Two A/N caveats on this:
First...kink/bondage with an emotional element.
Two...I contributed four stories to the virtual season story posted on this site this summer by the Bonesology Writers Collective. (The name of the story is 'Bones 6.5: The Satisfaction in the Summer' - it can be found either under that title or with an author search on Bonesology Writers Collective.) This is a sequel to chapter 15 of that project. It might make sense without having read that, but it does build on what happens there. As a summary, though...Booth and Brennan have been in an established relationship for several months at this point, and have just worked a case that had them exploring themes of dominance and submission.
I'm as proud of the chapters I wrote for the virtual season as I am anything I've ever written, and think everyone who contributed - some truly amazing writers - were at the top of their game. It's well worth checking out if you're looking for something new to read in these last few days before S7 begins.
"Would you be …open to experimenting with bondage?"
Booth's eyes went black with intensity and heat when she asked the question. He leaned a little closer to her, and took a drink from his beer, those eyes never leaving her face. "What exactly did you have in mind?"
Brennan sipped her wine, her mouth suddenly dry. She could still back out. She had experimented with bondage in the past, had enjoyed the experience of pleasuring a partner she had in her control. She could ask that of him honestly, as something she wanted. The thought of this powerful man giving himself to her like that aroused her like nothing else.
But she wanted more. She kept thinking about something Angela had said: "It's all about trust."
"I have never given someone that kind of control. Never trusted anyone that much." His eyes on hers steadied her. They always did. "I find I would like to, with you."
His expression shifted, just a bit. The intensity grew, if possible, but was layered over with what she'd come to identify as tenderness.
He cocked his head, thoughtful, his eyes still on her. "Do you have plans for this weekend?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary. I thought I'd begin researching a paper I've been asked to present next month."
"Let's go away for the weekend, then. We've not done that, and I think we could use it."
She knew what he was suggesting. They'd go away, just the two of them, and then …they'd see. But she wasn't a coward.
"Very well."
"Let me make the arrangements."
Brennan nodded, then had to take another drink. Damn it, she would not be nervous. That was the point. She trusted Booth.
B&B
Booth took the turn, checked to make sure he was still following the directions he'd been given to the cabin in the Virginia mountains. Nearly there. He glanced over at Brennan, who was, despite the fading light, still reading a research paper.
She was nervous. Others wouldn't have noticed, but the subtle tells he looked for in his partner were all there. It had popped out at times in the three days since they'd wrapped the Roberts' case, more so since they started the trip to the cabin.
He loved it. Loved that despite those nerves, she wanted what she'd asked of him.
It terrified him.
Damn it. His nerves were all Angela's fault. Prior to the dumbwaiter case, he'd not thought that much about how he and Brennan interacted, only that they did. And now, he couldn't stop thinking about it. You've always been about Brennan. If she needed to be in control, you'd give it to her. Whatever it was, even if she didn't know she needed it, you were figuring out how to provide it for her. And damn it, he still was, only now he kept thinking about the fact that he was thinking about it, and that was going to make him – and probably her – crazy in the process.
"It's getting dark. You're going to go blind."
She looked up. "What?" Her glance around seemed to recognize that it was really was too dark to see the text. "Attempting to read in the dark does not cause blindness," she said in the prim voice he loved. "It does cause eye strain and…I wasn't really reading," she admitted.
No shit. She'd not looked away from the page she'd been staring at for nearly thirty minutes. "You know, Bones, this weekend is just about us. It doesn't have to be anything in particular."
There was still enough light to see the stubborn look settle onto her face. "You're trying to give me an out. I don't want one. I'm intrigued by the idea." Her gaze turned speculative. "Though we never addressed whether we would switch roles at some point, and I'd bind you. I'm quite adept at pleasuring a partner in such a way."
The image that formed had him going rock hard and he shifted in the seat, glanced at her. He had to swallow before he could speak. "That's what we do, isn't it? Switch back and forth?"
Her smile lit up her face. "We do." She settled back against the seat, peered out the windows. "Are we nearly there?"
"We are, as a matter of fact." He saw the marker for the cabin's driveway, just where he'd been told to expect it, and made the final turn.
He parked in front of the cabin, and, grabbing some of their bags, went to unlock the door. The cabin was nicer than even he'd expected it to be. Rustic and small, but not lacking in amenities. Most of one wall of the main room was taken up with a fireplace, but over it was a flat panel TV – a large one. Shelves on either side were filled with electronics, books, and DVDs.
To the left of the main room was a well-appointed kitchen and dining area, and he'd been told that the bedroom – with a another fireplace – and a large bathroom were on the other side of the main living area.
