"I was going to give up book tours forever, stellina. She was so young, so full of promise, and I brushed her off like she was just another overeager fan. Until her natural drive and curiosity got her killed. If I had listened to her, if I had taken her theory seriously, Zoe might still be here with us."
Erin nodded as she reached out and caressed his face lightly, allowing her fingers to tug at his goatee a little to try and get his attention more focused on her. That seemed to do the trick, as he finally dropped his gaze from her forehead to her eyes, and she gave him a soft smile before kissing him deeply. "And you could very well have ended up hurt as well, darling. Even though that young man so obviously wants to know why he is the way he is, he's still a murderer, and even though you didn't fit his type, he still could have killed you to get at his preferred victim."
"I know that, I really do, but it still feels like I let her down. It didn't help matters that I seriously disrespected her mother without meaning to. I just felt like I had to do something more than just find her killer. I had to do something tangible. She saw it as pity, and refused to allow me to pay for the funeral."
Erin sighed as she ran her hand down his neck to spread her fingers out on his chest. "That is the reason why I fell in love with you, David. Because you have this heart that is the size of the Grand Canyon, and you try to make everything right, even if it hurts you in the process." She kissed him once more before tugging at his chest hair. "So, what changed your mind about going on book tours?"
"JJ, actually. She told me about the time that she heard one of my book lectures and it convinced her to enter the Academy, and now look at her. She's growing into a superb agent, and a real asset to the Bureau. If we're not careful, she could be headhunted to another agency, she's that good."
She chuckled a little as she nodded. "I have noticed how Aaron talks about her in his yearly evaluations of the team. There are times when I think that he has a crush on her, even though she is with Will?"
"Yeah, that's his name. And Hotch definitely has complicated feelings for JJ, but that's just one of the things that we don't speak about, especially since he is still in love with Haley. I keep hoping that they'll get back together, but I think that she is as unyielding as he is."
She nodded as she took a few deep breaths. "You're right, she is stubborn, and she wants something that she'll never be able to have. Haley knows that Aaron will never leave his job, because he feels that the job is who he is, and he can't step back from saving the world, since that's his calling."
"And it's something that I wish he would change about himself. But I think that's about as likely as my leaving you to remarry an ex-wife." She chuckled a little as she smacked his chest lightly. "See, you know how absurd that is!" David leaned in and pressed his lips against her forehead in a tender gesture. "Ah, Erin, you always seem to know how to pull me out of my funks. Never leave me."
"As if I could leave my heart behind, darling," she murmured before kissing him once more, gently pushing him onto his back so that she could straddle his body as she rucked her nightgown up her body, allowing it to fall onto the floor as she bent down and gave him a hard kiss, taking hold of his hands and bringing them up to her breasts, encouraging him to touch and feel her as they continued to kiss. Erin wasn't surprised when he flipped her onto her back, taking control as he was wont to do, something that she loved to have him do, and she hooked a leg around his hips as she pulled him closer, trying to tug off his pyjama pants in order to feel his skin against hers.
He broke the kiss and panted heavily in her ear as his hands met hers on his hips, skimming his pants down his legs before fitting himself between her thighs. Erin let out a soft sigh of pleasure as he began to press large kisses against her skin, working his way down her neck and upper chest, the soft hair of his goatee tickling and teasing her skin, enflaming the desire that was quickly filling her body. "I longed to do this while in Ohio, Erin. I wanted to be able to touch you and remind myself that you were mine. I knew that I had to keep my focus on the case, to bring Zoe's killer to justice, but there was still this part of me that needed the peace that your arms always give me."
She nodded as David rubbed his cheek against her breasts, arching up into him and gasping a little as his mouth closed around her nipple, suckling strongly as his hand slid down her torso before slipping between her legs and caressing her vulva, his thumb seeking out her clitoris and stroking it lightly as he continued to lavish kisses on her breasts. Erin tried to think pure, chaste, thoughts in an effort to keep from reaching the peak of her pleasure too quickly, but then David was dragging his lips away from her breasts, following the trail his fingers had taken moments earlier. Unconsciously, she arched up into his touches, wanting to be in closer contact with him as he brought her nearer that sweet pinnacle of desire. Just before she had found her release, David pulled away a little, and Erin struggled to get her eyes to focus on him. "David, please!"
"I know, stellina," he said as he continued to gaze at her. "There's just something so gorgeous about seeing you like this, your hips twisting, your skin flushed with a thin sheen of sweat, your nipples stiff and pebbled, every inch of your body dripping with desire for me." A low whine slipped from her lips at his words, and then she was gasping as he suddenly entered her, filling her completely before capturing her lips in a bruising kiss. There was none of his usual softness, but she found that she didn't mind this new side of him, welcoming him thrust for thrust as he quickly ramped her body back up to the precipice of orgasm until she was falling over the edge, her hands raking down his back as she came.
Panting for breath, she stared up at him, seeing that he was smiling sadly at her, and she felt her own face contort into a look of concerned comfort as she wrapped a hand around his neck and pulled him down close to her, pressing soft kisses to every bit of his face that she could reach. "I love you, darling. I will always love you."
"Just as I will always love you, Erin." He slowly lowered his body until he was stretched out on top of her, and she welcomed his weight pressing her down into the mattress as he brought the covers up around their bodies. "I don't want to move from your arms until absolutely necessary."
"I love the sound of that, David," she purred out as she began to run her fingers through his hair, soon soothing herself to sleep with the rhythmic touches and the sound of his voice quietly singing their favorite song.