A/N: yes, I recycled a line from Sin in the Sisterhood that Booth said to Bones. I felt like he must have gotten some of his sage advice from somewhere.
*Looks at angst machine...*
*Turns knob...*
*Laughs in note of Evil Major*
Brennan sighed with relief when Cam, Angela, Hodgins and Vincent arrived at Booth's apartment. She'd been alone with her thoughts for too long while waiting for them.
"Hey Sweetie, how's Hannah?" Angela asked, walking directly toward her. "Where was Booth when it went down?" she continued, chattering on as Cam and Hodgins moved around the room looking for any evidence still there after the techs had been through.
"Hannah was very shaken up. She has a black eye, but her bone structure appears to be intact." Brennan explained clinically. She paused when Angela's eyes widened and looked pointedly at her neck.
"Did you get into a fight with your curling iron?" Angela asked, jabbing her index finger into the side of Brennan's neck and looking as though she was simply humoring Brennan with the curling iron comment.
"Ow! Ange!" Brennan complained, slapping her friend's hand away. "What was that for?" she asked, rubbing her hand over the spot that now felt tender.
"You have a giant fucking hickey on your neck. What are you guys? In high school?" Brennan's eyes widened and she strode as inconspicuously toward Booth's bathroom as she could.
Staring into the mirror as Angela stood behind her, and fingered the dark bruise at the junction of her neck and shoulder. She could almost pinpoint the moment it had happened. He was moving inside her. "You're really going to smile about that right now?" Angela asked, though she had a lilt of humor in her tone. Brennan hadn't even realized she'd been smiling. "If this is going to be a thing, I'm going to need the details. I don't approve, but I love you, and if this is your… whatever it is… I can be your best friend and listen to all of juicy, delicious, neck-sucking details." she added, helping Brennan adjust her jacket collar to hide the Booth's love bite.
"I don't think it's going to be a thing anymore, Ange." she confessed, trying to school her pained expression. She knew what she was getting into when she suggested lunch. She'd thought it over repeatedly and hadn't entered into the idea lightly, so why did she suddenly feel so unprepared for this onslaught of feelings?
Angela opened her mouth to reply but Cam's voice calling them out to the living room ended the conversation abruptly. "Later." Ange promised, squeezing Brennan's arm comfortingly before exiting the bathroom.
As they dusted for prints around the points of entry, Brennan's phone vibrated on the coffee table. She walked over and glanced at the screen, seeing Booth's name, she slipped the still ringing phone into her pocket and returned to her task, ignoring the glances her friends made in her direction.
"He needs to focus on Hannah and let us do our jobs." she muttered, when the silence stretched too long.
Cam and Hodgins seemed to agree, nodding and making non-committal humming sounds. Really, she didn't want to speak to him, didn't want to see him. She'd been so stupid and naïve to think she could ever just have sex with Booth. It was never going to just be sex, that much had been painfully obvious. There was an intimacy, an uninhibited comfort she'd never felt with a lover before, not even Michael or Peter whom she lived with. They broke the laws of physics, just like he'd said they could if they gave it a shot.
Laying on her stomach, her head pillowed on her folded arms, Brennan closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. They'd been at her place for hours, kissing, touching, making love; it was surreal to her that they were in this place.
"My god, that is possibly the most amazing sight I've ever seen." Booth murmured as he came out of the bathroom. Cracking an eye, Brennan gave him a questioning look. "I'll never understand how you manage to have such a perfect ass." he continued with a wolfish grin, climbing over her to get back into bed. Leaning up on his elbow and supporting his cheek on his hand, he reached his other hand over and stroked over her bare bottom, squeezing and caressing.
"Booth, you've seen me in the gym. You know that I spend a considerable amount of time at the squat rack. As a result, my gluteal muscles are well defined." she explained to him, enjoying the slow soothing circles his palm was making over said muscle. "You've acted as my spotter plenty of times. I'd be offended if you never noticed until now, not to mention concerned for your lack of observational skills."
