Spencer Reid Faces His Past
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet our newest teammate, Dr. Spencer Reid," Jason Gideon introduced a young man of about 22 or 23. "Dr. Reid, I'd like to introduce you to, Jennifer Jareau, better known as JJ, Derek Morgan, Elle Greenway."
"It's nice to meet all of you," Reid said not extending his hand sounding incredibly shy.
"It's nice to meet you too, Dr. Reid," JJ told him with a charming smile and Spencer, smiled shyly back.
"So if I may ask how old are you?" asked Elle. "You look incredibly young."
"I'm 22," Spencer answered.
Everybody but Jason Gideon stared at him in surprise.
"22?" asked Morgan in astonishment.
"Yes, as I'm sure you can probably guess he's a genius," Gideon told the other three agents. "He has three PhD's and two BAs."
The other three looked astonished at that and Spencer said with a shrug, "I graduated from high school at 12 and went to college before I turned 13."
"As I said, he's a genius," Jason Gideon said with humor glimmering in his eyes, "and I truly believe that he'll be a great asset to our team."
"Why did you want to join the FBI you could have done so many other things with your life?" Morgan asked the young man.
Spencer shrugged and said, "I hadn't quite decided what I wanted to do when I graduated when Gideon came to CalTech to give a lecture and it was him that made me decide that I wanted to join the FBI."
"I was impressed with the questions he asked doing my lecture and we met for lunch several times. It didn't take me long to realize how intelligent he was no matter how young or what an incredible asset he'd be to our team."
"Well, it's nice to meet you," Elle said sincerely. "I'm looking forward to getting to know more about you."
"Thank you," Spencer told her with a small smile of his own.
"We had better go, Reid, we have a meeting with Hotch in just a couple of minutes," Gideon said and Reid nodded.
"It was nice to meet all of you and I'm looking forward to working with you," Reid told the three agents politely.
"Nice to meet you too," Morgan said not bothering to extend his hand again as none of the three hadn't failed to pick up on the fact that Reid didn't like to be touched since he had refused to shake hands for the initial introduction.
The three agents washed as Gideon escorted Dr. Reid towards their boss's office and it was only a few seconds later that they disappeared inside.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
Hotch had watched as Gideon introduced the young agent to the others through the blinds of his office, but made sure he was back at his desk when Gideon headed in his direction.
Hotch hadn't gotten a good look at the young man's face, except to see he had dark brown hair and was tall and slim and that was about all he had been able to tell as the young man appeared to be extremely shy and hadn't even looked his new teammates in their faces for more than a few seconds and he definitely hadn't glanced in the direction of his office even once.
There was something about him though, that tugged at Hotch's protective instincts and he couldn't explain to himself why that was. When the knock came on the door, although Hotch had been expecting it he was still a little startled and it took him a few seconds to gather himself together and move back to his desk and sit down.
"Come in!" Hotch called as soon as he had settled himself and put on his professional poker face.
The door opened and Gideon entered with their new teammate just a few steps behind.
"Hotch, I'd like to introduce you to Dr. Spencer Reid the young man I told you I was going to recruit for the team last year. Spencer, this is Aaron Hotchner the BAU's unit chief."
"It's nice to meet you," Spencer told the dark haired man shyly raising his head to look directly into Hotch's eyes. "I'm looking forward to working with you."
Hotch stared into the young man's eyes and all it took was one brief blinding instant felt something he had never known he was missing snap into place in his soul and he knew he had found his True Mate.
He had known that he had some Shifter blood, from his father's side of the family, and he knew all about a Shifter's mating gene and how they would know the instant they found True Mate or in human terms their soul mate. He also knew that it was extremely rare for Shifter who couldn't actually shift to have an active mating gene, but apparently he had enough of the blood for him to, which he hadn't been aware of until it had actually happened.
He knew from Reid's file that he was a Shifter to, which meant he to would have the mating gene, which would activate when he turned 30, but that was still quite a few years away and so Hotch made the split second decision to not say anything about that fact despite the way his instincts were screaming at him at the moment to make Spencer his, for not only was Reid incredibly young and the two of them had just met and from his demeanor the young man was incredibly shy and would not accept such advances from the man that was his boss, at least until they got to know each other.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too," Hotch said politely shaking the young man's hand. "I'm sure you'll be a great asset to the team if all Gideon has told me about you is true."
"Thank you, sir, I'll do my best," Reid said politely, think that Hotch was a handsome man with an air of authority about him that intimidated him just a little, although Gideon had already assured him that was just Hotch's poker face and that he was a very nice guy, so long as you followed orders.
"I'm sure you will," Hotch told him with just a hint of a smile liking the shy young man, who he knew Gideon had great faith in and his old friend was rarely wrong, so Hotch expected great things from Dr. Spencer Reid. Has trouble expressing his emotions, Hotch profiled silently. Is so shy as to be introverted. Looked me in the eye if only for a few seconds, so can be forward when the situation calls for it. Not athletic according to his file as he'd had trouble passing the physical part of training, but his profound intelligence was the reason for his admittance into the BAU and would be a great asset to the unit. Passed every academic test inside an hour, usually much less, IQ of a 187, eidetic memory, never forgetting anything which did have a rather bad downside as bad memories would not fade over time and would continue to be as sharp as the day they happened. Hotch sincerely hoped that Reid could handle the bad or horrifying memories he was bound to get as he did not want to see the young man leave the FBI just because he couldn't put bad or horrifying events behind him, because he would have Garcia keep track of him if he must, because there was no way he would let Reid vanish on him since he would be miserable if he did and eventually be driven insane, but there was no point in worrying about such an event at the moment. Hotch knew that the instructors at the academy had to make an exception when it came to the physical part of training so Reid would not be suited for most fieldwork, although he would probably be good at questioning witnesses once he had a little experience.
The two of them chitchatted for a few minutes while Gideon stood off to the side saying nothing and then Spencer and Gideon took their leave and headed back out to the bullpen. Hotch watched them go and knew that for the next seven years it was going to be hard to conceal his feelings for the young man, but all he could do was try.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
"Aaron, what's going on?" asked Rossi as he as he and Hotch sat in the latter office.
Over the last couple weeks Rossi had noticed that his old friend was spending quite a lot of time staring at one Dr. Spencer Reid, although the other man had seemed oblivious to this. Hotch always looked like he was busy doing something else, when anyone else on the team glanced in his direction, but he had always been good at observing someone without being noticed. He had only been back with the team, since Jason Gideon's apt departure for a month, and he had retired for something like 10 years, but that didn't mean his profiling skills weren't just as good as ever. Besides he knew Aaron Hotchner well as he had been part of the team when the had first joined some years ago now and when they had both been much younger.
"What do you mean?" Aaron asked his expression unreadable.
"Don't give me that, Aaron," Rossi told him sternly. "Don't think I haven't noticed the intensity you've been staring at Dr. Reid and if it's something I need to know that you had better tell me. Is he in some kind of trouble? Is he under investigation? You had better tell me before I keep coming up with even worse reasons."
"No, it's nothing like that," Hotch finally gave in with a sigh knowing there was no way he could just fob Dave off as his old friend would figure out what he was hiding eventually as he was to good a profiler not to. "In order to tell you why I've been staring at Reid, it's going to take some explanation."
"So explain," Rossi almost ordered and Hotch glared at him briefly, but then let it go.
"Well, first you need to know that Dr. Reid is a Shifter, a wolf Shifter to be precise."
"And what does that have to do with anything?" asked Rossi a little confused. "If you're worried I have something against Shifters I don't."
"No, that's not it at all," Hotch said trying not to look nervous as he had never shared this secret with anyone and he definitely not been planning to, well not for another five years anyway. "The reason I told you Dr. Reid is a Shifter, is because I also have Shifter blood, although it's not enough to actually shift shape as my grandfather was the last one to be able to do that. What you might not be aware of is that when a Shifter turns 30 something within their blood or their genetic structure activates."
"What do you mean?" asked Rossi curiously.
"Just that from the day a Shifter turns 30 they will know instantly if they have discovered their True Mate, which in human terms is a soulmate. Most Shifters never discover their True Mate and marry and have children, but there are a rare few that actually discover the person they're meant to be with and whether they're married or not well there's no changing it. For a non-Shifter to have this gene is rare, but so long as you have enough of the blood it's possible."
"So if I'm understanding your explanation, you have enough of the blood to have an active mating gene and Dr. Reid is your True Mate," Rossi summarized. "Also from the way you've been staring at him when no one is paying attention whenever the two of you are in the same room you haven't told him as he seems oblivious to the attention."
"No, I haven't told him," Hotch said making a face, "and yes he is totally oblivious as I try not to stare at him unless he's extremely occupied, because as you already know he is an extremely sharp and intelligent young man and he would figure out why I kept staring at him eventually."
"When did you know that he was your soulmate?" asked Rossi curiously.
"The minute he walked into the BAU two years ago and we shook hands that first time," Hotch answered honestly.
"Do you ever plan on telling him?" asked Rossi.
"Yes, in about five years when he turns 30," Hotch answered.
"Are you sure you can last that long?" Rossi asked his old friend dryly. "I don't know much about Shifters, other than what's general knowledge, but I do know that the intense look on your face means that it can't be very easy to be around him and not be able to say anything or touch him in an intimate way."
"I'm certainly going to try," Hotch said. "For one thing Reid is very young right now and if I tell him before he turns 30 and his own mating gene activates, there's a good chance he'll deny the connection that flows between us simply because I'm his boss and also he's very shy where relationships are concerned."
Rossi sat there quietly and thought about what he had learned about Spencer Reid in the last month and finally he had to agree. Spencer Reid was very shy and some ways, although the young man was confident where his job was concerned, outside that arena he was extremely shy, so shy he was almost introverted and he could very easily see Reid rejecting what Aaron was telling him, simply because the man was his boss.
"Besides, I'm still married to Haley right now, although I was actually thinking about getting a divorce a year or so before Spencer does reach that critical birthday, although I haven't fully made up my mind yet," Hotch said.
"So if you love Reid, does that mean you don't love Haley at all anymore?" asked Rossi curiously.
"I still care deeply for Haley," Hotch explained calmly, "but my feelings for her pale in comparison to the ones I have for Spencer and have had ever since we met that day two years ago when he first entered the BAU."
"Are you going to tell your wife this?" asked Rossi.
"No," Hotch said shaking his head empathically, "she wouldn't understand and even if she did it would hurt her and I don't want that."
"And you don't think wanting a divorce won't hurt her?" asked Rossi.
"Yes, it will and I know that, but it will still be easier then finding out that your husband is in love with someone else, much less another man. I'm not saying she won't find out eventually, but hopefully not for a long time."
"You're probably right that it will be easier, even if it will hard," Rossi agreed after a moment, "but you can't help your heart."
"No you can't as the pull of the mating bond is incredibly strong," Hotch admitted suddenly looking strained. "It's been hard the last couple years, but it would've been harder if we didn't see each other so much due to our jobs."
"So how have you resisted up until now?" asked Rossi curiously noticing the strained look.
"Well, as I just said being you near him for so many hours a day has helped, but I can't tell you how many times in the last couple years I've sat outside his apartment building trying to convince myself to go in tell him how I feel," Hotch said with a grimace.
"Well, I don't know how you're going to keep managing to conceal your feelings for Spencer, from him or the rest of the team since I figured you out within just a few months of my return," Rossi said. "I'm surprised that the rest of the team hasn't figured it out yet."
"Well, you also know me better than the others do and although I'm close to them, you are the one that knows me the best," Hotch said.
"Yes, that's true," Rossi mused thoughtfully. "I'll be rooting for you and Reid too, although five years seems like a long time to wait."
"It does," Hotch admitted, "but as I said I'm still married, and once you get to know Reid better you'll realize that if I tell him before he turns 30 it is very likely he'll reject what I'm telling him just because I am his boss. Spencer might be confident where his job is concerned, but when it comes to things like relationships or his feelings, he's on very unsteady ground. From what I know of him, his father left when he was 10 and just abandoned his sick wife and young son and as far as I know didn't have any positive male influences in his life after that, so really is it any wonder that he so unsure where his feelings are concerned?" asked Hotch.
"No, not really," Rossi admitted, "also I'm sure his intelligence set him apart from the other students and I'm sure he was also bullied and picked on in high school and college."
"I don't know for sure, although I can guess that he was because we know that people like Spencer who are nice, but also extremely intelligent tend to show off even if they don't mean to and most kids don't like being shown up, especially by someone who was much younger than they are," Hotch said. "Without a positive male figure in his life, I'm surprised he turned out so well, especially since his mother was and is very ill and he was left to look after her and go to school to. From what I can gather from his file and things he has said, he was very self-sufficient from an early age and learned to look after himself."
Rossi shook his head at that, but had to agree with Aaron that Spencer Reid had turned out extremely well considering his upbringing or lack of.
"Well, he has a family now and that's us, and I know we can't make up for his lack of positive influences when he was a child, but all of us at least appreciate him, and that brilliant mind of his. Just in the couple of month I've been back we have solved half a dozen cases that might not have been solved without him and even I know and can appreciate that."
"Yes, all of his knowledge does come in very useful," Hotch admitted a small smile playing on his lips. "I've never known someone who has so much trivia and other seemingly useless facts stored in their brains."
"And for any other job, that trivia would indeed be useless, but for this one all those facts and trivia is anything but," Rossi said. "I bet you're glad though that he decided to use his talents to help people, instead of making scads of money as I might not know him well, but I do know that he is one of the most selfless people I have ever known as he could've set himself up in some kind of business and been a millionaire by now or at least well on the way to it."
"I am," Hotch stated simply. "Spencer and I probably never would have met otherwise, so whatever made him choose to join the FBI I will always be internally grateful."
The two men continued to chat for a few minutes, and then Rossi got up to leave in order to head home for the night while Hotch simply sat there staring off into space thinking about the young man that he had come to love deeply in the last two years and wishing with all his heart that the two of them were together now instead of apart, but knowing he wouldn't be able to tell Reid about his feelings for another five years, although waiting was going to be extremely hard, but he could do it. However, once Spencer reached his critical 30th he was going to be his even if Reid didn't know it yet.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
"So are you going to tell him?" David asked after knocking on Hotch's office door after everybody else had left for the night and entering without permission. Hotch looked up from the paperwork he was filling out and watched as his friend strolled over to his desk and sat down in one of the chairs that was in front of it looking relaxed and casual. Hotch didn't have to ask what Rossi meant for he knew perfectly well what he was talking about.
Dave was the only one that knew that Hotch had a True Mate connection with one Dr. Spencer Reid, but the man in question had never been told this and Hotch had been determined to wait until Spencer turned thirty so that that shy young man could not deny the connection that flowed between them. Hotch had known ever since Spencer entered the BAU that first day seven years ago that the two of them were meant to be together, but since the young man in question had been only 23 at the time Hotch had been determined to give him time to mature and then some time later he had reached the decision that he would wait until Spencer turned thirty so that if he was correct Spencer would identify him as his True Mate. Hotch couldn't say it had been easy, in fact a lot of times it had been incredibly hard and if he hadn't had such a strong will he would've given in a long time ago and either taken the younger man without his consent or just told him about the connection he'd had with him hoping Spencer didn't reject him. Luckily for him Spencer turned thirty tomorrow and so he knew that tomorrow was the day that hopefully soon he and Spencer would mate and never be parted from that day forward save by death.
