AN: FYI, I'm using portions of my story called 'the anatomy lesson' that I wrote a couple of years ago. I thought it would be fun to use in this chapter, and I did make some changes so it's not the same, and there's a lot of stuff added before and after as well... so obviously it's quite different. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. Let me know what you think.

As Brennan made her way out of the FBI building, her phone rang. She checked the caller id and sighed as she noticed it was Cam on the line. What part of leaving early for once did they not get at work? Brennan answered the call, grumbling a little.

"Brennan."

"Oh good, I was afraid you weren't going to answer. Those remains you've been waiting for, the ones from Hungary just arrived." Temperance paused as she reached her car. There were several hours before she was supposed to meet Booth for their date that she was still in the dark about. Maybe she could just go take a look at the remains and still leave with enough time to get ready for the date.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, I'm just leaving Dr. Sweets' office now."

"Okay, well just hurry. The powers that be want these remains authenticated as soon as possible, and your evening activities don't exactly matter to them in cases like this."

"Well, I'll do what I can on them today, but I have an engagement this evening that I intend to keep."

"Hey, so long as the board is happy, then I don't care what you do with your evening," Cam said as way of parting. Brennan looked at the time again. It was just after one, and while she'd planned to get a manicure and pedicure before having to get ready, she figured that she could forgo the pleasure this once and have the work done later. For now, she wanted to get back to work and look over the fascinating remains that were waiting for her.

Temperance Brennan stood at the examination table looking over the remains laid out before her. The entire lab was silent save the sound of the pounding of rain on the glass roof above. Thunder clapped overhead, startling her from her work.

"Why am I not surprised to find you here?" At the sound of the voice, Brennan jumped and turned around to face her partner, Seeley Booth.

"Booth, you startled me."

"I'm assuming that you've forgotten about the date we had for tonight?"

"Oh, I am so sorry. I guess time just got away from me." She offered him an apologetic smile, somewhat embarrassed that she had completely lost track of the time. Booth shook his head and produced two bags from behind his back.

"You know, I'd rather hoped our first date would have been at an actual restaurant, and not here, but knowing your interest in your work, I thought I'd bring dinner here."

"You didn't need to do that you know."

"I realize that, but you have to eat at some point, and I'm guessing at this hour, the lounge is free."

"I'm guessing you're right." Brennan pulled off her latex gloves and the pair left for the lounge overlooking the lab. As they sat down and spread out the food before them, Booth couldn't help but chuckle a little at his partner. She looked at him, slightly concerned. "What's so funny?"

"You are. I've never seen someone who could get so wrapped up in their work."

"You make it sound like a bad thing. I just love my job, that's all."

"If only I could get that much attention from you. What is it you find so fascinating about a pile of bones?" Booth picked up some food and took a bite. Brennan looked at him thoughtfully as she chewed on her own dinner.

"Each set of remains tells me a story about who that person was in life. When I look at bones, I don't see who they are in death, but what they were while they lived."

"Amazing."

"Not really. You just have to know what you're looking for. It's probably no more difficult than what you do, reading subtle indicators in behavior to get a sense of whether someone is lying or not."

"I wouldn't say that's exactly what I do."

"Oh but it is. What you classify as using your gut is really just observation of human behavior."

"Okay. I'll make a deal with you Temperance. If you can teach me a little about what you do, then I'll teach you how to do what I do."

"Sweets already tried that, and as I recall, the attempt turned out badly."

"Ah, but you're forgetting two things Bones. I'm not Sweets, and you have the advantage of hearing thoughts to go along with your observations; so what do you say?"

"I'm amenable to that." She offered him a smile, which he immediately returned.

"Good. Then how's about we get started after we finish eating."

"Sure." Brennan looked up at Booth one last time before turning back to her food. Booth watched her for a moment and shook his head. This ought to be interesting, he thought before he too returned to his meal. Brennan glanced at him with one eyebrow arched.

"What, you don't think I can do this?" Booth looked up at her, eyes wide and innocent.

"Did I say anything?"

"No, but you thought it."

"Look Bones, if I didn't think you were capable of this then I wouldn't have made the offer." She looked at him for a long moment before giving him a nod of her head.

"Fine, I accept your argument." He chuckled as she took a bite of her dinner. "What did you have planned for the evening? I found myself rather frustrated that you didn't seem to have a thought about it one way or another."

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to not think about something that you're looking forward to?"

"I can generally contain my enthusiasm when required." Booth looked at his partner and sighed. Of course you can Bones. Brennan glanced up at Booth and frowned. "Will you stop that? I don't like hearing sarcasm from you in my head."

"Sorry."

"I would prefer that anything you would think you'd actually say out loud." Booth laughed at that one. "What's so funny?"

"Just trust me when I say that there's quite a bit that I think about you that I would never say out loud at least when there's company around."

"What do you... oh." Temperance blushed as the realization of what he was saying flittered through her head and found herself somewhat aroused at the idea. Oh Booth, if you only knew the things that I think about. The agent in question simply smiled and worked on his food, both of them now in a comfortable silence as they finished up their dinners.

XxXxX

"All right," Booth said, rubbing his hands together. "How do we get started with this?"

"Well, it's certainly not something you can learn in a day, but we'll see what we can cover."

"Okay, I'm all ears professor." Booth stepped up behind Brennan as she snapped on a pair of gloves, the sound echoing through the quiet lab under the sound of the rain splattering on the roof above. Booth shivered a bit as Temperance became all business. Jesus, is it wrong to get turned on by the sound of snapping latex?

"The first thing that must be done is to sex the skeleton." Booth looked up sharply at his partner.

