A/N: so, I don't think this crosses the line into M, but if anyone knows otherwise, let me know. Also, there are four more chapters in between these two that haven't been and won't be posted on this site, but they are up on AO3. My username is the same almost everywhere, so it isn't hard to find, but just in case you have problems, PM me and I will help you out. I have yet to figure out an easy way of putting it in the text of the story, as FFN just strips stuff right out!

In the meantime...

KATE

The blaring of her phone woke Kate up from deep sleep, and she was still not really awake when she reached to a nonexistent nightstand to hit snooze. The disappearance of her bedroom furniture was enough to make her open her eyes properly, even though her phone had suddenly been shut off.

As it dawned on her that she was not in her own apartment, she heard a quiet "Mornin'," as a newly familiar body slipped back into bed behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist and casually dropping a kiss onto her hair as if this was a regular morning routine rather than a brand new and slightly shocking way to start her day.

Gibbs tugged her close, and she could feel herself blushing as she realised they were both still naked. It was probably a bit silly to feel self-conscious at this point - he'd seen and explored and touched her more ways in one night than some steady boyfriends of hers ever had - but she was suddenly very aware that the broad, muscular chest against her back, the mouth on her neck and the hand on her stomach all belonged to her boss. She was trying really hard to ignore the most distracting part of his anatomy which was pressing unsubtly against her thigh.

"Giiiiibbs." His name came out much more of a sigh than she'd intended.

His mouth moved to her ear. "Uh-huh?"

It would be a lot simpler if last night had got him out of her system, but that was apparently very much not the case. Her mind was out of bed, grabbing clothes, heading for the bathroom. Her body was snuggling back into him, luxuriating in the warmth and closeness. "We have to work."

"Yup." His fingers were making lazy circles on her skin and sapping her will to move.

"If we don't get up now, we'll be late."

"I drive faster than you," he murmured into her shoulder between kisses.

"I still have to shower."

He sniggered. "I can help with that too, if you like."

"Gibbs!" She gave him a glare over her shoulder.

"What? Just tryin' to help."

She couldn't stop herself from giggling at his faux innocent expression.

"You're incorrigible."

"If that means really helpful and also damn good in bed, then yeah, I agree."

She giggled again. "Well, half of that is definitely true..."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes as he tried to work out just how much of an insult she'd meant that to be. "Impudent minx."

"And all of that, for sure."

He growled, and Kate started to crawl out of the danger zone, still shaking with laughter, then shrieked as he pulled her back hard against himself. He muttered something about her being an ungrateful wretch and nibbled on her shoulder in a way that made her squirm. If this was the penalty for pushing her luck... I should do it more often.

"Unnnnhh... you know, Gibbs, if you don't stop that we are going to be really late for work."

He chuckled against her skin. "Promise?"

She elbowed him in the ribs: he yelped and desisted.

"It's not that I object on principle, it's just not conducive to timekeeping."

He chuckled again, placed one last hot kiss to the side of her neck, then retreated to the relative safety of burying his nose in her hair. "Just as well. Might be hard to stop me long term."

"Oh really?"

She felt him shrug. "You taste good."

That... wasn't the response she'd been expecting, and she wasn't sure how to react. "I do?"

His hand moved over her belly, gave just the lightest stroke between her legs, a reminder of how thoroughly he had tasted her. "Oh yeah." His voice was deep and dark, and sent a shudder down her spine.

She sighed. Definitely not out of her system. "Last night was... amazing."

"I know. I was there."

She twisted round in his arms to frown at him. "No need to be quite so cocky!"

He laughed softly. "I meant it was for me too, Kate."

"Oh. Okay then."

"Besides, I didn't get the impression you minded that." He pulled her a little closer and waggled his eyebrows as he tilted his pelvis just so.

She didn't catch his meaning for a moment, then closed her eyes and shook her head with a despairing sigh. "Oh my God. I can't believe you just made a sex pun, Gibbs."

