Air Con
A/N: Takes place after S3 E9 (Santa in the Slush) inspired by another important event that should really have been discussed got ignored … again. Contains scenes of a sexual nature.
Booth had the heat blasting the whole trip to Vermont and back to drop Parker with Rebecca after his running away stunt. The exterior thermometer on the SUV told him it was only 20 degrees outside and he braced himself to exit the vehicle and get into his (set to a constant, comfortable 65 degrees) apartment. When he opened his door, however, a cold blast of air was not the welcome that he was looking for.
His teeth chattering, he walked over to his HVAC control unit to discover that his air conditioner was on full blast, the cold air coupled with the freezing temperatures outside meant his home was like an ice box. With shivering, gloved hands, he tried to turn the air con off and get the heat up and running but no matter what he did it made no difference. He eventually turned it off completely and kicked at the side of his sofa in frustration. At 2am on Christmas morning, there's no way he'd be able to get his super to get it fixed.
Once he'd put on an additional pair of socks, sweats, sweatshirt and put his thick woollen coat back on, he took his coffee pot to the sink to fill it only to find the rattle of frozen pipes. Cold, tired and supremely pissed off, he judged this to be the second worst Christmas he ever had - it was only surpassed by the Christmas his Dad put his Mom in hospital and threatened both Seeley and Jared with a broken bottle of Four Roses. That was the last Christmas Seeley had with his Dad. Thank the Lord!
He contemplated going to a motel but the time of day and the day of the year made that a very tiresome option - he could be driving for miles trying to find a room, sleeping out in the SUV with the heat on would just run down the battery and fuel in his vehicle , so that wasn't a smart idea either. Collecting every blanket in his home, Booth swaddled himself as best he could and settled into his cold bed for what was sure to be an uncomfortable night.
#
Temperance Brennan checked her Rolex and nodded, she still had two hours before she had to be at the airport for her flight to Peru. Plenty of time to thank her partner for his contribution to making Christmas for her family. Acquiescing to the mistletoe kiss masterminded by Caroline Julian was an incredible act of altruism on his part but appearing at the prison with a twinkling Christmas tree was truly above and beyond.
She rapped excitedly on Booth's door, rubbing her hands together to stave off the freezing temperatures as she waited … and waited … and waited. Frowning, she banged harder and called out to him, eyeing the fake rock next to his door. She knew it was a hide-a-key but wasn't sure if he (a Federal Agent) would be silly enough to believe it was an adequate hiding place for access to his home.
After another round of banging went unanswered, she tried his cell phone. It was possible he'd chosen to stay at a motel rather than drive all the way back from Vermont in these temperatures. It went straight to voicemail, which worried her even more as Booth never turned off his phone and was as fastidious as her when it came to maintaining sufficient charge on his communication device.
Glancing at the fake rock, she bent and lifted it, opening the underside and rolling her eyes when the key fell onto the mat at her feet. Despite how unsafe it was to keep his key in such an obvious place, she was glad she had found it and let herself into the apartment and closed the door behind her. The chill of the air took her by surprise and her breath puffed out, visible as it condensed in the frigid atmosphere.
"Booth?" She called to him "Are you in here?"
She heard noises from his bedroom and headed down the hallway, she had no trepidation that she would be interrupting an intimate moment - not like when she turned up at his door and Tessa was wearing his shirt - the extremely low temperature in Booth's home simply wasn't conductive to any kind of sexual activity … unless Booth was a Chionophile who took temperature play into a different realm of extreme … and after his speech about some fetishes being crappy sex, she discounted it as a viable option. She called his name again as she opened the bedroom door and thought she heard a response from the pile of blankets on the bed. The pile moved and, slowly, Booth's eyes appeared through a gap in the bedding.
"Booth? Why is it so cold in here?"
The gap widened until Booth's whole face was visible, his skin was almost grey and his teeth chattered. "Air C-c-con … on a-all n-n-n-night … no wuh-wuh-water … n-n-no h-h-heat."
"Well that just won't do at all!" Brennan pursed her lips. "Get up, you're coming home with me until this gets fixed!"
She placed a hand on his cheek, his eyes closed as the little heat from her seeped into his skin. "Your internal body temperature will need to be increased, you're either in or very close to stage one hypothermia. I'll help you to my car."
Booth shook with cold while Brennan divested him of the layers he'd tried to protect himself with and let her guide him to her sensible Toyota. He shuddered the entire journey, making the car tremble in sympathy, despite Brennan having the heat set to 60 degrees and on full to try and raise his temperature gradually. Peru would have to wait, her partner was in need.
