As promised, the next chapter. Please note the time frames in this. I jumped back a day and will work my way back to where we started. This one earned its rating from this chapter so considered yourself warned.
The Previous Day
T: - 26:15:32
"We're going to be late," Brennan informed Booth as she swatted his hands away from her waist. She had been putting on her makeup while he showered, but as soon as he'd seen her standing there wearing only her panties and a bra, he had lost interest in actually getting ready for work.
"Then we should just go ahead and play hooky," he offered as his hands returned to her waist and pulled her back against him.
She could feel his erection through the towel he had wrapped around his waist, and she couldn't help the moan that escaped her when his lips landed on her neck and began to suck gently. "Booth, please."
"Please what?" he whispered into her ear before sucking her earlobe into his mouth.
When his hands moved from her waist up to cup her breasts, she sighed and leaned back into him. "Please don't stop," she managed to get out as her eyes drifted shut in pleasure.
He chuckled against her skin, the vibrations raising gooseflesh all over her body. "I don't plan on ever stopping again," he told her as his eyes locked on their reflection in the mirror. "I've waited too long to be able to touch you and show you how I feel."
"You feel amazing," she replied as she shifted her hips against his, rubbing her ass against his hardness.
"Are you wet for me, baby?" he asked as he trailed a hand from her breast down across her stomach. When he reached the edge of her panties, he stopped and waited for her eyes to open.
Meeting his questioning gaze in the mirror, she realized that he was waiting for her response. She smiled as she dropped her gaze to watch as her hand covered his. "Only for you, Booth," she told him.
He watched their reflection as she guided their hands inside her panties until he could feel her arousal on his fingertips. "This is what you do to me, Booth," she said as she rocked her hips forward to meet his hand. "I can't get enough of you."
He groaned then, his fingers sliding into her heat. "You are so amazing, Bones."
She couldn't tear her eyes away from their reflection. It was incredibly erotic, watching him pleasure her.
"Take them off," he murmured against her neck.
Her eyes darted up to meet his in the mirror, seeing the desire reflected there. She quickly complied, her hands moving to push her panties off her hips until she finally kicked them away.
"The bra, too," he ordered as his fingers continued to thrust into her.
She leaned forward far enough to unhook the clasp of her bra then let it slide down her arms and drop carelessly to the floor. As she leaned back against him, her hands found the knot holding the towel around his hips and made quick work of it also.
His free hand once again found her breast, his fingers toying with a hardened nipple before moving over to offer the other one equal attention as she moaned her appreciation.
When her hand reached between them to wrap around his length, he said, "You are so incredibly sexy, Bones." The words rushing past her ear as he bucked against her hand.
She watched his hands in the mirror, one of them molding her breasts while the other continued to stroke her intimately. "You make me feel sexy, Booth," she told him as she slowly slid her hand up and down his length. It was true, too. Every time he looked at her with that twinkle in his eye, she felt like the sexiest woman on the planet.
"Touch yourself for me," he asked as he shifted his weight slightly behind her.
Her eyes shot up to meet his even as she moved her hand to comply. She followed his gaze in the mirror as he watched her fingers slip between her legs to find her clitoris. He increased the speed of his thrusts within her as she slowly circled her clit with her fingers. "Faster," he encouraged her. "I want to watch you come."
She did as he asked, her fingers moving to match the pace he set. She was already hovering on the edge of her climax and the added stimulation from her own fingers sent her crashing over the precipice within seconds.
She was still gasping his name when he lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bed. His lips crashed down on hers as he slid into her welcoming depths and settled into a rhythm. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and pulled him deeper until he finally lost control and spasmed inside of her. When he collapsed on top of her, she held him tightly to her chest, her hands stroking every part of him she could reach.
It was several minutes before he finally rolled to his side, pulling her with him, his arms hugging her as he planted gentle kisses to her forehead. "I love you, Bones."
"I love you, too," she replied, her lips finding his chest and placing kisses across it.
"We're definitely going to be late," he said with a smile as he traced a hand down one smooth shoulder.
She chuckled as she lifted her gaze to his. "Totally not my fault."
"You sure aren't going to blame it on me that you're so damn irresistible, are you?" he asked.
"Absolutely," she replied. "I took the weekend off from work to finish my book. You're the one who followed me to the hotel and insisted that we act out every racy scene in the book."
"All I said was that you should put a little more research into those scenes to make sure they were all plausible," he countered.
"Sure, Booth," she replied. She then leaned up to kiss him again, her tongue tracing his lips before withdrawing back into her own mouth.
When he tried to deepen the kiss, she rolled away from him and climbed out of the bed. "Come on, Booth," she said as she headed back to the bathroom. "We've got to get to work."
XOXOXOXOXO
Brennan checked her reflection in the mirror again and sighed. "I cannot believe you left a hickey on my neck," she said as she turned to face Booth.
He offered her a sheepish smile as he walked over to stand in front of her. "I'm sorry, Bones. I didn't do it on purpose."
She narrowed her eyes at that. "Perhaps on a sub-conscious level you were giving in to your alpha male tendencies and marking your territory."
He laughed and reached out to place his hands on her shoulders. "If that's the case, there are a lot of other places I need to mark before we leave."
"There are a lot of other places that nobody else is going to see except you," she reminded him. "Those would be okay to mark. But this will take Angela approximately ten seconds to notice and then she's going to give me the third degree. She already thinks I'm keeping something from her."
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. "As soon as my meeting is finished this morning, I will head over to the lab and we can let everyone else in on it," he promised.
