Title: Fire Down Below
Words: 4137
Pairing: Booth/Brennan
Spoilers: Based in 5x10 the Goop in the Girl
Rating: T
Thanks to: My wonderful and patient beta reader Seeleybaby, who did an amazing work in this story not only grammar related but also supported me in writing this. You are the best!
Disclaimer: It was written during Christmas season but it was only finished now, it's a late Christmas story for our favorite partners but I hope it's worth reading. I also hope everyone who reads it enjoy and leave a review.
If she now found herself in front of the mirror feeling uncertain, the person to blame was her own father. Who else could lead her once obstinate resolve into a willing acceptance with his pleas? Her mind immediately formed the image of her partner, and in that moment she couldn't ignore the fact that both men were more alike than they gave themselves credit for.
She looked at herself in the mirror for the final time; her twin image showed curled hair falling over her shoulders and perfectly applied make up. At the risk of objectifying herself, she smiled at her reflection in approval.
The door bell rang, and in spite of herself, her stomach contracted with a nervous feeling. She took a long breath and walked slowly to the door. Her hand reached for the door handle and she was soon greeted by the content faces of her friends and family. Smiling back at them and feeling more at ease, she welcomed them inside the warmth of her apartment.
She caught him in the group before he had the chance to do the same as the others moved past her.
He was at the end of the line, tall and dressed in a dark scheme of clothes. It was not often that she saw him with casual clothes, but when it occurred she always took the time to appreciate it. His shirt clung to his form in a fitting embrace and, as her eyes traveled downwards, a myriad of un-partner like thoughts assaulted her.
Her mind replayed the images of her hands undressing him, removing each piece and leaving him nearly naked. The sight of him standing and her kneeled in front of him would forever be burnt in her mind and assault her nights.
Those thoughts dared her to blush and turn her head away, but his presence, so intense and demanding, seemed to claim her attention.
Abruptly interrupting the conversation with the entomologist at his side, his eyes locked with hers, and for a moment, it was just the two of them motionless at each side of the threshold.
His eyes traveled from her head to her toes and then back again, his gaze lingering on the soft locks that framed her face. His hands twitched to entwine his fingers in them, especially because she rarely wore her hair like that.
He shook his head as their eyes met; the sheer blue that looked straight at him appeared to be reading the immensity of devious thoughts running feral through his head.
A blush radiated on his cheeks, he simply extended his occupied hands and, of her own accord, hers encountered his and took the bottle of red wine from him. She didn't have to look down to know that it was an original kind of one of her favorites.
They both moved from the door and saw the observant eyes of her guests exchanging glances, only adding to the already awkward atmosphere between them.
With a somewhat tense smile she took the bottle with her to the kitchen and busied herself with the last preparations of the meal.
From the kitchen she could hear the laughter that filled her living room and an immeasurable warmth invaded her, a feeling that still wasn't as big as the one that followed when she lifted her head and saw her partner at the kitchen entrance staring fixedly at her.
She smiled and he smiled as well, his hands in his pockets, as he moved in her direction like a smooth predator. He approached her from behind and she gasped at their close proximity. His broad chest was against her back and slightly pushed her frame against the counter. A rush of adrenaline traveled her body and erupted in her throat in the form of a choked moan.
While her brain was busy battling against that exacerbated body reaction, from the corner of her eye, she saw his hand traveling forward, close to her body.
Her frame tensed at the brief contact but then relaxed as soon at his hand entered the small roasted potatoes bowl she held, took one and popped it into his mouth unceremoniously. He softly groaned in what she could only register as pleasant approval.
Pride rolled in waves within her, and she almost missed him reaching for more. Already trained in his sneak abilities, she slapped his hand away, not as gently as she first intended, but it served him right.
He retrieved his hand and rubbed it. "Ouch, Bones, what was that for?"
She simply laughed at his immature behavior and waved him from the kitchen.
Throughout the evening they laughed, ate and drank. The atmosphere was warm and even though they were all the same people, it still felt different than the normally sterile lab where they spent most of their time. Sounds of cutlery, clinking glasses and bubbling laughter rose in the air.
After dinner they gathered around her living room for the presents, everyone was smiling excitedly, and even she felt the appealing of what was to come.
A pile of neatly wrapped presents started to grow in her lap as time passed, and when her hand started pushing one of the golden strings in the one at the top, her gaze caught at the sight of her partner, tearing apart his wrapping paper as he sat cross-legged on the floor in front of her. On his face was the most childlike and content smile she had ever witnessed in him. Her own lips turned into a smile, and that sight alone made her glad for inviting him to spend the day with her.