He went to the SUV for the rest of their supplies, and when he returned she was in the kitchen, finishing unpacking their groceries. He left her to put away the rest of the food, and went to build fires in both rooms, grateful it was cool enough to warrant one.
Brennan was examining the main room when he returned. "This cabin is much less rustic than you'd led me to believe."
"I wasn't completely sure what to expect myself."
"You didn't tell me who loaned it to us."
"Nope, I didn't."
She frowned for a moment, then said, "Oh, I see. That's part of the role play." She huffed. "That's just ridiculous. How can it possibly matter if I know who owns the cabin?"
"It doesn't," he said with a grin. "But can't you guess?"
He was challenging her, and she responded as she always did, by looking for clues. He saw the moment she figured it out. "Hodgins."
She wandered over to the books, and then said, "If I'd looked over here, I'd have known it immediately."
"Bug books?"
"Yes. Along with books on minerals."
He enjoyed watching her observe her surroundings. She was still nervous, still trying to cover it. And he loved her beyond reason.
Brennan took a breath, and walked over to stand in front of him. "Now what?"
"Ground rules, Bones. Pick a safe word."
"I'm sure that won't be necessary."
He raised an eyebrow, let his hand drift down to cup her neck, his thumb drifting over her pulse. "Because you think I'll untie you go the moment you say so?"
The beat beneath his thumb leaped and began a frantic rhythm. But not with fear. Her eyes told him that.
"You won't?"
"Wouldn't that be contrary to the point?"
She licked her lips, and seemed to struggle with the answer. And no wonder. If she agreed to what he was asking, she really would be placing herself in his complete control.
"I suppose so."
"So…a safe word."
She stared at him. "Fine." She frowned in thought for a moment before saying, "Sternum. My safe word is sternum."
A grin wanted to escape and he bit it back. "I was betting on 'phalanges.'"
Her frown turned puzzled. "That makes no sense as a safe word."
"And sternum does?"
"Of course. The sternum guards the heart."
Humor fled. God, he hoped she didn't feel the need to use it.
"Now what? The bedroom?"
"Now, we do this." He softly kissed her, let her think for just a moment it was going to remain gentle and sweet, before suddenly yanking her to him, and taking it deeper. Edgier, with his mouth slanting down on hers possessively. Mine.
And nearly smiled when her hands came up, anchored fiercely in his hair. She gave as good as she got, her tongue tangling with his. He began walking them toward the bedroom, unsurprised when she tried to turn them, tried to take control so he would be the one walking backwards. Not this time, he thought.
They reached the bed and broke apart, both out of breath. Her eyes had darkened to the deep blue he only saw she was aroused.
She ran her hands down his chest to cup the erection straining his jeans. "You're going to miss my hands."
Oh, yeah. Absolutely. His eyes nearly crossed as she squeezed him through the denim, and he reached for those hands, bracketed them in one of his. "I'll live," he said with a smirk.
With his other hand, he began to unbutton her blouse, leaning down to lick and nibble at the skin he was revealing. When he saw the black and red bra, he paused, nuzzled her. "My favorite."
"They're all your favorites." She gasped, arched back as he pinched one nipple, rubbed through the lace.
God's truth, that. Plain white was sexy on her. But the red and black turned him inside out. "Trying to distract me, Bones?" He released her hands, unhooked the front clasp and pushed both bra and blouse down her arms, nearly to her wrists, and grinned when she realized her arms were now immobile. "Too late for that. I'm gonna make you scream when you come."
He cupped her breasts, squeezing gently while he thumbed her nipples. Her head fell back and he took it as an invitation to kiss his way down her neck, taking light nips as he went.
She made a sound of protest when he dropped light kisses all over one breast, while avoiding the tip, and he smiled against the soft, fragrant flesh.
"Booth!"
"Yes, baby?" He slid his hand down, unbuttoned her slacks and slipped in, pressing his fingers against the wet heat he found there. The thong panties – no doubt the red and black twin to the bra – were soaked. He rubbed the lace over her clit, and she stumbled against him as her knees threatened to give out.
Desire seemed to shoot straight to panic as she realized that with her arms still trapped by her blouse and her slacks now trapping her knees, she had no way to break her fall. He pulled her more firmly against him and shoved the blouse and bra completely off before scooping her up and placing her on the bed.
Booth knelt over her, caging her in with his body. She reached him for him, and he caught her hands in one of his, and with the other grabbed a length of silk he'd placed on the bed earlier. He bound her hands, palm to palm, tight enough to prevent movement, but not so tight as to be uncomfortable, and then crawled up to where he could reach over her head to secure her hands to a hook at the bottom of the headboard.
