Chapter Five
Unexpected
AN: Let's face it you guys rock and deserve more then I have given you. I was waiting until our network was back up and running to post this one because no one should have to read such a hideously misspelled piece. And seriously after the immense amount of feedback I got off that last chapter it was only fair for me to post the next…Flattery gets you everywhere I guess. So thanks to those of you who have reviewed. You make my day.
Dixon wanted to walk me to my room but I refused. I just needed to be alone so I could figure out how in the hell I was going to fix my little problem.
And why in the hell was it so freaking cold everywhere. Regrettably, I'd left the blanket with Dixon and put on an "I'm tough" act.
It took me a good five minutes of fumbling with the key to get the door unlocked.
I didn't turn on the light just threw my purse on the bed and followed it down as well grabbing the bedspread and wrapping it around me.
"Did you get it?" Vaughn's deep voice growled in the darkness causing me to shoot up in the bed as I located his voice coming from the corner of the room.
"How the hell did you get in here?" I asked as I walked toward the light and flipped it on.
Sure enough he was sitting in the corner looking amused.
"Wasn't all that hard actually." he replied smugly. Of course it wasn't. If he was determined to get in he'd find a way in the how didn't really matter.
"What are you doing here then?" I asked starting to shiver again.
"Syd, what's the matter?" he asked ignoring my question and rising to his feet.
"Nothing." I brushed him off as I walked toward the bed to sit down. He reached me halfway there and halted, hesitating. I wished more then anything that he'd just pull me to him.
"You're shivering." he stated.
"Thanks Einstein, I noticed. Now if you'd just move out of the way..." I drifted off bitterly.
"No. I won't just move out of the way." His words shocked me almost as much as the arm that wrapped around my waist and pulled me to him. "God Syd, you're freezing." Was I? It seemed pretty warm to me right about now. In fact, it was probably the warmest I'd been all night with his arm around my waist, his hand playing at the small of my back, nope I was only getting warmer by the minute.
He reached behind him and yanked the bedspread off the bed as he placed it around me and led me to the bed where he sat down next to me and proceeded to rub my arms. I really didn't care that he was only trying to warm me up. It just felt nice to have him touch me again.
"Why can't they ever let you wear clothes to these things?" Vaughn muttered tensely. I was dimly aware of the fire in his eyes. If I didn't know better I would have thought he was jealous and protective. But I knew better.
"You didn't seem to mind earlier tonight." I answered making sure that my teeth chattered just enough. I was thoroughly warmed, but that didn't mean I wanted him to stop.
"Did you get the vaccine?" he asked, sidestepping my comment. Smart man that Michael Vaughn. If he'd answered in any other way to my comment I think I would have jumped him right there. Or made a complete fool of myself with some comment about how he made me want to wear even less.
"It's in my purse." I answered pushing the bedspread off my arms and started to my feet to retrieve my purse, which had fallen to the floor when Vaughn had yanked the bedspread off. Vaughn's hand shot out however and landed on my naked skin, he pulled me back clumsily and I ended up in his lap, startling us both.
His arms tightened around my waist and I could feel his pulse increase through the fabric of his shirt. His warmth finally sinking into me. I was vaguely aware that my breathing became rapid matching his as my heart rate also increased.
"Let me." I groaned. I was having a hard time not flipping her onto the bed next to me and helping her warm up in another, more active way.
Its just Sydney. My mind played over and over again. Somehow though the "just" part of that sentence was not agreeing with me, and the record turned into, "It's Sydney. It's Sydney." Making me all the more aware that she has never been "just Sydney."
I guess I had my answer now as to why I wasn't supposed to meet her in her hotel room.
My hand, working on orders from a part of me that was not supposed to be functioning so well at this moment, slipped under the fabric of her dress, accidentally brushing the skin under her covered side, as my hands tightened around her waist.
I was only trying to move her off my lap before she found out how much she wasn't "just Sydney." And the reason I pulled her back so that she was flat against my chest would be? Probably the same reason I allowed my lips to brush her ear as I continued.
"You stay here and get warm. I'll get it."
Except I made no indication that I was going to move.
