Chapter 13

The house was silent as Brennan climbed the large floating stairwell. Everyone had retired long ago, leaving her mind to wander as she sat in her study, working out the fuzzy details within. The conversation with Angela seemed to haunt her, picking at her resolve in a way that she did not understand.

She could pin point the fact that something did not fit; it was just her lack of ability to pull all the evidence together and make a clearer picture that bothered her. Booth had always made the "intuitive leaps" in their relationship. She would provide him with the physical evidence and he would use it to solve the case. That was why they were so successful, and why when separated they could only function at a fraction their true potential.

She made her way down the long dark hallway, running her hands along the cool painted walls till she reached the door to her own bedroom. The only sound upon her entry was the heavy even breathing of her partner, his form half covered and illuminated in a bath of soft yellow moonlight. She was a truly lucky woman, her eyes gazing over the strong muscles in his back and down his lean waistline to where the cool satin covered his perfect buttocks.

It never fell short of pure amazement for her, the way that even after all these years, seeing him still gave her that rush of slight adrenaline, causing her heart to beat a little quicker and her head to feel a little lighter. That response should have faded long ago, leaving her longing for it once more. Yet against all the reasoning he still left her just a little breathless.

She draped her satin robe over the chair before crawling into bed next to her best friend; it was just one of the many roles that Booth played in her life, saturating it with his presence and making it a genuinely better existence. She could feel the stir of his body as her movements pulled him from slumber. Though it had taken her far to long to get here, she hoped that it was where she would reside till the end of her days. Here, in the blissful confines of her home and within the warmth of her family.

"You are up late." His sleep-drenched voice pulled her from her self-reflections and put her into the reality of their situation.

"Yeah, I had a lot of work to do." She reached out, curling her body around his bare chest, sinking into his warm skin, melting against him like creamy butter.

"Are you happy being back in the game?" his chin wrinkled under him as he turned his gaze down to meet hers. Even in the darkness she could make out the warm teddy bear brown of the wide orbs.

"Yes and no." the answer was firm and definitive, confirming any of the uncertainty in her own mind.

"Mostly yes, though?"

"More than mostly, I really do love my work."

"But…" He prompted, knowing that she would talk with gentle prodding. He knew he so well, almost better than she knew herself. That used to scare her, now she found comfort and trust in it, believing that with him anything was possible.

"I find that my focus is more easily wavered, I am constantly darting back and forth between Matthew and the case, I do not know how to compartmentalize them appropriately." His only response was a brief chuckle.

"I'm serious Booth, I need to be able to do so in order to be more effective in the lab. That has to take precedence over everything." She was frustrated and his laughter only served to annoy her slightly.

"Bones, I have been waiting for the day you realized that not everything will not fit inside neat little boxes. You cannot hide from things forever. You have feelings, needs, wants and that is okay. We all have them." Booth ran his hands up her bare arms leaving a trail of Goosebumps on her flesh, wiping her irritation away as he went.

"I am still a professional, I just need to find my footing again." Her throat seemed to close slightly at his ministrations, the pounding of her heart getting louder in her ears.

"Again? Bones, you need to find it for the first time. You were so wrapped up in work for so long that you did not know how to do anything else. Then when you had Michael you became just as focused on him. Don't get me wrong, I think that taking time off to acclimate yourself with becoming a mother was good for you. The point is, you have never had to split your time or your interest before. It takes time to figure it all out." His hands had reached her face, softly caressing her cheeks, his fingers tangling in her short brown hair.

"That is not true, I split my time in the lab with my writing, a very successful venture I might add." She looked into his eyes, the amusement in them danced with the desire that clouded them.

"It's all window dressings, Baby. Either way your mind was still on anthropology." His eyes left hers, his lips pressing to the hollow of her throat, distracting her again.

"Booth, I can't think when you do that." She wanted to finish their talk, to analyze the situation and find a solution.

"It's kind of nice isn't it?" He asked, his mouth trailing down her throat to her collarbone.

"What," She breathed, his movement sending her body to that place she loved, just outside her reach.

"Losing control once in a while," his voice was like liquid honey as his breath slid over her skin, stopping her argument in her throat. His lips raised once more, coming up to claim her mouth with his, taking her over and invading her space. This was the most clarity she ever had. When they were together nothing seemed to be foggy and cloudy, just the crystalline image of what her life could and would be like as long as she shared it with this man. There was not point in resisting the urges, or fighting the dependency, it was already there, having formed with out her even realizing it. She threw had head back as he broke the kiss, moving beneath her, rolling her over. He weight pressed her into the soft mattress and pillows with a gentle firmness that was unique to him.