He refused to think about the look on Hodgins' face when he'd told Booth it was there. He'd kept his own face bland, refusing to give away his and Brennan's plans for the cabin.
He hoped.
Once it was secured he sat back, looked at her, then shifted a pillow to support both her head and her arms. "Are you comfortable?"
"I'm fine."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his ties. Brennan frowned, and wiggled her hands. "I'm quite thoroughly restrained."
"It's not for your hands." He saw the moment she figured it out. She focused on the tie, and went still. Only the pulse beating frantically at the base of her throat gave her away. "Going to use the safe word so soon?" he taunted.
"Of course not." Her chin came up, as he'd expected. "I just don't see the point."
He leaned down and said softly into her ear, "Lack of sight forces you to focus on other the other senses." He placed the tie over her eyes, and tied it before sitting back on his heels so he wouldn't crush her.
This was where it would get tricky, he thought. Restrained, in the dark.
"Booth?"
It was a nearly a sob, and his heart stuttered. "Focus on my voice, Bones." He placed his hands on her belly, slid up to cup her breasts again. "Focus on what you hear, and," he tweaked a nipple, "what you feel." His voice was husky, and he didn't know himself whether it was with desire or something else.
Brennan tried. She latched onto the sound, the name he alone called her, arched up into hands her body now instinctively recognized as mate, even when she couldn't see.
Her fear of the dark was the last secret she'd kept from him. Not for any reason she could name, really, beyond that it annoyed her, a personal weakness she despised and had battled for years. There was nothing in the dark which wasn't present in the light. Darkness in itself presented no danger, and she would not be controlled by it.
But there was something particularly terrifying about being bound and blind. She knew why, knew exactly where her mind wanted to go, and she refused, instead focused on his hands, warm against her flesh, his voice murmuring in her ear. Booth.
Booth.
He pressed a kiss over her heart, and she thought about the safe word. She could use it. But that, too, was giving the darkness too much power.
She took a breath, lost it when his mouth closed over her nipple.
"Really love your boobs," he murmured. "Have I said that yet today?"
He nipped at her, and she squirmed. They'd been together long enough now for him to know how to touch her. To know what made her weak, what made her moan. What would take her outside of herself, outside of the dark, into sensation. Soft sheets, warm hands, hot mouth. Rough clothes. He was still fully dressed, while she wore a thong, with her slacks still trapped at her knees.
There was something incredibly erotic about the feel of his jeans on her bare skin.
He never stopped murmuring even while his mouth was occupied with her pleasuring her breasts, and the sound of his voice, his touch, his scent, wrapped around her, kept her grounded in the here and now.
He slipped to one side and reached down to finger her through the lace of thong. "God, you're wet." He shoved the underwear aside and thrust two fingers in her while pressing down on her clit with the heel of his hand. Desperate for more of him she arched up off the bed. With her legs effectively bound by her slacks, there was no other movement possible, and a noise of frustration ripped from her.
He made a choked sound, and damn it, she knew he was smirking at her. "Better get the rest of your clothes off, hmm?" Before she could respond – her verbal ability was a little uncertain at the moment, anyway – he ripped the thong up and off, dragging it over her sensitized flesh as he did so and throwing her into a brutal climax. She was pretty sure she did, indeed, scream, as sensation – more focused by the darkness – tore through her.
When the spasms receded, she realized he was removing her shoes and pulling off her slacks. Relieved by that little bit of freedom, she spread her legs, felt him run his hands up the inside of her thighs, and responded by using her foot to rub against him. She wanted him on her. In her. Being with her.
He kissed the inside of her thigh, and then he moved away. She couldn't see him, couldn't feel him. And just that suddenly she was plunged back into the dark. It pressed against her, made her aware of how terrifyingly vulnerable she was, naked and tied. Powerless.
Unable to help herself, she tugged on her hands, felt the dark press deeper. "Booth?" her voice sounded off, not herself. Certainly not the woman she knew herself to be.
"I'm here, Bones."
She forced back the panic, latched onto his voice. Booth. She wasn't in control, but he was.
And she wasn't alone.
"You should see yourself, Bones. All spread out. I can see how wet you are from here. I think you like being tied up, more than you expected to."
It was a taunt, and should have annoyed her on principle, but …there were different kinds of control. She cleared her throat. "Your voice is particularly husky, Booth, a tone I only hear when you're aroused. I am not the only one affected." She lifted one leg, placed her foot flat on the mattress, moved the other one out at an angle, plainly inviting.
