Chapter 15
Hotch pulled Kahlan back out to the balcony and put his arms around her waist. "I guess now all we have to do is wait."
Kahlan tensed in his hands and he looked at her questioningly. Her look told him not to ask and she turned them around as she laughed lightly. "I'm thirsty," she told him and then grabbed his hand and pulled him back inside. He followed without comment and she led him back to the room with the buffet. "Have a seat. I'll get it this time," she told him with a smile and left him to sit down alone.
He watched her closely. What the hell, Babe? He sighed and relaxed as she only went to the buffet and grabbed them two bottles of water. She made her way back to him and he saw her tense again. She handed him the bottle and then leaned down to give him a kiss. "I need to check something, I'll be back," she told him quietly and then stood up.
His look told her to be careful and she winked at him.
"What's wrong?" Emily asked him in his ear.
He opened the bottle and held it up in front of his mouth. "Don't know," he said quietly and then took a drink. "Watch her," he quickly added and feigned a cough.
"Yep," Emily assured him.
After several minutes, he was starting to get worried. After several more, he wanted to get up and go in search of her. Instead, he took out his phone and then held it up to his ear. "Where is she and what is she doing?" he asked.
Emily laughed. "That's a great cover, Hotch."
"Yeah," he laughed to let anyone watching think he was having a good conversation. "Just tell me, please."
"Oh, sorry. Of course. She's walking through one of the rooms. I'm not sure what she's doing. Do you want me to ask her or tell her you're worried?"
He took a deep breath. "No. As long as she's alright."
"She looks like she's hunting," Clyde told him.
Hotch licked his lips and sat up straighter. "Is there something I need to know?"
"What do you mean?" Clyde asked quickly as he shot Emily a look.
"Has someone she knows shown up or something? You all have been keeping an eye on the other guests, right?"
Emily tensed. "Why do you ask that?" She shot a look to Clyde. They hadn't thought about anyone else, just their five unsubs.
Hotch shook his head. "Really, Emily? She has seen more people that she knows in the short time we have been here than she has in all the years I've known her." He stood up. "Which way?"
"You think she might have seen someone she knows?" Clyde asked. "Surely any of her friends would be smart enough not to blow your cover."
"Which way?" Hotch demanded again as he moved toward the door.
"To the left and then through the long room and then to the right," Emily told him quickly.
"It's not friends I'm worried about," Hotch told them as he put his phone away and went through the rooms in search of his wife.
"Bloody hell! You think she might have seen an old enemy?"
Hotch hurried his pace a little as his imagination started to run away from him.
"Slow down, Hotch. You don't want to draw attention to yourself," Emily told him.
Hotch forced himself to take a deep breath and slowed down.
"To your right," Emily told him as soon as he made it through another doorway.
"There's no one around her. She is physically fine," Clyde assured him.
"Right around the next corner," Emily told him.
He put a smile on his face before he turned the corner and relief washed over him when he saw that she was truly alright. She gave him a puzzled look. He went up to her. "There you are. I was starting to think you had ditched me for someone else," he joked.
She appraised him and then gave him a sad smile as she pulled him into a hug. With the way he latched onto her she could tell he had been worried. "Oh, Hun." She felt him take a deep breath as he still held her. "I'm sorry," she told him once he pulled away.
He looked at her sheepishly. "You were gone too long."
She put her hand in his and leaned in close as they started through the room together. "I thought I saw something and wanted to check it out."
Hotch nodded. "Anything I need to be worried about?"
She smiled. "Of course not," she started as she tapped him on the chest. "But I didn't want to look suspicious, so I decided to take the long way back around. I didn't mean to scare you."
Hotch studied her and knew there was more to it than that, but he could tell she didn't want to discuss it with others listening so he let it drop. "How about one more dance and we get the hell out of here?"
She smiled. "And we need to go to a hotel alone. We wouldn't want anyone to see anything."
Emily looked at Clyde and they both knew she was talking about them. Emily keyed the mic. "We already have a suit booked for you. The limo will know where to take you and your stuff is already there."
"We can meet in the morning," Hotch told her as he led Kahlan to the dance floor.
"I'll be morning room service," Emily told them.
Kahlan laughed. "The place better be nice. We left a five star suit to do this."
"It will be reflective of the status you are trying to pull off," Clyde assured them.
Hotch laughed. You just don't know, do you? She isn't trying to pull off being rich; she is. He stopped at the edge of the dance floor and kissed her on the cheek. "I'll be right back," he told her and then went to the DJ.
