Summary: Reid learns about Aaron's strut.

Warnings: Slash… There's no squinting here. Not. At. All. This chapter earns the story its right to be rated M. You're warned.

Copyrights: Criminal Minds belongs to CBS, not me. I can wish though.

Special Thanks: Once more, big thank you Starofoberon. You're support, help, and comments are amazing. Also, a big thanks to all the reviewers! Definitely helping me keep this story on track.

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Hotch returned to the house, the door closing just as long arms wrapped about his chest. The man was pressed into his back, while fingers felt for the buttons of his shirt, securing a hold, then slowly undoing them. Hotch eased into the hold, laughing when one button was being obstinate and unyielding to the graceful fingers that plucked on it. Turning around, he brought his arms up to return the embrace he received.

"You know we don't have to do this tonight," Hotch said, a half smile lifting the corner of his mouth.

"I'm not going to be the one to look a gift horse in the mouth," Reid said, quirking an eye up at Hotch.

Aaron didn't bother to suppress his laugh. "Rossi gets French poets, and I get the 'gift horse' quote?"

"Take it for what you will," Spencer murmured, pulling his hands from behind Hotch and returning to the unbuttoning job now before him. His task was much easier now that he could see his prey. Opening the shirt, he sighed at the white tee that lay below. "Damned layers."

Aaron hummed in his throat at the agitated expression. Pressing his hands into the other man's lower back he pulled Spencer in fully, and claimed the frowning lips. Reid purred happily, sliding his hands up the near exposed chest to wrap his arms around Aaron's neck. Aaron returned the sentiment, a shiver running down his spine as he let himself slowly explore the body beneath his grasp, savoring each touch as their tongues slowly met and caressed.

Reid leaned in more, using Aaron's broad shoulders to pull himself up for better leverage into the mouth pressed against his. Aaron hissed into the kiss, breaking away the contact of their lips as he tried to clear the pain building in his head.

"What's wrong?" Reid questioned at the broken kiss, but Aaron took a moment to answer.

"Tension headache, that's all," He whispered in reply. Taking a hand off the body before him, he pressed his fingers into his temple, trying to will away the pain. His heart rate had increased, and he could feel it pounding in his skull like a bass drum.

"Are you serious?" Reid froze in his arms, eyes going wide with disbelief, "I thought that was just an excuse people used." Aaron tried to offer a weak smile, but even that seemed to hurt. The brown haired genius sighed, dropping his head to Aaron's chest before pulling away from the man.

Though holding Reid is what had caused the pain to increase, letting him go only made it worse. Now Aaron's mind was silently kicking itself for ruining the start of a very good moment.

Reid disappeared, but returned a moment later with a glass of water and two pills. He offered them to Aaron. The older man offered an apologetic glance before swallowing the aspirin and chasing them down with the water.

Fuck, Hotch cursed silently when he handed the glass back to Reid. Morgan was going to be the cause of interruptions when he wasn't even here? He could picture the man laughing his ass off. Not that Hotch would ever relate to Derek this particular detail, or any other intimate recount.

Point one to Derek.

Hotch wondered if Reid would leave, be offended, upset, pissed off, something. He wouldn't be surprised if he did. The I have a headache excuse was truly the most common, lame, rejection for intimacy there ever was. He should know. It had been Haley's favorite.

Reid didn't stalk off though. Lacing his fingers through Aaron's, he pulled the other man to the living room. Depositing Aaron on the sofa, he left the room once more. It was for only a few moments, then he returned with a bottle of lotion and another glass of water. Setting down the glass on the coffee table, he pointed at Aaron's shirt.

"Take it off." The request was one that at any other time Aaron would have been happy to oblige, but even as he removed the garments about his chest he winced. The stiff muscles around his neck cried out in displeasure at the movements shooting only more pain into his skull.

Reid took off his sweater and his shoes, but the rest of his clothes remained. Aaron kept his gaze on the blue striped sock and the red polka-dot one that appeared before him. Pulling a pillow from the side of the couch, Spencer directed Aaron to lie face down. He obliged, and was surprised when Spencer's weight pressed down around his hips.