"I think I should give him a chance to approach me first as I want the decision to be his," Hotch said setting aside his paperwork knowing that he wouldn't get anymore done tonight and he very much doubted he would sleep at all as he thought about the fact that the man he had been lusting after for seven long years would be 30 at midnight tonight which was only hours away. Really he'd had trouble concentrating in the last couple of weeks because as he knew Reid's birthday was very close, but he had managed so far until today that is. He was extremely glad that they hadn't been called on a case for the last week because he very much doubted he could have concentrated if they had been as he'd had enough trouble just sitting in his office filling out form after form.
"Aaron, that's really not a good idea as we both know how shy he is in that area and if you really believe that he's going to approach you about the bond that we both know exist then you don't know him very well at all. There is no way that he'll approach you because you are his boss, which means that the second the two of you see each other tomorrow will be the second that you two are inexorably tied together for the rest of your lives. I can see the bond that exists between you going in either one of two ways. Either Reid will work beside you every day never admitting his feelings suffering through more pain then is necessary or he'll leave the BAU entirely just so he doesn't have to see you everyday and we both know if that happens even Garcia will have a hard time tracking him down since he knows how to stay off the grid if he has to," Dave advised his friend who didn't want to see Aaron make a mistake and wait to long to tell Spencer Reid how he felt as he knew that if Aaron did do that the results would be disastrous for both his old friend and to Reid.
Rossi was very well aware how hard it had been on his old friend to wait until Reid turned 30 and he couldn't see why he was prevaricating now when he was so close to finally being happy. Rossi didn't see any need for Aaron to keep torturing himself and knew that his old friend wasn't thinking clearly because Hotch knew Reid as well as anyone and knew that the younger man was shy in certain ways and he would never approach his boss about the connection that existed between them, not only because Aaron was his boss, but because he would fear rejection and Hotch's age, since he was over a decade older might also play a factor, although on that part he wasn't sure.
"Alright, you're right," Hotch conceded. "I know intellectually that if I wait too long he'll probably be gone because I can't see Spencer sticking around and seeing me every day since it would be very painful for him and for me. I'll give him a few days anyway, probably until the end of the week and if he hasn't approached me by the end of shift on Friday I'll approach him," Hotch promised.
"I think you should tell him the minute he walks in tomorrow," Rossi said looking concerned, "but it's your decision, just don't wait too long or you will regret it for the rest of your life."
"I know, don't worry I won't wait too long because as of Friday he's mine unless he approaches me before then, although you're right he probably won't just because I am his boss," Hotch said.
"And you are all so over 10 years his senior, not that really matters when a Shifter identifies their True Mate," Rossi reminded him.
"And how would you know that?" Hotch asked with humor in his voice that reached all the way to his eyes. "You are not a Shifter unless you have been keeping something from us."
Rossi rolled his eyes at his friend, but all he said, "I did my research a long time ago."
Hotch chuckled at Rossi's expression, but then grew serious.
Rossi just stared at him but didn't comment for a moment.
"I would think that putting yourself through seven years of torture was more than enough as from what I've read the pull of the mating bond is incredibly strong. You are not a Shifter so maybe it isn't as strong for you as it is for say Morgan, but that doesn't mean it isn't painful to you to resist for as long as you have."
"You're right as usual," Hotch admitted, "but I still want to give him the next five days to approach me you know? I think it's the honorable and right thing to do."
"Well, it's your decision," Rossi admitted. "At least I convinced you not to wait too long because we both know that Spencer will be gone if you do."
"Yes, and I can't have that," Hotch admitted. "If he tells me he's leaving and give me some kind of excuse as to why I will definitely let him know why he can't do that and I can be very persuasive when I set my mind to it."
Rossi chuckled at that because it was very true.
"So what are your plans once you do tell him?" Rossi asked.
"Well, I thought going back to my apartment and making love to him all night was a good option, which is another reason to wait until the weekend because unless we catch a case we have the weekends off and that way we have three days to fuck each other constantly," Hotch said humor glimmering in his eyes.
Rossi made a face at that and said hastily, "I don't need to know the details."
"I wasn't going to give them to you," Hotch told Rossi with a grin. "I'm not that type of person, that will share the details of his intimate moments, you know."
"I know," Rossi admitted relaxing. "You might want to expand those plans and take him out to dinner somewhere nice first if you plan on keeping him in bed all weekend as he'll need his energy and so will you."
"That's a good idea," Hotch admitted. "Any suggestions? Somewhere that doesn't mind same-sex couples and isn't going to look down on us for being two men as while that won't bother me we both know it will bother Spencer until he gets over his fear that I am going to leave him, which I could no more do then I could stop breathing."
"There is this place that I take dates sometimes that doesn't mind either gay or lesbian couples as I've seen both two women and two men in there and they are all treated the same," Rossi said. "It's nice, with low lighting, candles on the table, and excellent food, nice and romantic."
"What's the name of this place?" asked Hotch looking very intrigued. Rossi told him and Hotch nodded. "Where is it located?" Rossi told him and Hotch made sure to write down the address so he wouldn't forget it. "I think it's time for both of us to get out of here as the paperwork will have to wait because I can't concentrate. All I can think about is Spencer and how good it will be for us to finally be together after waiting seven years."
"Personally I don't know how you've held out so long, but then I always knew you had a will of iron," Rossi chuckled.
"Well, hopefully I won't have to wait much longer since his birthday is tomorrow or technically midnight tonight, which is only a few hours away," Hotch said.
The two men rose from their chairs and headed out of Hotch's office and towards the elevator so both of them could head home.
"Just make sure you tell me how it turns out," Rossi said.
"I don't think you'll have any trouble telling because I guarantee you Spencer will be limping by the time he comes back in here next Monday and that's a promise. I have no intention of keeping this from the team, as if we could anyway. Spencer and I will be sharing a hotel room from now on as there is no way I could sleep without him once we finally get together."
"I'm sure Reid will not be able to get any sleep without you either," Rossi assured him and tried to ignore the huge lecherous grin on his old friend's face as he had no trouble imagining what had caused it and that was not an image he needed in his head thank you very much.
The two men fell silent as they reached the elevator and Rossi pushed the button so that the doors would open and they could enter.
"I'll see you first thing Monday morning," Hotch told his friend and Rossi nodded telling him good night as he headed to his car hoping that things between Aaron and Reid turned out well.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
Reid glanced at Hotch's office door trying not to sigh, feeling melancholy. He had turned thirty just a week ago and ever since them the mating gene that was a part of all shapeshifters had finally activated. A shapeshifter automatically knew when they had found their True Mate, but that part of a shapeshifter's genes didn't activate until they were thirty. All shapeshifters knew when they had found their true lifemate. No one knew where shapeshifter, and shamans had come from originally, only that they made up about 65 percent of the world's population. 20 percent were shamans, who could do many things with the power they had been given, some more then others of course depending on how strong their magic was. shapeshifters of various types on the other hand made up an estimated 45 percent of the world's population while the remaining 35 percent were called Normals, humans where didn't have any kind of extra power.
Reid glanced wistfully back at the door to Hotch's office again knowing he would have to stop doing that as the rest of the team had already begun to notice his longing looks at their boss's office door and how unhappy he'd been over the last five days. He tried not to stare when Hotch was actually around, although that was extremely difficult, as he had a hard time not salivating because he had always known that Hotch was a handsome man, but had never really noticed until now or thought of him as anything but his boss and a friend. On the day he had turned thirty he had immediately known that Hotch was his True Mate when he had seen him for the first time that day, his boss who was 10 years older than him. The only problem was that he didn't believe that Hotch had felt the pull or that signified the mating bond or if he had he certainly hadn't shown any sign of it, but then again it was different for Hotch as he wasn't a shapeshifter. Hotch was definitely an alpha male as everybody whether shaman, shapeshifter or Normal obeyed his orders no questions asked. The reason for this was that some shaman had experimented on someone in his family, though Reid didn't know if it was Hotch himself or one of his ancestors, trying to create the ultimate Normal, someone that all shapeshifters would obey no matter what. The shaman in question had quite succeeded in his goal for while all Shifters, would obey Hotch, even other alphas no questions asked so would anybody else if he used to certain tone of voice, so whoever he was, had more than succeeded in, even if it hadn't been his original intention to create a human that everybody would obey no matter what. Whatever that shaman had been trying to do didn't really matter now as it was now part of Hotchner family line as Hotch's son had the same ability to get anybody except his father to obey whatever he wanted. Luckily Jack was a very sweet and well-behaved boy and Hotch had already begun training him to not take advantage of others even though he was still only five years old. You could never learn to early to use your powers, whatever they were responsibly, Reid supposed. Another talent Hotch had was the ability to heal someone from near fatal wounds, which had come in handy more then once when one of the team had been seriously hurt on a case and were close to death.
Reid tried his best to get back to his paperwork, although lately his concentration was all shot to hell and with good reason for Reid had known for the last couple of years that his life was going to change when he reached thirty. For all shapeshifters it was the same, well, it was for those that could actually change shape. As for those that had shapeshifter blood from say a great-grandparent they would not actually have the ability to shift, but it would be passed to any children, although extremely diluted and if the other parent also had shapeshifter blood then the child would also likely have that ability.
His father had been a shapeshifting wolf and his mother a Normal, although an extremely intelligent one and he had gotten both his mother's brains and also his father's ability to shift shape.
Suddenly Reid's phone buzzed and the young man knew that he had a text message and so he took it out and retrieved it.
Reid meet me in my office after work. We have much to discuss. Hotch
Reid gulped as the illusion that he hadn't been noticed staring wistfully from time to time in the last week by Hotch was shattered, although he should have known that his boss had noticed for Aaron Hotchner was anything but stupid and also very observant, which was a given or he wouldn't be a member of the BAU.
Reid was sure that Hotch was going to ask him exactly why had had been so distracted or more likely his boss had figured out exactly why he had been either avoiding him or staring at him when he was busy doing something else. Hotch was a smart guy and he might not know as much about shapeshifters as Reid did, but he knew enough to know what Reid having his thirtieth birthday meant. Most Shifters never discovered their True Mates, which wasn't surprising considering how many people there were in the world, and as for himself he had been astonished that he had found his on the same day he'd turned thirty since many Shifters searched their whole lives for their other halves and for most it didn't matter if their mate was the same sex as them. A lot of Shifters of course got married whether or not they had found their True Mate and made that relationship work.
Reid forced himself to go back to his paperwork, before the rest of the team in the bullpen noticed his distraction and he managed to concentrate on it for the rest of his shift, although it took great effect.
"Hey Reid, are you coming with us to get a drink?" asked Emily with a raised eyebrow in the youngest member of the team direction.
"No, I'm going to finish this and then head home," Reid answered calmly making sure to make eye contact so that nobody would be able to catch him in a lie. "Besides you are well aware that I'm not much of a drinker."
"Reid, my man, you need to get out more," Morgan told his friend. "Besides how will you ever get a tolerance for alcohol if you don't build it up?"
"I'll stick to coffee, thanks anyway," Reid answered the lines coming easily to him, but they should have as he'd had used variations of this conversation several hundred times by now. Every time the team went out for a drink actually he was always invited along and sometimes he was forced to go by Morgan who wouldn't let him get out of it and others he just agreed to go have a round or two just to spend time with his friends, the first and also the truest friends he had ever had.
"Or find yourself a date," JJ added with a grin knowing exactly what Spencer's response would be.
"JJ, I do not need or want a date, thank you very much," Reid protested causing the rest of the team including Garcia who had come up from her office to grin at this expected response from their friend and coworker.
"You did just turn 30 you know and if I know what that means and I'm not a Shifter then I know you do too," Garcia butted in.
Reid just rolled his eyes at Garcia who just grinned. "Of course you know what it means since you are married to a Shifter." Reid's tone was exasperated. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, don't let me ruin your evening out."
"Don't stay up too late since the paperwork will still be here tomorrow and make sure you go home at a decent hour and get some rest," JJ said affectionately.
"Yes, mom," Reid said somewhat sarcastically, but with an affectionate grin.
"Are you sure we can't get you to come along?" Emily asked now and Reid shook his head negatively.
"Perhaps another time."
"We'll all hold you to that," Morgan told him letting his friend off the hook this time.
"I would expect nothing less," Reid told Morgan quite seriously until a grin broke out on his face.
The rest of the team left, none of them bothering to ask Hotch if he wanted to join them since they all knew that their boss would want to get home to Jack. On rare occasions Hotch would join them for a drink or two when they weren't on a case before going home to Jack, but it didn't happen very often.
As soon as Reid was sure that the rest of the team was gone he got up from his desk and headed for Hotch's office, feeling incredibly nervous.
Reid knocked and then opened the door to Hotch's office when he heard the quiet come in.
"You wanted to see me, Hotch?" asked Reid as he entered his boss's office.
"Come in and sit down," Hotch told the younger man gently.
Reid looked startled at Hotch's tone as his boss was never that gentle except with his son and other children they ran across during cases.
That Hotch was sitting on the couch that was on one side of his office instead of behind his desk was a major clue that he wasn't in any kind of trouble.
Reid walked slowly into Hotch's office and sat on the opposite side of the couch from his boss looking at him through his golden brown eyes attentively.
Hotch noticed that Reid was as tense as a coiled spring as if expecting a blow, but as the golden brown eyes stared at him expectantly. Hotch felt his cock twitch, which was not at all unusual as he had known since Reid first started at the BAU that he was his True Mate, but since he had been 23 at the time and he had been married he hadn't done anything about it, although that had been hard. He was too damn honorable to carry on an affair behind his wife's back and he never would have done that to Reid in any case. If Spencer Reid was anything it was very unsure where relationships were concerned and if he had gone that route it would have destroyed any chance of them ever being together. When Reid had turned 30 just last week and had walked into the BAU Hotch had immediately known that the mating instinct of all Shifters possessed was alive and active as Reid had stared at him for what seemed like forever, but was actually only a few seconds as if seeing him for the first time, even though they had known each other for almost seven years. When Reid had realized what he was doing he had forced himself to look away and had done his best to act normally, although he hadn't always succeeded as Hotch had caught him more then once staring at him when no one was looking with a wistful expression, which had immediately become unreadable when he noticed people starting to pay attention to him.
Hotch had waited a whole week just as he had told Dave he would, hoping Reid would approach him, but then when he saw the younger man avoiding him as much as possible he had known that Dave had been correct, not that he hadn't already known his friend was. He and Dave had both known that Reid would be so afraid of rejection that there was no way the shy young man would approach his boss with something like telling him the two of them were True Mate's and Hotch knew that Spencer was trying his best to not think about him in a sexual way, which the older man could hardly blame him for since not only was he older he was also the younger man's boss. In other words Reid was doing everything in his power to fight the mating bond and doing that would eventually drive him insane as it was impossible to fight since it was part of every full Shifter's genetic makeup.
