Well, this turned out to be some kind of Valentine's Day smut novella. It's very long, which is why I'm posting it as two chapters, even though it's just one gigantic one-shot. And this took a very long time to write, which is why it's being posted over a week after Valentine's Day. But I hope it's worth the read. Enjoy.

Special thanks to aprylynn for reading this over and to hermionesmydawg for inspiring part of this story and pushing me to finish it.

I do not own NCIS LA or the characters.

It can't be that difficult.

Kensi was standing in front of a glass case loaded with a vast array of organic sweets, some gluten free, others vegan, all delicious if you asked Deeks. She had decided to stop into this specific bakery after he'd droned on and on about it for almost an hour during a recent stakeout. Ever since he had jumped on the clean food diet bandwagon he'd been trying to convince her to at least switch out some of her fake sugary treats for "higher quality" alternatives.

She hadn't budged yet and honestly didn't intend to anytime soon, but with Valentine's Day just around the corner, she thought she could at least surprise him with a small cake. After all, even if she strongly dislikes this "Hallmark Holiday," and would prefer to ignore the day entirely, she knows Deeks is planning something romantic.

So her plan was to gift him the cake; she was also planning on buying her favorite Chocolate Decadence cake (or as Deeks calls it, Death by Sugar Shock), from her top-of-the-list bakery to have as a back-up when the organic option inevitably tastes awful.

But as she glanced over the cake offerings, almost choking at the astronomical prices, she strongly doubted the organic cake could actually even pass as dessert. So she decided she'd attempt to bake one herself. She's eaten enough of it in her lifetime to know how it's supposed to taste. And she's a smart girl; she can follow directions and measure out simple ingredients. Besides, she argued with herself, a homemade cake is more meaningful, could say more than any of the words she'll inevitably have a hard time getting out.

So she left the bakery without placing an order and instead searched her phone for chocolate cake recipes. She found one that looked easy enough and had hundreds of reader reviews saying things like, "The most delicious cake I've ever made" and "So simple and easy. My young daughter and I made this together and it turned out perfectly."

Her track record in the kitchen might not be stellar, but if hundreds of people, including a child successfully baked this cake, then so could she. After all, she's Bad-ass Blye, Kick-ass Kensalina, even Wonder Woman, as Deeks likes to remind her on a regular basis; she'd been taught to believe that she can do anything she puts her mind to and she simply doesn't know how to fail.

"It'll be a piece of cake," she thought as she snorted at her own joke.

Deeks knew she was up to something. Kensi Blye may be a great agent and can usually hold her own when assuming a cover on the fly, but she can't lie to him and is equally terrible at trying to hide something from him, especially now. So even though he saw right through her attempts to covertly plan a Valentine's surprise, he pretended to play along, mostly because she was just so adorable.

That meant he'd agreed when she suggested that he go surfing Saturday morning. But in true Marty Deeks fashion, he had to push her to see how far she'd take this charade. First he tried to convince her to spend a romantic morning in bed instead, offering to make her breakfast complete with chocolate chip pancakes and bacon and her favorite donuts. She turned his offer down flat without blinking an eye.

He pressed further, pulling her into his arms and whispering in a low voice exactly how he would wake her up that morning if he wasn't getting up early to catch the morning waves. She'd blushed deeply, sputtering how he could do that any morning and still stubbornly insisted that he should go surfing.

But when she much-too-casually started asking about his plans for the rest of Saturday, wondering if he would be gone much of the day and when he thought he'd be back, he almost broke his own cover. He had to rely on his very best undercover skills to not laugh at her or just flat out call her on her terrible acting. He knew if he did either of those things though, that any romantic intentions he'd had for Saturday would be dead in the water.

And not having a naked Kensi in his bed on Valentine's Day just wasn't an option. So he backed off and simply told her he already had plans that would keep him busy most of the day and that he'd bring dinner back with him.

The palpable relief that spread across Kensi's face and the almost shy smile that followed was all he needed to just let the whole thing drop. Clearly, whatever she's planning means a lot to her and he would never do anything to ruin that. And if he's being honest with himself, no one had ever gone to such extraordinary efforts to surprise him. Kensi would tease him for being a girl, but now he can't wait for Saturday.

