Work Text
When AJ had slipped from the ballroom, escaping yet another indeterminate political event to seek refuge at the hotel bar, he’d only expected a few minutes of privacy and a drink in the dimmest corner before forcing himself back to the political games and polite double-speak.
Instead, he found a beautiful woman in his arms. Fortunately, he was a former SEAL and highly adaptable.
He settled his hands on her back, sliding one up the long length of it, sheathed in a dress that should have been demure but somehow wasn’t, until he could cup the back of her neck. She made a little humming noise, sounding amused, before nipping his bottom lip and drawing back from the unexpected kiss.
“What was that?” AJ asked, mildly.
Toni DiNozzo smiled, and AJ wondered just how much she got away with, wielding that kind of charm like a weapon. “I hope you know what a kiss is, Admiral. You’ll never convince me I’m the first to lay one on you — not when you walk around, looking like that in a uniform.”
“You must drive Agent Gibbs insane.”
“Absolutely, but I also do his paperwork and stop people from shooting him, so we consider it a fair trade. I came over to buy you a drink,” she added cheerfully, “but then I decided that I should do something a little nicer.” He raised a brow. “You deserve it after being dumped out of a fighter jet over the George Washington National Forest. In winter, no less.”
“Most people offered me a handshake and a hearty ‘glad you’re alright’,” he said of the recent incident. He’d survived worse than an accidental ejection and forced march out of the woods on his own but not in the last decade or so. Rabb, who had been at the stick, still had trouble meeting his eyes a week later.
“I’d hate to be most people. Besides, you probably don’t want most of the upper ranks to plant one on you,” DiNozzo said with a cheeky grin.
Picturing the current Secretary of the Navy, not to mention the Chief of Naval Operations, AJ managed not to wince. “Agreed. I’m not complaining, mind you, but it wasn’t what I was expecting from my evening.”
“Well, mine couldn’t have gotten much worse, so a sexy man in uniform is a definite improvement.” She eased back, allowing a few inches between them, and reclaimed the glass she’d carried over. “Judging by your uniform and the look on your face earlier, you were playing another round of Washington political roulette.”
“I had definitely reached a critical mass of politicians, brass, and defence contractors,” he agreed. “And you? This doesn’t seem like your kind of milieu. And I’ve never seen someone dressed like that drinking alone.”
She raised her glass. “I’m not drinking alone, now, am I? And you’d be surprised the kind of places I can fit in, Admiral. What should have been a pleasant night out turned into something a little more stressful than expected.”
AJ raised a brow, picking up his own glass; listening seemed like the least he could do under the circumstances. “Tears stressful, or calling the police stressful?”
She huffed a laugh. “Subtle threats of violence followed by thrown drinks and an ugly public scene. Not me — well,” she admitted, “the subtle threat was me, but the guy had it coming.”
“Oh?” AJ asked, deliberately mild.
Amused, she grinned at him. “Calm down, Admiral. If someone were a real problem, my threat wouldn’t have been subtle. I met a few old friends for dinner, including a college roommate. She and her soon-to-be ex-husband are still at the stage of maintaining appearances of the divorce proceedings and, since he was at college with us, he came along.”
“I can see how that could lead to a scene, but not the threats of violence.”
DiNozzo grimaced. “Well, while they might be maintaining appearances, they’re well past the ‘maybe we’ll reconcile’ and into the separate beds’ stage. And he and I might have had a date or two in college before they got together.”
“Ah.”
“Yeah, the third time his hand went to my thigh under the table, I might have made a point in letting him know that I was armed.” She finished off the last of her drink and sighed. “Which might have been overheard, and passed on by someone aware that mutual cheating was a factor in the divorce — which lead to an argument, an airing of grievances, some broken glassware, and a free show for the room and the staff.”
“Sounds like I should be buying you a drink,” he offered.
“If a little sexual harassment were justification for that, I’d never have to pay a bar tab or be sober again. Your recent adventure is far more noteworthy.” She set down the empty glass, studying him with a little quirk of her lips; AJ felt assessed, admired, and judged worthy in short order. It was disconcerting and flattering at the same time. “So,” she said, low and warm, “what do you say about that drink, Admiral?”
AJ had been around the block a few times and knew exactly what was on offer. Maybe it had something to do with her disastrous evening, but it seemed presumptuous to ask and insulting to assume that she was acting out of character. Besides, from what he knew of Agent DiNozzo, she was strong-willed and competent.