It was true that he, himself was not a Shifter, but he did have Shifter blood from his father's side of the family and so he too had felt the pull as soon as he had met Reid seven years ago as he had been 33 and therefore his mating genes had been active for over three years.
Reid had been very shy, withdrawn and not very comfortable around the team at first, but in the last seven years he had changed and the team was now his family, a family that would do anything to keep their youngest member safe. Reid often went with the team to just hangout at some bar just so he could spend time with them, although he still spent a lot of time alone and as far as Hotch knew he had never dated at all, but then perhaps Reid had decided he wasn't going to bother since when he turned 30 he knew that his mating instinct would activate. Of course he also knew that Reid was incredibly shy where the female of the species was concerned so that had definitely played a part in it as well, not that it mattered to him since if he had his way he and Reid would soon be together as a couple and anybody who tried to get his hooks into him after that would be facing him as he would do almost anything to protect what was his and he was not as nice as Reid was.
In any case Spencer Reid was going to be his, but he had to make the younger man realize that they belonged together, but he was going to have to be gentle about it and not go all alpha male on him as he knew that the younger man was very shy and that would almost certainly scare him off and that he would never be able to stand it if he did as it had been hard enough to resist just taking him the minute he had met him, but to live without Reid for the rest of his life would be impossible as the younger man was so much a part of him and had been for years.
"Reid, I've noticed over the last week that you've been avoiding me would you like to tell me what I've done to cause you to do something like that? Don't bother to lie," Hotch said not using his power to compel the truth and that wouldn't be fair to either him or Reid. Feelings should not be forced to be revealed, but should be admitted willingly as they would mean much more that way.
Reid didn't respond at first and Hotch who knew the other man very well could see the wheels turning in the young man's huge brain.
Hotch knew exactly what had happened that day a week ago, but he wanted Reid to admit it without it being forced out of him.
"I wasn't avoiding you," Reid tried even though Hotch had told him not to lie. He didn't want to admit that his feeling for his boss had turned from friendship and respect to love in the last short week. He, as well as the rest of the team would have willingly followed their boss into hell and back again, but for Reid those feelings had gone up quite a few notches and now he would do almost anything to keep Aaron Hotchner safe, even at the risk of his own life.
Hotch looked at the younger man his dark eyes intense, which caused certain part of Reid's anatomy to react and all he wanted to do was to take the older man into his arms, breathe in the scent of his aftershave and make wild passionate love to him for days on end, although that sort of reaction wasn't normally like him at all, but he knew that was not going to be possible and so he silently ordered his cock to calm the fuck down, although his eyes never left Aaron's face, as he didn't want to give away his cock's reaction. His wolf Shifter instincts were going haywire as well, which didn't help, especially since he and Hotch were sitting so close together. Wolf Shifters had very keen senses of smell, much like their real wolf counterpart, even in their human form and he had always thought that Hotch smelled like a combination old spice aftershave, the shampoo that he used, with a musky, spicy undertone that was all natural and seemed to waft up from Hotch's very skin.
"Well, if that's true, tell me why we haven't been in the same room for more than five minutes in the last week?" asked Hotch with a eyebrow raised in disbelief. "Even when we had a briefing on a new case you sat as far from me as you could get and still be in the same room."
With that calm disbelieving statement Reid's shoulders slumped and he looked down at his feet, because he knew that his boss was aware that he wasn't telling the truth and really he should have known better than to try to lie in the first place since he did work with a bunch of profilers. Hotch knew his every facial expression and every nuance of body language and Reid should have realized that he would never be able to lie to someone who knew him so well and he was lousy at it anyway.
"Please, don't force me to tell you," Reid whispered trying his best to not scuff his shoes along the carpet on the floor or get up and move away from his boss as that would tell Hotch clearer then any words that he was incredibly nervous.
"Spencer, I know exactly what happened a week ago, and I was waiting for you to approach me, but you never did," Hotch told the younger man sternly inching a little closer to him. "Now I can certainly understand you not wanting to approach somebody who is not only your boss, but also over 10 years your senior, but you know very well that denying that part of you would eventually drive you insane."
Reid looked back up into Hotch's face and saw that his expression, which had been unreadable was full of love and lust that reached his dark, compelling eyes.
Reid nearly choked at the raw emotions in Hotch's eyes, but managed not to, barely.
"You being my boss wasn't the only reason I was trying my best to avoid you," Reid finally admitted sounding incredibly shy, "and as for your age that doesn't have anything to do with it at all."
"What other reason could you possibly have for not coming to see me at the first opportunity? I have made myself available to you for the last week but you never approached me."
"Well, if I'm being completely honest I didn't think you'd be interested in me for after all we do work together and we are the same sex and a lot of people are against that sort of thing. You were married before after all and have a son and I didn't want to disrupt your life with him. Both you and Jack just lost your wife not to many years ago and I didn't want to try to insert myself into the life that you two have built for yourselves."
"You were afraid of rejection, so afraid that you decided it was just better if you tried to avoid me completely and since we work in the same section of the FBI building not to mention the same team that's not exactly as easy as it sounds," Hotch summarized, his voice dry.
"I was beginning to seriously think about leaving the FBI entirely and finding me another job as being near you every day was definitely starting to drive me insane and it has only been five days. I wasn't really sure how much longer I could be so close to you and not drive myself crazy since a lot of the time we do work seven days a week 16 or more hours a day," Reid admitted looking down at his feet.
"Spencer, if you had bothered to ask me I would have told you that ever since I met you I too have felt the pull, but since at that time I was married and you were so young I never said or did anything about it. I knew if we were meant to be that when you hit 30 you to would feel the pull as well."
Reid looked stunned at Hotch's revelation and the older man could hardly blame him for it as he had kept his feelings well hidden from the team, except for David Rossi who knew him a little to well. Dave had been silently rooting for the two of them Hotch knew.
"But… But…how? You aren't a shapeshifter unless you've been holding out on us," Reid sputtered.
"I'm not, but my father does carry the blood for it even though he's not a shapeshifter himself. My grandfather was a Shifter, but my grandmother was not, which is why my father carries the gene, but can't shift himself. If my father carries the gene that means I do as well and I have enough Shifter blood in my veins for me to feel the pull of the mating bond."
"If that's true how in the hell have you not gone insane after all it's been seven years since I came to the BAU?"
"I have a very strong will as you know and I've kept myself busy enough that I've managed to ignore it up until now. You're right seven years ago I was still married and I never would have cheated on Haley nor would I have my son if we had gotten divorced that long ago. When I couldn't keep my mind off you I took a lot of cold showers, but that only worked sometimes."
Reid winced in sympathy at that as he knew very well that would have been at least a several hundred cold showers if not more considering it had been seven years.
"Really the only thing that kept me sane for the last seven years was seeing you every day at work and if not for that I would have gone quietly crazy. That time that you were kidnapped by Tobias Hankel about drove me out of my mind as I worried that we wouldn't find you alive. You surprised me though when you showed up after having killed him after shifting into your wolf form."
"I still have nightmares about that time," Reid admitted a little reluctantly. "I had never killed anyone while shifted before, but Tobias was quite insane and was like three different personalities in one body. I really didn't have any choice because he was going to inject me with Dilaudid, which is an extremely addictive drug, as I'm sure you know and I would have had a hard time not to keep on taking it once my body had a taste of it. Even if I had managed to beat the addiction I would still have had to fight the urge to start using again for the rest of my life and I definitely didn't want that."
Both men shuddered at that and were silently grateful that it hadn't happened.
"So..." Reid began, but didn't have a chance to get any further, because suddenly Hotch's mouth descended on his and Reid didn't resist his boss's demanding lips and willingly opened his own when the older man's tongue didn't ask, but demanded entrance to his mouth.
Oh this was heaven Hotch's conscious mind thought as he continued to kiss Reid, who was not resisting at all and in fact was participating quite enthusiastically back. He had dreamed often over the last 7 years about kissing the younger man, sometimes even when he was awake and it had been pure torture to not do exactly that over the last few years, but if he had his way that was about to change. He knew that Reid wanted the same thing he did, but he was going to have to reassure the younger man that this was what he wanted, because Spencer was very unsure where relationships were concerned, even if he knew to resist the bond would at some point drive them both insane, eventually and lead to suicide. It was true he had a strong will, but even he could only take so much, especially now that Reid had finally turned thirty and he had finally come into his heritage he wasn't about to resist his instincts anymore, although he was going to have to make sure that Reid was willing as he wasn't about to force himself on the younger man no matter how much his instincts were screaming at him to take Spencer, here and now and make him his.
Finally the two of them broke apart, if only because they needed to breathe and Reid immediately slumped against one arm of the couch looking completely dazed, like he had been hit over the head with a hammer.
Hotch smirked in satisfaction and when the younger man finally looked up into Aaron's eyes what he saw there almost made him want to fling himself at his boss, but he resisted—somehow.
"Hotch..." Reid began hesitantly.
"Tell me you didn't enjoy it, that you don't want me to do it again and I'll stop," Hotch told the younger man quietly confident that Reid would not say any such thing. He had seen the wistful looks Reid had been giving him on more than one occasion over the last week. They had been the looks of a man who was sure that he would never have what he wanted.
"I can't say that because it isn't true and you would know I was lying if I did. Even if I wasn't a lousy liar you are a profiler and would still be able to tell I wasn't telling the truth," Reid said trying to sound calm, but from the way Hotch was looking at him he wasn't succeeding very well, which wasn't surprising considering the gauntlet of emotions that were running through his body at the moment. He blushed in embarrassment and Hotch thought it was a very endearing quality.
"Then tell me why you are so resistant to the idea of us," Hotch asked.
Reid could feel his expression change and knew he now looked horrified, for that was certainly how he was feeling. "Hotch… I'm not resistant to the idea, in fact nothing would make me happier. I'm just cautious is all. You are my boss after all and I don't want either one of us to be forced into a different positions just because we're in a relationship."
"That won't happen so long we can still work efficiently together," Hotch told him. "Considering I've been ignoring my feelings for you for seven years I would say without a doubt that I am able to still work with you and I have no doubt you will be able to do the same. We're both professionals and know how to do our jobs without anything outside of that interfering. Besides there's nothing in the rules about relationships, especially if the couple in question are mates."
It had been proven over the last several hundred years that to forcefully keep mated pairs apart not just temporarily, but permanently for whatever reason led to either a blood bath or the suicide of both partners.
That Hotch had been able to resist the pull for so long said a lot about his strength of will as Reid well knew it couldn't have been easy and would have driven a lesser man to either give in, take him without his consent or to commit suicide.
"Hell, I've had such a hard time just being in he same room with you for the last week that I don't know how you did it for seven years." Reid bit his lip seeming to be deep in thought and finally he said, "I want nothing more than to have a relationship with you even if we have to act professionally on the job, but..."
"But?" asked Hotch trying not to let his anxiety show.
"What will the rest of the team think for one? We do have to work with them."
"They will be happy for us and I know you know this. You can't let your insecurities about relationships stop you from being happy. I know you've been hurt in the past and that you really didn't have a male figure in your life after you turned ten, but whether you want to admit it or not we are mates and you can't deny the connection that exists between us," Hotch told him. "You know me and you know that I would never hurt you deliberately. Even if I didn't have a connection to you I still would have been willing to have a relationship, so long as I was unattached at the time."
"Hotch, I would like that so much, to have a relationship with you. Being so near you and not being able to touch you has been driving me crazy for the last week and to be completely honest I'm not sure how much longer I could have continued do so every day," Spencer finally admitted.
"Just think of how I have felt considering it's been seven years for me," Hotch said dryly causing Spencer to laugh rather shakily. "Spencer, that you were able to fight your instincts for even a week says a lot about you and you have to realize that. You should have approached me on the day, you turned thirty, although I can understand why you did not."
"I know, and I felt like such a coward for not approaching you, but I didn't really see how I could considering that you were my superior."
"It wasn't because I was your superior, although that might have played a part in your subconscious decision, but I believe it was mostly because you were afraid of rejection and if I had that would have killed you, not that there was much chance of that happening."
"I didn't know that did I?" asked Spencer relaxing a little. "You're very good at concealing your real feelings, always have been and I'm not."
"Spencer, although I am very good at concealing my feelings I was still giving off tells that I was very attracted to you, tells that you either genuinely didn't pick up on or just ignored the signals I was unconsciously giving off."
"I genuinely didn't know, but then I've always been lousy at picking up subtle clues like that," said Spencer desperately wanting to kiss Hotch again, but not feeling like he had the right to just kiss him any time he wanted since Aaron Hotchner was his boss, even if they were mates.
"Go ahead and kiss me as I certainly won't object," Hotch told the younger man having seen the indecision in Spencer's eyes and guessing accurately what it meant. "In fact you are welcome to do more then kiss me for I have loved you for seven years even while I was still married to Haley. As for me I may have a will of iron, but even iron can break given the right amount of pressure and just seeing you sitting here looking so delectable is enough to do it."
Spencer blushed, but took that as the invitation it was and leaned over until the little space that was separating the two of them shrunk to nothing and they were touching lips kissing for all they were worth.
This second kiss that they were now sharing was even better than the first one and Spencer never wanted it to end and somehow he sensed that Hotch felt the same, which amazed him, but excited him at the same time.
"Clothes off now! I have to have you! I have to taste your skin and drive myself into your core!" Hotch ordered gruffly just stopping himself from using the voice that would make the other man obey him. He wanted Spencer to make love with him willingly and not because he couldn't resist.
"If this is not what you want tell me now because if we go any further I won't guarantee you I will be able to stop, in fact I know I will not be able to for even I only have so much will power. I have been waiting seven years to have you, but I won't do anything without your willing compliance. I will not use my powers on you to make you obey me and if you tell me no, then, although it will almost kill me I won't do anything."
"I won't tell you no, I never could," Reid told Hotch seriously, but with look of utter bliss as Hotch began to run gentle hands over his face as if trying to memorize every inch. "This is what I want, what I've been wanting, so you have my permission. Do what you want with me for I am yours and have been ever since my birthday."
"Good! Then strip! I want you completely naked before me," Hotch ordered beyond pleased that Spencer was so willing and eager and that the younger man trusted him enough to give him what he wanted—desperately, but then they had been working together for a lot of years so he knew that had something to do with it as it had built up trust.
Spencer couldn't stop himself from whimpering as he imagined the pleasure that was to come, but obeyed and it didn't take long at all for him to be completely naked, as the day he was born. His clothes were immediately discarded, thrown into a corner in a heap and his cock was standing stiff and proud as soon as his underwear had been removed.
