A/N: This chapter opens the last case they'll deal with in this story, but there are still several more chapters!

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Simple as that.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Mi Vida Loca

The pancakes had turned out to be delicious. Lilly couldn't believe she'd actually succeeded in making breakfast for Scotty. Granted, he'd had to help her, but…

No…she suddenly realized. He hadn't helped her. He'd just given her the tools to be able to do it herself. He seemed to…just get that about her, it seemed. Maybe the fact that they'd known each other for so long helped him figure her out…at least, as well as anyone could.

Scotty, for his part, had found it increasingly difficult over the course of the weekend to keep his feelings to himself. He thought that his brief, whispered "I love you" would take the pressure off; would give him the satisfaction of having said it without the disaster he was sure would result if she'd heard it. But it did exactly the opposite. He wanted her to hear it, he realized. He…well…wanted to know if she loved him back.

Dammit. This was getting complicated.

Monday morning, despite their efforts not to arrive together, Scotty and Lilly found themselves arriving at Headquarters at exactly the same time. With a shrug, they wordlessly admitted defeat and headed into the squad room at the same time.

As they settled into their desks, Jeffries strode past with a mug of coffee and smiled at the two. "Morning," he greeted them casually. "Good to be home?"

"Nothin' like your own bed," Lilly replied.

"You two have a good weekend?" he asked nonchalantly, and received a wordless shrug from Lilly and a noncommittal response from Scotty.

Okay, so this was how they wanted to play the game, he realized with a smile. He hadn't exactly expected them to be particularly open about it, and Jeffries decided to bide his time. He wasn't sure how many people knew about their…whatever it was that was going on; there was no way Vera knew, Jeffries decided, because Vera wouldn't have been able to keep something like that a secret. No way. He knew Nick Vera better than that. But Miller…maybe. He'd have to check that out later.

His reverie was interrupted when Vera and Miller walked in, trading insults as usual. They were followed closely by Stillman.

"Mornin', everybody," the boss greeted the squad.

"Got somethin', Boss?" Lilly asked him. She knew that look in his eyes, the look he got when he found them a new case.

"Got a call from CSU this morning," he replied. "Car accident over the weekend. Tim Talbot, killed on impact."

"Did you tell 'em we don't work car accidents, Boss?" Scotty asked with a lopsided grin.

"We do when they're homicide," Stillman answered. "Cops at the scene discovered the brakes had been tampered with."

"Isn't this one a little…fresh?" Jeffries asked, frowning in confusion.

"This one is," Stillman answered. "But Tim Talbot worked in the same office as an unsolved one a few years back."

"Yeah?" Lilly asked. "Which one?"

"Ann Neese," Stillman replied, consulting his notes. "Also killed in an accident…four years ago yesterday."

"Well, that's a peculiar coincidence," Miller commented.

Stillman nodded. "Cause of her accident was listed as…"

"Brake failure," Jeffries finished, exchanging glances with the other detectives.

"Exactly," Stillman agreed.

"So, what is this guy, some kinda office worker serial killer that likes to make 'em look like accidents?" Vera asked, half-jokingly.

Stillman peered at them over the rims of his glasses. "Well, somebody seems to be pickin' 'em off one by one," he replied.

"We got a Tim-Ann connect?" Lilly asked.

"Other than the fact that they were co-workers, no," Stillman answered.

"Well, looks like somebody had it out for both of 'em," Scotty remarked.

"Sure does," Stillman replied.

He then dispatched Scotty and Lilly to talk to Ann's parents, to tell them they were re-opening the case, sent Jeffries and Miller to find the people involved in Ann's accident, and told Vera to go talk to CSU about the brakes on Ann's car.

Late that afternoon, Scotty headed into the observation room just as Jeffries was heading out of the interview room with a defeated sigh, Miller close on his heels.

"You needed my help?" he asked, as Lilly followed him in. Jeffries had called Scotty's cell just as he and Lilly had finished an interview with Ann's former fiancé. The call had been cryptic, but Jeffries had said he needed Scotty's particular expertise. Scotty wasn't sure quite what that might have been, but they headed back to the office.

