CHAPTER 15

Gibbs slowly woke from a restful sleep; reluctant to let go of the images playing through his mind. Thoughts of Kate caused an automatic response in him to reach out and draw her closer, but as he turned to her side of the bed, he found it empty. His eyes slowly open in the pre-dawn light and it takes him a moment to adjust to the murky shadows beginning to form. Kate was not in bed with him.

He is just about to turn over, but then he suddenly sees a huddled form on the newly constructed window seat and lies still as he watches Kate for a few moments. He would never get tired of looking at her... and now, in this soft light of early morning, she looked beautiful, waiting there to meet the morning. She was leaning back on the window frame, her knees curled up in front of her and her arms loosely circling her knees. A smile curves just the corner of her mouth; creating a scene of contentment, serenity and love.

Gibbs watches as she leans her head back against the wooden frame as the first rays of the sun rise above the horizon to touch her face. It takes his breath away to see it, but then a single tear trickles down her cheek. Was it sadness? Regret? Or simply more happy tears... as they had been last night. He debates whether he should intrude by going to her and asking what is wrong. Should he pretend not to have seen them? Ignore her emotional times as he'd done in the past with his previous wives? Suddenly Gibbs knew that was not the answer... he was divorced three times so whatever he'd done in those relationships... he was not going to do now. He silently slips out of bed and comes to stand next to her as he gently squeezes her shoulder, "Katie, what's wrong?"

"Ohh, nothing... just being a silly girl again." She turns to smile up at him and he is relieved to see these are apparently more happy tears. She takes his hand and kisses it, then urges him to sit down opposite her, leaning against the other window frame with his legs stretched out on either side of hers. She quickly dabs away the errant tear and gestures towards the rising sun, "It's just so... perfect here."

He isn't sure what to say to that so he just smiles and holds her eyes as she gets her emotions under control. She gently runs her hand over the window seat, the arched windows surrounding them and then looks once more out at the morning sun. "How did you know?"

"What?"

"That I would love this seat... that it's what I've always dreamed of having?"

"I thought about waking up, like I did today and seeing you sitting here waiting for the morning sun. It just seemed like something I wanted to see every day. You're so beautiful... just now... like this, lit by the soft light."

"You've been holding out on me... keeping this romantic side hidden behind your tough guy image."

"Nah... told you that first night I was a nice guy. Didn't think it was necessary to get all mushy about it. Besides, I gotta keep some stuff back... to surprise you with now and then."

He winks at her and she can't hide the happy smile that lights up her face and makes her eyes sparkle. It's a look he loves and he silently gives thanks for his decision to put in the window seat. They take a moment to watch the morning out the windows, loving the thicket of trees behind his house which gives them some privacy. His attention is drawn back to his lover when she slowly begins to slither forward, snaking her body between his legs as she lays over him.

She lazily nuzzles her way up his legs, pressing light kisses to his lightly furred thighs. Her hands glide up the outside of his legs, coming to rest on his hips as she settles in with her face now hovering over his boxers. Gibbs watches motionless with anticipation, even after their intense night of making love, he feels the stirring need once again. His hand glides softly through her hair, stroking it to the side as she begins to place more gentle kisses across the material.

"When did you put your boxers back on?"

"When I got up to hit the head a couple hours ago. Why? Does it bother you?"

"No... just a waste of time when I keep taking them off you." Her mouth is now tugging at the material, easing the waistband down over the quickly rising bulge.

"Habit. In the Corp you never slept in the buff... bit embarrassing if you got rousted out of bed in nothing but your birthday suit."

"Hhmm, part of that always being prepared stuff? I can see that. You want me to wear something to bed... in case we get rousted out of bed in a hurry?"

"No! I like you in your birthday suit... gives me an incentive to come back to bed... or the tub, or the shower... or the closet..." He feels her body shaking with silent laughter at his joke and chuckles with her.

"You said I could choose where I wanted it... and I did." She uses her hands to tug his boxers down and he lifts his hips to help the process along. She moves them down his legs and away, then turns her attention back to her main objective.

