AN: You know you got it bad for a ship when you're inspired to write a whole fanfic out of one scene. It was 1AM and I couldn't sleep, so I opened the notes app on my iPad and started churning this story out. Two and a half hours later, I have this Rollaro treat inspired by a box of Cannolis. Oh, and, fair warning, there's some smut towards the end. Enjoy.
The smell of fresh Sicilian pastry and sweet ricotta filled the squad room. Carisi opened and closed the lid, allowing the scent to waft right under Detective Rollins' nose. Damn that son of a bitch.
"Cannoli, you trying to make me fat?"
He gave her a little grin that did little to persuade her; she was already persuaded. "Come on. You still want it."
"Just to be polite." She picked up a cannoli and took a bite. She closed her eyes and savoured the delightful taste of empty calories and creamy, delicious cholesterol. As a Southern girl, she had a big weakness for sweets. A peach cobbler was her kryptonite, and if that's what Carisi had brought in today, then she would've probably been rolling on the floor and foaming at the mouth.
"Hey." Carisi revealed the treats to Amaro as he walked by her desk. He was drinking that nasty Explosivo again, and probably on an empty stomach. Like her, Nick would get so absorbed with work he'd forget to eat a proper meal. On the rare occasions they'd have a slow day at the precinct, they'd go for Chinese and she'd watch him wolf down sweet and sour pork and yang chow fried rice like he was making up for a week's worth of forsaken meals. He usually had his manners down and took his time with his food, but on those occasions when they were in a rush, Nick could eat so quickly and efficiently she wondered if he even bothered to chew. Was she observing Nick during their lunch breaks now? Really, Amanda? Save the creeping for Nick Amaro.
"Nah, I'm good. Thanks." Of course Amaro refused. He refused when she offered him doughnuts years ago, even though, that day, she could tell from his eyes that the sugar glaze and chocolate sprinkles had been tempting. It was as if Nick had followed a self-imposed rule to avoid anything fun while at work. She made a mental note to tease him about it when they got home.
"Don't make me eat alone."
He spun around and gave her a look, mouth slightly parted and eyes tired but full of warmth. It wasn't just work that was making the poor guy sleep-deprived.
"Then I'll take one for later."
A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips and a pink hue formed at the apples of her cheeks. Nick took the cannoli and wrapped it in a napkin. When Carisi was distracted by a woman entering the squad room, Amanda caught Nick giving her a cross look. But he raised his chin and smirked, and she knew he was only toying with her. She tried to play innocent. With her blonde hair and blue eyes he could see why anyone else would've been mistaken; but there was nothing innocent about Amanda Rollins.
New York was dipping below temperatures that were not inhabitable by a native Georgian. Amanda theorized she was not biologically created to withstand the kind of marrow-chilling winter that blanketed the city. It was March already, for Christ's sake. Didn't the groundhog come out of its hole and declare it was Spring?
She ran up the steps and pounded on the door. He had a doorbell but she didn't think the slow, melodic ding-dong would sufficiently express her eagerness to get inside. She shifted her weight between each foot as she waited impatiently for the door to open. It had only taken three puffs of cold air before Nick opened the door. He was still dressed in his shirt and pants from work, but he had taken his shoes and tie off.
"Hey."
"Hey."
Amanda stepped into his house while Nick reached over her shoulder to close the door. He tried to help her out of her coat like any gentleman would, but she kind of just shrugged it off and let it fall to the floor. She kicked off her salt-stained boots, adding them to the pile she'd created by the entrance. She walked towards his couch and rubbed her frigid hands together, creating warmth out of what felt like icicles for appendages. Nick set her boots upright and hung her coat on the hook by the door. Mi casa es su casa, he told her once and she never forgot it.
He didn't mind one bit though. With all of Zara's toys either shipped off to LA or hiding away in her closet, he kind of missed having to clean up after someone. Nick didn't miss stepping on her Lego though; that was a bitch. Not that Amanda was messy. But she did bring some welcome disorder into the mundanity of his home, and his life in general.