Jeffries indicated the young Hispanic man sitting glumly at the table with a jerk of his thumb. "This numbskull is the guy Tim ran into when his brakes failed…Miguel Rodriguez. Fled the scene, but they rounded him up anyway. He's a Mexican illegal; doesn't speak a word of English."

Scotty grinned. "We'll see about that," he replied. "I'm pretty sure I speak a language he'll understand," he finished as he strode into the interview room.

"Que tal, amigo," he greeted Miguel. "Wanna tell me why you left the scene of an accident?"

No response. Miguel just blinked in confusion.

"Entiende?" Scotty asked. "Habla espanol?"

Silence.

Scotty sighed. "No habla ingles, but you can't understand my Spanish, is that it?"

Scotty sat down across from him. "Si, asi como quiere jugar," he replied, whipping out his cell phone. "I got a cousin who works in Ice, so here's the deal, amigo. Either you tell me everything you saw in the next ten seconds, or we bounce your sorry ass onto the next bus to the border." He dialed a number, and Miguel looked at him in alarm.

"Oye, Jorgito," Scotty said cheerfully into the phone.

"No," the guy finally said. "Entiendo. Hablo espanol."

Scotty lowered the phone and prodded Miguel, who looked nervously from side to side and finally launched into his story, peppered with questions in Spanish from Scotty.

Behind the glass, Lilly looked on in amazement. She just couldn't get over the contrast. When Scotty spoke English, he sounded just like any other guy from Philly, but his Spanish…holy crap. It was flawless, musical, and, Lilly realized with horror, also incredibly sexy. Dammit. She'd heard him speak Spanish on the job a number of times, of course, but that was before…she cursed her pale skin as she felt her cheeks flushing and her heart racing. Unbidden memories sprang to mind of the Spanish endearments Scotty had whispered in her ear as they made love the night before.

Jeffries watched Lilly curiously. The pink blush creeping into her cheeks as she watched Scotty was…kind of adorable, really. And also, a dead giveaway. He glanced over at Miller, who also watched Lilly with a sparkle of amusement in her eye.

Lilly glanced at them and her blood ran cold as she realized they were both staring at her. "What?" she asked warily.

Miller answered first. "I know for a fact you ain't thinkin' about this case," she remarked.

Lilly tried to protest, but Jeffries leaped in smoothly. "You're hangin' on every word of that Spanish pretty close," he mused teasingly.

"Just trying to follow the interview," Lilly lied.

"Oh, give me a break," Miller sighed. "You're standin' here practically droolin'. I sure as hell know where your mind is."

"Yeah? Where?" Lilly asked weakly.

"You're thinkin' about Casanova," she said confidently. "Whoever the hell he is."

Jeffries shot Miller an incredulous glance. Had Kat really not figured it out? He was dumbfounded.

Lilly glanced nervously from one colleague to the other, and realized she was defeated. Her best option was a hasty retreat.

"You got me," she sighed, then smiled brightly. "Besides, I can't understand much Spanish anyway. In fact, I don't even know what the hell I'm doing in here. Let me know what Scotty finds out from this guy. I've got work to do." She left the observation room without a backward glance.

Miller shot Jeffries an amused look as Lilly swept by. "That Casanova guy's makin' her head spin," she commented.

Jeffries briefly entertained the notion of spilling the beans to Miller, then decided against it, suddenly realizing that waiting to see how long it would take her and Vera to figure things out would be far more entertaining.

"Casanova…right," Jeffries said with a smile. "Do we even know his real name?"

Miller shrugged. "Lil won't tell me anything about him, but I did get her to admit that the sex is pretty hot."

Jeffries choked back a laugh. "Well, that's…good," he mused, a touch uncomfortably. Knowing what he knew, that was information he really, really didn't want.

"I can't wait to meet him, to be honest," Miller said, as Scotty rose from his seat and started to head back into the observation room.

"You and me both," Jeffries smiled, as Scotty returned from his interview.

