They're barely through the door when she feels his arms slide around her and his lips on her neck. She turns in his hold and pushes him back against the wall, not for the first time tonight. She feels like every nerve in her body is alert, every hair standing to attention, and she wants him more than she's ever wanted anybody, possibly anything, in her life. She leans in and kisses him quickly, smiling against his lips before pulling back and shrugging her coat off her shoulders, dropping it onto a nearby chair. Then she watches as he takes off his jacket and kicks off his shoes before she steps forward and loosens his tie, sliding it off and letting it fall to the floor.
Taking his hand she starts to lead him towards the stairs, and she feels her heart pounding in anticipation of what's to come.
"Ooh, wait..." She stops and pulls him instead into the kitchen, opening the fridge and grabbing a bottle. "We should have champagne!"
"We should, huh?" He takes the bottle out of her hand and grins at her.
"Absolutely." She leans up and rubs her nose against his, her grin matching his. "It's Friday night, it's almost Christmas, and we are finally going to bed."
"Well…" He pauses to kiss her. "Those are three damn good reasons for champagne, I'll give you that."
"Together, Dempsey." She smiles at him, pulling back slightly so she can look at him properly. "In the same bed. My bed."
"Yeah, I got that, princess." He grins again and runs his finger slowly down her nose, once again making her stomach flip over.
"And I don't mean to sleep. Because we have kind of done that before, haven't we?" She doesn't wait for an answer, he knows as well as she does that the few times they've slept in the same bed it's been down to exhaustion, too much wine, or a mutual but unspoken need for comfort. She kisses him again, unable to resist. "I mean to have lots of sex. Lots of really delicious Christmas sex."
"Yeah, I got that too, and I have to say, I'm liking Christmas Harry." He gazes at her and she takes the bottle of champagne back out of his hands to open it. "I'm liking her a whole lot."
She gets the bottle open and watches the cork as it bounces off the kitchen wall. There is a look of amusement in his eyes as he watches her take a mouthful straight from the bottle, and she likes that she keeps on surprising him tonight. She hands the bottle to him and watches as he takes a drink too.
"Bring the bottle." Her hand slips back into his and she leads him to the stairs.
In the bedroom he holds out the bottle of champagne and she grabs it, feeling festive all over again as she takes another drink and then she watches him do the same before he puts it down on the table beside the bed. She steps ahead of him, bending down to take off her shoes, knowing exactly the view she's giving him as she slowly unbuckles the ankle straps. When she turns back to face him there's a look of such hunger in his eyes that she could swear she actually starts to feel her insides quivering in excitement. She moves to stand in front of him and her hands reach for his belt, her fingers brushing over the zip of his trousers en route. She feels his body reacting under her touch as she hoped it would, and her lips quirk into a smile.
She hides the slight shake in her hands and somehow makes short work of his belt, tossing it aside somewhere in the vague direction of her shoes. Her fingers find his belt loops and she drags him towards her, pushing her hips against his, making it very clear what she wants. She pushes her hands into his hair and kisses him hard, scratching her nails lightly down the back of his neck. It may have been just hours since she first kissed him but she knows already that the taste of him is something she's going to crave whenever they're not together.
His hands move to cup her face and she feels herself sigh into the kiss, his touch sending her thoughts into a complete jumble. Her mind once again flits back to the night she pressed her lips to his in a messy kiss fuelled by an awful few days and way too much champagne, and how he gently, regretfully pushed her away. She's glad now that nothing more happened then because tonight is making it very clear that she's going to want to remember everything. Every single thing.
Her hand finds his zip and she drags it slowly down, her lips still on his, even as her fingers slide inside his trousers. He lets out a strangled sort of yelp and it makes her giggle in a way that she barely recognises. It really has been too long since she let herself just feel...good.
"Dempsey…" She reaches for the button of his trousers, popping it open and smirking at him. "Take them off and get on the bed."
"Yes, ma'am…" She can see it in his eyes, he might complain when she tells him what to do at work, but he is finding it more than a little appealing in this setting.
"I wonder why you're not this obedient in the office, Lieutenant." He's out of his trousers in what surely must be some kind of speed record, and she watches him as he gets onto the bed in just his shirt and shorts, leaning back against the headboard, his eyes never leaving hers.
