Chapter 25: Crossing the line
As soon as JJ mentioned going for ice cream the boys were obviously excited about the opportunity for a change of scenery as so much of their time had been spent at the house. They eagerly responded to JJ's directives to pick up their toys and change into clean clothes while Hotch walked into the bedroom to change his uniform with JJ on his heels to grab her purse, leaving the door open behind her as she only planned to be a moment.
As JJ walked into the room and towards the dresser where her purse lay, she looked out the smaller window on the wall facing the Chandler's home and was surprised to see a figure in the adjacent window, obviously watching. Adrenaline coursed through her body as she realized they were under observation. She saw the expression of surprise in Hotch's eyes when without warning she reached out to grab his wrist and pull him towards her, effectively blocking her from their neighbors vision as she stretched towards his ear to warn him with a whisper. "We're being watched, Julia's at her window," she quickly alerted him, seeing his eyes widen in surprise also with her revelation.
"Guess she's expecting a show after we kicked her out, it will probably look suspicious if we don't give her one," Hotch murmured, seeing the acceptance in JJ's eyes before they fluttered shut as he moved closer to initiate a kiss, letting his lips graze hers as her head tilted back instinctively while he wound his fingers loosely in her hair.
He tried to remember their audience and the boys in the next room as he attempted to make it look both passionate enough for the neighbor, yet safe enough that they wouldn't cross any professional boundaries. It grew increasing hard to maintain that focus as he felt soft pliant lips moving beneath his own. He found himself wondering who was leading as he felt strong arms encircle his neck encouraging him to increase the pressure. Apparently this was not a time for slow gentle kissing he thought as he responded by becoming less tentative and more aggressive, remembering that they had essentially thrown out their spectator under the guise that they couldn't keep their hands off each other.
JJ could feel her pulse throbbing in her neck as he chose to move to safer territory by moving away from her mouth to move his lips down the side of her throat. Peeking over his shoulder while she clung to muscular biceps she found herself unabashedly enjoying the shivers racing up her neck, she could still see the shadow of their voyeur, now with binoculars, steadfastly fixed on their bedroom window. JJ managed to gather enough focus to whisper this information in his ear while he nuzzled a particularly sensitive area near her collarbone causing her stomach to tighten as she wondered if he knew what that spot did to her. She could feel herself becoming increasingly lost in the sensations coursing through her body as she admitted to herself that the man did indeed know how to kiss.
Sensing her continued responsiveness all thoughts of propriety were quickly fleeing Hotch's mind as he worked his way back up the soft skin of her throat to claim the now swollen lips of the blonde in his arms. He heard a moan as he felt her lips part beneath his own as their teeth bumped and clicked against each other in their apparent haste before they pulled back to soften the kiss. JJ could feel the doorknob of the closet digging into her back as she untangled her fingers from the surprisingly soft black hair to run her hands past broad shoulders and down the strong back, making a show of clutching the uniform shirt in her fingers when she stopped at his lower back. She would have never believed kissing her boss could be like this she thought as she enjoyed the guilty pleasure of their unplanned and definitely unscripted make-out session, letting the fire race through her veins as she enjoyed the most heated kiss they had yet shared.
Their practice sessions at the bureau had stayed relatively controlled compared to the abandon that now seemed to consume them both by this point. Her initial annoyance with the neighbor still watching them melted away as she felt him shift to suckle her lower lip between his own. She had a sudden realization that the line between them was becoming blurred to the point of disappearing and if it went much further they might lose sight of it all together, but she couldn't bring herself to take the step back to claim the breath of air she knew they probably both needed, instead wondering just how much further they would go at this pace.
Almost as if reading her thoughts JJ felt the almost tentative brush of his tongue against hers. She was momentarily startled at the thought of him making this overture, having assumed he would keep better control than she obviously was and be more open to the voice of reason that had to be trying to speak to him as much as it was her. She didn't think about this too long however as she realized she honestly couldn't tell which one of them initiated this part of the kiss as they both tumbled across the invisible line.
Hotch tried to ignore the voice in his head telling him it was time to back off as he shamelessly enjoyed the sweetness of her kiss and the sensations of her tongue sliding against his, he had been surprised but not unhappy when he had felt her tongue gently brush against his lip, whether accidental or intentional he couldn't tell but he had been glad to reciprocate.
Without breaking contact they simultaneously turned so that his back was now to the closet door while hers was now facing the neighbor. He was proud of himself that he managed to regain enough of his senses that he could quickly crack one eye open to see that their neighbor was still watching, though he didn't feel any need to break their kiss to share that information as talking seemed to be the last thing either of them wanted to do at the moment.
