His lips were closing over hers before she could catch her breath. In an instant she was on fire, the ache between her legs suddenly blooming with heat. He touched his tongue to her lips and she opened her mouth, tilting her head and leaning into him, following the urge to be closer. Her hands were moving, one at his neck and the other caressing down the muscles of his back. She felt his hand move under her shirt and press against the small of her back, the other was cradling her head. He broke for air and they froze, mutually shocked by the power of their arousal, they stood captured by the desire, both deciding…

"You're very welcome. I'd have been cooking for you a long time ago if I had known that was how you would show your appreciation." He was grinning at her now, shifting gears and allowing her to take a second. He wanted to continue, to pick her up and carry her down the hall to her bed. The impulses in his brain were firing at an alarming rate; to kiss her, to taste her neck, to lick the swell of breast rising before him, to peel off her clothes and explore every inch of her with all of his senses. Images of her bombarded him, burning through his thoughts like white fuses, all of them leading to one place, one thought, he wanted to be inside her. His testicles ached and he shifted slightly with the discomfort. He needed to talk to her, to hear her say she was sure because he wanted all of her, not just this and as hard as it was to admit, he wouldn't risk everything they already were to each other unless she was willing to do it too. The conversation couldn't wait until tonight.

"Let's go sit down, the dishes can wait, I need to talk to you." His voice was rough as though each word were run across sandpaper as he said them and so he sounded both familiar and foreign to her at the same time. Seeing her look of confusion he gently kissed her cheek for reassurance and took her hand. She nodded slightly and let him lead her to the sofa where she sat while he retrieved their coffee and then joined her.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

She wanted him and at that moment as they stood there an urge stronger than anything she had ever known rose inside her. She wanted to lean up and bite into the thick cord running along his neck, sucking the flesh into her mouth to taste at last that piece of him that haunted her. She felt a swell of moisture between her legs and she tightened her thighs. She was frozen, afraid if she even blinked it would trigger her entire system to let go. He was staring at her for the longest time, his eyes dark pools of lust into which she wanted desperately to disappear. She knew he had spoken to her and in actuality some part of her heard him and so made the effort to smile. She had decided she had wanted this, but was unprepared for how ferocious her desire had grown during all those months of suppression. She heard him speak again and watched his mouth intently, trying to focus beyond the rough edges of the words as they came to her. He wanted to talk to her and she knew that they needed to talk even though she couldn't imagine being able to find or form words.

He kissed her cheek and she nodded her head, letting him take her to the living room. She smiled slightly; realizing that he could have, at that moment, led her anywhere and she would have simply taken his hand and gone with him willingly. Lust and trust are a dangerous combination. He left her and the room suddenly seemed too bright as though the impending conversation was something that should be had at night, something too vulnerable and delicate to be held up under the blazing morning sun without danger of damage. He was back with their coffee and sitting beside her. She stood up suddenly and went to the windows, closing both the blinds and the curtains on all of them until the room was quite dim. She looked around slowly, appearing to measure the atmosphere before returning to her seat. She couldn't voice an explanation for her actions so she just smiled at his inquiring glance. With all the knowledge she carried in her head everyday, it was at this moment that her brain felt too full, the irony did not escape her. She sat back down and drew a deep breath, a little surprised by the sound of her own voice when she spoke.

"Okay Booth, it's your conversation so we can start whenever you're ready."

"I just want to make sure that we understand one another before we go any further. I don't want to wake up and find out I've lost my partner and our friendship…" it was harder than he thought it would be with her looking at him so intently. "It's just that I know I'm sure and have been for a long time but I'm not really sure where you are with everything. I think if this is going to work we have to both be equal and open and willing to take the risk together. This sounded much better when I went over it in my head." He offered her a small smile and noted that she was looking rather amused.

"You're nervous." She stated it in that simple way she had of just laying the truth at your feet. She was touched that he was nervous, he was always so confident when they were working that it was a pleasant surprise.

"Well, yes." He kept watching her. "I think we should be able to talk, even if the conversation is difficult, and sometimes Bones when you look at me I feel like I'm caught under your microscope." She quickly looked away and he realized she didn't understand. "Wait, look at me." He stopped until her gaze returned to his, "it's not a bad thing. Since the first time you really looked at me I was, well disarmed by it. You have the most beautiful eyes…" She was blushing but kept looking at him. "Back to my question, what happened that brought you to this decision?"