"Lay down on the couch on your stomach!" Hotch ordered and Reid immediately obeyed. "Here I want you to put this on your cock so that we can avoid creating a mess right here in my office as that is the last thing we need." Hotch passed Reid a condom and Reid put it on his cock as ordered. "Once we get back to my apartment we won't have to worry about making a mess, but for now..." Hotch said even as he took off his shoes, pants and underwear leaving in his shirt, tie and socks.
"Believe me I understand," Reid assured Hotch, shivering in the slightly cold air of Hotch's office.
Hotch didn't respond verbally, but began to kiss gently all over Reid's slim lightly muscled back. Reid groaned in pleasure as Hotch's kisses left trails of fire on every spot that the older man's lips touched.
Reid shivered in delight as he felt Hotch gently nip the skin of his back, licking each spot he had bitten as if to sooth the skin and the combination of the two actions made Reid go into intense, earthshattering spasms of pleasure.
"Like that do you," Hotch smirked as he felt the shiver and the whimpering and purring sounds that Reid made, made his cock stand up even straighter and sent an even stronger shiver of desire and lust though every part of his body.
Reid didn't answer with words, but instead purred and whimpered even louder as Hotch continued to treat Spencer's body reverently and like it was the finest piece of chocolate he had ever tasted in his life. Then again to him that was exactly what his Spencer's body it was to him. His Spencer stated absolutely heavenly as he tasted of sweat, with just a hint of the soap he used in the shower and also something that was his very essence, a kind of musky sweetness that seemed to be part of his very skin.
Reid's entire body was beginning to feel like jelly and his skin was beginning to tingle pleasantly from his mate's gentle kisses, nips and licks and he knew that Hotch had barely gotten started.
"This is going to be fast and brutal," Hotch warned Spencer his voice rough with his intense desire finally finishing tasting his mate's skin—for now and only because he couldn't hold back any longer as he had been waiting 7 years to make Spencer his. "I'm afraid I didn't think about bringing any lubrication even though I knew I was going to be confronting you once everybody was gone for the day, so long as we didn't catch a case."
"It's okay, believe me I understand, do whatever you want with my body as I'm sure I will enjoy whatever you choose to do," Reid assured him his voice very choked with his emotions that were coursing through him like an overflowing river. He had never felt like this, with so many emotions, all of them strong and positive, running through him at the same time in all of his life. "I can take a little pain, after all I have been shot and it can't be worse then that."
"It will be much more pleasurable, then being shot I promise you," Hotch chuckled wickedly even as he stuck his tongue into Spencer's hole causing the other man's body to buck several inches off the couch and it was only the fact that Hotch was holding him down that he didn't end up in a disorganized heap on the floor.
"Like that, do you?" Hotch chuckled as he stuck his tongue into Spencer's anus again causing the same reaction.
"Hotch!" Reid exclaimed in a whimper. "Please get on with it! You are killing me here!"
"Be patient, love," Hotch chuckled as Reid reacted like he had been shot throwing a look back at Hotch over his shoulder, his eyes desperate, but hopeful.
"Since when do you call me love?" asked Reid genuinely confused, but feeling hopeful that this was not going to be just a one time thing.
"Since now, for you are my love and if I have my way this is not going to be just a one time thing," Hotch said calmly making Reid want to take the older man into his arms and kiss the breath out of him as he had just made him extremely happy with his words. "I want an actual relationship with you, I want to wake up beside you every morning for the rest of our lives, I want to share every day with you."
"I want that as well," Reid assured Hotch, his voice strained as the feelings that his mate had awoken in him continued to course very strongly through his entire being. "I just never dreamed I would actually get my wish."
"Good!" Hotch growled, sounding very alpha male right then, although he also sounded very pleased. "From this moment on you are mine! Do you hear me? Mine! And just so we are clear, while you are mine, I am also yours also from this moment on and there'll never be another!"
Spencer whimpered as Hotch ran gentle fingers down his spine causing his level of pleasure to rise up several levels just from that one gesture. Hotch was being very understanding about his insecurities and Spencer still couldn't believe that Hotch wanted him, just as much as he did him or that his boss had waited for seven years in order to tell him of his feelings.
Hotch entered him then just then being as gentle as possible, even though the wolf in his chest wanted to be rough, that could wait for awhile. He wanted to make his mate's first time with him to be gentle and understanding, not rough and demanding like the wolf in him wanted. Spencer whimpered at the moment of intense pain as Hotch's large cock entered his hole for the first time. Hotch stilled, although it was extremely difficult to remain so as all he wanted to do was ram himself into the younger man, but on the other hand he didn't want to cause Spencer anymore pain then necessary either, so he used every ounce of will power he possessed to not move until Spencer gave some indication that he was ready for more.
Finally the pain faded and Spencer automatically bucked his hips backwards to let Hotch know he was ready for more and Aaron understood the silent signal and begin to move his cock in and out of the younger man until it finally exploded into Reid's body, after only a couple of thrusts, while at the same time Spencer's cock discharged violently into the condom that he had rolled onto it.
"Well, that was spectacular," Reid said weakly as soon as his climax had subsided his voice sounding tired and completely sated. He wasn't even sure if he wouldn't be able to stand as his entire body felt completely boneless as if he was nothing more than flesh with no structure or form at all.
"It was for me as well, and that includes when I had sex with Haley," Hotch admitted being completely truthful, "and that was just a quickie to relieve the tension. You just wait until I get you home and into my bed. I'll take my time then and this climax will be mild in comparison and that's a promise."
"What about, Jack?" asked Spencer as he tried to sit up even as he tried to imagine having a stronger climax then what he just experienced and was having a difficult time of it, but then he had never been one for casual sex and was nearly a virgin, except for a few encounters with women over the years. He certainly wasn't as prolific as Morgan who had sex much more often then he did, but then he was mated so it wasn't surprising. In fact he'd had sex less then half a dozen times in the last ten years, which ought to be a clue as to how shy he was around most women and Morgan's teasing didn't help.
"Jack, is with his Aunt Jessica for tonight and tomorrow at least, but on Sunday, since we have it off and aren't actually on a case, we'll be spending the day with my son. If I was feeling irresponsible I'd keep you in bed on Sunday, as well, but I do want to reintroduce you to Jack and let him get to know you at least a little. Yes, you two have met, but you haven't seen him in over a year and as young as he is I'm not sure that he will remember you."
"Well, Jack is five and he should have at least some memory of me, although it might be a little fuzzy since he hasn't seen me in so long," Reid said as he was finally able to stand on his legs, which had been extremely weak from his climax. Spencer began to get dressed slowly as his legs still felt rather wobbly and he didn't want to fall. "Most children start to have solid memories around three or four, but before that they don't remember anything at least consciously."
Hotch shook his head even as he to put on his underwear and then his pants making sure to take the time to tuck in his shirt and tighten his tie. Finally Hotch put on his shoes and stood up.
"So who's place are we heading for? Yours or mine?" asked Spencer as casually as possible.
Hotch smirked at him, saying nothing to let Reid know that his feigned casualness was not fooling him in the slightest and Spencer blushed a lovely shade of red at having himself read so easily.
"Well, my place is closer to here, so we'll go there for tonight. Sometime tomorrow we'll stop by your place and you can pack some of your clothes and toiletries to leave at my apartment as I have a feeling you'll be spending a lot of time there in the near future."
"Probably," Reid agreed amiably genuinely looking forward to it. He had never wanted anything so much in his entire life actually, which really wasn't surprising he supposed.
"In fact I would like you to move in with me, but I realize that Jack needs to be comfortable with having you around first and that you need time to adjust to the situation as well."
"And you don't?" asked Spencer immediately.
"I've had seven very long years to adjust, while you have had barely a week to get used to the idea."
"I do need a little time to adjust," Reid admitted after a moment, "but not as much as you believe simply because I knew that my 30th birthday was coming and that finding my mate was possible, so I have spent the last couple of years in my free moments imagining myself actually in a happy relationship, although I knew very well the odds of me actually finding my mate. I never actually imagined that it would be anybody I worked with, much less my boss. I mean what are the odds?"
Hotch chuckled. "I certainly understand that view as the odds must be astronomical."
"Considering how many people there are in the world today…" Spencer began.
"It was a rhetorical question, Spencer," Hotch told him with a chuckle as he should have known that Spencer would know the statistics.
"Oh, okay," Reid said blushing a little embarrassed.
"In any case let's get out of here," Hotch said taking Spencer into his arms and giving him to be continued later kind of kiss, his tongue taking possession of the younger man's mouth forcing it's way past Reid's lips without bothering to ask for permission for Spencer was his. The wolf in his chest howled in agreement at that thought and immediately wanted to take his mate again and after that again until both he and Spencer were to exhausted to continue and fell asleep in each other's arms.
"You keep that up and we won't be going anywhere," Reid moaned through the kiss.
Hotch chuckled, but had to agree. "We will be continuing this at home."
"It's your home, and Jack's home, not mine," Reid protested halfheartedly even as he pulled the older man's head down for another fiery, smoldering kiss.
"It will be," Hotch said his voice a little breathless, but with such certainty in his tone that Reid couldn't find it within him to protest probably because he wanted nothing more than to move in with Hotch, to wake up beside him every morning and spend as much time as humanly possible in his presence. "It might take a few months between Jack getting used to your presence and our jobs, but it will happen."
"So when are we going to tell the rest of the team? They have to know. Actually scratch that they'll figure it out by themselves even if we try to keep it to ourselves, and you might be good at concealing your feelings, but I'm not. I know we aren't supposed to profile each other, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen and they can read me like a book. There's no way I'll be able to keep such a big secret for very long and if they find out we did tell them they'll be mad at both of us," Reid said not arguing with Hotch's earlier statement
"Oh I don't plan on keeping it a secret as there's no way I'll be able to sleep without you beside me when we are on a case now that you have acknowledged the bond that is between us, so we'll be sharing a hotel room from now on and before you ask the higher-ups won't object, so long as we remain professional on the job."
Hotch's tone brooked no argument, not that Reid was inclined to give him one since he felt the same way and just kissed him again, which was his way of responding to the older man's statement.
"Strauss will object just because she's a bitch," Reid pointed out rudely, "although you're right in the fact that to forcibly separate mates even if they are on the same team is tantamount to suicide."
"Or a blood bath," Hotch said looking grim despite how happy and contented he was feeling to have Spencer in his arms. How he had longed for the other man for 7 long years and Hotch could hardly make himself believe that Spencer was now his.
They had both promised each other, just minutes ago to take no other lovers, besides if they did that would be tantamount to suicide since once you had sex with your True Mate, you could have sex with no other at least not willingly for you would feel so guilty afterwards that 97 percent of the time it led to the death of the mate who was guilty of the sin and soon after the suicide of the other. If somebody of a mated pair was raped however, so long as the other supported their partner and helped them through it they were usually okay after awhile, although they would have to live with the guilt for the rest of their lives even if it hadn't been their fault.
"You really dislike Strauss, don't you?" Hotch teased him.
Spencer grimaced. "So does everybody else on the team except perhaps for Rossi. I hate her for the simple fact that she has tried to tear this team apart more then once, she tried to get Emily to spy on the rest of the team, but luckily she was honest and admitted it to us."
"It helps that she despises politics," Hotch said with a chuckle. He had thought at first that Emily Prentiss's mother had gotten her the position, but it had turned out that not only were her and her mother barely in contact, because they disagreed on a number of things, like Emily's career for one, but that she was a damn fine profiler and they were very lucky to have her on the team, especially since she was a shaman of some power.
"Well, yes," Reid said as the two of them left Hotch's office and headed toward the parking lot. "She transferred JJ away to work for Pentagon even though it was against her wishes, just so she could look good with her bosses. She has tried her damn best to get rid of you in anyway that she can and just because she hasn't succeeded doesn't mean I dislike her any less."
"Well, as you are aware, I don't really like her either, because you are right and she is nothing more then a backstabbing, power hungry schemer, but enough about her let's concentrate on us for right now."
"Fine with me," Reid said with a smile. "I'll meet you at your apartment."
"Why don't we go out somewhere for a quiet dinner first? It's only seven o'clock and I know we eat later then this a lot of times, but I'm starving," Hotch suggested with a smile.
"I wonder why," Reid teased him causing Hotch to smile glad Spencer felt comfortable enough to joke with him a little. "Anyway, dinner sounds good and I'm starving too."
"Good I know this quiet little French place. They are very discreet there and it is also a very romantic place with nothing but low romantic lighting. Besides you are going to need your energy for what I have planned, and so will I."
"Sounds heavenly," said Spencer. "I hope there's a trash can between here and there though, since I would like to get rid of this condom. I wasn't about to leave in a trashcan in the office as it would have been bound to discovered and would have probably come back to bite me in the ass at some point."
"Smart thinking," said Hotch with a smile kissing Spencer ever willing lips again, "because you are right it would have been found by the cleaning crew at the very least and most likely would have been reported."
"We're just lucky that there are no cameras in your office," said Spencer.
"I knew that before I started planning on how to get into my clutches," Hotch said with a straight face, but with laughter in his eyes.
"Of course you did," Reid said rolling his eyes, although he could see the humor in Hotch's statement so he let it go. "So where is this place located and I'll meet you there."
Hotch told him and Spencer nodded heading for his car after giving Hotch another kiss on the lips.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
"This is a really nice place, Hotch," Reid said as the two of them were sat at a private table for two in a dim corner. "The hostess or the waitress didn't even give us funny looks because we were two men in an obvious romantic relationship."
"Of course," Hotch smirked. "I knew that before I even suggested it as a place to have a nice dinner. Same-sex couples come here all the time and a lot of them are Shifters like yourself."
"Do I want to know how you knew about this place?" asked Spencer a little reluctantly.
"Dave," Hotch answered immediately. "He was the only one that knew about the bond I had to you and he knew about my plans once you turned thirty."
"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that Rossi knew considering he was part of the team before I came along and knows you better then anyone else, including me," Reid said.
"No, you shouldn't be. Anyway apparently he's been here before with some of his dates and he was the one that told me that they didn't mind same-sex couples and that they were very discreet."
Spencer looked around appreciatively and said, "Well definitely have to come back sometime, although I know our schedule is uncertain and often hectic so we never know where we're going to be from one week to the next."
"We'll manage to get back here every once in awhile whenever we have a break between cases," Hotch said as he looked at Spencer appreciatively. He had been admiring Spencer from afar for the last 7 years and still had trouble believing that the young man he had lusted after secretly for so long was finally his. Hotch appreciated how the candlelight seemed to reflect off Spencer's golden brown eyes and even made his dark brown hair seem several shades lighter, giving him an almost halolike effect around his head.
Hotch reached under the table and took Spencer hand in his and watched at the younger man's eyes widen in surprise and then how he flushed in embarrassed pleasure shooting him an adoring look.
"Let me make this clear," Hotch began quite seriously making sure to look Spencer in the eyes so that the shy young man would know he was being honest and completely truthful. "I have absolutely no intention of hiding our relationship, you understand me? None! We'll both act professionally at work, but outside of that arena, I am going to hold your hand, kiss or hug you and I don't give a damn what other people, think of it. I realize it will mostly be Normals who think that there is something wrong with two men in a relationship and probably some shamans as well, but since our lives are our own and no one has a right to interfere it doesn't matter what they think."