They had known each other for a long time, yet Hotch never knew that Spencer Reid, besides being a genius and an exemplary profiler, knew how to give a massage. Long fingers warmed lotion between rubbed hands before applying it to the muscles of his shoulders and neck. They moved softly at first, rubbing and loosening the tissue before they carefully pushed deeper. Stopping over the various knots they found, they documented their location for later before continuing on the path of discovery.

"God, Hotch," Reid commented, finding the fifth knot of stiff tendons, "you're hard as a rock." You have no idea, Hotch silently noted, grateful this was a face-down massage. "Are you always this tense?"

"No~ooo," Hotch moaned as Reid's palms joined in the act, applying pressure to the base of one section of disgruntled tissue. He worked the muscles, forcing the knot along the path of the tendon until the built up pressure released. Aaron was somewhere else when the next question was asked, giving a throaty, "Hum?"

"Was it because of tonight?" There was a hesitant guilt in Reid's voice, and Aaron was brought back in by the crushing weight of it.

"It's nothing I can't handle." He tried to sooth the man who was currently moving flat palms down his back.

"Tension headaches have several possible causes," Spencer noted, as his fingers worked on another knot, "Overexertion, fatigue, physical and mental stress…" The hands pulled away, and Aaron heard the shifting of fabric. He was tempted to turn around, but the hands returned once more, arms and elbows now joining in the act.

Reid remained silent. He skimmed fingers over the body below him when he finished to ensure nothing escaped his notice. Hotch was in a land of ecstasy when he felt more skin than that of Spencer's hands and arms pressing into his back. Reid lay across the body he straddled, pressing his face into the back of Aaron's neck. "It's because of me, isn't it," He breathed out, shame lacing his words.

Aaron shifted, turning around until he was no longer on his belly, but facing the other man. Reid's shirt had gone, fallen to the floor, and the younger man sat back when Aaron faced him. He turned his dark eyes away, but Hotch reached up cupping his face in his palms. Pulling the face down so he could clearly see him, Aaron bit his lip at the guilt that etched hard lines in the younger man's face.

"Reid," Aaron spoke, sure to use the most authoritative voice he had in his repertoire. "I said I can handle it."

"I'm being selfish," Reid blurted out, closing his dark eyes, "Because I want to keep you, this, to myself, and it's causing you pain. Physical pain, Hotch. Don't say that all of the team being here isn't what led you to get so stressed you got a headache! You were guarded all evening, and it was because of me. I'm a profiler too, remember."

"Don't do that," Aaron tried not to admonish the man, but it was tempting. Reid was always painful to watch when he turned to self-abasement, and right now those words were killing him. "You give so much of yourself to everyone else, it's a small thing to ask to have something of your own."

Reid had a protest built up on his lips, his brow pressing down in a frown. However, Aaron pushed up off the couch, until he was sitting with Reid in his lap, and kissed Spencer before he could get a word out. Reid resisted at first, then slowly his body relaxed into Aaron. Breaking the kiss, Aaron trailed it down the man's jaw, and down the neck that arched into his mouth. "Besides," Aaron amended, murmuring into the skin of his collarbone, "maybe I haven't told you this, but I like being the thing you want."

A tired, halfhearted laugh was Reid's only response. Aaron had debated all evening on informing Reid that Morgan was aware of their relationship, but Reid's pained laugh instantly killed the notion. Aaron could handle Morgan, tension headaches be damned.

Sliding hands down the ribs and slim waist before him, Aaron marveled at Spencer's reaction to his touch. Reid shivered, muscles tightening, his breath hitching instantly. He had so much power over the younger man, and it was intoxicating watching the body shudder under his caress. That he would allow Aaron that much control only made him want to protect Reid's proclaimed "selfish" desires more. Capturing his mouth again, he let his hands walk down to Reid's hips, which jerked under the pressure of the circling of his thumbs.

"Good god, Hotch!" Reid hitched, grasping the other man's shoulders as his body continued to tremble at his touch.

