Chapter 11

As Ziva packed up to leave, she looked up saw John looking over at her while he was on the phone at his desk with an amused look of jealousy on his face. Smirking, she waved and wished everyone a good weekend.

She stopped and bought a moderate sized tent that would comfortably accommodate two adults, and the sleeping bags. After debating, she decided to be safe in case things took a turn over the weekend and bought some new clothes.

Tony didn’t stop asking him where she was going to be off to for the weekend, despite John’s steady reply of ‘I don’t know’ and Tony’s snarky ‘You’re her partner, you should know’. In the end John went for ‘I don’t care what she’s doing off the clock’.

Eventually, John decided to visit Abby in her lab just to hide from Tony for a while and Abby was more than happy to give him the grand tour of her little castle, including introducing him to each and every one of her shiny toys.

He was glad that it was 5 pm so that he could go and meet up at Ziva’s place, to change into some more comfortable clothes (his tattered jeans and a shirt), load up his truck and drive towards Virginia. It would only take an hour and a half or something along those lines and they’d spend the first night in a cabin on the farm before taking the horses out for Saturday and Sunday.

“I wished I had lost some hearing instead of some vision,” John moaned as Ziva opened the door for him to let him into her apartment.

“Finally visited with Abby?” she grinned before walking back into her bedroom to check if she missed anything else.

“Oh, I didn’t mind Abby, she was fun,” he replied. “It was Tony who kept asking me if I knew where you were going this weekend, because as your partner it’s my duty to know what you do off the clock.” He rolled his eyes as he fished his pair of jeans out of his bag and a shirt before quickly changing while Ziva was in her bedroom.

“Ah yes,” she nodded. “I’ll send him a text later. He can wait. What else do we need?”

“I think we’re good to go, we just need to put the tent and sleeping bags in my car… I’m not going to sit for nearly two hours in that cookie jar of yours,” he grinned. “Sorry.” He folded his work clothes and put them in his bag, as he’d probably not return here after the weekend.

“Fine by me,” she grinned as she started picking up some bags to carry. “Can we just stop at a drive thru on our way? I skipped lunch so that I could get out early.”

“I was just going to ask what you wanted to eat,” John chuckled and looked at the bags she was carrying. “We’re going away for a weekend, in the outside world, you know… I doubt you’d need three bags.”

“I like to be prepared, and one is my knives,” she said as if it were an every day thing and walked out.

He laughed as he closed the door of Ziva’s apartment behind him. “Alright, but I won’t be carrying them,” he said jokingly and opened the trunk of his car.

Ziva suddenly popped up right up beside him with a sultry smile. “I did not ask you to,” she replied and put the bags in the car herself.

Shrugging, he stepped away to go open the car door at the passenger side for her. “I’m so stupidly excited for this trip that it’s ridiculous.”

She turned to smile up at him. “Me too. It will be a nice way that we can get to know each other more without the worry of interruption,” Ziva said wavering for a moment while attempting to fight the urge to lean in and kiss him.

He dropped a brief kiss to her lips and smiled. “Get into the car,” he grinned as he leaned on the door.

Laughing, she got in and buckled her seat belt. Letting out a breath as John jogged around the car, she was anxious for the weekend.

~o.O.o~
By the time they arrived at the ranch in Virginia, it was dark and too late to get onto the trail. Instead of the ranch owner getting upset for being too late, he was happy to show them to an overnight cabin, apologizing that there was only one double bed and a sofa instead of the two singles John had asked for.

Breakfast would be at 6 am, and then they’d go and get their horses for the weekend. The owner also left them with a variety of pamphlets of the services they offer at the ranch but all John wanted was the guy to leave. When he finally did, he let out a sigh of relief.

Ziva walked into the cabin and looked around. “Quaint,” she commented. “Do you want to go straight to sleep?”

“Do you?” John said as he put his bag on the couch and sat down on it.

“Well…what could we do?” she asked as she pulled out shorts and nightshirt and turned around to begin changing, unashamed.

John swallowed hard and quickly looked away. Ziva was going to make it really hard for him to take things slow. “Uh..”

