It harkened back to the primal; the natural order of things.

Nighttime was undoubtedly magical. The energy and bustle of L.A. combined with the charged air of electricity that arced between the two, often without trying, was always a perfect and potent permutation for satisfaction.

But morning was his absolute favorite time with her.

Those moments when they were both unguarded, not having yet donned the “armor” required to navigate their professional (and even personal) worlds. When, neither had engaged their minds to occupy anything outside of the expanse of space each inhabited with the other; to do nothing other than just…feel. It was almost as if the period – that stolen amount of time, be it five minutes or fifty – was an extension of the moments when the world narrowed down to just the two of them.

And all he could think, feel, almost even breathe was her.

Like now.

Especially like this.

With the soft patter of rain as a soundtrack, and the backdrop of darkened skies filtering just enough natural light into the room Jack absently perused the day’s paper all the while engrossed in thoughts of the woman who lay sated and spent in the other room, sprawled atop his bed. After nearly seven months of bi-coastal jaunts (the majority of them made by Sabrina) the couple was finally returning to their comfortable rhythm of old, Jack reflected. Reclined on the sectional, he smoothly eased his hand from the pocket of his pajama bottoms at the sound of her soft footfalls.

Jack could barely suppress his soft chuckle as the newspaper pages strewn across his lap levitated ever so slightly as the thin fabric of his sleepwear strained to harness a burgeoning erection that bordered on painful. Damn. There was morning wood then there was this, he reasoned.

Then again, Sabrina had that effect on him.

Always.

“Come back to bed, Babe.”

Poised in the doorway of his bedroom, even with tousled hair, stifling a yawn, and her voice thick with sleep, Sabrina still made a most enticing vision to Jack. His hungry gaze journeyed the length of her milk chocolate thighs, down the expanse of her seemingly endless legs, then back up again.

Subsequently, a possessive growl began to build in the back of his throat as he noted the hem of the cotton garment that usually served as his pajama top just barely fell past the triangle of curls his fingers never tired of trailing among; how the edge skimmed the bottom of her shapely behind and teasingly hinted at the supple globes he’d palmed, caressed, and nipped hours earlier.

“I don’t know a damn thing about fashion,” Jack admitted. Giving an appreciative nod, he continued to drink in the sight of her clad in his old, worn gray t-shirt. “But that is one look that is most definitely a fashion do.” A swift brush of his hand sent the newspaper pages fluttering to the floor.

“Oh, really, Bauer?” she queried. Kneeling at the far end of the sectional, she gave a lazy smile as she began a slow crawl towards him. “And why is that?”

“’Cause it makes me wanna do things to you, Babe,” he grinned.

The only thing missing from the perplexed look adorning Sabrina’s visage as she came to a complete stop was the sound of crickets chirping.

“Do things, Bri,” he repeated. “As in ‘do’…you?” he prompted. An attempt to wriggle his brows in a Groucho Marx-esque fashion only resulted in an exaggerated arch of a lone brow. “Get it?”

It was that act, which Sabrina found so eerily reminiscent of her brother Stefan’s trademark imperious stare that finally elicited her laughter. “You know what?” Sabrina cracked as Jack drew her to him, “don’t give up espionage for comedy, okay?”

As she twisted about to burrow her body within the furniture’s soft cushions, all the while nestling closer to Jack’s, Sabrina gave a small yelp as her hip connected with something hard enough yet way too small to possibly be Jack’s dick; and if by some cruel twist of fate it was, the beautiful surgeon reasoned she was going to have to become incredibly creative when it came to their future sex life.

Unsure of whether to be aroused or aghast, a determined Sabrina was about to ease her hand inside Jack’s pajama bottoms and investigate when a noticeable bulge near the pants’ pocket caught her attention and diverted her curious hand in its direction.

What she discovered rendered her speechless.