"Well, I very much like your well defined gluteal muscles. And for the record, I have noticed, frequently, which is why I've never let any other agents at the gym spot you." he told her, leaning closer to kiss her back.
"I'm glad you can appreciate the fruits of my labor." she murmured, lulled by his massaging hand on her buttocks. Perhaps, she would enlist his clever hands on her next rest day, purely for the sake of her recovery, of course.
Chuckling, he rolled over onto his knees and straddled her legs. "Fruits, huh?" he teased, using both hands to knead her glutes with firmer strokes. She sighed, lifting her hips slightly to meet his hands and squeezing her thighs together to ease the renewed pulsing between them. Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to the small of her back. "I believe I was promised lunch." he murmured against her skin as his lips trailed lower.
She gasped with surprise as his teeth grazed her left cheek, followed by his tongue soothing over the tender flesh. He sucked and licked and gently scraped his teeth across the soft skin over and over, spreading goosebumps across her bottom and thighs. It was such an intimate act, not just intercourse, and she had an overwhelming trust for him, despite being unable to see him or what he was doing. She'd relinquish control to him without hesitation, she realized, as she lay there, face down, allowing him free range of her body. It would leave a mark, the way he was sucking her flesh, and she couldn't find an ounce of her being that gave a damn.
His fingers dipped between her thighs as his mouth continued its assault on those well defined muscles he liked so much. She parted her legs for him as his fingers stroked over her wet sex. He took advantage of the extra space between her thighs and parted her lips with his digits, dipping one into her folds, stroking through her labia to her His fingers dipped between her thighs as his mouth continued its assault on those well defined muscles he liked so much. She parted her legs for him as his fingers stroked over her wet sex. He took advantage of the extra space between her thighs and parted her lips with his digits, dipping one into her folds, stroking through her labia to her clitorous. She remained completely pliable as he moved his hands to the bed, bracing himself over her, the length of his body just barely brushing against her back. . She remained completely pliable as he moved his hands to the bed, bracing himself over her, the length of his body just barely brushing against her back.
"You have incredible upper body strength." she murmured with admiration as he continued to hold a plank above her while he kissed and sucked on her scapula.
"Mhmm." he murmured against her skin as he lowered his hips, the ridge of his erection resting in the cleft of her bottom. Lifting her own hips, she met his slow grinding, brushing her buttocks against his rigid penis until his hand held her hip still.
Her eyes remained closed as she felt him shift, nudging her legs until she spread them wider to accommodate him kneeling in the space between them. The feeling of his hips pressing down to meet hers and his lips whispering against the shell of her ear that she was beautiful, as he entered her from behind was tantamount to what she imagined heaven would be like if it existed. Every nerve ending tingled with his gentle thrusts and the slow roll of his hips against hers.
His hands stroked her arms as he lowered his upper body fully against her, letting his weight press her into the plush mattress below. She felt safe, cherished, like when he'd wrap his entire body around her in one of his guy hugs, protecting her from the world around them, shielding her from everyone. His full body weight covering her from head to toe, inside and out, was an immeasurable comfort she'd neve felt before.
"Dr. Brennan?" She snapped her head up to meet Cam's eyes across the room, registering her voice. "I was just saying that I think we're done here. There really isn't much for us to do." she said, looking at Brennan with concerned eyes.
"Yes, I agree." Brennan said briskly, nodding once and turning to gather her things. "May I have a ride back to the lab with you? I– I left my car there this afternoon." she spoke, her throat suddenly dry. She'd left her car there when she left at lunch time to go home and spend the next five hours making love to a man who was so very obviously in love with another woman. She cleared her throat, turning away and pretending to be busy so she could discreetly swipe away the hot tear rolling down her cheek.
The ride back to the lab was a quiet one, and Brennan sat in the backseat, listening to whatever news radio Cam had put on as she stared out the window and allowed her thoughts to consume her.
