"I don't want the details." he said firmly.

"Hotch, you need to let me finish!"

"I said I don't want to hear it!" he snapped.

"Hotch, there's nothing going on between me and Clyde Easter. His only interest in me is as an agent. "

He let out a disgusted sound as if to say yeah, right. She started to feel a little defensive - and she didn't like it. Not only was he acting very un-Hotch like, but why was he reacting this way? What did it really matter to him if she was screwing her old boss? Deciding nothing good was going to come of this, she turned and gripped the doorknob, pulling it open slightly. She could feel his eyes on her, and she froze.

Hotch was having an internal battle with himself, still unable to form the words that he so desperately needed to say. Emily was right, of course, when she had indicated there might be some unfinished business between them, but he didn't know where to start. And he was afraid. Her shoulders slumped, as if in disappointment, and she opened the door a bit more. He panicked.

"Wait!..."

"Hotch, don't. Coming here was obviously a mistake."

"It wasn't." he assured her, "Look, Emily, I'm sorry. I don't want our last conversation to be like this. Your relationship with Clyde Easter is none of my business. "

She looked at him incredulously. Still, he didn't get it.

"All right," she said, exasperated " You want to know the reason I'm leaving? Well I'm going to tell you and you're not going to like it." She was wringing her hands, trying to work up the courage. " I told myself for months, no, years, that it wasn't real. That when you're in close proximity with someone for so long, it's only natural to think you have these...feelings. We are in tense, life and death situations on a weekly basis, it's easy to confuse that with something else. At least that's what I tried to make myself believe."

"What are you talking about..."

"You, Aaron," she said,"I'm talking about you. YOU are why I am going. Not the job, not Clyde, but YOU."

"What?" he was in disbelief "You're leaving to get away from me?"

She couldn't even make eye contact with him, knowing that she was probably making a fool of herself, and forever changing their friendship in the process. She scuffed her feet nervously, looking down as she spoke.

"I know it sounds like some sort of crazy school girl crush...it's so cliche, falling in love with your boss. I tried to push it aside, and keep a safe distance. I knew that nothing could ever happen between us, and I was dealing with it pretty well until JJ's wedding. It shouldn't have been a big deal, it was just one dance. But when I was in your arms, so close to you, and it just felt so...

"Amazing."

She looked up at him questioningly.

"You felt that too?

Without realizing it, he had taken hold of her hand as she spoke, and their fingers became intertwined. He was staring at her with piercing eyes and she could feel her heart ready to pound out of her chest.

He leaned down slowly, gently brushing his lips across hers. It was gentle and hesitant at first, but then he felt her respond. Her hands came up to his chest and for just a second, he thought she was pushing him away. But she was just exploring, feeling his body, something she had wanted to do for months. The kiss was so desperate, so intense, he pulled back, breathless, and rested his forehead on hers.

"I've wanted to do that for so long..." he whispered.

She struggled to catch her breath.

"Wh-why did you wait?"

He wasn't thinking about those reasons now, all he could focus on was the words she had just spoken, the look in her eyes, and the fact that she was almost out the door. He reached his free hand up, pushing the door closed behind her. He leaned in again, this time placing soft kisses on the side of her neck.

"Please don't go, " he whispered into her ear "Not yet..."

Emily hesitated. After all this time, was this really happening? Before she could over think it anymore, he was kissing her again. Her purse dropped to the floor and she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer, afraid at any moment he was going to come to his senses and tell her how this was all a big mistake. Those fears disappeared when took her by the hand and guided her towards the couch. He sat down next to her, holding her hand, but his head was down, as if in disappointment. Even now he was holding back.

"Aaron?"

He sighed heavily. She was leaving, walking out of his life, and deserved some sort of explanation.

"I don't know, Emily." he said quietly. "I don't know why I waited. When I first started having these feelings, I tried to fight them, I really did. I came up with so many reasons in my head why it wouldn't work...why it couldn't work. "

"Because we work together..."

He looked up to face her.

"That was part of it, a big part of it. But.. After what happened to Haley, I knew that i just couldn't really get close to anyone again. She was a target because of me, because of the job. I thought if I denied my feelings, I could be around to keep you safe and protect you, but still have you close. And in the end, I couldn't do either of those things."

He was referring to Doyle, of course, and she knew it. He felt that he had failed her, not only by letting her come so close to death, but having to send her away from everyone that loved her.

"What happened with Doyle was not your fault. If anyone is to blame, it was me for not trusting the team more, for not letting you all in. We've been over this."

"We came so close to losing you forever...and then I had to send you away. It tore me apart."

"I didn't know..." she whispered, moving closer to him.

"When you came back, I tried to put up this wall between us. But I should have told you, there's so much i should have told you, Emily. And now we're out of time."