"Have you eaten dinner?" She asked as she turned on the TV and flipped through the channels. Thankfully, Nick had cable which he only had so he could DVR Yankee games. He only knew the channels that showed sports, the news, and Disney Junior for when Zara was around. He had completely missed the hundreds of channels that broadcasted a goldmine of reality television - Amanda's guilty pleasure. She settled on the Food Network which, ironically enough, she loved to watch when she was starving. Too bad, she never actually got to use anything she learned from one of those cooking shows.
Nick knew her little quirks by now. Although, there were still things that popped up once in a while that surprised him. Amanda always kept him on his toes; it was just one of the many things that intrigued him about her. Yeah, sometimes she had things that were a little more infuriating than intriguing but overall, he liked the sense of of surprise and spontaneity that he had with her. She kept things fresh without ever really trying, and it was this effortless coolness and her downright sex appeal that had him hook, line, and sinker.
She looked at him, waiting for a response to the dinner question. He shook his head. "My ma dropped off a container of arroz con gandules before I left for work. We can have that, and maybe I could heat up some of the leftover spareribs from the other night."
Amanda bit her lip and smiled, "sounds good. Need any help?"
"Reheating food in the microwave?" He furrowed his brow at her.
"Fine, sassy pants," she rolled her eyes, "I was just trying to be polite."
"You've been a polite girl all day, haven't you?" Nick walked around the couch and stopped to squeeze her shoulder. He leaned in against her ear. "You expecting a reward or somethin'?"
Her body reacted to his words immediately. Coupled with the proximity of his mouth to her ear, she had lightning shooting down her spine and inspiring fire between her legs. Damn, he was good.
She craned her head and watched his ass retreat into the kitchen. Amanda tore her eyes away from him and back on the TV screen. She watched aspiring chefs replicate a Gordon Ramsay dish. She couldn't remember if they had done a decent job or if they had completely screwed it up, because while she had seen it, the visual information had gotten lost in processing. All her brain could handle right now, was imagining all the ways Nick was going to reward her.
The sound of the beeping microwave interrupted her thoughts of Nick swirling his tongue in places that could easily make her take the good Lord's name in vain. He returned from the kitchen with two plates piled with rice and ribs. She decided to be helpful and go in the kitchen to fill two glasses with wine.
Wine was a good sign to Nick. It meant Amanda didn't plan on driving tonight so it meant she was sleeping over. It wasn't often that she got to do that with Frannie all lonely in her apartment. But sometimes, Amanda stopped by her place before coming over to Nick's to fill up Frannie's bowl and make sure she got at least 30 minutes to walk outside and get her business done. After making sure her dog was good for the night, she drove up to Nick's house and parked a few houses down the block. Nick was the paranoid one in their quasi-relationship, but it was Amanda who was most paranoid about anyone from the squad finding out about them. Fin had hinted it and teased her about it before, so there was a good chance he knew. Clueless Carisi thought he saw something at a private cabana when they were working the Tensley Evans case. After Nick gave him a look, he'd never mentioned it again. Mostly, Amanda was afraid of Olivia finding out about them. She knew if it came down to separating them into different units, Liv would fight to keep Nick.
Amanda set the glasses down on the table and sat across Nick, on the side that faced the TV. The first time they'd been in a similar spot, Nick made the mistake of turning off the TV, and Amanda had looked at him like he was from another planet.
"What?" He raised his arms defensively. "We never have the TV on for meals. Didn't you have that same rule growing up."
"The only house rule my mom had was don't get knocked up."
He'd let her have monopoly over the remote ever since. Nick did turn the volume down a bit, just because Gordon Ramsay yelling 'it's fucking raw' every other minute was a little startling in between bites of his mother's cooking.
Amanda had yet to meet Cesaria Amaro, but she had eaten many meals care of Nick's mother and just by that, Amanda loved her. And love wasn't a word she threw around often. Growing up in Georgia didn't expose her to a lot of Cuban cuisine, but what she did try from Cesaria's kitchen, she could happily eat for the rest of her life.