"What about the team?" asked Spencer sounding very insecure and unsure.
"They will support us and I know you know this. They know what happens when a Shifter turns thirty and although I'm sure they didn't expect for you to find your mate among your coworkers they will still be excited for us as all they want is for us to be happy. I even suspect that they will be relieved as they know how lonely we both are."
"You've been lonely?" asked Spencer sounding startled as he had never considered the fact that Hotch might be lonely. It had just never occurred to him.
"Even since the divorce, yes, but really even before that," Hotch admitted. "Haley wasn't the kind of person that you could really talk to, well except about generalities, especially about the job and I was gone so much of the time that I was mostly pretty lonely. Even when I was home, we didn't sit down and have any heart to heart talks or discuss our day."
"You sound as if you were miserable," Reid observed.
"Oh I was happy enough, especially when we were first married, but after a few years it became abundantly clear that Haley and I lost whatever common ground we shared during the later years of our marriage. Part of that I realize is that I was gone so much, but also neither one of us really worked on keeping the common ground we had when we got married and that was as much Haley's fault as it was mine, although when she was alive she would have disagreed that the breakup was in anyway her fault at all even though it was her that wanted a divorce in the first place, instead of trying to work out our problems or going to a marriage counselor."
Spencer snorted at that. "I realize I've never been married, but even I know that it takes both people of a couple in order to maintain a decent marriage. One person can't just put in all the work to maintain it and expect the relationship to last."
"After I realized that we were mates back when you first joined the BAU it got pretty hard to hide that fact from Haley, but I was gone so much that made it easier," Hotch admitted as he gave Spencer's hand a squeeze under the table.
Spencer blushed again and Hotch secretly hoped that the young man never lost his ability to do so for he found it adorable and endearing.
"You should have approached me a lot sooner and not waited until I turned 30," Reid told Hotch gazing at him across the small candlelit table.
"I might have if I didn't know how you had never really had a relationship and how shy you were in that area," Hotch admitted. "I was afraid if I did though that you would turn me down flat just because I was your boss or because I was so much older than you are, although the first possibility is the more likely I know. I thought about telling you quite seriously more than once, although I would've waited until you were at least in your late 20s and had some experience with the outside world. However, you have to remember that I was married and that relationship only broke up about four years ago."
"And what would you have done if you were still married to Haley when I turned 30?" asked Spencer asked genuinely curious.
"Well I can see one of two different things happening," Hotch said after a moment. "One I would have admitted to you that I have loved you ever since you came to work at the BAU at 23 and I would've gotten a divorce, or two we would have carried on a discreet affair, which really would have been incredibly easy considering that we travel together so often for work. I realize however that option two is the least likely scenario, since both of us are to honorable to really do that while I was still married. Not to mention that having sex with anyone except your True Mate once you have mated with them would mean suicide for I know I would have felt so incredibly guilty afterwards that I wouldn't have been able to stop myself."
"Yes, we both would have felt guilty if we had had sex except with each other and yes, we are both to honorable to carry on a discreet affair even if such an arrangement didn't lead to suicide. I'm still trying to understand how you lasted for seven years," Reid said shaking his head at the fact that Hotch had been able to last so long without at least speaking of his feelings and that he had managed to maintain the secret deep in his heart.
"I know I mentioned that it helped that I saw you every day at work, but I can't tell you the number of times I sat outside your apartment building in my car trying to talk myself out of going to confess my feelings for you or how often I wanted to drag you into some private corner and take you without your consent."
"I certainly understand those feelings," Reid said with a soft chuckle looking up at Hotch adoringly. "Just in the last week I've sat outside your apartment building every night for hours trying to get up the courage to actually knock on your door and tell you how I felt, but as I'm sure you can guess I also chickened out every single time."
"Why?" asked Hotch. "It sure would have made things easier."
"Because I convinced myself that you wouldn't possibly be interested in me, as anything other then a coworker and possibly a friend. I mean you're handsome, powerful, well built, have confidence in yourself and have women chasing you or at least giving you signals that they're interested. Me on the other hand, is none of the above."
"That's not true and I think you know that," Hotch vehemently denied. "You've changed so much in the last seven years and I don't think you even realize it. You've gotten more confident, especially when conducting an interview or interrogation, you actually go out just to enjoy yourself now instead of just staying home and reading."
"I do know I have changed a great deal in the last seven years. Yes, I have more confidence in certain situations, although the social arena certainly isn't one of them..."
"You've gotten better in that area to," Hotch corrected.
"A little I suppose, although I still feel incredibly awkward in social situations. I never seem to know how to act or what to say, especially to the females that seem to flock around Morgan and the others and even you."
"Believe me I know," Hotch chuckled.
"That's what I meant when I said you had women chasing you and did even when you were married and you joined us at some bar or restaurant. How many propositions have you gotten over the years?"
"To many to remember," Hotch chuckled. "I hope you also remember that I turned every single one of them down even when I wasn't married anymore and you know the reason why I did."
"Are you telling me you haven't had a relationship of any kind in the last four years?"
"Not really, just a few one night stands to relieve the sexual tension, but those women meant nothing to me. Luckily I was at the age after I met you that I wasn't a young man whose libido was in overdrive, so it was easier."
"Yes, you were in your early thirties when I joined the team and the libido stops being in overdrive sometime in the mid to late twenties, depending on the male."
"I didn't want to get into any serious relationships, after Haley had just been murdered and yes, I know we were separated. I know I met you while I was still married, so while I still cared for Haley, and loved her even after our divorce it wasn't the same kind of love I felt for you."
"That's normal you know even if you're married at the time you meet your True Mate then the love for the person you're married to changes dramatically. You still care about and love them, but it won't be the kind of love or the affection you feel for your other half."
"I know," Hotch agreed. "Besides by the time I had finished grieving it had been a year and you were less than three years away from being thirty, so I didn't want to get involved in a relationship that might have turned serious since you were so close to recognizing the bond that is between us. Besides when did I really have the free time to get involved in a serious relationship? I mean we were on cases a lot of the time and I was looking after Jack the rest of it, so it seems I've barely had time to breathe much less get into a relationship with someone."
Spencer chuckled at that as he knew exactly what Hotch meant.
The two men finished their dinner in companionable silence and when the waitress brought the check, Spencer reached for it, but Hotch beat him to it, snatching the check from under Spencer's fingers.
"I am the one that invited you to dinner so I'll be paying," Hotch told Spencer with a smile, when he looked like he was about to protest.
Spencer sighed giving in without argument knowing that there was no way to change Hotch's mind when he used that tone, the tone that said he would accept no arguments.
Hotch handed the waitress his credit and asked, "So are you ready to head back to my place?"
"Yes," Reid answered blushing a bright crimson knowing exactly what Hotch was asking. Hotch was asking, without actually saying the words as to whether or not he was ready for a night of amazing lovemaking and that they wouldn't be getting much sleep. "I'm looking forward to it."
"Good," Hotch almost growled his dark brown eyes full of a deep seated lust looking at Spencer like he was a five course dinner causing the younger man to blush again, because he had never been looked at so lustfully, by anyone, much less his boss. "Because when we walk in the door of my apartment we are heading straight to what is now our bedroom and once we there I am going to do things to you that I've been dreaming about for 7 long years. It's a good thing we have all weekend because you are going to need at least a day to recover, from what I plan on doing to your body."
Spencer gulped and felt adrenaline run through him making his body feel like it was on fire. He was looking forward to anything Hotch chose to do to him much more then he had anything else in his life. He had admired Aaron Hotchner for a number years even before he had reached his 30th birthday. He had never figured, however, that someone like Hotch would be interested in someone like him, then again he had never figured on Hotch having shapeshifter blood, enough for him to have the mating gene that had activated when he turned 30. Most of those with shapeshifter, blood that couldn't actually transform also didn't have the mating gene or at the very least it was dormant, but there was a small percentage, and apparently Hotch was one, that had enough Shifter blood that the mating instinct activated when they had reached 30. Scientists still didn't understand why this was so and they were still years away from doing so.
"Let's get out of here then," Reid said trying his best to sound normal, but the look and smirk Hotch shot him told him he hadn't quite succeeded.
Finally the waitress brought back Hotch's credit card and once he had slipped it into his wallet he rose from the table looking completely relaxed and only someone who knew him well would be able to tell that he was incredibly tense with anticipation.
Spencer followed the older man out the door and the two of them got in their separate cars heading for Hotch's apartment building, which was only about a ten minute drive from the restaurant.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
Hotch hadn't been kidding when he said that as soon as they entered his apartment he was going to do things to him that he had been dreaming about for 7 years. The door had barely been shut and locked when Hotch's hands were pulling off his sweater vest, throwing it somewhere out of sight, unbuttoning and removing his shirt, letting it slide down Reid's arms and then drop to the floor. Finally Hotch unbuttoned, and then unzipped Reid's slacks, pushing them down past the younger man's hips, letting them fall to the floor to puddle at his feet.
"Hey, let's be fair here," Reid pretend pouted. "You have me almost completely naked while you are still almost fully dressed."
Hotch kissed the pout on Reid's face away and then ordered his voice a deep growl, "Bedroom! Now! Once we are there, I will allow you to undress me, before we get started. Don't expect to be let out of bed much for the next day and a half as I have so many things I've been wanting to do to your body for the last seven years and I intend to fulfill as many of them in the time we have before we pick up Jack as possible."
Reid followed his mate eagerly and without complaint looking everywhere as he trailed behind the older man. Hotch had three bedrooms, the master, which is where he assumed they were heading, his son's room and then a guest room. The living area was decorated nicely, although it didn't really look like someone actually lived in it, which wasn't surprising considering that Hotch was gone so much of the time, so really this apartment was just a place to sleep when he was actually in town. His apartment was much the same, except that it was smaller and he had bookshelves all over the place. There was no way all his books would fit in Hotch's apartment, so they were either going to have to move some place new or maintain two apartments, which really didn't make sense if they were going to be living together. He would worry about it later, he decided, preferably much later.
Finally Hotch pushed open a partially closed door and gestured for Spencer to enter first which he did. Hotch then entered and shut the door gently behind him turning on the lamp that was on the bedside table.
Hotch began to loosen his tie, but Spencer stopped him with a gentle hand on his mate's cheek. "You promised I could undress you."
"So I did," Hotch agreed with a smirk as his eyes left Reid's face to rove up and down his mate's body. He knew Spencer didn't think so, but his body really was fine. A little too skinny, because he didn't eat enough, which Hotch knew from experience, but lightly muscled, lithe and slim.
Spencer blushed at Hotch's heated regard even as he began to undo his tie. Once the tie was gone, he began to undo Hotch's shirt, which like his had a long row of buttons, which were no problem for his long dexterous fingers.
Once Hotch's shirt was gone, Spencer undid the button on Hotch suit pants and let them drop to the floor. All that now remained were the underwear of both men and the visible bulges pressing against the fabric.
"Well it looks like we are both eager to begin," Hotch chuckled almost literally salivating as he gazed at his mate's white skin and the visible bulge of his cock that was pressing against the material of his underwear. He could hardly wait to have his cock in Spencer's body again and he was having to use every ounce of willpower he possessed to not just attack the other man, despite the fact that they had relieved the tension in his office. He could make love to his mate 1000 times and still want to do it 1000 more and would for the rest of his life.
"Are you kidding me?" asked Spencer sounding incredulous. "Of course I'm ready and have been for the last week. If you had been having the intense dreams I've been having ever since I realized that you were my mate, you would be to and yes I know we had a quickie in your office, but all that did was left me wanting more."
Hotch chuckled, "Try 7 years worth of dreams. Those dreams were one of the only things that kept me sane, well besides seeing you almost every day. They made me hope that someday we would be together."
"And now that day has finally come," Reid said with a shy smile, which made him even more handsome to Hotch if that was possible.
"Yes, it has and for me anyway it has been a long time in coming," said Hotch moving forward a few inches and putting both hands on Spencer's underwear and pulling it down in one smooth motion. Reid's cock immediately sprang to attention once freed from it's confinement.
"Well, it certainly won't take much to make you come," Hotch chuckled darkly gazing down at his mate's cock trying his best not to drool with the intense desire that went through him at the mere sight of it. He couldn't wait to have to other man's cock in his mouth or to be swallowing his cum. He could think of more than a dozen things he wanted to do to Spencer's cock alone and that didn't even include the rest of his body.
"And can you say any different?" Reid challenged, pulling down Hotch's underwear watching as his mate's bulging cock stood up just as straight as his was doing, although the alpha's was longer, thicker and also more defined at the tip and Spencer knew that he was going to enjoy being penetrated by the older man's manhood once more.
"No, I can't," Hotch admitted honestly. "If I did you would know I was lying and I won't lie to you ever, but I expect the same from you, complete honesty—always."
"You'll get it, I will never lie to you," Reid promised. "I'm not very good at it anyway, so it wouldn't do me any good since you would be able to see right through me."
"Bed!" Hotch ordered in his alpha voice. "On your back, pillow under hips. Now!"
Spencer obeyed instantly and eagerly laying on the already turned down bed on his back just as Hotch ordered and placed the pillow from the other side of the bed under his hips.
"You are so handsome, so delectable," Hotch told him as he gently ran both hands all over Reid's chest and sides, causing the younger man to groan with desire at his mate's gentle touch. "I know you have never believed yourself as being such, but trust me you are. I know you have never paid any attention, but I've seen more than one women over the years looking at you with lust. I can practically read their thoughts without half trying, but then they weren't exactly being very subtle."
"I noticed, but all they did was make me uncomfortable," Reid said his voice already becoming strained. "They looked at me like I was a piece of meat on the market and you're right those women weren't very subtle. Really they would have had to have been pretty obvious if I picked up on it since I've never been good on noticing that kind of subtle clue."
"Do I make you uncomfortable?" asked Hotch.
"No, the way you look at me and the way those women did are two totally different things. They looked at me like I was a side of beef. They did not know a thing about me nor did they care to try to get to know me as all they wanted was a body to warm their beds and didn't care about what kind of person that was inhibiting it. You on the other hand look at me totally differently. You look at me not as a side of meat, or just somebody to warm your bed, but as a living breathing person, with his own intelligence, personality and interests. In other words you genuinely love and care about me, as a person, which those women didn't. You know me and don't look at me as just somebody to have sex with, but that you don't care about otherwise."
"Yes," Hotch said slowly, "now that you have pointed it out, you're right. The way I feel about you and the way those women did are two totally different things. I care about you, those women didn't, not in any meaningful way."
"Hotch…" Reid began.
"Call me Aaron at least while we are not on the job," Hotch ordered, huskily.
