A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL

Chapter 4: The Calm After the Storm

Later that night, after Aaron had received the call from Nurse Roberts stating that Shaunessy had passed away, he was at his house with his family. He had not told Emily or anyone else about the call. After Aaron hung up from the nurse, he pretended like it was nothing, and he told Emily another little white lie, and once again pretended everything was okay. The days have passed by slower than any other days of his life, but Aaron was vigilant; he knew it was just a matter of time before the Reaper struck again… but how long? When would he kill again? Would it take him days? Would it take him weeks, or would it take him months? He didn't know, but he knew that as soon as the Reaper was back, the fear and the panic in the streets would be unforgettable. Aaron was worried for many things; he knew he had a great team…the best in the entire country probably, but they didn't even have a profile for the Reaper yet, so they didn't even know where to begin. Another thing he had decided was there was no way in the world he was going to let Emily participate in this case, and he automatically knew this was going to lead to another horrendous fight...he knew his wife, and she didn't always take "no" for an answer, especially in a situation where her family was concerned. He spent the rest of the afternoon trying to find a way to alert the Boston Police Department without causing fear or panic.

Aaron finally decided to go home and attempt to spend some time with his family since Emily had already read him the riot act. He also realized that before all hell broke loose, he wanted to enjoy and cherish his family, and share as much happiness as he could possibly enjoy before this became a nightmare. He knew things soon would be bad, and this case would probably change his life, but for now, just for tonight, he wanted to forget about the Reaper and concentrate on his family, a gift from heaven, because he knew soon this would also be jeopardized.

Aaron was watching a movie with both of his children in the living room, and for the first time in two weeks his mind was focused on something else. He was sitting on the sofa and both Alana and Jack were lying on the carpet with a bunch of pillows watching Frozen for what seemed like the thousandth time that month. Since both he and Jack knew they had no word over the two girls in the house, they had no option but to comply with Lanny's wishes and watch Frozen for the 1,001th time.

Lanny was smiling widely and giggling, because no matter how many times she had watched the movie, she always laughed non-stop, which made Aaron the happiest man on earth. Emily was finishing the last load of laundry since he had already helped her clean the kitchen and check the kid's homework.

Aaron watched, smiling, as his two kids were fascinated with the movie; no matter how hard his day had been his kids always put a smile on his face. Emily came in the room a little later, and she smiled widely at the sight of her family spending time together. She walked further into the living room next to the sofa where Aaron was sitting.

"Frozen again?" -She asked rolling her eyes and smiling.

"How many times are we going to watch this movie, Lanny?" -She asked, exasperated at the four year old whose eyes didn't move from the TV.

"Forever, mommy...I love Frozen." -The little girl responded with her eyes on the television.

"Forever? Really?" -Emily smirked, since she was growing really bored with the film…she look at her husband hoping he would back her up.

"Hey...she's your daughter." -Aaron said, shrugging his shoulders.

"She is just as stubborn as you are." -He added, teasing his wife. Emily looked at him incredulously and was about to protest when he pulled her hand a little roughly causing her to fall into his lap. Emily just laughed, and before she had time to respond or do anything else, he captured her mouth in a kiss.

"I am not stubborn!" -Emily protested, pouting when he finally freed her mouth.

Aaron was about to say something when his wife placed a finger gently on his lips to stop him from saying anything at all.

"Don't say a word or else." -She said, giving him a warning look.

"Or else what?" -He teased, pulling the brunette into his arms again and kissing her neck gently. Emily tilted her head up to whisper in his ear gently; she spoke very low so the kids wouldn't hear a word, which wasn't necessary because they were both totally absorbed in the film.

"Or else you won't be getting any tonight." -Her low and sensual voice made him shiver.

"Is that so? We'll see about that!" -He smirked, capturing her mouth again, the kids completely oblivious to what was going on between their parents. He kissed her passionately, and then very discreetly he slid his hand under her blouse cupping her breast gently. Emily immediately pulled away and snatched his hand, blushing instantaneously and squealing.

"!Aaron!" -She sat up immediately, horrified at the sight of her kids having witnessed any of what had just happened, but to her relief their eyes had not moved from the television. She turned around to face her husband again, and she slapped his chest playfully while she gave him a scolding look. The devilish look on her husband's face was priceless, and he was laughing at how blushed his wife's cheeks were.