"I'm sorry?"

"We have to sex the skeleton. Booth, if you're not going to pay attention..."

"No, I'm good, it's just... sex the skeleton? How exactly do you do that?"

"Two areas give a definite indication of sex. The easiest way to identify whether remains are male or female is by the pelvic girdle." Brennan pointed to the bones and felt Booth grab hold of her hips as he leaned in over her shoulder. She paused for a moment in her explanation. As close as she and her partner had been getting of late, she had never been this close to him inside of a work environment. He was pressed completely flush against her as he waited for her to continue. After taking a breath, she continued on. "Do you see here how the shape of the pelvic girdle is somewhat rectangular?"

"Yes."

"That shows that these remains are for a female. Male bones are much more triangular in shape."

"What was it you said a while back about a pregnant woman…something about her hips?"

"The ileum spread to make room for an infant's head." Brennan put her hands over Booth's and guided them to the correct part. Slowly, he massaged over her skin with his thumbs, neither saying a word for a long moment.

"And, um, how else can you know if you're looking for a girl or not?" Booth almost breathed the words. Temperance took in a gulp of air and closed her eyes as he continued the whisper light touches. Mmmmm that feels wonderful.

"From the, uh, skull." Brennan opened her eyes and picked up the skull. "Do you see how the brow ridges here are not pronounced?"

"Not really." Brennan set down the skull and took off one latex glove. She turned in Booth's arms to face him. Slowly, she reached up and ran her fingers over Booth's eyebrows.

"Males have distinct brow ridges here, while on females, it's much less pronounced. Here, feel." She moved her hand away from Booth's face, waiting for him to feel the bone structure. Slowly, Booth reached over and caressed her skin and onto her brows. God Bones, you are so damn beautiful. Temperance closed her eyes at the gentle sensation, her cheeks flushing at his honest thought. Smiling, he leaned over and gently kissed her cheek.

"And this?"

"The um, it's…" she trailed off as Booth continued a path from her cheek and down onto her neck. Brennan placed her hands on his chest, slightly gripping the material of his shirt.

"Wait, I know this one. It's the collar bone," Seeley murmured against her skin, nipping gently on the bone.

"Clavicle," she whispered. I need to get back into control. If anyone ever would have said Booth would seduce me over a set of remains... The situation was quickly getting out of control, and the last thing she wanted was to have some unbridled encounter with Booth caught on film. "I thought you wanted to learn about the skeletal structure."

"I do," he said against the hollow of her throat. "I want to learn as much about Bones as possible."

"Okay then," she gulped as she gently pushed away from him and turned around. After taking a breath to calm her racing heart, she began again. "The frontal lobe on women is much more globular while on men it slopes." She took another breath as Booth reached around and slowly massaged her temple.

"How can you tell age? That's always been fascinating to me."

"Bone fusion and suture lines show age. I'd need to see a skull or the pelvic bones to accurately check age." Brennan pointed to the suture lines on the skull before them as Booth ran his fingers through her hair. "Booth…" she breathed, feeling her partner stiffen behind her. Man, I've never been so hot for someone. He brought his lips close to her ear, speaking next to her skin.

"Yes Bones?"

"We shouldn't…I mean…have you been paying attention at all?"

"I'm hanging on your every word."

"Okay. Then what do you see here?" Brennan reached down with her gloved hand and picked up a vertebra. Booth looked at it from over her shoulder, his gaze searching over the surface of the bone.

"Are those knicks?"

"Yes, most likely from a knife slicing through the throat." Brennan set the bone down and felt Booth's lips along the back of her neck.

"How do you know it was a neck bone? What's the difference?"

"There are three regions, the cervical, thoracic and lumbar." As she pointed to the different regions, Booth traced his hands down her back until his arms encircled her waist. His hands moved slowly up her abdomen, stopping about halfway up as she let out a shuddering breath.

"You haven't talked yet about the sternum and ribs." Brennan gasped as Booth ran his hands up her sternum and along her ribs, fingering the bones gently as his hands passed along the skin. She was beginning to tremble under his touch though he avoided touching her breasts, his skilled fingers passing just under and to the side of them. Oh, we really need to stop.

"I was thinking maybe we could save that for another lesson." Temperance turned her head and met Seeley's lips for a kiss. His maneuvered his over hers, manipulating their soft surface as he flicked his tongue against them, tasting her. She reached behind him, burying her ungloved hand into his hair to draw him closer to her. As the two pulled apart, Booth looked at her, their gazes locking.

"I'm thinking you might be right." He pulled her hand from his head and grazed its palm with his teeth, causing an involuntary moan to escape her. "We can save things like hands for another time." All that Temperance could do was nod. He kissed her palm, and then moved away toward the stairs of the platform. "I'll pick you up tomorrow at nine for your first lesson in reading people." With that, he left the lab, glancing back at her once and winking. As Brennan watched him go, she tried to compose her flushed state of mind. How in the world is he able to put me in this state of arousal when we haven't even engaged in any intercourse?

Booth blew out a breath as he left the Jeffersonian, his hands in his pockets to help hide the rather obvious bulge in his pants. He'd intended on taking her to dinner and dancing, but this was so much better, and so damn frustrating too. Man, I need a cold shower. He glanced back at the building as he headed across the grounds to the parking structure and sighed. Why the hell am I torturing myself like this? I could be with her right now, or on the way to one of our places together, and instead I'm walking away from what I'm sure would be an incredible night together. God, I'm such a masochist.

From her place on the platform, Temperance smiled. So he was holding out on sex was he? Well he'd better be prepared tomorrow, because I'm not going to go through another night like this.