They finished their meal and refilled their glasses until they had emptied the bottle. During the meal, Amanda kept sneaking her foot into his pant leg. He usually didn't mind when she was frisky like that, but Amanda had taken off her socks so her feet were freezing. She stuck her tongue out at him when she tried it again, only for him to jerk his leg away. "It feels like a corpse is playin' footsies with me."
She got up and took the plates with her into the kitchen. It was the least she could do for him feeding her again. Every time they ended up at her place, she felt bad for him because she never had anything in her fridge except beer. She always managed to have at least six bottles at any given moment. The moment that number even dropped by one, it's like her body was programmed to walk down to the bodega across the street and buy a new case.
Amanda set the dishes in the sink. She opened his fridge and found it stocked with some fruits, fresh produce, a case of eggs, a carton of milk, and single-serving containers of berry medley yogurt. She was convinced he bought the stuff because of the blonde chick in the yogurt commercial. She claimed Nick had a crush on her and that's why he kept buying her product, but he insisted that he really liked that particular flavour. Surprisingly enough, Nick didn't keep any Explosivo in there. She was about to close the fridge when she saw something wrapped in tissue inside the little butter compartment. She picked it up and unwrapped it to find the cannoli Carisi had offered earlier that day.
"You didn't eat your cannoli." She stepped out of his kitchen with the pastry in hand. "I said I didn't want to eat it alone."
"I said I'd save it for later."
"Well, it is later," she offered the dessert directly towards his face but he held up his hands, effectively blocking its journey to his mouth.
"Nah, you can have it."
She widened her eyes, "you and Carisi conspiring to fatten me up?"
Nick scrunched up his face. "Where would you get that idea?" Amanda had a perfect body as far as he was concerned. She was fit and healthy, and he knew one or two cannolis wouldn't make a difference in her appearance. Even if it did, he didn't think a few pounds would dissuade him from enjoying her body. He worried that she was conscious of her figure when she didn't need to be. But his concerns were immediately squashed when she made a face at him.
"You know I'm just messing with you."
"Mhmmm..." He took the cannoli from her hands and fed it to her. She took a bite but got some of the ricotta on the corner of her mouth. Nick pressed his lips onto hers and darted his tongue out to lick the creamy cheese off. Before she could pull him in for a real kiss, he retreated back and licked his own lips to savour the sweetness.
"Tease."
Nick grinned mischievously. Amanda leaned forward and took another bite of the cannoli, not letting her eyes break contact with his. "It's not fair when you do that to me when you're eating a banana," he started, "and it's still not fair now."
She giggled and tried to suppress it by throwing her hands over her mouth. The way she giggled got him right in his gut in a good way. It wasn't high-pitched and cloying; it was still cute and girlish but there was a rasp to her laugh that was all Amanda. He rarely ever heard it when they were on duty, so when he heard it in his house or her apartment when they were sharing each other's company, it made him feel like he was the reason for that giggle. It made him feel assured that he could make her happy.
In his daze, Amanda took the cannoli from his hand and smushed one end on his nose.
"Hey!"
Nick reached for her but she stood up and backed away. She raised what was left of the pastry high above her head. But Nick had at least five inches on her, so he managed to grab onto her wrists once she was backed against the couch's arm rest. He reached for it, causing her to topple over and fall on her back. He straddled over her on the couch and let go of her wrists briefly.
Amanda pushed the cannoli onto his crisp, clean white shirt. His eyes widened as he gazed down at the damage. Nick shook his head as his eyes lowered in feigned anger and disappointment. "So much for polite. I think you should get pun-"
The remaining end of the cannoli interrupted him mid-speech as Amanda stuffed it into his mouth. He chewed the pastry but kept his brows narrowed and his eyes fixed on the woman that squirmed and giggled uncontrollably beneath him. He gripped her wrists over her head and bent down so his lips hovered above hers.
