A/N: Hello again everyone! Considering the well of inspiration for my multi-chapter fic has dried up for the moment I decided to write a one-shot.
Nick and Zoe still aren't mine. If they were, the pair of them would be married by now. Any mistakes are mine though unfortunately.
I hope you enjoy.
As awkward as it was to adjust to only having a working relationship, Nick and Zoe seemed to be doing okay.
It was almost like they didn't even acknowledge the past had even happened. Perhaps that was because if they did, it would hurt too much. Now and again they dipped back into a familiar pattern that sprouted from their intimacy and their stomachs twisted. Neither one would ever admit this though; they're both much too stubborn.
Nick had never being afraid of calling Zoe up on anything he deemed inappropriate or unprofessional; lateness was always a favourite of his as there was hardly anything he could ever pick up on in her actual practice of medicine. A small part of him enjoyed seeing the fire in her eyes as her tore a strip off her. She always fought back and defended her position and he had always admired that in her.
Then his thoughts fell to that of the phantom pregnancy. His stomach churned and he cursed himself for letting his mind drift. She hadn't defended herself. He'd never given her the chance. Nick regretted it in some ways. A part of him still loved her.
Who was he kidding?
All of him still loved her.
Every day he pushed the feelings deeper inside of himself; he thought that only the thinnest of ropes was tethering them too him. If he carried on the rope would snap and he was sure that no matter how much he tried he'd never be able to give himself to her again.
He looked at his watch and decided that it'd be best for him to be in the E.D. instead of brooding in his office. He left the room in darkness and locked the door.
Zoe practically ran to the E.D from her car – she'd been caught up in a ridiculous amount of road works and was consequently nearly twenty five minutes late.
She swore to herself as she clocked Nick chatting to Adam.
Slowing to a brisk walk she tried to slip past him. Zoe should have known better.
"Doctor Hanna," his rich voice rang out behind her.
Zoe spun around to face him.
"Mr Jordan," she retorted giving nothing away.
"You don't happen to know what time it is, do you?"
Shit! She shot a death glare towards Adam when she noticed the smirk on his face. He always went on about her lateness and how he was sure that she only did it because she liked seeing Nick get angry. Zoe usually responded to that with a smack on the arm but considering he was so far away she settled for the glare instead.
Zoe reached for her phone and looked at the time.
"It's about half nine but you knew that already."
"I did, I also know that you should have been here half an hour ago."
"Well that's the thing –"
"My office, Zoe. Now." He cut her off before she could explain.
"At least let me put my stuff away."
He gave an abrupt nod of the head before stalking away knowing Zoe would follow a few moments behind.
Nick was already sat at his desk when she entered his office. Zoe was one of the only people he allowed to just walk in without knocking. He was tempted to revoke the silent permission though.
The office was lit only by a side light on his desk; he'd closed the blinds to stop people gawking as they went past. Shadows played on the walls.
"Right then, what ridiculous excuse have you got for me today, hmm? A parade down the high street? A lion escaped from the zoo and wouldn't let you drive past? Tell me, am I close?"
His eyes were fixed on hers and his eyebrow was raised in challenge.
"Road works," Zoe said in a level tone.
"They've been there for days now. You didn't think to set out a little earlier? Was there some freak occurrence beforehand that delayed you leaving?" His voice was accusing and stung her like nettles.
Zoe had stayed up all night doing work for a report that she was due to submit and had consequently overslept. She doubted Nick would believe her.
"I just overslept."
"Overslept? That's no excuse. If you can't even get yourself out of bed on time Zoe you have some serious issues."
"Actually I was working on that damn report I have to submit to the board all night so I happened to sleep in until my normal time instead of twenty minutes before. I'm sorry for trying to do something properly. I'll submit something barely readable next time shall I? As long as I'm here on the dot you couldn't give a damn about anything else."
Nick got up from his seat and came to lean on the outer side of the desk only a foot or so from where Zoe stood.
"Couldn't you have found another time to do it instead of pulling an all-nighter?"
"Not when I was covering extra shifts, no."
They were nearly shouting at each other and they were both glad for the soundproofing in his office.
