Disclaimer – Not Mine.
A/N – I have a habit of starting new stories when I get stuck on other ones. This is a prime example. Just a little fluff piece that I started a long time ago that I rediscovered and tooled around with. It's a three parter. Unbeta'd - any mistakes are mine. Hope you enjoy. Happy Good Friday.
Hotch frowned as he wondered what had become of his date. It had been over an hour since he'd last seen her, which undoubtedly meant she would probably bitch the whole way home even though coming to this party had been her idea. He had planned on begging off until she'd seen the invitation and proclaimed that it would be good to get out and celebrate with his team. He was pretty sure it had a lot to do with the fact that Rossi was the one throwing the party and as usual his 'events' were known to be both elaborate and more than a little wild. He sighed as he walked past the sliding glass doors wondering once more what the hell he was doing.
He was almost past them when he caught movement out the corner of his eye. Frowning he wondered why JJ was standing outside in the cool evening air. He couldn't help but appreciate the view she presented. Moving on impulse he quickly stepped through the door and made his way over to her. She had her back to him and hadn't heard his approach. As usual, just the sight of her had his pulse kicking up, and on some unknown impulse he decided to say screw it and throw caution to the wind. He could figure out his future later.
"Nice night."
"Jeez, Hotch." Startled, JJ placed a hand against her racing heart.
He moved close to where she stood. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you. What are you doing out here all by yourself?"
She wasn't sure what made her leave the festivities. She was restless and not in the mood for a party. She sighed. "I don't know, I just wanted some peace and quiet." She glanced up at the full moon. "It's really beautiful out here."
He didn't' take his eyes off her. "Yes, it is."
JJ glanced over at him then asked a bit incredulous, "Are you flirting with me?"
He lifted a shoulder. "I'm just stating an indisputable truth. You are really beautiful."
JJ blinked and unconsciously leaned forward. "I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be saying that to me."
"I don't mean to make you uncomfortable." He inched closer.
JJ's eyes widened sensing what was going to happen, "What are you doing, Hotch?"
"Something I've thought about and wanted to do for years." He didn't give her an opportunity to question his comment as he gathered her close and fused his mouth to hers.
Hotch knew the moment he touched her he'd made a huge miscalculation. Touching her would end up being his downfall. Staying away hadn't been easy in the past and he just made it a thousand times more difficult. Maybe he could blame it on the alcohol he consumed earlier in the evening. Maybe he could claim a touch of insanity. God knew she'd been slowly driving him crazy for years. All he knew for certain was he couldn't help himself, nor did he want to as her involuntary gasp allowed his tongue to invade her mouth. Then he was truly lost. Any thought of trying to apologize or come up with a lame excuse for his actions was abandoned as he completely devoted himself to her mouth. To hell with the consequences. For the first time in years he was truly living.
JJ knew that she should be pushing him away but she couldn't resist him as he gathered her closer still, fitting her body tightly to his. She sighed at the exquisite feeling of being pressed against him. When his tongue swept into her mouth she forgot about even thinking of resisting and wound her arms around his neck, her fingers sliding through his hair at the nape of his neck. Jesus, who knew the man could kiss like this?
Hotch groaned as he felt the shift in her response from being taken by surprise to actual participation in the kiss. He felt his body go stiff as her hand slid down his back and over his ass. It was his turn to gasp as she boldly squeezed his butt cheek. Her action emboldened him to let his hands do a little wandering themselves as his mouth continue to nip and plunder hers.
"Jayje?" They both froze as the voice floated out to them on the terrace. "Hey Jayje, where'd you go, girlfriend?" Hotch maneuvered them into the shadows as Penelope Garcia continued to search for her friend. They stood frozen as the threat finally disappeared.
JJ stared wide eyed at the man she'd secretly fantasized over for years. "Um, Hotch?" She looked down pointedly at the large hand that was splayed across her breast.
Hotch looked down at her through glazed eyes. "Oh, sorry." The apology was automatic. He was anything but. He moved his hand slightly causing the nipple to pucker and his gaze snapped back to the woman he still held. "Aw, hell." Fascinated by the response his thumb brushed the distended appendage again as he watched the evident desire flare in JJ's eyes.
"Wh-what are you doing?" She questioned as he rolled the sensitive tip under his fingers.
"Living out my fantasy." His hand moved quickly under the shirt she wore, then slid under her bra and he was suddenly cupping her bare breast. "Je-sus." He wasn't sure when he reverted to a teenage boy but he was pretty sure that he was about to embarrass himself.
"I – oh God." She broke off as he caressed her breast, completely enthralled in the response her body was giving him. "Aaron." She used his name to try to get his attention. She got more than she bargained for as he pulled her to him once more his mouth demanding, his hands molding her body. She couldn't believe the liberties she was allowing him. All she knew was that she didn't want it or him to stop.