"Get anything good, Scotty?" Miller asked, as Jeffries choked back another laugh. Scotty recapped the interview briefly for his colleagues, then glanced around the observation room.

"Hey, where's Lil?" he asked suddenly. "Wasn't she in here earlier?"

"She was," Miller said, arching a brow.

"Well, where'd she go?" he asked.

"All that Spanish was a little too hot for her to handle," Miller said teasingly.

"No kiddin'," Scotty remarked, his heart beginning to race at the possibilities.

Jeffries smiled. "Said somethin' about it remindin' her of Casanova, and then took off like a shot," he explained.

Scotty suppressed the grin that threatened engulf his entire face. "I think I can have some fun with this," he announced teasingly, heading out of the observation room. Miller also left, muttering something about rustling up some dinner.

Jeffries couldn't suppress the laugh that escaped his lips. Work was suddenly a lot more…amusing…than normal. "I'll just bet you can," he chuckled, as Scotty left.

Gathering up his notes, Jeffries switched gears and turned his detective skills to putting two and two together with Scotty and Lil. He knew they had to have been together since that morning when Valens came in with that Cheshire Cat grin plastered on his face…but had anything been going on before then?

It suddenly hit him. That solid week of fighting they'd had after they went to Tennessee; that week when Lil had cut out early every night, and Scotty'd been slamming drawers and sniping at everyone, and Vera had lost at sports trivia for the first time Jeffries could remember…

Jeffries suddenly realized that it had been going on since...before that. When was the first opportunity they would have had?

The truth dawned on him, and a smile spread across his face. It…it had to have happened…in Nashville.

Well...guess you better never underestimate the power of country music, he mused with a chuckle.

Lilly sat at her desk, desperately trying to focus on the case. That had been way too close. She couldn't believe she'd just spent an entire interview staring through that glass, drooling over Scotty like a damn teenager. She didn't think either one of her colleagues had guessed the source of her staring, though, and that was just fine with her. Let them think she was lovesick over Casanova all they wanted, she didn't care. As long as they didn't find out who Casanova really was, she would take all the crap they cared to dish out.

With a sigh, Lilly tucked a stray tendril of blonde hair behind her ear and flipped through the notes from the original interviews. So successful was she in distracting herself that she didn't notice Scotty come back into the squad room. "Buenas tardes, bella," he whispered playfully in her ear.

Lilly whirled around. "You cannot do that here," she hissed.

"Por que no?" Scotty asked innocently.

"Dammit, Scotty," she burst out.

"What? It's parta the job," he finished with a shrug. "Can I help it that I'm the only detective around here who speaks any kinda Spanish?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Lilly replied in a fierce whisper.

Scotty arched an eyebrow at her as he settled into his desk. "Te gusta el espanol, no?" When she didn't respond, he switched to English. "I thought you liked Spanish," he said teasingly.

Lilly glared icily at him, but her glare did nothing to disguise the desire that flared in her eyes. "You know perfectly well that I like it," she said between clenched teeth.

Oh, Scotty knew, but he sure as hell didn't know how much she liked it, he realized, as he saw the rapid pounding of Lilly's pulse at the base of her throat. Good God. He had no idea he had this kind of power over her. It was intoxicating. It was exhilarating. It was dangerous.

Scotty shot her a wicked glance and launched into a murmured torrent of Spanish.

"Stop it," she insisted. Scotty laughed.

"What the hell did you even say to me, anyway?" Lilly demanded softly, curiosity getting the better of her.

Scotty glanced around furtively, saw that they were alone, and leaned over. "Just told you…in detail… what I'm gonna do to you tonight," he whispered seductively.

Lilly's breath caught in her throat as she met his smoldering gaze. The look in his eyes told her exactly what he intended, and she felt her heart racing. She could feel the heat of his look. She might as well have been naked, the way he was looking at her. She fervently wished they weren't at work, wished she could just grab him, rip his clothes off, and take him then and there.

Scotty smiled knowingly. "Quiero tu cuerpo," he purred, giving the r's in the words a few extra trills.

