Note: Brenda and Fritz have divorced, Brenda did not leave the LAPD, and most of the storyline after the lawsuit is irrelevant.
I wrote this a year ago, but someone pointed out that I missed it when moving my fics over from tumblr. It's just three chapters because I never continued it, but it's written in a way that it doesn't really need to be continued anyway.
...
When Brenda came walking into the bedroom with a couple of pens in her mouth, carrying her laptop, a notebook, and a shopping bag, Sharon looked up from the open case file on her lap and raised her eyebrows inquiringly. The blonde had shot up from the bed over ten minutes ago and rushed off into the front of the condo, ignoring Sharon's questions about where she was going. It had been a slow Saturday, both of them working in bed as the morning rays slipped through the curtains they hadn't opened. They worked mostly in silence, so Sharon hadn't a clue what Brenda was up to when she dropped everything on the bed and then crawled in herself. But she could tell something was up from the way Brenda pulled her bottom lip into her mouth and looked at Sharon thoughtfully.
"What's all this?" she asked cautiously.
"You'll see in just one minute." She opened up her laptop and set it aside, getting comfortable next to Sharon. She folded her legs, opened her notebook, and then uncapped one of the pens. Brenda's excited energy piqued Sharon's curiosity immediately. "First I wanna ask you 'bout somethin', and I need you to be completely honest with me."
"Should I be worried about something, Brenda?"
"No, no, no," Brenda said with a wrinkle to her nose and a dismissive wave of her hand.
"Okay." Sharon closed up the manilla folders, stacked them up, and then folded her hands neatly on top of them. "If this isn't anything serious- -"
"Well I wouldn't exactly say that."
"- - and I have no reason to start worrying… Wait. What do you mean you wouldn't 'exactly say that'?"
Brenda huffed, tapping her pen against the opened notebook. "I've been thinkin' a lot lately."
"Well that certainly explains things," Sharon said, her lips twitching a little. Brenda knocked her knee against Sharon's sheet-covered thigh, and she smiled at the blonde in return.
Brenda's eyes dimmed slightly as she flicked the pen in her hand, looking away from Sharon. The silence was heavy for a few seconds, and Sharon was becoming a bit concerned that something was wrong. Brenda twisted her lips and furrowed her brow, but once Sharon rubbed her hand slowly over the younger woman's back, she felt the tension lessen.
Brenda exhaled. "Are you satisfied with - -" she waved her hand vaguely, looking up at Sharon with determination that Sharon knew meant she was fighting through her nerves and was ready to talk about whatever was on her mind, "- - with our, uhm…"
Sharon retracted her hand and cleared her throat, quirking an eyebrow as she moved the stuff from her lap and put it on the nightstand beside the bed. "Brenda, honey," she said, taking Brenda's hand into her own, smiling. "What's going on here?"
Huffing, Brenda thumped her head back on the upholstered headboard. "I thought startin' the conversation woulda been the easy part. Boy was I wrong." Sharon waited quietly as the blonde grabbed the laptop and moved it closer to them both, opening up a web browser that had been minimized, mumbling under her breath before speaking to Sharon. "How about you just go on and take a look at these."
She leaned forward, glancing at Brenda before she focused on what she wanted her to read. Her concern melted away almost immediately, replaced with amused intrigue as she read the name of the first article: 10 Ways to Spice Up Your Sex Life.
"Bren-"
"Just read it," the blonde interjected, a mixture of impatience and unsureness making the words come out in a huff.
So Sharon read. There were a total of seven tabs opened, all featuring similar articles that contained ideas and tips that went from helpful to outrageous to ridiculous. She absorbed it all, making mental notes on what one of the writers had to say about the importance of communication in the bedroom. It was something Sharon hated admitting to herself, but it was an undeniable truth that neither of them were the best at that. Other than the basic 'How's that?'s and directional statements, they didn't discuss much about their sex life. She had been trying to be more open with her sexual desires, and from the looks of it, Brenda wanted to start some type of conversation with her about it. That was good. And there had been quite a few interesting activities listed that had caught her attention.
But was their sex life lacking variety, or just generally lacking? Straightening her back a little, she remembered the previous night. Brenda had barely been through the door before she was complaining about how difficult everyone she had dealt with at work had been - and Sharon was sure Brenda hadn't been excluding the captain when she said everyone. And Sharon hadn't been much better, bringing her work into the bedroom with her once sitting up at her desk had became too much on her back. It was the brunette who had previously suggested they keep work out of the bedroom at night - that was supposed to be their work-free time, where they wound down after hectic days. As she reread the section about setting time aside for sex, she realized that what had happened the night before was something they were making a habit of. Being busy wasn't an excuse, though. It couldn't be; they were always busy.