"You have that effect on me, Katie."

"I make you punny?"

He shook his head and bent till his lips were almost touching her ear, speaking in a murmur as if someone might overhear him. "Happy."

He hovered there for a second, then dropped a kiss just below the corner of her jaw and rolled away from her to get out of the bed. Kate gaped at his back, stunned by that whispered admission.

Gibbs started to gather their clothes from where they had been slung last night, making two separate piles at the end of the bed. Occasionally he looked sideways at her, a grin playing at the edges of his mouth.

She attempted to drag her mind back to practicalities. "I'll need to pop back home. I need fresh underwear."

He laughed "You'll be fine."

"Gibbs, I need a clean pair of panties at least! I'm not wearing those again."

"There is a third option."

She frowned. "Which is?"

A really slow, wicked smile spread across his face. "Figure it out."

She felt herself blush as his meaning dawned. "Gibbs! I am not going to go commando at work."

"Why not?" The way he was looking at her did strange things to her insides.

"Because it's... inappropriate..." Really, the expression on his face? It should not, she was sure, be legal.

"Who's gonna know?" He was so cavalier about it.

"I'll know!"

"So don't tell anyone."

"You'll know."

"You think I'm dumb enough to blab a secret like that when I can keep it all for myself, Katie?" He raised an eyebrow, challenging her, daring her.

She shook her head. "You think I'll get any work done with you looking at me that way all day?"

Gibbs shrugged, shot her a mischievous grin. "Be worth it." He winked and went back to gathering and sorting, leaving Kate both somewhat scandalised and more intrigued by the idea than she'd like to admit out loud.

At least, she thought with a private little grin, she had some rock solid ways to convince him of her point of view if she decided she wasn't feeling quite that adventurous today. Given the right circumstances, she was sure she could make him agree to almost anything. That was a good feeling.

She sat up, folding her arms around her legs, chin on knees, to watch him wandering round the room, still naked, apparently not in the least bit self-conscious or embarrassed. Not, Kate thought, that he had anything to be embarrassed about; he was just as delicious in the cold light of day as he'd been to her lust soaked brain last night.

She admired the rear view as he searched in his closet; she'd never doubted that he would look at least as good out of his clothes as he did in them, and she'd been tackled to the floor by him enough times to notice his musculature. Even when someone was shooting at you, a couple hundred pounds of former Marine wasn't something you forgot in a hurry. Her imagination really hadn't done him justice, though.

From here, the scars and the marks of age were not so apparent, but last night she had explored them all and been enthralled. Like his personality, his body might be rough around the edges, but strong and powerful and tender and loving. Not perfect, but beautiful, a masterpiece by Rodin inexplicably come to life. With a really great butt...

"Like what you see, Katie?"

She looked up, cursing herself for getting distracted and for the blush she could feel rushing back to her face. Gibbs was laughing over his shoulder at her, but when she caught his gaze, she no longer felt self-conscious. She wasn't used to seeing such an open, happy expression on his face, and it warmed her to her bones, leaving no room for negative feelings.

"I do like what I see actually, Gibbs." She slipped out of the bed and padded over to him, not missing the way his eyes devoured her. "I like it a lot."

She wrapped her arms round him from behind, pressed an open mouthed kiss to his spine.

He hmmm'd happily. "Now who's making us late for work?"

"Well... I kind of like your idea about the shower." She let her hands wander lower. "I mean... it's efficient, right? Good use of time and resources. Get all-" she paused deliberately, let her voice go low and breathy "-soaped up and..."

He groaned. "Minx."

She grinned. Definitely a nickname she could get used to, especially when he said it in that tone of voice. "Hey, it was your idea not mine."

"Didn't say I minded."

She laughed. "So what are we waiting for?"

"Well, then I guess I should find some- Shit!"

Kate blinked up at him, confused by the sudden outburst. "What?"