Zoe stepped towards him, that fire Nick loved burning bright in her eyes. Her chest heaved as she took deep breaths in an attempt to calm her escalating temper.
"I'm a damn good doctor Nick and you know it. Being late once every so often is no big deal." She had lowered her voice to an almost threatening tone.
A thousand responses reeled through his head but he only acted on one of them.
He closed the gap between them and kissed her hard. His hands held either side of her head and he sighed into her mouth when he felt hers do the same to him.
He'd missed the feel of her skin and the way her nails racked across his skin.
Spinning them round and then taking a step, Zoe's thighs hit the desk. Nick bent slightly so his hands could grab her legs and push her back so she was sitting on it. He kissed her neck as he moved.
She threw her head back in delight and wrapped her legs around his waist pulling him closer to her. Zoe could feel the stirrings of his erection and ground her hips into his. The movement of the layers of fabric between them caused delicious friction and the pair of them groaned.
Nick's fingers toyed with the hem of her shift before moving upwards, popping each button from its hole until he could see the fabric of her cream bra contrasted with her skin.
While Nick busied himself with caressing and kissing the tops of her breasts, Zoe slid her hands up his chest and inside his jacket so she could push it down his arms. Letting go of his hold on her hips for a second he moved so the garment fell onto the floor. A second hadn't quite passed before his hands were touching her again.
Zoe's eyelids were fluttering. She knew that this was a bad idea but at the same time she wanted him.
This time his hands headed south and found the bottom of her pencil skirt just above her knees. Hooking his thumbs underneath the material he allowed his palms to slide up her legs pushing the dark fabric with them.
She wriggled so the material bunched on her hips. Zoe found Nick's belt and found great delight in undoing it slowly before moving to undo the button of his trousers. She then slid the zip down tantalisingly slow. She watched how his brow furrowed when she rubbed against him accidentally through the material.
He was losing control. Zoe was taking her sweet time but Nick needed to be inside of her.
"Christ Zoe," came his strangled reply when her nails drifted feather light across his groin through the cotton of his boxers.
He dropped his forehead to hers and kissed her softly, the pads of his fingers drawing circles on the insides of her thighs.
His fingers ghosted across her sensitive spot before retreating back to her hips.
Zoe moaned in frustration. Nick chuckled. Payback.
"Please, Nick," she begged.
Their eyes met. Nick's desire was mirrored in Zoe's.
His hands disappeared inside her skirt again and caught hold of the waistband of her panties. He dragged them achingly slow down her legs.
Zoe lay back against the cold wood. Papers were scattered underneath them but that was a problem for another time. All that mattered in this moment was the two of them.
With some more swift movements Nick was at her entrance. When Zoe grunted in frustration he slid slowly into her. Her grunt became a moan and Nick rumbled his appreciation in the back of his throat.
Once he was satisfied she was comfortable, he began to gently thrust in and out, burying himself to the hilt every time.
Zoe's hands grabbed frantically at the back of his neck while Nick's rested at the sides of her ribcage; thumbs passing slowly over her nipples.
Zoe's cheeks flushed and her eyes were screwed tightly shut watching the starburst behind her eyelids.
Nick watched her with delight. He had a sense of accomplishment that it was him who could induce reactions like this in her.
They raced towards the edge of oblivion and were soon hurtling down.
"I love you, Nick," Zoe managed to get out before a whimper passed through her lips.
Nick panted heavily and wiped Zoe's hair from her face when he finally came back to earth.
"Zoe, I love you too, you daft mare."
She laughed and he laughed too.
Once they were dressed again Zoe turned to Nick.
"We do need to talk properly though Nick. There are things to be discussed." Her eyes were glued to the floor.
He lifted her chin with his hands and made her look at him. "I know Zoe. I know. We'll be okay."
Zoe blinked away the tears in her eyes and nodded.
Nick dropped a kiss to her forehead. "We'd best get back out there, Adam'll be thinking I've actually killed you this time."
She grinned at him before accompanying him back to the E.D where whispers of their changed demeanours drifted around for the rest of the day.
Fin.
A/N: Apologies if they were a bit OOC this time. Anyway, thank you for reading :)