Okay, so I'm doing great after my surgery. And I miscounted chapters, there's plenty of teasing in this one, but the hardcore smut is in Chapter Five. Sorry!
Chapter Four:
After a brief wrong turn, Olivia finally reached the bathroom, grasping the edge of the shining white sink with both hands as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her face was still hot and the dark circles of her pupils had expanded to swallow the brown irises of her eyes. She could feel the tips of her breasts scraping uncomfortably against the bust of her dress. Normally, she enjoyed the fact that her girlfriend was affectionate, even teasing, but not in public, especially when they were guests of her father and grandparents in a huge house that could eat most other houses for breakfast.
Taking a washcloth from a silver bar attached to the wall, she wetted one corner and tried to cool down her face. Alex always coaxed such profound responses from her body, and sometimes she did not know how to cope.
"Ahem, I see you found the place all right, Detective," a familiar voice purred from behind her as pale, slender arms wrapped around her waist. Still skittish, Olivia jumped. Alex Cabot, a possessive gleam in her eyes, had wandered into the bathroom behind her and was now in the process of closing the door.
"Uh..." Olivia replied weakly. Having her lover so close was doing nothing for her self-control, or ability to douse the flames inside her. "Detective skills come in handy?"
When the blonde took another step forward, trapping Olivia against the vanity with her body, the brunette had to fight the urge to melt into the floor. "You have other skills I like better."
She was purring. Alex was purring. Had she not been at the dinner table? Had she not just put up with the most insane conversation ever? Had she not run her fingernails lightly down the inside of Olivia's thigh, making the brunette wetter than she thought was possible when dining with her in-laws?
"Alex - gah... don't... why are you even here?"
The attorney smiled devilishly, trailing a teasing fingertip down Olivia's jaw and over the jumping pulse in her neck. "I was concerned about you. I came to see if you needed any... help..."
Alex's hands settled at the flare of Olivia's hips, stroking the sides of her dress and exploring delicious, familiar curves.
"Guh - um... n-no! I'm fine! Just... god, not here! They don't need any more reasons to hate me."
Alex's nose was nuzzling at her ear, making it very, very hard for Olivia to think straight. "I'm pretty sure if I slid my hand down now I'd find you wet for me, baby." All that echoed through the bathroom was a soft moan, followed by a whimper when Alex's hands found the edge of the brunette's dress and lifted, sliding it up curves and over hips.
"Mmm, I want to taste you."
A clever hand snaked underneath the skirt of her dress, grazing the wet material of Olivia's panties and making her shudder. The detective gasped, her eyes closing slightly at the soft pressure. "I knew you'd be wet for me..." she said, sounding more than a little smug.
With the last of her willpower, Olivia squirmed out of Alex's embrace, trying to break the seductive spell that the blonde was casting over her. "No. Bad, bad, bad! Very bad idea. They're gonna wonder where we are..." she said, sounding more than a little panicked as she headed for the door and straightened her dress. She couldn't help but chuckle nervously at Alex's pout, however, since the blonde looked like someone had stolen her cookie.
"You didn't honestly think we were going to have sex in the bathroom of your father's house, did you?"
The blonde pouted harder. "It's the only room with a lock."
"Alex! They're expecting us back at the table!"
For a moment, Olivia considered grabbing Alex's hand and dragging her back, but decided that touching the blonde was really not a good idea right now. Her body was still humming with electricity from the attorney's soft touch and she didn't trust herself. Making her escape, Olivia stumbled out of the bathroom, hoping that she looked somewhat presentable and that she would remember the way back to the dining room.
Fortunately, Alex stopped her from making another wrong turn to her left. "Left on the way there, right on the way back," she said, still sounding disappointed and slightly sulky.
"I knew that," Olivia grumbled.
"You owe me another Christmas present," Alex said grumpily.
"Because I wouldn't..."
"Yes! Exactly."
Olivia stopped in the corridor staring at the blonde who was still pouting. "You can't be serious!"
"Baby, this lunch isn't exactly fun for me either. I was just trying to make it a slightly better experience for both of us."
"Dear lord, what would your father say?"
"Probably: Alexandra, what on earth are you doing? Couldn't you at least give oral sex to someone of a higher social standing?" Alex rolled her eyes, continuing back into the dining room before Olivia could offer a rejoinder.
"Hello, dears, we thought you had gotten lost," said Edna, smiling to greet Alex and Olivia as they took their seats at the table. While the two male Cabots fussed at Alex for her untimely departure from lunch, Edna offered Olivia a wink, which only made her more uncomfortable. She had the distinct feeling that Edna knew what had almost happened and she could only hope that Alex's father and grandfather remained oblivious.
The main course, which naturally was turkey, came as a bit of a relief to the detective, who really just wanted to put her head down and eat. As soon as dessert was over, she fully intended to pretend she was on call get back to the precinct. As much as she liked Alex's grandmother, she wasn't sure how much more of the Cabots she could take. How had Alex survived?
