Hi everyone! Just wanted to let you know that there is an NC-17 version of this chapter, which can be read at: http://www.sd-1.com/boards/index.php?s=&act=ST&f=125&t=17236. (If you copy the address, be sure to remove the period after the 6.) Anyway, the title of this chapter isn't going to make much sense if you're reading this kinder, gentler version of Chapter 27, but I'm sure you can guess what it might be referring to, LOL!
Anyway, I just want to say how much I've been enjoying all of your feedback. Thanks for being such great readers!
Chapter 27: "All Tied Up"
Sydney anxiously paced back and forth inside the warehouse, waiting for Vaughn to arrive. She mentally ran down a list in her mind, making sure that she had covered all her bases to prevent their rendezvous from being discovered. She had already been leery of Sloane's odd behavior in the past few weeks, but after her conversation with him yesterday, she had crossed the line from leery to paranoid -- not paranoid enough to pass up the chance to be with Vaughn, of course, but paranoid nonetheless. Spending the day with Francie yesterday had temporarily helped her forget about Sloane, but as soon as she went to bed, she replayed their conversation again and again in her mind, and instead of drifting off to sleep, she had lain awake, worried and anxious about his newfound interest in her personal life.
Sloane, however, wasn't the only man that kept her awake last night. In addition to her anxiety over Sloane, she was filled with restless anticipation for her reunion with Vaughn, and the time until she saw him again was ticking by so slowly that she could barely stand it. She needed to be with him, now more than ever, knowing that he was the only person who could make her completely forget about Sloane, no matter how temporarily.
As she finished going down her mental checklist, she reassured herself that she had taken every precaution to make sure that She and Vaughn would be safe. She had driven Francie's car and swept the warehouse for bugs, and she hadn't noticed any tails or anything else suspicious on the drive over, so she told herself to take a deep breath and relax.
She began to do exactly that as she sat on a crate and looked around the warehouse with a smile. Some of the most important moments in her relationship with Vaughn had taken place here, but it wasn't exactly the most romantic setting she could have imagined for her reunion with him. In actuality, other than a few stolen kisses here and there, she and Vaughn really hadn't had many romantic moments in the warehouse. She knew, however, that all of the non-romantic moments that they'd shared here had formed the cornerstones of their relationship and made it special. This was where she allowed herself to trust him and slowly accepted his friendship, where he listened as she poured out her fears and frustrations, the place where he held her and reassured her than he didn't hold her mother's crimes against her. This was where he told her that she looked pretty for the first time, and where she had tried - and failed - to look appropriately sympathetic when he told her that he and Alice had broken up.
In a way, she supposed, it was fitting that they were going to spend his first night back in L.A. here, of all places. It was really the only place where she'd felt truly safe since her stint as a double agent began, and even with all of its aesthetic shortcomings, it belonged to her and Vaughn. It was special to them, their own little sanctuary from all the madness surrounding their lives.
Of course, aesthetics were important too, so she'd gone to a bit of effort to transform the dank, drafty space into a romantic love nest, at least for one night. As much as she wanted Vaughn, she couldn't imagine anything less romantic than making love to him on a cold, dusty, cement floor. So she piled several old blankets into Francie's trunk and laid them on the floor of the warehouse when she arrived. She lit scented candles all around the room, which instantly did wonders to improve the atmosphere, giving the room a soft, romantic glow. In the center of the room was the piŽce de rŽsistance, and she could hardly wait to see the look on Vaughn's face once he arrived and caught sight of it. She smiled just thinking about his reaction and imagining what he'd say.
She idly swung her legs back and forth, full of nervous and excited energy, until she heard footsteps approaching from down the hall. Her heart began to race and her smiled grew even bigger as she hopped down from the crate. Her sudden movement created a gust of wind that made one of the candles go out, and she bent down to re-light it using one of the other candles. When she stood back up and turned around, she came face to face with the green eyes that she loved so much and simply stood motionless for a moment, drinking in the sight of him. Even though she had been anticipating this moment ever since he said goodbye to her five weeks ago, she was completely unprepared for her reaction to seeing him again. He quite literally took her breath away when he smiled at her, and a few seconds later, she was wrapped in his arms, though she couldn't remember actually crossing the room to the spot where he stood.
"Sydney," he breathed into her hair as he held her tightly, "it feels like it's been five years since I last saw you, not five weeks."
