Abby moved away from the table as they left. She paused in the middle of the living room and stretched the kinks from her muscles.
"You want me to go, too?" his gazed raked her lithe form. She had been baiting him earlier, trying to get a reaction out of him but he knew better than to look then. He was only human, however, so when the opportunity presented itself…
"No way, Buster," she replied walking slightly unstably to the kitchen. "You've gotta give me chance to win my money back," she called over her retreating shoulder, putting an extra shimmy in her walk.
When she returned to the table, she took the chair next to him. Her legs brushed his as she sat down, and he made to move away. Seeing that she didn't seem to be in anyway uncomfortable with the proximity, he allowed his leg to relax against where hers rested.
Seven more rounds had them much in the same position. It was proving to be an endless battle of calculating looks, and subtle undercurrents. Both were trying to see what the other was hiding; trying to see if there was bluffing going on. If either had found evidence, they would have called, and both games, acknowledged and otherwise, would have been brought to a close. It was getting on for 2 in the morning when Abby had finally had enough and broke the silence.
"Ok, that's it. All or nothing. We end it here or we don't end it at all and I go to bed now."
He grinned at her from under arched eyebrows. "Ok…I'll give. All or nothing. One hand, winner takes all." There had been a meaning to her words which was unmistakeable. Someone had to make a move; they were too evenly matched in both games. It was his turn to deal and he shuffled, pushing the pack towards her for her to cut. She gazed at him as she knocked firmly on the cards twice. She trusted him. He gave her an amused, faintly disapproving smile and head shake as he took the cards back to deal.
The cards were laid on the table, each of them had drawn and the hand was a long one. Finally, Abby moved to place all of her chips onto the board. Gibbs caught her hand as she drew it back. He smiled, "we don't have to do this, Abs. We can end this now and I can go home. We'll split the win and leave things as they stand now. If that's what you want."
She knew what he was saying, and what he was trying to say, but she still couldn't really comprehend that Kate had been right about him. Did he really want her? "*I've always had confidence, but I never let my ego get to the point where I think I'm the superstar*."
It was a question, and Gibbs heard her meaning loud and clear. She was unsure of him, of his regard for her. He had never really seen Abby unsure of herself in any situation. Surely she knew her effect on him?
"*Timid people don't win in high-stacks poker*." ‘Come on Abby,' he thought ‘just give me some indication that you might want this as much as I do.'
The challenge was there; at least she thought it was. She wished she'd never started the quotations now. Did she really interpret that right? Well, it was the final hand. All or nothing, she had said it herself. Laying her cards on the table, Abby locked gazes with his intense blue one, "*Don't play to impress, play to win,*" and she slid her straight flush on to the table.
Slowly, he glanced down, and then at his own cards, before laying them face down aside and moving his head into her personal space. Gazes colliding once a gain, he murmured; "*In a game of poker, I can put the players' souls in my pocket*," before crushing his lips to hers.
The kiss was hard and messy. He rose, knocking his chair backwards, dragging her up with him by a hand on her jaw and one on her butt. She went willingly into him, moulding her body along his, moaning aloud as his hand joined the other on either side of her butt, lifting her onto the table top, scattering the chips, his lips moving down onto her neck.
He moved between her parted thighs, her skirt hitching up even further as he leant over her, pushing her to lie back on the table. When she was horizontal, legs dangling beside his, he pulled back and straightened, his hands resting on the tops of her thighs, lightly stroking.
"Abby," he said in a rumbling voice, looking down on her from above. Her skirt was around her waist, her tank-top pulled askew. Her mouth was red now, not from the lipstick that was smudged on her lips, but from the bruising of his kisses. The pigtails fanned at angles from her head, tousled. She looked wanton, laid out on the table before him. "Abs, I can't be gentle with you. Not now, not this time." It was only fair to give her warning.
Her breath hitched in her throat, ankles tightened around his knees and frantic fingers began pulling at his shirt front. Apparently that was fine with her.
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A quick tug removed her tank top and she set to work on his shirt. He decided to leave her skirt around her waist, it looked pretty, ebony and ivory, and to remove it he would have to take a step back from her. Not a chance in hell.
She pushed his jeans down as best she could from her position and they fell to his ankles. He wondered, idly, why there never seemed to be a good moment for him to remove his socks. That thought and all others ceased to be as he pushed into her with his fingers. She groaned and pushed away at his hand with hers and he was momentarily stunned.
Abby pulled his face down to her and kissed his bewilderedness. "Now," she growled out between their meshed lips. The whole night had been foreplay, how could he think she needed any more preparation for him? She gasped, arching, as he obeyed her command, thrusting in into her in one powerful move.
Together they moved towards their climax, biting, scratching and thrusting; as he had promised, it wasn't gentle. She came, not as he had expected with a scream, but with a hitched breath and muffled sigh as she bit down hard against his collar bone, going ridged beneath him. Her teeth pushed him over the edge and he followed her moments later. After a moment to recover, he swept her into his arms and down the corridor to her bedroom. Collapsing on the bed, he fell asleep; she had been asleep before they got there.
Chapter End Notes:
This part is *NC-17*