The bed moved, and the warm skin against hers told her he'd been removing his own clothes. "Never claimed otherwise." She was certain there was a smirk on his face.
He was positioned between her spread legs, and there was something wanton and indulgent in being so positioned.
He ran his hands up the inside of her legs and framed her genitals with his hands, his thumbs lightly stroking the crease between thigh and torso. Even with the effects of her orgasm still lingering, she twitched in response.
"Gonna make you beg for this one, baby." He moved his thumbs a bit, brushing over her folds.
"Don't call me baby," she grumbled, glad for the distraction of the expected response. Though she didn't always mind the endearment, and was certain he knew it.
'Mmm." He blew a warm breath across her, and began kissing his way up her torso. "How are you going to stop me?"
She had no idea. In fact, her thoughts were so scattered, she wasn't clear on the question.
Behind the blindfold, she closed her eyes, stopped fighting the lack of sight and instead concentrated on her other senses. The fire was cracking and popping, and there was a slight noise from their movement on the sheets. Wood smoke permeated the air, mixed with the clean, male scent she always identified as Booth.
Her skin felt extraordinarily sensitive and the feel of his warmth and strength sliding up her caused her to shiver.
He paused, licked a pebble hard nipple, then nipped her. "You cold?"
"No."
It was unreasonably difficult to get that single word out, and his lips curved up in a smile against her flesh. "Gonna warm you up, anyway."
His penis brushed against her stomach, and she arced up from the bed to rub against it, a pleased hum coming from her throat.
"Ah, ah," he said, and lifted himself up. "None of that. Not yet." He murmured the words directly in her ear. "Promised you you were going to beg."
He took her mouth in a kiss that was raw and demanding, but as soon as she began to kiss him back, he moved away from her, laughing at the noise she made. "Still not running the show, Bones."
He slid down her body, pausing at her breasts to lick and nibble. He knew her well enough not just to concentrate on her nipples, but the sensitive underside, and Brennan squirmed, tugging reflexively on her hands as need began to build again.
"I could stay in this one spot all day, Bones. How about you?"
He nipped the soft flesh and she shifted, something between a groan and a growl escaping her in response. Nerves were firing all over her body, sensation shooting from her breasts to her genitals.
"What was that? I couldn't understand you. Oh, you're good if I stay right here?" He suckled strongly on one nipple while his hand fondled her other breast.
"Damn you," she panted. "I'm going to get you back for this."
He laughed. "I'm counting on it." Pressing another kiss over her heart, he slid down her body, once more settling between her legs. He parted her folds and began nuzzling and licking her her, his touch light. "Mmm," he said, and the vibration against her sensitized flesh had her squirming,
He slid a long finger in her, began to rub while his mouth on her clit had her breath hitching. But just when she thought she'd come, he slowed the movements and stopped, pressing kisses on her legs. After a moment, he started the process again, taking her up, then easing her down, until she was nearly sobbing.
"Fine," she gasped. "If you're not going to finish me, untie me, damn it, and I'll do it myself."
"What was that? Did you say something? I didn't hear anything in that that sounded like your safe word." He smirked against her, then made the 'mmm' sound that vibrated against her. "I lied. As much as I love your boobs, I think this is my favorite place. I could eat you all day long and die a satisfied man."
He plunged his tongue into her and her hips lifted of their own accord, would have pulled away from him if not for his hands holding her to him.
With the one part of her mind that wasn't consumed by frustrated desire, she was aware that there was nothing but Booth, nothing but what he was making her feel. The fact that she couldn't see was irrelevant when there was so damn much to feel.
"Booth!"
He pulled away. "Haven't heard you beg yet, Bones."
"You are going to regret this," she warned, nearly insane from the storm he was creating inside her.
"It's in your control," he taunted. "You know what you've got to do."
He licked her again, a long stroke up her slit, and she broke. "All right! Damn you. Please!"
He laughed, and despite her frantic need she registered a tinge of desperation in it. "Please, what?"
She growled, nearly incoherent. "Fuck! Please make me come!"
With a noise of absolute male satisfaction – she was going to make him regret that – he latched onto her clit and began to suckle her. But this time he didn't stop when she got close, but instead shot her somewhere else, to where pleasure bordered on pain. And before she could begin to come down he was over her, rocketing inside her, all power and heat.
It was difficult to get any kind of leverage, really, but she brought her legs up, wrapped them around him. "Booth, please," she said, arching up against him. "I want to touch you."
He didn't pretend not to understand, but reached up and unhooked the silk and shoved his head between her arms, before taking her mouth in a ruthless kiss that matched the intensity of his pistoning hips.
