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She felt his eyes on her, heard the shifting fabric of his clothes as he leaned against the wall, but she kept her gaze to Bernie’s old recipe book on the counter and let him look his fill.
He’d confessed to her once, in the covering darkness of their room, in the sanctity of their bed, that he’d searched for her in the years he’d been away.
Turned his head to every brunette he passed, stared a little too long into the dark eyes of a stranger, found shades of her in the paintings he’d seen and glimpsed traces of her in the sculptures.
He’d missed her, desperately, and since the night he’d told her that, she kept her silence and gave him what he needed whenever she felt the warmth of his gaze brushing across her skin.
Truth was, she needed it as much as he did.
She needed to wake in the morning to his fingertips gently trailing over the lines of her face; she needed to lean back against him in the bath at night and feel them do the same to her body.
She needed to know that this was real, she needed the reminder that he was hers, she needed to remember that he always had been.
Even when there’d been a marriage between them, an ocean between them, years between them, he’d always been hers.
When the soft, soothing piano coming from the speaker on the counter ended, and a fast thrumming guitar began, he finally spoke, “Where are the boys?”
“Somewhere being too quiet.” She murmured, lifting her eyes as he eased away from the wall and headed her way.
A sweep of discordant notes rose from the speaker, and leaning back against the counter beside her, he hooked a thumb over his shoulder towards it, “What the hell is this?”
And for a beat, she was struck by the moment. Even after nearly a year of this being their normal, it still hit her at the oddest times.
Elliot Stabler was propped against her counter complaining about her kid’s music. This morning, Elliot Stabler had flipped pancakes at her stove in ragged, low slung sweatpants and nothing else. Last night, Elliot Stabler had fisted a hand in her hair, pulling her to him for a kiss as she rode him.
“Liv?” His low murmur brought her out of her thoughts and back to his question.
Dropping her eyes back to the book, she tried for a casual shrug. “I don’t know. I think it’s one of Noah’s TikTok playlists.”
“We might need to talk to him about his taste.” He said, nudging her shoulder and tipping his head to the speaker when she met his eyes. “This is awful.”
She lifted a brow. “Like you weren’t losing your mind over Milli Vanilli back in the day.”
“That’s not even a comparison.” He countered with that little groove between his brows deepening, and Olivia felt a grin tugging at the corner of her lips. “Hit a sore spot, huh?”
Proving that’s exactly what she’d done, his eyes narrowed and he hooked a thumb over his shoulder again. “You wanna put Blame It On The Rain up against this?”
Her tugging grin stretched into a full blown smile and Elliot’s head tipped back, gaze to the ceiling as he continued his defense, “They’d wipe the floor with this. I can’t believe-“ “At least this guy’s singing himself.” She muttered quietly, but he caught it and cut his eyes to her. “That’s not singing.”
She laughed softly and Elliot straightened from the counter, circling her until she felt the heat of him at her back and heard his low, rough voice at her ear, “And I know you were into them too, don’t lie.”
She had been, in an embarrassingly big way, in a postered wall type of way, and she’d been crushed when the scandal broke, but she wasn’t telling him that.
She’d spill a lot of secrets to this man, and she had, but he wasn’t getting that one.
“Why are we still talking about Milli Vanilli?”
“You didn’t answer me.”
And she wasn’t going to, but unfortunately, for a split second, she’d forgotten that Elliot was always paying attention, and he caught the rising flush answering for her.
“Captain Benson,” he murmured, and she could feel the smile curving his lips as he pressed them to her warm cheek, “is that a blush?”
“Shut up.”
“Feels like one. Let me make sure.” He whispered, lips ghosting across her cheek, fingers gripping her hips and pulling them back into the cradle of his.
Another flashing strike seared through her.
Because deep down inside of her, where she kept all the things she’d never let herself hope for, she’d kept this.
An ordinary day in an ordinary life with a man who loved her. A man she could have ridiculous non-arguments with. A man who’d tease her. A man who’d hold her with strong hands and watch her with soft eyes.
She’d wanted that man to be him. Almost from the first, she’d wanted that man to be him.
And here he was.
Elliot’s lips stilled on her neck when the song ended, and she felt his smile lift against her skin when the next started.
“Now, this…” He murmured, trailing off with a press of his mouth to her bare shoulder exposed by the slouching neck of her sweater.
She tipped her head back, closing her eyes as that familiar lick of heat curled low in her belly. “It’s the same playlist, baby.”
He sucked a soft kiss to the sensitive skin right beneath her ear, muttering there, “Might owe the kid an apology.”
Brushing another kiss just below that one, his hands left her hips, stroking over her body, and Olivia reminded quietly, “Your grandsons and my son are around here somewhere.”
“I’m not gonna lay you out on the counter, Liv.” He whispered against her cheek, one hand dipping beneath the hem of her shirt and settling on her stomach while the other drifted over her chest and up, until his fingers wrapped around her neck, palm cupping her throat.
“Not right now.” He added on a rough rasp, slipping his pinky beneath the waist of her leggings, grazing it lightly over her skin, closer and closer to where she needed him. At that, she gripped the nape of his neck with one hand, and resting the other over his hand at her belly, she fully relaxed in his hold, melting against him.
Her fingertips pressed into his warm skin, holding him to her as she swayed her hips slowly to the beat and Elliot’s followed.
And the moment struck her again, but before it could settle down deep, she brought it to him.
“After everything, did you ever think we’d be here?” She asked softly.
Elliot’s arms tightened around her, pulling her deeper into the cradle of his body as he answered quietly, “We were always gonna be here, Olivia.”
She melted further at that, turning her head and pressing a kiss to his chin.
He read her like he’d always been able to do when they were partners, and he gave her what she wanted like he’d done every day since they’d become more, loosening his hold and tipping his face to her so she could reach his mouth.
She nipped a gentle bite to his bottom lip and he opened for her with a rumbling groan she felt against her back.
In his usual way, the way he knew she loved, he ceded control for a breath of a sigh, before the hand at her belly pressed in hard, and arching her back, in the way she knew he loved, Olivia let him take her how he wanted her.
Strong, sure fingers gripped her throat as Elliot pulled away with a lingering kiss to her top lip followed by a stinging graze of teeth at her bottom, tugging on it lightly. He let it go, and she held his eyes, blood humming in her veins, heart pounding in her chest, as she waited for his next.
He didn’t make her wait long.
Those fingers squeezed hard, parting Olivia’s lips on a stuttering, surprised breath, and he surged back in.
And everything melted away.
Like it had always been with them.
Everything except his fingertips sliding just beneath her panties and stroking a teasing line across the skin there. Everything except his slow rolling hips grinding his hard cock against her ass. Everything except the restraint trembling in the thighs pressed to the back of hers. Everything except his bruising lips and his harsh breaths. Everything except her fingers clenching against his skin and the aching need pulsing between her legs.
Everything except them.
Until a loud thump sounded from somewhere in the apartment and louder little boy giggles followed.
After a silent beat of listening for running feet, Elliot pulled away with a last soft brush of his lips to hers, and Olivia turned in the circle of his arms, wrapping hers around his waist and hugging him tight.
His arms tightened instantly, tucking her closer to his chest, and she touched her lips to his neck, breathing his words back to him, “We were always gonna be here, Elliot.”
Because he’d been right.
From the day they’d met, everything had been leading them here.
Leading them home.