Note From The Author-- Okay, I warn you now that Emily and Hotch are out of character in this story, Hotch most especially. You have been warned in advance. This wouldn't get out of my head so OOC or not, here it is. Enjoy.
Disclaimer-- I don't own the characters of Criminal Minds. Think Hotch and Prentiss wouldn't be together if I did?
Aaron Hotchner was pretty sure he was going to hell. He was the last person anyone would ever make that particular assumption about; yet there he was, sitting at his desk after a grueling case and thinking precisely that.
A vision of the plane ride home earlier that night and the dreams that had come with it played yet again in his head for something like the sixteenth time in the past hour; honestly he had lost track of the actual number. Considering what he saw every day, it should have taken a lot for him to decide he was going to burn in hell. In all reality one short night had brought him there.
The jet had taken off from Salt Lake City relatively late and the airport had been a nightmare in the blasted snow that had fallen virtually every moment of their time there. By the time they made it to their seats everyone was completely exhausted, and it wasn't long before Hotch was the only team member left awake.
During a short break from his paperwork somewhere over the Midwest Aaron looked around, surveying his team. Reid was curled up into a space that should have been way too small for his lanky form, but still the young Doctor was fast asleep. Hotch could hear the subtle soothing beat of whatever was playing over Morgan's headphones that seemed to keep him sleeping deeply no matter his surroundings. JJ was sleeping with one hand curled protectively over her burgeoning stomach, and she hadn't moved at all since she'd begun to doze; it was only then that it occurred to him that it wouldn't be long before she wouldn't be able to fly with them any longer. His gaze turned then to Rossi, who was slumped in his chair, looking precariously close to falling.
Hotch's eyes traveled to Prentiss last. She was stretched out as far as she could, her hands under her head and legs slightly bent in the confines of limited space. She had caught a nasty cold a couple of days into the case and hadn't been able to keep warm since. They had all hoped that it would get better once they made it into the air, but it was clear that their hopes had been in vain. Blankets had been piled on top of her the minute they all settled in, but in her restless sleep she had kicked them all off and they lay in a heap on the floor. She was shivering so violently that it was a wonder she had managed to stay asleep; clearly it was just a testament to her exhaustion.
With a sigh, Hotch stood and crossed the short distance between them. As he bent to pick up the blankets he could very clearly see the evidence of her discomfort. Her shirt had ridden up as she tossed and turned and every inch of exposed skin was covered in goose bumps. Feeling slightly unsure, but worrying over her well being, he reached out to gently tug her shirt back down. His hand brushed gently against frigid skin, yet even as he registered the cold he found himself wondering just how the hell she managed to keep her skin so irresistibly soft while they were constantly on the move.
After remembering exactly where he was he shook himself out of that particular thought and spread the blankets over Emily again, tucking them up under her chin. He paused then with his hand hovering just above her cheek, wondering when exactly he had made the transition from the colder and more formal Prentiss to calling her by her given name. And when had he begun to notice how truly beautiful she was? Funny that he really couldn't remember. It was only his training and spectacular talent for concealing his emotions that kept him from jumping out of his skin when she moved.
It was as if she could sense him there, his hand on the brink of contact; she closed the gap for him, her head turning into his hand and nuzzling there before she settled back against the cushions again. Hotch felt something tugging at his heart as he watched her, and he pulled away before his mind could wander any further down that road. Still, he couldn't seem to resist the urge to whisper his hand over the waves of all that ink black hair of hers. Pushing whatever he'd just felt from his mind, he returned to his paperwork, almost certain he'd be up the rest of the night. But it turned out that he couldn't hold out against the onslaught of fatigue, and it wasn't five minutes before he too was out like a light.
Evidently his subconscious had different ideas than his conscious mind. Far from pushing Emily from his thoughts, she had a starring role in each and every one of the dreams that shifted and flowed through his mind that night. Each was more vivid than the next, the last so lifelike that he could almost feel and hear her.
"Hotch!" Prentiss all but shouted.
Well that would have explained it. He sat up slowly and casually, his eyes floating open at the same pace despite the way his heart was pounding and his body was overheating. "I'm sorry, I take it we've landed," he commented.
Emily nodded, quickly snatching away the hand that had rested on his shoulder. "It's late; everyone else is headed for the cars. The sooner they can get home the better."
He nodded. "We should join them," he told her.
She didn't miss the fact that he wasn't making eye contact, and she wanted to write it off as case anxiety and a long week. Still… "Hotch, are you okay?"
"Yes." His eyes met hers then, and neither could quite decipher what the others' were saying. "I'm fine. Are you okay?"
"Yes. I'm feeling a bit better; not so cold anymore," she told him with a smile.
And there all those dreams were again, bubbling to the surface. He managed to force out something along the lines of 'good' and then the two of them were catching up with the others. Everyone had taken off as soon as they had collected whatever it was they needed from the office, but Hotch was still sitting at his desk, agonizing over the incredibly unprofessional dream that had been playing as vividly as an Imax movie in his head since Emily had woken him; yeah, he was going to hell.
The boss wasn't supposed to have sensuous dreams about one of his employees. Hell, if he was being completely honest those dreams were downright erotic, and that was definitely a no no in the rule book. In the personal Aaron Hotchner rule book it was also really bad karma to be lusting after a woman who had been a teenager embarking on the tumultuous journey of college life when he'd been old enough to be working her mother's security detail.
