After we were both spent last night, Hotch decided we'd have a bath together. It was nice to be cared for after being dominated.
I found it hard to sleep. I was thinking about the sex and smiling to myself. I also considered it may not have been such a horrific thing for me to tell him I loved him; he seemed genuinely happy about it.

This morning I woke before him. I stayed laying on his chest for a while just listening to his heartbeat. I started to think about last night again, and it turned me on. I tried to settle myself down with no luck. Instead, I pressed kisses against his neck and my hand moved downwards. I heard his heartbeat change and then quicken when my hand wrapped around him. He was awake now. He didn't protest, he just let out a deep breath. I took that as a green light and began to move my hand around him.

Once he was ready, I moved to straddle him and sunk down slowly. I closed and eyes and sighed once fully seated. He sat up slowly and held me while he started to move his hips slowly. I took over the movements before long and he ran his hands up and down my spine, kissing my neck and collarbone. I pulled his hair gently to move his head back and kissed him passionately.

"That was a good balance," I whispered afterwards, now lying on his chest again, both of us regulating our breathing and relaxing, "Rough sex last night, making love this morning." I smiled against his neck when he hummed his agreement. "Are you happy?"

"Absolutely," He hugged me to his chest tighter and kissed my hair. I glanced at the clock on my nightstand and saw that we were going to be late if we didn't get up soon. Just as the thought came, Hotch's phone rang. He grabbed it and answered Jordan's call, "Hotchner."

I listened to his side of the call and deduced that we had a case and were being called in as early as possible. A few minutes after Hotch hung up, my phone rang. I spoke to Jordan and let her know I'd be there as soon as I could.
We got up and ready quickly. Thankfully Hotch had brought a go-bag here with him last night, as he assumed where the night would end up.

We drove separately, his car directly behind mine every time I looked back. Thank god we did, because we pulled up at the same time as Morgan, Reid, and Garcia. We all parked in the same area – the one left for our team despite there being no indication that it needed to be. Everyone working at the precinct had unspoken agreements of parking arrangements; that meant teams were usually grouped together.

We walked in with them quickly and when we got upstairs – a little past seven – Jordan was already in the round table room. She had case files laid out in front of every seat and we sat in our usual spots, greeting her.
Hotch poured out coffees. First, he poured an extra for me considering he knew I didn't get one before coming in, but then he realised that may look suspicious, so he began pouring more for everyone else too.
I smirked at him briefly when he sat beside me before we both turned out attention to our files.

Once Rossi arrived, Jordan began presenting the case in Atlanta. The way he disembowelled these women and then forced them to clean up the mess before killing them made me feel a little nauseous. It wasn't a very common method, really. Most unsubs just stabbed, sliced or shot their victims; It wasn't overly often we came across antemortem disembowelment.

The way Viper spoke to me while both Hotch and Morgan stood either side of me was shocking. Men didn't even approach me that often in bars when they were around; they were too intimidating. That was fine with me.
Viper was too sure of himself to care, apparently.

Later that day, I joined the team in the local police department as they discussed the bars that we would be casing.

"If we're going to study his style up close and personal…it's going to take someone he's already attracted too…" Reid smirked at me.
When Morgan looked at me with raised eyebrows, I groaned.

I glanced to Hotch for help, but he seemed to agree. I groaned again, "This is really gonna suck." I shook my head and looked back at Morgan and Reid, trying to show them how pissed I was that they even brought this up. Although I was sure Rossi had the same idea when he originally brought up Viper's class.

I accepted my role with reluctance and went to grab one of the SUV keys. If I was going into a bar, I was going to need to dress the part. I motioned for Jordan to come with me and we headed out. I drove to the centre part of town and found a carpark.
"What are we doing?" Jordan asked.

I looked at her, "I didn't bring anything suitable to wear into a bar," I considered the next part, "I've noticed you and Hotch have been a little tense around each other. So we'll both get something to wear, and I'll convince him to let you come with me tonight."

She smiled appreciatively, "Thank you."

"Don't worry about it," I stepped out and she joined me on the sidewalk, "He was terrible with me for quite a while when I first joined the team. It's not easy to earn his trust."

"How did you do it?"

I walked into the first store I saw; we didn't need anything too fancy. "Uh…There was an issue between Hotch and someone else, and I backed him up, so much so that I resigned. He asked me to come back, and he's trusted me ever since. Not as much as the guys, obviously; he's a little different with women than with men."

We visited two more stores before we found suitable dresses, and then we got back to the SUV and headed back for the station. We didn't have a whole lot of time to get ready, but it wasn't like we were trying too hard to look great. We all knew that the moment Viper saw me in there, he'd approach. He probably would have even if I wore my pantsuit.