“You okay?” she asked concerned at his tone as she pulled her shirt on. Turning around when she was done, she made her way over and plopped on the couch next to John.

“Yeah… I’m fine…” he smiled as he looked at her.

She smiled and narrowed her eyes. “I do not believe you.”

“You agreed on taking it slow…” his grin wavered. “And with you changing into something more comfortable right in front of me… I’m still a guy you know…”

She oh’d silently. “Sorry. I’ve gone undercover with Tony so many times that I do not realize it anymore…But, did you like what you saw?”

“Extremely…” he nodded and moved in to kiss her.

Ziva kissed him back, enjoying the feel and taste of his lips. For the most part, they were able to behave themselves and keep their hands to dedicated neutral areas of their bodies even as other – parts, begged for attention.

“You’re so beautiful…” he said softly after gently breaking off her. His body felt as if it was on fire, and that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing but right now it just annoyed him. “And gorgeous,” he said as he planted a kiss on her collar bone. “And you taste absolutely devine,” he said as he planted a kiss on her neck.

Her fingers slowly found their way up John’s arms, over his shoulders and buried into his hair. As he moved along her neck with his kisses, hers followed where they could over his face and into his hair. “John…” she said softly, and breathlessly, her fingers tightening each time his breath warmed patches of her skin.

“Hmm?” he responded as free hand moved down to her legs, gently squeezing her left thigh.

Her leg instinctively raised to meet his hand, seeking more contact. While Ziva did not know how long it had been for John for any form of intimacy but she knew it had been some time for herself.

“I can’t…We said…we would…” she tried to say but she begun to seek out his lips again, missing their loss.

“I know…” he said while she kissed him. He slowly moved his hand over her thigh towards her center, but even before he got there he could feel the heat radiating through the fabric of her shorts. “I know…” he said again and broke off the kiss. He looked her in the eyes, and even in the dim light he could tell her face was flushed. “I don’t need to get my rocks off,” he said softly between kisses as he slowly moved his hand onto her hot center. “But I’ll be happy to help you… if you don’t want me to… just please… tell me to stop…”

She looked up at him almost as if she struggled with the decision. Ziva swallowed carefully, shaking her head but parted her legs more. “I want you,” she said as she moved to straddle his lap comfortably. Blinking, she looked down before smiling devilishly. “I doubt your words when your body is saying something completely different John Sheppard.”

“I’m a guy… it’s harder to conceal things when we really want someone,” he said huskily. He had been more than willing to give her what she wanted by just using his fingers, and had been surprised when she crawled into his lap.

“As much as you want to please me, I want the same for you,” she explained as she let her lips hover over his, her body carefully and deliberately working his. “We both can get what we want this way…”

Oh god… Elsa… he thought and then silently cursed himself. Ziva… this is Ziva… He sighed and gently lifted her off his lap while he groaned. He loved the physical contact, but no, he wasn’t ready for that just yet. “You’ll please me if I can just touch you…” he carefully said, “I don’t know if I’m ready for that just yet…”

Ziva saw the look in his eyes and understood what the problem was. Already being beyond the point where she would be able to rest, or end up finishing herself in the bathroom, she nodded her acceptance. “Okay.”

He softly kissed her as he pushed her down onto the couch. “I would love to see the look on your face when you come.” he found a comfortable position for himself on the couch, hovering slightly above her.

There was a brief time of clarity that came to Ziva. Blinking her eyes, she looked back him. “Are you sure you want this?” she asked trying to sit up.

“Yeah, I want this.” John nodded and kissed her, “I want to make you feel good, Ziva…”

She kissed him back, cupping his face with both hands. Settling back down, she slowly stretched her leg out along the length of his body. Looking up, she breathed out slowly watching him with a smile as her dark eyes flickered in the soft lights.

John smiled and moved to kiss her again, moving his hand underneath her shirt, caressing her flat stomach before moving his hand inside her shorts, she was so wet and hot, it drove him crazy. He moved from kissing her down to her neck as he started to work her center.

Ziva’s breathing grew heavier as she laid her head back, closing her eyes. Her fingers wove their way in his unruly hair. Parting her legs more, her soft moans furthered her own encouragement of his attentions.

