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Disclaimer: I don't own any characters or song lyrics here. But the characters and the non-couple romance both inspire and frustrate me!

This is a new story but a continuation of the same tale. If you'd like to read the entire story you should start with "Merry Christmas, Bones" for chapters 1-7. In between chapters 7 and 8 there is an 'M' rated story "Merry Christmas, Booth", but either can be read alone and still make sense. "Happy New Year, Temperance" picks up after Chapter 8.

Still fairly fluffy but not entirely so! More to come.

Clothing trailed from the doorway back to his bedroom. They had been impatient and hurried, as if their new confessions were too much for them. In the dark, the words simply became part of their dance, part of their melding.

Seeley curled around Temperance and while stroking her arm considered their earlier confessions. He wasn't quite done with her yet.

"You still didn't answer me earlier. When did you know?"

If looks could kill she'd have daggered him at that moment. She wasn't at all comfortable discussing her emotions. "It's not a matter of knowing, it's a matter of allowing it to live more than a moment at the front of my thoughts. I told you that I'm really good at pushing aside anything...inconvenient. Harboring unrequited thoughts of you was highly inconvenient. What made me face it was being buried alive. It's very cliche but no less true. Facing certain death makes you face all your emotions and especially your fears. I was afraid to love you, Seeley. I was afraid you'd never love me back."

Temperance turned and looked at him for a moment then climbed out of bed. He heard her fumbling in the living room for her purse. She returned with it and pulled out a single piece of paper, covered on both sides in her familiar writing. With trembling hands she reached out to hand him the paper. A single tear slipping down her cheek was the only reminder of the terror she had faced. "I wrote you this, while we were down there. I kept it close, and after you rescued us I couldn't bear to throw it away but neither could I bear to show it to you. It was a reminder of the truth without letting the truth control me. I had expressed it on paper, again, and that's where it stayed until Caroline got puckish, " she said with a laugh and stuck out her tongue.

He turned to the note and silently read it while stroking her hand. "I'm glad you didn't throw it away. I would 'what-if' and wonder what would have happened if you'd shown it to me then but I won't. I think it would have been wrong for us to grow together strictly out of near disaster." He kissed her and quickly covered her with the length of his body. Playfully pinning her down he rained down kiss on her face. She grabbed his lower lip on a pass and quickly turned the kiss more passionate but they were interrupted by a ringing phone. He dropped his head to her shoulder for a moment and sighed before giving her a quick kiss and bounding off in search of his cell phone. She could hear his exasperation in the other room but could make out few words.

Temperance headed to the kitchen in search of a drink and met him headlong coming down the hallway. He did not look at all happy. There was a dead body. Wryly wishing it had stayed hidden for just 2 more days he informed her of the news and started picking up their clothing.

"I can't wear that out to a crime scene," she said with a sigh, wrinkling her nose at the emerald green satin dress she'd donned for their date.

"We'll swing by your place," he said as he put on his suit for the second time that day. "They think I need to pick you up anyway."

"They found a body at a park in Maryland. It's a bit meaty so Cam will be there, but Angela won't. You have a couple more days before she figures you out." He didn't seem all to disturbed by the prospect. In fact he seemed happy at the thought of the others, at least some of them, knowing. It was probably more Alpha Male and the idea of showing off his sexual conquest to the pack. She rolled her eyes at him.

"What? What did I do?"

"I think you want them to know. I think you want to be able to say that I'm yours. It's a primal desire for a man, especially and Alpha Male, to claim ownership over his conquest."

"Now wait a minute," he tried to interrupt her but she was on a roll. He counted silently while she continued to espouse the anthropological reasons why that was understandable but thoroughly objectionable. He wanted to point out how little she'd heard about Tessa and Cam when he was dating them but he really didn't want to talk about his ex girlfriends with her. He decided to focus on the two of them instead for the moment.

"Hey! Hold on a minute. I'm actually very worried about what will happen when this gets out. I don't think Cam or the squints will spread it or cause any trouble because of it. Cam, me and her have our history, but we've both moved on. She'll be happy for me. They will all be happy for us, Temperance. You know they've been sitting on their hands waiting on us to get together for a long time. You can't tell me that Angela hasn't bugged you about it countless times and I've seen Cam look between us and I know what she thinks. I don't worry about them knowing. I do worry about my bosses finding out though and keeping it from the squint squad as long as possible helps keep it hidden from the FBI too. My bosses will almost certainly split up our partnership when they find out." He paused to see if she would interrupt before continuing.

"I know Angela will find out within the first 1/2 hour she can get you alone. Hell, she will probably know just by looking at you. You look like a well kissed woman and dammit when we get this initial site work for this case settled I plan to hold you in the bedroom until Monday morning and keep it up! But hopefully you can keep it 'between you girls' as long as possible, okay?"

"If I wanted to show anything off it would be your love, not any conquest. It makes me very happy that you want me like I want you but it makes me happier that you would chose me and love me. And hey, babe, I think you're the one who did the conquering. Who had the line here? Huh? I'm going to claim you pushed me over it!" Winking, he gave her a bright smile and a very thorough kiss.

She didn't say it but her stunned 'I don't know what that means' looked was still on her face. He knew they would surely revisit this later. She wasn't an easy woman by any means and he loved that about her. The stunned look faded a bit as she considered him and she gave him her own thorough kiss before switching briskly into work mode.

"Lets go, Booth! I need to get changed, need to make sure I have all my stuff..." her voice trailed down the hallway, ticking off her list, as she headed to his SUV.