How had they gone from barely being able to control the urge to touch each other to this in less than a year? It had happened without Sharon noticing it. There had been so much happening at once - changes at work, a new relationship, decisions being made about Brenda living with her… - and somewhere in there they had let important things be forgotten. Sharon felt Brenda's fingers curl tighter around her own and smiled a little. She brought her attention to their hands, their fingers laced together, their palms comfortably pressed to one another, the warmth from the other woman pleasurable against her skin. She rubbed her thumb across Brenda's finger slowly, looking up from their hands and to the brown eyes that were already looking at her, probably watching her and trying to figure out what was going through Sharon's mind.
Without saying anything, Sharon leaned in close to Brenda. The relief Brenda felt was almost tangible, obvious in the way all of Brenda's emotions always were to the brunette. They may have both been focusing more on work than their relationship - and she knew it was both of them, not just Brenda, not just her; she'd known from the beginning that their demanding jobs and their love for those jobs could take away attention from their romantic life if they let it - but it was clear to her that it was something that Brenda wanted to fix.
When Sharon's mouth pressed to Brenda's, it was meant to be a quick, reassuring kiss. She had wanted to get rid of some of the nervousness that Brenda was feeling, wanted to let her know she understood (for the most part) what Brenda wanted to discuss. But Brenda's breath was warm as she let out a little pleased sigh, her lips so soft. And, oh! When Brenda sighed again, Sharon put her fingers on Brenda's jaw and pulled her closer, closing her eyes and deepening the kiss to draw out more of those sounds she loved.
Brenda parted her lips, nibbled on Sharon's bottom lip, threaded her fingers in Sharon's sleep-tousled hair, and kissed Sharon back with that passion she always had whenever they touched, whenever they kissed. She kissed like she was thirsty for it, desperate for something she had been needing for so long. Sharon moved from her jaw to her neck and clutched, her breath catching in her throat as a searching tongue brushed against her lips, flicked insistently until Sharon's mouth opened and she got what she wanted.
They were breathing harshly when Brenda pulled back, still close enough that their mouths touched as they caught their breaths. Sharon's face was flushed, her neck hot, a familiar warmth in her belly as fingers continued to stroke her hair and neck. She opened her eyes just in time to see Brenda bite her own lip and moan softly. Sharon ached between her legs at the sound.
"We need to be doin' a whole lot more of that," Brenda drawled. She sat back now, licking her lips and laughing mostly in her throat. Sharon stared openly. Brenda's beauty, simple and yet remarkable, still amazed her, and in that moment, pleasure coloring her skin and brightening up her eyes, she was gorgeous and sexy and irresistible. Brenda's gulp was audible. "I know that look, Sharon Raydor," was said like a warning.
The brunette smirked and closed the space between them again, pushing the laptop aside and getting up on her knees. The sheet that had been covering her thighs pooled around her, and despite Brenda's tone, the blonde pulled Sharon until she settled with a knee on either side of her outstretched legs. "If what I just read was meant to be as…insightful as I found it to be," Sharon started in a low murmur, air puffing against the other woman's mouth as she tried to kiss Sharon, "there's a lot we need to be doing more often."
She moaned, gripping Sharon's thighs. "I know I'm the one who brought this up and, and - -" Brenda wetted her lips slowly with the tip of her tongue, glancing down. Sharon hummed and stroked from Brenda's shoulders to her neck, smooth skin warming. "- - I think we need to, to talk 'bout some stuff. But…" Brenda sucked in a shaky breath as the pad of Sharon's finger traced an invisible line down her throat. "Oh, stop that! I can't even get a full thought out with you."
Sharon pressed her lips together tightly to hold back her smirk. She walked two of her fingers down Brenda's chest, down to her breasts, where the blonde's skin was giving off almost as much heat as Sharon could feel between her own legs.
"You are purposely bein' impossible! Either kiss me right now or stop touchin' me like that," she growled, her eyes serious, commanding. But when Sharon leaned in a bit more, danced her fingers over Brenda's skin, that melted and became a silent plea for Sharon to just give her what she wanted. Sharon could have drowned in the need in darkening brown eyes, and she would have done so happily.
But before she could let them both forget that Brenda had brought up something important and they had yet to actually vocalize the issue, Sharon pulled her hand away and pressed her lips to Brenda's cheek instead. Brenda's breath, hot and damp, met her cheek. Eyelashes fluttered against the side of her face. She held her lips there, breathed in the warm scent of skin, felt herself smile.