"Is this how you do it?" Booth asked, laying in her bed and tugging her against his body, wrapping his arms around her smaller frame. When she glanced up at him in question, he smirked. "How you come up with all the sexy parts of your books?" he clarified, and she laughed, nuzzling her face into his neck. Would he want the real answer?
"Sometimes, yes." she answered honestly. "It helps with the logistics if I can recreate what I have in my head." she explained, tracing the old bullet wound with her finger. She had seen it before, but never with this up close, uninhibited, free range to explore it.
"So your next book will have a scene where Agent Andy throws his back out going down on Kathy in her kitchen?" he asked, and she laughed out loud. She was quite certain she hadn't laughed as much in her entire life as she'd laughed today. She was simply feeling unabashedly, uninhibitedly, utterly completely… joyful.
"No, but there is a shower scene that I've been struggling with." she told him, tracing a finger down his chest and toying with the trail of hair below his navel. "And a car scene. Do you think your driver's seat slides back far enough for Kathy to straddle Andy?" she asked, looking up at his face to gauge his reaction.
"Well, I'm willing to assist with your research anytime you need me." he offered, tilting her chin up and pressing his lips to hers. "Like right now, I'm more than happy to go into the shower with you and reenact your book scene. For the sake of your writing remaining as accurate as it's always been." he told her seriously, but she could see the smirk twitching at the corner of his mouth. "And later, in the name of your very important research, I'll even let you ride me in the truck."
"If you recall, the first time I saw your penis was while you were in the bathtub." She pointed out, and he nodded, smiling at the memory of standing there in his beer hat in the middle of his bathroom, getting hard as she yelled at him. "It has served as a mastebatory fantasy for me quite often, so I used it toward the scene I'm writing in my book. The book scene ends much better, in my opinion, than me simply leaving you alone with your… graphic novel." she added, rolling away from him and off of the bed. She headed toward the bathroom, anticipating his moment of realization before he chased after her, and had just made it through the doorway when he caught up to her, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"I can help with that too." he murmured against her shoulder as she turned on the water. "If I have it my way, you'll never have to use masterbatory fantasies again." he said, cringing as he mimicked her phrase.
Booth exited the bathroom in a towel and put his overnight bag up onto the table to dig through it. "I, uh, I broke my phone." he told Hannah, glancing over his shoulder at her. "I'm gonna head over to the office to requisition a new one and get my data transferred over. Probably swing by the lab to check on where things are at." he explained, pulling out a pair of black pants and a t-shirt. He hadn't brought any suits, so he hoped he wouldn't run into any bosses while he was at the Hoover.
"Yea, ok." she muttered, sounding irritated.
Well, if she's already pissed off… "I don't think I'm going to be able to join you on the tour." he told her, but he didn't turn around to face her. "I can't leave while Broadsky is still out there." he continued. Did he think it would take the whole three months to catch him? Not really. They were closing in on each other, and their final showdown was imminent. He knew that. Was he going to make that point out loud to her and end up making an empty promise in the meantime? Not a fucking chance.
"This is my job, Seeley. I'm supposed to be on a plane tomorrow morning…" she scoffed in disbelief, as if he'd just asked her to cancel her plans, as if he'd asked her to follow him halfway across the world, leaving the job she loved behind.
Nodding, he avoided her glare. "I want you to go. I want you to stay safe and get the hell away from this shit storm." he explained honestly. "Do your job, be the best damn reporter on that tour, but I gotta stay here and do mine."
He did want her to stay safe, but he also wanted to really have a hard look at what he'd been doing over the last few months. He wasn't this guy. He loved Bones. He knew that now; he knew he hadn't moved on as much as he'd kept claiming, but this was Bones. Bones who had told him no and then told him she loved him back. Bones, who had, even recently, told him she didn't believe in marriage.
Booth took a deep breath, pressing his palm against the heavy wooden door and listening to it creak as it opened. He entered the dimly lit space and wondered if the ambient lighting was to make the patrons feel like they had more privacy. He walked purposefully to the end of the long row of seats and sat down on the very last one. Tapping his knuckles on the wooden surface before him, and pondered the uncomfortable wooden seat on his still achy back and wondered if they too were by design. A penance for the sins you'd already committed and a reminder for those you were about to commit.