He turned to face her, looking concerned. "Kate, we didn't - I mean-" On closer inspection, he also seemed embarrassed. It still looked strange on him. "We should've used, uh... protection. Last night. I didn't-"

"Oh. Yeah, we kind of got carried away there, I guess." She couldn't help how the memories made her grin like a complete idiot - even though he did have a point. "Well, I'm on the pill, and I'm clean, so..."

She left the question hanging. Considering they'd gone at it like horny rabbits, it was ridiculous to dance around this, but she got the impression he was more than a little ashamed for slipping up.

"Gibbs?"

"Well... then I guess we're okay. It's been... a while."

Kate cocked an eyebrow at him. Gibbs was hardly DiNozzo, but he seemed to do okay, so far as she'd ever been able to tell. Not that she'd been keeping track. Much.

"Ahh, well." He shrugged. "When somebody gets in my head, I..." He trailed off. "Sometimes sex is just sex, but if you love someone, casual sex... it feels... wrong... you just wanna be with-" He looked down at her, registered her confusion. "Kate. You know I mean you, right?"

She let out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding. Love? "Well I- I..." She suddenly felt shy.

He looked down at her, smiling slowly, looking both amused and affectionate. "Katie... I didn't sleep with you on a whim."

"No?"

"Nope."

"Oh. Okay then."

He leaned down to kiss her and his lips were soft and tender and not demanding, and her hands instinctively tightened around his biceps in case her knees actually dissolved.

When they surfaced, she took a moment to recover. "Okay." She took a deep, shuddery breath. The effect he had on her... Damn. "Not a whim. That's..." She smiled, nodded. "That's good. That's very good."

"What did you think, that I sleep with my agents for sport?"

She giggled, amusement and relief combining to leave her speechless for a few moments. "Well," she said when she got her breath back, "maybe not all of us. I get the impression McGee isn't really your type. I'm not sure about DiNozzo, though..."

He rolled his eyes, gave her a mock scowl and cuffed her lightly on the back of her head. "Watch it, young lady."

"Sorry."

"Liar."

She grinned. "Guilty as charged."

There was a pause as they smiled at each other, and then his expression grew more thoughtful and a little sad. "Kate... did you honestly think I would do that to you?"

Oh... She hadn't thought that, not in so many words, but... "Honestly?"

"Yeah."

Kate thought about it for a moment, tried to figure out how best to explain. Screw it. He had asked for honesty, so it was the least she could offer him. "Well... I know you wouldn't hurt me on purpose. I trust you, Gibbs, I do, I know you wouldn't- and I know we did kind of talk last night, but..." She sighed. "I guess I've just been kind of expecting you to eventually freak out and-" she waved a hand around, indicating chaos "-you know, go all rule 12 on me..." His face fell, and it made her ache. She wrapped her arms around him, buried her face against his chest. "I'm sorry, Gibbs. I just didn't know how this fit in, or how I fit in, and I-"

He took a deep breath. "Nah... 'S okay." He stroked a hand over her hair, rubbed her arm soothingly with his thumb, then wrapped her up in his embrace. "'M sorry too." There was a pause, as if he was psyching himself up for a longer than usual sentence. "You ain't a mind reader, Kate. I should've..." He sighed. "And... rules, they're useful, but they get broken sometimes." She felt him shrug his shoulder. "They're just rules. We got a lot to talk about after the case, but... we'll figure it out." He shrugged again. "Still owe you dinner, right?"

Kate giggled. "True. We can talk then. Amongst other things..."

He chuckled, his voice low and rich and... kinda dirty. "Uh-huh."

They stood in silence for a moment, and then Gibbs smoothed his hands down her back, leaned into her, kissed her on the temple.

"So, Agent Todd." He was using that deep, rumbly tone again, the one that made her feel like her brain was about to melt. "How 'bout that shower?"

Kate pulled his head down so she could plant a kiss on his smiling lips. "Why, Agent Gibbs. I thought you'd never ask."

~ fin ~

(and yes, it really is 'fin' this time ;))