CHAPTER III
Their week ended on a good note, both cases were pretty much wrapped up... with only a few pieces of evidence from Rock Creek Park to be processed by the lab. Gibbs felt bad for having to knock DiNozzo down a few pegs in front of the others, but if it helped get it through his thick skull that he needed to grow up... well then it was worth it. His sparring in the ring with Kate had definitely been worth it.
He smiles as he recalls how she tricked him into submission and how they had ended the match. Just thinking about lying there between her legs, her faint scent wafting to him... Gibbs feels his cock twitch again in response. He still can't believe he'd nipped her thigh. In some way that made him just as bad as DiNozzo, but since Kate hadn't ripped his head off for doing it; maybe Kate's intolerance for men's advances was... selective. Gibbs sighs and gives himself a mental head slap, then turns his attention back to the woman seated beside him in his car.
He'd taken Karen out to dinner and now they were headed back to his house... and if her responses earlier was any indication, he needed to get Kate out of his head and fast. While waiting for their dinner order to arrive, Karen slid around the horseshoe booth until she was next to him. She snuggled close as her hand slid slowly up his thigh. Gibbs liked to be the one in control, but it had been a while for him and after this past week, he really needed the release Karen was offering. When her hand began to stroke his crotch, he laid his hand over hers, stilling her movement and gently slid her hand back down to his knee. Confusion momentarily flitted across her face wondering if she had somehow misread his intentions. Gibbs had smiled and leaned in to take her in a slow, searching kiss that took her breath away and promised so much more.
Now, as he pulls into his driveway, Gibbs looks over at her knowing she is a foregone conclusion and there would be very little need for conversation. He comes around to help her out and escorts her inside, hand in hand as he leads her into the kitchen to grab a couple of beers. She looks around curiously, still not sure how to take this man of few words. She glances towards the stairs, hoping their next stop is going to be the bedroom. Instead, Gibbs leads her down to the basement where she gasps in surprise when she sees the half finished hull of a sailboat.
"Oh! You really are building a sailboat in your basement." She slowly walks around the boat, touching the wood framing as she examines his work. Gibbs strolls over to the only source of electricity in the room and snaps on a small radio so soothing jazz now fills the room. When he returns to her, he taps his beer bottle against hers as he smiles down at her.
"You're a strange man, Jethro." She looks around the basement critically, noting it was not exactly the place she expected to be taken on her date. Gibbs just grins and takes a large swig of his beer before setting his bottle aside. He watches as she takes a drink as well, then sets her bottle beside his. Her hands come to rest on his chest, feeling the hard wall of muscle as his hands frame her face.
"You have no idea... come here."
She does as he instructs and then moans as his hands glide around into her hair, drawing her mouth to his in slow teasing kisses. When she immediately tries to deepen the kiss, he backs off. With an impatient moan, she suddenly reaches up to nip his lower lip and holds it between her teeth. Their eyes meet and he can see the desire as he once again lowers his mouth to hers, this time in a harsh, demanding kiss that takes her breath away. His tongue delves deeply in search of hers as his hands move down to cup her ass, holding her hard against his hips so she can feel the evidence of his desire.
After several minutes, she is aching to move things along. Her hands come down to tug at his shirt tail as she tries desperately to get at his body. Gibbs feels the urgency in her kiss becoming more frantic, trying to rush the moment and Gibbs finally pulls back, looking down into her desperate eyes as he huskily asks, "Hey, what's the hurry?"
"You're driving me crazy, Jethro..." She pants softly as her hands now glide down over the zipper of his jeans. He resists her efforts to undo his belt as his hands cover hers to stop them. He gives her a soft kiss before easing her back again. He reaches around her for his beer, slowly bringing it to his lips as she cuddles in close to him, rubbing herself along his thigh, "So... what's the deal... are we gonna move this along or what?" She gives him a smile and glides her hand lovingly over the hard bulge in his pants. "It's not like you're not ready."
Gibbs feels his desire go from a boil to a simmer at her impatience. He sighs and wonders if the art of making love has been lost. Everyone was in such a hurry to fuck each other that they've forgotten that the best part was the anticipation... building up slowly, over and over again until the actual moment turns into something much more spectacular than just sex. He hides his irritation and smiles slowly at her. "You don't like baseball, do you?"
Her eyes show her confusion as to what sports has to do with their current discussion, but she tries to keep him on track for what she wants. "I like home runs... if that 's what you're getting at?"
"Baseball is a game of patience, strategy and skillful maneuvers, waiting for just the right moment... then sending in the big hitter to slam one out of the park. That's why men love baseball so much... its full of hidden meanings."
"You a grand slam hitter, Jethro? Cause I'm ready to call in the big hitter... if you know what I mean." They stand there staring into each other's eyes for a long moment, then Gibbs slowly lowers his head to hers, taking her in a deep, plundering kiss as he tries to once again lose himself in the moment. He barely gives her time to breathe as his tongue delves in repeatedly to plunder her sweetness. The ringing of his cell phone finally breaks through his concentration and Gibbs reluctantly pulls back, giving her one last gentle kiss before he steps back.
He holds up one finger, motioning her to stay right there as he clears his throat and huskily answers the insistent ringing. "Aahh, yea...Gibbs... this better be important!"
He doesn't take his eyes off Karen as she now sips her beer and then silently motions to the bottle. Gibbs nods and watches as she brings his bottle to him. She stands nearby, sipping hers slowly as she waits for the call to end. His expression stays the same, but he stiffens as he listens the lab person filling him in on the results of cigarettes found at the scene in Rock Creek Park. His eyes finally leave Karen's as he glances down at her open purse, seeing a pack of Lama's Cigarettes in plain sight. He closes his eyes for a brief moment, cursing his bad luck as he ends the call. Snapping his phone closed he tosses it onto the counter and runs a hand slowly down over his face.
"Something wrong?" Karen picks up on his tension as he takes a long drink, draining his beer as he holds her gaze over the rim. He had been only moments away from becoming carnally involved with this woman. He still has a throbbing erection, but he knows that will never happen now. He watches as she reaches for the offending pack of smokes and lights up one. "Jethro, what is it?"
"The lab report. The DNA found on the cigarette butts at Rock Creek Park... they were Lama brand... and the DNA was from a female." He slowly turns around and grabs a latex glove and a zip lock bag before turning back to her with a sad smile. "And I'm pretty sure that DNA is gonna be a match to the DNA on this cigarette, right?" He takes the cigarette gently out of her hand, snubs out the flame and drops it into the baggie. When he looks back up, she still hasn't moved, her eyes locked on him in stunned silence. He sighs sadly and uses his non-gloved hand to gently stroke her cheek, "I hope I'm wrong about the results, Karen... I really do."
He leans in to kiss her one more time, a long, lingering caress of regret because they both know there won't be any second chances for them. When he pulls back, he closes his fingers around her upper arm and escorts her back upstairs for the drive to the Navy Yard and the interrogation room. He doesn't bother calling in the rest of his team... let them have their time off. Maybe they can have some sort of a decent weekend... even if his will now be spent drowning his self-anger in bourbon. His weekend has been shot to hell with the realization that he'd been so distracted lately that he'd almost taken a murder suspect to his bed just to try and get some relief from his aching need for the woman he really wants... Caitlin Todd.