"I'll stop," she said, pulling back. She kissed her cheek once more. "I want to know what had you all nervous and excited."
Brenda's bottom lip jutted out a little. The need to lean back in and clamp her teeth around it burned all the way in the pit of her belly. "If you aren't going to actually do it, stop starin' at me like you're 'bout to kiss me! If we're doin' this - -" she glared at the supplies she'd brought into their bedroom, "- - then I'ma need you to get up - -" she patted Sharon's thighs, lingering after the third pat for a second before groaning and pulling her hands away, "- - turn around - -" she waited for Sharon to get up, then she used her pointer finger to circle the air and show Sharon what to do, "- - and stop being so, so…" Brenda finished with a little groan.
Sharon held in her laughter, knowing it would only add to the frustration Brenda felt when she didn't get exactly what she wanted. It was endearing at times like this. Brenda huffed, her cheeks pink. Sharon waited for Brenda to make room for her between her thighs, and then she turned around like she had been instructed to do. "Better?" she asked, feeling Brenda's next puff of air against the back of her neck. She shuddered with delight.
"Yes, yes," Brenda said. "Thank you," she drawled, and then she leaned her head against Sharon's shoulder. "This is nice, too," she whispered, so softly that Sharon wouldn't have heard it if Brenda's mouth wasn't right beside her ear. It was, she agreed, and enjoyed it silently for a moment.
"Now…" Sharon leaned back a little more, her back comfortably resting against Brenda's front. She grabbed the notebook from the bed and flipped it in her hand; it was blank. "Is it safe to assume there's more to this than talking about how we've been neglectful lately?"
Sharon could feel Brenda nodding in response, her chin pressing into her shoulder. "Grab one of the pens from over there," she said, reaching past Sharon. "I found a game on one of those websites that I think we oughta try - somethin' like Filling Fantasy."
Sharon raised an eyebrow, looking over her shoulder.
"Or was it Fantasy Fulfillment?" Brenda waved her hand, deeming it entirely unimportant. "Whatever it's called, we are going to play it."
The excitement from earlier was once again in Brenda's voice, and as Sharon turned back around, she smiled to herself. She brought her knees towards her and rested the book there, using the blue pen that Brenda had uncapped earlier. Her arousal was moved to the back of her mind as she listened to Brenda tell her about the night she'd discovered the game. From there the conversation flowed easily.
"I don't want you to feel like, like I'm always puttin' work before you," Brenda had admitted. And, "There will always be something important happening around us, but that doesn't mean we have to always drop everything we're doing because of it," Sharon had said later while trying to explain why she was a little upset with herself for not noticing how much things had changed between them.
Honest conversations were something Sharon loved and thought necessary in any relationship. Hearing about how Brenda feared things were going to get tense if they didn't set some time aside for each other - not just for sex, she had made clear - opened up Sharon's eyes. She agreed - to more dates, to trying the game, to having lunch together when they could - and then Brenda moved on to explaining the game to her.
"Basically," Brenda said, folding and ripping two sheets of notebook paper, "it gives us the chance to share our fantasies."
"And then act them out," Sharon added. Write it down, fold it up, put it in the bag - Brenda's instructions were clear and concise.
Brenda nodded against Sharon's shoulder, pausing with her ripping for a moment. "If you don't want to do this…"
Sharon turned her head, bumping into Brenda softly. "What did I just say? Hmm?" Her lips brushed the corner of the blonde's mouth. "I want to."
Brenda grinned, and then she cleared her throat. "Then get a pen and write down one for me."
Picking the blue pen back up, she took one of the square pieces of paper and nodded. "What is it?"
Even though Sharon could feel Brenda's heart beating a little faster against her back, she didn't hesitate when she spoke. "The first night I spent the night here, I watched you from the bed as you undressed and got ready to go take a shower. I don't know if you remember that night - -"
"I do," Sharon told her, her tone curious.
"- - but you had been having a horrible day. I had decided to give you your space, and you, you had just went on with your normal nightly routines. It was the first moment I'd really just watched you in your own place, where you were just Sharon. I could see the captain disappearing with each article of clothin' you took off." Brenda rubbed her nose against Sharon's neck, inhaling and then kissing her shoulder. "I enjoy bein' able to see that. But what I also found out that night is how much I loved, uh…"
Sharon's stomach twisted with knots. "Watching me?" she questioned when Brenda stayed quiet for a few heartbeats longer than Sharon expected.
