NCIS: The Definition of Home
The other day I got hit with another plot bunny. It spawned this story, and is currently fighting me over at least two sequels, but we shall see what comes of them. This is again in the world of NCIS, and again Gibbs/DiNozzo, so be forewarned. Embarrassingly enough, there's also a smattering of adult material in this one, so also be forewarned.
Title: The Definition of Home
Author: triskellion
Series: Home
Rating: Adult's only
Word Count: 3283
Spoilers: Twilight and Kill Ari 1/2
Warnings: This includes sexual relations between two men. If you don't like, don't read.
Disclaimer: They're not mine, pretty as I find them. Go to the producers if you want to talk money.
Summary: AU but following canon events: Tony has a secret. What is Gibbs going to do when he finds out just why his senior field agent will follow him to hell and back?
When he woke up to the sensation of having his ears rubbed, Tony cursed under his breath. Unfortunately, under the circumstances, that resulted in an audible angry growl that was followed by the removal of the fingers doing the rubbing. Or perhaps it was fortunate, depending on whether he was willing to admit just how much he liked having his ears rubbed.
Ok, so usually he was more careful about falling asleep like this, but after the plague, and Kate, and being crammed into a plane today, he really needed to stretch out. All the way out. He was also usually really good about hearing or smelling people coming, so how had he slept through someone getting into his apartment? A deep sniff brought the scent of coffee and sawdust.
Well, that confirmed it, he was getting far too used to having Gibbs around. Time to move on, resign, find another department. The only problem with that was he had to get rid of Gibbs so he could type said resignation.
Tony looked up, cocking his head as Gibbs looked down at him.
“Hello there. Don't suppose you want to tell me where your human is?” Gibbs said gently, offering his hand for another sniff.
Tony considered leaning into those really clever fingers. It had been far too long since he had been around a human like this. However, he knew it wasn't a good idea. He didn't need to encourage Gibbs to do anything other than leave. He dropped his head back to his forepaws and let out a soft grunt.
“Didn't know Tony had a dog. Though you look like you've got a lot of wolf in you, don't you?” Gibbs said softly, his fingers reaching out unprompted to pet Tony's ears again. “I don't know how you manage in such a small place. Big fellow like you needs room to run.” Gibbs sat there for another minute, petting away, and Tony tried not to melt in pure bliss. Had the last person to do this been his mother?
Finally, Gibbs got up, and Tony really hoped he was on his way out. His hopes were in vain. Gibbs began to circle the apartment, examining everything. Tony's heart sank as he spotted his wallet, keys, gun, and badge in plain sight on the table.
Gibbs turned back to Tony. “So his car is here, his gun is here, and his cell ...” A turn of Tony's head located that next to the TV. He turned back to see Gibbs follow his line of sight and let out a sigh. “His cell is here, which means if he isn't here I have to kill him,” Gibbs snarled. He turned back to Tony and stared at him hard. “Shall we try this again, Tony?”
Tony let out a yip and bounced up onto his feet, still on the couch. He couldn't repress his reaction when Gibbs gave him that look, which totally wasn't fair because Gibbs wasn't supposed to know.
“Change back, DiNozzo,” Gibbs snapped, stepping towards the couch.
Tony growled and stepped onto the floor, but, as the pneumonic plague had shown, he couldn't disobey an order from Gibbs; the man was a born alpha male, in every sense. He shifted back from wolf to man. That didn't mean he had to be happy about it, however, and he crossed his arms and glared back at his boss, momentarily ignoring his nude state. “How did you know?”
“Didn't at first,” Gibbs replied, an odd twinkle in eyes. “Made a logical guess based on previous experience. Ran into a few shifters in the corp. Was told I tend to attract them, for some reason.”
Tony snorted. He knew exactly why. It was the same reason he'd found himself following any order from Gibbs within five minutes of the NCIS agent arriving at his Baltimore crime scene. A shifter knew an alpha when they met one, shifter or human. That didn't mean they had to like following those orders. “You'll have my resignation in the morning,” Tony offered, then stalked past his former boss towards the bedroom.
“Is this about Kate?” Gibbs snapped, grabbing Tony's arm before he could pass.
