Chapter 10
Pelican Point Resort & Spa: Elliot's Room – 12:27 p.m.
"How was your massage?" Elliot asked hearing Olivia walk through the door.
"Incredible." She sighed, plopping down on the couch beside Elliot, "How about yours?"
"I almost fell asleep." Elliot admitted, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling Olivia to his side.
"Well, I don't think you could be any more relaxed than that." She said, relaxing her body into his.
"I don't know. This seems pretty nice." Elliot smiled. They peered out the window, watching people enjoying the water and beach.
"Yeah. It does." Olivia said, closing her eyes.
After a few minutes Elliot spoke, "You look like you are feeling better."
"Oh my god." Olivia laughed, "Are you ever going to forget about it?"
Elliot chuckled, ""Not until someone else pukes on a 20km run and then rallies back to come in first. It was bad ass."
Olivia hit his chest with her palm, "Not one of my finest moments."
Elliot laughed. He placed a kiss on the top of her head before resting his cheek there.
"Kyle mentioned a trip to the other side of the lake this afternoon. You feeling up to that?"
"It would be a shame to waste such a beautiful day." Olivia sighed, "What time are the boats leaving?"
"Kyle said two o'clock. We have about an hour to kill, any ideas?" Elliot poked her ribs.
Olivia turned and placed a soft kiss on Elliot's lips, "I may be able to think of something."
"A nap?" Elliot whispered.
Olivia placed another kiss on his lips, "You read my mind."
Wrapped in each other's arms, Elliot and Olivia fell into a light sleep.
Olivia woke first. She glanced at the clock to see that she had only been asleep for 45 minutes. Olivia slowly slid out from Elliot's embrace and wandered to the washroom. She splashed her face with water and took inventory of the paintball and bite marks on her torso. Olivia thought back to her massage session. I know what it's like to live without him, and it's something I never want to feel again. Olivia replayed these words over and over; shocked by the truth behind them. What was going to happen when they realized that they can't keep this a secret anymore? Or heaven forbid, Elliot realizes that she carries with her too much baggage.
Hearing footsteps padding towards the bathroom, Olivia patted her face with a hand towel and waited for Elliot's arms to wrap around her waist. On cue, his strong forearms came to rest on her abdomen.
"I could hear you thinking from the couch," Elliot said pressing a kiss to her temple, "What's going on Liv?"
Olivia smiled at him through the mirror, "Nothing El. I'm good."
"You sure?" Elliot received a smile and a nod, "Alright."
"I'm going to grab my bathing suit. We could head down early, grab a late lunch before we head out?" Olivia moved to exit the bathroom.
Elliot nodded and smiled, "What suit are you going to wear?"
Olivia turned and shrugged her shoulders.
"You should wear that little black thing you brought." Elliot smirked at the surprised look on her face, "I saw it on your bed the morning we left for JFK."
Olivia squinted her eyes and ran her tongue along her bottom lip. She put her hands on her hips and cocked her head slightly, "You've been waiting to see it haven't you?"
"Liv. I've been dreaming about it." Elliot admitted.
Olivia laughed and moved to her suitcase. She brought out her jean shorts, a black t-shirt, and the black bikini. She had bought it with Casey on a dare, and packed it just in case. She hesitated for a moment before throwing it onto the bed with her other clothes. When she walked back into the bathroom she saw Elliot holding up two pairs of swim trunks. Her eyes scanned down his bare back all the way to his feet, stopping a few moments to admire his bare backside.
"I like the one's you're wearing." Olivia smirked from the doorway.
Elliot caught her eyes in the mirror. He chuckled, watching her eyes wander over his bare form. "Well I'm glad you like it, but I'm not sure how the guys would react, if I showed up at the dock naked."
"I do." Olivia laughed, "Wear the black ones. We can match."
Elliot grinned noticing the black strap peeking out from under her white t-shirt. Elliot put on the black trunks and a navy NYPD t-shirt. He exited the bathroom to see Olivia applying sun lotion to her arms.
"Want some?" Olivia asked.
"No I'm fine thanks." Elliot waved his hand.
"Elliot, I know you hate sunscreen, but the sun on the lake is going to be more intense, and I don't think I can handle a sunburned Stabler." Olivia chuckled tossing him the bottle.
Elliot looked at her, an amused smile gracing his face, "Fine. But only if you do me."
Olivia scoffed, but grabbed the bottle from his hands and helped him apply the sunscreen to his back, definitely not minding the opportunity to trail her hands over his muscles.
Pelican Point Resort & Spa: Boat Docks – 1:52 p.m.
After grabbing a quick lunch, Olivia and Elliot wandered down to the boat docks. They found Fin standing by the dockside, talking with Mike and his team.