"Watchin' you undress," she clarified. "Ever since that night - -" Brenda traced the hem of Sharon's nightgown, "- - I've paid more attention to you takin' off your clothes. It's not entirely a sexual desire - although…" Brenda hummed deeply in her throat, trailing off. "As much as I love bein' able to watch you like this, I would love it even more if you were doing it for me, not just to get ready for bed."
"You want - -" Sharon cleared her throat. "You want me to strip for you," she stated carefully.
"If-if you… I mean, I-I - -" Brenda shook her head. "Yes," she then admitted.
Sharon thought for a moment before she put the pen to the paper. "How?" she asked, completely out of curiosity. She had already started writing it down, and she knew for sure that she would do it after listening to what Brenda had just said.
"You mean - -"
"Music," Sharon suggested, moistening her lips with her tongue, peeking over her shoulder. She was a little surprised by the blush that colored Brenda's cheeks, but she said nothing about it.
"Oh. Well…" Brenda shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever you want."
Sharon cleared her throat again. "I would want to do whatever will turn you on."
Brenda played with the silky fabric between her fingers as she said, "Just be yourself. I want you to be comfortable. I want you to enjoy it, too." She felt the next words against her ear, warm and low. "Whatever you do, it'll turn me on. Just knowin' you wanna already has."
Sharon closed her eyes, nodded, and then licked her lips. "Okay."
"Your turn," Brenda said after a moment.
"Well…"
They continued like this until they had a decent amount of folded up papers littering the space beside them on the bed. They had written some together, admitting to each other things they had thought might be fun but never brought up, things they'd previously enjoyed and wanted to try again, and even suggested using a few of the ideas from the articles Brenda had shown Sharon. They'd also written a few on their own, not yet ready to vocalize all of their desires.
By the time they were finished, Sharon could practically feel Brenda vibrating with arousal. It was admittedly one of the best feelings to know that thinking about having sex with her had gotten Brenda so aroused - no touching, no more kissing, just talking about it. It excited her, too, and was what gave her the sudden power in her movements as she tossed the book aside, turned around, and pushed Brenda flat on her back.
Brenda's eyes glazed over as she put her hands on Sharon's cheeks, and then she connected their mouths with a little satisfied murmur. They kissed slowly for a moment - Brenda's heart was pounding in her chest, and her fingers were starting to tremble against Sharon; Sharon took her time running her teeth over a plump lip, made sure to circle with the tip of her tongue against the roof of Brenda's mouth because she knew it drove the blonde crazy. Sharon decided in that moment that she wanted to make up for the weeks spent buried in work and everything else that suddenly felt unimportant to her. She wanted Brenda, and she made sure Brenda knew it as she pressed kisses from her lips to her neck, feeling the rush of a pulse beneath her mouth.
"We shoulda done this sooner," Brenda panted, her head tumbling back against the pillows.
Sharon laughed against the expanse of creamy skin that stretched over Brenda's throat. "Spoke about our fantasies?" She sighed and kissed a slow trail down to Brenda's collarbone, nipping a little when the blonde pulled her body closer. "Or should have been doing this - -" she lifted up and slid her hand beneath Brenda's shirt, her nails lightly raking over burning-hot skin until she could softly squeeze Brenda's full breast, "- - a lot sooner? Hmm?"
"Ooh," she whimpered while arching into Sharon's hand, her nipple hard and tight as it rubbed against the brunette's warm skin. "Both. I've missed this. Missed the way it feels when you're touchin' me," she admitted in a rush.
Sharon kissed her way back up to Brenda's mouth, stopping at her jaw to slowly trace the curvature of the moaning woman's jawbone with her tongue before continuing with slow brushes over impossibly smooth skin. Brenda slid her hands down to the hem of the nightgown that Sharon was wearing, and as she kissed the corner of Brenda's mouth, she lifted herself enough for Brenda to pull it up some. Her hands were so very hot as they traveled up from Sharon's thighs to the small of her back.
"I've missed all of it, too," Sharon mumbled against Brenda's mouth between kisses.
Brenda had no problem speaking her mind with most issues - but when it came to their relationship, Sharon realized, there was more hesitancy and nervousness involve. So she appreciated Brenda bringing the topic up, appreciated that Brenda wanted to fix things and not just ignore it like she could have chosen to. And Sharon wanted her to know that even when the workload was heavy, which it so often could be, the attraction she felt for Brenda didn't go away.
"The way you taste," she whispered, making her point by letting their tongues stroke one another before she moved on to Brenda's neck. She nuzzled as she massaged Brenda's breast; she smelt so good, felt even better when she squirmed and arched. Brenda whimpered, and Sharon hummed deep down in her throat. "That too," she husked, mouthing Brenda's throat. She pushed down against Brenda, rolling her hips and muffling her moan. "Can you feel how hot you've got me? I've missed hearing you like this."
