BONES

It takes every bit of self-control not to turn back around to take a long, hungry look at the man standing – in the nude, no less – in my bathroom. For sheer physicality Booth is a remarkable man. It is not easy to leave him standing there when I now know exactly what he's capable of.

A shiver skitters up my spine and my body fills with warmth. It's a reaction I'm unaccustomed to, but I suspect it is contentment.

And love.

Whatever it may be, seeing him here in my apartment, in my bathroom simply feels…

Right.

We feel right.

Smiling, I continue into the kitchen where I set the coffee to brew. Using the remote, I turn the radio on low and the intricate and invigorating notes of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew fills the room, as I gather together the ingredients for a light breakfast. Dropping a selection of fresh berries into a colander, I set them under cool water to rinse. An unexpected laugh bubbles up from my throat when my peripheral vision catches sight of Booth's boxers peeking out from around the bottom of a chair. Sitting the granola down on the counter, I cross the living room and begin picking up our scattered clothing, as memories of our coupling flash vividly through my mind.

I'd orgasmed in a pair of strokes after Booth entered me, the make-out session on the elevator and the fact that it was Booth who my legs were wrapped around, whose body was moving inside of mine, enough to guarantee that I would. His muscles grew rigid and his teeth clenched as my muscles contracted around him and he groaned…

"Ohhhhhhhh, Godddddddddddddd, Bonessssssss," as he fought back his own release.

I know Booth, and the alpha male in him would demand he bring me to climax multiple times, consequently fighting off his own, biological need to attain orgasm. But that's not I want for him… or me. I want our sex life to be as honest and open as our partnership. I don't want him holding back. I want to feel his power beneath my hands. I want him to lose control, for his passion to overtake him.

I dragged my mouth over a shoulder then whispered in his ear.

"Don't hold back." He sucked in a hard, swift breath and his body flinched when I nibbled on the lobe of his ear.

"Bo—" he begins, but I cut him off with a kiss and a hard trust of my hips that had him growling low in his throat when his hips flexed involuntarily, burying him fully in me.

"Science tells us the alpha female selects her mate for his perceived physical strength and prowess—" His hands skimmed over my thighs, then eased my legs from his waist. "Booth…" I grumbled my disapproval when he slid out of me and lowered me to my feet.

"Uh-uh," he reprimanded, drawing his lips over a bare shoulder.

"The alpha male, however – particularly in Western cultures - is taught to suppress the biological impulse to exert his power and- " He leaned his forehead against mine as he shook his head.

"No science-ing this up, Bones." My eyes followed the path of his hand, over my abdomen and upwards until it cupped my breast. I flattened my hands against the door and arched my back, pressing myself more firmly into his hand.

"Booth—" I gasped his name. Both the smile on his face and the flex of his hips told me he found my response pleasing. His smile turned to something else altogether, when he dropped his eyes, slowly and boldly raking his eyes over my body from head-to-toe then back again. When his thumb pad whispered over my nipple, I made no attempt to hide my response to his touch, humming my approval. "Booth," I said his name again, this time with a slight note of scolding, when he slipped his hand away from my breast.

He smiled and laughed quietly, while sliding his arms around me and dragging me close, our bodies melding from sternum-to-knee. His smile grew a little wider.

"You don't seem to suffer from any of that shy Pilgrim stuff," he teased. I laugh.

"Just so you know, I find your lack of Puritan modesty very refreshing."

"Puritan modesty," I corrected, immediately understanding the reference. "I don't see the point," I admitted with a shrug. "I know men find my body—"

I yelped in surprise when he threw me over his shoulder. There are times I forget his reactions are quick as a flea. Automatically, I pressed my hands against his back and tried to wriggle from his grasp.

"Booth! What are you doing!? Booth!"

"Not holding back. That's what you wanted, right?" he informed me as he carried me in the direction of the bedroom.

"This is not very dignified!" I protested, a complaint that would have been far more effective if I hadn't been half-laughing… and admiring a very firm pair of glutes that were now directly in my sight.

"I assume you're the alpha female in your little science lesson, right?" he teased, as he crossed the threshold into my bedroom. So, he had been paying attention.

"Yes, but—"

"And I'm the alpha male?" he continued.

"Yes, but—" My response was cut off when I landed on my back on the bed. He crawled on top of me, positioning himself between my legs and holding himself up on outstretched arms braced against the bed. One look at his face and my laughter – and thoughts – fled, the naked hunger on his face reminding me very much of a lion looking to possess his mate.

My own appetite turned voracious. I held nothing back when he crushed his lips to mine and entered me in one powerful thrust, moaning deeply my pleasure into his mouth. He, too, held nothing back, feasting on my flesh, growling his desire low in his throat, thrusting hard and fast, rocking the bed and banging the headboard against the wall rhythmically with the force of his desire. Like that lion, he roared his pleasure in the form of my name when he found his release, dragging me over the edge with him with a breathless hum of his.

He collapsed on top of me, the weight of his sweat slickened body pressing me into the mattress as we gasped in unison, trying to catch our breaths.

When he finally found the strength to move, it was only to lift his head then rest his forehead against mine, the smile on his face matching my own.

No words were needed to understand what had just happened. He'd claimed me as his mate, and in encouraging him to do so, I'd claimed him as mine.

For some reason I still can't quite figure out, I'd laughed…

Then his laugh had joined mine, although I suspect he knew the reason why.