"I know." She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder and simply breathed in the scent of him, hardly believing that she was finally in his arms again, that he was finally here with her again, rather than 2700 miles away. She happily sighed as he stroked her hair, and a moment later, she tilted her head back to look at him. "I missed you so much, Vaughn."
"God, me too, Sydney. Me too. I've been waiting for this moment since the day I got to Virginia. I'm never leaving you again for more than three days at a time," he promised.
"Trust me, I won't let you." She caressed his face just as he bent down to kiss her, and the moment his lips touched hers, fireworks ignited in her body and everything in the world faded away, save for her memories of what an incredible kisser he was. As his tongue slipped into her mouth and sought out hers, she couldn't even concentrate on that anymore. She slipped her fingers into his hair, knowing how much he loved it when she did that, and he moaned in appreciation, pulling her closer to him as their kiss grew deeper and their passion escalated to a fever pitch. She could have kissed him forever -- she wanted to -- but her need to breathe eventually won out over her desperation for him, and she reluctantly tore her lips away from his, laughing breathlessly as he resisted breaking contact with her and leaned forward to capture her lips again.
"Vaughn, I'm going to be blue in a minute," she panted.
"Sorry, I guess I'm getting a little carried away," he sheepishly smiled, taking her hands in his and holding them out to the side as he leaned forward to kiss her nose and forehead. "Being away from you was hell."
"It couldn't have been all that bad, because you look incredible." She took in his appearance, navy suit pants from earlier in the day, and a blue oxford shirt, with the first two buttons undone. His hair was just the way she liked it, slightly disheveled and spiky from running his fingers through it. He looked perfect and even with him right in front of her, she could hardly believe that this beautiful man was hers.
At the same time that she was checking him out, his eyes appreciatively swept over her. "You don't look so bad yourself, Syd. Nice dress, but if I remember correctly, it didn't stay on very long the first time you wore it."
"Nope, and I'm not really looking to reverse that trend," she admitted with a lascivious grin. She was wearing the strapless red dress that had derailed them from keeping their dinner reservation in Lake Tahoe. When she saw it hanging in her closet earlier that afternoon, she remembered the way that his eyes had nearly fallen out of his head when he first saw her in it, and she knew that it was the perfect choice for tonight.
"Don't worry, I'll keep the streak intact," he vowed as he brushed his lips against hers. She held their intertwined hands behind his back and stepped closer to him, pressing her body against his until she could feel the effect that her close proximity had on him, as well as the corresponding effect on her own body. She shifted her hips slightly, electricity shooting through her as she brushed against his erection. He pulled her even closer, but surprised her a moment later when he broke away from the kiss and distractedly looked over her shoulder.
"Vaughn, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, just . . . wow, look at this place," he smiled.
She shrugged modestly. "I just wanted to make it a little less warehousey. I mean, I would be with you anywhere, but I thought that some atmosphere might be nice."
"It's beautiful," he said as his eyes swept around the room before becoming fixated on a point in the center of it. "Do I dare even ask you about that?"
"About what?" she innocently asked.
"About the rather large bed in the middle of the room," he laughed, placing his hands on her shoulders and turning her around to look at it.
"Oh, *that.* Didn't you tell me that the first month you were in Virginia, you spent almost every night up late watching infomercials? Because surely, you must recognize the deluxe Aerobed," she smiled.
"An *Aerobed*?" he laughed. "Syd, you crack me up. What made you -- "
"Haven't you ever seen that infomercial? It's really cool, but it always made me wonder if the bed could really inflate and deflate as fast as they said it could."
"So does it?"
"It does," she confirmed. He shook his head in amusement and she gently tugged on his shirt and gave him a pointed look. "Before you left Santa Monica, you told me to be ready. You had to have known that I was going to take you seriously."
"Of course, because you're usually so good at taking orders and following instructions," he sarcastically replied. She rolled her eyes as he pulled her back into her arms. "Well, I guess I have to give you a bit of credit this time."
"Believe me, you're going to give me a lot more than that before the night is over," she winked. "Anyway, I think the bed makes a nice focal point for the room, don't you?"
"Oh, absolutely. And the red satin sheets? Nice," he grinned.
"The better to seduce you with, my dear, but that comes later." She took his hand and dragged him over to one of the crates next to the fence, hopping up on it and patting the empty space next to her. "So how was your flight?"