She was sorting through her thoughts but kept getting tripped up by the fact he said she had beautiful eyes and really meant it. Her heart kept fluttering, she wanted to just be open with him but it was not easy for her even though she wanted to, finding a beginning was daunting. She sighed heavily.

"It's not a criminal interrogation Bones, it's just us, just the two of us." He was grinning broadly, he could actually see her mind working.

"It wasn't any one thing you did, I knew when you came to Arizona and to New Orleans that you were somehow more than my partner but I wasn't ready to deal with that yet so I buried it and kept working. All the things you did for me, they didn't escape my attention. I thought I could keep you at a safe distance, actually I became quite efficient at it for a while. Then my refrigerator exploded and for those few moments I thought I had lost you." She was toying with her fingers and he couldn't help himself, he reached over and gently took one of her hands into his. "It hurt, the thought that you might suddenly just be gone from my life, but it was the pain that made me realize the truth. It didn't matter that I hadn't gone out with you, it didn't matter that we had never kissed, none of the things I had so carefully avoided between us mattered because even without them I still felt all this pain at the thought of losing you. I hadn't protected myself from anything. I thought about my parents and asked myself one question, if I could take away the pain of losing them but had to trade every happy memory to do so, would I?" She paused, taking a deep unsteady breath. "The answer was simple, no. That told me I was willing to take a risk, to have happy memories again even though I could end up getting hurt. So, I dated David to test my theory, sort of a control group of one, when there were no sparks despite all the things we had in common I knew that I had to give us a chance. In the end it was all pretty logical. So my dream didn't really surprise me." She had gone into science mode at some point and was chatting away, explaining her experience, theory and conclusion as though it was a case.

"Ah yes, the dream, you mean the one where you were baking in the desert and when I kissed you we ended up in the plush backyard of the only place you remember calling home. You mean that dream?" He was smiling softly. He was surprised at how much she had revealed to him, not only in the story itself but in the trust that came with it's telling.

"That's the only dream I've told you about." She was still in science mode, looking at him with genuine confusion.

"I was making a point Bones." She was going to say she didn't understand when he kissed her, a tentative kiss, his lips brushing lightly across hers and then dipping against her for a taste. She hesitated for just a second before leaning into him, drawing him back against her, touching her tongue to his lips and moving deeper when he opened them to her. Her tongue moved through his mouth slowly, languidly exploring. The fire between them crackled back to life, threatening to consume him when she moved away from him. "That was my point, where does that feeling factor into your equation?"

She was blushing and shaking her head gently. "That was the x factor, something that I couldn't have predetermined. I won't deny that there is a certain chemistry between us that I have been aware of for a long time but good friends are rare and like you I wasn't sure we should risk the friendship and then what would happen to our work relationship if it didn't work out? It still makes me nervous and I still want to take this slowly."

"When Bones, when did you first realize you were attracted to me, when did you first feel that chemistry?" He wasn't even sure why he wanted to know but he was compelled to ask.

"Why do you want to know that?" She had a mischievous smile.

"I want to know more about you, there are many things I want to know, this one just feels like it gives us a beginning." He had a look, as though he was asking her for something of great value to him. Temperance had to think back, back to the beginning, she already knew the answer but she sat for a moment remembering the day.

"Cleo Eller, we were arguing over whether or not to confront Senator Bethlehem. You didn't think we had enough evidence and there were still other suspects you wanted to talk to first. I was sure it was him and I just wanted to question him. That day, when we were fighting I remember feeling it, physically." She felt somehow exposed relaying the story to him. She was aware of him holding her hand, gently tracing her fingers as she spoke, it made the hair on her arms stand up.

He could tell she was uncomfortable, even if she wanted this it had been foolish of him to think that motivation alone could change years of behavior. Their first case, during their first fight, he was grinning from ear to ear. He couldn't help himself; she had felt it from the very beginning.

"Hey, what's your favorite flavor of ice cream?" She looked at him, confused. "I said there were many things I wanted to know about you, so I'm just asking some investigative questions."

His voice had become playful, teasing and it took her a moment to catch up to his shift in gears. He was trying to lighten up the conversation; she felt the relief wash over her, grateful for the break. He had such a good sense of her mood, he always knew when she was nervous, afraid or confused, sometimes before she realized it herself. It was both maddening and comforting.

"Mint chocolate chip, it always made me feel better. What's yours?"

"Moose tracks, you just can't beat chocolate and peanut butter cups in ice cream. What was your favorite pastime as a child?" he spoke quickly, picking up the pace.

