

What had she done? Allowing herself to fall for Elliot was one thing, allowing herself to touch Elliot, allowing him to touch her like that? She wanted to cry. He would still be the same old him and she would be the same old her only this time it would hurt that little bit more when he pushed her away.

After ten minutes of sitting and berating herself, she sighed and walked into the living room, he was gone. She assumed he was in her bedroom getting changed. She needed to clean up, to feel more human. She needed to be able to face him and-

"Jesus, Liv!"

He was naked. He was completely naked in her bathroom. He wasn't in the bedroom. He was in the room that she had just walked into. Naked.

"Oh, my god! I'm so sorry…I…" she put her hand in front of her eyes and turned away as he grabbed his shirt and held in front of his penis.

"What happened to knocking?" he asked, his cheeks flushed.

"I didn't…I thought that you were in my bedroom-" she couldn't look at him. "I'm so sorry-" she stopped as she heard a deep chuckle. "You…you're laughing?" she asked, opening her eyes slightly to check that he was covered up. He was.

"I am laughing, yes."

"Why…why are you laughing? This…this isn't-"
"This is hilarious." He couldn't contain his laughter. "We're equal now ," he grinned.

"This…" she couldn't help but smile back. "It's not funny-"

"Stop smiling then," he told her, still holding the shirt in place.

"You're making me laugh…" she put her hand over her mouth. This was so fucking typical, way to break the ice.

"You've seen me naked, I've seen you naked…we're equal…" he grinned. Jesus, she loved his smile.

"No way, no way you saw me…you saw me having sex…because you didn't knock and now I…I didn't knock-"

"You wanna see me having sex?" he asked, raising his eyebrows, taking a step towards her. He smiled as her cheeks became flushed.

"Uh, no…" she swallowed the lump in her throat and took a step backwards. "I…we're equal," she fumbled through her words. "I should have knocked…"

"I don't think we are equal," he took another step towards her and she moved until her back was against the door frame. He smiled as she bit her lip, her eyes unable to stop scanning his body. He was beautiful. He brought his hand up to cup her cheek.

"What are you…" she couldn't finish her sentence. She needed to breathe. Why did this man have the power to leave her breathless.

"You're beautiful," he told her, caressing her cheek with his thumb. "And I would never do anything to jeopardise what we have but I have to be honest with you…" he watched as she closed her eyes, just waiting for him to walk away, waiting for him to hurt her. "I have to be honest when I tell you…that you are wearing too many clothes…"

She had kissed him. She had made the first move. Now, as he carried her into her bedroom she was wondering when the hell she got so brave and thanked God that she had. She would never jeopardise her relationship with Elliot, and he would never risk ruining his relationship with her. She knew that, she trusted that.

He lay her down on the bed and climbed on top of her, having already stripped her of most of her clothes in the bathroom. He ran his hands along her beautifully toned stomach, stopping as he got to her panties. "You're so beautiful," he whispered, kissing her stomach.

"El…please…" she couldn't wait. She'd been waiting for years, she couldn't wait any longer. She pulled him towards her and allowed him to cover her lips with his own. His hands found her breast and she gasped into his mouth as he rolled his thumb over her nipple. She arched into him. He started a trail of kissed from her mouth, along her neck, to her breasts. "Oh…" she bit her lip as his tongue encircled her already erect nipple.

His reached in between her legs, his dick twitching as he felt how wet she was for him. His fingers skimmed across her centre and she bucked into him.

"Oh God…" she reached for him, pulling him back towards her. She kissed him, she had never wanted anything more. She pulled at her panties but stopped as Elliot grabbed her hands and pushed them away. He pulled them down along her beautiful legs and threw them to the floor. He kissed her inner thigh, moving towards her centre, desperate to taste her. She grabbed a fist full of the sheets as she anticipated his mouth and gasped as his tongue flicked her clit. Within seconds his tongue was inside of her, pushing in and out as his teeth barely grazed her clit. Her free hand rested on his head as she thrust into his mouth. "El…" she gasped, sitting up slightly and pulling him towards her.

He looked up at her, his eyes were darkened with desire. He pressed his lips against hers as she pushed the waistband of his boxers down as far as she could, he did the rest. He settled above her, his hands stroked her stomach and breasts. She reached in between them, wrapping her hand around his hardened cock and stroking.

"Jesus," he practically growled, his fingers threading through her hair. He stopped as she shifted slightly, she slowly guided him towards her entrance. "Fuck…" the tip of his penis touched her and he could barely control himself. She was soaking wet for him. She brought her hands up to skim his back, her lips never leaving his. He entered her slowly, painfully slowly, he wanted to feel every second. They both sighed as he filled her, stretching her. He stopped for a moment, pressing his forehead against hers. "You okay?" he asked, barely able to catch his breath. He was inside of her. He was finally fucking inside of her. She nodded, unable to speak. He pushed a little bit more, filling her completely. "Fuck…" He pulled out slowly and entered her again, this time a little quicker.

"God…" she bit her lip as he rolled his hips. She had imagined this moment so many times, in so many different way but this…this was perfect. As he pulled out and entered her again she grasped his shoulders and pressed her lips against his neck. "El…"

"Jesus…"

They found a slow, torturous rhythm and his lips found a home on her neck as she met each thrust. She wrapped her legs around his waist, desperate to get him further inside of her and closer to her as their speed increased and with every thrust she felt the electricity in the pit of her stomach begin to spark.

"God..." she moaned into his ear as she felt herself begin to lose it. She bit her lip as his thrusts became more frantic, each one met with a grunt or a moan as they both clung to each other, lips against lips, hips against hips, they were perfect together. "Oh God..." she barely whimpered as he threaded his fingers with hers, she muffled her cries, pressing her lips into his shoulder as he thrust inside of her again and again. She cried out as her orgasm surged through her. After a few more thrusts he growled "Liv..." and she felt his release inside of her.

After a few moments he rolled off of her and lay his side so that he was facing her. Neither one of them spoke, she simply moved closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. His fingers skimmed up and down her arm as the struggled to catch their breaths. He pressed his lips against her forehead. "Liv…" he started, kissing her again. He couldn't believe that she was lying in his arms.

"Hmm?" she asked, her eyes closing as she lay in his arms. She had worried that she would want to run, but she didn't want to be anywhere else, anywhere else in the world.

"For the record…I'm kinda glad you didn't knock."

The End

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