“No, boss,” Tony snarled back, his teeth as bared as they would be in wolf form. “This is about you knowing too much and me leaving before I get fucked over for it. Again.” He shrugged Gibbs off and made it to the bedroom before the other man caught up.
“That why you always left after two years?” Gibbs asked from the doorway as Tony pulled on a pair of sweat pants.
Tony turned and caught the older man looking at his ass. It left him warm in ways he didn't want to think about. Gibbs had always been able to do that to him. There had been only one other to effect him so completely, and his finding out hadn't been a good experience. “I stay too long I get comfortable, let my guard down. My lieutenant in Peoria found out ... I never stayed anywhere long enough to relax that much again. Until now.”
“He figure out what it meant to be seen as pack leader?” Gibbs asked, stepping forward in his predatory glide.
Tony shivered. Oh yeah, he understood. A pack leader could give any order, and it had to be followed. It didn't matter if it was 'take part in this impossible and dangerous undercover op' or 'get naked and let me fuck you.' Once he realized the power trip his lieutenant was on, Tony ran.
“All too well,” Tony replied, fighting the urge to back up, to back down. Gibbs had placed himself in charge and demanded submission from the day he walked into Tony's life. But while Gibbs gave orders, on the important things he always asked. Tony respected him for that and hadn't been driven to run. Until now.
Gibbs stopped two steps away as Tony began to cringe away despite his best efforts. “Bastard,” Gibbs hissed. There was anger hardening his crystal blue eyes, but Tony could feel that it wasn't directed at him.
“In the worst way,” Tony said softly, trying to remind himself that this was Gibbs, and Gibbs protected his own. He might berate and belittle, but he'd never used and abused.
“He never let any hint hit your record.” Gibbs spoke soothingly, as though to a scared child or panicked pet. Tony both did and didn't appreciate that.
“Who would have believed it if he did?” Tony asked sarcastically.
“Me.” Gibbs reached out a hand, slowly. Tony managed to only flinch slightly when calloused fingers touched his face. “How long have you been a lone wolf, Tony?”
“All my life,” Tony whispered, letting his eyes close as he leaned into Gibbs' touch. His knowledge of pack dynamics was a combination of instinct and his mother's stories. There weren't that many shifters around, so packs were a difficult thing to find. Maybe in the military, but that hadn't appealed to Tony at all.
“Your mother was a shifter?” Gibbs words washed over him while his touch anchored him. He'd wanted so long ...
But he couldn't. He shouldn't. With a full body shake, Tony broke away from Gibbs and stepped back. “Yes. Fine. My mother was a shifter, and my father ruled her body and soul, natural alpha personality that he was.” Like you. “And all that without actually knowing.” Tony shivered. Even now he could feel Gibbs' gaze on his skin, impossible to ignore. “I swore I'd never go down that road. When I saw that light in the lieutenant's eyes, I ran to Philly. When I relaxed enough my partner could almost sneak up on me, I ran to Baltimore.”
“You never ran from me,” Gibbs said, softly, coaxingly. Tony just growled back, his eyes fixed on the wall behind Gibbs. “You never have to.” There was only a whisper of a sound as Gibbs stepped closer. There was no chance to run before calloused hands cupped Tony's face and green eyes met blue. “You are my second, not a lone wolf,” he said firmly, his confidence making Tony feel the truth in his bones. “That has been true for years.”
Tony let out a soft moan. He'd wondered, suspected, but Gibbs had never said ... He had spent so long being jealous of Kate, of Tim, trying to protect his place. To hear those words meant more than he could express, than could be understood by someone who didn't understand a shifter's psyche. Pack was everything, rank vital.
Gibbs' thumbs ran back and forth along Tony's cheek bones, the heels of the older man's hands pressing along the edges of the shifter's throat, both comforting and controlling. “You can have more ... if you want it,” Gibbs added huskily. “Say no, and I walk away. We go to work tomorrow, same as always.” Warm fingers traced Tony's ears, sending shivers down his spine. “Say yes, and you will never be alone again.”
Tony swallowed hard, feeling him self falling into pools of blue. “You know what you're saying?” he whispered, hating the desperation in his voice.
“Yes.”
