She'd been wondering how long it would take Emily to get the hint. She thought she'd been woefully obvious, because she didn't know how to hide her attraction for the older woman. Every time she looked at Emily she felt a hot flush of desire that she was surprised none of the others had noticed.

Most people looked at her, with her blond hair and blue eyes, and immediately made up their mind about her. They saw a small town, all-American girl, pretty face but no real brains to back it up, good body that would probably go when she met the right man, settled down and started making babies. JJ never bothered to correct them verbally, because she delighted in proving them wrong.

The one thing people never guessed about her was her attraction to women. Sure, she liked men, but she didn't view them as viable long term partners. There was only a physical attraction there, and JJ needed more than that to fall in love. Emily, though…

The first day JJ had met Emily, the sight of her had been like a punch in the stomach. She had barely kept a hold of her professional mask as she had walked Emily through fire exits and protocols. The moment the older agent had left her office JJ had slumped on her desk and let out a long breath.

It didn't get any easier as time went on. JJ tried to make it work with the mildly attractive detective from New Orleans, but she knew almost from the beginning that her dalliance with him would be short lived. He had a stupid accent, he drank too much, he was geographically undesirable, and most of all, he didn't engage JJ the way Emily did. JJ had felt more stimulated after five minutes of conversation on the jet than after an entire weekend spent with the slow talking detective.

She didn't know what had changed, but when Emily invited her to have dinner – just the two of them – she jumped at the chance. And Emily, god bless her, had not disappointed. She could cook. The pasta was cooked to perfection, the sauce possibly the best JJ had ever tasted, and JJ had watched Emily prepare it from scratch! And the garlic bread was homemade, too.

After dinner Emily put music on, and JJ started dancing. Maybe it was the wine. She'd only had a couple of glasses but they'd gone down wonderfully well, and she felt like moving, so she moved with the music. It took her maybe a minute and a half to start feeling self-conscious dancing alone so she pulled Emily up to join her, and then they were dancing together.

One look in Emily's eyes and JJ knew all hope was lost. She could feel herself leaning closer, as if drawn by some invisible magnet. She was going to kiss Emily, and she knew she had no chance of stopping herself. She saw Emily's tongue dart out to moisten her lips, and she heard herself whimper, and then she leaned in and brought their lips together.

She was an idiot. She should have done this a long time ago.

They kissed slowly, simply, just pressing their lips together at first. JJ was pleasantly surprised when Emily was the one to deepen the kiss and she eagerly accepted the Emily's tongue into her mouth. God, but Emily could kiss. JJ knew she should have been embarrassed to be whimpering and moaning this much from a simple kiss, but JJ had always been a very vocal lover. Her physical pleasure was irrevocably linked to her voice, and she had never been able to keep herself quiet. As an adult she had simply stopped bothering. There were no parents downstairs, no roommates on the other side of too thin walls that might hear.

She sat on the couch with a soft thud, pulling Emily with her, and froze as Emily pulled away to breathe. In that moment – in that single moment between their first kiss and the next – Emily had never been more beautiful, more open and vulnerable and utterly gorgeous. Her eyes were closed, her lips parted and still slightly puckered as if, in her head, the kiss wasn't yet over.

JJ wanted to reach out and pull her in, smooth her thumbs over Emily's cheeks, seal their lips together and never let go, but it was Emily who surged forward first. Then they were kissing again, but this time it was different. JJ whined, high pitched and needy, pressing herself closer as the kisses blew her mind and set her body on fire with desire.

After hours, days, years of kissing that couldn't have lasted longer than a few beautiful minutes, they parted and JJ took a moment to look at Emily. There were so many things she wanted to say in that moment. You're beautiful. Your kisses set me on fire. I love you.

"I have wanted to do that for so long," she finally settled on, her heart leaping as Emily laughed delightedly.

"You have no idea," Emily replied, "how much I have wanted the same thing."