Kahlan laughed as she watched him and out of her peripheral view she saw one of the men she had suspected of watching Hotch. Her jaunt through the rooms proved to her that they had been watching Hotch, and not her. The hairs on the back of neck stood up. Why is he watching you, Aaron? That man is a killer. She took a deep breath and loosened the decorative brace on her right arm. She needed to be able to get into it in a hurry if the situation changed rapidly.
Hotch came back with a smile on his face. "I hope you wanted one more slow song," he told her as he moved in behind her and put his head on her shoulder.
She smiled and turned in his arms, put her arms around his neck, and turned them some more. She wanted to keep the man in her side view and her husband's back out of the man's view. "It's not going to be the Beatles, is it?" she joked.
He laughed. "No, but you dedicated one to me, so I had to do one for you." He studied her and the smile left him. His look asked her what was wrong, but she shook her head slightly to let him know she wasn't going to say anything. He took a deep breath and tried to take a look around them to see if he could see what had her so on edge, but she pulled him into a kiss to stop him. He accepted her direction with a sigh and then smiled again as the song drew to an end.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the floor. He found a spot, turned to her, and pulled her close as Tim McGraws' 'My Best Friend' started. "My song to you," he told her quietly. "Listen to the words because they are completely true."
As he moved them around, her head rested on his chest. After several lines, she teared up. "Ohhh, Hun."
"Shhh, just listen."
After the first chorus, she finally smiled and held onto him tighter as he ran a hand down the side of her face and wiped a stray tear away. "Every line fits me perfectly," he told her softly.
After the next set of lines, her bottom lip was quivering slightly as more tears escaped. He held her out a little to get a better look at her face because he could feel her starting to tremble. "Babe?"
She smiled up at him. "You're my best friend, too, Hun," she told him tenderly.
He reached up and wiped her tears away with his thumbs. "I found this song forever ago, but I wanted to wait until the perfect time to play it for you. I know you've probably heard it a thousand times, but. . ."
"The lyrics mean a whole lot more knowing they are coming from you."
His dimples showed with his cheesy grin. "So you like it?"
She shook her head and then snuggled back up against him. "No, Aaron, I love it."
He put his arms around her and couldn't get the grin off his face as he felt her sigh contently against him. His smile never left him as he led her around the floor for the rest of the song.
Once it was over, he took her hand. "Let's get out of here."
She noticed the man walk out of the room by one door and another come in through another. "Yeah. Let's get out of here."
He nodded and headed for the door. They stopped, got their coats, and signaled for their limo. As soon as it pulled up, Hotch held her hand as she got in and he stepped to get in when he saw Cody on the steps. Hotch paused for a second as he looked at him. Cody nodded and then Hotch got in without another glance.
He scooted closer to Kahlan and she put a finger to his lips to let him know she didn't think it was safe for them to talk. He looked at her questioningly and then smiled a devious grin. "The night's still young. You're not too tired are you?"
She giggled. "I'm sure we can find something to do to pass the time away."
"You all do know we can still hear you, right?" came Emily's voice in their ears.
"Not for long," Kahlan said aloud and winked at her husband.
"I was talking about playing cards." He laughed and sat back to relax with her hand in his.
The limo pulled up to the Landmark London Hotel. The driver got out and opened their door. "The Presidential Suit is yours and all of your things have already been taken up," he told them as he handed Hotch the keycard.
"Thank you," Hotch told him and led Kahlan inside. They made their way to the suit and Hotch unlocked the door.
"Well, it's not the castle, but it'll do," Kahlan said dryly but winked at Hotch to let him know she was only saying it for Clyde. She went to her bag and dug out a little black box. He looked at her questioningly, and she smiled deviously as she stepped up to him and took the earwig out of his ear and dropped it in the box. He laughed as soon as he realized that it was the box they had used in the warehouse to silence to the bugged pen they had discovered. He took off the cameras and mics and put them in the box, too.
"What are you two doing?" Clyde asked quickly once he realized they were messing with his equipment.
"Nothing," Kahlan said innocently as she removed her spy gadgets.
"We need to talk," Clyde tried but Kahlan had removed her earwig and put it in the box, too. "Kay! Agent Hotchner!" Clyde tried again. When he didn't get a response, Emily laughed.
"I think they want to be alone," she told him as she continued to laugh.
Clyde looked at the tech. "Switch over to the other signal, and let's get out of here," he told her and the driver.
Once Hotch and Kahlan had silenced the gadgets, she put that box on the table and took out another object out of her bag that Hotch had never seen. He watched as she turned the object on and started scanning the room. She got a disgusted look on her face and went to the table in the dining room and pulled a bug out of the flower arrangement.