"I hate you." -She said playfully.

"That's ok...because I have enough love for both of us." -He once again pulled her in for a kiss, which she reciprocated sweetly, and then she settled in his lap to finish watching the movie with the kids before they had to get ready for bed.

Once the movie was over, Emily ordered Jack and Alana both to go put their pajamas on and brush their teeth, while they straightened the living room where the family had been gathered together. Then it was time to go to bed, and the couple walked together to put their children to sleep. That was another thing Aaron loved about Emily, she always referred to them as their children, "their" even if Jack wasn't her biological son, she treated him as if he was, and she would treat both kids exactly the same way whether it was to spoil them or reprimand them. Even with Jack, Aaron never objected if Emily had to step in to reprimand Jack, which was very rarely because Jack was the closest thing to a perfect child; still, he knew Jack adored Emily and saw her like another mom, and he had a tremendous amount of respect for her…actually he listened to Emily probably more than he did to his father. So, the couple walked together into Lanny's room, which was painted light purple and was filled with fairies and princesses, and at this current moment was also decorated with Frozen's theme.

"Can we read a story please, Daddy...PLEASE! Lanny said, bouncing by her father's side; she made the last words as loud as she could, giving her dad a puppy dog look. Aaron would have fallen for that beautiful smile and face even if she didn't beg; however, his eyes landed on his wife who was already giving her a scolding look.

"Sweetie is already past nine you should have gone to bed a while ago, you need to go to sleep now." -Emily told her four year old, who was now pouting at her.

"Please, mommy, please." -She whined.

"Not tonight, Alana, its bed time, please!" -Emily said more firmly and with "that tone", the tone she usually used when if any of her kids or husband didn't do as she said, they knew there were serious consequences.

Alana nodded sadly and jumped in her bed, for a four year old she was very smart; she knew exactly how to get whatever she wanted from each of her parents. She knew that with Aaron she could get anything she wanted, he would hardly ever say no to her…he was the one that spoiled her the most, something unusual for the very stoic Aaron Hotchner, who would have thought that a four year old with beautiful curls and eyelashes would be his weakness. Alana knew exactly how to get away with anything when it came to her dad. With her mother, however, things were different…Emily loved her children fiercely, and she tried to spoil them as much as she could and show them how much she loved them every minute of time she spent with them, but, she was also in charge of discipline in Alana's case, and Jack sometimes. While Emily would never hurt any of her children, she would not think twice about giving Lanny a couple of spanks when she was misbehaving, which were usually hardly a touch, but Alana knew very well it was never a good idea to get on mommy's bad side. So, she jumped in her bed and let her parents tuck her in for bedtime.

"Good night baby." –Emily said soothingly, turning all the lights off and just left on the unicorn lamp that lighted Alana's room at night. Emily pressed a kiss on her daughter's forehead, as the little girl wrapped her arms around her mom's neck and kissed her.

"I love you, mommy."

"I love you more." -Emily replied, smiling and pressed one more kiss on her daughter's nose. Once Aaron said goodnight to Alana and kissed her, too, they both walked out of the room closing the door walking together towards Jack's room. Jack had a very neat and organized room, in fact, Emily had never seen a nine year old with a room so organized…he was, after all, his father's son. Jack also jumped in bed when Aaron and Emily walked into the room.

"Emmy, can we go to the dinosaur museum this weekend if you and daddy don't have to work?" -He asked the brunette who sat on the edge of his bed next to him.

"Yes, of course, honey, but right now I need you to go to bed, it's late already." -She said while she pressed a kiss on his forehead.

"Okay, good night, daddy, good night, Emmy." -Jack said, while he settled back on his blanket, and let Emily and his dad tuck him into his bed. Aaron also kissed Jack good night, and once again, the couple walked out of the room together, making their way into the master bedroom.

A few minutes later, Emily was in the bathroom washing her face and brushing her teeth when Aaron stepped in the doorframe and just watched her. She was wearing a red silk gown, and his eyes immediately scanned her body. In his mind, she was the sexiest woman he had ever seen in his life, even above Haley; Haley was beautiful, but she didn't have the innate "fire" that Emily had. Even with the fear that the Reaper was about to strike, he couldn't help getting turned on that easily by his wife, no woman had ever made him feel such a strong desire. Emily turned to see her husband and gave him a smile, Aaron didn't even respond to her. He just stepped closer into the bathroom and pulled the brunette into his arms and started kissing her senseless, catching Emily by surprise. Despite all the trouble that he was facing and all the stress he had, and how worried and terrified he was, he had promised himself this night, at least, just this night, he wasn't going to let this stop him from enjoying and cherishing his family. And, that also included having a very memorable night with his wife.

