Thank you all for the reviews! And for those wanting a M rated finale...here you go! *wink*

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Gibbs had just switched on the engine of his car to go home, when he heard a hesitant /Boss?/ echo in his mind.

/Yes, Tony? / he answered promptly. /Are you OK? You need something? I'm just leaving the Navy Yard./

/Oh. I didn't want to worry you. I was just trying to see if it still worked. We didn't talk after that time in the desert and I confess in the following days I sort of started to think I had imagined it. You know, too much sun on my head. It wasn't until Major Selassie – the Ethiopian guy in charge – told me that thing I realized it had been real. /

/What thing?/ Gibbs asked curious, driving toward Tony's apartment.

/Everything I said to Vance is true. We met the Ethiopians exactly like I said, but I guess they were tracking us, not Saleem. Major Selassie took me aside and told me to be very careful when we assaulted the compound, because vampires don't take well when other vampires give blood to their mates, so I was better not to get hurt. It made me realize that it was no coincidence Selassie was out there. You had sent him, which meant I hadn't imagined our conversation.../

/Happy to see you're convinced now, / Gibbs said with a hint of amusement. /After our talk, I contacted Bill and asked if he knew someone in the area that could go and help you. As it turned out, the local dean, Selassie, is a good friend of Bill, and he accepted to help us. The rest you know. /

/Very efficient, / Tony teased, /better than the Marines./

Gibbs growled. /Wait until this Marine is there and you'll see how good we are at certain things.../

He closed his connection with his mate and pushed his foot on the gas, shifting his weight on the seat to accommodate his growing erection.

He had held himself in check, suffocating his need to reconnect with Tony in a more intimate way for hours after the younger man had gone home. He had dealt with the paperwork needed to reinstate Ziva and their current investigation, but now that the work day was over, his control was rapidly vanishing.

Gibbs probably broke a few speed limits on his way to Tony's place and once arrived, he barely took the time to lock his car before climbing the stairs to the third floor by two.

He took out the key from his pocket and noticed his hand was shaking. Part of him was surprised by how affected he was. He hadn't been like this when Tony had returned after his four months as agent afloat. But this time it was different. It wasn't mere lust, the result of forty days of abstinence. This was mostly the need to reaffirm Tony was back, to reassure himself that after weeks of worries and after the extenuating waiting of the past few days, his mate was safe and back where he belonged.

Gibbs opened the door and found the apartment was completely dark but for the light coming from the burning gas fireplace in the living room, which was a bit ridiculous since it was July. But there was nothing ridiculous in the man lying naked on the carpet in front of the fireplace, his back propped up by pillows and cushions. The flames danced over his tanned skin, creating plays of shadows and light and bathing it in gold.

Gibbs stayed where he was, taken aback by the sight until Tony murmured, no purred, "I thought you wanted to show me what my Marine does so well..."

The words were more than enough to snap Gibbs from his daze. He crossed the room in a few strides, shedding his jacket and polo along the way. He stopped at the edge of the carpet and looked down at Tony as he raised a foot and then the other and removed his boots and socks.

Tony looked back at him, eyes intense as his hand moved lazily over his erect cock. Gibbs took off his t-shirt, unbuckled his belt, unfastened his trousers and let them fall around his ankles along with his boxers. Then he calmly stepped out of them and fell on his hand and knees, crawling over the younger man's body.

The lust he had felt during the trip up to a few minutes ago had receded. What he needed now was closeness first, passion later. Tony seemed to feel the same, because he let go of his cock and opened his arms, welcoming him.

Gibbs lowered himself atop of Tony's hard, warm body, and they embraced, both of them trying to pull the other as close as possible.

"Jethro..." Tony whispered into his ear. "Missed you so much..."

"Me too..." he answered, "but I made sure Vance won't send you away again."

"You did your Jedi-like trick on him?" Tony asked with a hint of amusement, as he ran his fingertips up and down Gibbs' spine.

"Yeah." He nuzzled along his mate's neck and collarbone.

"I'd have liked to see it. Love so much when you use your voice like that...makes you look so powerful...so hot. Makes me so hard..."

"You're hard now," Gibbs teased, rocking against his erection.

Tony groaned and arched. "Been hard since we talked in our minds..."

"Me too."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Tony arched again as his hands moved down to cup Gibbs' ass and gave it a squeeze. "I'm all ready, all loose and lubed up..."

At the feel of his lover squeezing his ass, Gibbs' newfound control fled from the window, as his passion skyrocketed. His heart began pounding in his chest, his blood heated, and his fangs descended.

They kissed, mouths meeting and teeth clashing as their embrace got so tight they would both sport bruises the next day. Tony nipped at his lower lip and ran his tongue along the pointed edges of the vampire's fangs, as Gibbs stayed still, not wishing to hurt him.

When Tony let him go, Gibbs pulled back and he used his hands up and down the younger man's body, his touch possessive and sure, rediscovering all the places that made his mate moan in pleasure.

He teased at the pert nipples, nibbled at his navel and then explored between Tony's legs, pumping briefly at the leaking cock as he fingered his opening, finding him as ready as he had been told.