"Maybe because you keep this Harry hidden at work, Sergeant." He unbuttons his shirt and her gaze drifts to his neck, his chest. "Mostly."
"Mostly?" She walks slowly around to the side of the bed, perching on the edge and watching as he reaches the final shirt button and takes it off. Her tongue runs slowly over her suddenly dry lips as she waits for his response.
"Yeah, I get a glimpse sometimes before she goes running back into hiding again." His hand moves to her shoulder and his thumb roams slowly down her neck. "I like it. Keeps me guessing."
"Unzip me, Dempsey." She shifts just enough for him to be able to reach for her zip. Instead of his hands landing on her dress she feels them pushing her hair aside and then his lips come to rest on the back of her neck. "Oh…"
He kisses her neck and his lips are warm and soft. His fingers glide down her back, slowly and gently, and his teeth scrape lightly across her skin, before his tongue soothingly follows close behind. She moans faintly as he starts to drag her zip down almost unbearably slowly. When he's done she stands up and pulls her dress off, stepping out of it, standing at the side of the bed in only her black lace knickers.
Turning to face him, the look of blatant desire in his eyes sends a rush of need running through her, flooding urgently into her belly, and there's an instant flush of heat filling her cheeks. She feels suddenly exposed and has to wrestle with an attack of unexpected timidity and an urge to cover herself. She silently reminds herself she's bold Harry tonight, and that on the bed is Dempsey, her partner, the man she trusts with her life on a daily basis, and the man with whom she's ready to trust with everything else tonight. She smiles and climbs into his lap, settling back onto his thighs and resting her hands on his chest, letting out a long breath and closing her eyes, trying hard to let her scrambled brain catch up with her body.
"Hey…" His hand cups her face again and his thumb sweeps tenderly across her cheekbone, something she's quickly realising she likes, really likes. She opens her eyes and he's smiling at her, a sweet, boyish smile that deepens the flush in her cheeks and sets her heart pounding all over again. "God, you're beautiful, princess."
"You know...at first I used to think you called me that because you thought I was a complete stuck-up nightmare. I thought it was a thinly veiled insult." She smiles, remembering their first few weeks working together, circling each other like two entirely different species, each of them trying to ease into some kind of rhythm. She recalls how his brash, slightly obnoxious manner would slip occasionally and she would cling to the tiny glimmers of what she was sure was the genuine him, often going home confused by how she found herself attracted and irritated in equal measure. "And then I realised it wasn't that at all."
"Nope." He smiles at her and she slides her hands up to his shoulders, enjoying the feel of his solid muscle under her palms. "Not an insult. You're just...my princess."
His princess...damn, he's charming, and he knows it, but she's three quarters naked in his lap so it's not a charm she's about to resist. She's unlikely to admit it aloud but she likes the inexplicable feeling that runs through her when he calls her princess. Her arms move around the back of his neck, her fingers stroking into his hair, and she feels his hands slip into her underwear, lifting her up just enough to pull her closer. She tilts her hips and it becomes clear how ready he is for her. She hears his name fall from her lips, quiet, barely a murmur, but full of need, of longing, repeated louder when he starts to kiss the side of her neck.
If she were asked later in a court of law to explain how they divested themselves (or perhaps each other, she's really not sure) of their underwear quite so quickly, she really doesn't think she could. Yet somehow they find themselves naked, wrapped around each other, and he's exactly where she wants him, so deeply that she can barely remember her own name. She can't think of anything besides how good he feels and how glad she is to have brought the wait to an end tonight. He's quieter, more gentle than she expected, thoroughly focused on her, and she's probably louder and perhaps more passionate, more enthusiastic than he anticipated. It's the way they always are together, different in so many ways yet oddly alike in others, both strong-willed and stubborn, always ready to bicker, yet loyal to each other when faced with opposition from outside. It's why their unconventional work partnership is somehow successful, and why it was almost inevitably going to lead to this, an unexpected compatibility born of a chemistry neither one of them has any control over.
Now that they're here, now that she's completely lost in him, now that he's holding her like she's precious porcelain even as he pushes deeper into her, she knows with total certainty that for her this isn't a one time thing. The way she finds him looking at her when she opens her eyes gives her hope that he feels the same. She starts to move faster, he tangles his fingers in hers and slows her down. She takes his earlobe between her teeth and nibbles lightly, he turns her head to his and kisses her. Push, pull, night, day, yin, yang, always.