Emily pulled away after her husband had assaulted her mouth until he had left her breathless.

"Well hello there!" -She said, smiling at him widely.

"Hello, sexy." -Aaron said, looking at her with his eyes full of desire, and she could see that desire very well in him.

"So, about your warning earlier...what if I don't want to behave? What if I want to be very bad tonight?" -He asked Emily huskily.

"Mmmmm." -Emily smiled, as he softly began kissing her neck. He captured her mouth again as his hand slid down between her legs, pressing his wife softly against the bathroom counter and sliding his fingers between her thighs, feeling how wet she already was. Without another warning, he lifted her in his arms, and she wrapped her long slender legs around his waist as he moved them from the bathroom to their bed.

He gently placed her on the bed, removing his own shirt, then he joined his wife in bed capturing her mouth in a fiery and passionate kiss. Emily moaned into his mouth as his rough and calloused hands moved underneath her gown caressing her breasts and pinching her nipples a little roughly. Emily tried to speak between kisses, but by the way he was assaulting her mouth, it was almost impossible.

"Honey...the...door." -She managed to say in between his kisses.

"Shhhhhh." -He silenced her, pressing a finger on her rosy lips.

"The door is locked, and the kids are sleep, and now you are alllllll mine." -He said huskily taking off her gown. His attention was now totally focused on her now puckered nipples pulling one into his mouth and biting it gently. Emily arched her back and moaned softly. Just the sight of his wife like this, enjoying all the delicious and sinful things he was doing to her, made him completely forget about everything else including the Reaper.

"God, you are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in this world." He said, looking deeply into her eyes and watching her pupils dilate and her ivory checks blush. Her hands moved to cup his large erection through his pajama pants, and that made him even harder. She flipped them on the bed sitting on his legs and leaning down to kiss his jaw, moving down to his neck, and he could feel her soft warm lips trailing down his chest and his toned abdomen. Aaron closed his eyes moaning softly as her mouth did indescribable things to his body. She pulled down his pajama pants slowly taking them off completely, and her face immediately moved to his shaft and before he could open his eyes again, her mouth was on his shaft licking the pre cum from his large mushroom shaped head while she gently moved her hand up and down his engorged penis. When she took him in her mouth completely, looking up at him through the silky strands of her hair, he felt like he couldn't take a deep breath because it felt so good, and when he finally could breathe, he thought he was going to explode.

"Em…baby...wait..." -He said, trying to pull his wife away because he knew if she continued doing that there was no way he could manage to control himself with her. He finally was able to pull her up gently and flipping them on the bed again, his hands immediately moved to remove her underwear. He was going to go for her center, but Emily stopped him.

"Don't...please, I want you inside me now!" -He smiled and moved over her taking his very large member in his hand to push himself at her entrance. Just to play with her a little, he rubbed himself around her moist opening and teased her by pushing gently into her about an inch then immediately pulled himself out. While he was teasing her, he captured her mouth again, making her whimper, and finally she moaned and begged him to please don't tease her, that she wanted him inside her so badly, and he slowly slid inside her, making her whimper in his mouth. As he began his thrust into her, Emily's hips arched up to meet his each time; she couldn't help it, it felt like it was a natural reaction from her body to his. Aaron's body going into hers felt like heaven to her. Their bodies just fit together like they were made for each other.

One of the things he loved about his marriage with Emily was the openness and trust they had with each other in their intimacy. They had a very, very healthy sex life, in fact, they probably enjoyed sex more they were supposed to. He was just grateful that at his age he could still please his wife and make love to her every night. They never grew bored, no matter what, they enjoy their intimacy and both were willing to experiment with new ways of making love. They would make slow, passionate love taking their time and enjoying every touch, every caress, every minute, or, they could have fun sex where they told each other dirty things and would please each other in different ways; or they could have rough sex, where they ended up with scratches on their backs, almost like they were fighting to see who was going to come out on top, fucking hard and fast. But, tonight he didn't want that, and although it was one of his favorite games with his wife, tonight he wanted to make slow, passionate love to her, he wanted to enjoy her beautiful body and take all the time he could making his wife climax as many times as he possibly could; tonight he wanted to enjoy every second he could in bed with the beautiful woman whom he was proud to call his wife.