"Not yet we aren't." She put her arms around his neck, forcing him to face her, to look her in the eye. "I'm here now."

So much was going through his mind. Was it even fair to tell her now? Having her so close, her arms around him, felt so good and right that for just a moment, his doubts left him. He moved in closer until their lips were almost touching.

"I love you, Emily Prentiss." his voice was barely above a whisper. "For as long as I can remember now, I've been in love with you."

He heard her sharp intake of breath, and knew that he had taken her by surprise.

Almost feeling a wash of relief now that the words had finally been said, he cupped her face and kissed her more desperately than before. He slipped his tongue between her parted lips, and it all became so much more intense. His hands went under her sweater, pushing it up and over her head. His breath caught in his throat...she was so beautiful. Why had he denied himself this for so long?

He trailed kisses down her neck, her collarbone. Cupping her breast, he took the nipple into his mouth, sucking gently. She was running her hands through his hair, and her soft moans and gasps were driving him crazy. He was taking his time, exploring every inch of her exposed body. Wanting to make this last, he committed every moment to memory, knowing this might be the last time that he saw her, the last time he felt her arms around him.

In one swift motion he took off his shirt and threw it on the floor. Her hands immediately began roaming over his chest, not even hesitating for a moment when she felt his scars. Reaching down, she slipped her fingers inside his waistband and began stroking him with one hand, the other pushing his sweats out of the way. She wanted to feel him, all of him. He groaned his approval, closing his eyes trying to control his emotions. It was all happening so fast, and he briefly considered moving this to the bedroom, but he was afraid of breaking the spell, of ruining the moment. When they were finally free of all clothing, he shifted and covered her naked body with his.

"Are you...sure about this?"

He didn't know if he could take it if she said no, but he had to ask, he didn't want her to regret anything. She responded with an almost imperceptible nod, pulling him down towards her, kissing him fiercely. It was all the confirmation he needed.

He slowly slid inside her, the feeling so amazing that they both sighed audibly. It had never been like this for him before. Whether it was the long build up, or the fact that this might be their only time together, he didn't know, but his body, his heart, all of him felt so consumed that he didn't ever want it to end. He stilled, waiting for her to adjust to his size. He placed kisses on her stomach, working his way back up to her mouth. He couldn't get enough of her.

Her arms were around him, pulling him closer urging him to move and he gently started rocking into her, taking it slow. Every part of his body was tingling. She felt so good, he didn't know how long he was going to be able to hold out. When he stopped for a moment, she whispered into his ear, begging him to move faster, harder. He picked up his pace again, wishing this could go on forever, but he knew she was close. When he heard her moan and call out his name, he couldn't hold back any longer, and he exploded into her with the most intense orgasm he had ever felt.

Neither said a word at first, both trying to catch their breaths, waiting for their heart rates to come down enough to speak. He moved slightly beside her, and began tracing his fingers along the length of her body. Even now, he couldn't keep his hands off of her.

"Wow." she said, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah. Wow."

There were so many things he wanted to tell her - that it had tortured him to work so close to her all this time and not be able to touch her. That she had helped him through some of the worst times of his life. and that he didn't know how he was going to handle not having her there anymore. But he knew it wouldn't be fair, she had made her decision, and he had to accept it - didn't he?

'I guess you missed your flight." he whispered.

She let out a slight laugh, and he propped himself up on his elbow to look at her quizzically.

"Yeah, about that..." her voice trailed off. "There wasn't any flight to London today. I turned down that job with Interpol."

"What? When?"

"I turned him down. About 2 hours after he offered it. I couldn't bear to be that far away from the team again. Even if I'm not a part of it, you guys are like my family." she started to laugh. "The reason I came here this morning was because Rossi said you were telling anyone that would listen last night that you were going to use your credentials to get me hauled off the plane. He said it was up to me to save your ass before you destroyed your career."

He rubbed his forehead, as if it would help him remember the night before. He scowled as the memory came back to him.

"Dave had a lot to drink, you know you can't trust anything he says."

"Right..." she laughed.

He smiled and shifted his body closer to her, just now realizing how uncomfortable the couch was. As happy as he was in this moment, he knew that he had to ask.

'So if you're not taking the job at Interpol, what are you going to do? Is there a chance you would stay with the BAU?"

"I don't know." she shrugged. "Garcia has held up my resignation in the system, that girl just doesn't give up. But I've also been offered a job at the State Department."

"DC?" he asked, not doing a good job of hiding his excitement. "You mean you might be taking a job in DC?"

"Maybe." she smiled seductively, "But I don't want to talk about any of that right now, I would much rather spend the rest of the day doing something else."

"Oh yeah?" he grinned, reading the look in her eyes. "Like what?"

"I thought you were a better profiler than that." she teased, getting up off the couch and extending her hand.

Still smiling, he took it, and followed her into the bedroom.