As always, thanks for the kind reviews.

Chapter 4

Bobby's large frame was twitching on Alex's couch. Distressed sounds came from his mouth. Alex knelt beside the couch and cautiously placed a hand on Bobby's arm. Bobby jerked away.

"Please," he murmured. "No…I'll be good…Mom…don't…it hurts…"

"Bobby," Alex whispered.

"Mom…please…don't…" Bobby raised his hands to ward off unseen blows.

"Bobby," Alex spoke in a louder voice. "Wake up…It's a bad dream…"

"Not there…no…please…don't put me there…"

Alex grabbed Bobby's shoulders and spoke with more urgency. "Bobby…wake up…it's a dream…a bad dream…"

"No!" Bobby shouted. He swung his arms wildly as he jerked to a sitting position. Alex fell back on the floor as she tried to avoid his massive arms. Bobby blinked rapidly and starred at his surroundings. His eyes finally came to focus on Alex.

"Ale…Eames…where am I? What?"

Bobby stared at Alex. "Why is she in her…am I in her apartment?" He desperately tried to gather the strands of his thoughts. Bobby shook his head, trying to rid it of the images of the recent case, his dream. A sudden, horrifying thought struck him. "Alex," he thought. "I've hurt her."

Alex was back on her knees next to the couch. She reached out tentatively to touch Bobby's face, but he raised his own hand. Their fingers brushed, and a spark flashed between them. For a moment, Bobby froze, but Alex took one of his large hands in hers and drew it to her lips. Bobby shivered at her touch. Alex brought her free hand to touch Bobby's cheek. His stubble was soft and rough, and he turned his head into her touch.

"Alex," he whispered, his voice breathing want and love and need into her name. A dark shadow crossed his eyes, and he tried to pull away.

"Bobby," Alex said, grabbing his hands with both of hers, "it's all right. Don't panic…"

Bobby hesitated and lowered his eyes. "I…" He swallowed.

"It's all right." Alex gripped his hands tightly.

Bobby shook his head. "No…you don't know…what I'm thinking." He couldn't look in her eyes.

Alex took a deep breath. Her mind weighed the possibilities and consequences. This could destroy their professional partnership; it was against so many regulations; she had a responsibility to other women, to her family, to herself; it could destroy her career. And she knew Bobby had been hurt and was hurting in ways she couldn't imagine. "I might not be able to help him," she thought. "He could really hurt me, physically and emotionally, without even trying, without meaning to….But I love him…more than anyone I've ever loved…I love him."

Alex exhaled. "You're not the only one having those thoughts, Bobby."

Bobby raised his eyes. "Alex…don't…"

Alex released Bobby's hands and gently took hold of his face. "I'm not lying to you, Bobby, or trying to make you feel better…I…"

"No, Alex! No! No! No!" Bobby flung her hands away and leaped to his feet. Alex fell back against the floor with a thud. Bobby dropped to his knees beside her.

"Oh, God, Alex…" His large hands explored her, desperately searching for any injury.

Alex pulled Bobby's face to her. Softly, tenderly, she kissed him, and the spark flew into a wild, arcing current.

Alex was suddenly on her back on the floor with Bobby desperately, savagely kissing her. His tongue forced her mouth open, and his hands probed and stroked her body. Each touch caused a flame of desire and passion to erupt on Alex's skin. She couldn't breath, couldn't think. He overwhelmed her physically and emotionally. Alex was torn between her terrible want for and fear of Bobby. Her body arched towards his even as her hands pushed against his chest.

Gasping, he broke the kiss. He stared down at her. His eyes were dark, wild, lost. Alex searched for some sign of the Bobby Goren she knew in them, and a bolt of fear seared her as she couldn't find him. Her fear overwhelmed her desire. "He can do anything he wants," she thought. "I can fight him, but he's too big, too strong…He'll hurt me…" Bobby's hands had pulled her T-shirt up, and he began biting at her neck.

"Bobby…Bobby…Please…it's…please…" Alex gasped the words out.

Alex's words came to Bobby through the fog of his want and desire. "Stop," he thought, "she's afraid…you're hurting her…maybe she doesn't want you…she let you in her apartment…came to you wearing almost nothing…she's a tease…she deserves…she deserves better than this…you…"

Bobby reeled back, falling backwards. He banged his back against a table, yelped, and rolled away to rest against a chair. Shivering, he curled into a ball.