She turned to her own gifts and opened them.
For last there was a small one from her best friend. Carefully, she opened the package and retrieved the small item from inside. The inscription in the side read 'Fire down below' and she chuckled. She hugged the artist in gratitude and received the whispered advice to wear it right away.
Not wanting to upset her friend she excused herself from the living room and walked to the nearby mirror in the corridor.
Opening the lid of the object she gasped at the sheer color of it but let the smooth surface dance across her lips at her will, leaving a trace of deep crimson behind. Her lips pressed together to accommodate the new color and a smile blossomed from them.
It was way into the night when everyone started to feel the side effects of wine and well cooked food. The mood had relaxed into long, comfortable silences. One after another they all left, but only her partner stood behind walking them to the door.
When he finally closed the door on the last one of her guests, he looked around and immediately missed her presence.
He walked to the kitchen and found her sitting by the table nursing a glass of the wine he had offered her. For the second time in that night he simply leaned against the entry and admired her unaware state.
After everyone had left she felt the tiredness of the day wash over her, and she sought solace in the quiet of her kitchen. She knew he had stayed behind because of either of chivalry or a pure desire to spend time alone with her. Either way she almost hoped he hadn't.
In the meantime she had poured half a glass of the amazing wine she received. The taste was rich, but spicy in flavor, just as she liked, and it didn't amaze her that he knew exactly her tastes. It ran smoothly in her mouth, and for a moment she wondered if he would like to taste it as well.
The single thought of her partner unleashed a wave of emotions she didn't know how to deal with, but the only certainty she had was that they were strong and becoming quite difficult to ignore each passing day.
Sighing, she turned her head and spotted him in the same place he had been before, only now the look in his face was less tender, more concerned.
In a déjà vu she watched him approach the opposite side of the table and rest both hands on its smooth surface; his body inclined closer and her instinctive reaction was to lean forward into him as well.
"What's wrong?" He asked softly and his breath fanned across her cheeks.
She shivered slightly, and her mind screamed to either get up or push him away, his close proximity was starting to cloud her judgment. At the moment she didn't felt quite confident of herself but her body told otherwise, it craved for him with a voracity she hadn't felt before in her life.
Her eyes were locked with his and there was silence in the air with only their breathing marking the tempo.
"It's that…" She begun as his eyes stared unwavering at her, waiting. "Never mind."
"You can tell me, trust me." His voice was soft and pleasing to her ears as he once again asked about her torments.
But that kindness only served to feed her already unsettled state and soon an irrational irritation flooded inside of her.
"Really?" She asked with a faint hint of sarcasm. "Sometimes I doubt that I can…"
His eyes widened at her harsh come back and he was shocked at the rapid change in her behavior.
"Where did that come from, Bones? If you can't trust your partner, then whom can you trust?" He asked sincerely hoping to tame the irritation flaring in her eyes.
"It's not that I don't trust you, it's that sometimes you make this too hard for me." She shook her head and dropped her eyes from his, busying herself by swirling the wine glass around.
"In what sense?" His heart was becoming heavy with her doubts as he tried to keep is voice firm and understand the meaning behind her reasons.
"Even if I knew what was afflicting me, I'm not the master at interpreting emotions in here."
He laughed shortly about the irony of their conversation; it figured that if she had any problem in the emotional department it would be quickly dismissed by her pretended inability to understand.
"Well, I guess that now the ball is in my court, right?"
Her face contorted in a quizzical expression which was enough to make her look at him again.
"I don't understand what you just said but I distinctly remember not throwing you any ball whatsoever."
"It's an expression, Bones." He said between honest laughter. "It means that it's my time to move, to make the tough call. In order to do that you'll have to help me understand."
Her eyes rolled involuntarily at his patient comment which made her head start to throb with an incoming migraine. She knew that him staying behind would not lead to a good conclusion for certain and, even though she liked his company, he was being quite persistent in that moment, pushing her out of comfort. And if he could play that game, so could she.
"And precisely how will I do that? I'm getting quite annoyed in this endless back and forth dialogue which will lead us nowhere." She said as a matter of fact and whispered the next words under her breath. "As usual…"
If the last comment was not meant to be heard by him, she failed miserably at it. His trained hearing sense picked her words right away.
"Hold it right there!" He raised his voice already feeling angry at her constant arrogant answers. "There's no need to get so aggressive, I'm just trying to figure out what's wrong with you."