Saturday morning arrives and Kensi pretends to still be fast asleep when Deeks wakes up ridiculously early to catch the morning swells. She feels him press a soft kiss to her forehead as he whispers "Happy Valentines" before leaving. She struggles to hold back the smile that fights to grace her lips at his sweet gesture; rolling her eyes at herself, she's still surprised at how easily she turns into a love-struck teenager around Marty Deeks.

Groaning loudly, she drags herself out of bed as soon as she hears him lock the front door. She wants to be gone by the time he returns to shower and change so she doesn't have to keep up this pathetic cover. What's worse, she knows he's already figured her out; she can't decide if she's really annoyed with him or just really happy that he played along.

But it's Valentine's Day after all and even when she's annoyed with him, she's still not immune to his charms. Which is especially true when she walks out to the living room and finds a simple yet colorful bouquet of flowers on the dining room table, accompanied by a pink cardboard box containing her favorite donuts. And she finds herself once again grinning like an idiot.

Grabbing a donut and pouring herself a mug of coffee, Kensi hurries to the bathroom to get ready. Once showered and changed, she grabs the now less than full box of donuts (because she has a lot to accomplish in a small amount of time and she'll need the energy) and heads out the door on her mission to pick up all the ingredients she needs for the cake.

Unfortunately, her little shopping expedition takes much longer than she planned. It's not her fault she never shops for actual ingredients; buying the finished product is just that much easier. By the time she arrives back at Deeks' apartment, she's already running behind schedule and is feeling more than a bit flustered.

The remainder of the afternoon continues to snowball, culminating in two deflated and underbaked cake layers and one very frustrated and pissed off Kensi Blye. She doesn't fail at anything, but she really should have known better. Her stubborn nature had won out over common sense and had convinced her she could bake this damn cake.

What had she been thinking? Now she doesn't have a gift for Deeks, the kitchen's a disaster and any sweet and sentimental emotions she'd allowed herself to feel about Valentine's Day had collapsed just as quickly as the cakes had when she'd removed them from the oven. "Stupid holiday," she mutters as she surveys the mess she's made.

The only thing worthwhile out of this whole disaster that she's managed to accomplish is a bowl of creamy and fluffy chocolate frosting. It might be the best frosting she's ever tasted, if she does say so herself, and she's been sneaking licks from the spatula, unable to stop herself from going back for more. So now there's no cake to frost; but even if the cake had survived there wouldn't be nearly enough frosting. What an epic fail.

She needs to regroup, come up with a Plan B. She only hopes she has enough time to clean up the kitchen, grab a shower and then track down a replacement cake at the last minute, all before Deeks gets home. Deciding to tackle the kitchen first, she starts to furiously wash the counter-tops. She curses loudly when only seconds later she hears Deeks voice ringing out from the front door.

He has to have been gone long enough. Deeks had managed to stay away most of the day, making his purchases while just about driving himself crazy trying to guess this surprise Kensi has planned for him. Grabbing the bags and locking his truck, he climbs the stairs to his apartment. As he unlocks the front door, he calls out, "Kensalina! I'm home…" The last word dies on his lips though as he hears Kensi utter a loud, "Shit!" from the direction of the kitchen.

Dropping his bags near the front door, Deeks makes his way through the apartment. Sounds of water running and more curses grow continuously louder until he's finally standing in the kitchen doorway. The entire space is coated in white and brown powder and used bowls and utensils are piled up in the sink. Kensi's back is turned toward him but it looks as though she's desperately trying to clean up the mess.

"Kens..." He watches her spin to face him, hair whipping around, half of it falling out of an already haphazard ponytail. With wide eyes and a sheepish look on her face, she blurts out, "I tried to bake a cake…" She gestures wildly around the kitchen; his gaze follows hers, finally landing on two very sad looking layers of chocolate cake still in the pans and resting on the stove top.

"Why would you…" He trails off because he can't even finish his thought. All he can think is why in hell would she try to bake a cake? In all the years he's known her, she's not even attempted to actually bake cookies (and warming up pre-baked snickerdoodles in the oven definitely does not count). Leave it to Kensi Blye to choose a cake as her first baking experiment.

