A/N: You have no idea how much your reactions on this story have meant! I'm glad you all are enjoying this story so much!
Disclaimer: I own my OCs and the plot.
Jenny rubbed at her eyes for what felt like the tenth time in the span of half an hour. Staring at a computer screen was killing her eyes-and her head-and she was starting to feel the long day.
Lunch with her husband had been the highlight of her day; he'd taken her to a small café that had great seafood pasta, and she'd enjoyed herself. Then again, she just enjoyed spending time with her husband again, so that may have added to it.
She'd come back and started in on the rest of the mountain of paperwork that she'd barely dented that morning. Gianna and Landon had left about twenty minutes before, wishing her a goodnight, which she'd returned. And Jethro's team was working on their case, and from the sounds behind her, they were actually getting somewhere.
She was just finishing up one of the last sheets of paper when there was more movement behind her. Jethro, Tony, and Tim stepped into the elevator, and Jenny watched as all three men's eyes wandered over her and her team. She smirked lightly, her eyes meeting Jethro's for a moment. He raised one eyebrow silently, and she caught her lip in her lower teeth, twisting slightly.
She watched his eyes darken as the elevator doors slid shut.
She smiled to herself, continuing to push through her paperwork, confident in knowing that for once, she'd had the last 'word'. She finished the last bit of paperwork and began to collect everything to bring up to the Director, when a throat was cleared next to her. She looked up, seeing Kate standing next to her.
"Hi," Kate said, sticking out her hand, her brown eyes meeting Jenny's. "I'm Kate Todd. You've already met my partner, Tony. I apologize for him; he likes to think he's still in college sometimes."
"Jenny Shepard," Jenny replied, shaking her hand warmly. "And I've worked with the likes of Agent DiNozzo before-he'll grow up, eventually."
"I find that hard to believe with Tony," Kate said, shaking her head. "But maybe you're right. How do you like DC?"
"Well, this is where I started," Jenny answered, looking around the large room. "It's nice to be back; I transferred in from London."
"Wow," Kate replied, nodding appreciatively. "You started here?"
"With none other than your boss," Jenny replied, a slight smirk touching her mouth. Kate's eyes widened, her jaw dropping slightly in disbelief.
"And you survived?" she asked, and Jenny let out a light laugh.
"You learn a lot from him, Kate," Jenny said, although her mind drifted to…nonworking things she'd been taught by him. "He's a brilliant team leader." And an even better husband, she thought.
"Well, at least I have hope," Kate said, offering her a smile. Jenny returned it, nodding.
"How's your case?" Jenny asked, and Kate sighed.
"Well, we think we had a lead, and I'm hoping it is. We've been going nonstop for the past few weeks," Kate replied, rubbing her forehead with her palm. "I liked being able to claim I had a social life."
"Well, that's why we're here," Jenny said, and Kate cracked a smile. "Although I guess my social kind of went down the tubes when I got married."
"You're married? How long?" Kate asked, nodding appreciatively at the ring on Jenny's left hand.
"Three years," Jenny answered, twisting the two gold bands as she looked at them.
"So it does work?" Kate asked, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Having this job and being married?"
"With the right man, yes," Jenny replied, nodding. "It does take effort, but it is possible."
"Well, that's good to know," Kate said, her brown eyes softer. Jenny smiled, one hand resting lightly on the desk. "Do you have any kids?"
"Not right now," Jenny answered, shaking her head. "Up until about three weeks ago, I lived on a different continent than my husband except for the few times I could fly home to visit, so we decided we'd wait for stability to start working on a family."
"So I'm guessing that this transfer was a blessing?" Kate asked, raising one eyebrow knowingly. Jenny's cheeks flushed slightly, and she bit her lower lip.
"You could say that," Jenny said, and Kate laughed. "He's barely kept his hands off me since I got home."
"Always a good thing," Kate replied, winking. "I should get back to work so that Gibbs doesn't kill me when he gets back."
"We'll have to grab lunch sometime, when you don't have a case," Jenny said, and Kate nodded.
"I look forward to it," Kate replied, smiling. "Have a good night Jenny."
"You too," Jenny said, watching as the younger woman headed back to her desk. She brought the paperwork up to the Director's office, leaving it with his assistant. She was heading back down the stairs when Jethro and the boys stepped off the elevator, a man in cuffs with them. He caught her eyes as they walked by, stopping and leaving the cuffed man to be dragged to interrogation with Tony, Tim, and Kate.
"I take it your lead worked out?" she asked as he pulled her into the corner near the stairs, out of sight of everyone. He nodded, dipping his head to kiss her fleetingly, his lips tasting strongly of coffee. "And I take it that that kiss means you won't be home until later?"
"Gotta do the interrogation and paperwork," her husband answered in a rough whisper, one hand slipping underneath her shirt and stroking her pale stomach, causing her breath to catch in her throat as she bit back the moan. His mouth moved close to her ear, his breath hot on her skin, making her shiver. "Even though I'd rather be doing you."
Jenny collected herself enough to hit him, closing her eyes in an attempt to slow her heart rate.
"We're in public," she whispered, opening her darkened eyes to meet his, biting her lip at the look she found in them. "The faster you go and finish, the faster you can come home and get in bed with me."