JJ effectively tuned out the small alarm bell trying to signal her from the far reaches of her mind to tell her things were going too far. The warmth seeping through her cotton dress reminded her of how low his hands were now riding on her back as they initially rested just above the belt line. She couldn't seem to muster up any real desire to protest as she tasted the hazelnut coffee he had drank less than an hour before as she shamelessly probed the warmth of his mouth since it was obvious he was apparently enjoying this encounter as much as she was. Despite the intensity of the kiss she could still register that his hands were continuing southward, feeling them stop in apparent hesitation as they rested very gently on the sides of her hips, it felt as if his hands were burning through the fabric despite the almost whisper softness of his touch. She didn't care to make him move them as she refocused her attention to the amazing things he was doing to her with his mouth before the tug on the hem of her skirt stopped her cold.
Hotch looked dazed for a moment as she abruptly pulled back, trying to regain his senses as he realized how well he had managed to ignore the glaring warnings that his mind had unsuccessfully tried to send only a few moments earlier and just how far over the line they had gone, knowing that they couldn't blame it all on the woman watching from the next house. He felt shaky as he tried to steady his breathing, ready to apologize when he saw where her gaze had gone and looked down to see Henry clutching her skirt while Jack was standing in the doorway. It was obvious the children had now seen a lot more than a picture he realized, wanting to kick himself for forgetting they were in the next room as he quickly regained his composure, the appearance of the children working better than a bucket of ice water at dousing the unexpected rush of passion.
"You guys ready for ice cream" he finally said lightly, hoping his voice sounded more normal to the others than it did to him as he moved back towards the drawer to pull out the clothes he had initially come into the room for. JJ cast a guilty look his way as she herded the boys out the door, her eyes meeting his briefly as they silently communicated that first they would need to take care of the children and then they would obviously need to talk.
The silence and building tension in the vehicle was evident as Hotch began driving the family towards the local ice cream parlor, the eerie silence from the two children being the most unnerving. He tried to think of what to say, finding himself feeling uncharacteristically at a loss for words, taking comfort only in the fact that the same condition seemed to be affecting their former media liaison. In another situation it would have almost been funny that both adults, generally adept at handling the media were struggling to simply find words to broach the topic they knew the two young children must be thinking about.
"Do you boys have any questions?" Hotch finally managed to ask, deciding that the best approach would be to simply ask the boys how they felt instead of launching into any explanations.
Jack was surprisingly quick to respond as soon as the door to the subject had been opened, apparently now feeling free to share his opinion. "Not really, Agent Williams told us both that as part of playing a pretend family that you might have to kiss each other, he even let us see the pictures already." Jack shared, likely oblivious to the relief the profilers felt as they realized that the children had already been somewhat prepared for this. "I didn't think they would be that long though," he added honestly, though fortunately no distress was evident in his voice.
"I know son, we had someone watching us through the window," Hotch said, feeling the need to explain to his son while Henry remained silent.
"Did you ever kiss Mommy like that?" The next question Jack asked threw him for a loop as he hesitated, wondering how to respond to that without causing any more awkwardness between he and JJ.
"I'm sure Agent Williams told you that married people kiss right?" he said hoping his son could put the pieces together without him having to spell it out. "So yes your mother and I did kiss when we were married." Hotch clarified before turning his attention to Henry, not wanting to give Jack time to pursue his curiosity of the differences in kissing the two women as he appeared to be emotionally fine with what he had seen. "Henry, do you have any questions?" He asked, giving the younger boy a chance to speak.
"That was yucky." Henry said matter-of-factly causing the first real moment of laughter in the car as they were all able to relax as he only seemed interested in making a statement vs. any questions.
"Ok then, I guess we're good," JJ finally announced, feeling much more at ease now that she knew they hadn't traumatized the children even as she pushed off the thoughts of what bedtime might bring as they had to contend with yet another potential audience as well as being alone together again, she let her mind start to drift, remembering the sensations of the kiss before she realized she was being spoken to.
"JJ, let's just enjoy the ice cream now and worry about the rest later," Hotch said gently, having realized from her pensive expression where her mind had started going. She smiled in agreement as she forced herself to engage in chatter with the children about what kind of ice cream they wanted as they all shifted gears to enjoy a rare outing into the small town.
AN: First off, hope everyone enjoyed this chapter as I now plan to move their budding relationship onto the backburner and start moving this plot along and focusing on the casefic aspect, so for all those enjoying the romance angle hope this will tide you over for a while. Thanks as always to Emily Whiteswan who continues to be a great help in regards to her sounding board abilities, and thanks to Jekkah, Miss Kate Kate, chiroho, and gibbsluvr for the reviews.