A/N: I added in the prequel "They" just in case you didn't catch it before reading this fic.
He isn't quite sure when they became they.
The subtle brush of their fingers when passing files, his hand at the small of her back walking through doorways, the locking of eyes when he entered a room.
He drove home in a daze after a particularly rough case. At least the child had been recovered and reunited with his mother.
"Walt," Vic softly said, snapping him from his thoughts. He had forgotten she was in the vehicle with him. They were parked in front of his cabin.
He looked at her in the fading sunlight and inwardly cursed. He knew he should turn the ignition and take her to her place. But he didn't have the energy nor the will to do so.
She seemed to read his thoughts and quietly stepped out of the vehicle without a backward glance.
Walt led the way in the dark, not bothering to switch on any lights. Vic sat on the edge of his bed pulling off her boots while he went about his nightly ritual. She was half-asleep by the time he crawled in.
He woke around midnight to a warm body curled around him, blond hair at his nose. His own body stirred and he inwardly groaned. He tried to shift and gently push her away.
Vic sleepily lifted her head and looked at him with hooded eyes before meshing her lips to his.
They made quick work of their T-shirts and underwear before he rolled her onto her back.
As he hovered over her, Walt gazed into her eyes, asking permission. Vic smiled at him and soothingly ran a hand over his jaw. He kissed her palm as he slid into her.
She raked one hand through his hair and grazed the other down his back, wrapping her legs around his waist and arching into him. He buried his face in her neck as he thrust in and out of her.
It had been over two years since he'd been with a woman and Walt knew he wouldn't last long. Vic knew it too.
He moaned as he came. She rode his climax hard, bucking her hips against his, and she breathily sighed as she found her own release.
He eventually tried to move off her but she rather liked his weight and wouldn't let him. They drifted to sleep that way.
With sunlight pouring in, Walt opened one eye to find himself alone in bed. He pulled on his jeans and found Vic in the kitchen making eggs and wearing his T-shirt. She grinned at him when she handed him a mug of fresh coffee.
They settled at the table to eat.
"So we gonna to talk about this?" Walt finally said as he leaned back in his chair. Vic shrugged.
"Do we need to?" she asked, eyeing him.
The phone rang. Ruby needed Walt at the station.
They dressed without a word and rode into town in comfortable silence, his hand on her thigh.
They skittered around each other the next three weeks.
Vic stared out the office window as she absently twirled a lock of hair.
They hadn't exactly had another moment alone since that night. All she could think about was the feel of his body on hers, his smell, his touch …
"Vic!" Walt called out, jolting her out of her daydreaming. She heard his boots hit the wooden floor and she shot out of her chair.
He brushed past her without so much a glance at her or Branch.
"We're going out," he gruffly told Ruby as he headed out the door.
Vic shrugged at Branch, who peered at her over his coffee mug, and bounded down the stairs behind Walt.
They rode in silence for a while before Vic dared speak up.
"Where we going?" she asked turning toward him with a smile. Walt said nothing, didn't even look at her, but she saw a muscle in his jaw twitch.
She sighed and slumped back into her seat. The man was infuriating.
He reached out and gently squeezed her thigh before placing his hand back on the steering wheel.
Before long she realized they were pulling onto his land and drove past the cabin before coming to a stop in a pasture out of sight from the main drive.
Walt was out of the vehicle before she could ask him what they were doing. Vic tumbled out of the cab and sauntered up to him. He was standing in front of the hood, his face shaded by his cowboy hat.
"What are we doing?" he asked in a low voice. She cocked her head, blinking, her hands on her hips.
"We are on your property looking at scenery?" she replied as she bewilderedly glanced around at the quiet landscape.
Walt stepped into her personal space, his boots touching hers, and she tilted her face up to look at his.
"What are we doing?" he asked again, this time with emphasis on "we" and in an even lower timbre than before. Her breath hitched.
Walt knew he should put a stop to this and nip it in the bud before it went any further. Vic was his deputy and she was young enough to be his daughter. Henry should be slapping him into next week for even considering it.
But he flat out didn't want to end it.
She made him feel like a man again. She had been so soft in his arms that night. She got under his skin, and for some cotton-picking reason, she wanted to stay there.
Vic shivered under his dark stare and inadvertently licked her lips.
All of his resolve slipped with that one action and with a groan, Walt hauled into his arms, his mouth on hers. Vic's eyes wafted shut and she leaned into him, her fingers clutching his jacket.
Breathing hard, he broke the kiss and laid his forehead on hers.
"We shouldn't be doing this," he huskily said. He saw the hurt flash in her eyes and she started to pull back. He tugged her closer.
"But I don't want to stop …" he added as he captured her mouth again. Her hands snaked around his neck and knocked his hat off as her fingers plunged into his hair.
They finally broke apart and just stood there staring at each other, their chests heaving. Her hair was mussed and her lips were swollen. His hair was sticking up every which way.
Walt knew he was in trouble.