That did it. Lilly had to get the hell out of there, or she was going to lose it completely. She stood up, gathered up the file, and hightailed it around the corner…

…where she ran smack into Vera. The file went flying, scattering scene photos everywhere, and Lilly watched in horror as the donut Vera carried sailed through the air and landed in the outstretched hands of Kat Miller.

"Nice one, Lil," she congratulated her friend, taking a bite of Vera's donut. "This oughta tide me over 'til dinner."

"What the…?" Vera demanded. "Where's my donut? What the hell just happened here?"

Lilly didn't answer, just frantically gathered up the files and headed for the elevator.

"What the hell's her problem?" he asked Miller.

"Dunno," Miller replied. "I'm thinkin' we mighta found Lil's Achilles heel?"

"Rush has an Achilles heel?" Vera asked incredulously. "I'm all ears."

"Spanish," Miller replied with confidence. "Makes her think about Casanova, and she starts blushin' like a damn schoolgirl."

"Spanish? Too bad I don't know any," Vera replied. "Maybe I can get Valens to teach me some."

"Bet you can," Miller replied with a wicked grin as she polished off her unexpected donut, ignoring Vera's annoyed glare.

Continuing down the hallway, Lilly headed straight for the ladies' room, where she couldn't believe she actually had to soak a paper towel with cold water and hold it to her burning skin. She had no idea what had gotten into her, no idea how Scotty could drive her so absolutely crazy that she was at risk of letting the cat out of the bag. She wanted nothing more than to find some isolated place at Headquarters and just let him take her, and Lilly Rush didn't do that. She was never that unprofessional. She never let a man get the best of her. Ever.

Until now, she realized with chagrin.

Scotty seemed to have taken over her mind; she couldn't concentrate on work anymore. Not today. It was hopeless. As long as he was sitting there, shooting her those sultry glances and saying things in Spanish, trying to think about the case was utterly pointless. Glancing at her watch, Lilly realized with surprise and pleasure that it was after six. As far as she knew, they'd gone as far as they could that day; Vera and Jeffries were going to follow up on the leads obtained from Scotty's interview with Miguel, but she knew neither one of them were planning to stay late that night. If she could just finish up the paperwork she'd been dealing with, she and Scotty could get out of there.

She tossed the paper towel in the trash can, having regained some semblance of a normal demeanor, and headed back into the squad room, where Miller perched on Scotty's desk, the two munching on some kind of dinner, although Lilly couldn't see what.

"Hey, Lil," Miller greeted her around a mouthful of whatever she was eating.

"What are you having?" Lilly asked.

"Mexican," Miller replied gleefully. "Help yourself, there's plenty."

Oh, crap. This is going downhill in a hurry.

"Mexican, huh?" Lilly repeated casually, trying her best to avoid looking in Scotty's direction, to avoid giving him even the slightest bit of encouragement.

Too late, she realized, as she failed in her attempts to avoid his eyes and caught him glancing impishly in her direction. "Yeah," he replied, arching a brow. "My, uh…cousin Jorge from Ice knows all the good places."

Lilly shot him a glare.

"Wanna know what we got?" Miller asked mischievously.

"Not really," Lilly answered, her cheeks already warming.

"Tell her, Scotty," Miller pressed, although Scotty didn't need any help from her.

"Tacos," he said teasingly, his accent the epitome of perfection. "Enchiladas. Fajitas. Burrrrrrritos." He grinned wickedly at her as Miller burst out laughing.

Despite her rising temperature, Lilly remained outwardly calm. "Nice try, Valens," she replied casually.

"Guess it only works when you're picturin' Casanova speaking Spanish," Miller mused. "Damn. I was hopin' that'd be a lot more fun."

Scotty glanced at Lilly quizzically. Either his unintentional Spanish seduction had just been a one-time thing, or Lilly Rush was a better actress than he thought. He briefly entertained the idea of upping the ante, but with Miller sitting right there, he decided against it.

"Chimichangas," he shot in her direction. Oops. Guess his libido never got that memo.

