"This is ridiculous!"
"Honey, maybe you need a break." Detective Olivia Benson walked behind her wife, placing her strong hands on the younger woman's shoulders. "Or a massage," she murmured, kissing the attorney's neck and massaging her.
Casey laid her pen down on top of the note pad, closing her eyes with a soft moan. "Or a massage," she echoed. She sighed. "Olivia, I don't understand. I have never had so much difficulty when it comes to formulating my opening arguments. It is usually as simple as grabbing a pen and paper and writing. This one, though…" She trailed off, shaking her head. "I have been at this one for three consecutive hours, and the only words I have are 'Ladies and gentleman of the jury'."
"Those are good words," Olivia answered encouragingly, her strong fingers working every tense muscle in Casey's shoulders and traveling down the attorney's neck. She threw the redhead's hair over her shoulder and began to work into her neck.
"No they are not," Casey answered. "They are plain and boring. If I do not come up with something by tomorrow night, I am going to be laughed out of the courtroom." She sighed again. "Maybe I am just incapable."
Olivia stopped massaging her, walking around to face her. "Incapable?" the detective questioned. "Casey Novak, you are a lot of things. Beautiful, stubborn, shy, intelligent…incapable is not something I would ever list under your name." She kissed the redhead softly. "You know as well as I do that you are more than capable," she added suggestively.
Casey buried her head in her arms, exhaling sharply in frustration. She had been too stressed to do anything in bed except sleep. Olivia's sexual frustration was practically tangible. "I was ready last night," she said, lifting her head to look up at her wife. "You weren't home."
"I was ready the night before," Olivia countered. "You were asleep when I got home."
Casey shrugged. "I told you I haven't been sleeping well. You can only go so many nights without sleep before you crash. That was my crash night. I'm sorry."
Olivia sat on the desk, her badge illuminated by the desk lamp beside her. "I know. I didn't mean it like that, sweetie." She sighed, exhaling slowly. "You know," she added, grinning, "you're mean when you're horny."
"I'm mean?" Casey asked. She could not suppress her smirk. "I suppose that is better than you. You act like a little kid who just received the news that candy is now illegal."
Olivia chuckled. "Maybe so," she answered, reaching for a stray lock of Casey's hair and brushing it out of the younger woman's eyes. "Can you blame me? My wife happens to be a beautiful sex kitten with a mind as sexy as her body."
"My wife is never home," Casey sighed. "She's sexy as hell and an animal in bed, but she is rarely home to use her skills. And when she is home…it's quick and easy, and then it is time to sleep." The redhead paused, surprised that she had just admitted that.
"Oh, honey, I'm sorry," Olivia murmured. "No wonder you have been so adamant about sleeping only. You feel like I use you?"
Casey bit her lip, nodding reluctantly. "Yeah. I guess that's one way to put it. Olivia, when we first started sleeping together, we were passionate. The sex was not romantic…but it was caring. Now it's quick…it's fucking. That is all it is. Forget making love. It's fucking, and that is all. Is that what we have been reduced to, Olivia?" she asked, her emerald eyes shining with disappointment.
Olivia did not respond for a moment. When she did, her apologetic tone shot an arrow through Casey's heart. "No. I love you, Casey. I love you more than anything in the world. I didn't know you felt this way. I had no idea you felt so used. And the worst part is, you're right. When we first got together, my time was dedicated to wooing you and making you know how much I loved you. I guess when we got married, I forget to woo you. I forgot to show you how much you mean to me, because you are already mine." The detective stood, pacing around the in-home office. "I have become so caught up in my work, so used to relationships coming and going. I never thought someone would actually marry me."
Casey listened intently. "I married you," she pointed out. "I didn't leave, Olivia."
"Casey, that's just it," Olivia replied. "Everyone has abandoned me during my life. I had long since abandoned the hope of ever finding commitment. I had succumbed to one night stands, and when a relationship did bloom, I shut it down. People pulled away from me. Then you came along. Case, you did something to me." The brunette sat on the desk once more, gazing into her wife's eyes. "I fell in love with you. I vowed to make you mine. That first night, in my bed, I could not stop loving you. All I could think was that I would do anything to show you how much you mattered."
"You did," Casey murmured. The two women traded seats. Casey crawled into her wife's lap. "You made me feel safe. You loved me in ways no man ever could. And when you proposed to me, I thought I was dead. I thought I was in heaven."
Olivia nodded. "I knew then that you were mine. I knew my hard work had come to an end, and that I had won. I married you. I made you mine. But I forgot how hard I had to work. I forgot how special that made you feel."
"Mhm," Casey murmured, nuzzling her head in Olivia's neck. The detective's strong arms wrapped around her, enveloping her in the perfect hug.
"I love you," Olivia whispered. "Listen to me. I'm sorry. You are more than my wife. You are my lover and my soul mate. I will go to the ends of the earth to prove that. I promise you, from now on, I will love you the way I did before I married you. From now on, we will make love with infinite passion and love. I love you, Casey Novak. I will never stop loving you."
"I love you too, Olivia Benson," Casey answered with a tiny smile.
"Come here, princess," Olivia whispered, kissing the attorney in a way she hadn't since their first night together. It was truly the start of something new.