It was such a simple answer for such a deceptively simple question. If Gibbs didn't really understand what he was offering ... It was everything Tony had ever wanted. “I want ...” Tony hissed, his hands reaching up to press flat against Gibbs chest, not pushing away and not pulling closer. He was so afraid.
“Only what you want,” Gibbs promised. “Always what you want.”
It was dangerous, impossible, completely foolish. But Gibbs wasn't like his old lieutenant, wasn't like his father. He'd felt the attraction from the first, both the urge to obey his alpha and to lie with the man he was attracted to. To take a mate and be taken by one. He hadn't taken a man to his bed since he met Gibbs, and had taken fewer women than he said. He knew what he wanted, but hadn't dared dream the man would ever know ... ever offer ...
“Yes.”
Gibbs only paused for a moment, seeming to search for confirmation in Tony's eyes, before he leaned in and kissed the younger man firmly. Tony immediately shut his eyes, losing himself in the sensations of lips and warmth, the smell of coffee and sawdust. Lips parted and tongues dueled, not for dominance but for the sheer joy of the experience.
Tony whimpered when Gibbs pulled back, even for a second, but it changed to a moan when the older man promptly attacked the exposed neck and collar before him. Fingers searching for bare skin pulled at both polo shirt and undershirt, exposing toned muscles that could have belonged to a younger man, but belonged to Leroy Jethro Gibbs. For that and that alone did Tony love the feel of them under his palms.
There was a short tussle when Tony tried to pull Gibbs' shirts over his head and Gibbs didn't want to let go of his new chew toy. The younger man already knew he'd be wearing a turtle neck tomorrow and possibly for many more days to come. If this lasted.
He found himself sprawled across the bed, Gibbs standing at his feet pulling his shirts off. There was a look of need and want in the older man's eyes that Tony could not resist. He tried to sit up, to reach out to warmth and bare skin, but Gibbs pushed him back and tugged at the waist band of his sweat pants until he lay back and lifted his hips so the pants could slide off. Blue eyes ran up and down his runner's physique, and Tony struggled with the urge to hide his scars, his imperfections.
“Don't,” Gibbs whispered, leaning over and pulling Tony's hands away from his torso. “Don't hide from me.” He pressed a kiss to Tony's stomach that made the younger man arch up at the sensation.
“Please,” Tony pleaded, his head rolling back as his back arched to an almost impossible degree. Impossible for a human, perhaps, but Tony wasn't human, not completely.
“Whatever you want,” Gibbs replied, his hands somehow everywhere at once. They vanished for a moment, and Tony heard the rustle of clothes, the rattle of a belt falling, and there was more, more skin, more warmth, more Gibbs.
Tony had dreamed of this, in rare moments when he could no longer deny his heart, but the occasional slap to the head could not tell him how clever and how right those callused hands would feel on every square inch of bare skin. “Please,” Tony whispered, his vocabulary dissolving until only one word remained.
“What do you want, Tony?” Gibbs asked, leaning over the bed, over Tony, his hands tracing patterns up and down the shifter's sides. Tony was shaking, every muscle twitching individually under his skin, but at the same time he was held in place by two hands. Gibbs' hands.
“You,” Tony gasped, grabbing Gibbs wrists and pulling, pulling him up, over, and on top. As the older man settled against him, it wasn't just the way their erections pressed against each other that left him moaning. It was Gibbs. The older man went straight for the younger's throat as soon as it was in reach, nipping along the jaw, licking above the carotid, sinking his teeth into the mark he'd left earlier. Tony stretched his head back, baring his throat in a more complete submission than he had ever given before.
“Mine,” Gibbs growled. His hands were busy, flicking nipples, caressing arms, tracing muscles and ribs, while he pinned Tony with his body, even the slightest movement sending shivers of pleasure through the shifter.
“Yours,” Tony gasped back, arching his back again under the onslaught, almost lifting off the bed even with the weight above him. He spread his legs, letting Gibbs settled between them, then wrapped them around the older man's hip, locking him in place, making his own claim clear with his body even as he verbally submitted to his alpha.
They could have done more, but it was all too much, too quick. Tony ached to feel Gibbs within him, but even having him present, feeling the length of his body for long was enough to set off a stronger man. As he collapsed into the bed, he felt Gibbs become equally limp above him and realized they both must have been all too wound up.