They were lost in a tangle of limbs when a new voice carried up to them on the wind. "I haven't seen Aaron all night either." They both froze once more at the voice from the patio below.
"Maybe he and JJ slipped off together." Pen snorted, then obviously thinking better about the remark she quickly added. "You know, just to talk about work and stuff."
"I certainly wouldn't expect them to be doing anything else." Beth commented wryly.
"Yeah, we're talking about Hotch. Not Rossi." Derek Morgan laughed.
"Hey what are you guys doing out here?" Emily Prentiss could be heard asking.
"We're wondering where Hotch and JJ got to have you seen either of them?" Morgan questioned.
"Ooh, maybe they finally gave in to all those pent up desires and they are off balling each other's brains…." Her voice suddenly trailed off. "Oh hey, Beth, I uh, didn't see you there."
"Obviously."
"I was just kidding." She gave a fake little laugh. "I mean JJ and Hotch? Pffft. That would so never happen. Wow. Does anyone else need a refill?" She finished lamely.
"I don't know what I'm thinking, I'll just call his cell." Beth announced, her voice fading as she most likely moved back in to the house.
"Oh, hey, that's a good idea." Pen praised, trailing after her, shooting both her friends a look.
"Hey thanks for the heads up, asshole." Emily could be heard growling at Morgan.
"I couldn't have stopped you even if I wanted to. I wish I'd had a camera when you noticed Beth." He chuckled. "It was almost as funny as the idea of Hotch and JJ."
"Please. I just can't wait to say I told you so." Emily huffed out a breath before giving in and joining a still laughing Derek. "God, I hope Hotch wasn't planning on getting lucky tonight because I think I might have just ruined those plans. Although come to think of it maybe he should thank me."
"I thought you were convinced he was off somewhere knocking boots with JJ?"
"Please they are both way too conservative to actually do something like that. He'll have to continue to bed Beth while he stoically dreams of JJ." Emily scoffed. "But mark my words, one day they are going to collide and the rest will be history."
"Gee, you almost have me believing that you're a romantic, Princess." Morgan chided.
"Whatever. I call them like I see them."
"O-kay." The disagreement in her assessment was evident.
"I cannot wait to tell you I told you so."
"Really?" His voice clearly showed his surprise at her comment.
There was a moment of quiet before Emily sighed loudly. "Yeah, I just, I don't know. I think the two of them work really well together. I sincerely think they would be good together. I truly think they are both mutually interested. If only they would act on it."
The conversation came to an abrupt end as Penelope rejoined them. "Are you two coming in? Hotch's phone is apparently off and now Beth has it in her head that maybe he is off boinking JJ." She hissed. "Thank you, Emily Prentiss."
Sounds faded and the two on the upper balcony broke apart nervously.
JJ couldn't meet his eye. "You should probably go find Beth." She said quietly.
"JJ." Hotch's voice was pleading.
She shook her head but still wouldn't look at him. "We can just attribute this to a full moon."
He watched as she folded her arms around herself tightly. He knew instinctively that now was not the time to push it. "Sure. If that's what you want." His hand reached out and squeezed her elbow slightly. She wasn't expecting the touch and jumped, her eyes finally lifted and he quickly added. "But I think you should know, I completely agree with Prentiss."
The corner of her mouth tilted slightly. "Yeah, me too, Morgan really can be an asshole."
An answering grin split his face. He was just about to comment when the door opened up.
"Aaron, are you out here?" Her annoyance was coming through loud and clear.
Hotch sighed as JJ mouthed the word 'Go!" to him. "Fine." Acting on pure impulse he leaned in and once more lightly touch his mouth to hers in a soft kiss. "But this isn't over." He warned softly. Then stepping out of the shadows he reluctantly responded to the woman that called out to him.
"Where have you been hiding?" The agitation in her voice was clear.
"I haven't been hiding." He scrubbed a hand over his face wishing he could just say to hell with everything and run back to the secluded corner he just left. "I was just..."
"It's a party, you should be mingling." She cut him off, looping her arm through his and pulling him towards the glass doors.
"I don't mingle." He shot a parting look of longing over his shoulder as she shepherded him into the house.
JJ let out a sigh as the she listened to the sounds of the door closing and their conversation fading. She looked up at the full moon not sure whether she was thankful or not for the interruptions. She leaned against the railing for support.
"Rossi said this room had a spectacular view. He wasn't kidding."
"SPENCE!" JJ spun around noticing for the first time that the hidden corner she was in belonged to a room with yet another set of sliding glass doors. Her friend was watching her intently from the threshold.