"Alright," Reid agreed feeling honored at being asked to call Hotch by his first name at least when they weren't working. "Then call me Spencer at least when we aren't on the job. Actually I prefer it if you want to know the truth as calling each other by our last names, or in your case a nickname, seems rather impersonal. Aaron, back to the point I was trying to make a minute ago and that is unlike those women you could never make me as uncomfortable as they did simply because I know you care about me and would never use me like they would have, if I had let them."
"Good," said Hotch relief in his expression.
Spencer reached up and took Aaron's face between his hands pulling him down to give him a passion filled kiss on the lips. "Let's get back to what we were doing shall we? I've been looking forward to it. All through dinner all I could think about was what I wanted you to do to me when we got back to your place and also what I would like to do to you."
"Tell me what you want and I will do my best to fulfill your every fantasy," Hotch said gently, that was out of place with the lecherous grin on his face, which caused Spencer to blush as red as fire.
"Well, in my dreams…" Spencer began shyly seeming unsure. "You always began by sucking on my nipples and using your teeth and tongue to work up an almost indescribable sensation." Spencer blushed as he said this. "In my dreams I always nearly come from that alone, but the dream you always seemed to know just when to stop to prevent my going over the edge."
"Like this?" Hotch said taking Spencer's left nipple into his mouth sucking on it gently, for a few seconds causing the younger man to groan and begin to wither frantically beneath him as the sensations that Aaron was causing with his teeth and tongue shot straight to his groin and the alpha male had barely gotten started.
"Yes, exactly like that," Reid said panting heavily his voice hoarse.
Hotch grinned at how responsive his mate was and began to use his tongue to lick the nipple he was sucking on into a little peak and finally using his teeth to scrape along the sensitive skin, causing Spencer to close his eyes as a look of utter bliss crossed his face.
"So how are my doing so far?" Hotch asked teasingly already knowing the answer once he had removed his mouth from Spencer's nipple, replacing it with his fingers. His thumb and forefinger gently rolled his mate's nipple between them, causing Spencer to groan again as pleasure and ecstasy surged through him, seeming to strengthen with every wave and causing his climax to draw nearer.
"Hell, Aaron, you're blowing my dreams out of the water and I know we've barely gotten started. Apparently my imagination is no match for the reality," Reid answered sounding completely dazed.
Hotch grinned at that then asked, "So what else did I do in your dreams?"
"Well..." Spencer began then stopped blushing again.
"Tell me, and I promise I won't take offence," Hotch promised sincerely, kissing Spencer on the lips, his tongue demanding entrance to his lover's mouth, which made Reid automatically open his mouth for the other man. "I want to know every single one of your fantasies about you and me and I will do my best to fulfill them, even if it takes me the rest of my life," the older man added as soon as the kiss had broken.
Spencer looked dazed, just from the way that Hotch's tongue had overtaken his mouth as the sensations were absolutely out of this world, but once he came back to reality he blushed again, but said, "You also took my cock into your mouth, suck on it, while running your teeth along the sensitive skin and at the same time you used one hand to fondle and squeeze my balls and if the sensations are anything like in my dreams then they will be absolutely indescribable." Spencer's eyes rolled back as he imagined that the reality would far outstrip the dream.
Hotch grinned then assured him, "It will be the greatest pleasure."
Hotch immediately took Spencer's stiff manhood into his mouth and began sucking on it tonguing the tip and then scraping his teeth along the numerous nerves that were part of a man's cock. "Aaaarrrrrooooooonnnnnnnn!" Reid immediately screamed as his cock released it's load into Hotch's mouth after only a few seconds and Spencer watched through dazed eyes as his mate swallowed every single drop, with every evidence of pleasure and satisfaction.
Just watching Aaron swallow his cum made Spencer immediately go over the edge and as his climax overtook him he knew distantly that he had indeed been right, that his dream didn't even come close to the reality.
Finally Reid opened his eyes and stared directly into his mate's dark brown ones. "Thank you for fulfilling my fantasies."
"You don't have to thank me, Spencer, I've been doing those things to you in my dreams for seven, long years and it will always be an absolute pleasure. It will always be my pleasure to fulfill any fantasy that you have as well as my own. All you have to do is tell me whatever you fantasize about me doing to you and I guarantee I will be happy fulfill it."
"Intellectually I know that, but I'm still having trouble believing in my heart that you could love me as much as I do you, even if I know you do."
"I'll make sure to prove to you every day how much I do love you even if it takes the rest of my life. I will prove to you that you deserve to be loved just as much as anybody else. I can guess what made you think that you don't deserved to be loved as much as the next person and why you are having trouble accepting in your heart that I do love you, so deeply that I will never stop even when I take my last breath. In any case if I ever run into your father, he and I will be having words and he will not like what I have to say."
"How do you know it's my father that caused me to not trust my own feelings?" asked Spencer rhetorically.
Hotch simply looked at him raising an eyebrow and Spencer got the silent message. Hotch was a profiler and a good one. A decent profiler could learn a lot about a person just by observing them even from a distance, but since they worked so closely together any profiler worth his salt would be able to tell things about a person, especially one they worked with day in and day out for years.
"How long have I known you? Seven years. In that amount of time I have learned a lot about you just from observing you everyday. I know how you think, what makes you tick. I know that despite your father leaving when you were ten you're a good man because why would you have joined the FBI otherwise? Joining the FBI, is not for everybody, especially the BAU. Yes, you are not very athletic, but it was your intelligence that allowed you to get into the FBI and specifically into our unit. Your mind is your greatest asset, even though I know you are afraid of it at times. Answer me this if your father hadn't left, if he had spent more time with you then he did, do you think you would have turned out the same? The same man that wanted to join the FBI so that he could help people, prevent families from being torn apart? Be the same man that I love? Or would you have turned out totally differently if your father had, had more influence in your life?"
"There's really no way to know for certain. It could've gone either way," Reid answered understanding exactly what Hotch was getting at. "There are statics for both sides of the coin. A lot of children who come from bad, abusive childhoods turn into decent hard-working people, others don't, on the other side of the coin some children who come from parents who are decent, hard-working and love their children turn out bad and some of the unsubs that we catch. Technically though I wasn't really abused at least not physically, just neglected and although I know that can have a very negative effect on the psych, it's not as bad as being physically abused."
"I don't believe that, no matter what the statics say, I believe being the neglected and abandoned by someone who is supposed to love you, especially by a parent and when your mother is having schizophrenia episodes, ones so bad that she doesn't even know who you are sometimes is just as bad as physical abuse. When you marry someone it is supposed to be until death do you part and although I know there is a lot of divorces, in this country, it doesn't make it right unless one of the spouses is physically abusive, cheats on you or something else goes seriously wrong, but to just leave you wife, because she is mentally ill and to leave your child with that ill person is just cowardly. I mean when you get married you're supposed to love the person, love them enough to not leave at the slightest hiccup. If you weren't so much more intelligent then most children you either wouldn't have survived or been put into foster care and I might never have met you at all."
Both men shuddered as they both contemplated never having met.
"Man you really have a beef against my father don't you?" asked Spencer. A feeling swelled in him that he had trouble at first identifying, but finally he identified a gratitude and also love. Hotch's rant meant everything to him simply because it meant he cared, actually more then cared for him. The way that Hotch talked about his father, and how he would like to have a talk with him and he had never had anybody who cared enough to be so indigent towards his father who was supposed to love him, but then again nobody knew that much about his past not even the rest of the team. They had all picked up things about each other over the years, but no one knew very much about his past and he had never divulged much at all about his childhood or his years in college and with good reason.
"I do, because as I said he is a coward. He left his sick wife and young son to fend for themselves and I believe it is at least one of the reasons that you turned out so well, probably even the main one is because he didn't stick around. If he hadn't left, if he had paid you more attention then you did, instead of neglecting you then it is entirely possible that your personality would be totally different. You could be living somewhere making scads of money, by owning your own company or business, but you would also more then likely be unhappy, because you wouldn't truly be who you are, fulfilling yourself by helping others."
"And you and I would never have met," Reid said looking devastated at the mere possibility of never meeting the person that had been meant for him to find and to share his life with.
"Probably not, well not unless we were extremely lucky and we met while I and the rest of the team were working on a case," said Hotch feeling sick at even the slight possibility that he never would have met his mate, whom he had loved from the moment he had set eyes on him.
"Aaron, I know my childhood was not ideal, but there are a lot of children that have it worse then I did. You're right though one of the reasons I wanted to join the FBI, the BAU in particular, in the first place was to prevent even more broken families like mine was and also to help catch the people that caused those same people to grieve."
"And you do." Hotch said. "How many cases have you had a major part in helping to solve? Hundreds at the very least."
"185," Reid reeled of the number without pause.
Hotch rolled his eyes. "My point was that you joined the Bureau to help people, and you have helped solve almost 200 cases over the years even if all those cases didn't always end happily."
"I know that," Reid said, "intellectually anyway, but in my heart of hearts I suppose I'll always be that scared, lonely little boy whose father abandoned him. Did you know he left me a letter? A fucking letter trying to explain why he was abandoning my mother and me."
"What exactly did your father say in the letter?" asked Hotch trying to appear calm, although he was almost in a killing rage. If he ever got his hands on Spencer's father he was going to make the man wish he had never been born. The only good thing in his life that William Reid had done was marry Spencer's mother Diana so that his mate had been born.
"Oh you know the usual, he gave excuses about how he couldn't handle my mother's disease and that he was sorry he was leaving me behind, but he wanted to start his life fresh, away from his sick wife. He told me that he loved me and that he hoped someday I would be able to forgive him—fat chance—for what he had done and if I'm honest there is more chance of me walking away if he was on fire, then of me trying to put it out."
"I don't blame you a bit, as we can be scarred for life by things that happen in childhood. In some cases that scarring can lead to a child eventually turning into someone who commits horrible atrocities and need to be caught and in other cases it leads to people like you and me who go out of their way to help others," Hotch said, "In any case that just confirms my original diagnosis that he's a coward. Leaving without even trying to explain to your face why and leaving you to read about it in a letter is definitely cowardly."
"I can't disagree," Reid admitted then added with a grin. "Let's quit talking about it though as I believe we have other things we could be doing."
"So we do," Hotch agreed with a lustful grin. "We'll drop the subject for now, but we will be talking about it at some later date."
Spencer nodded gratefully and Hotch got back to what he had been doing and it didn't take long at all for him to have his mate screaming his name and climaxing yet again.
"I love you so much, Spencer," Hotch told him as soon as they had both climaxed for the third or fourth time. "I have since the moment we first met 7 years ago and that love and respect has only deepened over the years."
"I hope you know that I love you too," Spencer told Aaron running a gentle hand over his lover's face.
Hotch raised one of his hands to capture Spencer's in his own giving it a gentle squeeze. "I do," Hotch assured him.
"I have always respected you ever since I met you, but in the last week that has changed into something else entirely," Spencer added after a moment. "I know with absolute certainty that to be parted from you on a permanent basis would kill me."
"I know that too and I feel the same," Hotch told Spencer kissing him tenderly on the lips.
Hotch didn't mention that he was bound to die first since he was ten years older, even if that was in the line of duty or old age. There was no point of bringing it up since he knew that Spencer had probably already thought of the possibly, so why upset his lover anymore than he probably already was over that possibility.
The two of them continued to make love for what remained of the night and finally fell asleep around dawn totally exhausted.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
When Reid and Hotch walked in together first thing on Tuesday morning there were immediately raised eyebrows, especially since Reid was limping just a little, although he did his best to hide it, but wasn't successful or at least not entirely. Everybody on the team raised eyebrows, except for Rossi who had just stood in the doorway of his office smiling as he knew exactly what had happened. He even tossed Hotch a wink while the other's were distracted and Hotch grinned smugly in return. Spencer tried not to think about the things that Hotch had done to him in the two nights and full day they'd had together before Hotch had gone to pick up his son, for they had been spectacular as Hotch had indeed fulfilled quite a few of his fantasies and also a few of his own. The two of them had hardly left the bed at all, except to eat. They had ordered takeout as they didn't want to leave long enough to eat someplace nice. On Sunday however, Hotch had picked up Jack leaving Spencer alone at his apartment and while he had been gone Reid had mentally prepared himself for interacting with a five year old. He had never been very good with children, but Jack appeared to be the exception for as soon as Hotch and his son had entered Jack had run to him and tackled his legs saying he was glad to see his dad so happy.
Reid had looked up at Hotch, who was grinning from the entry hall that led into the living area and he summarized that his mate had tried to explain to his son, in terms a five year old could understand, about his relationship with another man and had apparently succeeded. Of course children picked up on the emotions around them a lot easier than most adults did, so Jack had probably felt that his dad was extremely happy and therefore had already been prepared to like him. It was true that Jack had already known him, and knew that he worked with his father and that had more than likely had something to do little boy trusting him so easily as well.
"So what's going on here?" asked Morgan looking back and forth between Hotch and Reid, his expression curious.
"What makes you think something is going on, Morgan?" Reid asked as innocently as possible, although all he really wanted to do was grin from ear to ear he was so happy, but he managed to contain himself and keep his usual expression firmly in place.
"Well, for one thing, Spence, you're limping," JJ said. "Now unless you had some sort of accident that you haven't told us about over the weekend, which I admit isn't out of the realm of possibility considering how clumsy you are..."
"Don't bother to lie since we'll be able to see right through you as you never have been any good at it," Emily added.
Before Spencer could respond Hotch barked, "This is not the place for such a discussion, I'll see you in the round table room in ten minutes."
Spencer glanced back at Hotch and the other man looked back at him with a slight smile on his face making sure that the rest team couldn't see it. Spencer smiled back and then went to fix himself a cup of coffee.
"So what's going between you and Hotch?" JJ asked her friend as she joined him in the small kitchen.
"What makes you think anything is going on?" Reid asked calmly raising his eyebrow at his longtime friend.
"Well, for one thing you just evaded the question which is a sure sign that something is," JJ pointed out and Reid looked at her unblinkingly his expression not changing by an inch.
"You'll just have to be patient, you'll find out in four minutes and thirty seconds," Reid said looking at his watch.
"Oh come on, we've been friends for seven years, can't tell me what it is?" JJ playfully whined.
"Sorry," Reid told her with a teasing smile, "but on the good side you now only have three minutes and fifteen seconds to wait. We had better head to the round table room if we want to make it on time."
"You couldn't get anything out of him could you, JJ?" Morgan asked JJ as she exited the small kitchen.
JJ shook her head at Morgan and he sighed. "And here I thought if anybody could get something out of him it would be you since you've been friends forever."
"Don't worry you only have another two minutes to wait," Reid told them told them with a smirk, which was a very unusual expression on his face, coming up behind his two friends
"Oh, somebody has a secret," Morgan oohed dramatically.
"Which won't be a secret for more than another minute and thirty seconds," Reid said walking ahead of his two friends and entering the round table sitting at his usual spot at the table and placing his coffee in front of him.
Reid looked across the room and saw that Hotch was already there along with David Rossi. Hotch looked up after Reid had entered and smiled slightly causing the younger man's serious expression to lighten for a few seconds as he smiled back.