"You know you can call me Aaron when were not in the office," he hinted, tracing a tongue down the neck that glistened and tasted of the salt of sweat.

"Y~you could handle calling me Spencer sometimes too," Reid fumbled, finding Aaron's ear lobe and giving it a playful nip.

"How far did you want to go, Spencer?" Aaron asked, pressing a hand into Reid's abs.

"Ha," Reid laughed, trying to make a face at Aaron, but failing miserably, "I don't know, just enjoying the moment I guess. I've done some research though."

"Research?" Aaron returned, arching a brow at the man who licked his lips.

"Yeah," He said, sliding across Aaron's lap, causing the man to try and contain a deep moan, "You'd be surprised what you can find on the Internet. Is your head good enough to handle, um, more?" The question was posed with a serious note. Reid would stop too, Hotch figured, should he admit that the throbbing in his skull had lessened, but still lurked there.

"I've had my fill of cold showers for the last week," Aaron informed the man seated in his lap as he kissed him. He moved his hands to the genius' chest, pushing Reid down. Adjusting so he now was the one straddling Spencer, he gave the startled, some what perturbed, looking man a kiss.

Sliding his hand down Reid's arching stomach, he paused as his fingers grabbed hold of the top of his pants. Giving dilated brown eyes a questioning look, he waited for affirmation before continuing. Spencer didn't trust his voice, so he nodded. Aaron gave him a soft smile as he resumed kissing him. His hand slipped down the fabric, and when they reached his destination, Aaron couldn't suppress the chuckle he breathed into Reid's mouth. Spencer's mouth had opened fully, and his body had arched even more, a bit of shock coating his features.

As he caressed long strokes across Reid, he marveled again at the reaction to his touch. Aaron found himself growing harder with each stifled whimper, or curse, the good doctor tried to keep down.

"We are alone," Aaron reminded the man huskily, as he breathed into Reid's neck.

"Just," Reid shook his head, digging nails into Aaron's back, "not, going to do that."

By that, Hotch assumed he meant cry out. It was a fine challenge, and it gave him a worthy goal. Aaron Hotchner always tried to perform to the best of his abilities in any aspect of his life. He certainly had no intention of failing here. Making his attentions to the hard erection in his hands two-fold, he used every technique he'd ever known as he increased pace.

Aaron watched as he slid his fingers down Spencer's length, reveling in the sounds that the other man tried to keep locked away in his throat. To help him release them, Aaron brought his mouth up to the bobbing Adam's apple, sucking and licking down the salty skin until he reached the hallow at the base of that long neck. A nip earned him a broken moan. Smiling, Aaron kept his mouth there, sucking and nipping at the tender skin.

Reid was still fighting them back though. Since the broken, stifled cries weren't fully released, Aaron pressed his other hand up under and along Spencer's ribs. When his fingers found the dark tissue of a nipple, he earned a clear gasp. He worked all three of these points, and the sounds that came out of the throat under his mouth grew louder and more clearly under his attentions.

It wasn't long until Spencer Reid melted, his skin on fire as he climaxed, and, yes, Spencer most assuredly did do that. When his mind returned once more from the white sparks that hazed his vision, he was greeted by the very self-pleased expression of Aaron looking down at him.

"You suck!" Reid snapped, and to his credit did a blush that went from head to toe.

"Actually, I didn't suck anything," Aaron said defensively. Looking down he noticed the discoloration on Reid's neck. Gently pulling lips back on the slim neck before him, he amended, "Um, except maybe this." Aaron traced the pinked skin with his tongue, "Sorry," he murmured, "I think I marked you." Reid slapped a hand to his neck when Hotch pulled away, flushing even brighter as his eyes went wide.

"Oh, no. No you didn't," Spencer growled, pulling his arms between them, and he shoved Aaron forcefully back. Hotch blinked at Spencer, about to apologize when long fingers unzipped his own pants and grasped him firmly. Any words died on his lips as Reid's hands found Aaron's already straining erection.