Hotch spoke to me in the locker room. After I convinced him to let Jordan come with me, he stuck around for a few seconds in silence, just looking at me.
"Are you okay with this?" I asked him hesitantly. Right now, he was my boss and it felt too inappropriate to speak otherwise. No one was here except for us, so I figured I could make sure he was okay.

"No," He said immediately, "But I'm not your partner right now, I'm your unit chief, and I need to act like it."

I smiled, "I tell you what…when this case is over and you're not my boss for a night, I'll show you that I'm yours." I smirked now.

He seemed to fight off the words that wanted to leave his mouth. He took a breath and looked back at me, "Get dressed." He left the room quickly, and a few seconds later Jordan entered.

We got ready and headed out. I drove to the bar. I asked for a water with ice and a slice of lime. At least it would look like a gin and tonic. Jordan opted for the same. We spotted Viper with a few guys around him, and I could tell he was trying to teach them.
I saw an open table and told Jordan to hang out here, and to come over when she saw him getting pulled in.
I stood at the table and watched him; it didn't take him long to notice me.

It felt wrong to flirt with him, partly because he disgusted me, and partly because he wasn't Hotch.
When we decided we got what we could from him, I shot Hotch a text and we left the bar. I drove straight to the hotel rather than the station. "Not the station?" Jordan asked.

"I need to shower…immediately."

"You really weren't okay with this, were you?"

"It's not entirely that. I know it will help us move the case along and I'll do just about anything for that," I tried not to think about Doyle as I said that, "It's just he made me feel disgusting, and I felt like I was cheating on the guy I'm seeing."

When we sat on the plane after wrapping up the case, Morgan was teasing Reid about Austin. The rest of us just smiled or laughed, but we didn't witness what seemed to be awkward on Reid's end, and not so much on hers.
Reid tried to get the attention off himself and instead asked me about what Viper did. Of course I had filled them in on what could help with the case when we returned to the station, but I didn't give them a play by play.

I cringed as he brought it up and just shook my head.

"He was getting rather close to her, almost like he was just going to go for it and kiss her before I went over," Jordan said, looking at me, "Considering it was only for the job and he repulses you as much as he does, I think you're safe to stop feeling like you cheated on your boyfriend."

I just stared at her with wide eyes.

"Your what now?" Morgan grinned, bumping me beside him.

She realised then that they didn't know anything about me dating anyone, "I'm sorry…I assumed they knew." I shook my head at her. "I'm sorry." She apologised again with a small, guilty smile.

I went home to my apartment and was on my second glass of wine when I heard a knock on the door. I checked the peep hole and opened the door for Hotch. I stepped out of the way for him to come in. I locked up behind him and followed him to the kitchen.
He grabbed a beer and looked at me, "I dropped by to see Jack before bed, and then I was thinking about what Jordan said on the plane. You didn't cheat on me." He looked at me with his usual serious, stoic expression.

I smiled weakly, "I know, but it still felt shitty." He took a few steps to me and kissed me soft but full. I felt him pull away and moved my hand to the back of his neck, pulling him back. I kissed him harder this time, and then he pulled away more forcefully. "Are you okay?" I asked, my hand falling down to his wrist.

He nodded, "Yeah, I'm just not up for sex tonight. I'm sorry, the bodies are just—"

I cut him off with a quick, gentle kiss, "It's okay. I don't expect you to be in the mood every single time we're together."

"Do you want me to go?" He looked me in the eyes.

Mine narrowed, "Why would I want that? Because you don't want to have sex? Aaron, I'm not with you for the sex. It's an added bonus, yes, but I'm with you for you," I pulled him to me again and hugged him tightly, "Just spending time with you and sleeping beside you is always enough."

We hugged for about thirty seconds; his arms were tight around me. I wasn't sure which one of us needed this contact more. Finally, he spoke, "I'm sorry for sending you out to see Viper. I should have noticed that you really weren't okay with it."

"We do what we need to do to close a case. I'm okay. A little creeped out, but okay. It's not the worst thing I've done for information." I didn't mean for the last part to slip out.

He raised his eyebrows as he looked at me, "What is the worst you've done for information?"

Panic began to set in and I tried to push it down. If he saw me panic, he'd know something was wrong. I shook my head, "Classified."

He seemed to let it go. He grabbed my hand and led me to the couch, sitting and pulling me down with him. He turned the TV on and handed me the remote to pick something. "Have you eaten?" He asked once I chose a movie and snuggled down in his arms. I just shook my head. "I'll order something. Chinese or pizza?"

"Chinese." I listened to him order the Chinese and then he settled back with me. "Thank you for coming over." I said quietly. He just kissed my hair and ran a hand up and down my arm in a soothing rhythm.