A/N: Thank you SWWoman once again for an outstanding beta!
Not Enough
Jocelyn Carter was more than ready to pack up her desk for the evening. She had had more than enough of her "new boss", and all she wanted was a hot bubble bath with a glass of wine. She had to hurry though, because he might try to make her stay after hours for another unnecessary meeting to go over the plans for the project ….again. Just as she grabbed her keys and was closing her office door to leave her boss's door opened, and Joss's eyes closed in frustration as she heard him call her name.
"Carter," John Reese called in his unique quiet timber with his usual smirk firmly attached to his insanely handsome face. "Would you come into my office for a few minutes before you leave, there are a few things we need to go over for the, uh…project?" He asked, not bothering to hide the hint of mischief in his eyes.
I think he does this on purpose just to piss me off! Joss thought, gritting her teeth as she turned and walked toward John's office. He held the door open, and tried to hide a grin as he watched her stride through into his office ready to breathe fire. She would soon change her attitude when he told her they had a break in the case, but he wanted to let her stew for a little while before he gave her the news.
John and Joss were at Marmostein Ribners' law offices working undercover for a number that the Machine had given them four days ago. Normally when they received a number it was resolved within twenty-four to forty-eight hours. This particular number, however, was involved in something that also concerned HR, the group of corrupt cops Carter had been investigating since her ex-boyfriend, Cal Beecher had been murdered. That put a different spin on things.
"Please," Carter said as she turned in the middle of John's spacious office to face him, "tell me again, how it is that you, not being a lawyer, somehow was assigned to be my, who just happens to be a lawyer, boss." She had asked this so many times it came out more a statement than a question.
"I'm sorry Carter," John said as he closed the door behind them. He didn't feel sorry in the least if she was to judge by the smile on his face. "I didn't set up the chain of command here. I had no idea that the Office/Financial Administrator would be your boss. I needed the position in order to have access to all of their files, and to be able to move around the office without being questioned about why I was there," he explained smoothly for the umpteenth time. This record was getting old.
Joss sighed, and a familiar frown crinkled her lovely brow. She then flopped ungraciously down into one of John's chairs across from his desk, her remarkably long legs stretched out in front of her, crossed at her ankles. She leaned her head back against the chair, and let her hair fall over the back in long silky waves that made John's fingers twitch with the desire to run through it. He felt his heart rate increase as his eyes traveled from her small feet along her calves, and then across her trim thighs and hips. He continued over the curve of her waist, the swell of her firm, round breasts, and graceful neck. His eyes came to rest on her exquisite heart shaped face with full gorgeous lips, and long, thick lashes that fanned across her dimpled cheeks while her doe eyes were closed. Her golden brown skin practically glowed with health and vitality. He swallowed, and shifted restlessly as he felt his pants get tighter.
John had noticed a while ago that his feelings for Joss had changed dramatically. He had felt it in the interrogation room at Ryker's when she had practically held his hand during the grueling hours of questions. He had thought he was saying goodbye to her for the last time inside the DOD facility after telling Lionel to take her out of the building, and he had tried to convey some of that feeling to her. When Harold had disarmed the bomb vest he had been wearing, and John made it out alive, however, John had distanced himself from her. He had been unsure how to handle his feelings for her, but, in the end, he couldn't stay away. He had to be near her. She had been understandably upset and hurt at first. She hadn't understood why he had abandoned her, and their friendship, but slowly they began to rebuild their relationship, and he told himself, every damn day, that it was enough. He was beginning to think he might be wrong.
John was pulled away from his thoughts as Joss stirred, and began to sit up in the chair.
"So what useless information do we have to talk about tonight that couldn't wait for our briefing before work in the morning?" Carter asked irritated, and looked at John expectantly.
"Ahh, but Carter, you're gonna love me after this," John said as he rounded his desk, and he didn't see the distress that passed over Carter's face.
Joss watched John as he riffled through some files on his desk, and once again asked herself how she had gotten herself into this mess. He had taken his suit coat off and was wearing his classic white dress shirt, rolled up at the sleeves, and his black dress slacks. She let her eyes roam over him hungrily, like a starving man eating a meal. John was devastatingly attractive. There was just no other way to say it. Classically tall, dark, and handsome, he was also blessed with the most strikingly beautiful silver blue eyes set in chiseled features, a slightly crooked nose, strong jaw, and prominent cheekbones . He had broad shoulders, trim waist and hips, and it made her warm all over as she wondered if the old saying of large feet and hands corresponding to certain other body parts were true. His muscles were defined, lean and sleek like a jungle cat, and he moved with the grace of one.
Ryker's; that's when Joss had known there was something different about how she felt about John Reese. The very idea of being separated from him, and him being locked in a cage had been enough to make her desperate with fear. She had switched out his DNA, and deleted his fingerprints hoping to get him released, and still Donnelly persisted. Then when Donnelly had put John out it in the yard alone with the Aryans, Joss had felt every blow, and every kick. She had been sick at the lengths at which Donnelly would go to catch The Man in the Suit. That's when she knew she had to get John out no matter what the cost, and she had. He was released from jail, but then captured by that nut job partner of his, Kara Stanton, and strapped into a bomb vest. The hardest thing she had ever done was let go of his arm that night. For weeks afterward she couldn't look him in the eye because she felt she had abandoned him when he needed her. He didn't come around for a while, and she thought it was because she had left him to die alone, but he had come back, they began again. She had told herself his friendship was enough. But was it, really?
