Here's the fourth chapter of this story and in it we see a little of how Booth deals with his problem from the nasty sunburn, and Bones' reaction to what is happening between them. A bit of humor throughout, though some serious issues are tangentially brought up. Hope you all enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Bones sat and glared over at Booth who was laying on his bed moaning in a pretty fair approximation of agony. It had been three hours since she had woken on the deck and found Booth asleep and his entire groin, and more importantly his very impressive genitalia, sunburned. Not just sunburned, it was practically cooked in Booth's opinion, which she wasn't too keen on paying attention to at the moment. He just had to be such a stubborn Alpha Male and refuse to do as she suggested and put some suntan lotion on like any sane rational person would do. Now instead of being able to enjoy a wonderful trip together, and work on being a couple, she had to play nursemaid to him. Granted that had some advantages, such as taking care of the medical side of dealing with his "cooked" genitalia, but there were many other deliciously wicked things she could be doing with it instead. While she was sitting and glaring, somewhat irked that Booth was seemingly asleep, her cell phone vibrated. Checking the display she saw that it was Angela.
"Hi, Ange," she said as she flipped open the cell phone. She stood and walked out of the bedroom.
"How's Booth, Sweetie?" Angela asked, clearly amused.
"Asleep," Bones said testily. She was not hiding her pique at this turn of events. Booth was definitely going to get an earful when he was feeling a bit better.
"What did the Doctor say?"
"After the man got done laughing, he told us that it was a severe sun burn and that Booth could not have any material covering on that part of his body for about a week," Bones stated. "At best he can wear hospital gowns, or a mu-mu." She held the phone away from her ear as Angela laughed really loudly.
"I expect to see pictures of our hunky G-Man in a mu-mu, or better yet a picture from the back if he's in a hospital gown," Angela giggled. "Preferably if it's untied, Sweetie."
"You're incorrigible, Ange," Bones chuckled, though she had to admit the idea of a picture of Booth's naked ass was appealing.
"I may be engaged, but I can still look, Sweetie," Angela continued laughing. "Seriously, though. Is Booth going to be okay?"
"It's going to take awhile, and his damn Alpha Male pride will be bruised, but he will be," Bones told her friend. "He will be hearing quite a bit from me about this, though. I did not come here with him to play nursemaid." She looked at the time. "I've got to go, Ange. I promised Booth I would call Parker this afternoon since I wasn't around when he was talking to him earlier."
"Ooh," Angela crooned. "A personal call from Dr. Bones. I'd be willing to bet that Booth's son is as in love with you as Booth is, Sweetie."
"Bye, Ange," Bones laughed. She closed the cell phone and thought for a minute about that, though. Parker was a lovely child who was very smart and very affectionate. She had a real soft spot for him, and she was amazed at how much the child seemed to want to be around her. Booth had never said anything, but she could see in his eyes just how much her and Parker enjoying each other's company meant to Booth. She opened the phone again and dialed Parker's number.
"Hello?" came the familiar voice. Booth had told her that Rebecca was now allowing Parker to answer the phone since he was getting older.
"Hi, Parker," she said happily. "Your Father said he talked with you this morning and I wanted to call and say hi."
"Hi Bones!" Parker said excitedly.
"I wanted to thank you Parker for being so understanding about your Father helping me this week. I know you were looking forward to seeing him now instead of next week," she told the young boy. "It really means a lot to me."
"Daddy said something happened and you were sad, Bones," Parker told her. "Are you going to be okay?"
"I will be, Parker," she assured him. "It's just really hard right now. Your Father is really helping me and I don't know what I'd do without him. How about when he has you next week, I take you out to lunch? Just the two of us. Then we can get your Father and go to the Jeffersonian and we can see some of the exhibits and Angela can give you some art lessons. Sound like fun?"
"That would be awesome, Bones," Parker said enthusiastically.
"I better let you get back to your fun, Parker," she said with a smile. "Your Father told me you were going to be going to the park and a movie. I'll call you again in a few days, though. Okay?"
"Okay," Parker said, sounding just a bit disappointed that the call was ending. He really liked talking with Bones. "I hope you feel better soon. Tell Daddy I said hi and I love him."
"I'm feeling better already, Parker," she assured him. She did, too. There was something about Booth's son that really touched her. "Bye." She hung up the phone and decided to check on Booth. Despite being angry at him over this incredibly stupid turn of events, she was worried. She had been around pain and suffering her entire adult life in varying circumstances, but when it was Booth suffering, she was affected on a much more emotional, even primal, level.