"Oh, I...Dempsey…" She feels herself teetering on the edge of something that feels almost meteoric, and she bites her lip to try to regain control, an almost unconscious reaction.
"Let go, princess." His voice is low, his eyes dark, and his thumb moves to her bottom lip, freeing it from her teeth's hold. "I got you...always."
She leans in to kiss him and his arms move around her, his hands strong, firm, warm on her shoulder blades. His fingers move up to tickle the back of her neck and it's enough to send her so close to the edge that for a few seconds she doesn't remember how to breathe. When she does it's a long, slightly ragged breath, and when his lips move to her skin and hit the tender point at the curve of her neck she knows the game is up. She tightens her grip on his shoulders and lets herself give in to the oncoming explosion, closing her eyes and crying out his name, all attempts at restraint wholly abandoned.
"Oh my God…" She can think of nothing other than how she feels, how her entire body is tingling, how she can't recall ever coming that fast, that hard, and how she might have known he would be the one to make it happen. She opens her eyes and looks into his, smiling as he pushes her unruly fringe aside to look at her properly.
"You, Sergeant Makepeace, are the sexiest sight I've ever seen." Her first instinct is to look away, to blush, but she holds fast, resolute under the heat of his stare.
"Quite the compliment from the Casanova of the NYPD." She smiles wider and her hands move across his shoulders, relishing the opportunity to keep touching him. "Tell me what you need, Romeo."
"I got what I need." His lips briefly touch hers and she feels him push harder, his hands on her waist, holding her in place, his fingers curling into her sides. "Just you, Harry."
He says nothing more, he just watches her as she speeds up the rhythm of her hips. She keeps her gaze firmly locked on his, strongly sensing that the eye contact will be his final undoing, letting out a long, satisfied sigh when she's proved right and his lips find hers again in a soft, slow kiss as he reaches his final peak.
He can't seem to stop kissing her, and it's more intoxicating than the champagne beside the bed ever could be. It's somehow gentle yet intense all at once, his mouth claiming hers completely, and his tongue sweeping across her top lip so tenderly she can barely form a single thought beyond how much she wants to keep doing this with him. Tonight, tomorrow, next week, three weeks on Tuesday, any day, every day...oh hell, she really should have known what a taste of him would do to her.
Eventually he pulls back but his hands move to her face, his thumbs softly stroking her skin, and he smiles at her, his eyes slightly unfocused and an endearingly sexy flush in his cheeks.
"So…" She returns his smile and climbs carefully off him and out of his lap, reaching for his discarded shirt and sliding her arms into it before grabbing the champagne bottle and taking a drink before passing it to him. "I feel like this would be the ideal moment to make a joke about Santa coming."
"You're drinking champagne from the bottle and wearing nothing but my shirt, Harry." He takes a mouthful and then reaches for her hand, pulling her back towards the bed. "You can joke about whatever the hell you want."
"Dempsey, that was…" Climbing back onto the bed she settles next to him, leaning her head against his shoulder. "Well, let's just say I don't think it should be a Christmas only event."
"Now, I might not do this often, but I'm going to have to agree with you." Again the champagne bottle makes its way to her and she takes another drink before passing it back, feeling a now familiar flutter in her stomach as her hand brushes his.
"Finally." She runs her hand down his arm, her fingers coming to rest on the back of his hand, drawing circles absently around his knuckles. "If only I'd known all I had to do was to get us both naked…"
She feels his hand on her chin and then his lips are on hers again and he presses her back against the pillows, sliding his hand under her shirt, his shirt, and lightly tickling her ribs.
"You taste like champagne." He props himself up on an elbow and watches her as she shifts onto her side to face him.
"It's Christmas." She reaches out and runs her index finger down his chest, seemingly unable to stop touching him now she's started. "Everybody you kiss should taste like champagne."
"Well, I have no idea what everyone else tastes like. I'm only kissing you." There he goes, turning on his finest charm again, making her blush. "You know, you're one hell of a tough cookie, but you're cute as hell when you blush."
"Shut up." She smiles at him and reluctantly sits up, running her hand once more down his arm before she stands, answering the question posed by his raised eyebrow. "Bathroom."
