AN: Thanks for all the reviews! I'm working on 4 fics right now plus I'm getting pretty busy with college (stupid classes don't understand that writing comes first!), so please let me know if I should keep going with this. The more reviews I get, the faster I write the next chapter. If I don't get the reviews I might actually end up doing my homework first: P
Chapter 3
Tony pulled back slightly after what was easily the best minute of Kate's life and all she could say was a slightly breathless "Wow." Then she thought I can't believe I said that out loud! But then she saw the heat in Tony's eyes and all thoughts of embarrassment quickly fled. He was breathing hard, the kiss clearly affecting him as much as it had affected her.
He was totally blown away. He'd kissed a lot of women in his life but he hadn't felt even one thousandth of the emotion he'd felt when he finally kissed Kate. It was like the rest of the world had fallen away and he'd sudden found himself in heaven, though he had no clue what he'd done to deserve it. All he knew was that he'd found perfection, and he never wanted it to end. He felt like pinching himself to make sure he wouldn't feel the deep pang of loss and emptiness he always felt when he cruelly woke up to reach for Kate, only to grasp a cold and empty sheet.
Instead, he brushed his knuckles down her cheek and leaned in for another kiss that was just as sweet and mind-blowing as the first one. But her kisses were too addicting and he couldn't seem to stop. It was like only meaning to eat a few potato chips and, the next thing you know, the whole bag is gone, just like the Pringles commercial, "Once you pop, you can't stop." Tony had a weakness for potato chips but it was nothing compared to his weakness for Kate.
Finally, Kate gave in to her need to breath and pulled back a bit to catch her breath. She'd always thought that a kiss could never leave you breathless, that it was just something invented by songs and romance novels. After all, that's what noses were for. But that was before Tony. Now she understood the rush of emotions that made you forget how to breathe, and she'd never been so happy to be wrong.
She was staring at his lips, wanting nothing more than to kiss him again but she knew they had to stop before they went any further. Tony could almost feel what was coming next. "Tony," she whispered his name and it sent a pleasant tingle up his spine. "We have to talk about this."
"I know." He pulled her closer to him, wrapping her in his arms and letting her rest her head on his chest. He'd waited for her forever and he wanted to hold her tight before everything had to get heavy. He felt her relax into his embrace and he wished they could stay that way forever, but she was right. "Let's go sit down."
He kept an arm around her waist as he led her to the couch. They sat close but turned until they were facing each other. "Tony, I want…" He placed a finger to her lips and cut her off.
"Shh. I want you to hear this before you say anything. I've known you were different than every other woman from the moment I met you. You are the most amazing person I've ever known. Compared to you, everyone else fails miserably. I wanted you, I dreamed about you, but I never thought I could have you and it killed me inside. I knew I wasn't good enough for you but I didn't want anybody else. I wasn't an alter boy, but I made up most of those wild nights so that no one would realize the truth. That truth is that I'm in love with you."
Her smile got bigger the more he talked and, as hers grew, so did his. He pressed on, needing to set the record straight and prove that she was special, the only one for him. "I've never felt anything close to what I feel when I'm with you. That song really was perfect for us. I used to live for those moments we could accidentally touch, and I loved the close confines of the car. The smell of your hair and your perfume would drive me crazy at night and I'd wake up swearing I could still smell it. I would make jokes and harass you just so I could be close to you, which I know sounds totally juvenile but I would have done anything to be near you. I even loved when you hit me."
She had to laugh at that, thinking back to the times when she had elbowed him in the stomach and the shoving match they had when they tried to enter the same room. No one could make her laugh like Tony did. "Basically, I have it bad and it's never going to go away. I swear that I will always love you and that I will do anything and everything in this world to make you happy." He had to seal it with a kiss. It had been way too long, at least five minutes, since their last one and his lips were aching for her.
Hearing Tony's words had chased all the fears and doubts from Kate's mind. He had spoken from the heart, she could see the emotion in his eyes. It wouldn't have mattered if he made up the stories or not, as long as he swore that he was all hers. She'd always trusted him with her life, and now she knew she could trust him with her heart.
It wasn't humanly possible to be any happier than she was at this very moment, and she wanted him to feel the same way. She opened her mouth and decided to go wherever her heart took her. "I've tried to resist you, to put you out of my mind, but it hasn't worked. I've dreamed about you and compared every man I met to you even though I knew there was no comparison. I never thought there could be an 'us' so I forced myself to settle, but I can't do that anymore. Now I know that you feel the same way and I never want to let you go. It might not be easy with work but I don't really care. I trust you and I know that this is right. This is the way it was always supposed to be. I thought I'd quit believing in fairy tales a long time ago, but now I want one with you."
A tear escaped and slowly slid down her cheek until Tony gently wiped it away with his thump. She chuckled, unable to believe she was actually tearing up from sheer happiness. Then Tony tenderly kissed her cheek, tracing the trail the tear had left behind. When he reached the end of the trail he moved to her mouth, kissing her softly before slightly pulling back and resting his forehead against hers.
She breathed in deeply, her breath mingling with his. That was the single most incredible and touching thing a guy had ever done. She'd never felt so loved. He treated her reverently like she was some kind of goddess, like she was special, irreplaceable, and just a little breakable so she had to be handled with care. It made her throat catch with the words she'd been about to say.
"I love you, Caitlyn Todd." Tony whispered mere centimeters from her mouth, almost breathing the words into her. He closed the gap between them and stole a quick kiss, although it took every once of his control to keep from lingering.
"I love you, Anthony DiNozzo." Kate whispered when he pulled away, completing what she'd been about to say. She leaned in for another kiss, never intending for it to be quick. It was unhurried, passionate, and perfect, and several kisses later Tony finally pulled away to quickly whisper, "Stay with me. Let me hold you in my arms all night and wake up to see the most beautiful sight in the world."
She answered without hesitation, wanting nothing but to stay in his arms forever. "Sounds like perfection." His lips met hers as soon as he got the answer he'd been hoping for. They completely lost themselves in each other, in the kisses, until a ringing phone finally pervaded their world twenty minutes later.
As much as they wanted to ignore it, they knew that they couldn't. Tony forced himself to break the kiss and tried to locate the source of the ringing, without releasing Kate from his arms. It was coming from Kate's purse, which she'd dropped by the door. "I'll get it." Tony sounded disgusted, wanting to kill whoever had dared to interrupt them even it was Gibbs. He grabbed the phone and headed back to Kate, glancing at the display as he went. He suddenly froze in his tracks and felt his blood run cold.