Lilly glared at him icily, and Scotty knew then that he'd gotten to her. He supposed he should have felt guilty about it, but he was having too damn much fun to think about that.

"Have some," Miller indicated the bag with her fork. "We all know how much you like anything Spanish."

Sudden inspiration struck Lilly, and she began to gather up her things. "I'd love to stay, but I'm meeting …someone… for drinks in a few minutes." She headed for the hallway, then turned around and glanced at them triumphantly. "Enjoy your dinner," she called over her shoulder, then breezed out.

Scotty and Miller exchanged a glance. "She must really like this one," Miller mused.

Scotty fought the proud smile that threatened to engulf his face. "Yeah? What makes you say that?"

"Don't think that girl's ever left work before me," Miller replied.

Scotty was about to answer when his phone vibrated against his pocket, indicating he had a text message. Text message? he wondered inwardly, as he fished for his phone. Who the hell would be sending him a text message?

His heart raced when he realized it was from Lilly, and began to race even more when he read the message. "My place ASAP," it read. Trying to disguise his glee, he flipped the phone closed and replaced it in its holder.

"Everything okay?" Miller asked him.

"Yeah, everything's cool," he responded lightly, polishing off his taco. "Just my sister-in-law remindin' me to pick up the cake."

"Cake?" Miller asked, arching a brow.

"Yeah…it's my nephew's birthday," he lied smoothly.

"Didn't know you even had a nephew," Miller replied.

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Miller," Scotty returned with a cocky grin.

When Scotty finally knocked on the door, Lilly sighed with relief. She was almost ashamed to admit how much she wanted him in that moment. She was nearly insane with desire, and he wasn't even in the room yet.

"It's open," she called, and as Scotty pushed the door open, he was astonished, and pleased, to see her wearing that black negligee she'd had in New York. Holy mother of God…she looked even more delicious in that than he'd pictured. She was so sexy it was almost painful, and he felt his body instantly responding to her as she sauntered through the living room, her sapphire eyes glittering with desire.

Lilly didn't say a word, just grabbed his tie, pulled him in, pressed him up against the door, and began devouring him. She shoved his coat to the floor, frantically loosened his tie and threw it somewhere, then rapidly unbuttoned his shirt. He pulled the clip from her hair, causing her blonde locks to tumble over her shoulders like a waterfall, then reluctantly lowered his hands to undo the buttons at his wrists. This done, he shrugged out of his shirt and felt it fall to the floor on top of his jacket.

"You wanna take this to the bedroom?" he murmured against her lips.

"Ask me in Spanish," she demanded breathlessly. He obliged, and they stumbled up the stairs then, shedding the rest of their clothing as they went.

The second they reached Lilly's bedroom, she flipped back the covers on her bed and playfully pushed him down onto it. Scotty grinned in amusement. "Guess that Spanish stuff really works, huh?"

Lilly shot him a dazzling smile. "Guess it must," she replied lightly, then straddled him.

He groaned with pleasure as she perched on top of him, as she blazed a trail of kisses from his lips down the center of his throat to his chest, then lower, toward his stomach, while her hands massaged his thighs. He noticed she was pointedly avoiding the one place he was begging her to touch, and it was driving him crazy. He felt sweat beading on his body as she laid into him, as her talented tongue traced circles of fire on his skin.

"More Spanish," she demanded.

"You don't even know what it means," he panted.

"Not a word," she replied breathlessly.

"But you like it anyway," he murmured, as her lips brushed against his once more.

"Always," she replied, as she claimed his lips and twined her tongue around his.

Scotty was absolutely astounded. He'd never seen this side of Lil, this demanding, take-charge, wild side, and he found that he liked it. He really, really liked it.

As she broke the kiss and began to trace circles on that world-stopping spot behind his earlobe, Scotty hastily searched his mind for some Spanish, any Spanish, and then had a sudden flash of inspiration. Lil didn't understand a word of Spanish, and Scotty realized, with a huge sense of relief, that this meant he could say to her in Spanish…all the things he couldn't in English.