While she maintained her position that sex was in fact a purely biological urge, she had yet to ever find someone that acted on it quite as well as the man above her. He took his time when is was necessary, and relied on brute strength when she wanted it. Even when things had somewhat fizzled out for them, he was still successful in lighting that fire deep within her, causing it to rage from the inside out. It was not a case of whether or not she had the urges, it was the fact that he continued to deliver her satisfaction time and again.

He slid down her body, his mouth leaving a trail of kisses along the path of decent. His hands worked the silk covering her upwards while his mouth moved further and further south. She twitched beneath him, trying to find a comfortable position, trying to escape the slow burn that had spread through out her body.

Then it came with out warning, the explosion deep within. Heat and pressure seemed to collapse on the gentle nerves at the apex of her thighs, causing her to cry out as she teetered on the edge of her perverbial cliff.

"Shhh, if you can't be quiet I will have to stop." His voice entered her ears, but took forever to register into her mind.

"No please." It was all she could utter, her voice came out guttural and strained.

" Then you have to be a quiet girl." He said, before returning to his aforementioned task. Her eyes rolled back into her head as the fire returned, burning hotter than before. With every movement of his tongue sending the vibrations through her core and up her spin she shuddered, the more intense the feeling the higher she climbed. Her body seemed to float higher and higher towards the release that she so badly sought, yes there was just enough intensity to drive her mad. It feel like hours that she teetered there, biting her lips to keep the sounds from trespassing. It became harder and harder to control her self, to keep the involuntary noises at bay. She was so close to the edge of her own sanity that she could only think about her own release.

It was a release that she was not prepared for, one that crashed over her like a wave, cutting off her air supply, allowing only a faint squeak to echo through the walls of the room. The wave scooped her up and carried her home, leaving her in the slushy aftermath of her own climax. Her chest heaved as the blood rushed through her ears, drowning out everything else.

Moments later she could feel the homeostasis return to her limp and ravaged body. The trembling ceased and her eyes regained focus on the face in front of her. Booth was watching her, the look on his face conveyed his pride at his accomplishments, watching her recover from the things he had done to her. It unnerved her and amused her all at the same time, only serving the heighten her experience.

"Why are you grinning at me like that?" She asked, her voice still trembling a little.

"Just enjoying the view," He was cocky. Then again he always had been. If he were anyone else she would have smacked that look right off his face, but instead she relished in it, knowing that it was one of the greatest signs of affection he could bestowed on her.

"See anything you like?" She shifted as he rolled to her side, facing her, hoisting his head up on his hands.

"I think you already know the answer to that. I do have one question though?"

"What's that?"

"When did you learn pillow talk?" He smirked at her.

"I told you I was good in bed." She quipped back, keeping up with their quick pro quo.

"That has nothing to do with your social awkwardness, Bones." He smiled at her. She knew what he was doing, trying to rile her up, bait her in another satisfying game of cat and mouse. He liked it when they challenged each other, hell, they both did. She loved to watch his jaw clench when they argued over something menial, it was like foreplay.

"Perhaps I've just spent enough time in bed, to learn what is acceptable and what is not."

"I missed this." He admitted, his eyes casting downward for a moment.

"My awkwardness?" She asked, confusion scrunching up her face.

"No, Bones, the fighting." He said with a light laugh.

"I don't understand, you want to fight with me?" She looked at him, hoping that some sort of clarity would present its self.

" No, I miss our friendly yet competitive banter. You know, I call you a squint and you lecture me on every single inaccuracy about that before calling me a jock or stupid."

"You like when I am mean to you? Anthropologically that is considered a fetish." She said, tilting her head to the side, looking up into his eyes.

"No, what, no, we do not have a fetish. It's just, it reminds me of the old days, you know before it was okay to touch you." Booth rolled onto his back with a frustrated growl.

"You touched me all the time."

"Just forget it." He said, sounding slightly annoyed at her. It was then that the concept dawned on her.

"You were implying that our banter was a form of flirting and then later foreplay." She smiled knowing that he had mirrored her earlier thoughts.

"Way to take the magic out of it." He said from under his arm. She realized that her failure to pick up on the hinting had upset him, killing the mood.

Rolling over she ran her finger down his taut stomach, following the trail of dark hair southward, intent on reviving his earlier sentiments. It was then that he stopped her, his hand staying hers, pressing her fingers out till her palm rested on his abdominals.

"Not tonight." He said quietly in the darkness, the liquid honey tone rich and smooth as it encompassed her.

"Something tells that was not as satisfying for you as it was for me." She said, bring her lips closer to his ears, blowing her hot breath into them as she spoke.

"We have a long day tomorrow, we should make at least some attempt at sleep." He said, though she caught the hitch in his breath as she spoke. "You can owe me one."

A smile formed on her lips, bushing the sensitive lobes of his ears, easing her worry that he was upset with her for being so dense. "We both know that I always repay my debts."