A/N: I'd like to thank the Guest reviewer and BrownEyedDreamr for their comments, as well as everyone who reads the story. Thank you very much.
Disclaimer: I do not own Law and Order: SVU or any of its characters. I do not derive any profits from mentioning the Mohonk Mountain House. And I absolutely don't own Sarah Connor's rendition of Sexual Healing.
A Destination Wedding
"All right", she took a deep breath, "Let's go"
Rafael was driving. Next to him, Annie double-checked the contents of her handbag. She could be mildly paranoid when it came to packing.
"Sure you have everything?", he provoked her.
"Don't"
They were headed to Lake Mohonk. The wedding party was supposed to meet them there. When they had applied for the marriage license, Annie had suggested that they get married at home. He knew she had no desire for extravagance. But everyone deserved the joy of having their special day. So for a nearby wedding destination, Annie had shown a soft spot for Nantucket.
"We could have a beach wedding. There would be waves crashing at our feet..."
"And ruining my shoes", he had said.
He had come up with the scenic Lake Mohonk and the namesake Mountain House. When he suggested that the wedding take place atop the cliff, overlooking the lake, she had reminded him how scared of heights he was. So the wedding was going to be down by the water.
Annie was humming, making music with the blaring horns around them.
"This weekend traffic", Rafael grumbled, "Everyone's headed out of the city"
"None of them have a honeymoon room booked in the Mohonk Mountain House now, do they?", she held up her palm.
He had to give her the high five. Annie was playing with her hair now.
"Speaking of the honeymoon room..."
He fought hard against a smile.
"What exactly will we be doing there?"
"Honeymoon stuff"
"A honeymoon is longer than 24 hours. You obviously are going to take me somewhere after the wedding"
He half-lied,
"No. I have that Jenner hearing on Tuesday, remember?"
Annie was giving him the all-knowing look. He touched her knee,
"We'll go someplace nice after Labor Day, I promise. It will be our late honeymoon"
"It's so cute how you still think, after all these years, that you can hide something from me"
"I am not hiding anything"
"For a lawyer, you are a terrible liar"
He did not pursue the conversation any further. Annie knew him too well to fall for a poorly crafted fib.
He was going to take her to Italy, to the beaches she loved. But due to the Jenner case and other obligations, they were to leave next Saturday. One whole fortnight in the place she adored. He was looking most forward to seeing her in that bikini he had bought.
"Are you listening?", she poked him, "Your mother said they are going to be late"
"How late?"
"They can't find your cousin Umberto. So it's going to be a while", she unlocked her phone.
"Hmph. He is probably in bed with a hooker"
"Easy now, Cubano", she rubbed his shoulder, "They will get there by tonight"
"What about your aunt?"
"Sonny is going to drive her. He's going to go straight to her place after work. Hopefully, they will get there in time for dinner"
The morning sun was shining through the windshield. Rafael put on his sunglasses. Annie took a picture.
"Stop that"
She grinned and checked her phone at the beep.
"Olivia is going to start in the afternoon because she doesn't want to travel with Noah at night"
"Smart"
Annie leaned back in her seat. She said,
"We have a big day ahead of us today"
"An even bigger one tomorrow"
She went on,
"The spa, the couples massage..."
He turned to her,
"What couples massage?"
"...the dinner..."
"Annie, what massage?"
She laughed,
"Do you hear that? How tense you sound? The massage is going to take care of that. And you didn't even want a stag night. I don't want you to be wound up tight on our wedding day"
"I don't like stag nights or massages"
She muttered,
"What's new?"
"I mean", he glanced at her, "I don't like getting massages from strangers"
"Nice try. You're not getting one from me until we are back at home"
"And couple massages sound so tacky..."
"Here we go"
"I don't like the idea of you being naked in my presence and me not getting to touch you"
She grinned,
"I'm not going to be naked. There will be a towel on me"
Further conversation was prevented when Annie retrieved her bag of snacks. She held out the baggy of roasted pistachios to him. Helping himself to a few, Rafael asked,
"When did you get into healthy snacking?"
"When I got a wedding dress I had to fit into. But I'm smart", Annie tapped her head with a finger, "I got it just a week before the wedding. So no dieting for months to maintain my size. How much am I gonna expand in a week, y'know?"
Rafael smiled. Classic Annie wisdom. And he had a lifetime of it to look forward to.
The whole wedding party was seated at the dinner table. Rafael had made Olivia sit next to him on one side and Annie was on the other. The conversation never ceased. Carisi was on his best behavior in front of the Sergeant. While she attended to Noah, Rafael looked to Annie. She was wearing her hair different. Or maybe it was the spa day. He leaned in towards her and said,
"You're glowing"
Annie smiled and kissed him.
"That's because I'm the luckiest bride in the world"
He smiled and kissed her back. His Uncle interrupted them.
"Save something for the wedding night!"