And she had legs for days. AJ had always been something of a leg man.
“I say that both our evenings are looking up, Agent DiNozzo,” he drawled, setting down his half-empty glass.
“Call me Toni,” she said, reaching out to take his hand and draw him towards the door.
“AJ — there are certain circumstances where I prefer not to be called by my rank.”
She laughed at him all the way to the car.
“So,” Toni managed to get out between drugging kisses, “how about that drink?”
Chegwidden — AJ, he had his hands on her ass, so it was appropriate to call the Judge Advocate General by his first name — laughed and bent to nip at her throat. “Later.”
“Thank fuck for that.” She shoved his uniform jacket off his shoulders, ignoring the thump all the hardware made against the floor. A yank took care of the tie, and she made quick work of the buttons on his shirt despite his best efforts to distract her. “Go Navy,” she muttered when the shirt followed the jacket. The man was in damned good shape, period, much less for someone who worked at a desk.
“Your turn, civilian.”
“I leave the house with two guns and a knife every day. Do I sound like a damned civilian?” Toni demanded, bypassing his attempts to find the zipper of her dress and seizing the hidden tab herself.
“Darling, I’m from Texas,” he reminded her, a bit more drawl coming through when he said the name of his home state, making her belly tighten a little. Toni resolved to hear more of that at the first chance as she shimmied out of her dress.
“Fair point,” she conceded. Her dress, a slate grey number that was one of her favourites, slide over her hips, leaving her in heels and matching ivory lace undergarments.
“Jesus Christ, woman,” AJ muttered, dragging her back for a long kiss. “Forget your gun. You’re lethal all on your own.”
“I’m hearing a lot of talk and not much action, navy.” He narrowed his eyes, making Toni smile. It was the most predictable thing in the world to end up over his shoulder, an arm across her thighs. Toni laughed.
“I know what you did,” he grumbled, heading for the bedroom. “You aren’t fooling anyone.”
“Wasn’t trying to, Admiral.” She admired his back, strong muscles covered in lightly scarred skin and highlighted by a faded navy tattoo before she goosed him.
In response, he dropped her on the mattress, waited until she’d stopped bouncing, and followed her down.
They laughed their way naked, wrestling across the bed as clothing and bedding were discarded. Toni ended up straddling AJ’s hips, hands braced on his chest. “I win.”
Large hands slid up her sides and cupped her breasts. “Is that what you think just happened?”
“Are those the kind of tactics that got you stars?”
He laughed, bucking his hips a little and reminding her of the rather conspicuous cock pressed against her ass. “I’m not sure it was a factor.”
“Clearly, it should have been.”
“Are you always so damned mouthy?” Toni smiled, slow and filthy. “Never mind.” He bucked again, tipping her off and tumbling her onto her back before settling over her. “You are walking, talking trouble,” he said before kissing her deeply.
She produced a condom from the bedside table and offered it to him. “You like trouble.”
He made quick work of it. “Yes, I do.” Toni wrapped herself around him, arms and legs pulling his full weight down to her. He nipped her lip and shifted to press the head of his cock against her. The muscles in his back and waist flexed under her limbs as he thrust deeper, stretching her open around his dick. “Ready, Trouble?”
“Stop stalling and fuck me, Navy.”
“Will it shut you up?”
“If you do it properly.”
“Challenge accepted.” He braced his elbows and moved. She dug her fingers into his back and held on as a two-star admiral rocked her world.
Her bed frame was too heavy to slam into the wall, but it did creak in time to their thrusts; groans and gasps filled the room along with the sound of skin meeting skin. There was panting and sweat and saliva, raw sounds and fumbling hands — and it was utterly fantastic.
Toni came first, breathless gasps catching in her throat as her head arched back. AJ cursed harshly and continued to thrust erratically, drawing out her orgasm as he chased his own. He made a sound, somewhere between a hiss and a groan, and finally went still before easing down, forehead pressed to her shoulder.
They breathed for a moment; Toni managed to unclench her fingers and unwind her limbs. When she finally caught her breath, she started laughing.
AJ groaned and rolled off of her, draping an arm over his eyes. “You are a menace.”
“You loved it,” she said, stretching languidly. She was damp and sweaty and feeling fantastic.
“If you shut up and let me rest for a bit, I might be able to love it again.”
“I have faith in you,” Toni told him solemnly and rolled out of bed.