The soft ping of the elevator and the sound of footfalls startled him from his thoughts; he had been almost positive that he was the last one in the building. Yet someone was clearly there, and whoever it was headed towards his office.
Emily appeared in the doorway and for a moment Hotch was blinded by a flash from the dream she'd pulled him from earlier that night, a dream that had prominently featured both her and the desk he was sitting behind; for that brief moment Emily Prentiss wasn't standing in front of him in slacks and a sweater. Instead she was clad in an insubstantial bra and panties made of frothy lace and his mouth was on that impossibly smooth skin at the small of her back before traveling all the way up her spine.
"Seriously Hotch are you sure you're okay?" she asked.
Her voice once again yanked him from his maddening thoughts and he struggled for composure. "Fine. What are you doing back here?"
Prentiss' head tilted as she regarded him curiously, and she completely disregarded his question. "Sometimes I'd pay to know exactly what's going through your mind."
He couldn't help it, he laughed; just one short burst, but laughter none the less. "You wouldn't want to waste your money I can promise you that."
"Really?" Taking what she felt was a little bit of a chance, after all they had never really talked this way before, she sat down. "It seemed like whatever you were thinking about so intently was pretty interesting." She watched his reaction carefully and almost choked; had Aaron Hotchner really just blushed? It had to have been a trick of the light. "But then that's just my opinion."
Hotch considered his next words carefully. They were straying into uncharted territory here; not only had their conversations never been quite this intimate before, he was her superior. These new feelings of his put him on rocky ground as fraternization, as the higher ups liked to call it, was frowned upon to say the least. In all his years with the BAU he'd never once had to deal with his desires veering in this direction, and he found himself rather uncomfortably out of his depth. Still, something told him that this was important, so he stepped out onto the ice. "Have you ever thought about the fraternization policy?" he asked.
To say that she was thrown off balance would be a definite understatement, so she tread lightly. "I think we all have at one level or another."
"Emily, you know what I mean. Have you ever seriously thought about it? Have you ever wanted someone so much, wanted to be with them badly enough that you really considered just throwing caution to the wind and forgetting about fraternization."
"Once or twice," she said carefully, trying to supress the delighted shiver that ran through her when he said her name. "Have you?"
He scrubbed his hands roughly over his face. "So it would seem." He looked up and managed something resembling a smile. "I've just been lost in thought I suppose. You should head home, we all had a long week, you more so than the rest of us."
Her gaze lingered on his face for a moment before she nodded. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight." He watched closely as she stood, wondering if he would let the rules dictate his desires for the rest of his life. It was only moments before the answer rang out in his head; it was a resounding no. He was on his feet in seconds, and he found her standing next to her desk in the deserted bullpen. "Emily."
She looked up at him, something wild and unknown playing across her face. "Yes?"
"Ask me again what was going through my mind."
Her heart was going wild in her chest as she made her way back to him. Their eyes met, and his primal gaze made her pulse jump as he closed the door behind her. "What was going through your mind?"
"This." He closed the distance between them and suddenly she was surrounded by him, by the heady scent that was just inherently Hotch. For one thrilling moment she was sure he would kiss her and her eyes fluttered shut; her system shifted into overdrive when powerful hands slipped under her sweater to caress the small of her back.
"I was awake," she sighed.
His hands never stilled as he spoke, instead they crept farther up her back, savoring every inch of silky skin. "You were awake?"
Prentiss nodded, leaning back into his touch. "For every second; I've wanted this…" she whispered. Her vision blurred as his touched played across her back and he brought his mouth gently against her neck. She never thought that simple touch could be so potent. "Your hands… Aaron if you don't kiss me…"
Neither of them heard the rest of her comment. They came together silkily, their lips meeting in a sensual haze. Emily found herself holding on to him for dear life as emotion and sensation battered at her defenses. It wasn't long before she let go completely, and she felt him lose control with her as they both gave over everything they had. When they pulled apart they both struggled to catch their breath, their eyes locked.
"Aaron Hotchner, thank God for that clever mind of yours."
"You don't even know the half of it; but as much as I'd like to show you every little detail of what was going on in my head, I hardly think stripping you down to a couple scraps of lace in my office would be appropriate."
She should have known that he would bring the same intensity he exhibited on the job to everything he did, and still hearing him speak that way surprised her; even as it sent a wave of desire rushing over her. "I believe you would be right."
He couldn't seem to bring himself to let go of her. "Before you walked in here, I kept thinking that I had to be going to hell for thinking the things I was thinking."
"Interesting," she said innocently.
"Maybe it's worth it."
Emily's heart turned over in her chest as he said it, and with a smile she laced her fingers with his, tugging gently. "Maybe you are going to hell. Take me home Aaron, I'll be along for the ride."
Hotch never imagined it would feel this good to let go, to just feel what he felt for once instead of worrying about the consequences; they would worry about tomorrow when they had to. While Emily smiled at him as she led him out the door he knew for sure that he was right. If he could have this vibrant, intelligent, beautiful women in his life, he could go to hell for all he cared. It was worth it.
Note From The Author-- Yeah yeah, the likelihood of Hotch ever risking something like that is like completely non-existant, I know. But a girl can dream can't she? All of us girls can just pretend that it's us that Aaron Hotchner has his hands all over and then it won't really matter anymore if it's a little out of character, now will it? : )