The familiar face with a solemn expression appeared before him, and he glanced up, taking a deep breath. "Forgive me, Father. I have sinned."
"I'm not a priest anymore, Booth." Aldo told him, though he still performed the sign of the cross over Booth before sliding the tumbler of scotch across the shiny wooden surface of the bar. Booth looked at him and the way Aldo's face became all the more compassionate, he must have seen the pitiful anguish in Booth's eyes. "When was your last confession?" he asked quietly.
"It's been a few months." Booth told him. He'd been unable to bring himself to go to his church and speak to the priest there about what he'd done. He'd been unable to even attend regular services. "I fucked up pretty bad, Aldo." he confessed.
"You gambling?" Aldo asked, but Booth shook his head. "Got someone pregnant again?" he asked, and Booth's face shot up. Why did everyone think that was the worst thing he could do?
"I've been… living in sin with a woman, who I love, or– anyways, I've also been unfaithful to her recently." he plowed through, staring at the amber liquid in his glass and swirling it around. Might as well get it all out on the table now. "I've been having a sexual and emotional relationship with a friend of mine. Problem is, now that I'm in the thick of it, I don't feel like I'm cheating on my girlfriend with my friend, so much as I feel like I'm cheating on my friend when I'm with my girlfriend."
"Temperance." Aldo muttered, and Booth looked up at him again. "You really think that's not the first place my brain is going to go? You've talked about her every time we've seen each other since the day you met her." Booth rolled his eyes; he wasn't wrong. "You slept with Temperance while you were with this woman?" Aldo asked, and Booth nodded.
"I'm still with Hannah. I do love her. I– just, I have been in love with Bones for years, and when I started my relationship with Hannah it was because Bones had turned me down. She said she couldn't change. She couldn't be what I wanted in a romantic partner, and then…" Booth sighed heavily, reiterating the events that led up to him and Bones running halfway around the world and her big revelation about her feelings for him. "I moved on. I love Hannah… I do. I just…"
"You love Temperance more." Aldo said it so casually, Booth wanted to cringe. How was it so easy for him to just say that? "If you're carrying on this sexual and emotional relationship with Temperance, why are you still with Hannah? Why haven't you broken up with her?" Aldo asked the same question Booth had been asking himself. Why hadn't he? Why hadn't he been the man he was raised to be and told Hannah the truth?
"I'm just afraid if I go all in with Bones– she doesn't have the best track record for sticking around when things get messy." he admitted out loud for the first time. He wanted Bones, but what if he ended what could have been something happy and long with Hannah to be with Bones and Bones turned around and ran to Timbuktu again? What if he'd ended things with Hannah, safe, reliable Hannah, to be with Bones. Bones who, if they had a lover's quarrel, could pack a bag a be on the next flight to some island in Papua New Guinea to live with the uncontacted tribe she'd told him about, before he had a chance to apologize for… for leaving the damn toilet seat up or leaving his underwear on the floor. He knew she wasn't petty and that was an unfair analogy, but it was his honest to god deepest fear to fuck up and lose her entirely. Could he live with just a tiny piece of her?
"Isn't that what love is, Seeley?" Aldo asked him. "Taking a leap of faith because that person is worth throwing in all the chips, whether you win or lose?" he questioned, and Booth nodded. "You could very well love them both, but you know, you can love a lot of people in this world, but there's only one person you love the most."
"And what if I've already fucked it up with her? What if I've shown her that I'm just like every other man she's ever met because I was willing to go against my core values to be with her?" Booth asked, taking a long swallow of his drink and relishing the burning feeling of it traveling down his chest to his stomach.