For the first time since he had Aaron pinned down in the hall outside Jack's room, Reid froze up. His eyes went wide, and fear was kindled in his mind. His intentions since the start had been that this was something he would go into with both feet, so to speak, in every aspect. Now, though, he was starting to wonder if that was physically even possible.

It was always apparent Aaron had a strut in his walk. He was a confident man, Unit Chief to their team. He went toe to toe with some of the hardest criminals of their times. In the last month he'd even allowed himself to watch Aaron's confident strides with happy and guarded pleasure. Not once had Reid suspected that the strut could be attributed to Hotch's rather significant endowment! Good god, and it wasn't like Spencer was shy about his own blessings in genes. He could safely say that he was hung fairly well himself, but this?

It shouldn't have been so surprising, given all the times he'd had Aaron pressed up into his body. He could feel the bulge, knew it was adequate. Though he'd never had such an clear foundation for his estimations until he held it in his hands.

Spencer sighed, deflated, as he silently admitted that "going all the way" was something he was going to have to work his way up to in stages. Really work his way up to.

"Spenc~" Aaron started, but Reid gave him a cold, calculating look that silenced him.

Aaron couldn't say when, if ever, he'd been examined with such analytical eyes. Reid's mind was working in overdrive. He wasn't going to get what he wanted, but he was determined not to be the only one who called out stupidly tonight.

"My turn," Reid announced deviously at Hotch as he decided on a new plan. For a moment Aaron wondered if he should be afraid of that look. Quirking a smile at Aaron, Reid leaned down, and darted his tongue tentatively along Aaron's erection. After a slow taste, Spencer quirked his brow, shrugged his shoulders, and Aaron froze, his own eyes going wide. When he realized what the younger man planned it was too late to say anything.

Spencer opened his mouth, and brought as much of the other man's straining flesh into him as he could. He'd done research, true, though he'd never allotted time for practice. He remembered all of the tips he had read though, and preformed them as per direction. Words couldn't teach you how to control your gag reflex, but he tried to take as much as he could hold.

An aggressive hiss from Aaron brought his attention back up from his task. Worried he was messing it up, he was about to apologize when Aaron's harsh voice pleaded, "D~don't stop…"

Giving his panting, unfocused boss an amused grin, Reid chuckled before continuing the attentions of his mouth. Stealing glances back at the dark haired man who was shivering under him, Spencer felt fairly assured that he was doing something right.

Aaron tried to keep still, to keep from bucking into the warm, wet mouth that pressed and sucked around him. The tongue which slid about while fingernails came behind and scratched lightly at tender skin. As Aaron's control began to slip, the long fingers skimmed up Hotch's perspiring skin. Following from his hip up his aching sides, the hand found and began stroking his lower abdomen. The other hand moved to grasp the quivering hip as the younger man's mouth worked on him.

Aaron found his hands sliding through brown locks as his own body trembled, heated and reverberated off Spencer's mouth.

Hotch had already been on edge just by helping Spencer come, and his own control was falling fast. He tried to get a warning out between his harsh gasps when he couldn't hold back any longer, but his words were a jumbled mess of nonsense. Reid gave him a short glance, put he didn't relent. Instead he doubled the pace, sucking even harder. A moment later the white light blinded Aaron's eyes as his body became completely undone.

Reid smiled as he now could safely boast that, no, he hadn't been the one to scream the louder, or the more incoherently, that night.

Aaron rubbed his forehead, the tension is his body released as his heart hammered in his chest and in his skull. His eyes cleared, eventually finding Reid who sat between his legs, a hand wiping at his mouth. "They said it would be bitter," Reid commented, giving Aaron an arrogant grin of his own. "I so won that one."

"I didn't know it was a contest, but," Aaron laughed, closing his eyes as he grabbed Reid's arm, pulling the man down into an embrace, "If that was you winning, I'd be happy to lose to you any time." He could feel Reid prop himself up, hands pressing into his chest, but he didn't open his eyes.

"Does that mean you're up for round two? I might let you win."

"I wish," Aaron grumbled, sliding a hand behind Reid's neck, he pulled the man down into a slow kiss. "Sorry, but my brain may explode with round two."