"I wanted to surprise you with a cake from that organic bakery you keep talking about, but I just couldn't do it. I couldn't buy a cake that might not even taste like cake." He's trying desperately to keep a straight face, hoping he's being somewhat successful.

She rushes on, words tumbling from her mouth, "So then I had the brilliant idea to bake one for you, because it can't be that hard and it would be more special than just buying one and it seems like something a girlfriend would do on Valentine's Day."

She sounds like him now, rambling in an attempt to cover up her emotions. But he can read them in her eyes; a mix of discouragement and insecurity. But the fire and intensity that defines his Kensi is still there, burning brightly. For a brief moment he wonders if there might be something else, something deeper going on here, but he has no clue what that might be and clearly now's not the time to push.

Giving her a moment to compose herself, he allows his gaze to travel over the rest of her, taking in the mess she's made of herself. Her black yoga pants now resemble dalmatian fur with white splotches of flour all over and one of his LAPD t-shirts is dusted heavily with cocoa powder. Dragging his eyes back to her face, he smirks when he spots what he assumes must be chocolate frosting smeared on her cheek and corner of her mouth.

"Deeks… say something." She's almost pleading with him and he can see that she hasn't been able to rein in the emotions. If anything, she's becoming more frazzled. "God Deeks, it's just... it's been so long since I've even thought of Valentines' Day as anything other than another stupid holiday. And I was so determined to make this special…"

Deeks isn't about to let her be angry with herself, not today and especially not over a cake she wanted to bake just for him. Taking a step toward her, he gently tucks some stray wisps of hair behind her ear. Without saying a word, he cups her face with both of his hands and gently kisses her cheek where he had spotted the smudged frosting, darting his tongue out slightly to lick up the sugary chocolate. Moving quickly to her lips, he just as gently kisses away the frosting at the corner of her mouth.

Pulling back slightly, he waits for her to open her eyes, "Kens, just the fact that you wanted to do something for me makes it special. You didn't have to try to bake me a cake…" She huffs a sigh and looks away.

Deeks guides her gaze back to him as he continues, "But I love that you tried, even if it didn't turn out perfectly." She answers with a small smile, but it's not enough for him.

"So that frosting is pretty amazing though, yeah? You just couldn't help yourself, could you?"

She attempts a glare, but a grin fights to replace the frown that had been on her face for far too long. Shaking her head and rolling her eyes, she playfully shoves him in the shoulder. "I'll have you know I made the frosting, too. From scratch."

"Really? You made the frosting?" He's more than a little shocked; the tiny bit of frosting he'd just kissed off her was like a little taste of chocolate heaven.

Kensi rolls her eyes at him again, this time out of pure annoyance. Sighing heavily, she doesn't even bother firing back a response. Instead, she returns to the monumental task of cleaning the kitchen.

Deeks, however, hasn't moved; his shock over Kensi's frosting-making abilities is quickly turning to awe. He has no idea how she managed to make such perfection but she's definitely doing it again, soon.

But now he has to figure out a way to swipe some frosting from her. Kensi doesn't share sugar and chocolate willingly, even with him. And even if it is Valentine's Day, and she technically made it for his cake, he's going to have to use all his charms to get anywhere near that bowl.

But something's telling him it may be easier than he initially the frosting off her skin had honestly been little more than a tender gesture to calm her. But Deeks hadn't missed the way her mouth had slightly parted and the blaze of heat that flashed in her eyes. She'd been turned on.

And now he's especially thankful his girlfriend hadn't wanted to go out for the traditional dinner at a fancy restaurant. They had planned to stay home all evening. So he has a smoking hot girlfriend and a bowl of chocolate frosting just waiting to be enjoyed. What more could he want?

Coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her, he pulls her flush up against his chest. "Deeks! What are you…" Nuzzling her neck, he places a delicate kiss behind her ear, smirking as she automatically melts against him, relaxing into his embrace.

"So I've been thinking... since you've had all afternoon to sample that heavenly frosting," he murmurs huskily against her skin, "I think it's only fair I get my turn."

She only hums in response, her neck falling to the side as he continues to pepper kisses up and down her slender column.

"But I'd really like to taste more of it… on you."

The story continues in "chapter 2." Have no fear; sexy times ahead.