Lying there, panting, even half crushed under Gibbs, Tony felt more complete than ever before. Even as short as the experience had been, it was unlike any sexual experience in his past. It wasn't sex, it was claiming a mate.
Gibbs finally propped himself up on his elbows, his eyes warm as he looked down at Tony. “Guess I got a little carried away,” he said softly, fingers tracing over the marks he left on Tony's neck.
“No,” Tony countered, gently capturing the older man's hand. “It was just right, just what I needed.”
Gibbs' lips curled up in a smile, more warm and welcoming than any Tony had seen on his alpha before. “I'll keep that in mind,” he said, his eyes twinkling with mischief.
Tony panicked as Gibbs tried to pull back, to pull away. His legs were still locked around the older man's hips, and he tightened his grip. “Stay,” he pleaded.
“Hush,” Gibbs said pressing a finger to Tony's lips. “Just gonna clean us up. Be right back. Not going anywhere until morning.”
“And then?” Tony asked plaintively, releasing the man he just wanted to hold close forever.
“Then we have work,” Gibbs said with a laugh as he stood. “But I promise tomorrow night to make it worth your while to let go.” As he strode to the bathroom, Tony watched him go with joy. He strode with a predatory stride, strong and confident even in his nudity, perfection in motion. Tony looked forward to being able to see that without always having to hide that he was watching.
~o0o~
Naked, clean, curled up in bed, and tucked under Gibbs' arm, Tony felt more at home than he had in decades. It wasn't just the afterglow, but the sense of belonging. But along with that sense of belonging came doubts. Tony had been alone too long to be able to simply accept.
“You could have anyone. Why me?” he whispered into the darkness.
Gibbs' arm tightened, and his other hand began to stroke the spiky hair on Tony's head, much like he had stroked his head earlier when he had been in wolf form. “Because I want to,” the older man replied, burying his face into his second's neck. “Because you're you. Because you can stand up to me, even with your instincts.”
“I'm not sure I understand,” Tony said plaintively. He hated to show weakness, especially to Gibbs. Except, this was Gibbs, whom he trusted more than anyone.
Gibbs chuckled, his body shaking slightly with mirth. “Neither do I,” he admitted, that rare grin audible in his voice. “Paul once said that when a shifter finds the right pack, the right alpha, the right mate, they just know. Maybe sometimes that's true of humans too.”
Tony turned in Gibbs' arms, wrapping his own arm around the older man's middle and burying his face in his mate's chest. “I knew the minute you walked onto my crime scene.”
“Me too,” Gibbs said, pressing a kiss to the top of Tony's head. “I didn't fully understand how or why, but me too.”
“And now?” Tony asked, needing to hear it.
“You are my second and my mate. At work nothing changes. When I'm away, you manage the team. When I'm there, you make inappropriate jokes, torture the others, and be the incredible investigator I know you are. Outside of work, we'll work it out. Just know that my door is always open.”
Tony took a deep breath of Gibbs scent and let go his fears. Gibbs understood. “Well, it seems you either have my key or are quite adept at picking the lock, so feel free to stop by any time,” he said, only partly joking.
A soft tap to the back of his head told Tony that Gibbs understood. “Go to sleep, Tony.”
Tony tried, but even surrounded by Gibbs and feeling his presence inside and out, he still felt the need to stretch. “Um, boss, do you mind if I ... well, you know ...”
“You want to sleep as a wolf?” Gibbs asked.
“Yeah. It's been a long day and sometimes it's the only way I can get my back to feel right,” Tony admitted hesitantly. “I don't do it often. Especially if we're on call. If I get a call in the middle of the night, it's hard to remember why I can't seem to open the phone ...”
Another tap to the back of his head cut off the rambling. “Get comfortable,” Gibbs said simply, lifting his arm. Tony took the chance and shifted, rolling so he could stretch out and finally get those kinks out of his spine. Then he stretched out next to Gibbs. When the older man's arm came around his furry back, Tony gave in to temptation and kissed Gibbs on the chin. The drool earned him another slap to the head. “Behave,” Gibbs snapped, but there was no venom in his voice.