When she walked into the main guest bedroom where Booth was, she had to smirk just a bit. He was moaning a bit, and squirming, but he was asleep. There in front of her was the perfect male body in her opinion, but now it had a flaw. His impressive, and in her opinion mouth watering, penis was at full attention, but instead of a normal skin tone, it was an angry red. Very deep and burnished red, in fact. An erection like the one he had right then would be incredibly painful as the skin was stretched taut and the nerve endings on fire from the sun burn. Only flacid would it be half way under control in terms of pain. Unfortunately considering the high level of sexual tension and frustration that had always existed between them, and was almost overwhelming now that they were a couple, it would not be easy to control. That was especially true if the statistical studies of sexual thoughts in the average male held true with Booth. Something told her that the studies were, if anything, a bit conservative in terms of Booth.
"Booth?" she shook him lightly on his shoulder.
"Oh God, Bones," he groaned. "I'm really hurting here," he whined.
"And whose fault is that?" she snapped out, a little more sharply than she had intended.
"Mine," he said as he gritted his teeth. "I know, I know. I was being a stubborn Alpha Male and didn't do what should have been common sense. Now can you please help me?"
Bones almost laughed. She was amused that he knew exactly what she would say to him when it came to what was angering her, but she didn't have the heart to make him feel worse at the moment. That could wait until he was doing better later in the week. "Do you want an ice pack? Or perhaps some of the cooling lotion and ointment that the Doctor left?" she asked.
"I'd it like to be soothed, Bones, not frozen off," he said with a snort. He was trying not to be too much of a wimp right then, but this hurt, dammit.
Bones sighed. He was obviously in no shape to do it for himself, so she was left to take care of this.
"You're going to owe me for this one, Booth," she told him bluntly. She looked down at herself and cursed him mentally again. She'd wanted to spend most of her time here either in her various bikinis, or even nude out on the deck in the sun, but with him needing to avoid an erection as much as possible she had dawned some unrevealing clothes, which were, in her opinion, extremely unflattering.
Moving to the bed, she leaned over and took the tube of lotion and ointment, flipping the cap off. Squirting some on her hand, she put the tube back on the bedside table and stared down at his erection.
"You realize that you're going to have to try and control that while you're healing," she stated. While he groaned at the prospect of being lectured, she placed a hand on him for the very first time. Trying to be as clinical as possible, she applied the cream to his penis and then to the outlying burned skin. Naturally she spent a bit more time on his member. She wasn't made of stone and she had been fantasizing about handling and fondling him, among other activities, for a very long time. He felt magnificent and it only increased her desire for him. She cursed that she was once again going to be spending much more time with her favorite vibrator that night than she really wanted to, or possibly right after she got done dealing with this, taking care of her surging arousal.
"Now how the hell am I going to do that, Bones?" he whined. "We had a very deep conversation while you were in your bathtub the other night, and then spent the whole night on the couch talking with you naked under the towel. Then I wake up to find I was copping a feel in my sleep. Then this morning I come out onto the deck and you're bare assed wanting me to rub suntan lotion on your back. Do you have any idea what kind of images are running around in my mind constantly now?" he continued.
"I could wear a nuns habit and be covered head to foot," she spat, though she was amused with the idea that she was constantly invading his thoughts.
"Won't work," he said, clearly taking her seriously since he was too keyed up from the pain to think straight.
"A nun's habit turns you on?" she asked incredulously. Sure she'd always enjoyed role playing and an adventurous sex life, but how could a woman completely covered be a turn on?
Booth looked at her incredulously. "Are you nuts, Bones? I'd be thinking of playing out the old Catholic School Girl fantasy if you wore that," he groaned.
Now she smiled widely. "I knew you were kidding when you spoke out so vehemently against sexual role playing," she said proudly.
"Now Bones," he defended himself. "I was talking about that freak show we were investigating. Now that was just downright sick. They were idiotic perverted fucks." He moved slightly right then and let out a yelp of pain.
"Well far be it from me to keep you so aroused when it's too painful to enjoy," she teased as she stood up. "I'll be taking a little nap for a bit and I suggest you do the same."
Booth groaned as she left the room. He looked up. "This is my reward?" he asked God. "A dick that's burnt to a crisp and a girlfriend who gives me a hard on if she's simply sitting at a desk looking at a computer screen? Now this is your old pal Seeley Booth here begging you for a little bit of help. I swear that I'll be in confession as soon as I can put some pants on, and even put up with Father Mitch thinking I'm a sex pervert. My one and only chance with Bones is going down in flames pretty quick here." After his agonized plea for some kind of divine assistance he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on something other than the part of his body that was screaming in pain.
Bones had heard his quiet plea and chuckled all the way back to her bedroom to get her laptop so she could spend time in the library working on a new chapter for her book. The nap could wait until she had some other things taken care of. She decided that she could spend some time with her vibrator that night when the tension was a bit more stretched and she could have a really powerful set of orgasms. She would, however, have to set him straight on one item, though. His shot with her was already successful and she was not going anywhere. Maybe that would ease his mind a bit. Granted, she was still upset over his Alpha Male antics of that morning, but she didn't want him worked up over things that weren't even in question.
