BIG thank-you to my beautiful beta Naomi. I nearly made her cry in this chapter, so I achieved one thing I suppose.

Fingers and Toes

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oOo

Booth had told Max not to expect them back until Monday afternoon. With the full day to themselves on Sunday, in the morning Booth took Brennan for a hike up one of the nearby mountains, they talked…got some more things out in the open and then they laughed, like any other couple. In the afternoon, they spent some time to themselves, Brennan spent time up in her room or out on the deck reading, while Booth took a fishing line down to the lake, hoping to catch a fish or two; in the end the only thing he caught were some reeds and an old shoe. They spent that night relaxing under the stars in the Jacuzzi, sipping on another of Booth's non-alcoholic cocktail mixture. At 11:30pm, they went their separate ways and into their separate bedrooms, for a night of shut eye.

Feeling the need for a shower, Brennan entered the bathroom and stepped into the enclosure when she felt the heavy steaming air hit her face. The hot water pelted her body, relieving the tension from her muscles which had accumulated from getting out from the Jacuzzi and climbing the stairs to the bathroom. When she stepped from the shower, she toweled herself dry and wrapped her body in her short baby pink silk dressing gown, leaving her body completely naked underneath. Depositing her two piece black bikini - although not one of her sexier swimwear garments, she still had to thank Booth for packing it - in the laundry basket in the corner of the bathroom, Brennan padded her way back towards her bedroom.

Sighing she was just about to open her bedroom door, when a thought washed through her mind. Pushing herself from the door, she lightly padded down to Booth's bedroom door. She first suctioned her ear to the door listening to the inside noises, she heard none, except for his breathing. By the pattern of his regulated breaths though, Brennan could tell he wasn't fully asleep. Gaining a little confidence from that, she slowly pulled the door open, listening to the creak of the hinges, which were in desperate need for an oil, not only on this door but many of the openings, Brennan stepped foot into Booth's bedroom. The night's sky, bought a stream of moonlight through the window and she could see him laid up on his side facing the window, his chest bare as the blankets tucked around his midriff.

Unsure on how to proceed, Brennan slipped slowly across the floor until she somehow managed to climb into the bed with him, her fingers running delicately across his clavicle, as she watched him sleep. He looked peaceful…innocent. Booth mumbled and groaned in his light sleep, but fell into her touch; his arm outstretching to drape around her waist and pull her-

"Bones," Booth's eyes popped wide open, slightly dazed and confused, but still on full alert.

"Make love to me," Leaning in Brennan peppered a kiss to his heart. Leaving nothing to the imagination, Brennan ran a finger down the side of his waist, stopping at the band of his boxers before running her finger back up the trail it came.

Booth left his hand suspended on her waist, but internally cursed for not having known she'd entered the room earlier. Sighing he dropped his head down on the pillow, his breath becoming shallow. Brennan could clearly see in the sliver of moonlight that he was deep in thought - arguing between his head and his heart and, honestly, another rather vocal part of his anatomy.

"I'm not going to fuck you Temperance."

"I'm not asking you to Booth. I'm asking you to make nice, slow love to me." Her bottom lip quivered as she spoke, her eyes full of caution. She could feel a tightening in her chest, Booth would say it was her heart swelling in anticipation, but she knew from a scientific view it was impossible, the only probable conclusion would be heart burn. But at that instant in time, she felt as if Booth was right – her heart was swelling.

Reaching across, Booth help guide a piece of hair away from her face, tucking it gently behind her ear as he leant forward and kissed her forehead chastely, "I'm not going to do that either."

"Why?"

"Two reasons. One, I don't have a condom and two…" Booth metaphorically kicked himself as he spoke the next words, "We're both not ready for it."

Brennan let his words stew over in her mind, before she nodded softly against the pillow and pushed against his chest to roll from the bed. "Okay."

Straightening out her robe, Brennan weakly smiled in the moonlight, before gently walking back the way she came, opening and closing the door with a subtle creak.