With the sound of Gibbs breathing in his ear, the scent of him filling the room, and those oh so clever fingers rubbing his ears, Tony fell asleep in peace for the first time since Kate died.
Title: The Definition of Home
Author: triskellion
Series: Home
Rating: Adult's only
Word Count: 3283
Spoilers: Twilight and Kill Ari 1/2
Warnings: This includes sexual relations between two men. If you don't like, don't read.
Disclaimer: They're not mine, pretty as I find them. Go to the producers if you want to talk money.
Summary: AU but following canon events: Tony has a secret. What is Gibbs going to do when he finds out just why his senior field agent will follow him to hell and back?
When he woke up to the sensation of having his ears rubbed, Tony cursed under his breath. Unfortunately, under the circumstances, that resulted in an audible angry growl that was followed by the removal of the fingers doing the rubbing. Or perhaps it was fortunate, depending on whether he was willing to admit just how much he liked having his ears rubbed.
Ok, so usually he was more careful about falling asleep like this, but after the plague, and Kate, and being crammed into a plane today, he really needed to stretch out. All the way out. He was also usually really good about hearing or smelling people coming, so how had he slept through someone getting into his apartment? A deep sniff brought the scent of coffee and sawdust.
Well, that confirmed it, he was getting far too used to having Gibbs around. Time to move on, resign, find another department. The only problem with that was he had to get rid of Gibbs so he could type said resignation.
Tony looked up, cocking his head as Gibbs looked down at him.
“Hello there. Don't suppose you want to tell me where your human is?” Gibbs said gently, offering his hand for another sniff.
Tony considered leaning into those really clever fingers. It had been far too long since he had been around a human like this. However, he knew it wasn't a good idea. He didn't need to encourage Gibbs to do anything other than leave. He dropped his head back to his forepaws and let out a soft grunt.
“Didn't know Tony had a dog. Though you look like you've got a lot of wolf in you, don't you?” Gibbs said softly, his fingers reaching out unprompted to pet Tony's ears again. “I don't know how you manage in such a small place. Big fellow like you needs room to run.” Gibbs sat there for another minute, petting away, and Tony tried not to melt in pure bliss. Had the last person to do this been his mother?
Finally, Gibbs got up, and Tony really hoped he was on his way out. His hopes were in vain. Gibbs began to circle the apartment, examining everything. Tony's heart sank as he spotted his wallet, keys, gun, and badge in plain sight on the table.
Gibbs turned back to Tony. “So his car is here, his gun is here, and his cell ...” A turn of Tony's head located that next to the TV. He turned back to see Gibbs follow his line of sight and let out a sigh. “His cell is here, which means if he isn't here I have to kill him,” Gibbs snarled. He turned back to Tony and stared at him hard. “Shall we try this again, Tony?”
Tony let out a yip and bounced up onto his feet, still on the couch. He couldn't repress his reaction when Gibbs gave him that look, which totally wasn't fair because Gibbs wasn't supposed to know.
“Change back, DiNozzo,” Gibbs snapped, stepping towards the couch.
Tony growled and stepped onto the floor, but, as the pneumonic plague had shown, he couldn't disobey an order from Gibbs; the man was a born alpha male, in every sense. He shifted back from wolf to man. That didn't mean he had to be happy about it, however, and he crossed his arms and glared back at his boss, momentarily ignoring his nude state. “How did you know?”
“Didn't at first,” Gibbs replied, an odd twinkle in eyes. “Made a logical guess based on previous experience. Ran into a few shifters in the corp. Was told I tend to attract them, for some reason.”
Tony snorted. He knew exactly why. It was the same reason he'd found himself following any order from Gibbs within five minutes of the NCIS agent arriving at his Baltimore crime scene. A shifter knew an alpha when they met one, shifter or human. That didn't mean they had to like following those orders. “You'll have my resignation in the morning,” Tony offered, then stalked past his former boss towards the bedroom.
“Is this about Kate?” Gibbs snapped, grabbing Tony's arm before he could pass.
“No, boss,” Tony snarled back, his teeth as bared as they would be in wolf form. “This is about you knowing too much and me leaving before I get fucked over for it. Again.” He shrugged Gibbs off and made it to the bedroom before the other man caught up.
