Law and Order: SVU is the intellectual property of Dick Wolf. The use of the characters, settings, and plotlines is not malicious. This is a work of fiction.

Payback.

"I know what you were thinking," he told her, his blue eyes glimmering as the moonlight hit them through the window. He wriggled around for a moment, finding a comfortable position on the lumpy couch.

She shook her head at him, incredulously. "You have no idea...you couldn't possibly know what was going through my head." She sipped her coffee, its scalding heat not affecting her at all. She pressed her lips together as she swallowed, her head falling back against the back of the sofa.

He leaned forward and placed his coffee mug on the wooden table, noticing, as if for the first time, the rings and scratches in the wood and fading stain. He made a mental note to refinish it the next time he had a day off. He sighed, placed his hands at he back of his head, and settled deeper into the divot in the cushions. "Yeah, Liv," he breathed. "I do."

"All right," she said with a scoff. "Enlighten me, Kreskin."

He laughed at her but then sobered. "You would have done the same thing. If you had found the man who..." he paused, knowing it was sore subject, one that brought up a lot of anger and repressed memories. "You would have killed him. And you wouldn't be sorry about it."

She bit her lip and picked at her cuticles with her fingernails. "You have me pegged, don't you?"

He nodded, serious, and he sat up a bit. "I know...we haven't been partners for...God, it's been almost a year, but I feel like..."

"Me, too, El," she interjected, knowing what he was about to explain. "It's fucking weird." She offered him a small laugh and a wink.

He gave a short guffaw with wide eyes and a heavy sigh, and he said, "You think it's weird for you? I'm the one losing my religion here," he chuckled and sat up fully, reaching again for his coffee.

"You don't really believe that, do you?" she asked, suddenly worried with a wave of guilt crashing to the shores of her heart. She eyed him as her fingers scraped along the the edges of her coffee cup.

He smiled at her. "No," he said. "You know I'm...my faith is a part of me, of who I am, but I also know...when something is right, when it's...necessary...that God wouldn't give that gift if he didn't want me to accept it. Does that make sense?"

She shrugged. "I guess." She moved her legs out of his lap and sat upright, put down her coffee, and turned to him. "Do you think...do you think I'm a horrible person? For...for thinking what those women did was...right?"

"No, honey," he said, assuring her. He looped an arm around her, letting his hand caress the round top of her left shoulder. "No, I...I think the bastard got what he deserved, but...they were guilty, they broke laws and they took a life. They had to...pay for it. We just had to be the unlucky pair that doled out the punishment." He let his head fall forward slightly, his lips kissing her right temple. He whispered something soft and sweet into her ear.

Her smile lit up her entire face, she nuzzled against his cheek and let her right hand fall to his left knee. She turned her face fully to look at him, and she whispered. "Yes. I know."

Without a word, he moved again, this time aiming his lips for hers. He cupped her face, his thumbs brushing over the apples of her cheeks as he swiped his tongue over hers, and then along the ridges of her teeth.

A moan escaped her, passing from her lips into his open mouth, catching at the back of his throat making him growl in response. From one kiss, she could feel every small spark of emotion filtering through him to her. Their connection lacked explanation, but it was long ago decided they did not need to explain themselves to anyone.

He pulled away, though it was reluctantly, and he took a shaky breath. "Wow, I can't..." he exhaled just as tremulously. "Shit," he laughed softly. "That almost, uh...became a lot more than I think we could handle tonight." He swiped the pads of his fingers along his forehead, trying to make sense of the jumbled mess of words in his head. "Damn," he spat, rolling his neck.

She licked her chapping lips, the numbness prickling in remembrance of his kiss. "El?" she questioned, tilting her head at him.

"We'll figure it out," he promised her with another small peck against her lips. He gazed across the couch at her, holding her in place with the sincerity in his eyes. He inhaled sharply as the moonlight washed over them again and hit the right side of her face an angle that made her look angelic. How could this be wrong, he wondered, if this Heavenly creature had been bestowed upon him. He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat and he smoothed his hands up and down her arms, still looking into her eyes.

He had a lot to think about, a family to protect and provide for, a wife with a horrible temper and vengeful streak who already decided that his late nights at work meant something unholy. It would take time, but the unspoken, unbreakable vow he had made to Olivia provided solace. They were each other's safe haven. No matter what happened in their lives, his marriage and her relationships, their jobs, friends...none of it would ever come between them, and they would always have each other, in any and every way they needed.

If anything solidified that iron clad contract, it was the last few days together. Work had taken a very critical toll on them, their recent case hitting a personal chord that soured upon execution. She was the first to break their binding gaze and she brushed her hair behind her ears. "You should go home."

He knew that whenever she said that, she was shutting down. "Not tonight," he retorted. He stood up, rising off the couch with a fierce but respectful look in his eyes. He held out his hand to her, and curled his fingers around hers as they fell into his open palm. He flinched at the coldness of her skin, but shrugged it off as he pulled her to her feet.

He led her to the bedroom, nudging the door open with his free hand, and he motioned for her to sit on the edge of the bed. He smiled at her, then turned and pulled on the handle of a dresser drawer. He tugged on the first bit of fabric he spotted, tossing it to her. "Do you want me to close my eyes?" he asked her playfully.

She rolled her eyes, grinning as she pulled the v-neck sweater she'd been wearing for close to eighteen hours. She tossed it to him and watched with a smirk as he shot it like a basketball into a wicker hamper in the far corner of the bedroom. She waited, the smile growing a bit more seductive than she'd intended, and when he turned to look at her, she held his attention as she unhooked and dropped her bra. She threw that toward him, laughing when he had been far too mesmerized to attempt to catch it.

"Fucking hell," he choked, unable to take his eyes off of the perfect form of his partner. He squeezed his eyes shut and gulped, and when he opened them he noticed she had pulled the tee shirt over her head. He watched her stand and shimmy out of her pants, spotting the bit of red silk swirled in with the black fabric. He felt his mouth go dry at the thought of her, naked from the waist down, pressed skin to skin with him all night long.

She licked her lips as she saw him move, his hands peeling the leather of his belt through the loops and she gasped when his pants fell with a whoosh. She scooted back as he moved toward her, and she chuckled as he pulled his tee shirt over his head.

In nothing but blue boxers, he unfurled the bedsheets and settled in with her wrapped in his arms. He sighed contentedly into the back of her head, and then kissed it softly. He pulled her tighter to him, fitting her body into his like a puzzle piece. He wound around her, and it wasn't until he exhaled that he felt her trembling in his arms. Soft sobs hit his ears and he pulled her tighter.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Never apologize to me," he whispered back, kissing the back of her head again. "I'm right here. I got you, and I'm not letting go. You never have to apologize for anything, especially not this."

She rolled over in his arms, sniffling and wiping her eyes on her pillowcase as she moved. "You knew," she surmised, "Didn't you?" She rubbed her nose against his. "That's why you stayed."

He kissed her lips and against rubbed noses with her, smiling softly. "Got me pegged," he said quietly. "Don't ya?"

She laughed softly, nodding.

He closed his eyes and kissed her again, enveloping him in strength and safety. He smiled as he drifted off to sleep with her heart beating against his, knowing he still had a few surprises in store for her, and hoping nothing would spoil them.

Reviews are always enjoyable

Peace and love

Jo