"Long. Uneventful," he shrugged as he sat down next to her.
"What was the in-flight movie?" He looked at her as if she was crazy and she shook her head and smiled. "Humor me, okay?"
"Okay, but honestly, I couldn't tell you."
"Why, did you sleep through it?"
"No, I was awake, I just wasn't paying any attention to *that* movie. Actually, I was visualizing my own porno movies in my mind, all starring you, believe it or not."
"Me? I'm shocked. *Shocked,* I tell you! Of course, I want you to tell me all about them later," she grinned.
"I'd rather show you instead," he murmured as he kissed her bare shoulder.
She sucked in her breath at the unexpected contact, but managed to quickly regain her composure. "Mmm-hmm. So how did Donovan do on the plane?"
"He seemed fine, but he was still sleeping when I dropped him off at Eric's. He might still be sleeping on Monday morning when I leave for work," he laughed.
"Oh, poor Donny. It was really nice of Eric to keep him tonight, though."
"Yeah, but he owes me about a billion favors. Besides, he knew how important it was for me to see you again, and that I'd be hell to work with on Monday if I didn't get laid tonight." He laughed, earning a playful punch in the arm before he wrapped his arms around Sydney's waist and turned to face her. "Seriously, he knew how much I needed to be with you, and not just for sex. You were always the first topic of conversation every time we talked while I was gone."
"So he told me. You know that he's going to tease you relentlessly about that, when you get back to work."
"Yeah, I know, but I don't care. I'll cop to being a lovesick fool."
"Well, I certainly won't hold it against you," she smiled. "How's your mom? Was she devastated to see you go?"
"Not exactly," he chuckled. "Actually, she couldn't wait to get rid of me."
"What? I find that hard to believe," she shook her head.
"No, it's true," he laughed. "She told me that in the past week, I was so antsy to get back to you that I was driving her nuts, and she needed to get rid of me. She told me to give you her love, though."
She smiled at the thought that Elise had been thinking of her. "Is it crazy how much I adore your mom even though I've only spent a few hours with her?"
"No, of course not. She's equally crazy about you, and she can't wait to see you again. I'm trying to get her to fly out when we get back from our vacation, so we can tell her about our engagement. I swear, it took all the strength I had not to tell her about it before I left," he laughed, not noticing as Sydney bit her lip and looked away from him. "If she comes, maybe we could tell her and your dad at the same time."
When she failed to respond, he gently turned her face back to his. "Hey, did I say something wrong?" he softly asked. "We don't have to tell our parents at the same time if you don't want to, you know."
"No, nothing's wrong, I'd love to tell our parents at the same time," she assured him before taking a deep breath. "But I did something last night that's probably going to make you freak out. I told Francie about our engagement, which I figured was relatively safe, since she doesn't know you, unlike my dad or Will or Weiss. She won't tell anyone, I swear, but *I* had to tell someone; it was driving me crazy not to. It's really hard to keep something a secret when it's the best thing that's ever happened to you." She looked at him, anxiously awaiting his reaction. "Are you upset?"
"What, that you have no self-control?" he teased. "That actually might come in handy later. Look, obviously, you know Francie better than I do. If you think you can trust her not to tell anyone, I don't see what the big deal is." He shrugged and pulled her closer to him. "So you couldn't keep it a secret, huh?" he asked, his eyes twinkling in amusement.
"I tried, really I did, but I couldn't help myself. Damn. I've been tortured and not given anything up, but I can't keep it a secret that I'm engaged." She shook her head ruefully and smiled at him. "How pathetic is that?"
"It's not." He kissed the tip of her nose and smiled when he looked down at her hand on his thigh and saw the ring on her finger. "I'm excited, too," he acknowledged, placing a warm hand on her knee.
"Does it seem more real to you now? Because it seems more real to me, now that you're back, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense, seeing that you've only been back for an hour. But at least I know that the next time I say goodbye to you, we'll see each other again in a couple of days and we'll be in the same city, at least."
Her voice and thoughts soon trailed off as she grew conscious of the way that Vaughn was softly caressing her knee as he listened to her. She didn't think that he realized what he was doing, but his touch was electric and she felt heat and desire suffusing her whole body.
"Vaughn?"
"Hmm?" he absently asked.