She tried to arch her back to capture him in a kiss, but he pressed her down with his torso. "Oh no, no, no, no..." He trailed off. His eyes grew even darker in arousal and she could feel his hardness pressing against her thigh.
"Nick," her voice strained under the weight of bubbling, rising lust. "Kiss me."
"What? So you can taste more of the sugar and cream on my mouth?" He licked his lips teasing and tantalizing her. Amanda's body was on fire now. She wriggled her hips under his and she could feel his erection grow and strain against his pants. Two could play this game.
Amanda rubbed her centre against his groin, but he stopped her motions when he drew his knee up to part her thighs. He hooked his arm under her right leg and brought it up to lay and dangle over the backrest of the couch. She was now spread for him in a position where he had full control. Once he felt her cease resistance on her wrists, he released her. Fingers trailed down her neck as she unbuttoned her blouse. She got up on her elbows as Nick helped her remove the silk blouse off her shoulders, and he didn't waste time taking advantage of her torso's upright position. He reached behind her and in one snap, unhooked her light pink bra.
She caught the mischievous smirk on his lips before his face disappeared from view completely. She gasped at the contact of her cool, erect nipples against his hot lips. Nick looked up briefly and saw her try to suppress a giggle. "What?" He asked. She pointed to his nose and picked up a small dollop of ricotta. She brought the sweet cream to her lips and sucked on her finger. Nick was mesmerized. When she was done enticing him, he lowered his head to her breasts. He nipped and licked and sucked while he cupped and squeezed with his hands. If this was her punishment, she was quite pleased that she had been a bad girl.
Pushing her down the couch, Nick moved his kisses from her breasts down to her stomach. He followed the centre line of her abdomen and dipped his tongue into her belly button. Meanwhile, his hands worked on unbuttoning her pants and pulling them down to her knees. Amanda let out a gasp as she felt him squeeze her hip. When they first had sex, after that whole gambling fiasco with Murphy, Nick had been such an attentive and gentle partner. Amanda liked attentive and gentle, but sometimes she needed a little more assertion and just the right amount of pressure.
Nick was a quick learner and he had known just the right amount of pressure to give her. He had also figured out her spots quite quickly and discovered new ones that had Amanda reexamining the whole Choir Boy moniker. Amanda learned that her first few nights sleeping with Nick were just him gauging how comfortable she was about sex, and especially sex with a co-worker. Choir boy actually knew some moves and tricks that she had never experienced with any of her previous partners. He also did that thing with his tongue where he folded it around her clit and pulsed it around like he was running on Energizer bunnies. That had her body and her walls trembling like an earthquake.
Dear lord, he was doing it right now.
Amanda tried to grip the fabric of the sofa but it was too taut. If she couldn't hold onto something, she would lose it right then and there. He was so close to unravelling her, he could feel it in the way her pussy walls went through motions of contraction and relaxation around his fingers. He pumped his fingers inside of her and swirled his tongue over her engorged clit. Nick wrapped his lips over her mound and sucked as he curved his fingers and stroked upward.
Amanda cried out in a cocktail of expletives as she orgasmed. His chin dribbled with her sweet essence as he pulled his fingers out of her core. Nick lifted his head from between her legs and watched her breathing come down from that high he just gave her. He wiped his mouth and chin with the back of his hand as he pulled himself up over her body.
Amanda wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms wound around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss. She tasted herself on his lips, and it got her hot and hankering for even more of her lover. His tongue swirled around hers and he could taste a sweet mix of her cream and the sweet cannoli, and it was pretty fucking heavenly.
Rewarding Nick was only necessary in her mind after what he had done for her. Amanda tried to flip them around, but it wasn't an easy feat considering his size over her. He got the idea though, and sat up. She pushed his back against the couch and straddled over his lap. She trailed kisses from his lips and down to his jaw. She loved his jawline; she could trace it and try to memorize it with her lips all day and she'd never get bored. Pressing a kiss to his jugular, she felt him angle his hips toward her pussy.
