Disclaimer: Characters do not belong to me. They most likely belong to Dick Wolf and/or NBC/Universal. I do this for free, fun entertainment and do not mean to offend anyone.

Breaking the Curse

As soon as Alex had heard that Olivia had been sent home for the day, she'd cleared the rest of her schedule and told her bosses that she was going to be working from home for the rest of the day. The benefit of being known as a hard worker was so very nice in these circumstances because no one doubted that she was leaving for an important reason and they didn't challenge her.

Olivia hadn't called and Alex had only found out about her detective being sent home when she'd stopped by the precinct to see if Olivia wanted to grab lunch with her. Elliot had explained that Cragen told Liv to take the rest of the day off after she'd slammed a suspect into the wall during an interrogation. Olivia wasn't usually one to lose control like that, but she'd hit her quota of bullshit already this week, even though it was only Tuesday.

Had it been any day other than today, Alex would have stayed at work and just called Liv to see what was wrong. But today was February the 14th, Valentine's Day, and Alex knew from the last three years that they'd been together how much Olivia hated today. It wasn't so much that the detective hated Valentine's Day, but more along the lines of she thought she was cursed on this day. Alex found her lover's belief in that back luck rather endearing, while Olivia was just frustrated that she could never make a Valentine's Day go off without a hitch.

Riding up to their apartment in the elevator, Alex wondered what Olivia would be doing when she got there. She knew that the detective would have gone home; not wanting to press her luck by being around innocent people when her Valentine's Day curse reared its ugly head. Alex only hoped that Olivia accepted her presence instead of trying to convince her to go back to work because there was nowhere Alex would rather be than by her lover's side, even with her perpetual bad luck on this day.

Locking the door behind her as she entered the apartment, Alex kicked off her heels and left her briefcase sitting neatly by the door. As she hung her coat up, Alex could hear the television's low rumbling low in the background and knew that Olivia was probably on the couch, although she doubted that her lover was actually able to relax right now. And when she got close enough to hear the screams coming from the screen, Alex could tell that Olivia's bad mood had not lifted.

Olivia was slouched on the couch, a throw pillow positioned behind her back as she lay propped up against an arm in one corner. Her left foot was resting on the floor while her right leg was still on the couch with her knee bent up. It would have looked like a relaxed pose to anyone else, but Alex could feel the tension in Olivia's body from all the way across the room.

Alex walked up behind her lover and slid her hand over Olivia's shoulder, waiting for the detective to tip her head back so she could kiss her. It wasn't a chaste kiss. Alex could have said that it was for Olivia's benefit, to cheer her lover up and bring her out of her dark mood, but that wasn't altogether true. Olivia excited Alex more today than she had when they'd first started dating, and the attorney took every opportunity to show her that.

"Mmm, I love coming home," Alex murmured against Olivia's lips before kissing her again, this time with slightly less intent since she didn't want to start anything too serious at the moment. Although she never minded jumping Olivia whenever the opportunity presented itself, right now she just wanted to relax with her lover, something that they rarely had time to do with their hectic schedules.

"Let me get out of this suit, and I'll join you in a couple of minutes," Alex said when she finally pulled back, placing one last peck on her lover's lips before straightening up and walking to their bedroom. Olivia had already changed into a loose NYPD T-shirt and sweatpants, and even though she looked great in her work clothes, Alex loved when Olivia was dressed down at home, because that was when she looked the most comfortable. Alex preferred to see her lover as stress-free as possible.

As soon as Alex had entered the apartment, Olivia had felt her presence and some of her inherent anger at this god-awful day had dissipated. The effect that Alex had on her was immediate and she couldn't stop thinking about how incredible it would be to spend the rest of her life with Alex by her side. She was the luckiest woman in the world and she knew it, especially since they hadn't had a good Valentine's Day since they'd been together.