While he worked his fingers on her clit, he grinned evilly. “What would you do if I’d stop now?” he asked with a low voice.

“Finish myself after I broke each of your fingers,” she replied, squirming under him. “You better – oooh, not stop…”

John grinned and continued with what he was doing, quite enjoying himself too. He loved the way she squirmed underneath his touch, making funny little noises and trying to pull his face inside her body. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered in her ear.

She turned her head to nuzzle her nose at him before seeking his kisses. “I don’t understand how much I am drawn to you,” she said. “You are the one who is beautiful.”

Ziva soon began grinding herself harder against his hand with small groans. Her hands moved over his shirt, exploring what they could, feeling his muscles and strong form under the fabric wishing for his skin.

“You’re so hot…” he nibbled on her earlobe. “And so… wet… fuck Ziva…” his cock was brushing against his tight jeans and it was starting to hurt. He gently pushed a finger inside of her to help her further over the edge.

“John,” she moaned as she attempted to let herself open up to him and the sensations. Her fingers dug into his shoulders time to time as pressure slowly built inside her.

“Come for me, gorgeous,” he whispered as he started to put more pressure on her clit as he put another finger inside of her for effect.

Ziva, on any normal situation, would let make herself hold out as long as possible. However for him, she let down the walls to cross that bridge much quicker. Her hands slid down and gripped his biceps because of the position they slid into. Her head resting over the armrest of the couch as her eyes flew open to stare up in his in a daze. Her pants grew into louder moans as the muscles in her stomach rippled and spasmed.

John gently caressed her hair as her orgasm echoed through her body, she looked so beautiful as she came and he smiled down at her. “You’re so beautiful…” he said with a husky voice as he gently caressed her inner thigh over her bare legs.

As Ziva came down from her high, she smiled up at him and laughed. “So much for going slow,” she joked. “Are you sure you don’t want me to – help you?”

“Well, in a way we’re going slow,” John chuckled, “We didn’t go all the way.” he kissed her tenderly. “I’ll be fine,” he took a deep breath and thought about stupid and off-putting things, but it didn’t work with Ziva laying there for him.

Smiling she shook her head. “I do not believe you but I will drop it. I’ll just go clean myself up quickly then you may have the bathroom to yourself if you want to turn the bed down,” Ziva said patting his chest before pushing herself up reluctantly. She knew they had an early day ahead of them and it was growing later and later.

He watched as she walked towards the bathroom and got up from the couch, his hard on was extremely painful and in a way, it was a good thing, he felt he needed to be punished for liking… no something more than like, Ziva so fast in such a short period of time. It felt good, but in his head it sounded all so wrong.

John turned down the bed for Ziva, and grabbed one of the extra pillows and a blanket from the closet which he put down on the couch for himself. He needed release, and fast, and Ziva was taking her time in the bathroom.

When she came out she immediately noticed the set up. “Bathroom is yours,” she said as she moved toward the kitchenette sink for a glass of water. She watched and waited for him to leave the room carefully.

He grabbed his tracking pants and a clean t-shirt from his bag and smiled. “Thanks.” He got into the bathroom and turned on the shower and set it to extremely cold. One way or the other, he was going to help himself to get his desperate relief, but it didn’t mean he had to enjoy it.

Once John was out of the room, Ziva made her way over to the couch and shook her head. Grabbing his pillow and the linen, she brought it back over to the bed. Pulling down the other side of the blanket, she grabbed her book and settled in for maybe an hour of reading.

He was ice cold once he was finally done, and after drying himself off with the towel, he got into his pants and shirt and told himself that he was an idiot when he caught himself in the mirror.

“I’m sorry.” he said as he walked into the room and frowned at the empty couch. “Uhm… Ziva?”

“We are grown adults. There is no reason for you to have to sleep on that couch. It really is not that comfortable,” she said simply and turned the page to her book.

It was clear that the bed was more than large enough to accommodate the both of them with plenty of room to give each other space. She looked up at him and smiled. “Something wrong?”

“No…” he smiled and crawled into bed. “You were amazing.”

She looked back and laughed. “You did all the work, but thank you. I wish you would have let me help you. I doubt that shower really went the way you would have liked,” Ziva replied as she flicked some of his still wet hair off his forehead.

