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Ellie thought back to when they got this assignment. The moment she heard Gibbs utter the names Charlie & Luis, her heart managed to simultaneously soar and sink. She yearned to be close to Nick again, but he’d still been acting distant despite her apology for ratting on him to Jack.
So when the time came to go undercover in that club, become ‘regulars’ in a way to hopefully get in with the new king pin dealing out the latest and greatest variation of ecstasy, Ellie decided she would capitalize on the opportunity. She would give it her all, and hope that Nick gave it right back.
She declined the offer from Kasie to go digging in the ‘undercover closet’ as they liked to call it. She didn’t want to wear some old, slightly worn out, definitely already sweated in, dress. No, she’d dip into her savings and buy a show-stopper in hopes that Nick would finally take notice of her.
She arranged to meet him a block outside of the club, she needed her dress and her sultry makeup to be a surprise. The look on his face—the jaw drop, eyes bulging, quick lick of the lips—was worth it. Even if he seconds later composed himself and slipped back into character, that slip up was a huge bolster to her self-esteem. She sauntered up to him and he threw his arm around her shoulders, as he whispered in his ear and led her to the entrance of the club, “Looking good, Charlie. Shall we?” Oh, we shall, Ellie thought wickedly, knowing she was about to give it her all tonight. Give Nick a reason to wake up and smell the roses that were about to wilt from sexual frustration in front of him.
Our secret moments in a crowded room
They've got no idea about me and you
There is an indentation in the shape of you
Made your mark on me, a golden tattoo
The low, deep beat pulsed throughout the speaker system in the crowded club. A rendition of Taylor Swift’s old song, “Dress” came on and it was the perfect song for a sensual dance. Ellie, er- Charlie, pulled on Luis’ hand from where they were standing at the bar. She looked at him from under her eyelashes and wordlessly motioned for him to follow. They made it out to the dance floor and immediately were pressed together, front to front, by the mass of bodies moving to the beat. Charlie put her hand on Luis’ chest and started to move her hips in time with the music. Luis’ pupils dilated and his hand shot to her lower back, searing the skin it touched from the low cut to the dress. Their hips aligned, moved with the bass as the song wore on, Ellie knew she’d never be able to forget the indentation of his hips on hers. Of his hand dipping just a touch lower, flirting with the curve of her ass until Luis’ stopped flirting and molded his hand to a cheek and squeezed, hard. Charlie’s head flew back with a moan, the burning in her heart like a golden tattoo, etched there for eternity.
All of this silence and patience, pining in anticipation
My hands are shaking from holding back from you (ah, ah, ah)
All of this silence and patience, pining and desperately waiting
My hands are shaking from holding back from all this (ha, ha, ha, ha)
Ellie tried to remind herself that she was Charlie and Nick was Luis, that this was all for show. They needed to owner of the club to believe they were high on ecstasy. She tried and failed... Their bodies were moving as one, less than a breath of space between them, words didn’t need to be spoken. Ellie’s hands shook as the anticipation of what could happen—what she hoped would happen—after they left the club. A shiver wracked her body.
Say my name and everything just stops
“Ellie.” A whispered buzz in her ear snapped her back to the present like a bucket of cold water to the face. McGee was talking to her over her ear comms.
I don't want you like a best friend
McGee was saying something, but all Ellie could think about was Nick. His hands had just dug into her sides and his eyes darkened to an unimaginable black. Nick: her best friend, her partner, her lover.
Only bought this dress so you could take it off
Take it off (ha, ha, ha)
“Take it off. Ellie, take it off!” McGee’s voice grew more worried by the second.
Inescapable, I'm not even going to try
And if I get burned, at least we were electrified
Her brain didn’t process his warnings, no it short-circuited when Nick’s head dipped to her neck and she felt his tongue lick her pulse. His hands were gripping her hips until one travelled up the length of her body and tangled in her hair at the nape of her neck and gently tugged. His tongue left a cold trail as it ascended to her ear, when he managed to nibble on her earlobe. And then, the tip of his tongue dipped into her ear and she saw black.
I'm spilling wine in the bathtub, you kiss my face and we're both drunk
Everyone thinks that they know us, but they know nothing about
Ellie didn’t have to pretend she was high anymore, no she was drunk on Nick’s touches. If she’d been more aware, she’d have realized Nick had actually managed to deftly remove her ear comm with that little move of his. But she was too focused on the feeling of being love drunk and consciously resisting the urge to kiss his face.
She knew the world around them thought they were Charlie and Luis, a couple just enjoying themselves a little too much out on the dance floor. They knew nothing about the true undertones of this relationship.
All of this silence and patience, pining in anticipation
My hands are shaking from holding back from you (ah, ah, ah)
All of this silence and patience, pining and desperately waiting
My hands are shaking from holding back from all this (ha, ha, ha, ha)
Her body trembled at the thought of finally giving in to temptation. She’d been patient, waiting for the right moment. Desperation had built up until she couldn’t take it any more. She hoped Nick didn’t notice the slight shake to her hands as she gripped his shirt and pulled him even closer, as if that were possible.
Say my name and everything just stops
Nick bent closer to Ellie’s ear and whispered, “Charlie.”
Her world stopped and tilted on axis. The truth came rushing back to her, they were still Charlie and Luis, not Ellie and Nick. She needed to focus.
Only bought this dress so you could take it off, take it off (ha, ha, ha, ha)
Only bought this dress so you could take it off
How could she focus though when his hands continued to slide along her body and this skin-tight little black dress she bought just for him? Just for him to take off, she thought truthfully.
“Charlie, I think we need to take this somewhere else,” her heart stopped, “we’re on the same team, if you catch my drift,” he said with a wink.