Annie's hand on his under the table stopped him from giving a curt reply to that. He didn't join in the laughter, but looked at Annie and let go off the anger.
"Excuse me, Miss Dalton?"
A server came to her. He gave her a card. Rafael tried to read.
"Who is it?"
The color had left Annie's face. She smiled still.
"It's Shirley. She made it"
"Shirley? You said you didn't invite her"
"Well, I guess she surprised me. I'm gonna go talk to her"
"Ask her to join us"
"No. She's tired. That's why she sent the card", she pushed back her chair, "I'll go get her a room. Excuse me, everyone"
Rafael watched her leave and head to the lobby.
Everybody had the wedding fever. Especially his mother. She had almost shoved him out of Annie's room, saying he was to sleep in a different one. Grumpy (and kind of horny for his bride), Rafael went to the room. They had already moved his bag there. He checked the closet for his suit. That too.
"Great", he sighed.
After he dimmed the lights, Rafael began to unbutton his shirt, standing over the bed. The doorbell rang.
"Room service!"
He replied,
"I didn't order any"
The nasal voice called,
"Compliments of the bride!"
He opened the door and the attendant pushed him back towards the bed. She locked the door and put the key in her pocket.
"What the hell is..."
She flipped the light on.
"Annie?!"
Biting her lip, Annie took full advantage of his shock. She pushed him on to the bed and cuffed his hands.
"Don't worry", she kissed his ear, "They're velvet"
Rafael couldn't even blink. Annie touched some buttons on her phone and put it on the table. She undid her waistcoat.
"Annie, what are you..."
"Hush", she smiled.
A woman sang Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing through the phone. Annie moved her hips as she held the ends of her shirt apart. Walking to him and back, giving him just a peek, she faced the wall.
Oh baby now let's get down tonight...
Her shirt flew right off her hands. It was such a typical stripper move. She held the wall and moved her hips, making his mouth dry from all the gaping.
"Where did you learn that?"
Annie turned to him.
'She is going to be the death of me', Rafael kept on gawking.
Her voice was throaty.
"Remember when I said I was taking dance lessons last week?"
"Yeah?"
She grinned, still swaying,
"I never said ballroom dancing, did I?"
Rafael watched her plant her foot next to him on the bed. She leaned forward, exposing her cleavage, and ripped the leg off her pants. Pulling that foot down, she placed her other foot on his other side and did it again.
"Annie... wow"
She hated shorts. Said they made her butt look bigger. Yet there she was, dancing in those tight shorts she filled out so nice. To him, her butt looked spectacular.
"Are you ready for the big finish?"
He nodded, mesmerized. Annie removed her shorts, painfully slow. Slipping them off, she danced over to Rafael's lap. He was so hard; he winced when she touched it.
"Oh", she whispered, "Looks like you enjoyed the performance"
Annie grind against him. She was breathing heavily.
"You're making me so wet, Raf"
"Then remove these cuffs and let me take care of you"
"No", she dry-humped him, harder, "That's for tomorrow night"
She held his face against her breast, riding him over his clothes. Rafael groaned and said her name like it were a prayer. She was bringing him close.
"Annie... oh. Oh fuck"
He came right inside his pants. Annie slowed down. Rafael's head hung low as he struggled to catch his breath.
"Good boy"
His green eyes looked up into hers.
"Take off these cuffs", he breathed, "Right now"
In answer, she got off his lap and retrieved her clothes. He watched her take off her bra and her panties. She threw them on the bed.
"Souvenirs", Annie winked.
He was getting hard again, watching her wear those hotel staff clothes sans the underwear. Once dressed, she came to him and put the key in his handcuffs. She kissed his cheek and said,
"Sorry. I'm scared of what you'll do to me if I un-cuff you"
"You should be"
Smiling, Annie walked to the door.
"Don't follow me", she said seriously, "Get some sleep"
"Sleep, my ass. Get me out of these. Annie? Annie!"
She had left as quietly as she had come.
It took Rafael a long time to get out of those cuffs. Stupid movies made it look so easy. Once he finally did get rid of them, he headed straight for Annie's suite.
He gave a light tap on her door. No answer. He kept his voice low.
"Annie, open up"
Another knock and no answer. He could have called but his phone was back in his room. Desperate to have her, Rafael considered all possible ways to accomplish his goal. He peeped through the door but it didn't work. Striking upon what seemed a brilliant idea to him, he ran off towards the grounds.
Prowling under the windows of the resort and feeling like a horny teenager, Rafael was so glad their rooms were on the ground floor. Now he had to figure out what window was hers.
"Shit", he hid behind a tree.
Someone had opened a window. A man climbed out of it. Rafael peeked at him. The man's back was to him as he hurried off the grounds.
Rafael thought of reporting the incident when a figure leaned out of the window.
Her bright makeup was still on her face. She was in the hotel robe as she watched the man till he was out of sight. Rafael had been struck dumb. The woman was Annie.