She placed her hand over his and slid it up her thigh, just underneath the hem of her dress. "I really missed you,' she said huskily. "Not just for the last five weeks, but for the last four months. I missed meeting you here and seeing you across the room at the ops center. I missed hearing your voice in my ear when I was on missions and seeing your smile when I came home safely. I missed kissing you and falling asleep in your arms at night, and I missed the way that you make me feel every time you touch me, every time you make love to me. I don't want to miss you anymore," she whispered as she slid off of the crate and pulled him off with her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body along the hard length of his.
"You told me to be ready for you tonight, and I'm so ready, Vaughn. I need you so much right now."
She pulled his head down, and in an instant, his lips were all over hers, tugging on her bottom lip, his teeth biting it gently as he pulled her closer to him. She urgently untucked his shirt from his pants and slid her hands underneath it, needing to feel his skin, reminding herself of the way his body always shuddered when she lightly ran her fingers across his abs. She kissed him demandingly as she backed him up against the fence and her fingers deftly unbuttoned his shirt. When she finished with the last button, she spread the shirt open, exposing his chest as she planted soft, fluttering kisses on his collarbones, his sternum, his stomach, everywhere that there was a bare patch of skin. She moved back up and nipped along his neck for a few moments before licking him in long, slow strokes, savoring the slightly salty taste of his skin.
"Syd, you're driving me crazy," he rasped.
"I mean to," she murmured.
*****
Vaughn whispered Sydney's name again and again as he collapsed against her, and she wrapped her arms around him, never wanting to let him go. She lovingly wiped the sweat from his forehead and softly kissed it, smiling back at him when she saw the beautiful smile that spread across his face. "I love it when you do that," he whispered.
"Why do you think I always do it?" she asked, her grin growing wider. "Welcome home, honey," she said with exaggerated sweetness.
"For sure," he laughed. "I think you were right -- I should definitely go away again and come back in five weeks."
"Yes, apparently, absence really *does* make the heart grow fonder, and the sex hotter," she smiled. "But we've had enough of that, Vaughn. I need you here with me."
"*I* need me here with you," he laughed before growing serious. "Being away from you proved to me that I need you so much, Syd. Those four months may have been the best thing that ever happened to me."
She looked at him quizzically and he rolled onto his side and looked deeply into her eyes.
"The last time I was in this warehouse with you, I was telling you that I wouldn't be your handler anymore, and that I was leaving you for four months. I knew that you would be angry and upset, but I really thought that I was doing the best thing for you, for both of us. When I got to Virginia, though, those first few days without you were so hard that I just wanted to catch the first flight back to L.A. I spent the first two weeks cursing myself for leaving you, telling myself what a fool I was for thinking that being apart from you wouldn't be that difficult."
"Vaughn," she said, softly stroking his face. "You don't have to apologize or explain. I mean, yes, I was upset at first, but it's water under the bridge now. I understand why you did what you did."
"I know you do, because you're wonderful, and I'm not apologizing for leaving, Sydney, because I honestly don't regret it. It was painful being away from you, but it was also exactly what I needed, because it clarified everything about the place that you hold in my life. For the the first time, I got to think about you, not as my professional responsibility or my asset, but just as my girlfriend, as the woman that I realized I couldn't live without.
"If I had stayed here, if I was still your handler, everything would be so different now. You wouldn't have come to Virginia, and you wouldn't have met my mom. I wouldn't have had the chance to see how incredibly the two of you got along together, and we'd probably still be dancing around all of the issues with your mom and my dad. I never would have known how amazing it felt to come home at the end of the day and see you there or how hard it was to leave you in the morning when you were still asleep in my bed, looking so beautiful.
"And truth be told, if I had stayed here, we wouldn't be engaged right now. Not that I wouldn't have wanted to ask you to marry me, but I wouldn't have felt the urgency that I felt when I was so far away from you and felt so removed from your life. So, if nothing else, I'm grateful that I went away for that reason, because it gave me the kick in the ass that I needed to realize how stupid it would be to wait any longer to ask you to spend the rest of your life with me."
"Then yay for Virginia," she softly laughed. "You know, there were times when I missed you so much that it was hard to breathe, Vaughn. But I can't really argue with the way that things worked out, can I? Honestly, though, now that I've been without you, now that I've seen what it's like, I can't do that again. We belong with each other, in every way, and my heart really can't grow any fonder of you, so no more absences, okay?" she smiled.