Booth woke up about two hours later to his cell phone ringing on the bedside table next to him. He groaned in pain as he reached over to grab it, but flipped it open after seeing who was calling him. Hodgins.
"Yeah?" he said with a sigh.
"Dude, you sure know how to kill a trip," Hodgins said with a laugh. "That's almost as bad as when a baby turtle clamped down on my scrotum when I was at the beach in Virginia a few years ago. Thank God the little guy missed my balls on that one."
"I'd have to say having my dick burnt to within a millimeter of its life is a bit worse, Hodgins," Booth muttered. "How would you like it if every time you saw Angela you had to fight the hard on that wants to rise up and salute because it was like someone was kicking you in the nuts every second your hard on was there?"
"I'll leave that one to you, G-Man," Hodgins chuckled. "Hey did you see Dr. B's new bikini? Angela said she helped her pick it out."
"Yes," Booth said. "And before you ask, no one is ever going to see that on her but me. I may have to put up with being called an Alpha Male Neanderthal, but there are some things that have to be kept secret. Bones in that bikini is one of them."
"You know how Dr. B will react of she ever hears you talking like that," Hodgins chuckled.
"Don't I know it," Booth sighed. He winced as he considered the ass kicking he would get, verbal or otherwise, from Bones if she heard him. "Hey, Hodgins, you don't by any chance have something that can speed up the healing process a bit, and also get rid of the excruciating pain? I'm dying here, man."
"What did the Doctor give you?" Hodgins asked. He listened as Booth told him the name of the creams and lotions, as well as the ingredients. He nodded. "Those are about the best that's out there for what you have," he told his friend. "I do have a salve that is a bit better and has a mild anesthetic in it. I can overnight it to you out there."
"Thanks Hodgins," Booth said gratefully. "Anything that helps is greatly appreciated."
"No problem, Booth," Hodgins said. "I better get off of here before Ange comes looking for me. Later."
Booth sighed as he raised his head and looked down at his fried appendage. He shook his head in disbelief. How could such an incredible opportunity to really connect with Bones after the unbelievable prior two days, two days in which they'd admitted their feelings for one another, turn into such a damn nightmare?
While Booth was speaking with Hodgins, Bones was talking to Angela. She'd managed to write about half of the chapter she had outlined in her mind so far, but then set it aside to speak to her friend again.
"So Booth seems to like a bit of role playing, huh?" Angela laughed.
"He does," Bones smiled. Angela knew more about her sexual history than anyone, though Booth came a close second. "I think you and I need to go shopping when we get back," she told Angela.
"Anything in particular in mind?" Angela asked knowingly.
"He did mention the Catholic School Girl fantasy," Bones admitted. She'd actually done that one before with a previous lover and while she hadn't particularly cared for the dominant submissive aspect of it favoring the man, she had enjoyed the pure, raw sexuality of it. "I was thinking of making it a bit racier by using the outfit as a costume for a stripper routine in private, as long as he returns the favor and does a strip routine for me."
"Oh my God," Angela said loudly. "Booth'll have a stroke! And then a very steamy lap dance to finish him off?" Ange asked wickedly. "You sure you won't share that sexy FBI hunk of yours?" she teased.
"I was also thinking of getting some really sexy new lingerie and some outfits, like a nurses costume," Bones added, ignoring the teasing question her somewhat wild friend had posed. "Want to help?"
"Try and stop me, Girl!"
"We can go when we get back," Bones told her. "I'm not sure when that's going to be at the moment since Booth has to heal enough to be able to put some pants on before we can leave."
"That's okay," Angela laughed. "So when are you going to rock his world?"
That phrase Bones knew, thankfully. "Not for awhile, Ange," she replied. "I actually agree with Booth that we need to work out some issues first, despite how frustrating it is. My vibrator's going to be getting some serious attention this trip."
"Why don't you torment your boyfriend and put on a little show for him one night?" Angela giggled. She recalled when she'd done that for Hodgie the first time and then man had nearly had a stroke. As it was, he came in his pants before she'd even touched him after her 'performance'.
"Now that would be cruel, Ange," Bones said with a smile. The idea had some appeal for her, as she was a bit of an exhibitionist with the men she was involved with, but for right now Booth needed less stimulating activities. "I've got to go, Ange. I need to check on Booth and change the dressing on his chest wound."
"Are you going to be able to handle that, Sweetie?" Angela immediately sobered up.
"It won't be easy, but I think so, Ange," Bones replied. "I'll call you tomorrow."