Gibbs looked around and saw the opened tube of lube on the coffee table. It took him only a few seconds to be ready too, and then he rolled into position, his hips cradled by Tony's spread legs.

Tony arched against him, undulating his hips, rubbing against him, clearly wanting to urge Gibbs to take him.

The vampire groaned deep in his chest. If he couldn't control Tony's movements, he wouldn't last long enough to take him. Rising onto his knees, avoiding his mate's hands as he tried to grab him and drag him back on top of him, Gibbs managed to manoeuvre the younger man's body till his buttocks rested on his thighs, then raised Tony's spread legs against his chest and held his ankles firmly.

He paused for a moment to look at his mate lying helpless, panting, and unable to escape his hold. His nipples were hard as pebbles and he could see the younger man's chest hurriedly rise and fall as his hands convulsively clenched and unclenched on the carpet as they stared at each other.

Gibbs had Tony where he wanted him: in his power, open for him, unable to escape, unable to touch him, unable to get what he wanted if he refused to give it to him.

His cock rested between the younger mans spread thighs and Gibbs teased him, rubbing its swollen tip against his mate's opening. Tony groaned and muttered, "Bastard..."

Gibbs smirked at the curse, "Yeah I know, not the first one to call me that..." Then, he flexed his hips and pushed himself into Tony.

They cried in unison and Gibbs clenched his teeth, struggling to prevent himself from coming... It felt so damn good to be buried inside Tony, to feel his mate's warmth body tighten and ripple around him, welcoming him, loving him... After a long moment, he dug his fingers into Tony's calves and started his rhythmic pumping, caressing the younger man's insides with his swollen cock, making sure to hit his prostate with each stroke, increasing his speed, slowing it, rotating his hips, groaning and panting.

It didn't take long for Gibbs to feel the telltale signs of his approaching orgasm, so he let Tony's legs fall, and dropped down, supporting his weight with one elbow as he used his other hand to jerk his mate's cock in time with his uneven thrusts.

"Jethro!" Tony cried out sharply as his come splattered on Gibbs' stomach and hand. His body tightened around the older man's cock, tugging at him with powerful spasms, spurring him into a fury of lust, need and desperation.

Sweat ran down his body and dripped on Tony's heaving chest and Gibbs redoubled his thrusts, feeling his own body tighten, feeling his thighs shuddering uncontrollably. He surged forward a final time and bit down on Tony's neck just as he came in a white-hot rush that was so intense that it was pleasure and it was pain and he felt so dizzy that he couldn't distinguish one from the other.

Exhausted, Gibbs collapsed on top of his mate, and Tony's shaking arms rose to embrace him, his hands petting and caressing and soothing as they recovered their strength. They didn't talk, because there was no need for words in that moment, they just needed the closeness and the intimacy.

They stayed like that for a long time, the heat coming from the fireplace drying the sweat on their bodies. That reminded Gibbs of something that had crossed his mind when he had stepped into the apartment.

"Tony?"

"Uhm?" came the sated reply.

"Why this setting? The fireplace?" he asked, rising on his elbows to look down at his mate.

Tony looked sheepish as he answered, "When we talked before, you know, with our minds, it reminded me of the first time we did it. That night I was in the desert, sitting near a fire and thinking you would have enjoyed how quiet was out there. The silence, the fire, and the warm sand beneath your back...So well, I thought to recreate it..."

Gibbs smiled, caressing Tony's cheekbones with his thumbs. "It worked. This is very nice—but there are no stars here. But some weekend we'll go somewhere we can sleep outdoor, under the stars."

"Sleep and make love..."

"Yeah, that too..."

"That would be cool. Like that time in Arizona, but without having a sheriff as chaperone. But please, choose a place reachable by car. Horses and I don't get along..." Tony gave an exaggerated shudder.

Gibbs laughed, remembering how gingerly Tony had walked for a couple of days after their return, which, of course, had made Ziva and McGee tease him non-stop.

Tony glared up at him and Gibbs lowered his head to take his mouth in a gentle kiss.

/I promise. No horses, / he said with his mind. / just you, me and the sky. /

/And our love/, came the reply.

/Yes. Always./

/Always./

THE END

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OK, this story is ended, but do not despair, there is at least one more installment in this saga. It's titled "Vengeful Connection" and will be up sometime in the next weeks/months.

I'm also toying with an idea dealing with the whole Bell/Hart/Mexico arc, but I'm not sure where it will lead me...or better, I know where it is leading me, it's just I'm not sure how you readers would take it...because you see, I happen to like M. Allison Hart a lot and I think she would be a good match for Gibbs now that they have basically admitted to have been wrong about each other.

So the word ringing in my mind just now is poligamy (well, sort of), a topic I dealt with in one of my Star Wars stories. Back then my readers liked that twist, but perhaps it was easier to accept it in a story set in a "galaxy far, far away" than it would be in a tale set in our society. I don't know.

Whatever the case, I've always said I write the stories I would like to read, so if my muse decides she really wants to take this unconventional route, well, I'll follow her.

Thank you so much for all support ad please let me know what you think, about the hot action in this chapter and my thoughts above.