Brenda groaned, tangled her fingers in Sharon's thick hair, and then pulled her up as she mumbled impatiently about her not being close enough. She chuckled, and then her breath was stolen from her as she was rolled onto her back. Their legs intertwined, feet sliding against warm sheets as they pushed into one another. Brenda greedily attached her mouth to Sharon's, nibbled, and licked, and teased, and… Sharon got lost in the kissing and touching, shuddering and moaning as Brenda became more eager and worked her way down her body.
The sound of a phone vibrating against wood was one of the last sounds she wanted to hear after Brenda had finally started working her panties down her thighs. The moan that was fluttering from her throat and leaving her lips turned into an irritated groan.
"Oh, no, no, no. You have got to be kiddin' me," Brenda hissed, equally - if not more - annoyed by the interruption.
Sharon laughed mirthlessly, reaching for the phone. It was Brenda's. Lieutenant Provenza's name was on the screen. "Your lieutenant has the absolute worst timing."
And because Sharon knew they had direct orders not to call on days Brenda didn't come in unless it was absolutely necessary, Sharon passed off the phone and pushed herself up from the bed. She had a feeling that it would be a long morning for her.
Her suspicions were confirmed about five minutes later.
"You know what I just love?" Sharon stayed quiet in the kitchen, knowing Brenda would answer the question herself. "Gettin' calls from my detectives because they just can't stop themselves from stumblin' upon dead bodies."
"Let me guess," Sharon said, leaving the kitchen just in time to catch Brenda walking to the bathroom, already pulling her shirt off. Sharon paused to dampen her lips, staying out in the living room to put some much-needed space between them. "Provenza and Flynn."
Brenda's head poked out of the bathroom as she replied, "Who else?!" Then, she disappeared again and the shower started up. "And y'all say I can't stay away from work. Those two practically go lookin' for it every time they get a day off."
Sharon smirked. "You're only upset about it because we were interrupted," she reasoned. Brenda's dedication to her job was one of the many things Sharon admired about the chief. She knew without a doubt that Brenda would want to find out what had happened to whomever it was that the lieutenants had just made Major Crimes' newest priority.
"Of course I'm upset because of that!" Brenda came out of the bathroom, only covered by cotton shorts. Sharon felt her mouth go dry as her eyes dropped down to Brenda's breasts, the memory of heat and firm flesh in her hands making her throb below her waist. She heard Brenda suck in a breath before she spoke, her voice thickened by desire. "I was so close to gettin' what I wanted. And now you, you're lookin' at me like you want to eat me - -"
"Because I do."
"- - or somethin'…" Brenda groaned. Sharon looked up and met her heated gaze, licked her lips, and then watched as Brenda shivered. "You're not bein' fair," Brenda all but pouted. "You shouldn't say things like that when I've gotta go."
Sharon wanted to point out that Brenda was the one still standing there in the hallway - half-naked, too - but the sound of the shower water running gave her an idea. She moved away from the window and made her way to the blonde.
And as if she'd read Sharon's mind, Brenda's lips formed a wide grin and she reached out and pulled Sharon by her arm. "Shower. Now. And hurry because I gotta go."
Sharon laughed, allowing herself to be yanked into the bathroom. "Way to make me feel…" she started, but the rest of her sarcastic remark was silenced by Brenda's lips as the blonde pushed her against the wall beside the tub and kissed her hard on the mouth.
"Take off your clothes," was the last thing Brenda said before she led them into the shower and guided one of Sharon's hands between her legs.
When they finished, Sharon cleaned up the bed, put all their folded up papers in the bag, and then placed it on top of the nightstand. Brenda was dressed, her hair (which they had both tried their best to keep away from the water) was braided, and her skin glowed with a satisfied warmth.
"I'll call you once I know what I'm workin' with," Brenda said, turning away from the mirror and gathering her things.
Sharon nodded, standing from the bed and rubbing her hands down her robe. She picked up Brenda's phone and handed it to her, grasping her hand and leaning in to press a soft kiss against her lips. "I'm glad you decided to bring this problem to my attention before it became something we weren't able to easily discuss and try to fix."
Brenda's dimpling smile was almost an immediate response. "Me, too." She used her free hand to cup Sharon's cheek, and then she gave the brunette another soft, lingering kiss. "We'll talk more about it tonight if you like." Sharon hummed. "Maybe pick somethin' outta the bag…"
Sharon hummed again, releasing Brenda's hand and her phone. "We'll see…"