"That's the gamble, isn't it? You have to pick though. All in or fold, Booth. Nobody knows what comes next. There's no road map or manual." Aldo told him things he already knew, in his heart of hearts, he knew, but hearing someone else tell him made it feel so much more valid. "I can't tell you what to do, but from where I'm sitting, if you truly loved Hannah, it wouldn't be a question of which woman to be faithful to. You would just be faithful to her. You're sticking around out of a sense of duty now, and if you're honest, out of selfishness, and that isn't fair to anyone involved."
"So what do I do?" Booth asked, though he already knew the answer, and Aldo told him as much in response. Chugging back the rest of his drink, Booth threw down some bills and nodded at his friend. He drew the sign of the cross in the air before turning and walking out Paradise Lost.
Brennan was seated at her desk when Booth walked into her office, a flirty smirk playing at his lips as he approached her desk. "Hey." he spoke in a low gravelly tone, and Brennan fought the urge to grin up at him. This had gone on long enough. One of them had to be the responsible party and put a stop to it, but seeing him brought forth a flood of images that brought forth a metaphorical flood of its own and she had to cross her legs.
"Hello Booth." She said, not bothering to look up at him as she continued typing on her computer. "How is Hannah feeling?" she asked, making polite conversation, reminding both of them that there was someone he loved waiting for him in a hotel room somewhere. It would get easier, she assured herself, when she no longer had them both in her face. Hannah would be gone tomorrow. Booth would be gone in a few days, hopping on a plane to follow his love around the country on her career changing journey, and Brennan would have the opportunity to truly move forward and allow herself to heal.
"She's doing ok." Booth told her, nodding slowly as he sat down in the seat across from her. Clearly he was beginning to pick up on her well practiced social cues. I learned from the best, she mused. "I called you earlier." He mentioned it so casually, though she knew it was anything but, and she nodded. "I wanted to check in on anything you found at my place." He continued, and she finally glanced up at him, ceasing the movements of her tapping fingers. They could discuss the case. That was perfectly acceptable, perfectly professional.
With the amount of oxytocin surging through her from their marathon intercourse, not to mention her deliciously aching muscles reminding her of every point on her body that'd he'd touched or kissed or stretched, she needed to maintain a level head. She couldn't trust her current instinctive desires, especially because she wanted nothing more than to kiss him and comfort him, to tell him everything would be fine, that they'd catch Broadsky before he could hurt anyone else. She knew what he needed right now, but she couldn't be the one to provide it.
"Yes, I saw. I was busy." she advised him. "After thoroughly examining your and Hannah's apartment, it appears that Broadsky simply jammied the lock to let himself in." she explained coolly.
"Jimmied." Booth corrected her with a fond smile. "He jimmied the lock." Brennan nodded her thanks for the correction. "So, uh, you wanna grab dinner?" he asked, and she wanted more than anything to simply say yes. In fact, she was feeling famished, for food this time.
"Knock knock!" Angela chirped from her doorway, tapping on the open door as she entered with a tall attractive man. His dark hair framed his olive-toned face and made his blue eyes pop brightly. "Brennan, you remember I mentioned my friend Jeremy?" she said, ushering the man into Brennan's office.
Brennan had told Angela briefly that she felt she should truly let Booth go, but she hadn't gone into too many details. She'd simply explained that seeing him interact with Hannah this afternoon had reminded her that he had made his choice and carrying on like they'd been was a mistake. She wanted to let Booth go, and she was sure that this was Angela's way of helping, but she certainly hadn't planned on finding another suitor only hours after she'd spent the afternoon making love to Booth. In fact, she was finding herself quite tender between her legs. She hadn't even put underwear on when she'd gotten dressed, and had opted for a flowy skirt.
"Hello, it's nice to finally meet you." Brennan told him politely, extending her hand to accept his as he reached out to shake hers.
She watched as Jeremy turned toward Booth, offering him his hand as well. "Jeremy Winters." he offered, and Booth shook his hand, squeezing tighter than necessary and smirking when Jeremy seemed to wince and flex his hand at his side when Booth finally released it.
"Special Agent Seeley Booth. I'm the partner." he said, and Brennan could see the intimidation tactic for what it was.
