Author's Note: Thanks as always for your kind feedback and reviews. I appreciate them more than you know. Now, let's get back to it. Enjoy!
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Olivia walked in to the small local bar and looked around. She saw the woman she was looking for seated on a bar stool and smiled. She saw Dr. Callie Torres for the first time in civilian clothes and her mouth went dry. She wore a black skirt and a low cut emerald green blouse.
Callie met her eyes and returned her smile. She took the time that it took Olivia to walk over to her to appreciate what this woman really looked like. She had on snug hip hugging jeans and a burgundy long sleeve t-shirt. Her left arm was still in a sling. There was a badge clipped to her black belt that matched her black boots. "Hey." She managed when Olivia reached her.
"Hey, Callie. Is this seat taken?" Olivia smirked and gestured to the seat next to her.
Callie closed her eyes and shook her head.
Olivia took a deep breath. "So this is where you medical types hang out?"
Callie bobbed her head. "Yup, this is pretty much what we do when we're not working."
Liv nodded slowly. "Cops are pretty much the same. What are you drinking?"
Callie held up her glass. "Jack and Coke." She rattled the ice.
Liv signaled the bartender. "We're going to need a couple more of these, please."
She took a deep breath and held it. "So what do you do when you aren't poorly impersonating hookers?"
Liv chuckled. "Poorly? Wow. I'm hurt. I'll have you know when I'm not in agony I'm a very convincing hooker!"
"Uh, you're insulted that I don't think you look like a prostitute?" Callie raised both eyebrows and cocked her head to the side.
Liv gave a sheepish grin. "Excellent point. So what do you do when you're not rescuing hookers from rogue cops?"
"Touché." Callie pursed her lips as Joe brought over their drinks.
Olivia took another deep breath and let it out slowly. "I head back home day after tomorrow so I don't really have the luxury of time here. I'm going to cut to the chase. I would really like a chance to get to know you better, Callie. Would you like to go get some dinner some place and talk or something?"
Callie looked down and then looked up with her signature slow smile crossing her lips. "Yes, I would love to have dinner with you and get to know you better, Liv."
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Sitting in the small cafe Liv took a long breath and looked deep in to the richly dark brown eyes of the woman seated across from her. "I'll be honest with you. I got in to Special Victims for a very personal reason. Keep in mind this isn't usually information I get in to on the first date." She slowly let out the breath.
"It's ok, Liv. We don't have to do this if you don't want to." Callie's big brown eyes held concern for her new...friend.
Liv chuckled a little. "See, here's the thing, Callie. If we don't do this now, when will we do it? What I don't have is a lot of time and I want you to know me and to understand who I am. It's important."
Callie swallowed hard at what this woman was trying to say. "Huh. I was just looking for a one-night stand." She lowered her head and then met the other woman's eyes cautiously.
Liv arched her eyebrow. "Well, I'm not saying I'm not up for that, but I was hoping for a bit more. It's not every day I get rescued by a beautiful doctor."
Callie blushed slightly at the compliment. "Ok, fine. You win. Tell me all your deep, dark secrets."
Liv leaned in. "You may regret that statement, Dr. Torres. My secrets are pretty deep and dark."
The women spent the meal and several drinks lost in deep conversation about their pasts. Olivia opened up about her less than happy childhood, her mother's drinking and that she was a child of rape. The latter was the main reason that she found herself a veteran detective of the SVU squad back in Manhattan. Callie had hemmed and hawed and finally disclosed her own checkered past. She herself had grown up in Miami the granddaughter of a Cuban mafia boss with more money than she could even ever conceive though they couldn't always live like they had that kind of money. She left home after high school to make her own way in the world. She knew the family money came from mostly illegal and unsavory enterprises. She had a trust fund that she could tap if she ever wanted or needed to, but took great pride in becoming a doctor and making her own fortune.
As the waiter brought the check, Liv took a deep breath. "We've covered a lot of territory here, Callie, but there's one more thing I need you to know."
"Oh God. What are you married or something?" Callie giggled but then stopped herself when she saw how serious Liv's face was. "Oh sorry. You're serious. Ok, what else do you want me to know?"
Liv went on to share about her near miss relationship with Alex, some hither and thither non-relationships mostly with men, but with the occasional woman since. "So, I'm pretty much damaged goods, but I don't know, Dr. Torres. Something about you tells me you're just what the doctor ordered. Pun intended." She gave a half smirk.
Callie flipped her hair and shook her head, giggling. "Oh, baby, you want to talk damaged goods? Have I got a story for you." Callie awkwardly explained her tale of woe starting with George and the affair with Izzie that ended their marriage. She almost couldn't meet Olivia's warm brown eyes as she explained her relationship with Dr. Erica Hahn and Dr. Hahn's sudden departure from the hospital and her life.
"Well, looks like we've both been doormats for other people in the past. I don't know about you, but it's out of my system. I have no interest in it for my future." Olivia waved the waiter down and paid the bill.
Callie nodded her head. She held up the last of her drink. "To being doormats no more?"
"To not letting your past dictate your future!" Liv clinked glasses and downed her drink. She looked at her watch. It was nearly midnight. "Do you work tomorrow?"
