Christmas Nigh; Adeste Fi!
Part 7
"You're sure you don't want some ice or something for your head?"
"Mac, don't mention 'ice,'" complained Harm. "That's what caused this problem in the first place."
Mac silently chuckled at his joking reference to the frozen patch on the sidewalk that he had slipped on.
"Plus," Harm added, "my head's fine."
"And here I was about to offer to kiss it and make it better," Mac flirted.
Harm responded with a grin. "I kinda wish it did hurt now."
Damn that sultry look he was giving her, thought Mac. It wasn't fair what those eyes of his could make her want. … No, she wasn't thinking about that.
Getting serious and showing her concern, Mac noted, "That was quite a fall you took. I'm surprised you don't hurt."
"I didn't say that I don't hurt, … just not my head." Harm grimaced a bit and rubbed his hand against the side of his rear for just a second. "I think my butt took the brunt of the fall."
This made Mac laugh. "Nice try, Commander."
Harm gave her a confused look. He had been entirely serious. His tailbone hurt.
But Mac didn't stop smiling. "I'm sure you've always wanted me to kiss your butt … However, I never have, and I'm not about to start now."
Ah, yes, her earlier offer to kiss it and make it better. Harm rolled his eyes, even as he thought that the only place he really wanted her lips right now was over his own.
"How about some hot chocolate?" Mac offered.
"Uh, yeah. That'd be great."
"Okay, I'll just heat some water. You wanna plug the tree in? The outlet is around the back of it."
"Sure."
Mac went to the kitchen, while Harm lit the tree up and placed the presents he had brought underneath. Mac's tree was nothing like his own. Hers was brilliantly decorated with beautiful ornaments and was just breathtaking. Like her, he thought. Harm noticed something at the base of the tree while he was laying out the gifts.
He called to her in the kitchen, "Hey, is this Nativity set new?"
Mac yelled back, "Yeah. You like it?"
"It's nice. Was it a gift?"
Mac smiled, before calling her reply, "To myself."
Harm appeared at the kitchen entrance. "Ah, … one of those."
Mac caught a quick glimpse of Harm and his teasing expression over her shoulder. Then she went back to setting cookies out on a platter, while explaining, "Sometimes you can't risk waiting for someone else to figure out what you want and take the initiative to work out how to give it to you. … Why waste an opportunity, when what you really want is right in front of you? … I saw it, and I fell in love with its depiction of the Holy Family, … so I got it for myself."
Having finished putting the plate of cookies together, Mac got out her hot chocolate mixes. She had been given the box of cocoa as a gift, so she was just now familiarizing herself with the flavor variations. Still reading the packages in her hands, Mac turned to ask Harm which he preferred.
Because Mac had her eyes on the packages and had turned very abruptly, she ran smack into a wall … of Harm.
She hadn't expected him to be so close. He had been in the kitchen doorway the last time she looked.
But while Mac had been speaking, something had caught Harm's eye, and he had moved into the kitchen to get a closer look. He was so fixed on the item above that he was not paying enough attention to anticipate Mac's sudden about-face.
Knocking into Harm, Mac nearly lost her balance. "Whoa," Harm said as he instinctively grabbed onto her, steadying both of them.
"Sorry," murmured Mac.
"Don't be," answered Harm, just as quietly. He was still holding onto her, and as her eyes ventured up, they met his. And what she saw excited her and scared her. Oh, what her imagination was doing right now with that look he was giving her … and the feel of his hands grasping her … gently, but so securely.
Mac managed to somewhat bring herself back to reality. "I … um … was going to ask which kind you wanted." She held up the cocoa packages.
Harm took the packets from her with one hand, without removing his other from where it rested on her upper arm.
"This one," he softly declared, turning the stack to show Mac the one on top. Then, instead of handing them back to her, Harm tossed the packages on the counter and replaced his hand on Mac's other arm.
"Um, …" he began nervously. Deciding against words at the moment, he looked up at the sprig of green hanging from the light fixture above, … at the very object that had caught his attention in the first place.
