This is my longest chapter yet! Only fitting, I think, since it is the most important one of the story. I hope it lives up to your expectations.
Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever, own NCIS. And I do not own these characters either. I may own an awesome boat if Gibbs ever paints my name on one.
It was now or never. He was going to tell her she was his soulmate. He had been very nervous that she would reject him, go back to Israel and refuse to ever see him again, but after what she had just told him, he was pretty sure that she would accept him. This filled him with so much joy that he couldn't stop smiling and bent down to kiss her again. They were going to be together and he was going to do everything in his power to make her happy for the rest of their days. He broke the kiss after a few seconds, not wanting to get carried away before he had a chance to tell her.
He looked into her eyes and he saw joy, glad that he had taken her decision to stay so well. He also saw some nervousness, anticipation for what he had to tell her.
"Ziva, there is something I need to tell you."
"So you said. What is it, Tony?"
He took a deep breath then. He had to prepare himself to spill his heart out. This was something new for him – he had never before let anyone see so deep inside his soul as he was about to let Ziva see. Even though he was nervous about that, he wasn't scared in the least. She was his soulmate and he didn't want to hide anything from her. Then, he opened himself up for her.
"Well, firstly I want to say again that being with you these past few days have been amazing. Ziva, You are so beautiful. Your hair, your eyes, your lips that I want to kiss every time I see you. When you walk with that confident air about you, I don't think I have ever seen anything sexier. I don't mean that in a degrading way at all, I'm just captivated by your beauty. Then I haven't even started on how beautiful you are on the inside. Your kindness, your compassion, your intellect. You are everything I have ever wanted in a woman and have not been able to find anywhere else. You bring out the best in me, the true Tony that I don't let anyone see. I feel safe around you, and not just because you are one crazy Israeli ninja chick with an obsession with knives," they both laughed a little at that.
Al through his speech Ziva had stayed silent, taking in what he was saying and storing it away to think about later again. She felt herself blush when he complimented her so freely and she was not in the least shy about the fact that he saw her face redden.
"You really mean all that about me, Tony?" she questioned.
"That doesn't even scratch the surface," he assured her. "I can't even begin to tell you how happy it makes me that you want to stay here. Not just in America, but with me. Right here. Together. I am so grateful for this chance to be with you," he said as he leaned in to kiss her again.
It was a happy kiss, a shared joy of knowing they felt the same way about this relationship they are about to embark on. He deepened the kiss this time, tilting her head back to give him a better angle and tracing her bottom lip lightly with him tongue, seeking entrance. She granted it, opening her mouth to let him taste her. She moaned when his tongue came into contact with hers, starting to duel for supremacy, with she allowed him to have this time. Not having enough contact with him, she slid forward, into his lap. Their chests brushed against each other, eliciting a groan from Tony which she eagerly swallowed.
Tony's hands roamed down her sides, gripping her hips for a second before caressing her back. Her hands in turn travelled down his chest, feeling every muscle move under her fingertips as she touched them. She gasped right into his mouth when his hands lightly cupped her backside before returning once again to her hips. Pressing herself to him even more, could feel his want for her straining against his boxers, and she almost had her way with him right then. She kept her cool however – in that action at least – and decided to let him lead things. She had always been the dominant one in her sexual life, but with Tony she wanted him to be in control. This sent a thrill down her spine and she knew Tony felt it, because he smiled against her mouth.
He knew they were going a bit too far to stop and have the rest of their conversation, but damn he couldn't resist her. She was so unbelievably sexy in his arms and he wanted more. More of this. More of her. More of them. He had to break their kiss in a desperate need for air, but immediately his mouth descended to kiss the line of her jaw and then down her neck. When he got to her pulse point, he let his tongue dart out to taste her skin and he heard the sexiest sound he had ever heard fall from her mouth in the shape of his name.
He was doing things to her that she had never before experienced so intensely and they weren't even naked yet. Having that thought, she decided to only be controlling in one more manoeuvre and put her hands on the seam of the t-shirt he was wearing and began pushing it up his torso, letting her fingers glide over the smooth skin of his stomach.
Alarm bells went off in Tony's head when he felt her starting to take off his t-shirt, but then he realised that it had to come off anyway if he was going to tell her about their bond. And it was much better having her taking it off than doing it himself. He cursed the two seconds it took to pull his arms and head out of the fabric because it meant two seconds of not being able to kiss her or to touch her. As soon as he was free, his lips crashed back onto hers as her hands finally had the chance to run over his naked chest like she had been fantasising of doing since she first saw him. Her hands on his skin was like fire and made both of them ache for more, but he had to tell her before anything else happened. He would never forgive himself otherwise.
He began to slow the kiss down then, much to Ziva's disapproval. His lips lingered on hers for a few seconds more before he pulled back and looked at her. He was sure he had never seen anything more beautiful than the sight of her before him. Her lips were red and swollen from his kisses, her face flushed and she was breathing hard against his chest. Seeing her like that almost made him kiss her again, but he luckily caught himself in time.
"You are staring, Tony," she whispered huskily.
"I'm admiring," he corrected. He saw her blush at that. "There is still something I need to tell you."
"Okay," she answered, giving him her full attention.
"Do you remember the day we met?"
"Of course."
"Do you remember the first thing you said to me?"
She smiled then, still oblivious to where he was going with this conversation. "I asked whether you were having phone sex."
"You did." He took her hand which was still rested on his chest then and moved it until it was pressed under his right arm, over his ribcage, where her words were inked into his skin. "And my first word to you was 'Hi'."
He saw realisation dawn on her then, her eyes widened and her lips parted a fraction. She stopped breathing and couldn't tear her eyes away from his. He waited with baited breath for her reaction on this dramatic revelation that in her mind changed their relationship entirely. When she finally got her muscles to move again, her head dipped down to where his hand was pressed over hers on his skin, presumably to see his tattoo for herself. She moved back off his lap a little to be able to see and then moved their hands away to reveal what was hidden underneath.
Her breath caught again when she saw those three words written perfectly on his tanned skin. Her mind flashed back to that day in the bull pen when they had met and now she understood his reaction toward her. She had a fleeting thought as to why he did not tell her before now, but pushed that to the back of her mind as she took in the reality of the situation. She became aware of his hand resting on her left hip then, his thumb tracing light circles over the place where her tattoo was. She now also understood his fascination with her hips when they kissed, because he always touched them. Now she knew that he was actually touching her tattoo because it represented that they were tied together for eternity.
She finally had the courage to look up at him. Gazing deep into his eyes she saw fear, hope and all of his romantic feelings for her laid open. He wanted her. He had let her into his soul.
While her left hand still rested on his ribcage, she lifted her right up to cup his cheek.
"It is you," she said. "It is really you."