"There's an offer I can't refuse," Jethro murmured against her neck, his lips brushing her pulse point. She shivered again, sighing softly.
"Kiss me," she ordered, watching his eyes darken further. "Kiss me then you need to go before we get caught."
He obeyed easily, capturing her lips in a kiss as he pressed her against the wall, his hands anchoring her hips to his. When the kiss broke after a few long minutes he pressed his forehead against hers, catching his breath.
"You have no idea how much I'd rather go home with you right now," Jethro said roughly, his hands skimming up her sides. She turned her head to nuzzle his neck with her nose, her hands threaded into his hair.
"I think I have some idea," she replied, nipping his earlobe with her teeth, making him growl under his breath. "Go, before I'm the one dragging you into the elevator."
"Now there's a sight I'd pay big money to see," he said, a sly grin spreading over his face. She rolled her eyes, shoving against his shoulder.
"Go find your team," she replied, her fingers forming one of the few sign language symbols she knew. "Love you."
He signed it back without a word, having spotted Tony coming to find him, and headed off in the direction of his senior field agent. Jenny took a moment to catch her breath, shaking her head.
They really needed to discuss how they said goodbye in the office.
Jenny arrived home half an hour later, feeling about two steps from exhaustion. She threw her bag on the side table along with her keys and hung up her coat. She walked upstairs, tossing her heels back in the closet and stripping down to her bra and panties.
Hoping a hot shower would ease the kinks in her back, she walked into the bathroom, turning on the hot water. The small bathroom quickly filled up with steam, and Jenny discarded the last of her clothing before stepping under the hot spray, sighing in relief.
She took the time to thoroughly wash her hair, her jasmine-scented shampoo infusing her thick crimson curls. She rinsed the lather from her hair, pushing her damp hair out of her eyes.
Next she shaved her legs, using her cherry shaving cream. She was careful, making sure not to nick herself. She rinsed off her legs and placed the razor back on the shower ledge.
Turning off the water, she stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around herself. She grabbed a second towel and wrapped her hair in it, letting it absorb the water from her hair. She walked back into the bedroom, running the towel over her skin, watching as it soaked up the droplets.
She was just pulling a lacy, mint green negligee when she heard footsteps on the stairs. Frowning, she grabbed her gun from the bedside table, creeping around the bed towards the door. She stood and waited, and then the door opened.
Jethro stood on the other side of the door, and Jenny let out a sigh of relief, dropping the gun to her side.
"Christ Jethro you almost gave me a heart attack," she said, tossing the gun on the bed. He smirked, raising an eyebrow.
"That new?" he asked, and she was confused for a moment before she looked up at him, noticing where his eyes were situated.
"The nightgown?" she asked, spinning slightly, and Jethro swallowed hard, nodding. "Figured I could reward you if you were good on my first day."
"Told you I could behave," he said, his voice turning hoarse as he shrugged off his jacket, tossing it on a chair near the door. Jenny smirked, watching as he tugged his red polo over his head, leaving him in his khakis and white t-shirt. He toed his shoes off and then tugged off his socks, throwing them in the hamper. Jenny brought her damp towels into the bathroom and hung them up before heading back into the bedroom, getting into bed and stretching out on top of the covers, bringing one leg up, wrapping her arms around it, her fingers lacing together and resting on her shin.
She watched as her husband unbuckled his khakis and let them fall to the floor, leaving him in only blue striped boxers and a white t-shirt. She bit her lip, watching as he walked into the bathroom and brushed his teeth. She snuggled even further into the pillows, closing her eyes and enjoying the peace of the house.
She didn't even hear Jethro come back out of the bathroom, so when her weight shifted as he got on the bed and a pair of hands grabbed her waist, pulling her closer, she gasped in surprise.
"You smell good," Jethro said, his mouth descending on her neck and depositing kisses on her skin. She smiled, tilting her head back to give him more access, which he gladly took.
"I took a shower," she replied, her hands running circuits up and down his arms, her head pressing back into the pillows. "You finished paperwork quickly."
"I had incentive to come home," Jethro said, and Jenny's lips quirked up into a smile.
"Let's just say I'm hoping you return the favor every once in a while," she replied, opening her eyes to meet his, raising an eyebrow at him. He grinned, kissing the corner of her mouth as he pulled her underneath him, bracing his hands on either side of her hand.
"Oh, I can guarantee it'll happen more than once," Jethro said, and Jenny smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"How's the bet coming?" she asked, and Jethro rolled his eyes.
"Babe, we had a case. Give it a couple days," Jethro said, and Jenny laughed.
"Alright, fine," she replied, her hands threading into his hair. "I guess we really had no interaction in front of them anyway."
"Tony couldn't stop talking about you and the girl on your team…Gina?"
"Gianna," Jenny corrected, her fingers beginning to massage his scalp. "She's sweet. I'm looking forward to what my team is like out in the field."
"I'm sure you'll see them in action before too long," Jethro replied before leaning down to kiss her, bringing her lower lip into his mouth with his teeth. The kiss lasted for a few long moments, and when they broke apart, they were both breathing heavily, their eyes dark.
"Damn," Jenny breathed, her nose brushing his. "You really know how to kiss."
Jethro's only response was to kiss her again.
