Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or the characters…

Summary: Emily and Dave decide to take a trip to a fancy hotel to enhance their friends-with-benefits relationship, but is more than just bonding going to be in store for them? Written for the Heat Wave Challenge on the Chit Chat Forum…

Author's Note: This story was written for the August Heat Wave Challenge on the Chit Chat Forum. I picked Emily Prentiss as my character and was assigned David Rossi as my second character. I had to choose from a list of prompts: melting ice cream cone, swimming pool, a bikini top, swim trunks, a thunderstorm and soaring temperatures.

"The richest love is that which submits to the arbitration of time."
-Lawrence Durrell

*~OoO~*

The Benefits of Bonding

Emily stepped out of the BAU elevator and made her way into the lobby of her work building. Her bags were in one hand and in the other hand, she was groping around her purse for her car keys. Today had been one of those days that she had felt like choking every person whom she had come in contact with.

Her day had started out with a bang when she had waked up late and was late for work. She had gotten a whip lashing from Strauss for doing something stupid, Hotch had been on her tail all day because of it and Morgan had accidentally knocked his coffee all over her desk and files earlier that morning. The only person that Emily felt like seeing now was Dave, judging by the fact that her hectic day had the blood rushing to the top of her neck.

Sweet, calm, composed Dave was who she wanted to see, the face in the crowd that made all of her troubles go away. They had been in a friends-with-benefits relationship for almost a year already until Dave had finally admitted that he wanted more, he wanted an actual relationship. Nobody on the team had picked up on their close proximity lately; maybe Seaver had an idea about it because of her father/daughter like relationship with Dave. Seaver was gone now though, leaving to train in another area. JJ was back, the team was back together, for now.

JJ's marriage to Will was one of the happy events that the team had been present at, amongst the funerals and crime scenes that they attended on a daily basis. Emily remembered being so anxious for love that night that she had been flirting with everyone, she had even made out with Hotch. It had taken a while for things to go back to normal after that. She had been drunk, though, but remembered it vividly. Finally, both her and Hotch had moved on and were back on a professional level.

Before Emily could move again, her cell phone rang loudly in her pocket. Emily sighed, but when she saw the caller ID, her face lit up for the first time that day. She was overjoyed that he had decided to call her.

"Dave, honey? Hey" the brunette greeted the older man; her demeanor now was changed to a cheerful voice and a bright smile upon hearing her companion's warm voice in her ear through the speaker on the phone.

"Emily, are you on your way home? I was hoping that you could stop by my place before you call it a night. I have a special surprise for you, babe" Dave answered. He could hear the sharp intake of breath on the other side of the phone line.

Emily smirked and chuckled. "What kind of surprise did you have in mind, Dave?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest and starting to pace the floor, one of her bad habits whenever she was anxious.

"You'll see, hon. Just come here as quickly as those legs can carry you" Dave winked, but realized that Emily couldn't see his face. They would have to use Skype if they wanted to see each other like that.

Emily hung up after bidding him goodbye and exited the BAU, the soaring temperatures soaking her body in sweat immediately. It was a good thing that there had been air conditioning in the BAU earlier. Hurrying to her burgundy Mercedes, she swung out of the parking lot and headed on over to Dave's apartment.

*~OoO~*

Emily rapped on the door of Dave's apartment. The door opened a second later and Emily had to force her mouth to stay closed upon noticing his outfit. Dave was clad in white shorts that reached his knee and a lime green polo, short sleeved shirt. His black hair, although spotting some grey hairs, was slicked back in an Italian do. He looked fantastic, as always.

"Dave, you look great!" Emily exclaimed, leaning forward to steal a sweet kiss from his pouty lips. She pulled back, a smile covering her face. Dave tucked pieces of straight brown hair behind Emily's ears, making her smile even more.

"You're not so bad yourself, Em" he replied, undoing the zipper on Emily's black pants. Emily looked so gleeful at the moment, her eyes silently watching his nimble fingers undoing her pants. "You said you needed to release some tension, right?" Dave asked, seeing her nod in head in agreement.

"Dave slowly worked her pants over her legs, speaking to her as he did so. "Emily, I uh have a question for you" he murmured, seeing that he had caught her attention. "I wanted to know if you wanted to spend the weekend at a nice hotel in Cape Cod that I had booked". Dave watched the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Of-of course, Dave. That would be really nice" Emily replied, moaning and panting when Dave skimmed a finger down her panties to touch her.

Dave nodded in satisfaction. That had been the answer he had been hoping for. Then it was decided, he and Emily would be visiting a hotel in Cape Cod.

*~OoO~*

The brunette pair made their way to their hotel room the following morning, arriving just in time to hear a loud clap of thunder pierce the air, causing Emily to hop into Dave's embrace.

"We just made it" she breathed, burying her face in his chest. She listened to his heartbeat through the material of his red colored shirt. "You would think that with the loud thunder, some of this heat would finally break".

Dave nodded, turning on the weather station on the TV. They were both disappointed to learn that rain and thunder were on schedule for the rest of their time on vacation, which was exactly a week long.

"Well we can enjoy the vacation in other ways" Emily remarked, trying to lighten the disappointed mood between the two of them. She had changed into a bikini top and was fanning herself to try and cool herself down. She could tell that her boyfriend was obviously upset that their romantic getaway was spoiled by the weather, but Emily could already think of some things that they could do to pass the time that they had.

*~OoO~*

"So was this the type of paradise that you had in mind?" Dave asked Emily while they were both laying in bed, relaxing after a rather passionate shower and a game of Simon Says, the flirty version.

Emily nodded. "Of course, we are bonding and enjoying each other's company, which is all that matters. Are you enjoying yourself too?"

Dave smiled, taking her hand. "Making love to you for a week is better than any other form of recreation that I could imagine." They could both hear the loud thunder and hurricane winds that were pounding against the hotel walls, but neither cared because they were safe in each other's arms and that was all that mattered.

*~OoO~*

"Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally." - David Frost

*~OoO~*

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