"I'll need to get off your lap for that one." Sydney whispered in a choked voice. I thought for a moment that maybe I was having the same effect on her but I decided I was probably just drawing desperate conclusions.
"Right." I muttered.
But her hair smelled so nice and she fit so well that I couldn't let her go so easily.
"Vaughn?" she questioned as my grip on her waist tightened even more.
What was I supposed to be doing? Her hands came down on mine, moving her off my lap, right.
Reluctantly I lifted her off my lap and to the bed next to me. I'd always wondered how easy that would be, to pick her up and.. Maybe I should be getting my mind out of the gutter.
I wasn't going to sleep tonight. Not after all those fantasies that I'd tried so hard to repress came tumbling to the surface. And especially not after feeling her on my lap and breathing her in. Nope, tonight was going to be one of those nights when she claimed me.
I wondered if she knew the power she had over me.
As his hands left my waist I swallowed the all to familiar lump in my throat and clenched my fists as the familiar ache filled my soul.
I missed the old days.
Back then his touch wouldn't have set my highly sensitized skin into a fever. At least it wouldn't have been so bad. After years of not feeling him on me this experience was enough to kill me and if my heart rate didn't slow down soon it would.
I knew that I should just stand up and walk him to the door. I knew that my eyes should not have followed his form as he left the bed and walked around it to pick up my purse. And as his Agent I should not have been checking him out. At the very least I should have been trying to hide my actions.
But no I was being painfully obvious. And damn if I wasn't enjoying it...
He turned around to face me and caught me in the act. I still had the capacity to look away, thankfully. And I did look away but not before I caught him returning my heated gaze and definitely not before I noticed how his eyes had glazed over a bit.
He was probably just tired, I reasoned.
I risked a quick glance at him. Yeah tired, that's why he looked about ready to devour me. I let the bedspread fall from my shoulders. I was definitely not cold anymore. In fact if he kept looking at me the way he was, I was sure that I'd spontaneously combust.
Letting the blanket drop was not a wise move. Vaughn's eyes followed it down and my eyes followed his adam's apple as he swallowed the lump in his throat. I found myself standing and walking over to him.
Stopping closer then I should have I managed to take the purse of out his numb hands.
"Here, let me." I offered in a breathy voice. My mind screaming 'touch me damn it', my heart practically jumping out of my chest. I really don't think I could have managed any other tone at that moment, my throat had become incredibly dry and constricted.
Vaughn nodded dumbly and I watched him swallow again. Gripping the purse tightly in my hands, I opened it so that my hands would have something besides running all over him to keep themselves occupied with.
"Sydney I..." forgetting the purse I turned my eyes toward his and willed him to continue.
To my intense disappointment he merely looked away and dug into his pocket. He'd changed since I'd seen him last. Instead of his waiter's get up he was dressed in a causal sweater and jeans, if one thing was certain it was that he knew how to dress.
"Here. McKain was getting paranoid. SD-6 will think it was an intentional plant and that McKain is storing the vaccine elsewhere." And like that the moment is over and Vaughn is cold again.
"Yeah." It's all I managed to mutter as I take the vial away from Vaughn and dig the real vaccine out of my purse. Not even the fact that our fingers managed to brush more then necessary could have lifted my mood.
I stepped back and threw my purse on the bed once more as I grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around me. I was cold again and Vaughn certainly wasn't looking anymore.
"Why are you here anyway?" My voice rang out coldly.
"I thought that was obvious. I should get going anyway." he remarked as he turned toward the door.
"Wait. I know why you're in my hotel room. I want to know why you're in Venice." I wanted some answers. He didn't just show up and drive me mad then get to walk out of the room like nothing had happened. I at least deserved some answers.
"Our original plant managed to get himself killed this afternoon. There wasn't time to brief another agent and I was already on my way over. I arrived just minutes before I bumped into you. We're lucky that this was pulled off so well." Vaughn sighed.
"It didn't get pulled off so well actually. Dixon thinks I didn't get the vaccine." I ignored the comment about him already being on the way over but wondered why he had been coming over in the first place.
"What?!" Vaughn demanded.
I was saved from answering him by a knock on the door.