"Ah," Reid returned, tracing his finger along Aaron's collar bone, admiring the broad length of the shoulders underneath him. "That's all right. If we go to sleep now, we can wake up early tomorrow."

"Oh?" Aaron mumbled, still in the afterglow of climax.

"Yeah," Reid said, dropping his head over Aaron's shoulder, "Your headache should be gone, and then we'll have time for morning sex."

"That does sound good," Aaron nodded as he held Spencer, slipping butterfly kisses down his neck.

"Then there can be shower sex," Reid continued, "and kitchen sex, and coffee sex~"

"Coffee sex?" Aaron deadpanned to the man in his arms. Reid quirked his brow at his boss, giving him a bemused, lopsided grin.

"I told you I did research. It really is amazing what you can find on the Internet." Pulling his head down to Aaron's neck, Spencer began making a mark of his own. He also refused to be the only one hiding a hickey tomorrow.

When his work was complete, Aaron pulled the man up, walking him backwards to the bedroom. Though there was much more licking, kisses, and touching, they eventually relented long enough to allow for sleep.

Aaron awoke the next morning to find Spencer was nestled in his arms, his warm breath tickling his chest. The delights of that morning were two fold. One, his headache had abated, and two, they did have morning sex. Followed by shower sex, then kitchen sex. He also learned just what coffee sex was. Aaron reminded himself during their second shower, the one they needed to clean up from Reid's demonstrations, that he would have to think of a way to thank Reid for all his research.

As it stood, if they didn't hurry now they would be late. Turning to look to Spencer as they each went to their respective cars, Aaron called over to the man. "If you're late, I'll understand why, but," Aaron dropped his tone, assuming full boss mode. "You'll still be in trouble."

Reid raised his brows at Hotch, giving him a look that begged are you kidding me? "Hotch, are you offering to spank me if I'm not on time?"

Aaron left his car, door open, to give Spencer a quick kiss, "Don't be too late, but drive safe." Spencer gave a shy smile, eyes darting about as he mutely answered with a short nod.

When Aaron arrived at the BAU he wasn't late. Not for work, but he was a little later then he usually was. Morgan was already inside the office, and he could see Rossi walking down the ramp to the break room. Catching sight of Hotch, Morgan dropped what he was doing. A quick look over his shoulder assured him that Rossi was safely nestled in the break room. Standing, he left his desk to go to his boss.

He reached Hotch at the glass doors, and Aaron stared blankly at the man before him. "We can play this game forever," Morgan warned softly, though maintaining a body language that spoke ease to any passerby. "I won't make it easy for you. I'm never going to stop."

"Fine," Hotch gave his best stoic expression to the agent before him. A barely-there smile to Morgan, and a sincere, "Now if that's all?" were his only replies before he sidestepped the man and entering into the BAU.

Morgan watched the man go, shaking his head in disbelief. The elevator chimed once more, and the voice of Spencer called to Derek. Turning around his attentions focused to the point of contention between himself and Hotchner. "Hey, here," Reid smiled at Morgan, handing the man a warm cup of deli coffee. Morgan looked at it, then gave Reid a smile as he accepted the cup.

"Thanks kid," Morgan raised the cup, taking a sip as his eyes darted back to the bullpen. More specifically the figure that was currently entering his office. Derek moved to return to his desk, but long fingers gripped at the sleeve of his shirt.

"Hey Morgan, I um," Reid stood holding his own coffee in one hand, his messenger bag over his shoulder, and his knit scarf wrapped about his neck. That was his usual attire, but his eyes, and his posture, were different. He was also giving Morgan a troubled look.

"Reid?" Morgan asked, concern spilling out as the man before him bit his lip, his dark eyes dancing in thought.

"I uh, just wanted to ask, um," Reid closed his eyes, looking down at his shoes before turning them up to Derek, "Are we 'cool'?"

"What?" Morgan blanched, now very concerned by the young profiler's odd behavior.

"You seemed really upset yesterday, and I just… You're my best friend, and I just wanted to know if we're all right," Reid spoke words he was still trying to grasp. Morgan's heart fell as he shook his head.