John shrugged and smirked. “It was cold but whatever it was, it’s out of my system now, I promise.” He softly kissed her.

“We can rest now. We have a long two days ahead of us,” Ziva replied and closed her book. Turning the bedside light out, she settled down in bed and turned to look at John. Reaching out she caressed his cheek and smiled before curling up to sleep.

“Goodnight,” he said as he looked up to the ceiling. It took him a while to warm up again and then managed to doze off easily.

~o.O.o~
It was nearly 0530 when the alarm went off the next morning. Ziva moaned and buried her head under the pillows. “Its too early,” she complained, having grown accustomed to sleeping in on her off days from work.

“Is it?” John said cheerfully. He had been awake for half an hour or so and was already dressed. “It’s a beautiful day out, Ziva, and I think that they even have fresh bread for breakfast.” He had watched her sleep while he had been getting dressed and cleaning up the little mess they had made. “I just hope they have coffee.” He smiled.

She threw the blanket off her and sat up grumpily. “Coffee?” she asked, looking around. Her eyes finding John she looked at him confused. “Why are you up already?”

“Uh… no coffee here yet. Sorry,” he apologized. “I couldn’t sleep anymore, so instead of staying in bed, I got up and got dressed. Did you sleep well?”

“You don’t snore. That is a good thing,” Ziva nodded and stretched. Scratching her head she slowly got out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom.

“No, I don’t snore, and neither do you,” he chuckled and shook his head. Ziva was not a morning person, he had to remember that. He usually wasn’t a morning person either but the excitement of going riding for two whole days in the wide open space and just forget about everything had just sparked something inside of him. He had checked if they had packed enough food and instant coffee and water for the days they were going to be out and nearly cut himself when he had opened Ziva’s bag of knives.

John was practically bouncing on his feet when Ziva exited the bathroom again. “Come on, hurry up.”

She went and got her clothes that she set out the night before and started to change. “You are worse than Abby now,” she pointed out. “Let me wake up a little before we go to the dining hall for breakfast, okay?”

He grinned, then walked up to her to kiss her tenderly. “Good morning, Ziva, now wake up.”

“Hmm,” she hummed. “That is a nice way to wake up.” Ziva pushed him back so that she could finish dressing before pulling on her boots. “Where are my knives?” she asked, glancing around.

“Do you want them back in that bag? I thought it would be wiser to spread them over the 3 remaining bags.”

She shook her head. “No, its fine. I just wanted to grab one or two to keep on myself is all,” she said. “Coffee?”

“Breakfast hall,” he grinned.

“Lead the way.”

John took her hand and they went outside while he put his sunglasses on with his other hand and walked towards the barn that had been turned into a breakfast/dining area. There were other people already having breakfast, and Ziva went straight for the coffee while John greeted the ranch owners who were having breakfast themselves.

He then followed her to the breakfast line.

Once she was set, Ziva waited at the end of the queue for John. Grabbing a table, they ate quietly as she looked at him in wonder.

“What?” he said as he took a bite off his sandwich.

“Nothing,” she smiled.

He rolled his eyes as he placed his sunglasses on the table. He took a sip of the coffee and made a face. “Oh… this is worse than the coffee at NCIS…”

Shaking her head, she continued to eat her breakfast. “Whats the itinerary for today?”

“We’re going to take out the horses, and take one of the trails toward the lake. It has a few camping sites along the trail, including a place to safely put our horses for the night without having them walk out on us.”

“Sounds good. I’m going to grab a refill of tea before we go. Do you want anything while I’m up?” she asked as she began clearing up her tray.

“Nah, I’m good,” John grinned and couldn’t help but watch how Ziva walked towards the breakfast line. Christ… what have I gotten myself in to? he thought as he finished his third sandwich.

Ziva was pouring the hot water for her tea but was distracted by the feeling that someone was watching her. She knew very well that John’s eyes had the tendency to follow her but this feeling made her uneasy. Looking around as she did in her way, she could not find the source for the feeling she had.