Over the course of eating the turkey, however, she came up with at least one plausible explanation.
After Alexander Cabot had pulled out his fifth story in a row about his daughter's brilliant achievements growing up, she fought the urge to yell. If Alex's father had just been showing off, proud about his daughter, it would have been fine. In fact, Olivia might have joined in. However, the older Cabot was clearly just trying to make a point about the difference between Olivia and his daughter, and it was working.
To make it worse, Alex didn't even seem to notice. She was still sulking, upset that Olivia had not wanted to make love in the bathroom. Alex Cabot was used to being irresistible and getting her way, and the brunette's rejection had upset her more than she wanted to admit.
Edna, who sensed the tension between the two, tried to offer a bridge to reconciliation. "So, Alex, how did you and Olivia meet?"
Alex forgot her displeasure for a brief moment and smiled at the memory. "I came up to her at work one day and told her that I was going to use all of her hard work to 'reach a broader constituency'." She had given Olivia a similar speech to the one she presented Captain Cragen during their breakfast meeting. Like Cragen, Olivia had not reacted kindly to her attitude. Wisely, Alex decided to leave out the part of the story about the Morris Commission.
Olivia almost choked on her turkey when Alexander Cabot nodded in approval, as if 'reaching a broader constituency' was the entire reason his daughter had started prosecuting SVU cases.
"Oh god, you sound just like your father," Edna laughed. "I imagine that went over so well with you, dear."
Olivia grinned sheepishly. "I might have thought she was a little stuck up, yes."
"Stuck up on what?" Emerson said loudly. "I don't understand, speak louder."
"She thought I was an arrogant bitch, grandpa," Alex said quite cheerily.
"Alex!"
To Olivia's surprise, the admonishment had come from not just Alexander, but also from his mother.
"Don't use such language."
"Don't call yourself that, dear," Edna said simultaneously.
The detective smiled. "She proved me wrong. Determined, intelligent, and professional, but not an arrogant bitch." She was hoping that the compliments would soothe Alex's lingering irritation so that they could continue enjoying themselves once they returned home after lunch. It was Christmas, and Olivia was more than willing to participate in some extracurricular activities... just not in the middle of a meal with the Cabots.
Alex seemed slightly mollified and allowed her hand to caress Olivia's bare knee. Foreseeing a continuation of their earlier problem and not wanting to repeat it, Olivia placed her own hand on top of Alex's, accepting the touch but firmly holding it in place so that her fingers would not wander any higher. Alex seemed to accept the compromise, at least for the moment.
"So, Olivia dear, what does the New Year hold for you?" The only person at the table addressing the detective was Edna. While Emerson made a few obscure references, Alexander Cabot was basically ignoring his daughter's girlfriend.
"Probably not much different than the Old Year," Olivia admitted, "except with more Alex in it."
"I have a feeling it will be a wonderful year for you both," Edna said kindly.
"What?" Emerson interrupted gruffly, still obviously not picking up on the two women's romantic relationship. Olivia had to remind herself not to roll her eyes. "Why would Alex want to spend New Years with her instead of her young man, Raymond?"
Alexander Cabot looked startled for a moment, but then he gave his daughter a knowing look. "Yes, Alexandra, why is that?"
"Aside from the fact that she is a wonderful, admirable person? Because Olivia is a better lover, honestly," Alex finally said through clenched teeth, more than fed up with the ill treatment her detective was receiving.
"Oh now, Alex honey, don't go provoking the tigers, that's my job," Edna said joyfully with a drink of her wine, effectively cutting off her son, who looked mortified. Emerson, naturally, hadn't heard a word.
"Raymond is not my young man, Grandpa," Alex projected across the table. "He wouldn't keep his hands to himself."
The eldest Cabot at the table adopted a disapproving look. "Oh, the young cad! You're well to be short shrift of him."
"I love how your grandparents talk."
"We were raised in a different era, dear," Edna replied distractedly, filling up her glass. Olivia had a feeling the older woman was almost three sheets to the wind now anyway.
In complete awe of what Alex had said – mostly, in fact, of whom she had directed the statements towards – Olivia was not sure whether she felt horrified, elated, or both. Yeah, probably both. In all her wildest daydreams (and horrible nightmares) she had never imagined a family gathering quite like this. A disapproving father was one thing, but throw in a drunk and friendly paternal grandmother along with a stodgy and half-deaf old grandfather who had probably never even heard of lesbians, let alone imagined that his granddaughter would turn out to be one, and... well, it made for one interesting Christmas lunch.
About that time, Olivia decided she really didn't care about the outcome of the entire affair. She would try and remain on her best behavior for Alex's sake, but the behavior of the four Cabots was completely out of her control, and she wasn't going to worry about it anymore.