"Are you, Booth?" She questioned with an equally raised voice but calmed down under his intensive stare. "As I said, I'm not the most qualified person in this field, but I think that you should figure out what's wrong with you and maybe then you'll understand what's wrong with me."
"What's wrong with me?" His nostrils flared, and she could see his hands close into fists on the table. "There's nothing wrong with me, Temperance. I'm not the one who was feeling all sad and gloomy in a dark corner of the kitchen."
As soon as the malicious comment jumped out of his mouth in waves of exasperation he regretted it, but watching her back go stiff and her shoulders roll back gave him a thrill that could only be compared to the feeling her defiant stare was having on him right now.
"I'm neither sad nor gloomy, why should I be? I enjoyed the evening quite well, thank you very much." She provided in a calm and somewhat emotionless voice.
He laughed then, that action containing hints of sarcasm he knew she would never grasp. Her actions were driving him to the edge and he was about to jump out of his comfort zone for her, to try to understand her.
"That's precisely the problem, you enjoyed the evening, it was new and you had the opportunity to relax and have fun but still, you're feeling something inside that you can't comprehend and it hurts… right here." His index finger came up and against all norms of personal space it rested above her breast where her heart lies.
She looked at the finger for a long while and it should have bothered her but the fact that he finally crossed the space between them and made contact with her was enough for her to calm down and stand up. They were both at the same eye level when she finally spoke again.
"Of course it hurts," She spoke softly. "But I'm not you, Booth. I'm trying as hard as I can to see through them, to find their significance and you're just making it worse. You should have never asked me anything; you're no help at all right now." The words weighed in her chest and it made it almost unbearable to breathe. She watched his face twist into a painful expression as he took in her sincere speech.
"Now we're finally getting somewhere, Temperance." Deep inside he doubted he had ever spoken to her in such a cold manner. It seemed that even though her words were spoken from the heart they cut through him as if they were meant to hurt deeply. He was rapidly losing his patience with the woman in front of him and diving further into uncharted waters, pushing both out of their safety range.
He crossed the table and she followed his movement with her eyes, her body turned around until her back was against the table and he was right in front of her, daring her to stay in place.
"You may not see it," He spoke again. "But you recognize those feelings and you do comprehend them, even if your rational mind denies it. That's the true problem right?"
"I… I mean… That's not it…" She stuttered without a coherent line of argument to deny him and immediately knew he had check mated her. That was what she admired most in him, his capacity of human reasoning, but when it was turned against her she felt lost and distraught.
He smiled in victory knowing that his special title was not given in vain. He had sewn a fine thread of reasoning she was so found of, only to have her wrapped in it by the end.
"See? Even at this moment that struggle is visible in plain sight. A side of you wants to give in to those feelings but the other side is acting like a barrier, a filter to protect you from all the possible hurt that those emotions could cause you, not allowing you to see the viable good side that they can also bring."
She knew she was caught and needed to free herself at any rate, her survival instincts were undeniably strong and the only way to fight him was to make him doubt himself and maybe he would quit his tirades before she admitted the truth in them.
"That's a pretty bold assessment, Booth." She smiled slyly at him. "You think you know me that well to conjecture so freely like this?"
He felt that this argument could go on forever if they had too, like a battle when he would have her down to the ground just to see her strike back at him. It was a beautiful sight to see if they were not the ones currently caught in the dispute that would either drive them apart forever or bring them closer than before.
He smiled serenely and shook his head at her attempt to drive him away, but it only made him want to pursue her even more, to break through those walls around her and have a taste of all the greatness she had locked inside.
"Far too well. I'm the only one that you ever gave the opportunity to let yourself be known, am I right?"
Her eyes widened in surprise, her lips moved but nothing came out of them. He smiled more brightly than before at her complete lack of words and grasped that opportunity to take one more step towards her and speak again.
"I'm also the only one that stays beside you through the bad and good in your life. The only one that has the key to either lift you up or drag you down."
Her breathing caught in her throat and her heart raced with his close proximity. Blue eyes dropped down and measured the distance between their hips, they weren't very far apart and she swallowed quite loudly trying to compose herself and track her mind back to their argument.
"Given our current situation of working together as partners for quite some time now, it makes perfect sense that you're the person that knows me the most, there's nothing astounding in that".
He laughed at yet another attempt on her part and fell silent for a moment just to appreciate the vision in front of him. Her head was dropped down but he still could see a blush in her cheeks that seemed to get worse once he crossed the final step that separated them and glued her body to him. Her shaken intake of breath was the last sign he needed to sooth his own doubts, throw five years of caution into the wind and hope for something greater.