"Work. Work partner." Angela interjected with a smile. "Anyway, Hodgins has to babysit a microbe tonight, so Jer and I are going over some of his paintings in my office, choosing some things for his upcoming show, and I thought this would be a great opportunity to introduce you both." she told them, and Brennan wondered how much truth was actually in that statement. "Hey, Booth, didn't you say you needed help doing a data transfer on your phone?" she asked. "Jer, why don't you and Bren go pick up some take out and bring it back here?" she suggested, and Brennan flashed her a death glare.
"Uh, yea, ladies choice." He agreed, dangling his keys from his hand. Brennan smiled and nodded her ascent. As annoyed as she was, she was glad for the escape route that this venture out would provide her.
"Uh, yea, just give us a sec, will you guys?" Booth asked, and Brennan watched as he flashed a glare in Angela's direction as well. So much for her hasty escape.
When they were alone, he crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head in confusion. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked, and despite seeing a mixture of hurt, confusion, and anger in his expression, Brennan decided to go full defense.
"Going to pick up dinner." she replied simply, matching his stance by crossing her own arms. Was he really going to try to pretend this was upsetting to him? He'd just taken his own girlfriend back to a hotel after spending hours upon hours screwing Brennan.
"Bones, you and I both know that Angela is trying to set you up with that guy." he told her, and he looked a little nervous as he spoke.
"Yes, I am aware. She had given him my number a few times over the last several months. I've simply not had time to meet him." she advised him truthfully. Time or inclination, really.
Booth scoffed, his eyes wide with disbelief. "So you're just going to go out with that guy?" he asked in an accusing tone.
Brennan shrugged one shoulder casually. "I don't see why not. He's certainly attractive." she told him. "Why wouldn't I want to spend time with him?" she posed the question, daring Booth to say what she knew he was thinking.
"Why not? Because you're my–"
"I'm your what?" She demanded, cutting him off before he could stumble over whatever he'd been about to say. "Don't get overly emotional, Booth. We satisfied some biological urges this afternoon. It was… very nice. Thank you." she told him with a smirk as she rose from her chair. Though she knew it was impossible, it felt physically painful to push him away like this when all she really wanted was to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him until they couldn't breathe.
"Bones, you and I both know that is not what that was." he accused her, a pained expression fleetingly crossing his features. "You're trying to distance yourself from the things we did today, the things we said today... You're— just stop being you for, like, 30 seconds, and talk to me."
"Booth, a lot of things are said and felt when an excess of hormones are released during sex, especially following an orgasm, and if I recall correctly, there were quite a few of those today. I'm immensely satisfied. I don't hold you accountable to anything you said today while under the influence of an influx of biological chemicals. Enjoy your trip with your girlfriend, Booth. Please wish Hannah safe travels from me. Look me up when you return. Perhaps, we can enjoy another double date." She said, waving vaguely at him. She didn't give him an opportunity to respond before she snatched up her purse and strode out of her office, leaving him sitting there alone with his thoughts.
"What the hell was that?" Booth asked dejectedly, strolling miserably into Angela's office and slumping down onto the couch. He glared half-heartedly at her because he knew what she was doing before he even asked, and he also knew he fucking deserved it. It didn't mean he had to like that Angela had just sent Bones on a dinner mission with a guy who looked like his middle name was Panty Dropper in college. Not that Bones was even wearing any under the skirt she clearly didn't realize was semi-sheer directly under the lab lights.
Ange shrugged her shoulder nonchalantly at him and walked across her office toward him. Holding out her hand expectantly, and raising a brow as if to dare him to say another word. He kept his mouth shut and handed her his smashed phone along with the brand new one the bureau issued him before he'd been to see Aldo.
"What happened?" she asked as she took them both and plugged them into her computer.
"Broadsky called me." he muttered miserably, replaying the conversation in his head. Even the damn serial killer he was chasing knew he was still in love with Bones. "He threatened Bones." he added, and Angela's head whipped toward him. "Sort of. He— I egged him on, saying he went after Hannah because he was pissed about Paula." Booth explained, reiterating the conversation. "We need to get this fucker, Ange." Booth told her, suddenly feeling the weight of everything on his shoulders. He was miserable and exhausted.
