I should stop her. She's crashing from the adrenaline. She'll hate me for taking advantage. She'll hate me for being here to see her so vulnerable. I should stop her.
That was what Auggie's few remaining mature brain cells were screaming inside his bruised head.
No way in hell I'm stopping!
That would be the majority opinion heard from. The majority of his brain, muscles and, hell, him, wanted nothing more than to explore every inch of the blonde sprawled across his lap. Before she'd shocked him to his toes with this impromptu kiss, Auggie had been cupping her head against his shoulder. The fingers of that hand now staged a full-scale rebellion against common sense and the decent bounds of friendship. They tangled in her hair and pulled her head slightly to the right. When she gasped for air his tongue joined the rebellion and added invasion to the mix.
Annie might smell like sunshine on a citrus grove, but she tasted of mint and coffee. She moaned against him, drowning out those few remaining sensible voices in Auggie's head. Annie Walker was in his lap, and, for once, not as the most expedient way to exit a motor vehicle. She was willingly kissing him. Decency and the bounds of friendship be damned. He was a spy, not a saint.
"Annie? Hey are you.. OH!"
Danielle's sudden entrance, and exclamation, made both Auggie and Annie jump. Annie stood up and spun to face her sister. Auggie collapsed against the back of the window seat and tried to control his raging headache – and other aches.
Annie pushed her sister back out the door of the guest house and slid it shut behind her. She wasn't embarrassed to be caught with Auggie; she was mad that Danielle had killed the moment. All Annie wanted was to slam the door in her sister's face and crawl right back into Auggie's lap. Fat chance that would happen now. They would both be too awkward and distracted. Now things would revert to the tense silences and abnormal distances of the past two weeks.
"Annie I'm so sorry." Danielle's face was mask of remorse. "I had no idea…"
"It's fine Danielle. Did you need something?"
"No I just came to ask if you were joining us for dinner but, forget it. I'm sorry." She backed up and waved her hand. "Have fun."
"Danielle!" Annie wrinkled her nose at her sister's implication, forgetting that she'd just spent the last few minutes thinking of ways to get her best friend completely naked. She turned around, took a deep breath and re-entered the guest house.
Auggie was sitting much the way she'd left him, except that he re-applied the ice back to the back of his head.
"Big sis give you any good tips?"
Annie stopped and blinked at him. He still looked tense, but his smirk and flippant comment sounded like best-friend-Auggie, not frustrated-lover-Auggie. Maybe he was glad Danielle had interrupted them? Could she have mis-read him that badly?
I can't see her. I hate this torture. Is she sticking her tongue out at me and grinning like the impudent friend, or is she staring at me? If she's staring is it because she's deciding which part of me to devour first, or because she's horrified that she kissed me? Please, God, Annie, say something.
She must have taken her shoes off at some point. He had a nano-second to register the sound of her stocking feet on the hardwood floor before her slim fingers closed around his wrist. Without a word she pulled him across the floor. He stopped when she placed a hand on each shoulder to hold him in place. Then, he nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt his shirt tugged up and out of the waistband of his jeans. Her cool fingers slid across the bare skin at his waist before they started to tug on the buttons of the shit.
"Annie?" He tried not to squeak, but it was hard when he felt as off-balance as a fifteen year-old.
"Those EMTs you so cavalierly ignored said you needed to rest in a "monitored environment". Whether you like it or not, that means lying down and resting in my bed with me staring at you while you sleep."
"Creepy yet vaguely kinky." He waggled his brows. "Ow! Take it easy on the injured guy," he protested when she lightly slugged him in the shoulder.
"Hush while I get this shirt off of you."
It took two tries, but Auggie finally managed to capture both of her hands. "Annie." He waited, listening to the sounds of the house around them, but hearing nothing from the woman in front of him. "You're chewing on your lip, aren't you?"
She immediately stopped. "No."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Ok, fine I was. Look, I just want to return the favor, take care of you for once. You're always looking out for me and coming to my rescue and…."
When in doubt, try kissing her again. Never failed me in the past, doesn't seem to be failing me now. His lips were soft and gentle. He didn't pull her close or move at all from their current positions. After just that one, slow, kiss he lifted his head and smiled down at her. "I've still got enough of the spec-ops team leader in me to want to be take charge. That means everywhere, Annie. I'm not sure what you want or where this is going. I do know what I want, and 95% of me wants to take charge and take what I want." He stroked his thumbs over the back of her hands. "But this is as much about what you want and need. I refuse to hurt you."
"What if I hurt you?"
His soft smile broke her heart. "Annie Walker, I took down two trained assassins on a speeding train. Just this afternoon I hip checked a car and I'm BLIND. What makes you think a little thing like you can hurt me?"
She stood on her tiptoes, leaning her weight against him. He had to choose between wrapping his arms around her waist or toppling over backwards. It wasn't a hard choice. "I think it's a little early for those kind of games but if that's what you are into…" She shrieked in his ear when he tickled her. He couldn't hide the wince that shriek induced. His head really was pounding.
She didn't miss the wince. Immediately contrite she went back to work on his buttons.
"Let's get you out of this shirt and into bed."
"Promise you'll watch over me?"
She trailed her fingers over the impressive muscles of his shoulders. He felt her breath slide across his back when she whispered: "For as long as you'll have me."
A/N: I kind of feel like this fic jumped the shark. Should I have left it with just chapter 1 or just 1 and 2? Please let me know what you think. Anyway, this is the conclusion for this storyline. I have other Annie and Auggie goodness to write.