GIBBS

He'd swear, under oath, that it was meant to be cover, with no ulterior motive - that acting like a lothario who couldn't keep his hands off his girl for a whole evening seemed easier and more effective than trying to talk their way out of a tight spot. But once he was kissing her... Without a conscious thought, he tilted his head, wanting more, savouring the sweetness of her mouth and the softness of her lips. An effort of will kept his hands from straying lower, though he couldn't resist caressing the smooth skin of her shoulders and back, and running his fingers over her silky hair.

He wanted to sink into the moment, stay there forever...

A warning note, a reminder, sounded in his head - this isn't real, this is play acting - and he forced himself to pull away a fraction, take a breath, trying to tone down his response instead of kissing her like a desperate teenager. Giving her the chance to slow him down, to stay in her comfort zone. Subterfuge wasn't any excuse to push this too far.

It lasted exactly long enough for him to look her in the eye, and then it was Kate who took charge, slid a hand around his neck, tugging insistently till she was close enough to graze his bottom lip with her teeth. He groaned, the last vestiges of self control draining away as she pulled him closer still to kiss him even more thoroughly than he had kissed her.

One hand drifted to the small of her back, the other cupped her cheek as the kiss deepened. He felt her slip her hands inside his jacket, tentatively at first then with more assurance, till his whole world shrank down to an awareness of Caitlin Todd pressed against his body, her scent, her addictive mouth, the little sighs and moans that escaped her.

He'd forgotten to notice, never mind care, if the staff of the place were buying the ruse, and it wasn't until his subconscious had registered several coughs that the quiet "ahem" intruded into his conscious thoughts.

He broke the kiss, slowly and reluctantly, unable to resist dipping his head for one last taste before turning to the source of the interruption.

Unfortunately, it wasn't one of the staff or even one of the guests, but DiNozzo, who looked as though he wasn't sure whether to be amused, confused, or just plain horrified to see his boss and his partner locked in a steamy embrace, especially in an empty corridor where there was no apparent reason for it.

"Uh, boss? I didn't wanna interrupt, but McGee wasn't getting any audio at all, so he sent me to, uh, check everything was OK..." He shrugged in a vaguely apologetic manner, and Gibbs realised that, more than anything, he was completely embarrassed. It was an unusual and unfamiliar emotion on Tony: Gibbs couldn't recall the last time he'd seen it.

He didn't quite trust his voice, and was relieved when Kate took the initiative. "They, they seemed, you know, suspicious, so we, um, kind of tried to make it look like we just wanted some... privacy." She was blushing furiously as she spoke, whether from her passionate response to his kiss or from being discovered by her coworker he wasn't sure, but it didn't stop her glaring at Tony with a look that promised swift, harsh retribution if he made a big deal out of it. "Apparently the staff don't like guests to wander round unaccompanied..."

Tony looked less than convinced.

"So... when did they leave?"

There was a pause. Kate and Gibbs looked at each other, then back at Tony, before Gibbs responded with a degree of honesty he regretted the moment the words left his mouth.

"I have no idea..."

Tony's eyebrows shot up, and Gibbs could almost see the inappropriate comments lining up on his tongue. He added his glare to Kate's.

DiNozzo glanced between the two of them, clearly weighing up the pleasure of sarcasm against the very real possibility of physical harm from a former Marine and a former Secret Service agent. Evidently he decided it wasn't worth the risk. "Oooookay," he said, just the smallest shake of his head indicating his scepticism about their explanation. "I'll go and, uh, tell McGee you're OK, and let you get back to... working."

Gibbs would've been tempted to teach DiNozzo a lesson for his unsubtle dig if he wasn't so relieved to see the back of his altogether too damn nosy field agent. He breathed a sigh of relief, then turned back to the woman he still hadn't released from his embrace.

For a moment it was awkward, as they stood there, still wound around each other, but suddenly aware that he was her boss, and she was his subordinate. But as relief kicked in, Kate started to laugh, and after a second he joined in. She clung to him as if she was barely able to stand, and he manoeuvred them round to lean on the wall before the ebbing adrenaline made her fall. He wasn't sorry for the excuse not to let go.

"Well. I don't know about the staff here, but we sure as hell convinced DiNozzo..."

Kate rewarded him with another laugh and a wider smile than he'd seen from her in months. He couldn't help returning it, and then his breath caught as she reached up to trace his lips with a featherlight touch.

"You have a lovely smile, Gibbs," she murmured. For the second time in as many weeks he could feel the colour rising in his cheeks at the unexpected compliment.

"You don't need to sound so surprised, Kate."

"I didn't mean it like that."

She seemed genuinely abashed, her smile disappearing and her gaze dropping to the floor. He wanted to kick himself for spoiling the moment. Gently, he used two fingers under her chin to tilt her head back up so he could catch her eye once more.

"I was teasing, Kate. Th-thank you."

He wished his thanks hadn't come out with a stutter, but the look on her face was enough to make him stumble over his words. Those chocolate brown eyes had turned nearly black, and the knowledge that he'd been the one to do that to her, the man who'd put that expression of naked desire on her face... He took a shaky breath and tried to get back a little control.

"So... so, you OK?"

KATE

Kate was still trying to pull herself together from the kiss that had wiped out every thought in her brain besides the fact that she wanted to do it again, as soon as possible, as often as possible and for as long as possible.

"I, uh, I'm... good. Ah... I suppose we better get back to the, uh... thing," she managed to say, gesturing vaguely, hoping she didn't sound quite as wobbly as she felt.

Gibbs looked at her - really looked, as if he could see down into her soul - then bent to claim her lips again as if it were the most normal thing in the world for him to kiss his coworkers for no reason whatsoever. Before she even had a chance to process her surprise, he had taken her arm and was leading her back to the party.

Even if she'd wanted to resist, she couldn't have. She glanced at him, and wondered if it was her imagination that a satisfied smile was dancing round the corner of his mouth. She'd always figured he'd probably be a good kisser, when she'd allowed herself to think about it - after all, he'd convinced three women to marry him despite being a self confessed bastard, there must be some reason - but to call that a good kiss was like calling champagne a nice drink. She wasn't certain she'd ever recover.

And tonight they were sharing a bed. And tomorrow night. And the night after. She swallowed hard. Never, not once, had she been so grateful that someone else was doing the heavy lifting on a case. She was pretty sure that at this moment, she couldn't analyse a coffee order, never mind seek out salient details in a mass of recorded conversations. Adoring girlfriend was about all she could manage tonight. And even that was only possible because it was exactly how she was feeling right now about the man walking next to her.