The Read In Part 3 of 4

Annie returned with dinner to find Auggie and Barber already working. She convinced them to eat and then left them to their own devices, only a shout away in the next room.

It was a strange feeling for Annie, to be the passive one, to let others help her. She had been on her own for so long now it was odd to be part of a team again.

"Annie!" Barber called.

"Yes," she popped back in.

"I can't make out what this says and Auggie here has been no help," Barber grinned as he handed Annie a piece of paper with her own handwriting on it.

"Garrett Levine," she translated her chicken scratch.

"Henry met with him on 2 occasions that I can confirm. Hoping his name might be in that server somewhere."

"If we can get a photo of him I can run him through Hummingbird," Auggie suggested.

Annie moved behind Auggie's chair and put her hands on his shoulders, she leaned her head against his, her lips to his ear.

"You are so smart," she whispered and could see the smile on his face reflected in his laptop screen.

Once she had given in to touching him again she really didn't want to stop, but it seemed Auggie and Barber had a groove going and weren't too tired yet, so she left them again as not to distract their progress.

She decided to do a load of laundry in the apartment building's basement and she made a pot of coffee. She sat on the bed and wondered if there was a shop open nearby that sold lingerie, she certainly didn't have anything sexy in her limited wardrobe, not that she anticipated needing anything to get either one of them in the mood.

Finally, around 1:00 am she returned to the little office.

"How's it going in here?"

"Good, we have launched a few very stealthy little worms, but they will likely need several hours to bore their way in, if we go too fast it could send up red flags," Barber explained.

"Makes sense," Annie smiled and nodded.

"Might as well sleep while they work," Barber suggested.

"Pillow and blankets there and the bathroom is all yours," Annie indicated the linens on the futon.

"Thanks," Barber smiled.

"I'll be right in," Auggie looked towards her as he finished up his typing.

"K," Annie smiled, "Good night Eric."

"Good night."

Auggie finished up his work and pushed back from the computer.

"Barber, there may not be a more awkward moment than this in our entire relationship, but…."

"I am one step ahead of you Auggie, you don't even have to say it, I have noise cancelling headphones I brought for the flight and I have every intention of wearing them to bed," Barber patted Auggie on the back as he made his way to the bathroom to prepare for bed.

***555***

Auggie reached the doorway of the bedroom, he couldn't hear her, but he sensed her there.

"Hey, where are you?" he said quietly.

"In bed, about five paces directly in front of you," she replied and sounded almost shy.

Auggie reached the bed and stripped off his long sleeve tee shirt, he toed off his shoes and pushed them under the bed, he could feel her watching him. He undid the buckle of his belt and unbuttoned his jeans, his hands shaking from adrenaline and too much coffee. He managed to get the jeans off and laid them at the foot of the bed before slipping beneath the blankets in his boxers.

"You're a little overdressed," Annie whispered as she slid into his arms.

His hands roamed as far as they could and found nothing but warm soft skin.

"Nice," he smiled as his lips found her shoulder.

"I was all upset that I didn't have anything new to wear, so I settled on nothing," she shrugged and he turned his lips from her shoulder to the crook of her neck, breathing in the intoxicating sweetness of her.

Annie busied herself removing the one small article of clothing between them and used her own hands to explore the contours of Auggie's body, noting he seemed thinner while still toned.

Auggie rolled Annie flat on her back and kissed his way tenderly down her body, he felt her muscles twitch and contract and heard her breath hitch, but she was quiet. Finally he brought his mouth to the spot on her hip that almost always made her squeak and he heard her swallow the noise.

"Hey, don't worry, Barber is wearing noise cancelling headphones," he laughed as he kissed back up her body, rubbing against her deliciously as he went.

"Oh god, you guys planned this?" she covered her face in embarrassment, "he knows we're having sex?"

"He's not an idiot Annie, he kind of figured that out when we declared our love for each other live to Langley. Add to that our forced separation and the way, apparently, you look at me, and he offered to wear the noise cancelling headphones to bed."

"The way I look at you?" she asked.

"He said it was quite something," Auggie grinned in the dim light of the bedroom and Annie could do nothing more than lean up and kiss him.

"I thought I had a better poker face than that, but I guess I have always had a weakness for you," she smiled against his lips.

"Always?" he quirked an eyebrow.

"Well, there is no way of knowing if the weak-kneed feeling I had when we met was you or the first day at Langley, but the work butterflies vanished and the ones I got every time I heard your voice or saw your smile never really did. Still haven't," she admitted quietly.

"Yeah?" he asked suddenly shy himself, his fingers dancing across her skin as she shuddered and fluttered beneath them.

"Oh yeah," she assured him as she deepened their kisses.

The kissing turned serious quickly, Auggie sliding his hands under Annie's back and turning them over, pulling her on top of him with ease, shifting his legs and hips so she fit perfectly on top of him, their legs tangled and their hands trying for purchase at every turn.

***555***

"Barber is going to be glad he brought those noise cancelling headphones," Annie said with a giggle as she collapsed on top of Auggie.

His arms wrapped around her tightly, rocking her back and forth.

"Let's try to never go months without sex again," he suggested.

"That sounds like a plan Mr. Anderson," she nodded against his warm bare chest.

***555***

Annie heard Barber moving around and glanced at the clock, it was only 5:15 and she and Auggie had hardly gotten any sleep. She reached for his tee shirt, pulling it over her head, but couldn't bring herself to get out of the cozy little bed. Auggie migrated back to her now cloth-covered arms and she cradled his head in her lap, running her fingers through his hair and hoped Barber just had to use the bathroom and he would go back to sleep, like a small child.

Instead the movement was followed by a tentative knocking on the door.

"Come in," Annie whispered loud enough for Barber to hear.

He opened the door and an involuntary smile brightened his bearded face at the sight of the two of them curled together.

"I'm really sorry to interrupt, but I think we have something," Barber whispered.

Auggie, who had been trying to fight the intrusion, was suddenly awake.

"Yeah?" he asked as he rolled onto his back and scrubbed a hand over his face.

"Yeah," Barber agreed.

"Let me find my pants and I will be right there," Auggie smiled broadly.

TBC…