#
Booth sighed in relief as he settled into the warm bath Bones had drawn for him. She had ushered him into the bathroom with instructions to let a few inches of volume out and top up with hot water when he felt the temperature was cooling or when the timer went off. He knew it wouldn't be the bath water that was cooling as much as his perception of cold and warm as his body temperature normalised and he was tempted to just let all the water out and blast the hot until he was making monkey noises and his skin went red … but his cold weather training with the rangers told him Bones was dead on the money.
He had no idea why she'd come to his home that morning, but he was damn glad she did, the chances of him being able to leave his house under his own steam and get somewhere warm with were slim to none. Despite his shivering and chattering teeth, he'd struggled to stay awake long enough to thank her for getting him into her car. Taking deep breaths and trying to relax his tense muscles, he listened to her muffled voice from elsewhere in her apartment and closed his eyes. Just for a moment.
An alarm made him shoot up into a sitting position, he'd only meant to close his eyes; not fall asleep again! Booth let out a few inches worth of water and topped up the bath, watching the steam rise from the faucet as he reset the timer for another 20 minutes. He could feel the warmth of the water slowly swirling in the tub around him and moved his hands to aid the circulation back into his fingers and toes. The timer went two more times before he felt vaguely normal.
"Booth!" The door opened suddenly and Bones strutted in and sat herself on the closed toilet seat.
"Bones! I'm naked here!" Putting his hands over his junk and glaring at her.
"Why would you wear clothes in the bath?" Her brows drew together in confusion.
"You don't, that's the point!" He huffed "Did you need to tell me something?"
"Yes! I managed to find an emergency HVAC engineer to fix your heating but he won't be available until tomorrow, so you'll need to stay here tonight. Even without that inconvenience, I was going to insist you remain in my apartment so I can observe your recovery."
"Merry Christmas to me! I get to spend it with my second favourite person!" Booth grinned but then his expression changed and he sat up straighter. "Aren't you supposed to be on your way to Peru?"
Bones looked at her clasped hands and nodded "I was just dropping in to see you, to thank you for the tree, on my way to the airport."
Booth's heart clenched in affection "I'm glad you did Bones."
"Me too." Her soft agreement was almost a whisper.
"Will you still be able to go?" He laid back down so the water covered his shoulders, but still kept his hands protecting his modesty.
"To be honest, I've rescheduled twice now … the dig director is very disappointed but my presence was a favour to him. The amount of work I would be able to contribute in the vacation time I have left would not be to my usual standards. Rather than submit sub-standard or incomplete work, I would prefer to not be included in the project."
"So what will you do with your time off?"
"Look after you, of course!" Brennan blinked at him, as if her answer should have been obvious all along.
#
Booth came out of the bathroom wearing a robe she had bought for Russ when he stayed with her and followed the delicious aroma of whatever Bones was cooking "Smells awesome in here Bones!"
"I'm glad you think so!" She smiled warmly, "Vegetable chilli for lunch?"
"You didn't have to go to all this trouble." Booth sat at her dining table, holding the robe closed at his knees until he could tuck the edges between them so he didn't flash his partner.
"It's no trouble - I already had it prepared in my freezer. I always make sure to use the remainder of my fresh produce in recipes and freeze them before going on a dig to prevent food waste."
His ever rational partner's explanation made him smile fondly.
"While you were normalising your internal temperature I also went back to your apartment to procure clothing for you, the bag is in my spare room."
Overcome with how thoughtful and caring his partner was, Booth rose from his seat and gathered her into his arms. "You're amazing Bones … just … amazing!"
Brennan smiled into the soft fabric of the robe, feeling a sense of satisfaction that Booth appreciated her efforts to care for him. It wasn't something she was used to, caring for others on such a personal level, so she was relieved that her actions were welcomed.
#
Booth sat on the queen sized bed in Bones spare room and looked around, he'd been in her living room, at her dining table, in her kitchen and in her shower room but he was getting to see a lot more of her home today. Once he'd warmed up enough to focus on his surroundings, he'd realised that the bath he was in must be Bones bathroom, that meant he had to walk through her bedroom to get back to the spaces he already knew.
He wasn't a snoop, he respected Bones' privacy, but he couldn't help but take in the earthy tones of her sleeping quarters, the decorative statues and wall hangings that were possibly older than he could comprehend, the cabinet holding an alarm clock and a few books that indicated her side of the bed and how soft and warm her bedding looked.