“That why you always left after two years?” Gibbs asked from the doorway as Tony pulled on a pair of sweat pants.
Tony turned and caught the older man looking at his ass. It left him warm in ways he didn't want to think about. Gibbs had always been able to do that to him. There had been only one other to effect him so completely, and his finding out hadn't been a good experience. “I stay too long I get comfortable, let my guard down. My lieutenant in Peoria found out ... I never stayed anywhere long enough to relax that much again. Until now.”
“He figure out what it meant to be seen as pack leader?” Gibbs asked, stepping forward in his predatory glide.
Tony shivered. Oh yeah, he understood. A pack leader could give any order, and it had to be followed. It didn't matter if it was 'take part in this impossible and dangerous undercover op' or 'get naked and let me fuck you.' Once he realized the power trip his lieutenant was on, Tony ran.
“All too well,” Tony replied, fighting the urge to back up, to back down. Gibbs had placed himself in charge and demanded submission from the day he walked into Tony's life. But while Gibbs gave orders, on the important things he always asked. Tony respected him for that and hadn't been driven to run. Until now.
Gibbs stopped two steps away as Tony began to cringe away despite his best efforts. “Bastard,” Gibbs hissed. There was anger hardening his crystal blue eyes, but Tony could feel that it wasn't directed at him.
“In the worst way,” Tony said softly, trying to remind himself that this was Gibbs, and Gibbs protected his own. He might berate and belittle, but he'd never used and abused.
“He never let any hint hit your record.” Gibbs spoke soothingly, as though to a scared child or panicked pet. Tony both did and didn't appreciate that.
“Who would have believed it if he did?” Tony asked sarcastically.
“Me.” Gibbs reached out a hand, slowly. Tony managed to only flinch slightly when calloused fingers touched his face. “How long have you been a lone wolf, Tony?”
“All my life,” Tony whispered, letting his eyes close as he leaned into Gibbs' touch. His knowledge of pack dynamics was a combination of instinct and his mother's stories. There weren't that many shifters around, so packs were a difficult thing to find. Maybe in the military, but that hadn't appealed to Tony at all.
“Your mother was a shifter?” Gibbs words washed over him while his touch anchored him. He'd wanted so long ...
But he couldn't. He shouldn't. With a full body shake, Tony broke away from Gibbs and stepped back. “Yes. Fine. My mother was a shifter, and my father ruled her body and soul, natural alpha personality that he was.” Like you. “And all that without actually knowing.” Tony shivered. Even now he could feel Gibbs' gaze on his skin, impossible to ignore. “I swore I'd never go down that road. When I saw that light in the lieutenant's eyes, I ran to Philly. When I relaxed enough my partner could almost sneak up on me, I ran to Baltimore.”
“You never ran from me,” Gibbs said, softly, coaxingly. Tony just growled back, his eyes fixed on the wall behind Gibbs. “You never have to.” There was only a whisper of a sound as Gibbs stepped closer. There was no chance to run before calloused hands cupped Tony's face and green eyes met blue. “You are my second, not a lone wolf,” he said firmly, his confidence making Tony feel the truth in his bones. “That has been true for years.”
Tony let out a soft moan. He'd wondered, suspected, but Gibbs had never said ... He had spent so long being jealous of Kate, of Tim, trying to protect his place. To hear those words meant more than he could express, than could be understood by someone who didn't understand a shifter's psyche. Pack was everything, rank vital.
Gibbs' thumbs ran back and forth along Tony's cheek bones, the heels of the older man's hands pressing along the edges of the shifter's throat, both comforting and controlling. “You can have more ... if you want it,” Gibbs added huskily. “Say no, and I walk away. We go to work tomorrow, same as always.” Warm fingers traced Tony's ears, sending shivers down his spine. “Say yes, and you will never be alone again.”
Tony swallowed hard, feeling him self falling into pools of blue. “You know what you're saying?” he whispered, hating the desperation in his voice.
“Yes.”
It was such a simple answer for such a deceptively simple question. If Gibbs didn't really understand what he was offering ... It was everything Tony had ever wanted. “I want ...” Tony hissed, his hands reaching up to press flat against Gibbs chest, not pushing away and not pulling closer. He was so afraid.
