The Soldier and The Spy: Tess Danvers- Episode 4

Chapter 3

Eight Years Ago

Tess couldn't decide if she was tired or wired.

It'd been almost eighteen hours since she'd last slept, she always tried to on the plane but for some reason she could never quite doze all the way off, but after their debrief she hadn't wanted to stay at Langley any longer than she had to. She'd wanted to get here, get home, get to Jay.

And she was so fucking close.

She didn't come to his precinct often, they tried to keep their work lives as separate from their personal as they could but after almost five months apart she hadn't been able to wait. And clearly she'd been here enough because one of his patrol buddies recognized her as she was walking up and after a brief explanation and a few batted eyelashes at their Sergeant the two had been eager and willing, respectively, to help her out; Jay was off any moment, he'd picked up a graveyard shift last night on top of his eight-hour before that so he was likely just as run down as she was, which hopefully wouldn't put too much of a damper on the surprise. His friend, Peterson, went to find him with the excuse that their Desk Sergeant needed to speak with him and she was now straining her ears trying to hear him coming, keeping her back to the desk so he wouldn't spot her right away. Hopefully. Even after six years the strength of his sense of her still surprised her.

But considering she could recognize him by just his footsteps maybe it shouldn't.

It felt like torture to keep her back to him, though a far more pleasurable kind than she usually experienced, and it took all her willpower to stop from fidgeting, something that would surely draw his attention. But then she heard his voice and all that went out the window, the desperate need to see him overwhelming the desire for surprise.

Goodness he was handsome.

Tess had thought he looked good in Army green, and damn did he, but he pulled off his patrol uniform just as well.

"Sarge, I might be wrong about this, but I'm pretty sure it's illegal to make someone work over twenty-four hours."

"Good luck arresting him." Peterson mumbled, shooting her a wink when Jay shook his head.

He hadn't noticed her yet, too busy focused on his Sergeant, and though she could see the tiredness in his body he was already pushing it away, straightening his back as he addressed his superior- whether a cop or a Ranger Jay was a soldier through and through.

Always ready and willing to throw himself into the line of fire.

"Funny." Their Sergeant replied, in a tone that implied he did not, in fact, find it funny. "A civilian came in to file a complaint."

"A complaint about what?"

"You look too damn sexy in that uniform."

Jay whirled around so fast he almost did a 360 and she only got the briefest glimpse of his face breaking out into that big, dopey grin before he was rushing over and lifting her up, much to the delight of Peterson and the other officers present who started clapping and whistling. Their applause went wild when he then dipped her low and took her mouth, so deeply the room was still spinning a full minute later when he brought her back up.

"Halstead. This is still a police station."

"Yes sir."

At least he panted just as hard as her, though he didn't seem the least bit chagrined as he nodded to his Sergeant. The man stared hard at both of them but she swore his lips twitched with a smile before he covered it with a scowl and waved them off, Peterson giving her a wink and Jay a little two finger salute before he turned to quiet down the other patrolmen, which was just telling them to shut up and get back to work. Not that she paid them much attention, not when there were gentle fingers brushing her hair out of her face and trailing over her hip, soft, subconscious little caresses that zapped away any trace of her own exhaustion.