AJ lowered his arm and watched her pull on a short, silky robe the colour of raspberries and disappear through a door; the sound of running water indicated that it was the bathroom. When she returned, her dishevelled hair was piled on top of her head with a silver clip-type thing. She dropped a damp washcloth on his belly as she passed the bed.
There was something to be said for a woman who could fuck you stupid then roll out of bed to take care of the essentials.
By the time he’d discarded the condom, cleaned himself up and tossed the cloth in a hamper, Toni was back with their discarded clothes. Bemused and a little fascinated, AJ lay back and watched her hang up her dress inside an intimidatingly full closet before shaking out his jacket.
“You should let me take you to dinner.”
She paused, then reached for a hanger. The jacket was hung neatly on the outside of the closet door. Picking up his shirt, she studied him while turning the sleeve right-side out. “Should I?”
“Yes.” Deliberately casual, he folded his arms behind his head.
Her mouth curved. The shirt followed the jacket, and she retrieved his pants and her bra from the bedroom floor before she spoke. “Are you always such a gentleman?”
“Well, I am an officer,” he said lightly.
“I’m aware.” She finished with the clothes and stood, hip cocked.
“You would be.” He nodded towards the uniform she’d handled, amused when she blushed and crossed her arms. She’d flirted with him, kissed him in public, taken him home and basically ordered him to fuck her — but being observed doing a simple domestic task was what embarrassed her.
“There’s no excuse for abusing your clothes, and I happen to know that uniform is dry clean only. Remind me to tell you about a case I had in Baltimore involving a drug operation, a dead body, and a dry cleaner that hired out more than her starching abilities. It’s a doozy.”
“Sounds like a story best told over dinner and drinks.”
“You really are an officer and a gentleman, aren’t you?” Toni stared at him, considering, and finally said, “Well, far be it from me to impinge on the honour of the navy or her admirals. I’m on-call this weekend, but not the next.”
“Friday?” He went over his mental list of restaurants and realized that most of them were places to be seen, or were better suited to business dinners. Maybe he could ask Mac for a recommendation — she wouldn’t pry or smirk at him, unlike Rabb.
“Barring a case,” she warned.
“Of course.” Her face relaxed as if she’d been expecting an argument. Although, considering the reaction he’d gotten for cancelling personal events for work in the past, maybe that was understandable. “If something comes up, that leaves Saturday to reschedule.”
“I like a man who plans ahead — it’s such a nice change from getting pissed off when things change,” she said. Though her tone was light, AJ sensed a story there. “Friday, then.”
“Where are you going?” he asked when she headed for the bedroom door again.
“I still owe you a drink, don’t I?”
Amused, AJ rose to straighten the bed. His initial impression of Agent DiNozzo as a competent and straightforward woman had clearly been accurate and only a small part of the picture.
She returned as AJ dropped the last pillow back on the bed, carrying a bottle and glasses. With a grin, she handed him the bottle, set down the glasses, and shrugged out of her robe before settling back in the bed naked. Patting the bed, she asked, “Well, Admiral?”
He settled against the headboard and passed her the glasses. “I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you didn’t use my rank during sex.”
“I wanted your dick, not your rank. Which isn’t to say that you in full uniform isn’t fantasy-inducing,” she added.
“You are dangerous,” he murmured, pouring a finger into each glass. Setting the bottle on the bedside table, he blinked at the label. “Do you usually crack open a hundred dollar bottle for a nightcap?”
“You don’t know my family; this is cheap by their standards. And it depends on how good the orgasm was. I went for the top shelf tonight,” she grinned. “Dangerous, lethal, trouble — you’ll give a girl a complex.”
“Hey, I said that I’m from Texas — those are compliments.” The expensive liquor slid down easily, smooth and golden like the colour.
She laughed into her glass. “Maybe I’ll show you my range scores on our date. Get you really worked up.”
“Save that for the third date.” He plucked her glass from her hand and set it, and his own, aside.
“Confident there’ll be a third?” she asked mildly as he pressed her back against the pillows.
“Confident in my ability to argue my case.”
She made a face, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. “Oh, god, I just remembered you’re a lawyer. I need to reconsider this.”
“You do that. I’ll just occupy myself.” He traced a path from her collarbone to her breast. “Right here.” And bend to press his mouth there.
“That’s. . . an excellent argument.”
He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with a woman too young for an old sailor, but AJ was definitely going to get a third date. Maybe he’d figure it out by then.