He poured forth a breathless torrent of Spanish then. I love you, Lil. I love you with all my heart. You're the most beautiful, most amazing woman I've ever seen, and I wanna hold you and care for you and be with you and make you laugh and hold you up when you can't stand on your own. I wanna do all those things until the day I die. You make me happier than I've ever been, and I hope to God I can make you feel the same way. I don't know what the hell I ever did to deserve you, but I wanna get down on my knees every day and thank God for lettin' this happen. I love everything about you. I love your blue eyes, your blonde hair, your smile…I love your body…I can't think of a time when I won't look at you and want you then and there…I love how tough you are on the outside and how fragile you are on the inside. I love your mind, I love your dedication, I love you. I love you. I love you.

And then he couldn't talk anymore, because she'd somehow found a condom, sheathed him, and then lowered herself onto him and, he could barely even catch his breath. God, what she was doing felt so good he couldn't even see straight. His vision blurred and primal sounds tore from his throat as she started to do that figure-eight thing again.

Suddenly, he realized that if she kept doing what she was doing, he'd finish long before she did, and he'd be damned if he let that happen. Lil wanted him, so by God, she was going to get him. The absolute best he had to offer.

Meanwhile, Lilly's world was whirling at an alarming pace, and her heart was beating so frantically she thought it might actually escape from her chest. Suddenly, she felt Scotty gripping her slick shoulders and flipping her over. She yelped in surprise, but the glint in Scotty's eyes told her he knew exactly what he was doing, and that she should just relax and enjoy the ride.

He reached between them with one hand and found her center, and she cried out in pleasure as he rubbed it while he continued to thrust inside her. He brought her to the mountaintop slowly; achingly, deliciously slowly, and, during those rare moments her eyes could focus, saw Scotty gazing at her with both tenderness and intensity. God, his eyes were so beautiful. He was beautiful. In every sense of the word.

She came then, screaming in pleasure, fisting the sheets, tears pricking her eyes, but Scotty didn't stop. He backed off slightly, then ramped it up again, resulting in wave upon wave of glorious ecstasy. The end of one was the beginning of the next, on and on and on. Her throat hurt; her mouth was dry, but she didn't care, didn't care if she ever came down from the mountain. Scotty was amazing. She couldn't believe how amazing he was.

Finally, her whole body trembled as she exploded once more, and Scotty slowed his pace then, let her come down from the mountain, gasping for breath and still trembling as she grabbed his arm, hoping for some stability in her rapidly spinning universe. She opened her eyes to find him still gazing at her, and she raised her head to kiss his lips.

"That what you said you were gonna do to me earlier?" she asked hoarsely.

"Some of it," he growled. "I ain't done yet."

He pinned her hands over her head and laced his fingers through hers as he began to thrust in earnest, wanting to make her come one final, glorious time, but he wasn't sure he could hold on long enough. The way she lay there, her ivory skin glistening with sweat, her blue eyes darkened with satisfaction, her hair fanned out on the pillow…God, she was beautiful.

Just when he thought he couldn't hang on any longer, she came again, fighting against his hands, wanting desperately to wrap her arms around him, but he didn't let go until he finished seconds later with a guttural growl, and then he collapsed on top of her, completely spent.

"Thank you," she whispered, as she ran her hands up and down the slick skin of his back. "Thank you," she kept whispering, over and over again. "God, Scotty…that was amazing…you're amazing…"

Despite the fact that he still couldn't catch his breath, couldn't quite force his eyes to focus, he managed to kiss whatever skin was right beneath his lips. Could have been her neck, could have been her shoulder, he wasn't sure, and he didn't care. He loved every part of her with an intensity he didn't know was possible.

"You're welcome," he finally managed. "And…you…that was just mind-blowin'."

"Really?" she asked with a smile.

"Oh, God, yes," he agreed, rolling off her to one side. "I ain't never seen that side of you, Lil."

"Like it?" she asked, almost shyly.

He pressed a kiss to her lips. "Claro que si," he replied.

A/N: Pesky real life is set to intrude, so I'm not sure how long it'll take me to get the next chapter up. I'll try to make it soon!