"Can I come in?" she asked softly.

"Of course." Hotch stepped aside, letting her into the hotel room. "Is everything alright?"

JJ turned to look at him, taking in his appearance. The suit jacket had been shed, and the tie loosened - and yet, he seemed less at ease, more tense. It only confirmed her suspicions.

"I wanted to talk to you," she replied in answer. "About going undercover."

He frowned. "Are you having second thoughts?"

She shook her head. "I'm worried about you."

The frown deepened, and the tension in his shoulders tightened. "Why?"

"We have to look like a couple, Hotch. Like two people in love, completely comfortable with each other. If we don't..." She shrugged, letting the thought linger.

Not answering right away, he moved to the bed, sitting on the end of it. When he finally did speak, his voice was quiet and unsure. "And you think...you're worried that I can't pretend those things?"

"Have you been with anyone since Haley?"

Her question was blunt, and painful, and she meant it to be. A young couple's life was on the line, and their own lives were going to be in danger. She needed to know where his head was.

And he reacted just like she thought he would. His shoulders became stone and his jaw locked...but his eyes didn't meet hers.

"That is none of your -"

"When was the last time someone even touched you?" she pressed.

The indignation died on his lips, and JJ felt her throat go raw at the pain flashing across his face. She stepped forward, moving until she was between his knees. He flinched slightly, and her expression softened.

"That's what we have to avoid, Hotch," she said quietly.

"I know," he whispered.

JJ reached out, her right hand resting against his cheek. A sharp intake of breath rushed through him, but he didn't pull away. Thumb stroking over his skin, she watched the muscles in his face move, watched his breathing even out as he grew used to the contact. It made her want to cry, the fact that this man went day after day without anyone touching him, reassuring him, loving him.

But she couldn't tell him any of that.

Slowly, her other hand came up as well, and she cradled his face. She let her fingers wander closer to his hair, her nails lightly scratching the scalp. Leaning forward, she brushed her lips across his forehead, hearing his breath catch. Her mouth didn't lose contact with his skin as she moved across his brow, just laying kisses across it. His eyes fluttered shut and she kissed the lids, fighting her own butterflies down when his hands caught her elbows.

Tilting his head up more, she moved down the side of his face, her hair ghosting across his skin. When she reached the line of his jaw, JJ realized that her own control was slipping, and she couldn't stop herself from nipping at him lightly. It was unexpected, and he gasped, his hands instinctively reaching for her waist and pulling her closer.

Lost in the sensations, JJ ran her tongue across his skin to soothe it and then moved on, nipping and licking down his jaw line as she moved closer to his mouth.

His lips were already parted when she reached them, but she still tugged gently at the lower one before sliding her tongue against his. Hotch moaned loudly, his skin on fire. He pulled her closer, hands tightening convulsively on her hips, completely lost in the feel of her.

The banging on his door startled them both and they pulled apart, hands still clutching at the other.

"Hotch?" Dave's voice came through the door. "You ready?"

He looked up at her for the first time. "Are we?"

JJ smiled, running her fingers across his brow. "I think we'll be just fine," she whispered.