Callie looked down and then met Olivia's eyes. She shook her head slowly as her trademark smile touched her full lips.
Olivia arched an eyebrow and nodded. "You don't turn in to a pumpkin at midnight or anything, do you?"
Callie laughed. "Not so you'd notice. What did you have in mind, Detective Benson?"
Olivia laughed with Callie and stroked her chin cockily. "Coffee?"
Callie nodded. "And where would we be having this coffee?"
Olivia shrugged. "I'd say my place, but my place is a cheap hotel room. Your place? All night coffee house?"
Callie's eyes widened. "My place? My roommate is going to have a field day with this, but I think I can make us some coffee."
"Great. Let's get out of here then." Liv smiled warmly at Callie as she stood up and offered her her hand.
Callie smiled her shy half smile and took Liv's hand. She felt her stomach flutter when the strong yet soft, warm hand enveloped hers. "Sounds good."
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Liv insisted on calling them a cab, as she deemed neither of them fit to drive. They sat in the back of the cab in comfortable silence. They sat close enough that their thighs and knees brushed against each other.
Callie's mind was spinning. She kept looking at their linked hands and breathing deeply. There was no denying the feelings that were washing over her or the tingling sensation when their hands and bodies touched. It was not every day that women like Detective Olivia Benson fell in to her lap, almost literally. Things had moved very quickly in stark contrast to her last relationship.
"Hey. You ok?" Olivia leaned in and whispered to the raven-haired beauty. Her breath was close enough that her hair moved when she spoke.
"Ohm, me? Yeah. Sure. Just..." Callie bit her bottom lip and looked at their hands.
Olivia's eyes widened. She'd been Miss Full Speed Ahead without ever checking in with the other woman on whether or not she was ok with it. Now, she could see emotions clouding the normally bright eyes. "You do know I'm trained to know when people are lying, right?" She squeezed the warm hand she held in hers.
"Right. Look, Liv...I think that my thoughts just sort of caught up with the rest of me. I like you." Here she paused and seemed to decide on her next sentence carefully.
"Your stop, ladies." The cabbie called over the divider.
Callie chuckled at the timing. "Of course. Thank you." She slipped the man some folded bills and walked around to the curb where Liv was waiting for her.
Liv rubbed her palms together. "So, you were saying how much you like me?"
Callie shook her head at the detective's almost silly antics. "I really like you, Liv. I just have a history of never looking before I leap in my personal life and it hasn't always led to a happy ending."
Liv nodded. "So, you're looking for a happy ending now? I thought maybe you were still counting on that one-night-stand." She rocked on her heels.
Callie looked at the sky like the right answer might be written in the heavens. "Liv. Olivia. I just don't know what we're doing here."
Liv scratched the side of her face and pursed her lips. "We don't have to do this. I can just go back to my hotel and we can stay friends or pen pals...or..." Her jaw clenched. She couldn't believe what she was saying. She didn't want to be this woman's pen pal or buddy. "Oh, hell with it." She closed the distance between them. She placed one hand on either of Callie's soft cheeks and crushed her lips against the doctor's.
In an instant, Callie felt the detective nearly pounce on her. Her hands were gentle on her face, but the kiss was passionate and intense. Callie brought her hands to rest on the brunette's hips. "Liv." She breathed against her lips.
Liv kept the kiss passionate, but made no move to deepen it. She had already made an aggressive move and would let Callie make the next one.
Callie closed her eyes against the press of soft lips against hers. She squeezed the soft flesh under her hands. In another instant, she lost all thought and simply let her body react how it wanted. 'This may turn out to be a mistake, but God she feels so good.' Callie parted her lips and let her tongue slide softly across Liv's.
At the touch of Callie's tongue, Liv's senses became enflamed. Her desire for the beautiful doctor increased ten-fold and she slipped one hand around her neck, past the thick, dark, wavy tresses and pulled her mouth against hers harder. She allowed her tongue to flick out quickly against Callie's and the rich, spicy taste of the other woman made her stomach tighten.
Callie pulled Liv's hips against her and gasped at the feel of the woman's body pressed so firmly against hers.
The sound seemed to bring Olivia back to the present and she pulled back with smaller kisses and dropped her head to Callie's soft shoulder. She swallowed hard and attempted to catch her breath. "Wow." She managed to almost whimper.
Callie pressed her face in to the baby soft hair and inhaled deeply. The scent was musky and faintly floral. Her mouth curled in to a smile. She had always been an above average kisser and it seemed her skills were still intact. "Well said."
Liv groaned. "Don't make fun of me." She spoke in to Callie's shoulder. "I'm a woman on the edge."
Callie slipped her arms around the detective. "I wasn't making fun of you and even before that amazing kiss I had no interest in being your pen pal. Could you look at me?"
Liv pressed a small kiss on Callie's shoulder and pulled back. She tentatively met the soulful deep brown eyes. She was struck by how beautiful this woman really was.
"I don't know what to do with you, Olivia Benson...so I guess I'd better go make us that coffee. Come on." Callie grabbed Olivia's strong, warm hand and tugged her towards the door.
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