A/N: I stole the title from a Foo Fighter's album. This one's dedicated to Ficlit. She wanted a tag to the yummy episode Blood Brothers. You know, Rigsby, water, tight yellow shirt. The usual.
Disclaimer: I don't own…blah blah blah…surprise, surprise. Because if I would, we all know what would happen.
Echo, Silence, Patience & Grace
She didn't know her way around here and hoped Rigsby would surely tell her if they were walking in an entirely wrong direction and possibly get lost in a strange forest.
He wasn't really paying attention to the path their feet were taking them much less to his surroundings. Head down so as not to stumble over anything, he just followed her, still internally debating about what she might have thought seeing him half naked.
************
Both deep in their thoughts, the quiet moment between them stretching, they didn't pay much attention to grounds anymore. Getting deeper into the woods. The voices of the others becoming quieter and quieter.
It didn't matter if he was walking in front of her or a few steps behind her, she could not stop thinking about it. The more she tried to concentrate on the search for the lost girl the more her brain shoved picture after picture of him into the forefront of her mind.
So much pure uncovered skin, glinting in the sunlight. Wet little drops of the clear liquid trailing over wide muscular shoulders, down his impressive biceps and broad hard chest.
To her dismay the tiny water drips got lost behind the only piece of fabric on his gorgeous body, a pair of plain black cotton shorts. Oh, how much she wanted to be that water droplet, only for a minute. Please?
The man had looked good enough to eat. She had entertained that thought for just a split second, one brief flash of light in her dazzled brain.
One part of the mushy grey matter inside her pretty head suggested a very satisfying scenario.
Forget the rest. Forget your unit, the other people. Just finally jump this delicious piece of a man and relive the kiss from a few weeks prior. Make new ones even. Feel his shock first, then reciprocation, want. Feel his hand rove over your body, feel the warmth coming from his steely muscles, the wetness seeping into your clothes. The heat they were creating. His lips wandering to your neck, one hand in your hair, the other on your butt pushing you into him. Making you feel his every reaction to only you. Groaning your name into your ear, making you moan with him, sighing his name in the same way.
"Grace….!"
Shit! Her daydreaming got out of hand and way out of line, too. It was inappropriate, bad for the working climate. Blinding her for stuff lying on the ground. So the agent stumbled over a meanie root and fell backwards directly into the waiting arms of a man wearing an alarmingly tight yellow shirt.
************
Grace had been looking down while walking without really seeing where she was going. Wayne kept looking at her back, willing his courage to appear and shove at his lack of self-confidence. Two or three times he wanted to open his mouth and say something – anything! But he didn't. And just shook his head to himself. Out of the corner of his eye he suddenly saw a flash of red coming his way fast. Calling her name his quick reflexes set in, his arms shot out unbeknownst to him and just caught.
Just one tiny misstep. Or was it the only right one, her inner devil asked smirking. One false set of her foot. She had actually already seen herself falling to the dirty forest ground – very ungraceful.
But to her greatest pleasure her two favorite strong arms had invisibly fast come forward and held her now tight at the waist. Hanging half between the muscular lower body of Wayne Rigsby and the filthy ground wasn't the most comfortable but also not the worst situation she had found herself in. The warmth of his bare hands was seeping through her skin, finding its way to her most intimate places.
All this action made her shirt ride up her stomach, so his rough hot hands came in contact with the satin flesh of her bare belly. Color was rising up in his cheeks, he stammered a few unintelligible words in embarrassment.
The flames were making their way through her vessels. Everywhere. She was burning. The fire started near her ribs, right where his hands were placed. It spread like a serious infection. Around to her back and down her front, right to her groin. Up her breasts, right into her heart, even higher so she had some little red spots covering her neck. Then it was in her limbs, making them tingle so sweetly.
Both were stammering apologies, Wayne shifted his weight and helped Grace stay upright again. During this maneuver she turned around trying to get up on her own, set one foot on a wet stone and slid rapidly back down again. Two strong male hands gripped tighter now, holding her so close to him that you couldn't even see a breath between them. She couldn't move an inch, couldn't slip a bit. But she could feel every wave of his breath burning her cheek.
Awkwardly smiling, she turned her head upwards and looked into the most cornflower blue pools ever existing.
Shaky breath of a laugh.
Her slim fingers gripped his back hurtful tight. He didn't notice. But he did notice her hair, her soft satin red locks falling chaotically in her face. He noticed the bronze ring around her green eyes, when he stared into them trying to gauge if she was hurt. He noticed her nose crinkling in embarrassment, her beautiful taught breasts pressed into his thankful ribs, her light jacket on his bare arms.
His brain was only capable of one thing, producing varying images of kissing this amazing, sugar sweet creature currently hanging onto him.
His head bent down devoid of his own free will. Hers held still, frozen like a statue, holding her breath and awaiting his next action.
She knew exactly what he wanted to happen next. She feared it. Dreaded it.
Ached for it.
Every passing second seemed like a lifetime. Time stopped. Sounds around them quieted. Images blurred. Only their faces stayed clear. The colors of their eyes, the lines of their noses, the shapes of their lips, the shade of pink on their cheeks.
Slowly, so so slowly their lips migrated towards the other. They felt the magnetic pull and just couldn't resist. Too big the curiosity. The thrill. Tasting the forbidden fruit.
Grace's brain was drawing a blank. She couldn't think of a single thing why she shouldn't kiss the wonderful, adorably shy man holding her so tight. She could only eagerly anticipate his next move.
Wayne wasn't faring any better. He didn't give a damn about the slightly awkward position they were in. All he could think about was that in the next moment he was actually kissing the woman he adored for a seeming eternity. He had to cherish that moment, he would treasure it for the rest of his life.
Inch by agonizing inch drew them in, till they were mere millimeters apart. Rigsby could feel her sweet breath on his lips. He could feel the tip of her tongue when it came out to moisturize her lips quickly.
Oh god.
Her lips were really on his, softly pressing into him, feeling the smoothness of his lips. Carefully he tried to coax her pliant mouth open. He sensed her light smile when she complied without thinking. They still hadn't moved a centimeter, their bodies still in the same weird pose. He was a little shocked when Grace deepened the kiss. But only for the tenth of a second.
Then the worst case scenario happened. They were brought back harshly into reality by a loud scream, making them loose their hold on each other and resulting into a tumble of limbs to the dry dirty forest ground.
"Cassie!"
************
The rest of the day was spent without him. Which in turn gave her never quiet mind more time to think about the kiss. This incredible, sweet, life changing, deep, turning her insides to mush kiss that she already missed.
In a way she was glad he was not around somewhere. She needed to think about what it meant. What she wanted it to mean.
Slowly and without her permission a smile was forming on her heart shaped face, her fingertips were reaching for her lips in slow motion, tracing the invisible relief his lips left on hers.
Someday, she thought.
Someday soon.