"Benson. Stabler." Mike said.
"Hey Mike." Elliot nodded, "How's your afternoon?"
"Pretty good. Spent some time in the mineral pool. Not sure if the minerals did anything, but the beer certainly helped my hangover."
Olivia shook her head and smiled, "I'm glad last night hasn't kept you down."
"Hah! Thanks. I hear I'm not the only one who can puke and rally." Mike chuckled.
Olivia glared at a laughing Elliot through her sunglasses, "Yes," she turned to Fin, "Where's Munch and Cap?"
Fin nodded his head over to the captain who stood talking with a female captain from Boston. "Munch is with that lady lieutenant and Cap found himself a Cap."
Olivia laughed, "Good for him!"
The group made their way down to the boats tied up on the dock. Olivia, Elliot, Fin, and Mike stepped onto one and sat back on the warm leather couches. A few other officers joined them on the boat, engaging in conversations about the day, and laughing about events from the night prior. The boats pulled away from the docks and slowly made their way across the lake.
Olivia felt the sun beating down, warming her skin and the dark fabric of her t-shirt and shorts. She stretched her legs out and put her hands behind her head. She closed her eyes and listened to dull hum of the boat's jets and conversations around her. The wind blew a cool breeze through her hair. She rolled her head to the side and opened her eyes. She watched as the shore rolled past her; tall pine and birch trees lining sandy beach and navy water. As their trip continued the beaches turned into large sandy hills. Her eyes moved from the shore to Elliot, who was engaged in a conversation with Fin and a few other officers. She watched as he laughed at someone's comment. His smile softened but remained on his face while he continued to interact with the people around them. As he brought the neck of his beer bottle to his lips, his eyes glanced over to her, he smiled at her, almost a question in his lips. She smiled back before rolling her head back to watch the small, puffy clouds pass overhead.
The boat slowed down, encouraging the boat's occupants to look up at their destination. The boat neared a white sandy beach. The floor of the lake was rippled with soft white sand, and the main beach area was only a few feet deep. The beach was cut off by the face of a sand hill, 40 feet tall, stretching along the edge of the beach. On the top of the hill, the boreal forest continued, tall pine stretched high and mighty. The boats drifted into the shallow waters, and anchored off on some drift wood on the beach. Resort employees grabbed coolers and totes off the boats and carried them to the shore, setting up umbrellas and tables at the base of the hill.
The officers began to stand and exit the boats, a few opting to remain on the vessel longer. Olivia watched Elliot hop off the front of the boat, into the knee-deep water. She looked down at it hesitantly.
Elliot held his hand out. Olivia handed him their towels, and shimmied to the edge. "I promise it's nice and warm." Elliot joked.
Olivia slid off the edge, hissing when her legs contacted the chilled water, "Liar."
Olivia grabbed her towel and quickly made her way out of the water. The beach had filled up with officers, chairs and towels. Olivia climbed up the sand hill a few feet and laid out her towel on the warm sand. She settled down onto it. She smiled as Elliot did the same. The incline of the hill allowed for her to lay back and watch the activities of the beach. Feeling the sun beat down on her skin was filling Olivia with regret. She wished she hadn't worn a t-shirt, or better yet, a swim suit that covered more than the one she was currently wearing. Elliot had traveled down to the water minutes ago and was now talking with Fin and Mike. Olivia ran her water bottle over her forehead and neck. It wasn't helping as it did the last three times, so Olivia bit the bullet. She may be uncomfortable with the stares, but she was even more uncomfortable with the level of heat she was dealing with.
Before she had gotten within 10 feet of him, Elliot knew Olivia was coming over. He watched Mike's eyes, as well as other officers, following a figure coming closer to him. In the middle of his sentence, he turned his head to find her and his words were cut short. Olivia was walking towards him, wearing the bikini he had dreamed about. And it was so much better than he could have imagined. The black bralette top, covered little skin. Two thin double straps held up her voluptuous breasts, traveled over her shoulders, and crossed in the back and attaching to the bra-clasp in the back. His eyes traveled down her toned abdomen, and rested on her hips. Her dark wash shorts hung open, giving him a taste of the black, strappy bottoms she was wearing. He knew that underneath the short denim, a pair of very cheeky cut bottoms hid, waiting for him to find them. Olivia waded into the water, feeling the cool liquid gently splashing against her ankles.
She felt her body cool slightly, but the sun continued to beat down on her skin. Elliot's intense stare did not help alleviate the heat from her body.
"Hey, Olivia," Mike yelled in her direction, "you want to join us for some beersby?"
Olivia held her hand over her eyes, and raised the water bottle in her other hand, "thanks but I'm just drinking water today."
