Director of NCIS Jenny Shepard had never pegged herself for the boy-toy kind. Seducing a younger boy wasn't appealing to her, and not for lack of willing young men buzzing around her like bees around a beautiful flower.
One too many young aides of this or that particular Senator had tried to work their charm on her, but she had always politely ignored their subtle - or not so subtle - advances. Sleeping with younger guys just wasn't her style, she liked her men older and way more experienced than a 20-something year old boy could be.
And she had always lived by that rule, until her trustworthy personal assistant had decided to get married and pregnant within a matter of months, and abandoned her to enjoy her new baby boy for a while. But not before she found and trained a young, smart kid to be her temporary replacement.
When Brian O'Connor had walked into her office for the first time, his dark hair and intense green eyes standing out against his tanned skin, Jenny couldn't say she hadn't been impressed. The young man, who had come to the United States straight from green Ireland a few years before to complete his education, was very good-looking and apparently confident enough to launch right into a smart, witty conversation to break the ice. At the same time, though, she could feel that he was pulling back some; Almost intimidated, maybe.
For a brief moment, she had wondered if her appearance intimidated men nowadays, whether her 'strong and independent woman' attitude had become so infamous in certain circles to push men away. Then she had realized that it wasn't something she had said or done, that Brian was just a little shy beneath his confident façade.
She was sure her not so subtle staring at his lips hadn't helped either, but no matter how much she tried to look away, the movements of his mouth as he spoke were captivating; As much as the sparkle in his green eyes, showing an eagerness to please a superior that was so typical of young people starting a new job.
'Young being the operative word', she had to remind herself more than once as the days passed and she found herself wishing he would talk more often in that sexy Irish accent of his while he stood right before her desk, giving her the chance to admire his well-built, athletic body. However, the boy was only 24 years old and she was…older than that. And hooking up with a man who was so much younger than her still was not her style.
When Brian had tried - like many others before him - to use his charm to come on to her, Jenny had once again politely declined the offer, even though a part of her - no doubt the one part that desperately needed some physical attention - almost managed to convince her that accepting his advances wouldn't do any harm.
She prided herself, though, to have been strong enough to ignore her needs and keep the relationship on a strictly professional level.
Until that fateful night in her office.
Throughout her entire adult life, Jenny had never been fond of working late or paperwork. Nevertheless, her job required her to do a lot of both. When her young temporary assistant had walked into her office, after politely knocking on her door, her desk was covered in papers, and her stack of files 'to read' sitting on a corner of the wooden surface had seemed to become increasingly higher in the past thirty or forty minutes.
Her eyes, tired and slightly misty, cut to the door and her head rose so fast that she felt dizzy for a second, and deeply glad to be sitting. Maybe - just maybe - it hadn't been such a good idea to skip lunch.
"As you were working late, ma'am, I hope you don't mind me ordering something for you to eat." Brian offered with a smile as he placed a bag of take-out food on her desk, and Jenny nodded, grateful for his thoughtful gesture.
"That's very nice of you, Brian. Thank you." She answered, putting down her pen and pushing the file aside to pull the take-out bag closer.
"It's my pleasure, Director."
And she could see just how literal the statement was as he stared right through the gap in her blouse that was showcasing a fairly large amount of cleavage to his eyes.
"I hope you don't mind spicy food, ma'am."
Jenny shook her head slowly, uncovering one of the plates with barely hidden hunger. She was starving, so actually, even if he had gotten her the food she hated the most in the world, she would have taken it tonight. But thankfully he hadn't.
"Mexican. Good choice, Brian." She took in the mouth-watering smell of Mexican food and shot her assistant an approving look. "Are you going home?" She then asked, looking down as she moved some rice into another plate.
"Not yet, Director. I have some more work to catch up with." He answered, and Jenny's only response was a guttural sound from somewhere in the back of her throat as she munched on a mouthful of rice.
"You eaten?" She looked up again and frowned when she saw him shake his head. "Well, there's enough for both of us, I'm sure." She gestured for him to sit down and handed him an empty plate and plastic cutlery, "Help yourself."
The impromptu meal they shared had been accompanied by a nice conversation, which showed her how bright the young man actually was, while on the other hand made her wish for a different kind of impromptu dinner, characterized by a comfortable silence and in the company of a man who was as far from Brian as it could get.
The conversation with her assistant was easy, smart enough to interest her, but she felt that something was still missing. When his hand had moved forward and he instinctively tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear, the shift in the mood had been almost too evident.
As his face moved increasingly closer to hers, a whispered 'We shouldn't' left Jenny's mouth, but she couldn't find it in herself to pull away when his soft lips touched hers in a slow, sensual kiss that was just good enough to leave her desperate for more.
No matter how young Brian was, he was a hell of a kisser. The way his mouth moved against hers and the tantalizing brush of his tongue against her own made her bite back a frustrated groan when he was forced to pull away after because of the weird angle his neck had to sustain in order to kiss her over the desk.
For a moment, as he got up and looked at her almost timidly, Jenny just stared back at him, her lips slightly parted and a light flush to her skin that showed just how the kiss had affected her. She had gotten up as well, intending to politely ask him to leave, but as she stepped around the desk and walked closer to him, the words died in her throat when she noticed the way he was staring at her swollen, red lips.
While she closed the gap between them and her delicate hand wrapped around his neck to pull his head down to hers, she had wondered briefly whether that could have been seen as sexual harassment on the workplace, and - if that was the case - who was supposed to be the victim between the two of them. But all her thoughts left her mind the moment his hands seized her waist tentatively and he pulled her flush against his chest; then every last restraint abandoned her.
Occasional encounters had followed that first one in her office, and despite her initial uncertainty towards a younger lover, she found that it could indeed be a very interesting situation. Brian was a tender lover, attentive of her in a way that melted her heart, but at the same time he lacked the experience an older man had. Which allowed her to take the lead and often tell him what exactly she wanted.
Being so young also made him reckless, open to all kinds of things, and she had to admit that she didn't mind that as much as she thought she would. It was easier to be reckless and carefree with someone younger than it would with someone her age, and being with Brian provided the emotional distance and the 'no strings attached' policy that she was looking for.
Still, she felt that the thing they had going on wasn't enough for her. Having fun and relieving the stress was nice, of course, but as good as Brian was with her, she craved the attention of someone who would be in charge sometimes, a man who didn't need to ask what she wanted. Besides the exclusively physical side of the relationship, she wished for someone to come home to at night, someone who would get to know the details of her life that she was never going to tell Brian.
A name always came to her mind when she dared indulge in those dangerous thoughts of a healthy, steady relationship, and the way he looked at her sometimes gave her a hope that she wasn't sure she wanted, but she knew that they both had set some limits since she had come back to DC as Director. And there were boundaries that neither of them could - or wanted to - cross.
Or so she thought.