Rossi looked back and forth between the two of them and saw how relaxed and happy the two of them were, ever since the younger man had reached his thirtieth birthday and the mating bond that was part of every full Shifter on that day had become active. He had been the one to tell Hotch to approach Reid, because he had known that the younger man would be too shy to approach his boss. He had also known that Reid would be too afraid of rejection to actually do anything about the feelings that became a part of him the minute he had set eyes on the man that was ten years his senior once that mating gene was active. Rossi was quite sure that Reid would either have left the FBI entirely so he didn't have to be near someone he was sure that he believed he could never have every day, or he would have quietly longed for the man who was his boss and eventually been driven insane because of the tumult of very strong emotions, not that that wouldn't have happened anyway even if the younger man had left, which he knew Reid was aware of.
Hotch had wanted to give Reid another two or three weeks to come to him, but Rossi had warned him that Reid would be gone, if he waited to long. He had said that there was no way that Reid would ever admit that Hotch was his True Mate, because the older man was his boss, and also that Reid wasn't exactly very confident when it came to things like women in general and that it wouldn't be any different just because he was a man.
Hotch had thought about it for a few minutes, but then agreed that he would give Reid a few days, but if he didn't make a move, by the end of the week then he would.
It was probably a good thing, considering what Reid had told him how he had seriously considered leaving the FBI. If Reid had left, Hotch was sure that not even Garcia would have been able to find him, at least very easily, since he was smart enough to know how to hide and go off the grid, which was far from easy, especially in today's society.
"So what's going on between you two?" asked Morgan as soon as everybody was sitting down at their normal place at the table.
"Morgan, you are a Shifter, the only other one on this team, besides Reid, so tell me what happens when one of them finds their True Mate?" asked Hotch.
Comprehension came into Morgan's eyes at that moment while the others were a little bit slower in understanding what Hotch was talking about with the exception of Rossi.
"So you're telling me…" began Morgan.
"Yes," Reid answered calmly where he was sitting across from Hotch.
"What exactly do you mean?" asked JJ.
"JJ, when a full Shifter reaches 30, their mating gene, that is part of the species becomes active," Reid explained calmly. "A Shifter knows immediately when they have found their True Mate and although most of them search their whole lives for their other half, but sometimes just get lucky."
"You just reached that age a little over a week ago," JJ realized. "I remember we had a small party for you in Hotch's office."
"Well, what that means is that from that moment on every Shifter is able to tell who their True Mate is from the moment they set eyes on them. Think of Morgan and Garcia, what happened the minute they met seven years ago?"
"It was like love at first sight at least for Morgan," JJ realized.
"It was, although it took me awhile to convince my baby girl that she was the only one for me," Morgan said with a silly grin the same one he had ever time he thought about his wife and mate Penelope Garcia Morgan.
"So you're saying that when Spencer turned thirty he identified you as his True Mate?" asked JJ looked flabbergasted, which wasn't very surprising considering that the odds of finding your True Mate among your coworkers, considering how many people there were in the world were astronomical.
"Don't you remember the looks of longing at Hotch's office door over the last week?" asked Emily looking between Reid and Hotch. "The way Reid denied anything was wrong when we asked him? We all knew he was lying, but we couldn't get him to budge and tell us what the problem was. The way he avoided being near Hotch if at all possible? The way he looked all sad and depressed and despite all of us trying to discover what was causing it he wouldn't tell us. His instincts must have been going haywire."
"They were," Reid admitted blushing a little when he looked at Hotch, who smiled with a warmth in his eyes that was a rare sight indeed, except around young children, especially his son.
Morgan shook his head ashamed of himself. "I should have known what was going on, since I'm the only other one on this team who is a Shifter and therefore I should have recognized the signs."
"I'm sure you would have figured it out in another few days," Hotch told him. "In any case one thing you don't know is that while Reid is a full Shifter, I also have Shifter blood, not enough to change, but enough for me to have the same mating gene that all full Shifters have, that activated when I turned thirty."
Morgan understood the implications immediately and looked truly shocked and also horrified.
"You're saying..." Emily said slowly working it out. "...that you knew that Reid was your True Mate ever since he started to work at the BAU seven years ago?"
"I did, and before you ask no I never told him until this past Friday. He was 23 and I was still married to Haley at that time. Haley and I didn't get a divorce as you know until a few years later and then when she was murdered by the Reaper. I thought about telling Reid after my divorce was final, but he was only like 26 at the time and I thought I'd wait, besides I also needed time to grieve for Haley as I still loved her, even if I loved Spencer more."
"I don't know how you waited for seven years," Morgan said shaking his head. "A Shifter's mating instincts are incredibly strong. Once you find the person that you're supposed to be with you really need to at least be near them."
"I was near him. We did work very closely together after all," Hotch pointed out logically.
"I still don't understand how you did it. To not tell him for seven years! I never could've done what you did," Morgan said shaking his head. "I would have been driven crazy trying to fight my instincts for so long."
"You have to remember that Aaron is not a full Shifter he just has Shifter blood from one side of his family, his father's, who was also not a full Shifter," Rossi pointed out. "That probably made a difference. There have been studies done that some people who have Shifter blood, but can't transform still have the mating gene just like a full Shifter, but that doesn't mean that the pull is as strong."
"I hadn't thought of that," Morgan conceded.
"Oh it was plenty strong, but I have a very strong will that's all," Hotch said with a shrug downplaying how hard it had really been for him to wait so many years. Reid shot him a look that said he knew Hotch was downplaying how much anguish he had been in for so long. "I'm not saying it was easy, because it wasn't, but even after Haley was murdered by the Reaper I thought I'd wait until Spencer turned thirty, before I did anything. I was hoping that he would come to me, but I should have known that I would have to be the one to confront him."
"You really should've known," Morgan told Hotch as he tousled Reid's hair affectionately. "We all know how shy he is around the dating scene. Besides you're his boss there was no way he would have approached you."
"In any case we wanted you to know since there was no way we could keep it from you, but it changes essentially nothing," Hotch said, "except for the fact that Spencer and I will be sharing a hotel room from now on, whenever we are on a case as we will still act professionally on the job."
"Of course we would expect nothing less," said Morgan snickering as he imagined that.
"Are you going to inform Strauss?" asked Rossi.
"Of course," Hotch said, "but there really nothing she can do, although relationships within the same unit are frowned on they are allowed, so long as it can be proven that the people involved can still do their jobs."
"Strauss will try to use this against you, you know," Rossi said. "She really does hate you in particular, Aaron."
"I am aware of that, but I will go to the assistant director if I have to. Even Strauss has to obey the laws so there's really nothing she can do, legally anyway."
"It doesn't mean she can make our lives miserable," Reid said speaking for the first time in a long while. "Even if she can't legally fire either one of us that doesn't mean that there aren't other things she can't do. One thing she is probably against is same-sex relationships even though when you're a Shifter it doesn't really matter if they're male or female. You may think you have a preference, but you may find that when your mating gene activates after having been dormant the sex of your True Mate may be totally different then what you'd expect. However just because same-sex relationships are accepted amongst the Shifter population doesn't mean a Normal like Strauss will accept the fact that two members of the same unit are now legally bound together. There are a lot of ways she can still make all lives miserable without losing her own position."
"I'll talk to her," Rossi promised, "after you tell her. She'll listen to me when she won't talk to anybody else. The two of you deserve to have a life outside the BAU."
"Thanks," Reid said simply shooting Rossi a grateful look.
"You're welcome," Rossi said with a smile.
"What do you have on her that will make her back off?" Emily asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, I'm not telling but it's big enough that it would probably ruin her career if it ever got out and that's all I'm saying on the subject," Rossi said refusing to budge.
"Am I allowed to tell all this to Penelope?" asked Morgan raising an eyebrow at Hotch and Reid.
"Of course," Hotch said and Reid nodded.
"So, I'm assuming that the two of you will be moving in together?" asked Rossi his tone certain.
"Eventually," Reid said as he shot Hotch an adoring look, which caused the rest of the ream to grin at them.
"Why not immediately like this next weekend?" asked Morgan looking a little confused for he for one would have wanted to move in with his True Mate as soon as possible and he had.
"We're trying to give Jack a little while to get used to being around Spencer," Hotch explained. "Yes, my son knows all of you, some better then others, but Jack really hasn't seen Spencer very much in the last year or so and since he's still so young we want to make sure that he's comfortable around him. Would I like Spencer to move in with me, immediately? Of course I would, but both of us have to make sure that Jack is okay with it since he's only five."
"Oh, you might have a problem then," JJ said looking at Spencer who blushed knowing exactly what she meant. "We all know that Spencer's never really been any good with small children."
"Actually Jack adores him already," Hotch said with a smile, "and Spencer here certainly seems more comfortable around my son then any other child he's come in contact with over the years. We spent all day Sunday together playing in the park and having a picnic lunch."
Reid blushed at the looks the rest of the team shot him. "What makes Jack any different from any other child you've come in contact with?" asked Morgan looking at Reid, who was glancing down in embarrassment his fingers laced together on front of him on the table as he could just imagine that the rest of the team knew exactly what he and Hotch had been doing on Friday night and all day Saturday.
"Well, part of it is Jack already knew me, even if not very well," Reid said looking up from his laced fingers going into lecture mode, which caused the rest of the team to shoot amused grins around at each other, "but the rest of it is probably that Jack was already prepared to like me just because his father was so happy. Children pick up on the emotions of an adult a lot easier then other grownups as it is part of their survival instincts and also a defense mechanism. Children from abusive families know how to tiptoe around their parents, while children like Jack that are well adjusted and know that their parent or parents will never harm them. Infants tend to cry and make more of a fuss if the parents are upset, angry, nervous, or anxious all the time. However if the adults are calm and happy and content then babies tend to be much more relaxed. In any case we're going to give it at least a month or two before I move in with Aaron."
"Once we're both sure that Jack is okay with Spencer's presence in our lives only then, will he be moving in with me, not that he won't spend a considerable amount of time with both of us. Now I don't know about the rest of you, but I have paperwork to do in my office since we don't have a case."
"So when were you planning on telling Strauss?" asked Rossi as everybody rose from the table to head out into the bullpen.
"Well, I'd like to be able to prove that Spencer and I can still work together just as effectively as before before we tell her," Hotch said thinking about it, "so maybe in a couple weeks after we have a case or two under our belts, and we can present them to her as proof that despite this new situation of Spencer and I being a couple that it hasn't affected the ability of the team to do it's job. Until then we'll keep it under wraps."
Rossi nodded. "That's probably wise. By the way, I want to offer my congratulations to both you and Spencer. I am genuinely happy for both of you and I hope you have a long, happy, life together, although I still believe you should have told him at least after Haley was killed by the Reaper. If anybody could understand a Shifter's mating instincts it would be Reid."
"Thank you," Hotch told his longtime friend with a grin that was a very rare sight on his usually serious face, but then his mate brought out these feelings in him, "and by the way I won't deny that I probably should have told him sooner, but I also wanted to give him a chance to mature before I told him since he was very immature when he first started at the BAU, but then again a lot of 23 year olds are that way. With Reid being so intelligent, it set him apart from the other children, so he had a lot of catching up to do when it came to maturity."
"You can't really blame his immaturity of him," Rossi said quietly.
"I know that and I don't. I know that his father leaving him and his mother being so sick had a lot to do with it, but then again so did the other children who bullied him all through his school years," Hotch said. "Spencer, didn't have the experiences that almost every child gets, having friends, hanging out with them, learning about the world as he grew and I know that his father's abandonment deeply affected him—even if he will never admit it—just like it would any child, but since William Reid wasn't around to teach his son the things he needed to know Spencer didn't have the experiences that most every child gets. Now of you don't mind I really do have a lot of paperwork to do."
"So do all of us," Rossi said, with a grimace. "Sometimes I wonder why I came back."
"Because you had unfinished business," Hotch told him with a smile, "and also you love profiling, even if you don't love the paperwork that goes along with it."
Rossi sighed, but didn't disagree.
Both men headed to their offices without another word.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
Hotch looked up when he heard a knock on his door and when he called called in his mate stuck his head in the doorway. "The team was wondering if you would like to join us for lunch? All of us are ready to get away from the paperwork for little while and besides I'm starving."
The pathetic, pleading look that Reid shot him was too much for Hotch to resist and so he gave in without argument, besides it would be nice to spend time with not only Reid, but the rest of the team when they weren't actually working.
"I'll be right there," Hotch promised Reid who looked relieved and shot him a smile that was so bright that it caused the older man's cock to twitch and want nothing more than to take the younger man into his arms and kiss him until he couldn't breathe, but since they were at work he told his interested cock that it would have to be later once they had some privacy.
Reid left Hotch's office and went to join the rest of the team who was standing down in the bullpen.
"So is Hotch going to join us?" Morgan asked the question that everybody was curious about.
"Yes, he said he'd be here in a few minutes," Reid answered. "That he had couple of things he needed to finish doing first."
"I still can't believe that I never figured out why you were acting so differently over the last week or so," Morgan said shaking his head. "If anybody should be able to pick up on clues it should be me."
"Don't feel bad, my big, gorgeous, black thunder god," Garcia told her husband giving him a consoling pat on the shoulder. "I'm sure you would have if you had been given a little while longer."
"We need to remember that that we are not used to thinking of Reid in any kind relationship since he's always been so uncomfortable around woman so of course it wouldn't have occurred to us right away that he was dreaming of something that he believed he couldn't have and that was a relationship with Hotch, who is also his boss," JJ pointed out. "If he had been in any relationships before the idea would have occurred to us much sooner and without us having to be told."
"Yes, you're right JJ," Morgan said shaking his head. "Some profilers we are though."
"You get a certain image of somebody you know well in your head and it's very hard to change that perception after that," Spencer chipped in with an understanding smile. "Every human being on the face of the earth Shifter, Normal or shaman has weaknesses and strengths no matter the image their friends or coworkers have of them."
When Garcia had been told about the fact that Reid and Hotch were mates and that Hotch had somehow fought his instinct for 7 years, but they were now together as a couple she had squealed happily loud enough to bring the entire building down around them or a least it had seemed that way. Garcia had come into the bullpen as soon as she had heard the news supposedly to see Morgan, but when she had seen Reid she had tackled me and kissed him all over his face saying that she was so happy for him and for Hotch.
Reid had taken this attention quite happily, if only because he Garcia and Morgan were great friends, because normally he didn't like to be touched by people he didn't know well. Garcia was almost like a mother to him, probably because she went out of her way to give him the attention she felt he needed, just like a real mother would have.
"So where are we headed for lunch?" asked Hotch entering the bullpen from his office.
"We thought some place like Hamlin's that is close by and should have a table large enough for all of us," Reid answered calmly, although he relaxed completely, instead of being so tense when Hotch was beside him, so close that they were actually touching shoulder to shoulder. He hadn't realized how tense he had been, until he and his mate were together again.