It wasn't what she wanted, exactly, as her palms were still bound together. But it meant she could pull herself against him, pull him down to her.
She'd come to know his body as well as he'd come to know hers, and knew he was close. She clenched her muscles, and felt him as much as heard him say, 'Fuck, Bones," as he came inside her. Hard, if she was any judge.
But what stunned her was that his orgasm threw her into another one. It should have been impossible given the power of earlier releases, but after all the teasing, having him inside her set her off again.
After a moment, he slipped to the side, turning her with him, his legs still tangled with hers while they caught their breath. She dropped her head against his chest, listened to his heart beat against her cheek.
Movement behind her head told her he was untying the blind fold, and as he took it away, he tilted her face up. Even the dim light from the fire caused her to blink, but she could clearly see his concerned expression. He wiped at her face with the tie. "You okay?"
And that was when she understood. "You knew."
He leaned down, kissed the corner of her eye, then slipped out from between her arms so he could unbind her hands. "That sometimes the dark is a problem for you?" He placed kisses on her wrists and palms and then looked at her. "Why wouldn't it be, Bones? Your foster parents, El Salvador, Taffett. If anyone was ever entitled to be freaked by being in the dark, it would be you."
"So why did you …"
"Blind fold you? Because there's a nightlight at your place, but there's not at mine. And more than once I've awakened when we were sleeping there and found you wrapped around me. I figured it meant that something about being with me made the dark okay." He hesitated. "You said this was about trust, and I wanted to give you that."
Oddly, she felt more vulnerable now than when she'd been bound and blind. She started to move away from him, only to find herself flat on her back, with Booth stretched out on top of her. "Nuh-uh, Bones. Tell me what you're thinking. If I screwed up, say so."
She looked everywhere but at him, and had to swallow back tears. "I do trust you," she finally said in a voice that sounded strangled. "You were right. When I focused on you, your voice, your touch, I was fine. It frightens me more than the dark," she ended on rush.
Loss of control. He leaned down to kiss her. "I get that. But I'm not holding all the cards here. That trust goes both ways."
She thought of what Hodgins had said about the dom trusting the sub to trust him, and nodded. He again slipped to the side, and pulled her against him, his hand settling on her hip.
"I'm not as prone to reacting to the dark as I used to be," she said. It was important for him to know that.
"Aren't you?"
"No. My first roommate in college made fun of me for sleeping with a light on, and I determined not to give anyone that opportunity again. So I weaned myself off it."
"How?"
"I slept with a flashlight. If I became uncomfortable, I'd slip under the covers and turn it on. Gradually I needed it less. By the time I was in my own apartment, I seldom needed a light at all."
"Until after what happened in El Salvador?"
"That was the worst. It was months before I could sleep well without a light. It made me angry," she said.
"At the guerrillas?"
"No, at myself. Fear of the dark is a fear of lack of control. We can't see what's there, and that makes us feel powerless to combat it. The irony that I was being controlled by a fear of lack of control didn't escape me."
"So you again got over it, on your own."
Puzzled, she looked at him. "Of course. Who else?"
He shook his head, and smiled, though it quickly faded. "And then Taffett happened."
"That wasn't as bad in that respect, because I wasn't alone. But those first moments, of fumbling for a light…"
His arms tightened around her, hard and comforting. "Damn her," he muttered.
"In any respect, I've been doing better with it, or thought so. I had no idea I turned to you like that." Heat rose in her cheeks and she looked away.
"Bones, I'm glad you do." He turned her to face him, pushed her hair back. "I love you."
She turned her face, pressed a kiss in his palm. "I love you, too." Then she looked at him. "So the next round, we switch, and I tie you up, correct?"
He nodded, and grinned. "We switch."
"Good. I owe you." She yawned, and turned over, settling with her back pressed against his front. "How does the expression go about payback?"
Booth laughed, and pulled her closer to him before leaning down to murmur in her ear, "Just remember, baby, I kept my promise to make you scream with pleasure."
"Oh, I won't forget."
The tone was smug, but already sounding disconnected, as if she were falling asleep, and moments later Booth heard the soft breathing that told him she had, indeed, gone out like a light.
Despite the fire, it was cool in the room now that their activity had slowed. He shifted his position slightly, then pulled the covers over them. He was beyond wiped out himself. What had passed between them had easily been the most intense, exhilarating, terrifying experience of his life. But they'd come through it. They'd known they trusted each other, but this had opened up something new and deeper between them.
He yawned, and loving her, buried his face in her hair and slept.
The End