"Promise," he grinned. He kissed her to prove that he meant it and it wasn't long before he was again ready to show her in other ways. They had so much lost time to make up for, and even though he knew that they couldn't do it all in one night, he was more than willing to try anyway.
TBC . . .
Anyway, I just want to say how much I've been enjoying all of your feedback. Thanks for being such great readers!
Chapter 27: "All Tied Up"
Sydney anxiously paced back and forth inside the warehouse, waiting for Vaughn to arrive. She mentally ran down a list in her mind, making sure that she had covered all her bases to prevent their rendezvous from being discovered. She had already been leery of Sloane's odd behavior in the past few weeks, but after her conversation with him yesterday, she had crossed the line from leery to paranoid -- not paranoid enough to pass up the chance to be with Vaughn, of course, but paranoid nonetheless. Spending the day with Francie yesterday had temporarily helped her forget about Sloane, but as soon as she went to bed, she replayed their conversation again and again in her mind, and instead of drifting off to sleep, she had lain awake, worried and anxious about his newfound interest in her personal life.
Sloane, however, wasn't the only man that kept her awake last night. In addition to her anxiety over Sloane, she was filled with restless anticipation for her reunion with Vaughn, and the time until she saw him again was ticking by so slowly that she could barely stand it. She needed to be with him, now more than ever, knowing that he was the only person who could make her completely forget about Sloane, no matter how temporarily.
As she finished going down her mental checklist, she reassured herself that she had taken every precaution to make sure that She and Vaughn would be safe. She had driven Francie's car and swept the warehouse for bugs, and she hadn't noticed any tails or anything else suspicious on the drive over, so she told herself to take a deep breath and relax.
She began to do exactly that as she sat on a crate and looked around the warehouse with a smile. Some of the most important moments in her relationship with Vaughn had taken place here, but it wasn't exactly the most romantic setting she could have imagined for her reunion with him. In actuality, other than a few stolen kisses here and there, she and Vaughn really hadn't had many romantic moments in the warehouse. She knew, however, that all of the non-romantic moments that they'd shared here had formed the cornerstones of their relationship and made it special. This was where she allowed herself to trust him and slowly accepted his friendship, where he listened as she poured out her fears and frustrations, the place where he held her and reassured her than he didn't hold her mother's crimes against her. This was where he told her that she looked pretty for the first time, and where she had tried - and failed - to look appropriately sympathetic when he told her that he and Alice had broken up.
In a way, she supposed, it was fitting that they were going to spend his first night back in L.A. here, of all places. It was really the only place where she'd felt truly safe since her stint as a double agent began, and even with all of its aesthetic shortcomings, it belonged to her and Vaughn. It was special to them, their own little sanctuary from all the madness surrounding their lives.
Of course, aesthetics were important too, so she'd gone to a bit of effort to transform the dank, drafty space into a romantic love nest, at least for one night. As much as she wanted Vaughn, she couldn't imagine anything less romantic than making love to him on a cold, dusty, cement floor. So she piled several old blankets into Francie's trunk and laid them on the floor of the warehouse when she arrived. She lit scented candles all around the room, which instantly did wonders to improve the atmosphere, giving the room a soft, romantic glow. In the center of the room was the piŽce de rŽsistance, and she could hardly wait to see the look on Vaughn's face once he arrived and caught sight of it. She smiled just thinking about his reaction and imagining what he'd say.
She idly swung her legs back and forth, full of nervous and excited energy, until she heard footsteps approaching from down the hall. Her heart began to race and her smiled grew even bigger as she hopped down from the crate. Her sudden movement created a gust of wind that made one of the candles go out, and she bent down to re-light it using one of the other candles. When she stood back up and turned around, she came face to face with the green eyes that she loved so much and simply stood motionless for a moment, drinking in the sight of him. Even though she had been anticipating this moment ever since he said goodbye to her five weeks ago, she was completely unprepared for her reaction to seeing him again. He quite literally took her breath away when he smiled at her, and a few seconds later, she was wrapped in his arms, though she couldn't remember actually crossing the room to the spot where he stood.
"Sydney," he breathed into her hair as he held her tightly, "it feels like it's been five years since I last saw you, not five weeks."
"I know." She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder and simply breathed in the scent of him, hardly believing that she was finally in his arms again, that he was finally here with her again, rather than 2700 miles away. She happily sighed as he stroked her hair, and a moment later, she tilted her head back to look at him. "I missed you so much, Vaughn."