Without missing a beat she answered, "reading, I was an insatiable reader. What was yours?"

"I can picture you, a young Bones, curled up with a book on the back porch, enjoying the heat of the summer. I was active so I liked anything that was outside, tag, war games and football but my favorite pastime was building models with my dad. We did airplanes, ships, cars, it didn't matter, the more intricate the better. During those times it was just the two of us and he would talk to me, tell me stories from his own childhood and just talk. It was my time with him and it always made me feel special somehow."

She could see him too, a young Booth, looking up at his father, his dark eyes filled with the type of admiration only a child can maintain, listening intently. The image made her smile. "What's your favorite color?" She could play this game, there were things she would like to know about him but had never asked.

He paused, "for a long time it was a dark blue, the color of my first car, but that's not it any more. Now there is only one color I am attracted to, the blue of your eyes, I can't imagine ever getting tired of looking into them, even when you're fighting with me." He was looking at her, completely serious in his answer.

"Booth I had no idea you were such a romantic, that inside that tough FBI alpha male exterior you were such a softy." She was taken aback by his admission, she had seen a gentleness in him on more than one occasion but hadn't expected him to have such a sensitive side.

"Bones, men can be romantic and even sensitive but most don't like being referred to as soft." He was chuckling as he spoke.

It took her a moment to catch on but he watched her face dawn in realization and then blush deeply. "Well I don't really have a point of reference to debate whether the term applies to you or not, at least not yet." There was a twinkle in her eye as she spoke to him and he felt his body stirring again, the need in him coiled and waiting.

"We could resolve this right now if you would like to but I thought you wanted to take things slowly." He had a wicked grin and had leaned a little closer to her, now running his touch up the soft side of her arm sending a tingling sensation racing through her. He moved his other hand to her neck, tracing a line down her throat, over her breast bone and into her cleavage where he stopped at the edge of her shirt.

His touch was leaving a trail of sparks against her skin, she drew in her breath and suppressed a moan, feeling her breasts tighten as his finger stopped between them. His favorite color is the color of her eyes, how do you keep from falling in love with a man like this? At the thought that she could fall in love with him, she hesitated, that was not something she was ready to fully admit to yet. "Aren't we supposed to be planning what we are going to do the rest of the day, where we are going to go on our first official date?" Deciding two could play at this dangerous game, she reached over while she was speaking and placed a hand on his chest, smoothing it across the muscles under his thin t-shirt she scissored her fingers closed over his nipple, tugging it gently as her hand moved down across his abdomen. She traced the waistband of his jeans before fluttering her fingers over his erection, hearing his gasp she then rested her hand gently on his thigh. When she looked up there was nothing but desire etched on his face.

"Temperance, if you continue to touch me like that there will be no going slow and our first date will begin and end right here on this sofa." His voice was low, weighted with lust and tight with restraint.

The sound of her first name from him felt like a caress and the images implied in his statement caused a liquid warmth to spread across her chest. She was enjoying the immediate effect her touch had on him, excited by the obvious evidence that their arousal was mutual. She was tempted to keep touching him, to watch his body respond to hers, it felt oddly powerful and she enjoyed that aspect of it. She smiled, "okay let's talk about our plans for the day." She placed her hand safely back into his and gave it a squeeze. Normally on a Saturday there was a long list of things she wished she had time to do; research for her book, writing, cataloging at the Jeffersonian, shopping at the local bookstore, rearranging or cleaning part of her condo, a long workout and a hot bath were just the beginning of the usual list but at the moment there was nothing she wanted to do more than touch him. The realization startled her, sending a small quake of panic to her brain. She should suggest something; get them out into the public so temptation would be set aside for a while. "Why don't we pack a nice picnic lunch and go to the park, then we can continue playing this question game and keep getting to know each other."

"That's a great idea, I even know of a great place to go, pack your swimsuit, there's a spot to cool off if we decide to and some hiking trails if we get restless, by the time we pack up and drive out it'll be lunch time. Bones do you own a cooler?" He was getting excited, that youthful enthusiasm that she loved so much came bubbling to the surface.

"Yes, actually I do so let's head to the kitchen and see what we can pull together, although judging from breakfast I have a feeling you are much better at that than I." She got up from the sofa, reluctant to move away from him but looking forward to spending the day together, not working, on a date.

He rose and followed her to the kitchen, smiling and rubbing his hands together, a date with Bones, he had waited so long for this day to come he could hardly believe it was here. Now, to get ready.