"I had a migraine. Dave suggested that I try to lie down in a dark room. The door was cracked to give me some fresh air. I wasn't deliberately spying on you. I, um, couldn't help what I saw."
"Oh. Right." JJ bit her lip not sure what to do or say hoping that the shadows hide the flame riding her cheeks. "How's your headache?" Avoidance was always good.
"Not much better." He studied her curiously. "What are you doing, JJ?"
He obviously wasn't going to let her evade an interrogation. "Aw, Spence, can't you just forget you saw anything?"
"I wish I could. Believe me. I was pretty sure you were going to have sex right here on the balcony." He watched as she bit her lip once more.
Embarrassed beyond belief she moaned. "Damn it, Spence, haven't you ever gotten carried away?"
"Not only is Hotch your boss JJ, he's in a relationship." There was no censure in his voice just a statement of the facts.
JJ sighed, deflated by his verbal accounting of the obstacles she knew all too well stood in the way of anything happening with Aaron Hotchner. "Thank you, Spence, tell me something I don't know." She said dejectedly.
He appeared to take the statement as a challenge and did just that. "I think Hotch has feelings for you."
"Spence." She didn't want him to lie to her in order to make her feel better. She knew that nothing could ever come of the feelings she felt for the man she had admired from the day she began working for the BAU.
The younger man shook his head. "No, honestly, there were times in the past that I've wondered but other things happened and I convinced myself that I was reading into things." He gave a self-deprecating chuckle. "You know I'm not all that clever when it comes to relationships between men and women."
JJ rolled her eyes. "I'm sure…"
He interrupted her sensing what her argument would be. "Hotch is concerned about all of us, that's one of the qualities that makes him a good leader, but he looks after you especially."
"I don't think…"
"There are times when he doesn't think anyone is watching when he looks at you almost wistfully. The first time I really recognized it was when Will showed up in New York and announced your pregnancy. But that wasn't the first time I'd seen it, and it certainly wasn't the last."
JJ swallowed hard. She had always wondered about Hotch's reaction to Will's untimely announcement but things had spiraled out of control so quickly and she never questioned it. It was too late to wonder what if now. She said as much to Reid. "Well, like you said, he's in a relationship."
Reid shrugged. "And if he wasn't?"
She blinked not expecting the question. What would she do if he were single? She thought back to the electric moments they just shared and flushed. She had a pretty good idea what she'd like do. She sighed and shook her head at the thought. "That's irrelevant."
"I don't think so. You know, Hotch is a pretty straightforward guy."
JJ frowned not sure what he was getting at. He didn't keep her in suspense and quickly came to the point.
"I don't think he can kiss you like he was and remain in a relationship with another woman. In fact, I'd be very surprised if he did."
"It was just a kiss, Spence." JJ scoffed.
"Again, I'm no expert, but that was not just a kiss. I saw you. There was groping, it was…" He paused looking for the right word. "Hot. Combustible." He made meshing motions with his hands. "Seconds away from penetration." He mumbled.
JJ groaned and covered her face with her hands. "You're killing me here, Spence."
"Sorry, I don't mean to make you uncomfortable."
A bubble of laughter escaped. "Then can you please stop talking?"
Ever the gentleman Reid obliged her. "Sure, what do you say we go find ourselves a drink?"
"Yeah, I could use a drink or ten." JJ responded with a smile. She was determined to put on a smiling face until she could come up with a good enough excuse to bail. Then she was going to go home and indulge in a good cry. The last thing she planned on was coming face to face with Hotch's date the moment she and Reid stepped out of the room.
It was obvious by the wide eyes and smile what she had deduced. "Oh, well, I guess that explains that mystery." The annoyingly bubbly brunette chuckled, shouting out to Pen that the missing JJ had been located and bringing the eyes of all the guests to the pair.
"That'll cure any headache." Rossi exclaimed with a wink and a raised glass.
Reid frowned at the comment and turned to JJ for enlightenment.
"They think you and I were having sex." She explained.
The look on his face at the suggestion would have probably offended another woman. "Together?"
JJ turned to Beth. "I was sitting with Spence, he has a migraine. I was just keeping him company. I wasn't aware I was missed."
"Oh I didn't miss you, Penelope did." With that the woman flounced away.
"I really don't regret almost having sex with her boyfriend and if I ever get the chance I'm totally going to do it." JJ hissed to Reid. "Twice."
"WHAT!"
JJ turned around to find a stunned Emily, Morgan and Penelope standing behind her. Well, Pen was stunned. Emily was positively gleeful and Morgan was initially dumbstruck. "I think you need to clarify that statement Missy." He latched on to her arm and pulled her back into the room she'd just exited.
"Uh, you know you're not my father, Morgan." JJ grumbled, shaking free of his hold.