"Aahh... think we set a record last night... once in the closet, twice in the tub, twice in bed and..."

"Three times in bed... once after you made love to me in the shower."

"Uh-huh... seven times. That's a record for me... even if I was a bit worked up after not seeing you for three days."

"Really, it was only like... twice per day... with that one little... okay, big bonus thrown in there." She giggles at her joke as he gently head slaps her. She continues to nuzzle his belly and chest, kissing, nibbling and licking lazily in her exploration.

As her laughter settles down, she sighs and strokes her tongue up over the hard shaft throbbing against her breasts. Gibbs groans softly, letting his head fall back as he enjoys her caress. His eyes roam up over her bare legs, perfectly curved ass and gently arched back to her flowing hair, slowly bobbing up and down as her mouth glides slowly down his length and back up again.

She takes her time in arousing him, wanting to draw out her torture and let him know exactly how much she appreciates what he did for her. Each time she feels him tensing, drawing his hips up to thrust into her mouth, she draws back, changes her caress and allows his simmering passion to calm a bit. His deep growls cause her pulse to trip along faster, knowing his struggle to contain his passion and remain still.

His hands glide down her back, then press into her as he pulls back up to her shoulders, moving her mouth down along his shaft once again and making him groan once more. He knows he can't take much more of her torture and forces himself to end it as he cradles her head and gently lifts. He sees her frown, having been removed from her task and he huskily praises her as he urges her to sit up.

"Baby... you know I love what you do to me..." He leans in to kiss her, "... feels so good...' Another kiss, deeper this time as he allows his tongue to seek out hers. "...but I need you... now."

Kate slides into his lap, gently easing him back again as she positions herself over his throbbing shaft and then slowly eases herself down until he groans huskily and breaks the kiss. She sits motionless, impaled on his shaft as her arms curl up around his neck, holding him close as she now nibbles on his lower lip. She places her knees along his thighs to balance her movements. His hands grip her hips, holding her still as his head falls back, taking short, quick breaths to calm himself from the sensory overload once again.

She continues to slowly pepper soft kisses across his face as she slowly grinds her hips against his, causing another growl of pleasure as his fingers dig into her hips. He guides her hips, only allowing small rotating movements as her lips move to nibble on his ear as she whispers, "Our new record is eight."

They spend long minutes lost in long, deep kisses letting their passion simmer until the tension is unbearable. Gibbs' hand glides up her side, scooping up her breast and breaking away from her lips to drop his mouth around her taut nipple. A husky cry escapes her as he hungrily mauls her breast, arching her back in surrender to him. Her hips rise up in response, only to be dragged back down onto his shaft. His arms encircle her waist, holding her still as he ravages first one breast then the other. Tremors race through her body as her fingers rake the back of his neck, urging him on.

"Oohh, God... Jethro..." Her hips grind against his impatiently, seeking the deeper penetration she craves. "Please..."

His head comes back and he looks into her lust-filled eyes, knowing he'll never tire of this sight. He hesitates a moment to lean in and kiss her with slow, intense passion; then holds her close and shifts to place his feet on the floor. He stands up as she clings to him and takes the few steps necessary to deposit her on the bed; without ever breaking the intimate contact between them. Standing over her, he hooks his arm behind her knee before locking his arm out to support his weight by her head. He does the same with his other arm and then takes a moment to look down at her, so willingly bent to his wishes. He holds her gaze as he slowly pulls his shaft out and she whimpers in protest. He rocks his hips, causing his cock to glide along her sex, back and forth until her fingers curl around his forearms in silent desperation. He continues to rub against her clit, causing t tremors to spiral through her as he brings her closer and closer to the edge. Her mouth is open, panting softly as her tongue darts out to flick across her lips and he groans as he presses against her harder.