Stunned, Alex dragged her body into a sitting position. The bite on her neck throbbed and she felt a floor burn forming on her lower back. She smoothed her T-shirt down over her stomach and looked at Bobby.

His arms were wrapped around his head. She couldn't see his eyes. "Oh, no," Alex thought. "I've hurt him…he thinks he…attacked me…"

"Please," Bobby thought. "Let me die…Let the floor open up and swallow me…I've ruined everything…I've hurt her…the only one I've ever…What have I become?...Please, kill me now…she'll never want to see me again…"

He felt a soft touch on his shoulder.

Bobby tentatively peered over his arms. Alex knelt beside him.

"It's all right, Bobby," she said softly. "You didn't attack me…I wanted you…"

Bobby uncurled slightly.

"It's just that…it was too much." Alex sat next to Bobby and leaned back against the chair. "I was afraid…not of you…but of myself, I think…it all came so fast."

Bobby relaxed and his long legs stretched in front of him. He cautiously raised a hand to the bite on Alex's neck.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "It came too fast for me, too."

Alex took his hand in hers and held it against her neck. "It's just a love bite," she smiled. "It doesn't hurt much."

Bobby exhaled. "Alex, it's just…these feelings…I want you to know that if I'd felt anything like this when we first became partners…I'd have ended the partnership…I had too much respect for you…still do…I…"

Alex's smile grew wider. "I'm glad the feelings didn't start till later then." She leaned against Bobby's shoulder. "It's only been lately for me…since after the baby came…"

Bobby let his arm slip around her shoulder. "That's… it started for me just before…when you were gone…I had these horrible dreams…of losing you." He studied her. "That first night…when you were first home…when I came with the soup?"

Alex nodded.

"I…after I helped you to bed…I…I kissed you." Bobby stared down at the floor.

"Oh," Alex said, "it wasn't a dream then."

Bobby looked up to find Alex smiling at him.

"You're sure…I didn't hurt you just now?"

"No…It was just so confusing…" Alex curled her hand into Bobby's.

Bobby weaved his fingers in and out of Alex's. He studied her hand for a long time.

"Alex," he whispered softly, "I'm not real good…with love…"

"That's not what I hear," she said.

"That," he answered as he raised her hand and began tracing his fingers on it, "and those were not … not love…What I feel for you…I don't …my examples of relationships…they weren't good, Alex…but I think…" Bobby was struggling, both with finding the words and his feelings. "I think this is it…I think I love you."

Alex raised her free hand to his face.

"I've been lucky…I know about love…I've had it, and gotten it…What I feel for you, Bobby—it's love."

He looked at her. His eyes brimmed with tears.

"Is it…" he whispered, "really wonderful and really terrifying?"

Alex smiled. "Yea, that's it."

Bobby trembled. Alex slipped her arms around him and Bobby rested his head on her shoulder.

"I'm so scared," he murmured into her shoulder.

"You and me, buddy," Alex whispered in his ear.

They each had no idea how long they held each other. Alex became aware that both she and Bobby were drifting towards sleep. She gently untangled from Bobby's arms.

"C'mon," she said, standing up and extending a head to him. "Let's get more comfortable."

She led him to the bedroom. He hesitated at the door.

"Alex…I'm so tired and …" He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "I want you…more than anything…but…"

"It's ok…anything happens, fine. It doesn't, fine." She pulled the covers back. "Truth be told, I'm pretty wiped out too."

She walked back to him, took his hand, and led him to the bed. She unbuttoned his shirt, and helped him slip out of it. He slipped out of his pants, and she took them from him to put them on the chair over his shirt. He sat, in his undershirt and boxers, on the edge of the bed. She moved to the other side, slipped in, and gently eased him down on the bed.

"It's a big bed," he whispered as she drew the covers over him.

She smiled down at him and turned the light off. She brushed her lips against his, and he held her in his arms. He returned the kiss, and she rested her head on his chest. One hand found her head, and his fingers began softly weaving patterns in her hair. Their heartbeats and breaths moved in rhythm. Alex and Bobby slept.

End Chapter 4