"Who the hell was that?" Jethro demanded, as he strode past Ducky into his hall. He whirled around and glared at Ducky.

"Who, dear?" Ducky asked mildly, closing the door behind Jethro and bolting it.

"The guy in the car I passed on the way here."

"Ah. Oh, that was just an old friend." Ducky spoke calmly, as he turned back towards Jethro and gazed at him; his blue eyes full of affection, love and tenderness, plus a tinge of amusement.

Jethro moved towards him, grabbed his arms and demanded, "Just a friend?"

Ducky blinked up at him. "Yes, my dear," he said, now sounding a little confused. "Of course just a friend. Why did you think -"

He was silenced as Jethro slid his hands up from Ducky's arms to cup his face, lowered his own head and kissed him. "Good," he said, finally breaking away as his head began to spin. "Because you're mine. You know that, don’t you?"

"Yes, dear. I do." Ducky didn’t sound the slightest bit perturbed by Jethro's display of jealousy, and he simply continued to look up at him with affection, love and tenderness.

Suddenly Jethro felt foolish, as well as a little guilty. What gave him the right to be jealous? After all, he slept with other people; hell he even married them. So why was it okay for him and not for Ducky? It was more than a bit unfair for him to be jealous and possessive. But unfair or not, it was how he felt. But even so.

"Sorry, Duck," he said, his tone more gentle than it had been, and edged with self-annoyance. He brushed his hand over Ducky's hair, before slipping his fingers into the heavy silkiness where he began to caress Ducky's scalp.

However Ducky just smiled and began to stroke his cheek. "Ah, my dear, dear Jethro. There is no need for you to apologize for loving me."

"Yeah, but -"

"But nothing. We are different people, Jethro. We have different needs, different wants, different ways."

"Does it bother you?"

"What?"

"Me seeing other people."

"What do you think, Jethro?" Ducky's gaze was steady as he looked up at him.

"You never say."

Ducky shrugged. "And I never will," he said calmly, softly. "Now. If you have quite finished showing me the green-eyed monster that I know lurks behind your stubborn façade, why do you not take me upstairs and prove to me just how much I am yours."

It was the best offer Jethro had had all day. In fact the best offer since the last time Ducky had made it. "Yeah, why don't I do that thing," he said.

And he would.

He'd show Ducky just how much he loved him, needed him, wanted him, and how much he meant to him. How vital and important he was to Jethro's life and well being. And just how much he was his.

But first . . .

First he'd have to kiss him again. Just to reassure himself, of course.