Hotch's face showed his anger. "You mean. . ."
Kahlan silenced him with a finger and checked out the rest of the suit. Once she was done, she had found a bug in every room. She opened the little black box and dumped them in. As soon as the lights on the top of the box turned green she shook her head in disgust.
A horrible, high pitched, static, filled the van and every person in it covered their ears quickly as the tech reached up and silenced it. "I swear to God!" Clyde exclaimed.
Emily laughed some more. "You really thought you were going to get away with that?" she asked him incredulously.
"I didn't think she'd have that kind of equipment with her," he told her sheepishly.
"You better hope you didn't piss them off enough to want to back out."
He shook his head. "They wouldn't back out." He thought about it and winced. "She might hit me, though."
Emily laughed. "You'll be lucky if Hotch doesn't hit you."
He huffed. "That would be a welcome thing compared to what Kay can do," he told her dryly.
She snorted. "I just hope they believe me when I tell them I had nothing to do with that."
XXXXX
"Are we truly alone, now?" Hotch asked as she put the little box back in her bag.
"Yep, and I'm going to kill him!" she told him as he pulled her to him.
He laughed. "He probably wanted to keep an eye on us."
"There was one on the bedroom and in the bathroom, too."
He stepped back from her. "I'm going to kill him," he told her as his hands balled into fists.
She laughed at him and turned and picked up her hair. "Unzip me."
He took a deep breath to calm himself down and reached up and pulled her dress's zipper down slowly. He leaned down and started a trail of kisses as the zipper opened and exposed her skin. She whined in pleasure as he kissed all the way down her back and then slipped the dress off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor. That's when he saw a holster strapped to her right thigh and a knife sheath strapped to her left. "Damn, Babe. Were you expecting a fight?"
She reached down and unstrapped them as she smirked at him. "Apparently no more than you, your pistol is on your ankle."
He chuckled and bent down to take it off. "Better to have and not need it. . ."
"Then need it and not have it," she finished with a smile for him using her dad's saying.
He chuckled as he took off his jacket and then started unbuttoning his vest. "So is this mine?"
She smiled. "Yep, and I hope you wear it to the next ball so everyone can see you in it."
"Only if you wear that dress again," he told her slyly knowing she was referring to the Bureau Ball.
"Grab the case for this," she told him as she took off the necklace he had given her.
He took the box out of his bag, opened it, and held it out so she could put the pieces back in it. "You really like them?"
She smiled. "Of course I do," she told him seriously as she took out the earrings and laid them in the box gently. "You weren't supposed to spend your money on me, though."
He huffed. "What else am I supposed to spend my pay on? You haven't let me pay any of the bills since we got married."
"You're supposed to spend it on yourself."
"I do," he defended himself.
She laughed. "What was the last thing you bought yourself, Aaron, those new running shoes almost a year ago?"
He shrugged. "They are getting a little worn out." She shook her head at him. "What? Every time I decide I need something, you buy it for me before I even have a chance."
"I can't help it. I love spoiling you."
He put his hands around her waist. "You spoil me and the kids more than you spoil yourself. I thought it was about time I tried to spoil you."
"Your love spoils me. You don't have to buy me anything," she insisted but knew it would do no good.
"As soon as I saw them, I thought of your eyes." He smiled. "I just had to have them for you."
She giggled. "And know I know why."
He put the box back safely in his bag and then pulled his tie off. He started unbuttoning his shirt and blushed a little when he realized she was staring at him. "What?"
"That blue really does look good on you. I'll have to find you a dress shirt like it so you can wear it to work."
He beamed. "I can hear the shit I'll get already."
She laughed as she picked up her dress and he grabbed a hanger and held it up as she hung the dress on it and then put the garment bag around it. He took off his vest and shirt and she took them and hung them on a hanger and then stuck her hand out for his pants. He moved his brows playfully as he started to unbutton and unzip them slowly.
She laughed. "You better watch it or I'll get some music for you to do that to."
He balked and then took them off quickly as she giggled. He handed them to her and she hung them up and then handed him all of the hangers and he put the garment bag around them and hung them in the closet next to her dress. He took a deep breath as he looked at her in her matching black, lace bra and panty set.
She took her hair down and noticed him staring. "What?"
The need to kiss her became too strong, so he glided over to her, put one hand behind her head, and the other at the small of her back and pulled her into a kiss full of the lust he was feeling.
She deepened the kiss and their tongues battled for dominance. She finally had to pull away when sparks in her closed eyes told her the need for oxygen was getting dangerously high. She breathed heavily trying to catch her breath as he continued to kiss her neck and shoulders as he moved them toward the bed.