The moment he held her chin with his fingers and brought her to face him he saw the defeat in her eyes as well as an unspoken desire that had been hidden behind closed walls.
The fiery contrast of her lips caught his attention and they seemed to beg to be tasted, his hunger for her could no longer be denied and his next action would define their future.
"What you don't know though, is that I know that you'll feel the same thing that I do for you, when I do this."
His lips reached for hers and even though at first she flinched out of the fear of the unknown, the battle of senses was rapidly owned by her fervent desire for him and finally crossed the final gap.
In the moment their lips touched it was everything her mind had produced and so much more. It was real. No longer a dream or a distant memory, this reality had taste, scent, sound and touch. Only her closed eyes to the world could deny the final sensation. She was sure that if she opened her eyes in that exact moment she would be greeted by his own closed ones, his entire being would be committed to her.
The pleasurable feeling that ran from the place they were connected and through the rest of her body was enough for her hands to wrap around the lapels of his shirt and push him deeply into the kiss.
He suddenly crushed against her body and his arms held her tightly against him while his hands took a life of their own and roamed all over her curves, feeling the places he had only felt in dreams before. She was warm and soft under his hands and her body molded perfectly against his hard one making a shiver run up his spine.
Without restrain, he pressed her body against the table, his hips colliding with her in such a delicious friction that her knees faltered. When her hands searched for stability on the table they collided with the utensils in it.
A bowl turned sideways and its content, freshly cleaned strawberries, fell to the ground in a cascade of red.
Later she would reprimand herself for such careless behavior, but there's no fruit that could compare to the taste she was experiencing now.
Despite the loud sound that filled the kitchen, loud enough to break them apart, both clung to each other as if life depended upon their physical contact and tried to forget that the world existed beyond their racing hearts.
He held her up and set her at the table, rapidly setting himself between her legs which wrapped compulsively around his hips. The friction between their bodies was becoming unbearable and still not enough as their desire threatened to burn them to a cinder.
She lost herself in him, already feeling too tired to fight him back if she wanted, and gave in to the delicious licking at her bottom lip. She gladly welcomed him inside and in turn received an overload of senses that made her want more. He tasted of coffee and the red wine they had toasted with earlier, and it felt delicious against her mouth, addictive and exhilarating.
His mouth descended onto her neck and she couldn't help herself from leaning her head backwards and enjoying the attention he was bestowing upon her. He bit, kissed and licked until she was so lost in pleasure that her moans were loud enough to echo in the room.
There was a distant sound that resembled a knock on the door but amongst the cloudy mist where her thoughts had immersed, she barely noticed. She felt him mumble something incoherent against her neck in between kisses and small bites but her hands wrapped tightly against his hair bringing him as close to her as humanly possible and begging for more of that piece of heaven she was experiencing.
She acknowledged that whoever was at the door was quite persistent because the sound hadn't stopped yet and she was becoming quite irritated with the interruption.
He removed himself from her tight grasp with a smile that couldn't be erased and marched toward the door and the offending person whose timing whose timing could never be described as perfect.
Panting hard and throbbing all over she stood at the table, her eyes were still closed and her tongue darted out to lick her burning lips that missed his already.
He opened the door and was assaulted by the dark haired artist who spoke as fast as her lips could move and entered the apartment in full speed. She grabbed her purse which had been forgotten in the couch and in her way out she finally looked at the agent and stopped immediately.
"That lipstick color looks great on you, Booth!" The bright smile on her face erupted into a rich laughter at the sight of him.
The man felt heat blossom in his face which only bought more fits of laughter from the artist.
"I'm glad you're giving a good use to my present, Bren." She said loud enough for the comment to reach the kitchen and walked out of the door, leaving a very mortified agent behind with a blush in his cheeks, hair in a mess and lips holding the majority of her lipstick.
He closed the door and turned towards the kitchen, finding her peeking at him from around the corner, biting her natural red kissed lips in embarrassment. She looked positively divine with a teasing smile.
Never before had she thought that a man would look so pleasant with such a feminine accessory, but when it came to her partner, it seemed that the normal conventions didn't apply and it filled her with pride that he had been branded by her.
He walked in her direction with a voracious hunger plastered in his eyes and halted her teasing smile with his lips. In that moment she felt glad he had stayed, that they made each other angry enough to stop their endless dance which led them to unwrap the truth in their hearts.
If there were any doubts left inside of them, they were simply forgotten as he led both of them farther into the apartment and let the emotions warm them as the snow fell continuously outside.
Thank you so much for reading!