“Only what you want,” Gibbs promised. “Always what you want.”
It was dangerous, impossible, completely foolish. But Gibbs wasn't like his old lieutenant, wasn't like his father. He'd felt the attraction from the first, both the urge to obey his alpha and to lie with the man he was attracted to. To take a mate and be taken by one. He hadn't taken a man to his bed since he met Gibbs, and had taken fewer women than he said. He knew what he wanted, but hadn't dared dream the man would ever know ... ever offer ...
“Yes.”
Gibbs only paused for a moment, seeming to search for confirmation in Tony's eyes, before he leaned in and kissed the younger man firmly. Tony immediately shut his eyes, losing himself in the sensations of lips and warmth, the smell of coffee and sawdust. Lips parted and tongues dueled, not for dominance but for the sheer joy of the experience.
Tony whimpered when Gibbs pulled back, even for a second, but it changed to a moan when the older man promptly attacked the exposed neck and collar before him. Fingers searching for bare skin pulled at both polo shirt and undershirt, exposing toned muscles that could have belonged to a younger man, but belonged to Leroy Jethro Gibbs. For that and that alone did Tony love the feel of them under his palms.
There was a short tussle when Tony tried to pull Gibbs' shirts over his head and Gibbs didn't want to let go of his new chew toy. The younger man already knew he'd be wearing a turtle neck tomorrow and possibly for many more days to come. If this lasted.
He found himself sprawled across the bed, Gibbs standing at his feet pulling his shirts off. There was a look of need and want in the older man's eyes that Tony could not resist. He tried to sit up, to reach out to warmth and bare skin, but Gibbs pushed him back and tugged at the waist band of his sweat pants until he lay back and lifted his hips so the pants could slide off. Blue eyes ran up and down his runner's physique, and Tony struggled with the urge to hide his scars, his imperfections.
“Don't,” Gibbs whispered, leaning over and pulling Tony's hands away from his torso. “Don't hide from me.” He pressed a kiss to Tony's stomach that made the younger man arch up at the sensation.
“Please,” Tony pleaded, his head rolling back as his back arched to an almost impossible degree. Impossible for a human, perhaps, but Tony wasn't human, not completely.
“Whatever you want,” Gibbs replied, his hands somehow everywhere at once. They vanished for a moment, and Tony heard the rustle of clothes, the rattle of a belt falling, and there was more, more skin, more warmth, more Gibbs.
Tony had dreamed of this, in rare moments when he could no longer deny his heart, but the occasional slap to the head could not tell him how clever and how right those callused hands would feel on every square inch of bare skin. “Please,” Tony whispered, his vocabulary dissolving until only one word remained.
“What do you want, Tony?” Gibbs asked, leaning over the bed, over Tony, his hands tracing patterns up and down the shifter's sides. Tony was shaking, every muscle twitching individually under his skin, but at the same time he was held in place by two hands. Gibbs' hands.
“You,” Tony gasped, grabbing Gibbs wrists and pulling, pulling him up, over, and on top. As the older man settled against him, it wasn't just the way their erections pressed against each other that left him moaning. It was Gibbs. The older man went straight for the younger's throat as soon as it was in reach, nipping along the jaw, licking above the carotid, sinking his teeth into the mark he'd left earlier. Tony stretched his head back, baring his throat in a more complete submission than he had ever given before.
“Mine,” Gibbs growled. His hands were busy, flicking nipples, caressing arms, tracing muscles and ribs, while he pinned Tony with his body, even the slightest movement sending shivers of pleasure through the shifter.
“Yours,” Tony gasped back, arching his back again under the onslaught, almost lifting off the bed even with the weight above him. He spread his legs, letting Gibbs settled between them, then wrapped them around the older man's hip, locking him in place, making his own claim clear with his body even as he verbally submitted to his alpha.
They could have done more, but it was all too much, too quick. Tony ached to feel Gibbs within him, but even having him present, feeling the length of his body for long was enough to set off a stronger man. As he collapsed into the bed, he felt Gibbs become equally limp above him and realized they both must have been all too wound up.