Olivia had eagerly tilted her head back to accept Alex's kiss when the blonde had come up behind her. She was still dazed from Alex's kiss when her lover walked out of the room to change her clothes. It was only when her mind began to clear that Olivia looked at the time and noticed that it was barely past noon and Alex should have still been at work. "What are you doing home so early, sweetheart?" Olivia called through the apartment, not motivated enough to get up and go after Alex to talk.

Alex walked back into the room wearing a grey tank top and a pair of navy blue drawstring pants. She was pulling her hair back into a loose ponytail and Olivia's eyes were immediately drawn to the expanse of taut abdomen revealed by the action. Alex caught the smoldering gaze and her lips quirked up in a smile. "I stopped by the precinct to ask if you wanted to grab lunch, but Elliot told me you'd gone home for the day. So what are we watching?"

The attorney stepped around the couch and settled into the space between Olivia's legs, curling her own underneath her body and leaning back into Olivia. Alex sighed contentedly and snuggled further back into Olivia when the detective's arms wrapped around her. They so rarely had the time to cuddle with how much each of them worked, but these moments were the ones that Alex lived for.

"Zombie movie marathon," Olivia said as she pulled Alex into her body, amazed yet again by how well they fit together, and not just physically. The horror movies had perfectly fit her mood when she'd arrived home, and she'd always had a secret affinity for them. It was probably the survivalist aspect that drew her because it certainly wasn't the ingenious plot lines.

"You'd think they'd show romantic comedies or something along those lines on Valentine's Day," Alex said with a laugh. She ran her fingers along Olivia's forearm, which was cinched around her waist, until her lover invited her to intertwine their fingers. It was this mostly innocent, yet intimate contact that Alex missed the most when they saw each other at work. The touches were mostly innocent because their intent was not to start anything, but Alex felt the fire low in her belly just from looking at Olivia, so even platonic touches affected her dangerously.

"Yeah, well not everyone has someone to be their valentine, so maybe these movies make them feel better about their singlehood. Or maybe there are just more people like me who can't seem to have a good Valentine's Day no matter how hard they try or how much planning they do," Olivia said absently, focusing instead on their joined hands. "Do you mind that I don't have anything special for you today?" she asked softly, hating how insecure she felt on this day of all days throughout the year.

Alex looked down at her left hand, where Olivia was gently running her finger over the engagement ring the detective had put there two and a half weeks ago. It had been more than Alex had ever dreamed of and she'd acted like such a girl and cried so hard when Olivia had proposed, on what had been just another day in their lives, but was now more memorable than any so far.

"I don't need anything but you for the rest of my life. And nothing could be any better or more precious to me than your love. I love you so much, Liv. And I just hope that I can show you that forever." Alex craned her head back so that she could look into Olivia's loving brown eyes, and kissed her on the chin when Olivia hid nothing from her.

Olivia had really tried to plan out special days for their first two Valentine's Days together, but each had ended rather badly. The first year, Olivia had gone all out with the usual paraphernalia such as flowers, candy, and a card, but she'd also obtained tickets to the theater because she knew how much Alex enjoyed it. Unfortunately, they'd never made it that night because Olivia had spent the night in the hospital with a dislocated kneecap, courtesy of a scumbag rapist who'd put up a fight while being arrested. Alex had stayed overnight with Olivia, but it was far from the romantic evening Olivia had originally planned out.

Last year, it had seemed as though things were going better and Olivia had kept things simple, arranging a nice dinner out followed by the rest of the night spent in. Olivia had even been extra careful at work, trying her hardest not to have a repeat of the year before. And things had gone well until late in the evening when Alex had gotten sick. She'd concluded that it must have been food poisoning and Alex had spent the entire night miserably hanging her head over the toilet bowl. Olivia had offered as much comfort as Alex would allow, all the while mentally cursing her perpetual bad luck on every February the 14th.