"And in the mean time?" she asked as she returned his embrace.
He looked over at the bed where her suitcase was still lying open. "How about your red scarf?" he suggested. "It will hide the hickey and will look good with your outfit, too."
Brennan sighed again and stepped out of his embrace. She pulled the scarf from her suitcase and wrapped it around her neck, tying the ends into a loose knot. Checking her reflection again, she nodded. "I guess this will have to do."
Booth walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Resting his chin on her shoulder, he met her gaze in the mirror. "I promise to be more careful in the future."
She leaned into him and offered him a smile. "In the future, there won't be a need to be careful. Heck, there wouldn't be a need today if I hadn't insisted on keeping our relationship quiet until we were sure of our footing."
"It doesn't matter," he assured her. "We're on solid ground now and that's all that matters. Our friends are just going to have to deal with the fact that we've kept them in the dark."
"And I did use the weekend to finish my book," she said as she turned in his embrace. "In spite of all of your interruptions."
"Did you e-mail it to your publisher?" he asked.
"While you were shaving," she replied. "Now we can relax and enjoy a couple of months with no deadline looming over my head."
Booth glanced at his watch then and said, "Speaking of deadlines, my meeting with Cullen starts in thirty minutes."
"Go," she said as she pushed gently against his chest.
"I'll walk you to your car," he replied as he released her.
"It's in the underground garage," she reminded him. "Yours is in the lot outside the front doors. It is definitely not on the way. Go on. Get your bag and get going. I'll see you around lunch time."
He didn't like it, but she was right. He was already pushing his luck to make it to the office without having to use his siren. He zipped up his duffel bag and quickly glanced around the room to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything.
Satisfied that everything was in order, he slung his bag over his shoulder and walked to the other side of the bed where Brennan had just finished closing her suitcase. He lifted it from the bed and sat it on its wheels by the door before walking back over for a lingering kiss.
When he reluctantly pulled away, she smiled up at him. "I love you, Booth."
"I love you, too," he replied. "I'll call when I'm out of my meeting."
He leaned down for one more kiss and then turned and headed out the door. Brennan couldn't help but smile as she gathered her laptop and purse and sat them on the bed as she turned her phone back on. It had been a wonderful weekend.
She listened to her voicemails, both of them from her publisher, and then tucked her phone into her pocket along with her keys. Grabbing both her purse and laptop, she slung the straps over her shoulder and walked over to grab her suitcase as well.
She headed to the elevator and pressed the call button, deciding to load her suitcase into the car and then return to the lobby to check out of the room. As she stepped onto the elevator, she pulled out her cell phone and sent a text to her publisher, telling her to check her e-mail for the final chapters of the latest book.
Once that was done, she tucked her phone back into her pocket and leaned back against the wall. Her hand reached up to her neck, finding the spot where Booth had left a mark and smiling in spite of herself. She would never admit it out loud, but she liked having his mark on her.
She was still smiling when she stepped out of the elevator into the garage. She headed to her car, pulling her keys out of her pocket on the way. Pressing the button to open the trunk, she loaded her suitcase into it and then added her laptop as well.
She slammed the trunk and turned to head back to the elevator when she heard footsteps approaching. She quickly turned but before she could react and register the fact that she was in danger, she was incapacitated.
Her attacker looked down to where she had crumpled to the ground when he had placed the taser to her neck and grinned. "I won't be cheated this time, Dr. Brennan."
XOXOXOXOXO
T: - 24:01:15
Booth flashed a smile at Cullen's secretary as he entered the office. "Good morning, Nancy."
"Good morning, Agent Booth," she replied. "He said for you to go on in when you got here."
"Thank you," Booth said as he gave her another smile.
"Oh, this was couriered over for you," she said as she held out a manila envelope.
Booth's eyebrows rose and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on edge as he saw his name written in bold letters across the front of the envelope. He held out the stack of folders he was carrying and she sat it on top.
"Thank you, Nancy," he said casually, even as his stomach churned. He opened the door to Cullen's office and stepped inside, making sure the door closed behind him before he spoke. "Do you have gloves, Sir?"
Cullen opened a drawer and handed him a pair of gloves, then cleared a spot on his desk when Booth held up the envelope. Booth opened it and carefully dumped the contents on the desk. His heart skipped a beat when he recognized Brennan's cell phone as well as the scarf she'd tied around her neck less than thirty minutes ago to hide the hickey he'd left.
Before he could do anything else, his cell phone rang. Noticing that the caller id showed a private number, he swallowed the fear rising in him and answered the call with dread. "Booth."
"Five million dollars," the distorted voice told him. "The account number is in the package. You have twenty-four hours."
"I will kill you," Booth stated even as a cold chill made its way up his spine.
"Not before I kill her," he replied. "I won't be cheated this time. Clock's ticking, Agent Booth."
The line went dead and Booth let out a string of curses, momentarily forgetting that he was standing in his boss's office.
"What are we dealing with, Booth?" Cullen asked.
"The Grave Digger," Booth replied. "And he's got Bones."
"How much and how long?" Cullen asked.
"Five million dollars in twenty-four hours."
"Whatever you need, Booth," Cullen assured him.
"Thank you, Sir."
XOXOXOXOXO
T: -23:15:20
"Everything went as planned?"
"Like clockwork. I appreciate the information you provided."
"It was the least I could do considering all that you've done for me."
"This time will be different."
"You expect the ransom to be paid this time?"
"I expect her not to be able to assist in her own rescue this time. Yes, things will definitely be different this time."
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