Spoilers/Timeline: None/Set in future
A/N: Big thanks to K. Elisabeth for the read through.
Disclaimer: Bones doesn't belong to me. Title found in Josh Turner's All Over Me.
She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, scooting on the blanket until her back met his knees. His legs opened, bracketing her, as his arm fell over her shoulders and he pulled her close.
"Comfy, Bones?"
"Yes." She turned looking at him in the twilight, flashes of light flickering over his face. "This is quite pleasant."
"Pleasant is an understatement." He pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder. "But I agree."
"I thought you might."
"You always could read me." Grinning, he tossed another log into the basin as she opened her mouth to protest and stopped, brow furrowing as she thought better of it. His smile grew as he sat back once more. Sure, they'd had their misunderstandings early on (what else could be expected when you had one person who saw the world through logic while the other relied on feelings?) but she'd always been able to tell when he was so confident in his assumptions that he wouldn't back down, when a case was cutting a little too close to the bone for him...
"Probably longer than either of us realized."
"Probably." He let his hand slip under the strap of her swimsuit, fingers tracing over her collarbone. "I'm glad we decided to give this a test run before Parker's here for the weekend."
She shook her head, breathing in the deep, smoky scent of the fire once again. He'd claimed he wanted to make sure the fire pit they'd purchased days before was safe, but she knew better... He'd been counting down to their night off, desperately hoping they didn't pull a case, ever since. "Why? Afraid he'd make fun of you for how long it took for the fire to catch?" She laughed as he gasped in mock shock; it had taken almost a half hour and quite a bit of cursing before the random flares of flame could actually be called a fire.
"No, though I would have had to censor my-"
"Booth, he's almost fourteen, surely he's heard that sort of language before."
"That doesn't mean he needs to hear it from me." He smiled slightly, cupping her shoulder as she nodded against him. "Back to my original thought: it's just... nice... to sit here with you after a long day, roasting marshmallows and relaxing..."
"Long day? We reviewed the Harris case file and spent the rest of the time in the pool."
"Tiring day then?"
"That I will accept. Just sitting out in the sun can cause one to feel fatigued and you spent most of the afternoon attempting to prove that you're the more competent swimmer."
"And, on top of that, I built this fire." His mouth tipped up before his lips pressed to her temple. "Parker is going to be excited though.
She sighed, shaking her head and relaxing further into his embrace. "Males and their fire... Anthropologically-"
"Yeah, yeah," Laughing lowly, he tugged her closer. "Something about it demonstrating our alpha maleness... it's still just... it's cool, ok?"
"Mhmm." She leaned forward, reaching for the bag of marshmallows, but he grabbed it before her hand fully closed around it.
"Not so fast, you've already had..." He paused, calculating. "Six and you didn't even want to try them in the first place. 'Booth, I don't see the appeal of sticking candy into an open flame. Booth, it's terribly unhealthy; marshmallows are made almost entirely of sugar.'"
"I misjudged." She snatched the bag, picked out one of the puffed treats, and slid it onto the skewer that had been resting near her feet. "Not only does the flame caramelize the sugar creating a complex flavor, but..." She glanced at him, grinning as their eyes met and she lowered the treat into the crackling flames. "There's something fun in the camaraderie of it and the challenge of attempting to cook it just right."
"Just say it, Bones, it makes you feel like like a kid again, carefree."
"I concede that that is a part of it, but-" She pulled her smoldering marshmallow from in the pit, blowing it out. "Honestly, I find that I increasingly enjoy any time I can spend with you like this." She shrugged and raised an eyebrow at him as if challenging him to make fun of her for the admission.
His jaw dropped slightly as his arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her back to him. She always said the simplest things in the most unique ways; it still amazed him. "I love you, too." He rested his chin on her shoulder, fingers drifting down her side, over her hip. "You know the same goes for me... probably more so..."
"That's logistically impossible, Booth. You've never hidden the fact that you enjoy downtime like this, especially in my presence, so asserting that- what?" She twisted in his arms, scowling as laughter rumbled from his chest.
"Nothing. Just..." He shook his head, amazed that she could ruin a moment and somehow he loved her even more for it. "Some things never change, that's all."
"And that's... good?"
"Yes, it's fantastic."
"Ok." She smiled, eating the rest of the gooey candy from the skewer.
"Mmm, that looks good." He closed the slight gap between them, hand tangling in her hair as he sucked the sticky substance from her lips. She gasped against him, tongue stroking over his as her hands skimmed down his back, settling low on his hips. Groaning, he nipped at her bottom lip before pulling away, his forehead resting against hers. "The marshmallow isn't so bad either."
"Not at all." She glanced over her shoulder at the dying embers, mouth curling up as her fingers skated down his spine and he shuddered. "Perhaps we should go in soon; I can think of some pleasurable ways to spend the rest of the night."
"Sounds very..." He leaned back, closing his eyes as she followed, her head resting against his shoulder, the sparks from the remaining flame dancing in the air. "Very pleasant to me."