He put his tray away and waited for Ziva at the exit. Scanning the room, he could see the other people, mostly couples obviously, still have breakfast. Ziva had become a little fuzzy blob in the distance, but he knew she was there. He knew that Teyla was probably feeling left out, as he hadn’t taken her and Torren anywhere yet. Maybe he should take them to Disney World some time soon, although he was quite sure that it’d scare the hell out of Teyla.

She walked out, smiling at John as she got closer to him. “Ready?” she asked, glancing back briefly before turning back to him.

“Yep,” he smiled and kissed her quickly. “Are you okay?” he said as they walked back to the cabin to get their bags before meeting the stable hand at the stables.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said. “Just a weird feeling is all. Must be my mind playing tricks as I have not taken a vacation in a long while.”

“We’re in the middle of nowhere, what could possibly happen?” John laughed and opened the door to their cabin for her.

~o.O.o~
The stable hand had given them a pair of beautiful all American Quarter-horses. Ziva was sitting on top of a white with brown speckled one and John’s horse was colored beige. He loved it that the ranch had Quarter-horses as the they were strong and could last longer on the trail than frailer other breeds.

They had been riding for about an hour and they were currently looking over a small but lovely canyon. “It’s so beautiful out here.”

“It is,” Ziva agreed as she eyed the scenic views. “Sometimes it is difficult to see it for what it is knowing what we face. But to be able to get away…” she sighed. Her smile was of a sense of peace and happiness.

“No cell phones, internet, noise… just this.” He smiled widely, he had been to deserted planets, alien forests and other quiet places before, but nothing could beat this. “How’s your butt doing?” he grinned as he steered his horse back onto the path.

She chuckled. “My butt is just fine unless you would like to check it out,” she winked as she pulled her horse back to the trail that would bring them to their campsite about another hour and half away.

“You know, we could get the horses something to drink on the nearest campsite, and then continue a bit? I mean, it’s not even noon.”

“Sounds good,” she called out as she worked on going downhill on a particularly tricky slope.

There were a couple times that she had to take a second glance back because she thought that she saw something in the corner of her eye but there was never anything there. That bad feeling from the breakfast hall stayed with her still and did not know why.

John stopped his horse and looked behind him to see how Ziva was doing on the slope. “Trick is to move with your horse, remember? Not against it.”

It felt good to let his guard down, this was Earth, a non-threatening forest in Virginia and he was on horseback. It had been too long, he made a mental note of retiring to an area like this, and have his own horses once day.

“I have been riding horses far longer than you believe Colonel Sheppard,” Ziva replied. “My uncle bred Arabs in Israel. Of course trails there were more sandy than rocky.”

“Oh I believe you, I mean the way you sit on the horse is just fantastic,” he smiled. “Sexy, even.”

“I can strip down and ride the rest of the way to the campsite in just my underwear if you like,” she flirted back with a wink.

“As much as I’d love that idea…” he grinned. “The saddle and the horse’s skin will start to chafe your legs and we don’t want that!”

“No, but I liked that look on your face because you did imagine it,” she grinned and trotted ahead along the now flat trail.

“I’m a healthy guy, what can I say?” he shrugged and followed her quickly. “I could pull my shirt off though, it’s going to be hot out today.”

She made a face at him. “That is unfair,” Ziva replied. “How about I ride topless? I did not put on a bra so…”

“Oh you tease,” John said as he made the horse break out in a slow run. “Keep up the teasing and we might have to get it all out of our system al fresco at the next campsite!”

Ziva laughed and continued the ride. She wouldn’t object and would even be happy to mount the man right there on the trail. “Do not tempt me Sheppard.”

“I mean… imagine how the ground would feel on your bare skin… sand, leaves… a few twigs poking your back…” John mused. “We might actually have to ride long enough to find a camp site near a lake so we can go skinny dipping later.”

She looked back and narrowed her eyes. “This coming from the man that wanted things to go slow and would not let me dry hump him to help a – large problem.”

He laughed. “I told you, I had a problem, and I got it out of my system, be afraid.” He gently kicked the horse in the flanks to make the gallop faster.

“What should I be afraid of?” she asked as he passed by her. “Sheppard!”

~o.O.o~

Untitled-1

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.