Bones gathered the supplies she thought she would need, including some steri-strips in case the wound was suppurating, and made her way to his room. Considering the nature of this mornings 'accident' she was thankful that she had given him his own room instead of sharing her bed with him. They'd slept in the same bed for the last two nights after the night on the couch, but she had been in a nightgown and he had had his sweat pants on. If he was sure that it was not the right time to have sex, then she was not about to be overly pushy by insisting on sharing a bed on vacation in a secluded venue.
"Booth?" she asked as she walked into the room. She saw him snapping his cell phone shut. Looking over his body she was pleased for his sake that he was not aroused, or at least showing the physical evidence of arousal.
"Yeah?" he said in a tired voice.
She smirked a bit. The initial medication the Doctor had given him must still be making him a bit groggy. "I came to change your dressing and see if you needed more ointment," she told him as she sat on the edge of the bed nearest to his gunshot wound and set the medical supplies on the bedside table.
"I don't need anymore ointment for a while, or are you just trying to cop a feel?" he teased with a smile.
"Feeling frisky, huh?" she shot back with a smile of her own. At least his sense of humor was back.
"I'd have to be dead and buried not to be frisky around you, Bones," he sighed as he looked at her, despite her being covered from the neck down rather conservatively. "Sorry," he apologized when he saw her face pale a bit at the 'dead and buried' comment.
"It's only a figure of speech," she brushed it aside, though she knew that inside the phrase would always have this effect on her. Those two weeks without him and thinking he'd been dead would always haunt her, despite her attempts to tell him and Sweets that she had compartmentalized it all during that time. It had been a very thin, and ridiculous lie that she was sure Booth had seen through instantly. Why else would she have decked him at the funeral, and then angrily confronted him again while he was in his bathtub?
"You don't have to do this, Bones," Booth said as he gestured to his bandaged wound. He decided to let the other subject drop as it would only make things worse at this point.
Bones put out a hand and placed it on his shoulder, gently keeping him still. "Yes, I do," she told him firmly in a serious tone. "It will allow me to really believe that the last two weeks are really in the past, Booth. I'll also know for myself that you're really okay."
When Booth nodded, she began. Instead of ripping the dressing off, since he had mentioned possible suppuration, she eased it off, thankful that he was not a man with a hairy chest. The wound was indeed suppurating, and the dressing had a slightly bloody discharge on it. Quelling her small wave of nausea, she took the peroxide and a sterile pad, cleaning the wound quickly and efficiently. She also used three steri strips to close the suppuration, which while not severe, or all that uncommon, should be closed. Finally she put a new outer dressing on the wound. She bagged the unsanitary remains of the prior dressing.
"You should have seen a Doctor about the suppuration," she remarked when all was finished.
"It wasn't too bad until I shot the Gormagon," he admitted. "After that..." he shrugged.
Bones nodded, allowing his explanation, though she knew that it wasn't completely accurate. She placed a hand on his chest, just above his heart. "There's something I need you to know," she told him. "I heard you when you were praying earlier. You were wrong, Booth. You're only chance with me is not in question, and certainly not in any kind of jeopardy. I may be a bit angry with you for this morning, and when you are in better condition we will discuss some of your more disturbing Alpha Male tendencies, but this is for keeps. I'm done hiding behind sex and work and lies about what you mean to me to keep from stepping over that damn line you drew. That line no longer exists, I hope you know. I will seriously hurt you if you even joke about it," she added, trying to inject a touch of levity, but her tone would tell him she was deadly serious, despite the humor.
"I know," he replied, looking deep into her eyes. He was embarrassed that she'd heard his somewhat petulant plea to God, but he was also very warmed to know that she was with him no matter what.
"Good," she said with a small smile. "I may make a lot of mistakes along the way, Booth, but I want to try and make this work. Despite the sunburn and the limiting effects it will have on you, I want us to enjoy the time here and really work out some of the issues that we have. For now, though, I want you to get some more rest. The medication should wear off this evening and I'll bring in some dinner. After that we can sit here and watch a movie."
He'd been shown the nice plasma screen television in the cabinet along the opposite wall with the great sound system and DVD player. He assumed she had some movies that they could both enjoy. "Sounds great Bones," he answered.
Bones leaned down and kissed him softly, not letting it deepen. Now was not the time for that. "I'll be back later. Yell if you need me for anything, okay?" she said.
Booth nodded as the effects of the medication began pulling him down again.
"Stupid Alpha Male tendencies," Bones muttered as she laughingly walked out of the room.
A/N: So how was it? It wasn't quite like the previous chapters, but I wanted some foundation for the rest of the trip to work with, so here it is. I'm trying to add in Hodgins and Angela to the story line as much as possible, so that they can be involved in later chapters once the trip is concluded. I'm also trying to include Parker in a reasonable way. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Gregg.
