A/N: This may be bordering on an M rating ... if you have any doubts, please just skip to the next chapter. I promise, you'll be able to guess what happens.

This chapter is for Laura, who first introduced me to fanfiction ten years ago. How many afternoons did we spend reading Sailor Moon fics on your computer? Thanks, LBB. :)

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They had stumbled as far as his bedroom and barely managed to close the door behind them before his lips were on her mouth, then the delicate curve of her jaw, then across her cheeks where minutes ago, there had been salty tears. Brennan let her body sink into the dreamy sensation of his mouth exploring her face with kisses so soft, she might have been dreaming, only his arms around her were strong and sure, holding her desperately, keeping her safe.

"Temperance..." he stopped to press his forehead to hers and tried not to let the sensation of her fingers tracing circles on the back of his neck turn his entire brain to mush. "Tempe, I just want to make sure ... because in a minute I may not be able to think clearly, and I want to make sure that this is what we want, what you want, because afterwards ... I mean, there's work, and..." He realized that his hands were shaking, and he linked them at her lower back, trying to steady himself.

"You're worried that it'll be awkward for us?" She felt his arms tremble and pulled one hand from his neck to trace a soft line across his cheek with her thumb. "That it'll be this huge mistake that we can never take back if we stay in this bedroom and you make love to me the way I'm desperate for you to do?" She felt his sharp intake of breath, and Brennan took his face in both hands, waiting for his eyes to open and show her the same desire she knew was glowing from her own. "Booth, whatever happens or doesn't happen tonight, this thing between us isn't going to disappear. I don't know when it started, and I don't know when I realized it was there, but somewhere in all of this time I found out that ... I don't want it to go away."

And then her mouth was on his and Booth knew that no one, absolutely no one had ever touched him so much with one kiss, and when his hands found her waist it was no longer nervousness that had his fingers trembling, at least not entirely, because being with Bones for the first time was somehow like the real first time all over again, and desire and anxiety and hormones and something like love, but that almost certainly couldn't be love, were all mixed up in his system and he knew that he really should start breathing again soon if he didn't want to pass out and really screw this up.

Booth slid his hands around the curve of Brennan's jeans and lifted her into his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply so that he almost stumbled before laying her down gently on his bed, her soft curls spreading out across his quilted comforter, and when he started to unbutton his shirt and she reached out to take over with her own hands he had to stop himself from just pulling her into his arms and holding her there forever, even though that clearly was not going to satisfy either of them at this point.

Brennan was surprised at how steady her fingers were as she carefully loosened each button, how Booth's involuntary shiver at the first touch of her cool hands on his bare chest didn't make her nervous, but instead emboldened her to place a line of soft kisses from his stomach up to the curve of his neck, where she lingered, tasting, until Booth's hands pulled her back to his mouth for a hard, unhurried kiss that went on and on until she felt his hands leave her face to slip her shirt over her head, and then there was the glorious sensation of bare skin meeting as he took her in his arms and leaned her back until the weight of his body covered the full length of hers.

Booth couldn't believe how perfect it felt to have his partner half-naked below him, couldn't get enough of the warm vanilla scent of her hair and the soft fullness of her lips and the way she arched up against his hips when he trailed a finger below the delicate fabric of her bra – couldn't believe Dr. Temperance Brennan owned a lacy red bra – couldn't fathom why, after days (months, said a tiny voice in his head) of fantasies where he threw her down on her office desk, trapped her below him in the back seat of his official FBI SUV, or took her hard and fast up against one of the walls in the lab, suddenly all he wanted was to be slow and gentle and make this last forever. Perhaps it was the fear that one time might be all he ever got, this one chance to show her that whatever it was they had together, he didn't want it to end, either.

Bliss. Absolute bliss, thought Brennan as Booth rolled off momentarily so they could both remove their jeans, then pulled her close with one hand while the other slid down the length of her back. She arched against his touch, feeling his arousal pressed against her, and from that moment on it was a blur of sweet caresses and murmured words and finally, finally, the release they had both been craving for so long.

And the last thing Booth remembered before he fell into a warm, peaceful slumber for the first time in days was Brennan's voice, muffled a little because her head was pillowed on his chest and his arm was holding her protectively, saying something that sounded suspiciously like, "Does this mean I get a gun now?"

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A/N: It's not a new episode of Bones, but I hope it makes your week a little better, and that no one vomited on you at work today (some of us were not so lucky). Two more chapters to go... -tc