"I knew I was going to get to say I told you so!" Emily proclaimed. "I told you so, I told you so!" She chanted in glee all the while doing a happy dance. "Man, I feel so smug right now."
JJ couldn't help but grin at her idiot friend. "Shut up."
"Jennifer Jareau what were you thinking?" Garcia demanded hands fisted on hips. When she didn't immediately respond she huffed. "Well, I'm waiting."
She looked to Reid for support. "I'm just going to lie back down." He stated, moving towards the bed.
JJ looked at the expectant faces waiting for an answer. "To be fair he kissed me first."
"I knew it!" Emily squealed.
"SHUT UP!" This time the command came in stereo.
"I'm not sure what the big deal is." JJ mumbled under her breath.
"You clearly stated that you almost had sex." Morgan stated looking down at her.
JJ rolled her eyes. "I was angry. That was an extreme exaggeration."
"Oh, it was pretty accurate from what I saw." Reid commented from the bed.
"What, were you watching?" Morgan asked in horror.
"Not on purpose." Reid defended.
"This is ridiculous. It certainly doesn't call for an intervention." JJ growled staring at her three coworkers. "I'm an adult. Hotch is an adult. Anything that happened or almost happened isn't any of your business." She shrugged before adding. "But honestly, nothing really happened and it's not going to lead to anything so I suggest you all forget about it. That's what I plan on doing." With that she strode to the door and flounced out of the room leaving them in stunned silence.
Morgan was the first to recover. "Oh damn. Baby girl is totally smitten with the boss." He announced to the quieted room.
"At the risk of repeating myself I TOLD YOU SO." Emily sneered.
Garcia stood with an open mouth. "How did I miss that?" That only lasted a second before she zeroed in on Reid. "What do you know?"
"What do I know?" He repeated with a squeak.
"You are the voyeur." Morgan pointed out.
"Not intentionally." Reid protested then sighed as they stood waiting for him to tell them what he'd witnessed. "I was getting ready to go and talk to her. She was standing at the railing then out of nowhere Hotch is gliding up on her and kissing her like both of their lives depended on it."
Garcia frowned. "She didn't even try to push him away?"
He thought for a second before answering. "It seemed like she hesitated for a second then they just..." He made an explosion gesture with his hands. "They stopped for a moment and I thought they were going to break it up but I think they were just catching their breath and getting out of line of sight."
"Not everybody's line of sight." Emily snickered. "Sorry. Well, I think we all know what we need to do." When the other three just stood looking at her she sighed. "We need to get rid of Beth."
"What!" Both Garcia and Morgan looked at her like she'd gone nuts.
"Oh relax! I'm not suggesting we off her, we just need to convince her there are far better fish in the sea than Aaron Hotchner."
"That will be a hard sell. She's over thirty and she's already got that fish in her net." Morgan reminded her.
"But what if we dangled a prettier fish in front of her?" Emily suggested, batting her eyes at Derek.
"Not happening." He told her plainly.
"We could always recruit Rossi he's a pro at screwing up relationships." Garcia added helpfully.
"Or we could just let it run its course naturally." Reid suggested. "Hotch is more than capable of handling this on his own without our assistance." His rational suggestion fell on deaf ears as the trio went in search of Rossi.
"You want me to what?" The man bellowed, causing more than a few heads to turn their direction.
"Relax we're not saying you have to sleep with her." Emily stated.
"Gee, thanks." He replied sarcastically. "Now why would I willingly ruin the best friendship I've ever had?"
"You're not going to ruin it. Hotch will thank you." Garcia predicted, looking around for the couple in question. "Hey, where are Hotch and Beth?"
"They left." JJ announced coming up to join them. "She was eager to get Hotch to bed." She drank the contents of the glass she held in one gulp before pouring a fresh one from the bottle she held firmly in her other hand. "Apparently we're pals now and she felt comfortable sharing that with me." She lifted her refilled glass. "She was delightfully open. For example, did you know that Hotch is great in bed? He's a real tiger. Her words, not mine, because you know, I wouldn't know." She downed the contents of her glass as her friends watched.
"He really left?" Emily asked, glancing around the room, almost as deflated as JJ was.
"Good for him." Rossi chuckled, not yet knowing what they others knew. "The man could stand to get laid. He seemed more uptight than usual this evening."
"And on that note, I'll be at the bar." JJ turned on her heel and strode away still clutching a bottle.
"We have got to fix this." Garcia stated, watching her friend walk away.
"How?" Morgan asked, looking around the group to see if anyone had any ideas.
Rossi frowned. "Why do I feel like there is something going on that I'm not aware of?"
Reid sighed. "Garcia and I will get JJ a cup of coffee you two bring Rossi up to date." With that he made a beeline for the woman he considered like a sister.
Thanks for reading!