This year, Olivia had proposed to Alex at the end of January and had almost immediately started worrying that she would have to do something spectacular this year for Valentine's Day; something that would undoubtedly fail epically. Instead, they'd arranged to have dinner with Alex's parents to announce their engagement in person. It had been Alex's idea, and Olivia had wondered if Alex had purposely made the dinner reservations for tonight so that she wouldn't have to be alone with her cursed fiancée.

"I love you," Olivia said, dipping her head to brush a soft kiss across Alex's lips. She wasn't particularly surprised when Alex wrapped a hand around the back of her head to deepen the kiss. They were so well suited in every way, and Olivia loved Alex for her mind and those closely guarded emotions that she felt so deeply but rarely allowed others to see, but they were also the perfect match sexually. And when Alex slipped her tongue into Olivia's mouth, the detective was putty in her lover's hands, loving nothing more than giving Alex everything she wanted.

Alex ended the kiss, but gave Olivia one last chaste peck before turning her attention back to the television and sinking deeper into Olivia's embrace. "I love you, too, Liv."

They lay wrapped around each other for a little over five hours, watching the movies as an afterthought and really just relishing the fact that they were together in their home. Alex would point out some of the more ridiculous scenes, such as when a zombie bit through the back of someone's skull to get to the brain, it just wasn't possible with how the human jaw was structured.

Olivia took the good-natured ribbing about her love of these kinds of movies with a smile. There was no way to defend against Alex's teasing when everything she said was true. And Olivia couldn't care less about it when Alex spent the entire time touching her. She was nearly purring with pleasure as Alex massaged her arms and hands throughout the day, occasionally bringing a hand to her lips to kiss it. These were the moments that Olivia longed for the most when they were at work and both dedicated to keeping things professional while there.

At a little after six, Alex finally extracted herself from Olivia's wonderful embrace. She didn't want to leave the warmth and security of her lover's arms, but she needed to get ready for their dinner with her parents. It wouldn't due to show up at the five-star restaurant her parents had picked looking less than perfectly put together.

Alex pushed herself off the couch, but couldn't resist leaning back down to give Olivia one more kiss before heading to the shower. It was a mistake to give Olivia another opening because as Alex was pulling away, the detective grabbed her hand and tugged just hard enough to cause Alex to fall into her lap once again. And after she was there, Olivia didn't give Alex enough air to think straight for the next ten minutes.

"Baby, I have to shower," Alex was finally able to plead when Olivia's lips moved from her mouth to her neck. While she hoped that she never stopped responding to Olivia so quickly or passionately, Alex did sometimes wish that she had the strength to put Olivia off. She loved what her detective was doing to her, and if they'd had any other plans tonight than to meet her parents, she would just as soon put it off and stay home to make love, but they really needed to go out tonight.

With a surprising amount of effort, Olivia took her hands from Alex's body and allowed the blonde to escape. As she watched Alex walk away, Olivia tried to placate her body by telling it that they would just have to wait until after dinner to get the loving they so desperately wanted. Since meeting Alex, and especially since they'd started dating, Olivia had learned to live with the constant flame of desire that burned low in her belly, even after they'd just made love. She would do anything for Alex, which often included curbing her sexual appetite until a more appropriate time, and what made it all the more bearable was that she knew Alex had to show the same restraint.

A little while after she heard the shower stop running, Olivia turned off the television and decided to start getting ready herself. She would have gone as soon as Alex was out of the shower, but knew that it would be safer to give Alex some time to put clothes on. Alex wanted to arrive early for their eight o'clock dinner and there was no way that would happen if Olivia walked in on Alex when she was naked; her control was not at its best right now.

When Olivia walked into their bedroom, Alex was just slipping an elegant blue dress over her head. Olivia couldn't do anything except watch as Alex shimmied until it fell into place and straightened out some of the more noticeable wrinkles. She pulled her hair all to one side of her neck and smiled over her shoulder at Olivia. "Could you zip me up, please?" Alex asked, unaware of how potently she was affecting Olivia.