"That's the spirit, dear," Edna chimed in, seeing Olivia's shoulders droop as her posture relaxed. "Nothing to be frightened of. We're all family here."
That was when the waiter came out with the fourth course. For the first time, Olivia felt the stirrings of her appetite return.
And perhaps dessert was the right time for that to happen, since Mrs. Beaton had apparently been rather undecided concerning the menu. She appeared to have made everything. Obviously, the standard Christmas pudding with custard was on view, but the jellies, home made ice cream, trifle, cheesecake, and what appeared to be some kind of caramel pie, were making Olivia's mouth water. She had not eaten too much of the previous courses, but now she was hungry.
"You always did like dessert," Alex remarked with a cheeky grin.
"Mm, good thing I like jogging, too."
"I definitely appreciate your efforts," Alex said, giving her lover a very pointed look that burned as it traveled over her breasts and flat stomach. Olivia knew that if she had been standing or bent over, Alex's eyes would have taken in the lovely curve of her behind as well. She wondered why the attorney was being so daring in front of her family, openly appraising her, but perhaps she wanted to set them on edge and make a point.
Maybe she should have felt embarrassed or used; she was not just a tool for Alex to get revenge on her stuffy male relatives, after all. Instead, she was almost flattered. From what she had seen so far, Alex's father and grandfather could do with a bit of stirring up, anyway. How they had produced her girlfriend she would never be able to fathom.
"You would have liked her mother, dear," Edna grinned at Olivia. Not for the first time, the brunette was taken aback by how the older woman seemed to read her mind. Alex did that, but Olivia and Alex had been dating for a while and Edna was a relative stranger.
The distraction, plus the need to spoon another portion of pie into her mouth, kept Olivia's attention away just enough that she felt the hand lying warmly on her knee smooth upwards, almost to her inner thigh, without any impedance.
Letting out a small, choked sob at the touch, all three of the table's occupants (excluding her suspiciously silent girlfriend) turned to look at her, eyes questioning. "Ummm..." Olivia fumbled, trying to search for an excuse. "This dessert really is excellent." As if to prove her point, she dug another spoonful into her helping of pie and swallowed nervously.
"I've noticed that you keep complimenting the food, Olivia," Alex purred, trying to move her hand higher despite Olivia's attempts to deflect her fingertips. "Well, I guess you do like to eat..."
"Mrs. Beaton is an excellent cook," Emerson mumbled, following Olivia's pie eating with his own large bite. The fact that he had understood just fine made Olivia suddenly suspicious about the true level of the man's deafness, but the thought wasn't allowed to linger for too long.
"Hire the best, never have to re-hire," Alexander said pompously.
Olivia, however, couldn't answer. Alex had 'dropped' her spoon on the ground and as she leaned down to pick it up, two fingers were pressed right into the centre of Olivia's underwear, making the brunette blush and flood with wetness. Realizing that Alex would not be denied until she had gotten what she wanted, Olivia just hoped that she would be able to delay her a little longer until they were in private... And then those fingers pressed in, swirling maddeningly through the thin fabric.
"Alex, dear, stop teasing poor Olivia. I think the top of her head is going to come off," Edna chastised her favorite and only granddaughter.
That was too much for the pitiable detective, who covered her eyes with her palm and shook her head slowly, hiding in the darkness and hoping that the entire day would just rewind and reset itself like a VHS tape.
"I didn't say anything to her, Grandma," Alex replied archly. The look of innocence plastered on her face was not convincing in the slightest.
"Everyone loves a good joke," chuckled Emerson, clearly taking only what he wanted from the conversation. "Did you hear the one about the cylindrical submarine and the seamen?"
Edna shook her head sadly. "I think you just ruined the punch-line on that one, husband."
"Did I?" He frowned, chewing his last piece of pie thoughtfully. "Oh well."
"Why can't women park?" Alex asked.
It was at that point that Olivia decided she couldn't take any more. "Please excuse me, I think I need some fresh air, I'm really not used to all this food."
"Oh, don't leave, Olivia," Alex drawled, keeping a firm grip on Olivia's leg, preventing her from standing up. She didn't need her detective skills to realize that this was payback for turning Alex down in the bathroom earlier. The blonde wanted to make her suffer, and unfortunately, she was succeeding.
"Fine," Olivia said through gritted teeth. She was really tempted to stab Alex's hand with her fork, and if the attorney did not stop what she was doing, she might just lose it... "why can't women park?"
Alex held up her fingers so they were about three inches apart. "Because men keep telling them this is six inches."
It was a little hard to decide which reaction was better: Alexander Cabot so shocked he sprayed wine all over his empty dessert plate and then glared so hard Olivia thought the glassware might freeze, or Edna Cabot nearly falling off her chair with laughter. Emerson just managed a confused look.
Olivia took the opportunity of Alex's proud chuckle at her family's response to stand up once and for all.
"Excuse me," she said, and fled.