"Mmmnnn... you are so fucking hot, Kate..." He bends his arms enough to bring his mouth to hers in a rough, demanding kiss that leaves them both gasping for air. As he pulls back, he finally ends his torture and allows his cock to ease back inside her, driving slowly until he is once again buried inside her. He takes a moment to control his surging passion and then begins rocking his hips into her. He keeps his cock buried deep inside her, but rotates his hips and rocks into her. His hips grinding against her, rolling her hips up with each thrust until Kate is lost in such an intense wave of pleasure she arches her head back and cries out his name over and over again.

He continues to move, riding out her orgasm as her body trembles and spasms beneath him. Watching her come undone in his arms is too much and he feels his own release crashing forth. His head drops to his chest as he thrusts hard and deep, driving into her one last time as his life fluids explode deep inside her. His whole body tenses as he growls deep in his chest and then collapses onto her with a breathless sigh, "Oh... baby."

Kate wraps her arms around him as he releases her legs and scoots them up until they are both lying on the bed sideways. They lie there enjoying the fading embers of their loving; trading soft kisses and caresses. No words are needed to express the special love they have found together, but after several minutes, Gibbs softly chuckles; "God, I'm glad I built that window seat... but we need to invest in some seat cushions." Kate can't help but laugh as she kisses his brow and silently agrees.

The rest of the weekend is spent boxing up the remainder of Kate's belongings and moving everything from her apartment to their home. Some of the boxes could wait to be unpacked, at least until Kate decided what she wanted to keep, what got donated and what could stay in storage. The necessities, like the kitchen items, linens, and her clothing were put away with little discussion. The placement of the furniture was a bit more open to debate. Although Gibbs had told her she could bring in her furniture, he wanted some say in how it was placed in the rooms.

They moved it one way, talked about it, moved it again... talked some more until Kate finally threw a pillow at him in frustration. Gibbs just laughed and grabbed her around the waist, swinging her around and tossing her onto the new sofa. Flopping down on top of her, he pinned her down as he continued to press his point as to the placement of the furniture. In between kisses and nibbles, Kate allowed herself to be persuaded and finally agreed to part of his plan. He gave in on the other items and in the end they were both happy with the outcome. The biggest problem proved to be getting the old sofa down the basement stairs without killing one or both of them in the process.

Kate was fit and strong for a woman, with all the combat training she's done, but it was still a hard task to keep the sofa from crashing down the steep stairs and crushing Gibbs beneath it. With that task done, they were both too tired to even think about dinner so they ordered in pizza and collapsed in the living room in exhausted silence. They'd accomplished a lot in a short amount of time.

Kate knew tomorrow morning was going to be different, even if they both vowed to act the same at work. It wasn't Gibbs and Kate seeing each other on the side now... it was them, as a couple, living together... coming in to work together; and people were going to notice. She has no idea how to handle it and finally voices her concerns.

"Gibbs. What are we gonna do about work?"

"Have to do it. Guess we'll just do it same as we always have."

"We'll be coming in together, leaving together... people will notice. It's different now."

"You know I don't care if they find out. You wanna tell the team...well, McGee and Abby?"

"Yes, but I want to talk to Tony first. I wanna make sure we're all right before we do that. Maybe invite him over for dinner again... to thank him for helping get the house ready?"

There is a slight pause as Gibbs thinks about Tony's reaction to being invited for dinner after the last time. He strokes his hand through Kate's hair before he answers, "Okay... you want me to talk to him?"

"No, I'll do it. Now that I know why he's been acting the way he has... I think I need to do it." She turns to cuddle into his side a bit more, dropping a kiss on his lips as she settles down with a sigh. "I can't wait to see the look on his face when I ask him what he thought of the last time."

Monday proved to be another slow day as they weren't up to catch the only case that came in. Elizabeth Jane Barrett's team got the call of the missing first lieutenant, who'd taken the Admiral's car to be washed and never returned. Tony sat at his desk, watching the other team gear up and head for the elevators; wishing he could head out with them. Not just because he was bored... he wanted any excuse to spend more time around E.J. In the short month she'd been back in D.C., he found himself intrigued with her tomboy toughness and eerie similarity to Gibbs in how she managed her team. Sure she had her quirks, like her OCD... insisting everything on her desk was exactly in its rightful place.

