Read my Lips

Chapter 12

Eliana woke up to the rumbling gurgle of her empty stomach. From the amount of light streaming in through her bedroom curtains, she knew it wasn't as early as it felt. But it was earlier than she would normally get up on a Sunday morning. Especially when she had nowhere she needed to be for almost the entirety of the day. Eliana hummed as she shifted her body closer to the man behind her. There was nothing normal about this morning, she thought. Normal wouldn't even begin to describe how it felt to wake up with Spencer's lanky body spooned in behind hers. Eliana was done trying to convince herself she was anything other than completely smitten with him. In her not so early morning after bliss, she allowed a flicker of hope to bloom inside her. Maybe this was the beginning of her real life happily ever after. And even if she knew for sure that the relationship was going to end badly, Eliana still wouldn't give up the time they spent together. Not for anything.

Spencer's arms were wrapped around her. And Eliana could feel the slow, even rise and fall of his chest against her back. He was still sleeping. She traced her fingers up and down the length of his arm, gently pulling his hand open so she could press a soft kiss to the center of his palm without waking him. His hand smelled like the peach body wash she added to their bath the night before. Thinking about the intimate moments they shared made the heat rise in her cheeks. Eliana tried not to move too much as she rolled her shoulders and stretched. When she arched her lower back, Eliana felt the hard press of his morning erection against the curve of her ass. In that moment, she could have sworn she'd died and gone to heaven. And she quickly decided that he'd already had more than enough sleep.

Eliana turned over, rolling Spencer onto his back. She hiked one leg up, hooking it over his thigh as she started to kiss up the line of his neck. He woke with a soft hum of pleasure. Wrapping one arm around her, Spencer lifted his other hand to rub the sleep from his eyes. Eliana hiked her leg up higher. She cupped his face with her hand, guiding his lips towards her. The moment their lips touched, her stomach let out another loud grumble of protest. And since her body was pressed flush against his, Spencer not only heard it, but felt it as well. He laughed against her lips as his stomach followed suit and let out an even louder growl. Eliana invited him over for dinner the night before. But they never made it out of her bedroom for anything to eat.

"Let's go out for breakfast," he suggested, a hint of amusement in his voice as he stroked his knuckles across her grumbling stomach. His feather light touch tickled her. And Eliana giggled as she jerked her midsection away from his roaming fingers.

"Pancakes?," she clarified. The only thing that sounded more tempting than staying in bed was something sweet. Eliana hadn't treated herself to an american style sugar laden breakfast since she got back from Morocco. Growing up, her dad was a workaholic. But he always made time for her on sundays. And they would start the day with a pancake breakfast. It was the only thing she really ever got homesick for.

"Anything you want," Spencer promised. He kissed the tip of her nose. And then her lips, pulling her body tighter against his when she immediately yielded to his kiss.

"I want pancakes. I want coffee…," Eliana said, flashing him a grin before she added, "...and then I want to take another ride on your warp core." Her smile widened as she watched the expressions flashing across Spencer's face. He looked like he was trying to stop himself from saying whatever it was that was about to spill out of his mouth.

"The warp core of the starship Enterprise is said to be three million degrees celsius. So if you actually rode one, you'd die instantly," he blurted. "It's powered by dilithium crystals."

Eliana buried her face in Spencer's chest, trying very unsuccessfully to stop her body from shaking with laughter. It wasn't just how he responded to her horribly corny pickup line, which was hilarious enough, but the fact that he looked like he wanted to kill himself for saying it. Sometimes those intrusive thoughts just escaped and there was nothing he could do to stop them.

"I guess we'll have to keep it on impulse," she teased, barely holding in her laughter long enough to get the words out. "...until you dock your shuttle."

Since she was already laughing, Spencer pinned her against him and tickled her sides until she kicked her feet and squealed for mercy. Eliana wriggled away from him. And she lay in bed giggling herself silly as he headed down the hall to rinse off in the shower.

Eliana was pulling on a well worn pair of jeans when Spencer's phone went off. It was ringing and vibrating, making the device rattle and shake against the top of her bedside table. She moved towards his phone, pausing before she picked it up. Eliana wasn't sure if he would mind her checking his phone for him. And if it was another woman calling, Eliana wasn't sure if she wanted to know. Her stomach dropped at the very idea.

Eliana's ex was possessive and secretive with his phone for reasons she didn't discover until it was too late. It was that memory that drove her to snatch up the device and turn it over so she could view the screen. She was a little too late, as the screen just showed a missed call. But the text that came in next, while it was from another woman, showed that the woman was clearly one that Spencer worked with. The text from Emily Prentiss simply read, we've got a case, wheels up in 30. Eliana breathed a sigh of relief, shaking her head at herself as she put Spencer's phone back where she found it.

By the time Spencer was freshly showered and walking down the stairs, Eliana already had a pot of coffee brewed. She poured half of it into a tumbler with some cream and sugar. Spencer gave her a look of surprise as she handed him the insulated mug. "Your phone was going off while you were in the shower," she admitted. "I thought you might want a coffee to go…"

"I would," he confirmed. Spencer glanced back and forth between her and the cup in his hand, his expression turning from surprise to one of longing. And that made her heart hurt for him. Making him a coffee took her almost no time and very little effort. She wondered if Spencer ever had someone in his life that did little things like that for him. From his reaction to it, Eliana didn't think so. "Thank you," he finally added, setting the cup down on the counter so he could wrap his arms around her. "I'm really sorry about breakfast. Can we have a do-over when I get back?"

"I'd like that," she said, hugging him back before she rose up onto her tiptoes to kiss his lips.

Eliana walked Spencer to her door, sliding the USB drive that had the playlist they were listening to in the bathtub into his pocket. He'd asked her for a copy of it the night before, but Eliana figured he could just copy it himself and give her the original back later. She wasn't the most tech savvy person. And her dad made her dozens of them in his never ending quest to expand her taste in music. She wouldn't miss that particular one if Spencer borrowed it for a while.

Eliana and Spencer shared one more kiss before he opened the door and darted out. "Happy hunting, Dr. Reid," Eliana called after him, smiling as she watched him hurry down the sidewalk to his car. She managed to keep it together until she got the door closed. But once Eliana was out of his sight, she dissolved into laughter. She knew she really should have told Spencer that the vulcan cosplay ear extenders she put on him the night before were still attached to his ears. But it was actually so much funnier that she didn't.