"That's fine with me," Hotch said as they all headed to the elevator.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
The seven of them entered Hamlin's and got a table immediately for they were well known there and came often for lunch, although usually Hotch did not join them, although the others had a feeling that was about to change.
They were so well known in fact that the waitress came with everyone's drink orders, except for Hotch who ordered an iced tea.
Once the seven of them had ordered what they wanted for lunch they all relaxed.
"So Hotch does that mean you're going to start joining us more for meals now that you and Reid are together?" asked Emily.
"Yes, that's a very good question," admitted Morgan. "I can certainly understand why you didn't join us as much before since your feelings for Reid were so strong that, it would have been painful to sit so close to him and not be able to tell him of your feelings, but now that you two are together…"
"Yes, I will be joining you more than I did when it comes to eating meals together," Hotch said calmly, looking utterly unflappable like always holding Reid's hand under the table from where they were sitting side by side. "You were completely right, Morgan about what you said before—that being so close to Reid and not being able to tell him of my feelings would have driven me crazy as just seeing him every day was hard enough, although I will admit it was one of the things that kept me sane for the last few years."
"So Morgan, Garcia how are my godchildren doing?" asked Emily changing the subject.
Morgan and Garcia had two children a boy and a girl who they had named Matthias and Cassandra. Matthias was just four years old while Cassandra was just two.
"They are fine, you should come by for a nice long visit," Garcia answered smiling brightly as she thought of her two children. "They miss their Aunt Emily."
"I'll do my best," Emily promised. "We have been incredibly busy lately except for the last week or so, so I'll try to squeeze in a visit if we don't catch a case."
Reid had been studying his two friends silently noticing the subtle glances that the two were sharing as if they were communicating with their eyes alone and suddenly he know that Garcia was pregnant again.
"You're pregnant again aren't you?" Reid asked Garcia his tone certain. Garcia looked startled, but then blushed and that was confirmation enough.
"Congratulations!" everybody said almost at the same time and then JJ asked, "Why didn't you tell us?"
"We just found out ourselves a couple of weeks ago," Morgan said looking proud. "We both agreed though that this one would be our last since Garcia is getting older and we both think that three is plenty."
"So do you know the sex yet?" asked Emily looking pleased for her two friends.
"No, it's too early for them to tell," Garcia said patting her stomach lovingly.
"Neither one of us cares what sex it is this time since we already have a son and a daughter so it could be either one and we'd be happy with whatever," Morgan added with a silly grin on his face, but then he had an incredible soft spot for his wife and children, which was of course understandable.
"I'm happy for you two," Hotch told his two subordinates with a smile.
"Thank you, Hotch," said Garcia with a brilliant smile for her boss.
The seven of them ate in companionable silence and when they were finished they all paid their bills, and then headed out to the two separate cars they had driven there.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
"I've been meaning to ask you how your former sister-in-law reacted when you told her that you were mated to another man?" asked Spencer a little hesitantly.
"She was very startled at first," Hotch admitted looking unperturbed by the question. "I told her right after Haley was killed by the Reaper, because after less then six months she kept urging me to date again. She said that I had a right to be happy and that while she had loved her sister that she thought Haley had been totally unfair to me, when she asked me to change my job just because I was gone so much. Jessica is a wise woman and she tried to tell Haley that if she forced me to give up something I loved doing then I would be unhappy and that would break up our marriage sooner or later, because I would resent her for forcing me to make that decision. As it turned out that still happened, which was good since I wasn't sure what I was going to do if I had still been married and you had come into your heritage. Don't get me wrong I didn't want her dead..."
"I understand," Reid said immediately. "You just wanted to be free when I turned 30, so you didn't feel guilty for getting a divorce when that occurred."
"Exactly," Hotch agreed with a smile in his mate's direction before he turned back to the road. The two of them were headed to Hotch's apartment from work relatively early for once and since it was Friday they had all weekend to make love unless they got called on a case. "I was actually considering getting a divorce a year before you turned 30 so that it would be final, by that time that happened, but when Haley wanted one, and although it hurt me, I was also relieved as that left me free and clear to tell you how I felt when the time came. Anyway, as I said Jessica was startled when I told her, but when she got over it she was happy that I had stuck it out with her sister for so long when my heart was elsewhere. She also promised to take Jack anytime that you and I needed sometime to ourselves once we were together."
"Well, that was really nice of her," said Reid relaxing. "I was afraid that..."
"She wouldn't accept our relationship, since she isn't a Shifter?" Hotch suggested.
"Well a lot of non-Shifters don't understand, about the mating gene that is part of our race or that your sexual preference before that event doesn't necessarily matter when it comes to finding your True Mate," Reid explained with a shrug. "That's why I was so surprised that your former sister-in-law was so understanding and accepting, but I know you realize that there will still be people who are not so accepting as Jessica."
"I know," Hotch answered, "but just so you know even if Jessica had been unaccepting it wouldn't stop me from being with you as she isn't technically related to me, just Jack. Even if she was related to me by blood instead of just by marriage it wouldn't stop me from having a relationship with you. It was hard enough waiting for you come into your heritage, so there is absolutely no way in hell that I could have lived the rest of my life without you even if I saw you every day at work."
Reid smiled at that for if there was one thing he had always admired about Aaron Hotchner it was that he was a man of conviction, of rock solid principle, once he set his feet on a particular path he never altered it unless absolutely necessary and definitely not if he knew he was right. He knew that Aaron would never be influenced into leaving him, just because other's disapproved of two men being together. Of course if one of them did leave, then neither one of them would live for very long after that, for it had happened in the past to other Shifters. Usually though it was one Shifter and either a Normal or a shaman who couldn't feel the connection that their partner had with them.
It ended in tragedy when it happened—always.
"I don't fear you leaving me at all," Reid told him with conviction. "I know you well enough to know that you always do exactly what you want and don't let others opinions of you influence you from doing what you consider right, not even your former sister-in-law's. I know it will not always be easy, but both of us are strong enough to get through whatever life or people who don't understand throw at us."
Hotch smiled at that, and relaxed now that he knew with absolute certainty that Spencer had faith in their relationship. Maybe the seven years they had known each other would prevent a lot of the normal pitfalls that were part of any relationship, although he was sure that there would still be problems and arguments down the road, since no relationship was perfect.
"So when are we going to tell Strauss about us?" asked Reid. The two of them had been together for several months now and had solved five or six cases always acting professionally while they were working, although once they were behind closed door if they weren't to tired it was a totally different story as they attacked each other like animals and made love, sometimes for hours.
"I think, it's time," Hotch said who had been thinking about it for the last couple of weeks. "I would like to have you move in with me, but it will have to wait until after we tell Strauss about our relationship."
"So first thing Monday morning?" asked Spencer.
"Yes, so long as you don't have any objection," said Hotch.
"I don't," Reid said quickly, "I'm more than ready to move in with you and if we have to confront Strauss in order to do that, then so be it. I have spent quite a few lonely nights when I am in my apartment alone and when that happens I have trouble sleeping, which I can only postulate is because I'm so used to spending nights with you when we are on a case, that I just can't seem to do anything but toss and turn without you there. When I eventually do fall asleep I have such intense sexual dreams that I wake up in a cold sweat, longing for you and to find that I've ejaculated all over my sheets. I am damn tired of taking cold showers to relieve the sexual tension, especially since a lot of the time they don't work completely. I'm also tired of being exhausted all the time because I don't sleep."
"I've had the same problem," Hotch admitted without an ounce of shame, "which is why I to am more then ready for us to be living together. I have also ejaculated all over my sheets as well and I haven't done that since I was like in my late 20's and I've taken more cold showers recently then I have in years."
"So that means that your dreams have been as intense as mine," said Spencer.
"Yes, they have and while I dreamed of you before we got together, they weren't so intense back then, I'm guessing because I hadn't actually at that time made love with you."
"Probably," Reid agreed. "I'm extremely glad that we've been so busy and had so many cases to help solve just so we could be together, even if it was just in a hotel room bed instead of our own without fear of Strauss somehow finding out before we have a chance to tell her. You know she has a lot of contacts and all it would take would be one of them seeing me entering your apartment building and me not coming back out and she would know that we were seeing each other, because Strauss isn't stupid."
"You don't think she would really spy on us?" asked Hotch although it really wasn't all that hard to believe as Strauss really was a coldhearted bitch and would use any excuse to get rid of him in particular.
"Probably not, as I don't believe that even Strauss would go that far, but still all it would take would be one person seeing two men enter the same apartment and them mention it to someone, and word would eventually spread. All it would take would be that one person seeing us and mentioning it to someone else and so forth until it fell into the wrong ears. It might not happen, but people are nosy and don't know how to mind their own business, so it is better to get our relationship out in the open. Besides I don't like having to hide our relationship even when we're just in the office at Quantico doing paperwork and I don't like living in two separate apartments, in two separate buildings that are miles away from each other just because we are trying to keep that fact that we are seeing each other from falling into the wrong ears."
"It's frustrating," Hotch said and Spencer nodded vigorously in agreement
"Very," Reid agreed. "I know you've said this before but it bears repeating. I want to wake up beside you every morning, I want to do things that all normal couples do no matter their sex. I want to be able to go on outings with you alone or with Jack without the fear of the wrong somebody spotting us and it getting back to Strauss."
"I want that too," Hotch said. "I've wanted nothing more for the last seven years ever since I knew I had found my True Mate in you."
"Well, the best way to accomplish that is to tell Strauss that we're True Mates and although she might not believe us at first she ought to be able to tell that we're not lying, even if she's not a profiler. Besides as much as I hate to admit it Strauss is a highly intelligent woman and she will know even if she doesn't want to admit it that neither one of us would risk our careers and come to her about our relationship if we weren't absolutely sure."
"She won't like it, but if she causes to many problems, I'll simply sic Dave on her. He has already promised to intervene, if Strauss starts being stubborn, after all," Hotch said smirking a little as he knew that Dave could be positively vicious when necessary.
"Yes, Rossi will straighten her out," Reid agreed with a smile.
Hotch pulled up outside his apartment building and parked. "So ready for a night of making wild passionate lovemaking?"
"Absolutely, I've been looking forward to it all day," Reid responded enthusiastically. "It was absolutely torture to sleep without you beside me for the last couple of days and I was really hoping we would have the weekend free so we wouldn't have to worry about being to tired after trying to solve a case all day."
"Let's go inside and get started then," Hotch responded keeping his gaze focused ahead of him for he didn't dare turn to look at his mate or he would attack him right there in the parking lot.
Finally Hotch opened the door to his apartment and once the two of them had entered he shut the door gently.
"Bedroom! Now!" Hotch ordered gruffly as he took Spencer into his arms and gave him a heat filled, passionate to be continued immediately kind of kiss, that caused Spencer to whimper in desire.
"Anxious are you?" Spencer teased his mate, although if truth be known he was anxious as well, for he hadn't had sex in over 48 hours and although he had used to be able to go months or even years without having sex he was now addicted to it, so long as it was with Aaron. Spencer was sure that the reason he was now addicted to making love, was that he and Aaron were True Mates, in other words meant for each other.
"And you aren't? If you tell me that you weren't looking to the end of the work day so that we could head back to my place and make love I will know you're lying so don't bother."
"I can't deny that I was looking forward to the end of the work day, because for one thing I promised to never lie to you about anything, so yes I was looking forward to quitting time so that we could be alone and fuck each other senseless. It has been more than 54 hours since we have made love and while I never thought much about the sexual act before I turned thirty and came into my full Shifter heritage, with you it is completely different and I crave constant contact with you. I crave your touch, the looks you are always shooting me, the way you are so gentle and the way we can talk about anything. I love the way you are so protective of me, although I of course realize you have always been, but you've stepped it up several notches ever since we got together. Don't think I didn't notice the way some of those females looking at me when we were working that case in Philadelphia a month ago and how one of them even tried to get my attention."
"Of course, I'm protective," Hotch told him quite seriously kissing him passionately. "If anything happened to you, especially now, just when you finally become mine it would destroy me."
"I feel the exact same way, because I know it would completely destroy me as well if anything happened to you either," Reid admitted candidly. "I know that you're perfectly capable of taking care of yourself especially out in the field, and definitely better then I can, but also I know things can happen and you can be caught off guard."
"I'm always careful and years ago it was because I had a family to think about and I didn't want to leave them to struggle without me or to grieve for my loss, but now that I have you, I don't want to leave you either so I promise I'll always be extra careful. You have to realize though that what we do is dangerous and that things can happen that you don't expect and can't predict."
"Believe me I'm aware of that," Reid said dryly, "and I realize that if we change professions we would be giving up an important part of ourselves, so all I can ask is that you always be extra careful and always come home to me."
"I certainly intend to, so long as you take that same care and be careful as well," Hotch said huskily as he kissed Spencer again and the younger man participating enthusiastically.
Once the kiss was broken Reid blurted out what had been on his mind for awhile. "I think we should wear rings, even if we never officially tie the knot. Wearing rings means a lot of women would leave either one of us alone, since we would be considered off limits, although I realize it won't stop the really aggressive ones."
"You have been thinking about this for awhile haven't you?" Hotch asked unsurprised because Spencer always babbled when he was nervous like he was now. "I think it's a fine idea," Hotch added before Reid could answer. "I was going to ask you to make it a permanent, to marry me, sometime later, but I thought that could wait at least awhile considering we haven't even told Strauss yet."
"You are going to ask me to marry you?" asked Spencer looking dazed and Hotch could hardly blame him considering that he had just blurted out what had been on his mind ever since he and Spencer had gotten together, although he had been thinking of a more romantic proposal.
"I was in a few months after we had told Strauss about us," Hotch admitted. "Asking you to become a permanent fixture in my life has been on my mind even before we officially got together a few months ago, but I didn't want to rush you into anything. That being said if you want us to wear rings that look like wedding bands until we officially tie the knot that's okay with me, because you're right in the fact that it will prevent a lot of women or men from approaching either one of us, although as you said not some of the more aggressive ones. I thought you did a very good job of discouraging that woman on the case we had about a month ago, but it won't always be that easy."
"Thanks, but I also know you're right and it won't always be that easy," said Spencer, blushing a little. "I know you were prepared to step in if you had to, but I appreciate the fact that you let me handle it and that you didn't hover. It feels good to be trusted."
"I'll always be there to help you if you need it," Hotch promised, "and I'll always trust you, unless you prove to me you shouldn't be. I'm just glad that I was actually nearby when it happened instead of being out in the field, which I know won't always be the case."
"If that happens then you'll just have to trust I can handle myself and if I can't we always work in teams so I'll have backup if I need it and I promise if and when it happens I'll tell you about it afterwards, just like you'll tell me every time someone comes onto you, because we both know it will happen."
"Honesty really is the best policy and the way to keep a relationship strong," Hotch said.
"Yes," Reid said, "now if you don't mind you are welcome to get back to what you were doing a few minutes ago."
Hotch chuckled and was happy to get back to worshipping his mate's gorgeous body and showing him that he was loved and adored, by him at least.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