"God, me too, Sydney. Me too. I've been waiting for this moment since the day I got to Virginia. I'm never leaving you again for more than three days at a time," he promised.
"Trust me, I won't let you." She caressed his face just as he bent down to kiss her, and the moment his lips touched hers, fireworks ignited in her body and everything in the world faded away, save for her memories of what an incredible kisser he was. As his tongue slipped into her mouth and sought out hers, she couldn't even concentrate on that anymore. She slipped her fingers into his hair, knowing how much he loved it when she did that, and he moaned in appreciation, pulling her closer to him as their kiss grew deeper and their passion escalated to a fever pitch. She could have kissed him forever -- she wanted to -- but her need to breathe eventually won out over her desperation for him, and she reluctantly tore her lips away from his, laughing breathlessly as he resisted breaking contact with her and leaned forward to capture her lips again.
"Vaughn, I'm going to be blue in a minute," she panted.
"Sorry, I guess I'm getting a little carried away," he sheepishly smiled, taking her hands in his and holding them out to the side as he leaned forward to kiss her nose and forehead. "Being away from you was hell."
"It couldn't have been all that bad, because you look incredible." She took in his appearance, navy suit pants from earlier in the day, and a blue oxford shirt, with the first two buttons undone. His hair was just the way she liked it, slightly disheveled and spiky from running his fingers through it. He looked perfect and even with him right in front of her, she could hardly believe that this beautiful man was hers.
At the same time that she was checking him out, his eyes appreciatively swept over her. "You don't look so bad yourself, Syd. Nice dress, but if I remember correctly, it didn't stay on very long the first time you wore it."
"Nope, and I'm not really looking to reverse that trend," she admitted with a lascivious grin. She was wearing the strapless red dress that had derailed them from keeping their dinner reservation in Lake Tahoe. When she saw it hanging in her closet earlier that afternoon, she remembered the way that his eyes had nearly fallen out of his head when he first saw her in it, and she knew that it was the perfect choice for tonight.
"Don't worry, I'll keep the streak intact," he vowed as he brushed his lips against hers. She held their intertwined hands behind his back and stepped closer to him, pressing her body against his until she could feel the effect that her close proximity had on him, as well as the corresponding effect on her own body. She shifted her hips slightly, electricity shooting through her as she brushed against his erection. He pulled her even closer, but surprised her a moment later when he broke away from the kiss and distractedly looked over her shoulder.
"Vaughn, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, just . . . wow, look at this place," he smiled.
She shrugged modestly. "I just wanted to make it a little less warehousey. I mean, I would be with you anywhere, but I thought that some atmosphere might be nice."
"It's beautiful," he said as his eyes swept around the room before becoming fixated on a point in the center of it. "Do I dare even ask you about that?"
"About what?" she innocently asked.
"About the rather large bed in the middle of the room," he laughed, placing his hands on her shoulders and turning her around to look at it.
"Oh, *that.* Didn't you tell me that the first month you were in Virginia, you spent almost every night up late watching infomercials? Because surely, you must recognize the deluxe Aerobed," she smiled.
"An *Aerobed*?" he laughed. "Syd, you crack me up. What made you -- "
"Haven't you ever seen that infomercial? It's really cool, but it always made me wonder if the bed could really inflate and deflate as fast as they said it could."
"So does it?"
"It does," she confirmed. He shook his head in amusement and she gently tugged on his shirt and gave him a pointed look. "Before you left Santa Monica, you told me to be ready. You had to have known that I was going to take you seriously."
"Of course, because you're usually so good at taking orders and following instructions," he sarcastically replied. She rolled her eyes as he pulled her back into her arms. "Well, I guess I have to give you a bit of credit this time."
"Believe me, you're going to give me a lot more than that before the night is over," she winked. "Anyway, I think the bed makes a nice focal point for the room, don't you?"
"Oh, absolutely. And the red satin sheets? Nice," he grinned.
"The better to seduce you with, my dear, but that comes later." She took his hand and dragged him over to one of the crates next to the fence, hopping up on it and patting the empty space next to her. "So how was your flight?"
"Long. Uneventful," he shrugged as he sat down next to her.
"What was the in-flight movie?" He looked at her as if she was crazy and she shook her head and smiled. "Humor me, okay?"
