Adult's Only Chapter

Chapter Eight:
Early Birds

LATER THAT EVENING
HARM & MAC'S FAKE HOME

Harm and Mac discovered it was easier to put up the front of being a married couple if they acted like a married couple in private. So, they did what married couples did after a long day apart from each other.

They sat on the sofa and gossiped about work and their neighbors, with Harm providing all of the work gossip and Mac providing all of the neighbor gossip. Mac's dishing was overscored by her worry about the impulsive brunch she'd planned for the next morning. As she looked at what remained of the vegetarian lasagna Harm had prepared for dinner, one - no, two questions plagued her mind.

What was she going to cook? And how was she going to cook it?

Mac had done a lot to prepare for her role as Cheryl Houston The Housewife, and one of those things had not been learning how to cook.

"I can help you get some stuff started before I have to go into work," Harm offered.

Mac looked at him with wide eyes, unafraid to beg. Between their cleared plates on the coffee table, which they had to keep shoo-ing Goldie away from, was a cookbook, dog-eared on the breakfast section. When Mac had seen it propped up in the kitchen when they moved in she thought it had been for show, but much to her surprise it was the real deal. Not to mention it was more intimidating than any law textbook she'd ever encountered.

"Could you just fix it all for me and then go to work?" she asked.

"I think Webb would kill me."

"But you don't even do anything-"

"You know he is about making sure we 'keep up appearances,'" Harm countered. "And I do do stuff. Do you want to know how many traffic violations your best friend Lacy has-"

"She's not my best friend."

With a huff, Mac pulled the hair tie from her wrist and hastily tied her hair into a ponytail. More and more she was being reminded of why she kept her natural hair short…also why she never bleached it. Her hair was beginning to feel like hay. And don't even get her started about the extensions-

"Cooking isn't that hard, you just follow the instructions."

"Oh shut up."

Harm gave her a look as Goldie trotted over to him and sat at his feet, looking up at him expectantly.

"She needs to go out," Mac told him.

Harm raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?"

"I taught her to do that when she needs to go out."

"You taught her that today?" Harm looked down at the puppy. "Quick learner."

"I know…wonder which one of us she got that from."

While they let Goldie out into the backyard, Harm and Mac stood beside the covered jacuzzi, where they returned to talking about what they were there for; investigating. Even though this home was nice, they were getting a little eager to leave. Above them, there were bugs tapping against the porch light.

"So, did you find anything promising?" Mac asked, trying to keep her voice low, just in case.

Harm shrugged. "I don't know Mac, there's been some traffic violations, some NRA memberships, a couple of insurance fraud issues, but it's nothing like -"

"Being a risk to national security?"

"Exactly," Harm looked out into their dark yard, squinting to make out the dark blob that was Goldie ambling along the bushes by the fence. Mac followed his gaze.

"You know, I have to keep picking her up to keep her from getting into stuff."

He shrugged. "I'm sure it's just a phase."

Mac scowled. "Do you think I should get a bag or something to carry her in? It's getting a little annoying."

"Mac, I'm not going to be fake-married to a woman who carries her dog in a purse," Harm replied with a chuckle. "Plus, she's going to be fifty pounds in a month. You won't have to worry about it that much longer."

"Hopefully we'll be out of here in a month," Mac replied. She gave him a wry glance. "Maybe you should actually be putting in the work when you go to work, sailor."

Harm looked at her incredulously. "Maybe you should be doing a better job at being a housewife, marine. You were with these women for what? Two hours today, and you found out nothing?"

"I don't know!" Mac replied, forgetting to keep her voice low. "They're all weird! People who live in the suburbs are weird-"

At the sound of a bush rustling, Harm quickly shushed her. They both looked towards the noise, watching as Goldie squeezed her way out of the branches and leaves. She was chewing something.

Mac frowned. "What is she eating? Did you give her anything?"

"No," Harm looked at her with wide eyes. "Did you give her anything?"

"No," Mac quickly rushed over to Goldie. "What did you eat?" she demanded. "Let me see - drop it -"

She tried to pry Goldie's jaws apart, but whatever the puppy had in her mouth was something she was determined not to let Mac see.

"I see she hasn't learned 'drop it,' yet."

"A little help would be nice, Harm."

It took coaxing from both of them to get Goldie's mouth opened, and by the time they got a good look, there was no clear evidence of what she'd eaten. Harm waited with Goldie on the sofa, allowing her to have a seat on the furniture so she could be comfortable in case whatever she'd eaten would end up making her ill, while Mac made a phone call to the emergency vet. He'd had to talk her down from the ledge of actually taking Goldie to the vet, insisting there was nothing in the yard that they'd barely used that could make her that sick.