Rolling onto his back, Booth groaned internally as he hand balled into a fist and hit one of the springs in the mattress. You idiot Seeley! You had the perfect chance to show your true feelings, allow her to finally feel…allow you to finally feel...

Heaving a groan, Booth pulled the covers from his body and wrenched himself from the bed, tumbling towards where his bag was dumped on the other side of the room. With the moon giving the only light to the room, Booth scrambled around in his bag looking for his wallet. Finding it in one of his jeans pockets, he opened the leather, unzipped the small pouch and let the condom packet grip through his fingertips. Grinding his back teeth, Booth sighed and stood. Glancing towards the door, a faint smile washed across his lips as he reached for the door handle and pulled it open.

o0o

Once she'd left Booth's bedroom, Brennan managed to struggle into a singlet and pair of boy shorts before climbing into bed, bringing the covers up around her breasts. By the shadow of the moon which crept through her window, she knew it was after midnight, nearly one o'clock if she had to guess. If only she felt the need to sleep she would. Exhaustion was the last thing her body felt. Tiredness - yes, but not enough to will her to sleep. Not even a warm glass of milk or peppermint tea would help.

Her eyes had just managed to flutter closed, when she heard the door of her bedroom creak open and the soft steps of Booth padding across the floorboards. She remained still under the blankets, her eyes remaining closed, her breath becoming shallow as she felt a cool breeze drift under the enclosed covers as Booth lifted them and tucked himself in next to her. Brennan could feel the pad of his fingertips graze over her clavicle as she tensed under his feather-like touch. She also felt him pepper a kiss to the bare ball and socket joint of her shoulder, where she relaxed again into his soft touch.

Rolling onto her side, Brennan reached across and ran a finger along Booth's jaw line, his features causing a silver shadow to drop across his face, as the moon enlightened the small smile which caressed his lips.

"I'm sorry if I put you in a difficult situation before," Brennan was the first to speak as her fingers continued to roam over Booth's definite features - his masculine jaw line, his rigid brow and high cheekbones.

"No." His words were marred as she rubbed a thumb tenderly over his lips. Booth could see the innocence in her eyes and the faint smile which traced over her lips. One of his hands rested on the hollow of her waist, his thumb grazing over a patch of bare ivory skin, where her singlet had rode up her curves. His other hand rubbed against the unopened condom satchel.

Sighing, Booth leant his head forward and dropped a tender kiss to her lips. Sliding his hand from her waist down to her free hand which was pressed on his chest, Booth opened her delicate fingers and bought his other hand over, bringing them together and slipping the condom into her palm, closing her fingers around it before pulling his hands away.

"What's this?" Brennan enquired bringing her palm into the moonlight and uncurling her fingers.

"A promise."

"Booth, you don't-"

"No, I do. This is a promise that in time, I will make love to you. I don't know when that time will be and I don't know if it's going to be a mistake, what I do know is that I love you. I'll never stop loving you, and for now, this is my promise to you." Brennan nodded solemnly as Booth ran a calloused pad across her cheek, his fingers tangling through her hair.

"We'll take things slow. We'll spend some time as a family, but at night we'll talk. On Friday night, I'm going to take you out to dinner, we'll dance, I'll kiss you goodnight and then we'll go to our separate bedrooms."

"Are you going to move out?" Her voice sounded afraid and anxious. Booth could sense what her voice was ultimately telling him, so he dropped another kiss to her soft lips.

"Yes. If you want to make this work for the both of us, I need to. It won't be far, but we need our space; I'm going to start looking as soon as we get back to DC." Pressing a kiss to her forehead, Booth brought Brennan in close to his chest, his arms encircling her slim frame to keep her warm.

"I want this Booth; I want us." Her final words were comfort to both their ears as they finally let their eyes slip shut. Brennan held the condom packet in her fingers; Booth held Brennan in his arms; and ultimately, both held hope in their hearts.