Tony even found that cute and looked forward to the times her team was out so he could sneak over there and move one item... maybe two out of place. Then he'd sit back and wait for her return, catching her at the elevator and walking with her back to her desk while they chatted about one case or another. She hated to let anyone know that it bothered her and tried to discreetly move everything back to its place without drawing attention. He also knew how much she hated her name and wanted to be known only as E.J., so he couldn't resist throwing her whole name out there every so often. Tony noticed all of her little quirks and loved this new game. He loved it so much he actually began to forget about Kate and his dilemma of only a couple of weeks ago.

Now as he leans forward in his chair, waiting until he saw the elevator numbers begin to flash down from three, to two... before he stood up and glanced around the room. Ensuring there would be no witnesses before he hurried around the partial wall barrier to Barrett's desk. He was so intent on finding some new item to move out of place that he was not aware that he'd been caught in the act.

"Tony! What are you doing?" Kate stood by his side with her hands on her hips, knowing he was up to his childish pranks again. She wasn't really angry, but from the way Tony jumped at being caught, her tone of voice had been just right.

He spun around to look at her, completely at a loss for an explanation that would make sense. He finally grinned his famous DiNozzo smile and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively as he leaned in to confide in her. "E.J's a neat freak. OCD to the max! Every time she leaves, I come over here and move something out of place on her desk."

"That's very mature, Tony. You know OCD is a serious condition and messing with someone who has it can be very stressful... very disruptive for them?" She is glaring at him, letting her silence tell him that his treatment of her had done the same thing.

Tony is about to brush off her scolding with a joke about the matter, but then he recalls his talk with Gibbs about how unappreciated his juvenile pranks were. He slowly sets the stapler back onto E.J.'s desk exactly where he found it and looks up at Kate with all the innocence he can muster. "You're right, Kate."

"I am." She steps closer to E.J.'s desk and picks up a report she had neatly stacked there. Tony watches as she slowly opens the folder and takes a few moments to flip some pages around so they were upside down. She then shuffles them all back into a neat pile and closes the folder, putting it back exactly where it had been. "But, luckily for us... E.J. isn't one to get stressed out... she just gets even."

Kate catches Tony's eye and grins at him as she spins around to head back to her desk before they get caught. Tony grins again, quickly moves the stapler back to the other position and follows after her. He stops in front of her desk, happy to find a co-conspirator in his little game.

"Kate... I gotta tell ya... I never expected you, of all people, to be up for a little practical joke."

"That's just because I'm that good, Tony... no one ever suspects me." Tony gives her a suspicious look, trying to decide if she's ever actually pulled any pranks before. Kate gives him a few hints, "Last year, Tim's Bird Dog tracking program? Abby's short circuiting lights last Halloween?"

"Wow! Those were you?! That dog barking every time Tim opened that program was fantastic!" He plops down on the edge of her desk, thrilled to be seeing this different side of her.

"So, have you ever pulled anything on me? I mean... I know I'm the master of pranks... and that makes me almost impervious to falling victim to them..."

"Dinner? Two weeks ago?" Kate need say no more as suddenly Tony's entire body tensed and he felt the redness creeping up his neck.

He had successfully been able to banish the visions of that night from his head, but now with her one softly spoken statement, it was all back in vivid color. He stands up and heads towards his own desk, not knowing how to respond to that.

"So... what did you think...?" Tony's head snaps around to meet her eyes and the sparkle in them tells him she is barely holding back the laughter. She tries to maintain her innocent expression as she stands up and comes to face him as she lowers her voice and adds, "... of the pasta I made?"

"Your... pasta?" Tony feels the room heating up and isn't sure if she is setting him up for some embarrassing insult about his voyeurism. He tries to make the connection between their pasta dinner and what happened later that night, but his mind is spinning.

"Yea. You being Italian and all... I wanted your opinion."