Mike shrugged his shoulders looking at Elliot and walked deeper to where the beersby poles had been set up.
Elliot walked towards Olivia. "You sure Liv? I'll drink for you. I know you're the best shot in New York, so I imagine we'll kick their asses." Elliot placed his hand on her upper back.
"I know we'd kick their asses, it's just way too cold out there. I just came down to cool off for a minute." Olivia smiled, trying to control her breathing. Elliot's eyes continued to travel the length of her body. His finger now toyed with the crossed straps on her back.
"Yeah? And how's that going?" Elliot leaned in closer.
Olivia's breath hitched hearing the lust in his voice, "I...uh.."
"Cause you look pretty bothered to me."
Olivia heard the lust turn into mischief.
"I could help you cool off Miss Benson." Elliot's hand went to her shoulder. Before she could respond, Elliot bent down, hooked his arm under her knees and lifted her from the ground. Olivia let out a shriek and Elliot began walking deeper into the lake; loud cheers from the beach drowned out Olivia's protests. Elliot stopped as the water hit his waist.
"C'mon El! Put me down!" Olivia whined, feeling the water splash onto her denim clad rear.
"As you wish. Hold onto your glasses!" Elliot chuckled.
"Wha..." Olivia was cut off as Elliot's arms relaxed, dropping her into the cool lake water. Elliot turned to bow to the crowd on the beach.
Olivia felt her skin cool instantly, but the rage inside burned hot. As she broke the surface of the water, she saw Elliot's victory dance. Seizing the opportunity, Olivia jumped up, wrapping her arms around his chest and legs around his waist. Using her body weight and the surprise, she knocked his off balances and fell backwards into the water.
Both detectives came up to a roar of laughter on the beach. Elliot wiped the water from his eyes and spun around to face Olivia.
She stood with her hands on her hips, "you deserved that and more!"
Elliot laughed, "But you're cooled off how aren't you."
Olivia nodded in defeat.
"Great! So come on! I need a partner to beat Fin and Mike."
The detectives played a few rounds of beersby, before another set of officers came over to play a round themselves.
As the sun moved closer to the trees, the air began to cool off. Elliot, Olivia and Fin joined up with Cragen and Munch by the beach fire that the staff had stoked. The resort staff brought out hot dogs, buns and condiments for the beach occupants to feast on.
"You two looked like you were having fun out there." Munch said eyeing up the partners.
"About as much fun as you were having with Julie" Olivia shot back.
"We were having fun. She is a very intelligent lady who, like myself, is skeptical of so called government transparency."
"Looks like you found wife number five, John." Cragen quipped. Earning laughs from the three other detectives.
"Well Cap it seems as though you've made quite an impression too" Olivia nodded her head across the fire. A friendly smile came towards Don from the Boston Captain he'd been talking too earlier.
Don chuckled and nodded his head. "Yes quite the getaway we've been forced to come on. You all still mad at one-p-p?"
The detectives sat in consideration. As much as day one had sucked, the remainder of the retreat had been incredibly relaxing and fun.
Elliot was just about to reply when a Tarzan-like call bellowed through the air. An RCMP officer had managed to climb to the top of the sand hill and was now banging on his chest, hollering like the king of the jungle. He began running, which appeared more like stumbling, down the steep hill. He picked up speed and continued down the hill, across the beach, and through the shallow water before losing his footing and landing face first in the water.
"You would think these were kids on spring break." Cragen laughed.
"I'm not sure about the rest of you, but spring break had a lot more alcohol, and sex, than this retreat." Fin chuckled.
"I'm sure there is a fair bit of both going on right under your nose detective Tutuola." Munch grinned, looking over his glasses at his coworkers.
Other detectives and officers had begun settling in by the fire, which was now being stoked to combat the cool evening air.
Olivia shivered and climbed back up to where her towel was laid out. The combination of the setting sun and wet clothing, caused a chill to run through her body. Olivia put her t-shirt back on and dusted off her towel. Another shiver ran down her spine.
"You should take off your shorts." Elliot's deep voice caused her to jump. She shot an eye roll over her shoulder.
"In your dreams."
"Yes. Always. But I'm being serious, those wet shorts are only going to keep you chilled. You should take them off and wrap up in the towels."
"You just want to see my ass." Olivia teased, lowering her voice.
"As I said earlier, always."
Olivia smiled. She never felt self-conscious around him. Even in sweats no make-up and a messy two-day bun, he made her feel like the sexiest woman alive.
She decided to play into his little game, deciding that it wound in fact be better to take off the wet shorts. Teasing him would be a bonus.
Olivia moves her hands to the front of her shorts and quickly undid the button and zipper. Slowly, looking to see that Elliot was the only one paying attention, she hooked her thumbs into the waits of the denim and slowly shook her hips.