"Okay, but honestly, I couldn't tell you."
"Why, did you sleep through it?"
"No, I was awake, I just wasn't paying any attention to *that* movie. Actually, I was visualizing my own porno movies in my mind, all starring you, believe it or not."
"Me? I'm shocked. *Shocked,* I tell you! Of course, I want you to tell me all about them later," she grinned.
"I'd rather show you instead," he murmured as he kissed her bare shoulder.
She sucked in her breath at the unexpected contact, but managed to quickly regain her composure. "Mmm-hmm. So how did Donovan do on the plane?"
"He seemed fine, but he was still sleeping when I dropped him off at Eric's. He might still be sleeping on Monday morning when I leave for work," he laughed.
"Oh, poor Donny. It was really nice of Eric to keep him tonight, though."
"Yeah, but he owes me about a billion favors. Besides, he knew how important it was for me to see you again, and that I'd be hell to work with on Monday if I didn't get laid tonight." He laughed, earning a playful punch in the arm before he wrapped his arms around Sydney's waist and turned to face her. "Seriously, he knew how much I needed to be with you, and not just for sex. You were always the first topic of conversation every time we talked while I was gone."
"So he told me. You know that he's going to tease you relentlessly about that, when you get back to work."
"Yeah, I know, but I don't care. I'll cop to being a lovesick fool."
"Well, I certainly won't hold it against you," she smiled. "How's your mom? Was she devastated to see you go?"
"Not exactly," he chuckled. "Actually, she couldn't wait to get rid of me."
"What? I find that hard to believe," she shook her head.
"No, it's true," he laughed. "She told me that in the past week, I was so antsy to get back to you that I was driving her nuts, and she needed to get rid of me. She told me to give you her love, though."
She smiled at the thought that Elise had been thinking of her. "Is it crazy how much I adore your mom even though I've only spent a few hours with her?"
"No, of course not. She's equally crazy about you, and she can't wait to see you again. I'm trying to get her to fly out when we get back from our vacation, so we can tell her about our engagement. I swear, it took all the strength I had not to tell her about it before I left," he laughed, not noticing as Sydney bit her lip and looked away from him. "If she comes, maybe we could tell her and your dad at the same time."
When she failed to respond, he gently turned her face back to his. "Hey, did I say something wrong?" he softly asked. "We don't have to tell our parents at the same time if you don't want to, you know."
"No, nothing's wrong, I'd love to tell our parents at the same time," she assured him before taking a deep breath. "But I did something last night that's probably going to make you freak out. I told Francie about our engagement, which I figured was relatively safe, since she doesn't know you, unlike my dad or Will or Weiss. She won't tell anyone, I swear, but *I* had to tell someone; it was driving me crazy not to. It's really hard to keep something a secret when it's the best thing that's ever happened to you." She looked at him, anxiously awaiting his reaction. "Are you upset?"
"What, that you have no self-control?" he teased. "That actually might come in handy later. Look, obviously, you know Francie better than I do. If you think you can trust her not to tell anyone, I don't see what the big deal is." He shrugged and pulled her closer to him. "So you couldn't keep it a secret, huh?" he asked, his eyes twinkling in amusement.
"I tried, really I did, but I couldn't help myself. Damn. I've been tortured and not given anything up, but I can't keep it a secret that I'm engaged." She shook her head ruefully and smiled at him. "How pathetic is that?"
"It's not." He kissed the tip of her nose and smiled when he looked down at her hand on his thigh and saw the ring on her finger. "I'm excited, too," he acknowledged, placing a warm hand on her knee.
"Does it seem more real to you now? Because it seems more real to me, now that you're back, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense, seeing that you've only been back for an hour. But at least I know that the next time I say goodbye to you, we'll see each other again in a couple of days and we'll be in the same city, at least."
Her voice and thoughts soon trailed off as she grew conscious of the way that Vaughn was softly caressing her knee as he listened to her. She didn't think that he realized what he was doing, but his touch was electric and she felt heat and desire suffusing her whole body.
"Vaughn?"
"Hmm?" he absently asked.
She placed her hand over his and slid it up her thigh, just underneath the hem of her dress. "I really missed you,' she said huskily. "Not just for the last five weeks, but for the last four months. I missed meeting you here and seeing you across the room at the ops center. I missed hearing your voice in my ear when I was on missions and seeing your smile when I came home safely. I missed kissing you and falling asleep in your arms at night, and I missed the way that you make me feel every time you touch me, every time you make love to me. I don't want to miss you anymore," she whispered as she slid off of the crate and pulled him off with her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body along the hard length of his.