He'd had no clue that Goldie and Mac had bonded so much in his absence. In fact, it made him a little jealous, and Harm never thought he'd ever be jealous of a dog.

"They said just to watch her for the next few hours," Mac said as she re-entered the living room. Harm noticed that her brunette roots were already starting to come in - some dye job Webb paid for. "Make sure she's going to the bathroom normally, stuff like that."

"Just not on the bed, right?"

Mac smiled ruefully. "Right."

She sat down on the sofa on the other side of Goldie. Reaching down, Mac gave her a good scratch behind the ear. "It was probably just a leaf, or a worm or something."

Harm nodded. "I'm sure she's fine, Mac."

"It's just that earlier, at Lacy's house, she was chewing on a garden gnome and I was worried she'd gotten into something ceramic-"

Harm looked down at Goldie. She yawned.

"Babe, it's been an hour, I think we'd know if she swallowed glass."

It took a few moments for Harm to notice his slip of the tongue. Mac was watching him carefully with raised eyebrows.

"Babe?"

"What?"

"You…Harm, what did you just call me?"

Realizing his mistake, Harm immediately faltered, his cheeks flashing bright pink. Mac was still watching him carefully, quite unsure herself of how to react.

"Sorry…" Through his blush, Harm offered her a sheepish smile. "Got too into character."

Harm was still thinking of this interaction and berating himself for it while he was brushing his teeth. Mac was in the shower in the master bedroom, so he'd been relegated to the hall bathroom to brush his teeth.

The blunder was innocent enough, he knew; no doubt Mac read it as nothing more than a slip of the tongue. Perhaps she read it as a freudian slip, but that still counted as a slip.

Toothbrush and toothpaste in hand, Harm began his walk back to his and Mac's bedroom when a light from outside caught his eye. It was a bright light, and when he poked through the blinds at the end of the hall to investigate further, he found it garish even from three houses away.

The fluorescent light was coming from the house's back shed. It was nearly one in the morning on a weeknight, who would be outside working this late, and for what reason?

Harm returned to the bedroom and found Mac sitting on the edge of the bed, hair damp and robe on, rubbing lotion onto one leg. They'd gotten a lot closer over their time being pretend married, so Harm had gotten used to seeing Mac a lot more intimately than he did at JAG HQ. Usually he didn't think that much of it; it was merely a matter of proximity - they were sharing a space together, after all.

Tonight, however, it was different. Maybe it was because of his earlier blunder, but now Harm couldn't look at Mac without having his mind start racing. As stupid as it was, he couldn't bring himself to get past it.

"Is Lacy's house the one that's three doors down from us?" Harm asked, trying desperately to distract himself.

"Yeah," Mac paused in her lotion application. She looked over her shoulder at him. "Why?"

"Someone's in their shed right now working with really bright light."

"Hm," Mac frowned. "Weird. I'll ask her about it tomorrow."

Harm sat down on his side of the bed - it was Mac's turn to have the left side that night. He kept his back to her, and whether the act was intentional or not, he wasn't sure.

The next morning, Mac awoke to a tantalizing smell wafting up the stairs from the kitchen. It was the smell of cooking - good cooking. This was a surprise, but not an unwelcome one. Harm usually didn't cook on weekday mornings.

When she arrived downstairs and saw the extent of Harm's cooking, her surprise changed into her being taken aback.

"Harm…" Mac's eyes roamed over the expanse of the food on the kitchen counter, taking in the freshly cut fruit, the pastries, the chocolate cake he was piping with icing when Mac entered the kitchen. She was intrigued to see what he was doing so she came downstairs in only her nightgown. There was something in the oven, too.

"What is all of this?"

Harm looked up from the cake. He shrugged and grinned. "I decided to help you out with the cooking. I was the first person in the grocery store this morning."

Mac's eyes widened as the realization sunk in. She could kiss him - really, she could.

Footsteps padding over the tile, she joined him at the kitchen island.

"You did all of this?"

He nodded ."I was the first person in the grocery store this morning."

Mac smiled. She looked over her shoulder at the dish cooking in the oven. She leaned against the counter, looking up at him with curiosity. "What are you cooking?"

"Some breakfast quiche, casserole thing," Harm replied. "My mom used to make it."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh."