Elliot watched the denim slowly falling as she added a little more shake than needed for the job. He definitely was not complaining though. He managed to contain his reaction until the shorts dropped enough to reveal just how daring her bottoms were. Multiple thin straps criss crossed over her hips and around the top of her ass. The black material gather at the top center of her bottoms and covered only enough to say she wasn't naked. Elliot took a deep breath seeing her incredible ass, accentuated by the cheeky cut. He knew it was dangerous for him to be here right now, but he couldn't tear his eyes away.
Finally, Olivia turned around, satisfied with his reaction, "That was for dropping me in the water!"
"I need to drop you more often."
Olivia threw his towel at his face, "You might want to cover that up." Olivia smirked, eyeing the recent tightening of his trunks.
Olivia wrapped her own towel around her waist and traveled across the edge of the hill, back to the fire, Elliot close on her heels. Olivia sat down on the hillside, enjoying the warm sand and heat from the fire.
The occupants of the beach had settled into an unintentional circle. Music played softly from one of the boats, water lapped gently at the sand on the beach, and the undeniable sound of new found friends and colleagues echoed across the water. As the sun continued to drop, the temperature did as well. The staff kept the fire stoked well, but Olivia couldn't stop the chill running up her spine and down the backs of her arms. She leaned forward towards the fire and wrapped her arms around herself.
She soon felt a towel wrapping over her shoulders and a strong hand pulling her to his side. Olivia settled into it, before coming to her senses. She looked up to Elliot. He continued to maintain a conversation with Fin, who had joined them on the hillside not long ago.
Feeling her pull back, Elliot looked at Olivia questioningly.
"What are you doing El?" She said quietly.
Elliot tilted his head, "Warming up my girlfriend. But to other eyes, sharing my towel with my partner who is cold."
Olivia remained still.
"C'mon Liv. This is not even close to the most compromising position that we've been in around our coworkers." Elliot chuckled, replaying a few of his favorite office memories.
Olivia scanned the fire. Don and Munch were busy with their new-found friends, and Elliot was conversing with Fin and Mike. Olivia settled back into Elliot's side, closing her eyes. The sounds of the beach and skin to skin contact with Elliot was enough to put her to sleep. Knowing that falling asleep was a very real possibility, Olivia opened her eyes. When she did, they connected, briefly, with her Captain's. He broke the connection quickly, and grinned at something the Chicago Captain had whispered in his ear.
Before the sun could set completely, the staff loaded the boats and put out the fire. Making sure everyone and all belongings were accounted for, the boats began their journey across the lake. Olivia stayed huddled into Elliot's side near the back of the boat. Her shiver broke him from his conversation with Mike. He tightened his grip, moving his hand further down on her hip and continued discussing football.
The walk, or jog, back to the hotel was quick. Olivia, still without shorts, sighed in relief when the warm air of the hotel reached her skin. The squad shared a ride up the elevator and agreed to meet for drinks before the dinner and dance the resort was putting on for their last day. With final 'good night' s out of the way, the detectives went to their rooms, exhausted from the day, and night, prior.
Elliot changed into a clean pair of boxer briefs and a pair of grey sweats. Before he was able to get his key card into Olivia's door, Elliot heard a door open behind him. Please be Fin. Please be Fin.
For once, Elliot's luck was in line. Fin smirked.
"Stabler."
"Uh. Hey."
"I'm just grabbing some ice." Fin held up an ice bin.
"Oh yeah. I'm just... um..."
Fin smirked, "Relax Stabler. Like I told Liv, mums the word. As long as you're good to her, you've got my blessing man."
Elliot's body relaxed. "Thanks Fin. I ... she's everything."
Fin gave him a wink and patted his shoulder before turning down the hall towards the ice machine.
Elliot waited a minute before unlocking the door and slipping inside.
Olivia was exactly how he had left her, in a wet white t-shirt, wet bottoms, and a sandy towel. She stood in the middle of the room shivering.
"What's going on?"
"I'm cold." She said nonchalantly through chattering teeth.
"Okay, well there are ways to fix that. Clothes, blankets... shared body heat."
Olivia rolled her eyes and smiled, "It may be hard to believe, but I'm not a child. I have a bath running, but I didn't want to get undressed until the water was ready, and I can't sit down because I'm all sandy."
"Okay. That's fair." Elliot peered into the bathroom. The bubbles piled high and steam covered the small mirrored walls. "Well. I think your bath is ready. You want any company?"
Olivia's eyes became serious, "Well you should know how dangerous it is to leave a child in the bath by themselves."
He shook his head and smiled as she walked passed him, dropping her towel and t-shirt on the way.