"We will." Angela assured him.
He watched as random bits of data flashed over the large monitor in front of them, lulled by the calls logs and messages, photos and contact lists all uploaded from his old phone into Angela's server.
Photos.
"Your system is… you have a firewall right?" He asked, sitting upright on the couch and watching as random pictures of Parker and Hannah, of Pops, even of Bones and the team flashed across the screen. "I mean, anything you upload, the rest of the team isn't going to have access to that, right?" he asked, and she nodded as if he was a complete idiot. "Angela…"
"What, are you afraid your nudes are going to be plastered around the lab?" she teased, and he swallowed.
"Not mine." He gulped, hoping she was simply teasing him for the sake of teasing him. Bones would kill him and make Hodgins' beetles eat off his flesh, so she could prop him up in her office next to the damn mummy.
"Brennan's?" she asked, glaring at him like he was a disobedient little school boy. "All of your data is safe and will be deleted and completely scrubbed once I reupload it to your new phone." she told him very slowly. "But if I were an involved man, I wouldn't be keeping naked photos of my mistress on my phone." she added, giving him a pointed look.
Mistress. That sounded awful, dirty and awful, and not at all how he would describe Bones. Ever. "Don't call her that." he muttered, feeling like an even bigger sack of shit.
"I'm your what?"
She had just asked him that. Was that the fucking answer? Had he really done that to her?
"You're killing her, you know?" Angela spoke so softly he almost didn't recognize her as the feisty friend she'd just been moments ago. "You're literally breaking her into pieces and soon there will be so many broken pieces we won't be able to put her back together." He swallowed, taking in what she was saying.
He wanted to tell her he was going to end things with Hannah, that he'd come to this decision tonight and knew what he truly wanted, but he also wanted to tell Bones first. She deserved to hear it from him.
"Booth, you have to make a decision here, and if you decide to stay with Hannah, you need to cut all ties with Brennan and just let her get the hell over you. She loves you. She loves you so much she is torturing herself to have just a tiny little piece of you. If you ever cared for her even a little bit, you would get your shit together, or you would leave her the hell alone."
He nodded because he agreed. He couldn't keep doing this to her. He didn't even feel like the man she'd fallen in love with anymore. The man he'd spent the last seven years showing her he could be would not be committing adultery. Hadn't he been the one who tried to convince her of the merits behind monogamy? He'd given up gambling right after meeting her because he wanted to be better for her. Now he was even worse.
"So, what happens in your book's shower scene?" Booth asked her, pulling her close to his body as the hot water slowly saturated them, her hair growing slowly wetter. He tried not to imagine the last time he'd seen her with her hair wet and stringy. She'd been sobbing in his passenger seat.
"Hmm, well, Andy certainly isn't going to lift Kathy up against the shower wall, anymore." She teased, and he groaned. "It would be quite embarrassing if he strained his back and they both fell to their death. There goes any future novels." she added with a smirk. When did she suddenly develop a sense of humor? He liked it. He thought he knew relaxed Temperance very well, but this was an entirely different side of her.
"All right, so what? A little bit of this?" he asked, stepping closer to her and wrapping his arms around her slippery waist. He tilted his chin down to meet her lips, and she sighed into his mouth. He'd never get enough of that sound.
"Yes, definitely this." she agreed. He felt her hand snake down between them, her fingertips brushing over his abs before she wrapped her hand around his growing erection. "Some of this, for sure." she whispered, stroking him slowly.
Booth groaned, stopping her movements. "They've been together a long time right?" he asked her, and she shook her head.
"No, they're not together." she reminded him, and he shook his head right back at her.
"But they kind of are, right?" he challenged, and she pursed her lips, mulling over it briefly before she nodded her agreement. "So she trusts him, right?" he asked, and he gazed into her eyes, imploring those blue depths to understand they weren't really talking about the book anymore..
