Ok, so I decided that I needed more time to perfect the Rule 12 talk chapter so I will upload it tomorrow.
Ziva smiled as Tony crept out of bed looking thoroughly embarrassed. He pulled the bathroom door to behind him. She tiptoed to the crack and peered through, employing her rusty spy skills. She stifled a giggle. He was inspecting the bruises incurred the night before.
'Do you regret last night?' she asked, pushing the door open lazily with her foot.
Tony blushed as she stepped in, caught staring at his naked body in the mirror. 'No,' he answered shortly. 'But Gibbs is sure to see these. Even if I wear my most modest suit...'
Ziva chuckled wryly. 'I should have stayed down at your crotch, is that what you're suggesting?'
'Or you could have been slightly less vigorous,' he suggested. 'You were quite aggressive. For a while there, I was quite worried.'
She took a step towards him. He resisted the urge to draw nervously away. 'But, Tony,' she said in a husky, sultry voice. 'You had been a bad, bad boy, and you needed to be punished.' She watched him through long eyelashes.
'I think you need to work on your punishments,' he replied smoothly. 'They were too enjoyable to be effective.'
'Perhaps we could try again tonight,' she offered.
Tony was sincerely tempted. 'Just try not to make any more marks,' he warned, ruefully eyeing his bruised neck in the mirror. 'They look like hickies made by a rabid dog. Can you get rabies from hickies?'
She laughed. 'They are hickies,' she told him. 'I got just a bit carried away so they are a little more pronounced, that's all.'
He shook his head and fingered the discolouration gingerly. 'You aren't going to be a husband-beater, are you?' he half-joked.
She moved closer and began to lace his battered neck with tender kisses. 'I'm sorry,' she whispered. 'But I promise that I'll make it up to you.'
He guided her lips towards his face and kissed her. 'I expect you to keep that promise,' he threatened.
'We have to go to work,' she murmured.
He sighed, not particularly excited by the prospect. 'I used to love going into work to see you,' he admitted. 'Now, I have you at home, so why would I go to work?'
Her heart fluttered girlishly at his words. 'Because you have a wedding to pay for,' she reminded him.
'I thought you wanted to elope,' he teased.
She giggled. 'Las Vegas,' she suggested. 'You could be Elvis and I could be Catwoman.' She eyed him coyly. 'You look quite fetching in a white, skin-tight shell suit.'
Tony flushed at the reminder. 'Or you could be Abominatrix and I could be Superman.'
Ziva frowned. 'Abominatrix?' she queried.
Tony nodded gravely and wrapped his arm around her waist. 'She was devilishly strong, rather irritable which makes her even more dangerous. "I could kill you 18 different ways with this paperclip",' he quoted her.
She grinned and lowered her eyes sheepishly. He paused and eyed her affectionately before continuing. 'She was completely crazy, but for all that killing, she was quite domestic. Fond of her soap operas, I believe.'
Ziva punched him lightly in the chest. 'I am not domestic,' she protested.
Tony raised his eyebrows disbelievingly and led her over to the sink to prove her wrong. 'Before we had sex last night, you insisted on doing the washing up,' he reminded her. Next, he moved over to the counter. 'You wouldn't let me undress until you had cleaned up the coffee spill.'
She swatted him with her hand. 'You are so clumsy,' she scolded.
'I rest my case,' he concluded triumphantly.
She shrugged and rested her head on his chest. 'I'm allowed to be domestic,' she defended softly. 'I'm going to be a wife.'
His chest constricted, but not paralysed by panic; instead, it twisted in a convulsion of delirious anticipation. 'You're going to be my wife,' he murmured, more to himself than to Ziva.
'Not unless we organise the wedding,' she replied, repeating the urges of Vance to hurry up and tie the knot.
He looked down at her. 'First, we have to talk to Gibbs,' he noted, his spirits sinking at the anticlimax. It was not a cheering prospect.
Ziva pulled away and looked him straight in the eye. 'Whatever he says, it won't change us, will it?' she asked, seeking reassurance.
He reached out his hands, offering his chest as her head rest again. 'Of course not. We are getting married whatever.'
'And Rule 12?'
'Gibbs has already agreed to us getting married,' Tony pointed out. 'He can't object now.'
'Things have changed,' Ziva countered. 'Love changes things.'
Tony shrugged. 'To us, definitely; to them, not really. It is still a wedding between friends.'
'Between lovers,' Ziva corrected.
Tony wrinkled up his nose. 'I think we'll just leave that up to their imagination. I don't really want to discuss our sex life with Gibbs.'
Ziva chuckled. 'You never minded before,' she mentioned pointedly.
Tony's ears reddened. In hindsight, he regretted discussing his sexual encounters with other women in front of Ziva. He could only imagine how weird it must be for her to know that she was in the same position as so many other women before her and know exactly how each time had gone in gross detail. 'You're different,' he assured her.
Her cheeks tinged pink, pleased. She knew that he was only referring to the fact that Gibbs knew her, in comparison to his other conquests, but it didn't hurt to hear him put it that way.
His outstretched arms dropped to his side and he stepped forward, pulling her into a bear hug. 'You're different in every way,' he whispered.
She squirmed happily. 'So, we tell Gibbs today?' she clarified.
'Yes,' he confirmed decisively. 'We tell him that we are in love and that our marriage is going to last beyond your father's scrutiny.' He felt her stiffen and he realised his mistake. 'That our marriage is going to last forever,' he amended.
I promise that I'll do the Rule 12 talk tomorrow. Any more suggestions would be really helpful. Only 20 more reviews to 200. I think that you could bring it up before tomorrow...