Mac looked up too and realized what he had seen. Given what she wanted, she was unsure why she protested, even without conviction, "It's just a decoration."
At Harm's confused expression, Mac started to add, "I mean, … it's not really …"
Harm cut in, "Are you trying to get out of kissing me?"
Mac shook her head, smiling shyly. "No, …"
"It's tradition, isn't it?" he pointed out.
"Yeah, it's just that … ," Mac berated herself even as she spoke, but something in her wanted to give him the 'out' that existed before he kissed her, " … technically …"
"Technically?" Harm interrupted. "There is no technically, … no fine print when it comes to mistletoe, Mac, … so … it doesn't matter if it's fake, or if you were the one to hang it, or whatever exception you're thinking there might be. … The only 'clause' that's written into Christmas tradition … is Santa."
Mac smiled at Harm's pun, but she still hesitated as if she was considering saying something.
"Are you going to tell me what number awkward moment this is?" Harm asked, remembering the comment she had made right before they had shared a quick kiss under the mistletoe at Bud's and Harriet's apartment one year ago.
"That's not what I was going to say," Mac indicated in her tone that such an observation would, however, be true.
"But this is an awkward moment?" Harm had picked up on her inflection.
"Yes," she confirmed in a dreamy sort of state, being affected by his closeness.
"Why is that?" he asked softly.
Mac was quickly losing herself in his eyes and his tightening embrace. "Because it's a kiss, … and I'm not sure where you and I stand," she tried to explain.
"Currently, … under the mistletoe," Harm said with a slight grin. But then he acknowledged being aware that she referred to the status of their relationship. "… I know," he said, indicating that he understood her meaning. He was also quickly losing himself in her gaze.
Mac continued giving rationale for the awkwardness, "We work together, … and we're best friends, …"
Harm was leaning in now, and the closer his face came to hers, the less she could think to censor herself.
"… and … I want this much more than just a best friend should," she finished.
Harm gently put his hand on the side of her face, caressing her cheek. "I want this too, Sarah."
A moment later they came together in a kiss. It was a simple kiss, yet far more intimate and much longer than the one they shared under the mistletoe the year before. This was not a stolen moment at someone else's home. And there was no one waiting for them tonight.
When the kiss ended, neither one moved. They opened their eyes and stared at each other in a daze, … not wanting the closeness to end.
As far as Mac was concerned, not yet thinking about the possible implications of anything, that kiss was the best Christmas present ever.
Harm decided right then and there that it would not be a whole nother year before he kissed Mac again. He wondered if she had any other mistletoe hanging up. He would draw on every bit of military recon knowledge that he had to find out where and then somehow maneuver the two of them under it.
But then Harm realized that … Mac had not yet stepped away. At that, hope filled his heart. "Mac."
"Yeah?"
"You know, if neither one of us moves, … we're still under the mistletoe, … so I'll have to insist that we kiss again."
As soon as he heard himself speak, he regretted it. It was a stupid thing to utter. It was a prompt to shake her out of the trance she'd been in, and then she would leave his arms.
But Harm did not have to worry long. Mac grinned a little, but her eyes didn't break out of the haze they were in. The moment had not been broken after all.
"If you insist," she whispered.
Their lips sought each other out and joined in a new kiss that was anything but simple. It was passion ignited. It was exploratory; perhaps not just a single kiss even, as their mouths interacted, giving and taking, feeling and enjoying.
The kiss spoke of their yearning for more … but it was not just desire that pulsed through them. As intense as this was, it was not hurried, animalistic lust. Though urgent, it was slow, and thorough, and loving.
They had drawn each other closer in the process. Harm's left arm wrapped around Mac's waist, pulling her against him, nearly lifting her off the ground while his right hand splayed across her back … and neck … and back.
While they kissed, Mac worked her hand upward, brushing her fingers through Harm's hair and gently keeping his head pressed to hers. She managed to thread her other arm under Harm's, hooking that hand around back and up onto his shoulder.
Eventually, they did separate. Mac kept her eyes closed for a moment, savoring the experience. When she finally opened her eyes … panic suddenly hit her. Sheer panic.
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TBC …