Scooping her underwear up from the floor she heads for the bathroom, closing her eyes as she sits down on the loo, feeling a smile she has no say in creeping onto her lips. As a detective she's good at uncertainty, at thinking on her feet, at dealing with situations that often spiral beyond anyone's best guess, criminals are rarely predictable. Outside of work she's not usually great with scenarios over which she doesn't have full control, but she finds herself doing surprisingly well with this one. Dempsey has become someone she's much better at reading, or perhaps it's that he's relaxed into something a little more transparent...either way, though she can't be completely sure, she's confident enough that he's not about to disappear in the time it takes her to wash off her makeup. Still, she decides it can't hurt to open the bathroom door just a little once she's finished washing her hands.
Her lipstick has obviously been well and truly removed by now and the thought of his kisses makes her smile yet again. The rest of her makeup, but for some mascara attempting an escape down her cheek, is still mostly intact so she makes a start on removing it. Her hair, however, is an entirely different story, it looks like she's been doing...well, exactly what she has been doing, and she decides it can stay that way a little longer while she finishes taking off her makeup and brushing her teeth.
The faint creak of her bedroom door shakes her out of her thoughts and then he appears behind her, leaning against the wall, watching her in the mirror but not saying a word. He has his shorts back on and the fact that she's still wearing his shirt means she has another opportunity to appreciate his bare chest.
"Sorry, I seem to have stolen your shirt." She turns to face him, a tiny voice in her head asking if perhaps he's about to ask for his shirt back so he can leave, as ridiculous as she knows that is.
"It's not like I need it right now." One short sentence and the voice in her head is silenced. His gaze shifts to her legs, roaming slowly down their length and back up. "Looks better on you anyway."
"Shirtless looks rather good on you too. I guess we both win." She smiles at him and turns slightly, catching sight of herself in the mirror. "My hair though has definitely looked...better."
"Well…" He pauses, aiming a familiar smirk in her direction. "It's looked worse."
"Thank you...I think." She doesn't bother with a hairbrush, opting instead to attempt a salvage mission with just her fingers before giving up entirely. "Your compliments are...interesting."
"Hey, what can I say?" The smirk morphs into a grin and he steps closer. "You don't roll in the hay with me, honey, and expect to come out of it with your hair untouched."
"Now that sounds like a compliment...to yourself." She turns again and leans back against the wall, slowly opening the one shirt button she had bothered to fasten. "Do I not get any points for my participation tonight?"
"Oh, you get plenty." He slips a hand under her shirt and rubs his thumb along her rib cage, grinning as she squirms slightly under his touch. "You were...amazing tonight, Harry. I mean, you were just…wow."
"Well, if you're lost for words I must have been good." She closes the gap between them and kisses him. "I'll definitely take that as a compliment."
"Oh, you really should." He pulls his hand out from under her shirt and strokes his fingers down the side of her neck.
"I think I have…" She opens the wall cabinet and rummages for just a few seconds before finding the unopened toothbrush she thought was there somewhere. She holds it out to him and it feels like an oddly intimate gesture, which she knows makes no sense considering the lines they crossed tonight. "Are you...you are staying, right?"
"I'm staying." He takes the toothbrush from her but he doesn't take his eyes off her for even a fraction of a second.
"Good..." She smiles and slides his shirt slowly off, handing it to him and glancing over her shoulder as she reaches the door. "I don't think I need this right now either."
"Dammit, Harry, what are you trying to do to me?" He groans as he reaches for her and grabs her hand to pull her back to him.
"What? I'm just returning your shirt." She gives him a coy smile because frankly she's enjoying the tease, she likes that she seems to have the upper hand here, and she's quickly learning what drives him crazy. "Dempsey…?"
"Hmm?" His arms are around her, she's pressed tightly to him, his bare chest against hers and she would gladly stay like this forever. She slides a hand down his back and into his shorts, dragging her nails across the firm backside that she tried (and failed) not to look at the very first day they worked together when he blithely dropped his towel right in front of her. "Holy shit, baby."
"I think I'm going to like being your baby..." She grins, their bodies are wrapped tightly enough around each other that she's well aware of what she's doing to him. Leaning up, she kisses him, a deep, searing kiss that can leave him in no doubt whatsoever of how she feels. Peeling herself away from him, she softly squeezes his hand. "Now brush your teeth and come back to bed."