Flashback when you met me
Your buzzcut and my hair bleached
Even in my worst times, you could see the best of me
She immediately caught the reference to when she first met Nick, his hair short under a ball cap with a wild look in his eye and her hair bleach blonde from a vacation in the Caribbean to unplug. She recalled they found Nick after he’d been made. Oh shit, they’d been made. She cringed inwardly, she’d probably gotten so lost in her daydream she screwed up and blown their cover.
Apparently her thoughts were written across her face as Nick bent down once again and spoke softly in her ear, reassuring her, “It’s not you, babe. It’s never you.”
Flashback to my mistakes
My rebounds, my earthquakes
Even in my worst light, you saw the truth of me
The deeper meaning to his words were not lost on her. She came with baggage, lots of it. She’d rebounded from Jake to Qasim to Boyd. She’d brushed with death so many times it felt like an earthquake that just didn’t stop. Even when she accused him of murder, he didn’t completely shut her out. He saw her truth deep down.
And I woke up just in time
Now I wake up by your side
My one and only, my lifeline
I woke up just in time
Now I wake up by your side
My hands are shaking, and I can't explain this (ha, ha, ha, ha)
“Charlie, we need to get out of here, now.” Nick pushed. She didn’t want this dream to end, but the urgency in his tone woke her up. Quickly she followed him to the dark recesses of the club, out to a back alley where their getaway car was waiting. They’d go off the grid, but this time they cleared it with Gibbs and Vance ahead of time as a fail-safe.
Nick sped off to their safe house, away from the city lights, and the adrenaline high Ellie was on came crashing down. Her hands shook slightly, and she balled them into fists in her lap to try and stop it. She might have been late to the party about realizing her feelings for Nick, but damn it, she was awake now. They were alive and well, and if she was being truthful, he was her lifeline. Her one and only. She had to tell him, but at the same time she was terrified to.
Nick cast a wary glance over at her, “You could talk about it, you know?” She shot him a questioning look. “Whatever’s on your mind...you could tell me about it.”
Her eyes darted to his side of the car and back to her fists, “I- I can’t explain this.” She wanted to so badly, but she didn’t know how to put into words what she was feeling. Sadly, the song still pounding in her head despite being long gone from the club was doing a much better job of explaining her feelings than she was.
Say my name and everything just stops
“Ellie.”
Nick’s roughened voice, like it was thick with emotion, and the use of her real name stopped her every movement. She couldn’t even breathe.
I don't want you like a best friend
He didn’t expand on it, just left the charged air between them hanging in silence. His hand that had been resting on the gear shift fell to her thigh and any remaining brain cells she had left melted away.
She stammered out all she could think of, “Nick, I- I don’t want you like a best friend.” His hand gave a gentle squeeze, “I-, I can’t anymore.”
Only bought this dress so you could take it off, take it off (ha, ha, ha, ha)
He replied without looking but his hand strayed closer to the hem of her dress, “I know. I can’t either.”
“Nick, I—”
He slowed to a stop in front of their safe house smack dab in the middle of nowhere. Turning his upper body towards her and sliding his eyes to lock with hers, he placed the car in park. His fingers played with the hem of her dress.
“I bought this dress for you—“ her words cut off as his fingers delved underneath the hem and started to skim her upper thigh. It was a struggle to think, let alone talk, “I-, I-, I bought it so you could take it off.” His fingertips now danced along the edge of her lace Charlie-esque undies.
Carve your name into my bedpost
'Cause I don't want you like a best friend
Only bought this dress so you could take it off, take it off (ha, ha, ha, ha)
He growled. A legitimate growl escaped from his lips seconds before he practically pounced on her from the driver’s side of the car. It was passionate, it was sinful, it was needy. It was everything she ever wanted. He could practically carve his name across her bedpost, all four, after this.
He pulled away, less than inch from her face, chest heaving and grounded out, “Don’t move.” She barely heard it, but she complied.
He was out the car and around to her side in seconds. He pulled open the door and plucked her out of the car effortlessly. Throwing her over his shoulder with a quick smack to her ass, he was already practically inside the house before she knew what was happening. Roughly he deposited her on the four post bed, and just stepped back. The way his eyes drank her in about did her in.
She opened her mouth to speak, but he placed a finger to his lips. He painstakingly slowly made his way over to her and held out a hand. Taking it, she was lifted from the bed to stand on shaky knees. Keeping his one hand in hers, he brought the other up to her chest. Stopping at the full length zipper right at her cleavage. Slow and calculated, he pulled that zipper down inch by inch, dragging his fingertips down her skin leaving a trail of burning desire until the dress pooled by her feet and she was left in heels and her lace get-up.
If she thought Nick’s pupils were dilated previously, boy was she wrong. His eyes went jet black yet she saw the fire in them. She didn’t have words for what happened next.
There is an indentation
In the shape of you
Only bought this dress so you could take it off
Sleepily drawing circles across Nick’s chest, Ellie let out a sigh. She fit perfectly in the crook of his arm, like there was an indentation in her body just for him and his shape. She thought happily, buying that dress was the best decision I’ve ever made.
“I can see those wheels turning, what are you thinking, babe?” Nick wondered aloud as his nails followed the contours of her spine.
You made your mark on me, golden tattoo
Only bought this dress so you could take it off
She let out a brief chuckle, “Just that I’m so glad I bought that dress.”
His tone got serious, “Ellie, you know it wasn’t just the dress. This wasn’t just tonight, I promise you.”
Her heart soared, she had hoped, but to hear him say it... She knew this night would leave a mark on her very soul, she just didn’t know what kind. She knew now—it was a tattoo, inked in golden, like the color of love.