Lying there, panting, even half crushed under Gibbs, Tony felt more complete than ever before. Even as short as the experience had been, it was unlike any sexual experience in his past. It wasn't sex, it was claiming a mate.
Gibbs finally propped himself up on his elbows, his eyes warm as he looked down at Tony. “Guess I got a little carried away,” he said softly, fingers tracing over the marks he left on Tony's neck.
“No,” Tony countered, gently capturing the older man's hand. “It was just right, just what I needed.”
Gibbs' lips curled up in a smile, more warm and welcoming than any Tony had seen on his alpha before. “I'll keep that in mind,” he said, his eyes twinkling with mischief.
Tony panicked as Gibbs tried to pull back, to pull away. His legs were still locked around the older man's hips, and he tightened his grip. “Stay,” he pleaded.
“Hush,” Gibbs said pressing a finger to Tony's lips. “Just gonna clean us up. Be right back. Not going anywhere until morning.”
“And then?” Tony asked plaintively, releasing the man he just wanted to hold close forever.
“Then we have work,” Gibbs said with a laugh as he stood. “But I promise tomorrow night to make it worth your while to let go.” As he strode to the bathroom, Tony watched him go with joy. He strode with a predatory stride, strong and confident even in his nudity, perfection in motion. Tony looked forward to being able to see that without always having to hide that he was watching.
~o0o~
Naked, clean, curled up in bed, and tucked under Gibbs' arm, Tony felt more at home than he had in decades. It wasn't just the afterglow, but the sense of belonging. But along with that sense of belonging came doubts. Tony had been alone too long to be able to simply accept.
“You could have anyone. Why me?” he whispered into the darkness.
Gibbs' arm tightened, and his other hand began to stroke the spiky hair on Tony's head, much like he had stroked his head earlier when he had been in wolf form. “Because I want to,” the older man replied, burying his face into his second's neck. “Because you're you. Because you can stand up to me, even with your instincts.”
“I'm not sure I understand,” Tony said plaintively. He hated to show weakness, especially to Gibbs. Except, this was Gibbs, whom he trusted more than anyone.
Gibbs chuckled, his body shaking slightly with mirth. “Neither do I,” he admitted, that rare grin audible in his voice. “Paul once said that when a shifter finds the right pack, the right alpha, the right mate, they just know. Maybe sometimes that's true of humans too.”
Tony turned in Gibbs' arms, wrapping his own arm around the older man's middle and burying his face in his mate's chest. “I knew the minute you walked onto my crime scene.”
“Me too,” Gibbs said, pressing a kiss to the top of Tony's head. “I didn't fully understand how or why, but me too.”
“And now?” Tony asked, needing to hear it.
“You are my second and my mate. At work nothing changes. When I'm away, you manage the team. When I'm there, you make inappropriate jokes, torture the others, and be the incredible investigator I know you are. Outside of work, we'll work it out. Just know that my door is always open.”
Tony took a deep breath of Gibbs scent and let go his fears. Gibbs understood. “Well, it seems you either have my key or are quite adept at picking the lock, so feel free to stop by any time,” he said, only partly joking.
A soft tap to the back of his head told Tony that Gibbs understood. “Go to sleep, Tony.”
Tony tried, but even surrounded by Gibbs and feeling his presence inside and out, he still felt the need to stretch. “Um, boss, do you mind if I ... well, you know ...”
“You want to sleep as a wolf?” Gibbs asked.
“Yeah. It's been a long day and sometimes it's the only way I can get my back to feel right,” Tony admitted hesitantly. “I don't do it often. Especially if we're on call. If I get a call in the middle of the night, it's hard to remember why I can't seem to open the phone ...”
Another tap to the back of his head cut off the rambling. “Get comfortable,” Gibbs said simply, lifting his arm. Tony took the chance and shifted, rolling so he could stretch out and finally get those kinks out of his spine. Then he stretched out next to Gibbs. When the older man's arm came around his furry back, Tony gave in to temptation and kissed Gibbs on the chin. The drool earned him another slap to the head. “Behave,” Gibbs snapped, but there was no venom in his voice.
With the sound of Gibbs breathing in his ear, the scent of him filling the room, and those oh so clever fingers rubbing his ears, Tony fell asleep in peace for the first time since Kate died.