"Oh God, Aaron." -Emily moaned, as he moved inside her slowly making her enjoy each thrust, keeping deep eye contact with her.

"Talk to me, baby, tell me how it feels." -He said, capturing her mouth in a kiss and swallowing the soft scream she emitted.

"It feels so good." -She said, opening her eyes to look at her husband. The love and lust she could see in his eyes turned her even more on.

"I love you." -He said, the small drops of sweat forming on his forehead. His concentration on the long deep thrusts was beginning to fracture a little because it felt so good to him as he went deeply inside her hot and moist body, he just didn't know how much longer he could keep up his slower pace because he was beginning to want to pound into her and make her scream his name.

"Promise?" -Emily asked, whimpering.

"Always and forever." -He said, as he finally couldn't hold off moving inside her more rapidly, as he felt the tingling in his stomach and groin area beginning.

"Forever?" -Emily asked again, digging her heels into his ass bringing him deeper inside her.

"Yes, forever and ever...oh, Goddam, baby..." -He grunted and moaned in her ear.

He continued his thrusts until both he and his wife were moaning and breathing erratically, and soon they both shared a climax, and Aaron fell on Emily exhausted because his arms would no longer hold him up. Finally, Aaron pulled out of her and rolled over, resting on the mattress, and Emily turned on her side and cuddled close to her husband so they were spooning. He wrapped his arms around his wife and pulled her even closer to his body. After a few minutes and once their breathing evened out, he spoke softly in her ear, "I love you more than anything in this world, no matter what happens."

Emily turned around in his arms and looked at him with questioning eyes, thinking this was a very odd declaration of love.

"Why do you say that, Aaron?" -She asked, concerned. Aaron couldn't bear to see the slight sting of worry across her beautiful eyes.

"Nothing, sweetheart, just that I love you with my entire soul and being, and I will for the rest of my life, and it just hit me in my heart so deeply and I had to tell you." -He said, kissing her nose.

"Well, I love you, too, mister, and I will love you for more than forever." Aaron laughed and kissed her temple, the joy that she gave him was priceless, the joy that his kids gave him was the best gift in the world, he had everything he had ever wanted, and he was going to protect his family, no matter what, even if it meant his own life. They fell sleep in each other's arms, and Aaron finally got rest that night as he waited for the storm to arise.

Around six in the morning, his phone rang waking him up; he grabbed the phone answering in the dark so he wouldn't wake Emily.

"Hotchner."

"Agent Hotchner, this is Sergeant O'Mara, I'm sorry to call you this early..."

"You wanted to know about any unusual homicides in Boston?" -The Sergeant said slowly. Aaron sat up in his bed listening quietly; Emily had also awakened and was looking at him with a worried face.

"We just found a young woman and her boyfriend, she was stabbed 47 times, and he was shot in the head just outside of Mile 128." -O'Mara told Aaron.

"Any particular signature?" -Aaron asked, as his heart started to beat fast.

"The Eye of Providence was drawn with blood on the vehicle of the couple." -The Sergeant said, and with those last words, Aaron's mouth got dry, and he find trouble breathing, and he knew it had begun and their lives would never be the same.

"We'll be there as soon as possible." -He said, hanging up the phone and getting up to get dressed immediately. His heart was beating like it was going to come out of his chest, but there was no other way, the Reaper was back.

"What's going on?" -Emily asked, sitting up in bed and looking up at her husband.

"Nothing, I just have to go to the office right now." -He told her, avoiding her gaze, getting dressed as quickly as he could.

"Please don't lie to me." -Emily said, scolding him with her eyes…she knew all of her husband's expressions.

"It's about a case." -Aaron exhaled, looking at his wife.

"We don't know much yet, I'll go in and find out if you'll take the kids to school, then meet me at the office, ok?"

Emily just nodded as he bent over to kiss her and rushed out of the room. She knew something was wrong, she could feel it, and she had the feeling it was going to affect their lives in some really bad way.