A/N: Her name is muse and she cares very little for my sleeping habits.
More chapters depend on you guys, if you want more say so.
Disclaimer: I do not own MacGyver or these characters, just borrowing for free fun.
Moments Like This
Chapter One- One Dance
"Riley!" The shrill panic of Mac's voice startles her out of a light sleep. She scrambles around the bed, knocking over the opened laptop. She must have fallen asleep while coding. Fueled by adrenaline, she reaches for the gun under her pillow-because that's the kind of life she leads now- and stumbles out of bed.
"Riley…" She hears again as she reaches for her bedroom door, ready to walk into what could be a horrific scene completely unprepared but she hears the need in his voice and she doesn't know what she'll do with herself if something happens to Mac.
She begins searching the house, it's clouded in darkness and she gets a glimpse of the time on the cable box, 10:05, she must have dozed off early.
"Mac?" She calls for him when she's cleared the ground floor. "Riles," She hears his voice and knows it's coming from the deck. She races up the stairs, heart hammering beneath her chest, thoughts racing with the gazillion of emergencies it could be this time.
She's assaulted by warm night air when she gets to the deck and puts her gun back on safety when her eyes fall on Mac. He looks at her as if she was the one who startled him.
"Mac," she bends over and gulps as much air as she can to fill her burning lungs, "what the hell?"
"What?" he says, not realizing how scared she had been. He's not in any distress, in fact, this is the most relaxed she's seen him since facing off with his aunt and Codex. His hair is tussled, his shirt is open-flapping in the wind and he's smiling. Saxophone music plays softly in the background and his feet won't stop tapping to it.
"I thought there was an emergency," she said and realization finally changes his expression to a deep cringe.
"Sorry Riles, I just wanted a dance partner," he says with a boyish smile.
Now able to breathe through her nose again, she turns on her heels, intending to go back to her room to get her heart rate back down and maybe chide herself for her gross over reaction a little later. Mac has other plans however, he dances over to her and takes her hand in his, leading her back onto the deck.
"Dance with me, please, just one dance," he asks but he's pulling her into his arms before he gets an answer.
He clasps her right hand in his left and places his right hand on the small of her back. Using the same precision and focus he would to disable a bomb, he moves them around the deck.
Once she's close enough to smell his aftershave she becomes self-conscious. She fell asleep in an oversized t-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts from one of her exes, she couldn't remember which one. Mac seems to care about none of it, not even her unkept hair, full of knots, flapping in his face because of the windy night. She grumbles when it flaps into her own face and she hears him chuckle.
She flips it over her shoulder with an awkward neck move but when she looks back at Mac, he seems enthralled by her ministrations.
"I'm glad I can amuse you," she says, meaning it to be edgy but it exits her mouth in a playful tone that she hates.
"You're on a roll tonight," he moves them around the firepit and she struggles to keep up but he leads in a way that she wants to follow, "but I do have to say that I will sleep better knowing you're ready to throwdown with your gun for me." He teases and she scuffs but says nothing. She's getting very comfortable in his arms, swaying to the music. The tension eases out of her muscles starting from her neck, down to her shoulders and then to her upper, middle and lower back. The relief makes her shudder in his arms.
He mistakes her shudders as a sign that she's cold and pulls her closer in his arms, now flush against his chest. He rubs small circles on her back, trying to warm her up and she practically melts into his chest at the skinship. Before the remainder of her resolve shrivels up and dies, she looks up and says, "don't you have a girlfriend to dance to saxophone music with?" This time it comes out as edgy as she means it but it seems to go over his head as his face remains the same, calm and relaxed.
"First off, this is not just 'saxophone music'…this, is Duke Ellington." He says and Riley shrugs by way of response. He pretends to be offended at her nonchalance then laughs light-heartedly.
"Desi is out getting us dinner," he says, dipping her. Their noses are almost touching and suddenly the mention of his girlfriend seems trivial. He pulls her back up sharply to his firm chest and she bites her bottom lip to keep a gasp in her throat. She lets her head drop to his shoulder, giving in completely to the moment. They sway to the music in unison, synced up in every way, maybe even down to their heartbeat. She would confirm if she were right if she could hear anything above her own rhythmic heartbeat. Her senses are entuned to his, she moves as he moves, her skin burns wherever it makes contact with his bare skin.
As they move slowly to the music, bodies press dangerously close, amusement gone and replaced with desire…moments like this, she thinks that maybe she's not crazy. Maybe there could be more to them. She couldn't be the only one feeling this? Could she?
"You know what's funny," he says, pulling her out of her reverie.
She stirs in his arms but he pulls her right back to his chest, either because of his reflexes or something else…she doesn't know.
"This is the first time I feel like I could breathe…in a long time."
The sincerity in his tone makes her chest tighten, her mouth dry and her throat close up. She doesn't know how to respond: she could ask why Desi doesn't make him feel like that, she could tell him she feels the exact same way or she could lean up and kiss him…
She doesn't have to choose because the front door slams close jolts them apart like they had just been implicated in a courtly affair. His gaze falls on her as they hear Desi's footsteps approaching the deck. She looks away from him, turns her back to him and looks over the railing at the night sky. She's trying to blink away tears and steady her heartbeat. Only when she gets a control on her emotions does she turn around and lean against the railing, assuming an innocent stance. What was she doing? What kind sadist did this to themselves? He wasn't hers for the taking. How many times did she need to be reminded of that?
When Desi reaches the deck, she addresses Riley first, like Mac wasn't even standing there.
"Oh, Riley, are you joining us for dinner?" she then looks at Mac with a strange look, "good thing I always over buy."
Riley swallows the lump in her throat and says, "I have plans actually," This gets her a short glance from Mac who is still dodging Desi's x-ray glare. It's absurd but Riley feels like Desi suspects she had just interrupted something. She brushes past both of them without making eye contact, goodbyes landing on her back as she descends the stairs as fast as possible.
Moments like this, she wishes she never met him.
Read & Review 3