Scarlet

Had anyone asked him before he met Shannon, he might have said that he wasn't exclusively a redhead man, but, as time passed on and he looked back on the subsequent marriages and lovers after her, he realized that he was, in fact, most definitely a redhead type of guy. Or, maybe, he just really, really liked the color red.

So, it was natural that he found Jenny most attractive when she wore any of those varying shades of red to complement her fiery hair. She was one of the few redheads he knew that could actually pull off wearing red with her hair color, rather than the usual clashing it caused. Red lipstick, too, looked unusually good on her.

This scarlet dress she wore tonight, though, definitely took the cake to all the other times he'd seen her in red. These should have been a law against looking that good in a dress, at least for her. Scarlet, by itself, was a reasonably good looking color. On her, in accompaniment with her shoulder length red locks and pale, freckled skin, it looked positively sinful.

His musings were interrupted as the object of his thoughts made her way gracefully across the dance floor towards him, a knowing smirk tugging at the corners of her lips. "You're lurking without a permit, Jethro."

Gibbs smirked in reply, taking a sip of his non-alcoholic drink. "Nah…just doin' my job as your protection detail, Director."

"Mmhmm." Her murmur sounded less than convinced. "You like my dress, then, I take it?"

He briefly considered giving her his customary reply, but thought better of it, giving a nonchalant shrug. "You look good in red, Jen."

"That your backward way of saying you like it?" Jenny took a break from her politicking, leaning against the pillar next to him, her low voice quietly teasing.

Gibbs gave a noncommittal grunt in reply, lifting one shoulder in a half shrug.

Jenny laughed softly, drawing his attention to her lips, painted in exactly the same scarlet hue as her dress, which he hadn't noticed, originally. Well, damn, he thought, there goes my concentration for the rest of the night…

Her soft voice brought him out of his musings again, and he realized that he'd been caught staring. "You see something you like, Jethro?" Her voice was a throaty purr next to his ear. He swallowed, meeting her amused gaze. "Y—Yeah."

Jenny's face broke into a wide grin, her eyes sparkling mischievously. "Oh?" Her thin fingers slowly walked up the lapels of his tuxedo, stopping just short of his shirt collar. "And what, exactly, would that be?"

He swallowed again, trying to step back in an attempt to put some distance between them, before realizing she had him backed up against a pillar in the most secluded corner in the room. "I—I thought…what happened to 'no off the job'?" He intended the question to throw her off, to give him some semblance of control back.

She tilted her head to the side slightly, her eyes twinkling dangerously. He recognized that look, although he hadn't seen it in nearly six years. It was the look she wore when she knew she was going to get her way. "Oh, I…ah, reconsidered." She leaned forward, her fingers ghosting teasingly over his pulse point as she emphasized the last word in a throaty drawl, smiling seductively at him. "I miss you, Jethro."

"I—ah, I missed you too, Jen, I just…I ah…" Gibbs let out a muffled moan as she leaned forward, pressing her lips to his jugular, her murmured words reverberating against his skin. "I'm sorry I left, Jethro. I regret that I ever did. Give us another chance, please?"

He swallowed another moan as he nodded, hesitantly placing a hand against the small of her back, pulling her close. Jenny smiled against his skin, pressing another kiss to his jaw as she spoke. "Let's get out of this party, hm? I'm done kissing ass."

Much later, as he carefully extricated himself from her sleeping grip, padding around his bedroom to pick up their discarded clothing, her scarlet dress draped over his closet door to ensure it wouldn't wrinkle, he realized that he really only liked red on her, anymore.

He slipped back into bed next to her, smiling as she mumbled in her sleep, curling up against his side, her scarlet lips hanging open tantalizingly.

She let out an appreciative moan as he leaned down to kiss her, blinking her eyes open as he broke away to regain his breath.

"Jethro?"

He smiled again, shifting to press a kiss to her forehead, a soft chuckle rumbling out of his chest. "Couldn't resist. You just look so good with that lipstick on."

Jenny grinned wickedly, sitting up and moving to straddle his hips, leaning forward to capture his lips in a kiss. "Oh? I think it looks even better on you…" She trailed off as she leaned down, starting a trail of kisses and gentle nips down his neck and shoulders, eliciting an appreciative moan from his lips.

His last thought, before her sinful lips made their way down his abdomen, and then on past to his hips, was that he really, really liked the color red.

A/N: ...this would be what you get when I'm up at oh-dark-thirty with a box of crayons after watching an NCIS marathon. So far, it's turned out slightly...smuttier than I thought it would, but, whatever happens, happens.

On a somewhat unrelated note--I should have chapter three of The Gunny's Son up by the end of the weekend (-ish?).

Tell me what ya think :) [Translation: reviews are nice, I like them very much :)]

-meg