Alex had her glasses on, and the innocent, inadvertently sexy look she was throwing over her should was killing Olivia. Her throat was too dry to allow her to speak, so she just stepped forward and carefully closed the zipper. She tried to keep her fingertips from brushing against Alex's smooth, creamy flesh and kept her breathing to a minimum because she was already completely surrounded by her lover's arousing scent. Olivia appreciated Alex with all of the five senses she possessed, and sometimes wondered if she had another that was attuned only to her lover.

While she would have liked to pull Alex into an embrace, or even just continue standing so close to her, Olivia was well aware that she was already in the danger zone. She took a reluctant step back and kept her hands at her sides when Alex turned around to face her and pecked her on the lips. It was a good thing that Alex didn't linger because Olivia was barely seconds away from giving free rein to her passion.

"Go shower, sweetheart. I'll lay out your clothes for you and finish making myself presentable," Alex said. She'd caught the desire in Olivia's eyes and knew that they needed to separate for a little while.

Olivia's eyes softened from their hard edge of desire. "You always look beautiful, Lex. Nothing you wear could ever make you more so than you naturally are." She brought her hand up to cup Alex's cheek, needing that small physical contact with the woman she loved.

Alex felt her heart melt into a puddle within her chest at the sincerity behind Olivia's words. Olivia made Alex feel like the most beautiful person in the world and she knew that her detective loved her for much more than how she looked. "I love you, Liv," she whispered against Olivia's lips before kissing her. "Now go shower before we have to cancel," Alex said as she pulled back and gently pushed Olivia towards the bathroom.

Olivia showered quickly, her hygiene regimen usually taking a little less time than Alex's, mostly because she didn't often worry about styling her hair. She dried off in the bathroom and hung up the towel before reentering the bedroom. Laid out on the bed was a pair of black slacks, a cranberry-colored button-down shirt, and the black suit jacket that she usually wore to court.

It was only as she got closer that Olivia saw the special equipment that Alex had laid out for her, just peeking over the top of her pants, most of it hidden beneath the black material. She couldn't help but stare dumbfounded at it as she stepped closer and picked the leather harness up. Her breathing picked up noticeably, although Olivia wasn't sure if it was predominantly from arousal and anticipation or from straight up fear. "Alex!" she called through the apartment, needing to know what the hell her lover was thinking.

Alex wasn't surprised by the shouted summons and calmly walked to the bedroom door, not allowing herself any further into the room when she saw that Olivia was still completely naked. She couldn't contain the slightly lecherous grin that she was sure spread across her face as she surveyed her lover, from Olivia's strong legs, past the tempting patch of dark curls at the apex of her thighs, to her beautifully toned abdomen and mouth-watering chest. But when she finally got to what was dangling from Olivia's hand, Alex didn't know whether to be extremely turned on or laugh at her fiancée's near terrified countenance.

"What the hell, Alex? We're going out to meet your parents and you want me to wear this?" she asked. It wasn't as if she'd never worn the strap-on out on a date with Alex before, but she really didn't feel comfortable with the idea of wearing it while out with her lover's parents. The intimate details of their sex life were not for her future in-laws to know; she didn't want Alex's father to kill her before she could finally marry her love.

Alex finally walked into the room, wanting to calm Olivia down before she had a heart attack. "Baby," she said as she ran her hands down Olivia's arms, "it's just a suggestion. If you don't want to wear it then don't. It'll still be here when we get home." Alex leaned forward to give Olivia a quick, sweet kiss. "I'll be waiting in the living room." With that, Alex turned and left, allowing Olivia to make whichever decision she was more comfortable with by herself.

As Alex once again left the room, Olivia looked at the harness and dildo still hanging from her fingers. Her lover was right; it would still be here when they returned from dinner. But, then again, Alex wouldn't have put it out for her if she hadn't wanted Olivia to wear it. Well, she needed to make up her mind soon or have Alex get mad at her for making them late, which could severely limit the possibility of having some fun when they got home later.

So what do you all think Olivia should choose to do?