GIBBS

Gibbs lay on his back in the pleasantly cool water, allowing himself to get lost in the blue sky above him. With all the other guests still inside the main house, the pool area was much more enjoyable than it had been the day before, and not just because he was expecting Kate to arrive any minute.

They'd planted several more bugs, and while they'd be on the lookout for any last minute opportunities to place the spares that had been sent 'just in case', they had done what they'd set out to do. Although he felt sure Director Morrow would not see it quite the same way, Gibbs had decided this last 24 hours counted as holiday, or the next best thing, and he planned to treat it that way unless something dramatic popped up. He was always being told he needed to lighten up, take some time out, relax. Most of the time he rolled his eyes and ignored the suggestion, but with a day to kill in these surroundings with Kate... Suddenly he saw the appeal.

"Hey, Gibbs!"

Hearing her voice, he flipped in the water and made his way over to the edge of the pool. She grinned happily at him, and he couldn't help returning the smile with interest. One thing was for sure, he hadn't smiled this much in years.

When she slipped out of her robe, he lost almost his entire supply of cool. He could've sworn his heart literally skipped several beats. She'd looked amazing in yesterday's swimming gear, but today she was wearing a sleek, dark red bikini. Still classy, and still less revealing than some of the outfits others had been seen wearing, but it was more of Kate than he'd ever seen outside his wildest fantasies.

As she walked over to the pool, he summoned up every last stitch of self control so he could give her an approving look, rather than simply drooling like a hungry dog. There was a distinct risk of him falling at her feet and promising absolute obedience forever if she was going to wander round looking like that. Right now that didn't seem like such a bad idea, but after three failed marriages he tried not to make decisions when the blood supply to his brain was severely compromised. They both, he was pretty sure, knew this thing between them had a future, but he would rather discuss it when she was wearing something a little less revealing and a lot less flattering. Maybe a burka...

When his eyes finally made their way up to meet her gaze, she looked decidedly pleased with herself. He shrugged and she laughed, both of them revelling in their mutual understanding. Gibbs was more than usually grateful, with her looking like that, that she didn't expect him to yak like DiNozzo. He felt like he was going to more than live up to his reputation as monosyllabic. At least the late afternoon swim with each other had given them a reason to ditch the earwigs and mics for a while. Their cellphones were still within reach, just in case, but they'd both been self conscious at lunch, aware their colleagues were hearing all their conversations. It was much easier to relax when they didn't have to think about that. If he blurted out something monumentally stupid or exposing, only Kate would hear it. He was feeling generous enough towards the universe today to be grateful for that small mercy.

As she climbed down into the pool, he caught sight of the heart on her backside, and felt a thrill at having the freedom to reach out and touch it. She stilled for a moment at the bottom of the ladder and looked at him over her shoulder, her eyes wide. Keeping eye contact, he dragged his thumb across the tat, savouring her little surprised gasp and the way her gaze darkened.

"It suits you."

She coloured and bit her lip, but the twitch at the corner of her mouth gave away her pleasure at his appreciation. "I thought you knew what it was already."

He shrugged a shoulder. "Well yeah, but I never got to see it up close and personal before."

That earned him a suspicious glare as she span around to face him and search his expression for answers. He chuckled.

"But you have seen it before?" She looked faintly appalled at the notion, and he gave her a wicked grin. "When? Gibbs? Gibbs?"

He rather enjoyed her outrage. Telling her the details straight out, he decided, would be absolutely no fun at all.

What was fun was to pull her close, properly feel her skin against his for the first time, and breathe in the seductive scent of her hair.

He felt her relax into his embrace, first simply resting against him, then after a few minutes slipping her arms around his back and pressing a soft kiss to his collarbone. He cupped a hand around her jaw and tilted her head up so he could kiss her properly.

It was liberating to feel freed from the constraints of surveillance and their assumed roles, to have the freedom to kiss her as thoroughly and passionately as he knew how, to feel her melt against him and hear her incoherent sounds of pleasure. It was almost more than he could stand.

He groaned as he finally broke the kiss. Kate simply stood there, her eyes closed, her smile dreamy, and for a moment he wondered if this was all just some magnificent fantasy from which he could awake at any moment.

This was addictive. She was addictive. He was trapped, owned, possessed, and what was both best and worst was that he was loving it.

With a happy sigh, Kate opened her eyes, blinking slowly. Judging by the way her smile widened when she looked at him, he looked at least as love struck as she did. She reached up a hand to touch his face, then let it slip down through the fuzz of hair on his chest to explore the contours of his abs.

He took a deep, shuddering breath. She was definitely, definitely going to be the death of him.

"Geez Kate, are you tryin' to get me arrested for public indecency?" he murmured in her ear.

She laughed, low and seductive. "It's hardly public when the place is deserted."

He pulled her in close so she'd have no doubt exactly the effect she was having, and he grinned at her sudden blush. "I really wouldn't want to have to explain this to the director if we got... caught," he pointed out.

Her smile again took on that embarrassed but pleased quality that was so endearing. "OK." He could feel her laughter as she leaned against him

"Maybe... maybe we should actually take that swim," he managed to force out. She giggled again at his strained tone, but finally released her hold on him. "God, I'm too old for this, you're gonna kill me."

She reached up on tiptoe, one hand on his chest for balance, till her lips were right next to his ear. "But what a way to go." And then she was powering off across the pool. "Betcha can't catch me, old man," she threw back at him, challenge in her tone.

He shook his head with a wry grin as he plunged after her. Oh, he'd catch her all right. And make her pay. And it was a sure bet they'd both thoroughly enjoy it.