"Your pasta...? Really? That's what you're asking me?"

"I'm serious, DiNozzo. Your opinion is important to me. I know you consider yourself an expert."

Their eyes meet and hold for a long moment as he tries to find the hidden meaning in her eyes. She is careful to keep it hidden from him and he finally drops his eyes and shrugs as he finally answers, "Oregano."

"Oregano?"

"Yea, you use dried oregano. I always use fresh. It makes a big difference... but other than that it was good."

"Hhmm, okay." She casually turns away and returns to her desk, letting the matter drop... or so Tony believes as he sighs softly and plops down in his own chair. She shuffles some papers on her desk then looks up at him to softly add, "So... what did you think about the rest of the night?"

Tony is about to answer when another agent comes walking off the elevator and passes by their desks on the way to the back hallway. Tony lowers his head, pretending to work until he knows they are again alone. When he looks up, Kate is leaning on her hands staring at him intently, waiting for an answer. She doesn't appear angry... or upset, so he takes a chance that Gibbs told him the truth.

"It was... I get it... you and Gibbs... I should probably apologize..."

"The only thing you should be sorry for was drinking too much. We thought you were out cold after we put you to bed..." She stops to sit up and scan around the room to ensure they are still alone before she continues, "But Jethro said you were up again... literally."

She watches as Tony's face and neck turn red again as he lowers his gaze from hers and fiddles with some things on his desk. She hadn't meant to embarrass him so she comes across the aisle to perch on the corner of his desk right next to him. He jumps back at her sudden appearance in his peripheral vision and looks warily at her.

"Tony, it's okay. I'm not mad... Gibbs isn't mad. We're okay with it... really. I'm more concerned with how you're doing with it?"

"Me? Well..." he immediately starts to make a joke to hide his true feelings, but then he stops, looking into Kate's eyes he sees only sincerity so he takes a deep breath and offers an honest answer, "I admit... I was... interested. I mean... it was hot... you were hot! I couldn't look away."

"So... it wasn't Jethro's ass that had you so turned on? I think he's a little disappointed."

"Believe me... Gibbs was hot... he's a God... my idol... I wanna be just like him when I grow up... but you two... together..." His words trail off as he can't seem to find the words to express it any better. When he looks up, Kate is just smiling at him; understanding exactly what he meant.

"Tony, I like you... I really do... and I don't want this to ruin our friendship, okay?"

"Okay. So you don't hate me?" He begins to regain some of his former confidence.

"The frat boy crap, yea... that part I hate." She leans in to drop a light kiss on his cheek, then ruffles his hair as she stands up and heads back over to her own desk. Tony sits in awe, staring after her and wondering how he managed to dodge another beat down. Kate was not only acting like she forgave him... she seemed to actually like him again. Further confirmed when she begins typing on her computer and then casually adds, "So... you gonna come over for dinner this weekend and show me how real pasta is done?"

"Dinner? This weekend? At your place... I mean Gibbs' house... which is your place now. By the way, how do you like that color in the bedroom? I thought it was a bit too purplish... but kind of bluish..."

"Tony." He stops in mid-sentence, realizing he was rambling again and looks over at her. "Dinner? Saturday night?"

"Yea, sure, Kate. Dinner... and I'll show you a true DiNozzo family specialty." He grins over at her, and tweaks his imaginary mustache like the Italians did in the old movies.

Kate just smiles and shakes her head, realizing DiNozzo may never truly grow up, but he was damned cute and charming when he chose to be. She turns her attention back to her work and then decides to answer him about the paint issue. "And yes... I love the paint in the bedroom... when the sun is just coming up, through the bay windows it makes the whole room glow like the dawn."

Tony looks over to see the loving smile on her face as she continues to stare at her computer screen. He can't believe a paint color put that happy glow on her face, then realizes... it's not the paint, it was the thought Gibbs put into choosing that paint color that puts the glow there. He sighs and realizes he has lived his entire life believing he understood women and what they wanted... now he knows he has much to learn from his boss, the Zen Master of Love.