Next to the cake was a tin of the leftover chocolate icing Harm had placed into the piping tube. She dipped her finger into the tin, tracing her finger along the rim of it. She drew her finger up to her mouth, tasting it. She was just as conscious of what she was doing as she was conscious of the fact that Harm was watching her. He was watching her with an intentness in his eyes that she had never seen before.

All throughout the night before, she couldn't get him calling her "babe" out of her head, and how nice it had sounded.

What could it hurt? What could any of this hurt? They weren't even supposed to be acting like themselves, anyway.

"It tastes good," she said.

"Does it?"

"Yeah. Do you want to try some?"

"I do."

Harm ducked his head down to bring his lips towards Mac's in a much more tender embrace than their kiss in Richmond. In addition to tasting the sweetness of the icing, Mac was now tasting Harm's sweetness, too.

And she wanted more.

As their kiss deepened, Mac wrapped her arms around Harm's middle, pulling him closer to her, and Harm completely forgot the cake he was supposed to be icing.

He pushed her up against the counter, fingers dancing down her back, over the silky fabric of her nightgown to cup her six. Mac's fingers splayed across his strong back. She felt him growing hard against her bare thigh.

They broke apart, both panting.

"Mac, should we-"

"Do you want to?" she gazed up at him. "We're in a completely different place, completely different people…"

He kissed her again, and that was all the confirmation Mac needed.

They moved over to the kitchen table, nothing other than heat between them. Mac let herself be picked up, one of Harm's hands tangling in her extensions. He placed her on the edge of the table, and Mac's legs instinctively wrapped around his hips.

Harm's lips moved down Mac's neck as his hand reached up to pull down the strap of her nightgown, first one, then the other. Mac's skin prickled at the feeling of the cool morning air on her breasts.

Suddenly the coolness was replaced by the warmth of Harm's mouth. Mac gasped at the sensation, her toes curling in ecstasy. His tongue swirled around the nipple on her left breast while his fingers toyed with the right. She unglued her hands from where they were gripping the edge of the table and clawed at the belt loops on Harm's jeans. She needed him with a hunger she didn't know was possible to have,

When she'd thought of her first time with Harm (because it was something she'd thought about, if she was being completely honest), she'd imagine her savoring him, them taking their sweet time together, but she couldn't wait another moment for him.

With their combined effort, Harm's jeans and boxers were soon around his ankles and Mac's nightgown was pushed up past her hips and down past her breasts. Mac's slick folds were parted by Harm's strong fingers as he began to pump them in and out of her. Mac cried out in pleasure, her hips bucking.

"Sarah…"

Hearing him breathe her name against her throat like that was enough on its own to make her come.

She opened her eyes to look at him. His eyes were dark, and his erection was straining between them. There was a questioning look in his stormy blue eyes.

"Do I need to run out for some condoms?" he asked, and Mac laughed.

She shook her head. "I can't wait anymore," she said. "I'm on the pill. It'll be fine."

The rest of their time was a blaze of white hot pleasure. Every inch of Harm's manhood felt heavenly inside Mac, and the sensation of him moving against her was intoxicating. There was nothing between them but sweat, clinging to their skin and the little clothes they were left wearing.

"Sarah-"

"Oh God Harm-"

They were both tumbling over the edge, Mac first with Harm following moments later. They sat there in the heavy moments after, leaning against the edge of the table. They pressed their foreheads together, both still panting. Harm was still buried inside of Mac.

Over by the oven, the timer Harm had set for the casserole he was baking dinged.

It was barely eight, and it had already been a very productive morning.

Once they'd both come down from their high, the kitchen was filled with an unmistakable awkwardness. Mac readjusted her nightgown as Harm walked over to the oven to pull out the casserole. Sitting the steaming dish on the stove top, Harm reached down and zipped up his fly. Mac watched him carefully, smoothing over her hair with her hand. She forgot how much long hair got messed up during sex.

Feeling her watching him, Harm looked over at her with wide eyes. Even though both of them knew what happened…did they really know?

"So…what are we…" Harm looked over his shoulder at the staircase. "Should I just…go get ready for work…or?"

Mac shrugged. She was just at as much of a loss as he was. "I guess so. I need to…get dressed?"

"Right," he nodded. "Mac…what are we gonna do now?"

She straightened up, finally abandoning her perch on the edge of the table. "I have no clue," she said as she walked past him towards the staircase.

He immediately followed her, and Mac remembered they shared a bedroom.

Well, tonight was definitely going to be awkward. So would be the brunch, which was being hosted on the table Mac would have to wipe down before the guests arrived.

Never fear, there's always more to come :)

Thanks for reading!

-Harper