Joss came out of her reverie when she heard John speak up.
"Carter, come over here. I want you to take a look at this," he was holding a file folder in his hand waiting for her. She rushed around the desk, and leaned over his arm to look into the file. Good god he smelled good. "You're going to have to interpret all this legalese, but I kinda get the gist of it, and if I'm right," he looked at her, his eyes bright with excitement, "I think it will lead us to the head of HR. Just the person you've been looking for." He stood up straight, and handed her the file.
"Oh my god, John, that's...that's incredible!" Carter said as she took the file from him excitedly. "Where did you find this?"
Carter watched as John's face clouded over. "That's the bad news. I found it in our numbers office. I think our number is the perpetrator not the victim," he said lowly. "And don't get too excited, it's just a lead, but I think it's a good one."
As she closed the file Carter said, "So you think our number is part of HR? It wouldn't be a surprise that they have lawyers in their pocket, but from an establishment like this…" she left the rest of her thought unsaid. With some of the most elite clientele, Marmostein Ribner was one of the top law firms in Manhattan. Carter looked up at John curiously. "Do you think he could be leaking sensitive information about clients back to HR for them to use against the clients?" she asked suspiciously.
John looked at Carter thoughtfully. "Why would you ask that, Carter?"
"It's just something Fusco said the other day about hearing some scuttlebutt about HR being flush with money. It struck me as to how they were getting their money?" Carter said with a shrug as she crossed her arms in front her. "Elias has washed his hands of them, and the Russians haven't built up a revenue stream yet, not since getting out of jail."
Carter groaned as she saw that look that John gets when he has caught a whiff of something nefarious. He was as bad as she was; like a dog with a bone. He will not be happy until he ferrets out every possible avenue that this might lead to.
"I'm sorry, Carter, but it looks like we might be here for a few more days," John said, and she felt real compassion in his words. "I'll call Finch, and bring him up to date on what we've found out."
"I really don't mind if it means we get the head of HR, and bring those bastards down. I'm only glad Finch worked his magic to get me assigned to a "FBI joint task force" to go undercover or my Captain would be shitting a brick right about now," then she laughed outright. "Fusco must be grinding his teeth having to do all the paperwork by himself, poor guy." John started laughing with her at the image of Lionel buried under mountains of paperwork into the wee hours of the morning.
The laughter died softly as John looked at Carter. "We'll get them, Carter."
"Yeah, I know. And I appreciate you helping me like you are," Carter continued to stare into his eyes. "It means…a lot."
"I'd do anything for you…you know that, don't you?" John asked her softly.
"Yes," Joss swallowed, "Yes, I do."
Suddenly the air around them was thick, and John found himself getting swallowed in the dark depths of Joss's eyes. He could get lost there.
Not enough, John thought as he lowered his head toward Joss's. He could see her eyes widen in surprise, but she didn't move away, still he hesitated. Then he heard the file she was holding drop to the floor, her hand reached behind his neck, and pulled him down so that their lips crashed together forcefully. John's arms wrapped around her, and pulled her closer as their mouths moved against each other's hungrily as if they had been starved for each other. They both moaned desperately when Joss opened her mouth inviting John inside to explore the sweet treasure within. Their tongues slid against each other, twisting and twirling in a dance with a rhythm all of its own. Heat engulfed them, and threatened to burn them alive as their hands began to move, and seek out their own treasures on each other's their bodies.
John turned Joss so that she was pressed between his body, and his desk. She could feel his hardness, and she moaned wanting to feel more of him. Her hands buried themselves in his thick hair as he moved from her lips to her jaw then her ear. He took a great deal of time on her neck, and then parted the collar of her blouse to kiss, nip, and suck the curve of her shoulder and collar bone. She was becoming mindless with need, she wanted to touch him, and drive him senseless with desire.
Finally lifting his head from her neck, John found Joss's mouth again and devoured her luscious lips like the sweetest fruit delving his tongue into her delicious depths. He would never get tired of kissing her, and now that he had tasted her he would never again deny himself such an indulgence. He felt her hands at the buttons of his shirt, and sparks shot through his body as her fingers touched his skin. But with that spark also came a moment of sanity. They were in his office. Not even his actual office. They were undercover, and this was not the time or the place…oh god her lips felt so good against his skin. They had to stop…now, or there would be no stopping.
John grabbed Joss's hands and stopped her from unbuttoning his shirt. Holding her small hands in his large hands he leaned his forehead against hers. His was breath coming in short gasps as was hers.
"Joss, baby, as much as I want you right now, we have to stop," he saw the confusion and hurt in her eyes, and hated it. "Listen, this is not the time or the place for us…oh god," and he bent down to take her lips again, and she moaned, but she nodded her head when he released her.
"Yeah, John, you're right, wrong time, wrong place," and Joss started to quickly button up his shirt. Then she smiled up at him. "But I know the perfect time, and the perfect place."
"Where, when?" John asked, confused as she slipped out of his arms, and hurried to pick up the folder she had dropped.
Joss stopped, pecked him on the lips, and said, "My place, one hour."
With a smile that would have lit up Manhattan John turned to get his suit coat.
"You need a ride?"
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this little one shot. This was inspired as I worked on a screenshot blend, therefore I was up until around 4 am writing this little drabble. You write, then you correct, then you re-write, then your re-write again and so on so forth. But I love it, and I hope you reap the rewards of my efforts. Please remember to drop me a line in the box before you leave, even just to say hi. See you soon...