"Naw way man," He returned, giving Reid a sincere smile, one he hoped conveyed the depths to which he felt for his friend. "I don't know what you saw, but you and me? We're always cool."

Reid breathed out a sigh of relief. Derek smiled, running his free hand up to ruffle the younger man's hair. Reid pulled back from the touch, as he always did, but he returned Derek's warm smile for his own. "That's really good to know. You see," Reid stepped up next to Derek, keeping his voice low, "The thing is," he looked pointedly up and down the hall before he continued, "I sort of told Hotch something really personal recently. I asked him to keep it between us, but it's something that's giving him more stress than is fair I suppose. He's been really strung-out lately, and I think it's my fault."

"Huh," Morgan stretching his jaw, running his tongue against the inside of his cheek, "Stressed because of what you told him?"

"Yeah," Reid breathed out, rocking back on his heels. "I actually stayed late at his place just trying different ways to get him to release that tension. Hey, could you do me a favor?" Reid turned pleading eyes up to Derek, and the other man froze under their persuasion.

"Sure man, what?"

"Could you try to take it easy around Hotch? Cause I swear, I'm running out of ideas that will get him to relax," Reid mumbled the last, giving Morgan an honest smile as he held the door open for his friend to the bullpen.

Morgan froze, looking at the dark eyes that smiled contently back at him. Shaking his head, he murmured, "Profilers," as he walked up to Reid, giving the younger man a warm pat on the stomach before they entered the bullpen.

Morgan couldn't contain the grin. He was proud. Proud of Reid for profiling him, and proud that his friend had essentially admitted to what was going on. He didn't use words, but the body language, and the tone he consciously chose to use, were another story. The things he didn't say spoke volumes.

Point one for Reid. Derek mused happily to himself.

Sitting behind his desk, Morgan still couldn't help shaking his head as a handsome grin went ear to ear. Noticing an old Jolly Rancher, he tossed the sweet at Reid, hitting the man's computer screen. Reid rolled his eyes at him, and Derek chuckled to himself.

"Wow," Prentiss commented as she watched the exchange from her desk, "It's so good to see that boys really never grow up."

"Ah, sounds like someone is just jealous they didn't get some delivered coffee this morning," Derek mused, holding up the white cup. Emily replied a stuck out tongue.

Derek continued to grin, sipping the warm beverage that was perfectly tuned with milk sweetened to his liking. He could do as Reid asked. He'd get off Hotch's back, a little bit. He could do that for Reid, because, after all, Spencer wasn't just his friend. He was his best friend.

Rossi emerged from the break room, tilting his head at the warm atmosphere in the bullpen. His eyes moved over from Morgan to Reid. Spencer, noticing the attention, breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw it was Rossi. Before attempting to return to whatever work Derek was currently attempting to keep him from, Reid gave the senior profiler a heartfelt, lopsided grin. Returning the warm smile for one of his own, Rossi hoisted his mug at the man.

Slowly shaking his head as more antics ensued from their younger profilers, Rossi went up the ramp toward his office. His steps slowed, and he found himself hesitating as he neared the door to Hotch. He was going to continue past, but taking in a breath he decided, "To hell with it."

Reaching up David knocked lightly on the frame of the door.

Aaron looked up stiffly from his paperwork, relaxing when it was Rossi that greeted his sight instead of Morgan. "Can I come in?" The senior profiler asked, and Hotch gave a nod and a small inclination of his head when Rossi gestured to the door.

"What's up," Aaron asked, signing a document and sliding it to the out box on the corner of his desk. Rossi breathed out, closing the door. Turning to face Aaron, he walked to the other man's desk. Setting the cup down, he took the seat across from Hotch. He waited artfully until Aaron removed his eyes from the work before him and granted the man his full attention.

"I think it's time we 'cleared the air,'" Rossi said, folding his hands in his lap. The pen in Aaron's hand fell forgotten to the desk for the second time in two days.

TBC~

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'Whew' to finishing the sex chapter as promised! They'll be more… things… later.