Vaughn watched as Sydney read his message and then settled back into her chair with a satisfied look on her face. He suddenly realized that she thought she'd won. She was acting pretty smug about it too. That certainly wouldn't do.
Sydney was turning her attention back to what
her father was saying when she felt Vaughn lightly shift in his chair again. Just as she was starting to wonder what he was up to, she felt him reach
over to her armrest and cover her hand with his. This was turning into Jr. High,
first note passing and then holding hands underneath the table? Sydney laughed
inwardly.
Once he felt her relax he began softly stroking the top of
her hand with his thumb. She tensed a little but kept her eyes trained on the
front of the room; he did the same. As far as anyone could tell they were both
completely focused on what Jack was saying. Without breaking his concentration
Vaughn ran his fingers from the tips of her nails to her wrist in feather light
touches. Sydney tensed more, her attention completely gone from her father
again.
He ran the pad of his thumb over her hand some more, paying
special attention each of her knuckles. She felt more and more aware of her hand
with every touch. It was almost as if every nerve ending had moved to the
surface of her skin. He turned her hand over and let his thumb rest in the
juncture where her hand and thumb connected. She bit back a moan when he ran it
across her palm.
'Jesus Christ, all he's touched is my hand' she realized,
which lead her wonder what he might do to the rest of her, which lead her to
remember that she already knew. 'That's not helping!' she thought. She slipped
her hand out of his and rested it on her thigh. He followed and continued to
draw lazy patterns over her palm with his index finger. She focused on
controlling her breathing.
As he starting going in circles over the pulse on her wrist,
the other part of his hand brushed against her thigh. The touch felt mild and
almost imperceptible. She was glad she had worn pants that day.
Vaughn however noticed the light brush against her thigh more
than Sydney had. He let his finger slide over her wrist and he began stroking
her wool covered leg in the same manner he had her hand. Suddenly, she didn't
feel quite as glad to be wearing pants anymore. The sensation was still dulled
by fabric between her skin and his hand, but instead of providing some relief it
made the touches all the more frustrating.
He drew more circles for a moment before turning his hand to
move it over and upward. He moved at an agonizingly slow pace, his fingers
leaving burning trails as he went. Her body realized where exactly he was going
before her brain had an chance to fully process it. She bit her lip again as his
hand slowly moved higher, higher, higher...............
"Agent Vaughn," her father's voice interrupted
their activity. Both Syd and Vaughn froze.