"Hmmm..." She moaned at the contact. Why was he still wearing all these clothes though?
She got to working on his shirt while he unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants. He held the cold metal of his belt buckle against the small of her back. She jerked away instinctively, but she grew to like the contrasting, sensual contact. He dragged the metal up along her spine, and when it reached her neck, he lifted his head to kiss her deeply.
Amanda lifted her hips so he could scoot his pants and boxers down to his ankles. When he was fully naked in front of her, she took advantage of the position and pressed her chest against his. She loved the feeling of his fine chest hairs against her skin. Running her fingers down his pecs, she found his ab muscles and squeezed. Nick groaned into the kiss before he sucked on her bottom lip. They made out a little more, but the thick, steel rod against her belly was getting a bit too much.
She angled herself on top of him and rubbed her pussy lips against his shaft. Nick drew a sharp breath as she positioned him at her entrance. He held her there, hovering over him, with his arms effectively stopping her. Locking eyes with her for confirmation, she nodded. Nick drove into her fast, hard, and deep. They moaned in unison as their bodies shivered in a mix of pain and pleasure.
Nick held her there for a moment and just concentrated on her tight walls pulsing around his dick. Amanda got antsy though and started grinding her clit against his lower abdomen. She threw her head back as Nick lifted her by the waist with one arm and started driving into her in long and nimble strokes. Bouncing off of him, her blonde locks looked as if they had taken a life of their own. Like golden flames roaring in the wind.
Amanda's pussy was milking his cock and she could feel herself coming to the precipice. He was so close himself. He grabbed a fistful of her ass and drove in harder. With his free hand, he held onto the back of her neck and rubbed her sweet spot right below her ear. Her head fell onto the crook of his shoulder.
"Come for me, Amanda."
Unraveling before him, her body convulsed as she came for her lover. Amanda bit down on his shoulder as she crashed down from wave after wave of pleasure. That had been Nick's undoing as he came inside her, continuing every last stroke until he was completely and utterly spent. Eyes remained closed and bodies held close together as their hearts rediscovered their normal rhythm.
Amanda brushed her fingers down his spine; a sheen of sweat coating their bodies. He gently pulled out of her, and he missed how he felt so sheathed and warm inside of her. He thought it was kind of silly that one dirty talk phrase, 'my dick's home' when they drive into their woman's pussy. Nick chuckled inwardly though, because as silly as it was, it was kind of spot on. Amanda didn't move from her position and stayed wrapped around him with her head buried in his shoulder. He tried to stroke her hair because it felt like the sweet and gentle thing to do, but his fingers only got caught in the tangles.
She released a breathy laugh that tickled his shoulder.
Nick craned his head down so he could meet her face. "Hey."
She smiled back and he felt like Cupid had struck an arrow straight through his heart. "Hey."
He pressed a chaste kiss on her lips and pulled away only to rest his forehead against hers. Amanda's eyes fluttered open. Her first instinct was to close her eyes or look away under the weight of his gaze. But she decided to hold him there and let him have her with no walls drawn up between them, even for just a second.
There was no doubt in her mind and in her heart how she felt about Nick Amaro. She knew he felt the same way. But things were too complicated. He was coming off a divorce. He had a tough year personally and professionally. Amanda wasn't doing so great herself what with GA meetings and Chief Patton's trial. Also, there was the whole office relationship thing that was made worse by the fact that she and Nick were pretty much partnered up ever since Benson became their Captain. There was no way IAB would let this office romance slide if their relationship came to light. It was a lot of complicated, but they still found themselves drawn to each other every night. Like moths to a flame. But in these moments when he held her, nothing felt complicated. Her mind was clear and her feelings were clear.
Amanda knew she should've said those three words out loud. But she knew they'd both be back to the 16th precinct tomorrow, and complicated would win out. So for tonight, she settled with something else that could substitute for those three words.
"Remind me tomorrow to thank Carisi for the cannoli."