"You told me to be ready for you tonight, and I'm so ready, Vaughn. I need you so much right now."
She pulled his head down, and in an instant, his lips were all over hers, tugging on her bottom lip, his teeth biting it gently as he pulled her closer to him. She urgently untucked his shirt from his pants and slid her hands underneath it, needing to feel his skin, reminding herself of the way his body always shuddered when she lightly ran her fingers across his abs. She kissed him demandingly as she backed him up against the fence and her fingers deftly unbuttoned his shirt. When she finished with the last button, she spread the shirt open, exposing his chest as she planted soft, fluttering kisses on his collarbones, his sternum, his stomach, everywhere that there was a bare patch of skin. She moved back up and nipped along his neck for a few moments before licking him in long, slow strokes, savoring the slightly salty taste of his skin.
"Syd, you're driving me crazy," he rasped.
"I mean to," she murmured.
*****
Vaughn whispered Sydney's name again and again as he collapsed against her, and she wrapped her arms around him, never wanting to let him go. She lovingly wiped the sweat from his forehead and softly kissed it, smiling back at him when she saw the beautiful smile that spread across his face. "I love it when you do that," he whispered.
"Why do you think I always do it?" she asked, her grin growing wider. "Welcome home, honey," she said with exaggerated sweetness.
"For sure," he laughed. "I think you were right -- I should definitely go away again and come back in five weeks."
"Yes, apparently, absence really *does* make the heart grow fonder, and the sex hotter," she smiled. "But we've had enough of that, Vaughn. I need you here with me."
"*I* need me here with you," he laughed before growing serious. "Being away from you proved to me that I need you so much, Syd. Those four months may have been the best thing that ever happened to me."
She looked at him quizzically and he rolled onto his side and looked deeply into her eyes.
"The last time I was in this warehouse with you, I was telling you that I wouldn't be your handler anymore, and that I was leaving you for four months. I knew that you would be angry and upset, but I really thought that I was doing the best thing for you, for both of us. When I got to Virginia, though, those first few days without you were so hard that I just wanted to catch the first flight back to L.A. I spent the first two weeks cursing myself for leaving you, telling myself what a fool I was for thinking that being apart from you wouldn't be that difficult."
"Vaughn," she said, softly stroking his face. "You don't have to apologize or explain. I mean, yes, I was upset at first, but it's water under the bridge now. I understand why you did what you did."
"I know you do, because you're wonderful, and I'm not apologizing for leaving, Sydney, because I honestly don't regret it. It was painful being away from you, but it was also exactly what I needed, because it clarified everything about the place that you hold in my life. For the the first time, I got to think about you, not as my professional responsibility or my asset, but just as my girlfriend, as the woman that I realized I couldn't live without.
"If I had stayed here, if I was still your handler, everything would be so different now. You wouldn't have come to Virginia, and you wouldn't have met my mom. I wouldn't have had the chance to see how incredibly the two of you got along together, and we'd probably still be dancing around all of the issues with your mom and my dad. I never would have known how amazing it felt to come home at the end of the day and see you there or how hard it was to leave you in the morning when you were still asleep in my bed, looking so beautiful.
"And truth be told, if I had stayed here, we wouldn't be engaged right now. Not that I wouldn't have wanted to ask you to marry me, but I wouldn't have felt the urgency that I felt when I was so far away from you and felt so removed from your life. So, if nothing else, I'm grateful that I went away for that reason, because it gave me the kick in the ass that I needed to realize how stupid it would be to wait any longer to ask you to spend the rest of your life with me."
"Then yay for Virginia," she softly laughed. "You know, there were times when I missed you so much that it was hard to breathe, Vaughn. But I can't really argue with the way that things worked out, can I? Honestly, though, now that I've been without you, now that I've seen what it's like, I can't do that again. We belong with each other, in every way, and my heart really can't grow any fonder of you, so no more absences, okay?" she smiled.
"Promise," he grinned. He kissed her to prove that he meant it and it wasn't long before he was again ready to show her in other ways. They had so much lost time to make up for, and even though he knew that they couldn't do it all in one night, he was more than willing to try anyway.
TBC . . .