"Implicitly." she replied simply, looking directly back into his eyes.
"Good. Let's see if the scene can just write itself hmm?" he whispered, turning her slowly and wrapping his arms around her again. He pulled her back flush against his chest and stroked his hands over her flat belly, sliding smoothly over her wet skin.
Leaning her head back against his shoulder, she closed her eyes and snaked her arms up around his neck, toying with the wet hair at the nape of his neck. One of his hands stroked downward, and he slipped a single digit between her thighs, seeking out her clit, while his other hand traced her torso upwards, cupping her breast while his thumb rolled in a circle over her nipple.
Her hips canted in time with his strokes, grinding her slick ass against his hard cock pressed between it and his stomach. He would have reached for it himself, but she'd been impatient, leaning one palm against the tiles in front of them and reaching the other behind her to grip his cock again. She arched her back, curving herself forward as she guided his cock between her thighs, stroking his tip over her entrance. He took the hint and placed one hand on her hip to steady her and the other over top of hers where it remained braced against the tile. As he thrust gently and entered her, he laced his fingers with hers, joining their bodies in any way he could.
His lips chased water droplets along the juncture of her neck and shoulder as his hand slid from her hip to her stomach, pulling her body closer to his, pushing her into his thrusting hips before continuing lower to slip his fingers between her thighs again. She practically purred when he rolled his middle finger slowly over her clit, her own free arm wrapped up around the back of his neck again. He loved the feeling of her fingers threading through the short hairs on the back of his head.
She sobbed and shuddered as she came around him, and he joined her quickly. Following her over the edge was easy; he'd jump over any cliff with her, he'd decided. He held her body tight to his as they rode out the final tremors of their orgasms, his hand resting gently against her tummy. Her hand slid down from his neck to join him, covering his and lacing their fingers just as their hands still braced against the wall were. His rapidly deflating penis slipped from her body as she slowly turned in his arms, stroking her hands slowly up and down his chest, rubbing over his shoulders and neck. He reached for her chin, tilting her mouth up toward him and kissing her tenderly.
"I love you." she murmured dreamily, and he would have smiled if she hadn't looked so shell shocked by it. You'd think he'd been the one to say it by the stunned expression on her face, her wide eyes staring at him as her mouth gaped open and shut like a little goldfish. "I mean– I meant that–"
"Stop." he murmured softly, pressing his finger against her pouty lips. "Don't do that, all right?" he told her, and her face took on an anguished expression as she misunderstood his words. "Don't try to take it back or make it seem like you meant something else." he soldiered on, watching an entire emotional rollercoaster play out on her face. "I love you, too." he whispered against her lips, slowly kissing her as he let his words sink into her brain. When she finally began kissing him back, he knew she'd finally registered them.
Wrapping the towel she'd handed him around his waist, he stretched his back. "You have great water pressure." he commented as she towel-dried her hair.
"Yes, and the shower head detaches, so it's excellent for clitoral stimulation in the pursuit of a rapid orgasm." she commented, hanging the wet towel on the hook behind the door and sauntering out of the steamy bathroom as if she'd just told him it might rain tomorrow or something.
"What?" he asked, glancing back at the showerhead in question and imagining the infinite number of times Bones had probably reclined in that very tub with the damn shower head positioned between her thighs. By her own admission, she'd thought about him and his cock repeatedly while doing that over the last few years. That was definitely something he wouldn't soon forget.
"Are you even listening to me right now?" Ange asked, and he glanced back up at her, dragged from his sweet memory.
"You're right, Ange." he told her genuinely. "Thank you." he added, holding her gaze as she handed him his new phone.
"I added a facial recognition software to your photo album." she said with a snarky smirk. "Does Brennan know you have that one of her sleeping?" she asked, and he blushed. She'd looked like a goddess draped in nothing but white sheets, and he couldn't resist capturing the moment.
"Well, she has one of me making a grilled cheese in just my socks, so I figured I needed some leverage to keep her from showing you."