The spare room wasn't as busy with artefacts but was homely, comforting, he stroked the bedding to confirm it's high quality and smiled as Bones called him through for lunch. His second worst Christmas ever was turning into a decent holiday after all.
#
After lunch, Booth went for a nap and Brennan took the opportunity to go and grab something not frozen from the Asian market which was the only place open on Christmas Day. It wouldn't be the type of Christmas dinner Booth was used to but it would be something. Rather than turkey, she would make him pork loin and rather than potatoes and green beans, she would stir fry carrots and snow peas with soybean sprouts and noodles. She hoped it would be acceptable, although she was fairly sure Booth would be thankful for anything she made him.
A flash of frustration came upon her, why on earth was she so focused on pleasing her partner? Although he'd had a very bad experience, his brush with hypothermia wasn't so severe that she had to cater to his every whim! Worrying about what to cook for him, wanting to ensure his comfort … she hadn't done those things for any other guests in her home, not for Russ, not even for Sully! But …
She did want to do those things for Booth. Brennan wondered if her comparison to kissing her brother during the mistletoe aftermath was even more inaccurate than she initially intended.
#
Booth woke and stretched, enjoying the feeling of his formerly tense muscles moving freely. Almost like deja vu, he left his bed and followed his nose towards the scents of food and the sounds of Bones working in the kitchen. He took in the candles on the dining table, the cloth napkins and the floral centrepiece.
"Bones? What's all this?" He leaned against the doorframe of her kitchen.
"Christmas dinner, of course! I was just about to come and wake you when I heard you moving around." She turned back to her stove and stirred something in a wok with her right hand while lifting the lid of a pot with her left and nodding at the contents.
"You didn't have to …" Booth quietened when Bones turned to glare at him. "This is awesome, but I feel kinda guilty … I mean, you've had to give up your dig to rescue me from my air con and now you're cooking all this great food and giving me a warm place to sleep … I just don't see how I can ever make this up to you!"
"You made Christmas with my family happen, Booth, and you even gave us a Christmas tree! I'd say we're even." She smiled brightly and shooed him out of the kitchen towards the table.
Once Brennan had placed Booth's plate in front of him, she lit the candles and settled across the table from him. Booth looked at the fresh meat placed attractively on top of his noodles and vegetables and realised she'd gone out to buy this especially for him, on Christmas Day!
"Y'know, Bones … you say I made Christmas with your family happen like kissing you was a hardship." Brennan stopped her fork halfway between her plate and her mouth. "There was nothing … horrible about that."
Booth had to stop himself from saying 'hard', replacing it with horrible at the last nanosecond because he was pretty damn sure there would be plenty of hard things when he added that experience to the plethora of lustful thoughts he would be confessing to with his priest.
"I suppose you're correct, it was a fairly pleasant way to achieve a result." Bones' smile was … shy? Unsure? Booth couldn't tell what her smile was saying but it was a smile and that was good.
"Very pleasant." The deep timbre of Booth's voice gave Brennan a flutter deep in her belly and the way his pupils dilated as he sipped his water gave her no doubts about how pleasant he found their kiss. "Although, if that's how you kiss Russ, I have some serious questions."
Booth grinned at her and she rolled her eyes before blessing him with a lopsided smile and a faint blush on her cheeks. "I may have understated my reaction to disappoint Caroline purposely."
"Ah you didn't want her to know you're hot for me?" Booth winked at her and continued eating.
"I'm … well, you are aware of your own attractiveness, just as I am confident in my own genetic good fortunes … also, you have expressed that you deem me to be 'structured well', so perhaps I was attempting to distract her from your desires?" Brennan sat up straight and looked him in the eye with a smirk.
He laughed lightly "Whatever you tell yourself so you can sleep at night, Bones!"
"What do you tell yourself so you can sleep at night? It's obvious you're attracted to me and have feelings for me despite your lines and statements that there are some people you just can't sleep with!" Brennan, frustrated for some time with the to-ing and fro-ing, was very close to losing her patience.
With a sigh, Booth let his fork drop to the table and ran a hand through his hair. "I tell myself that no matter how much I want you, the risk might not be outweighed by the benefits."
"I don't …" Her brow furrowed in confusion "Do you mean that having sex with me wouldn't be satisfying? If so, I beg to differ, I believe we would be extremely compatible physically!"
"That's not what I'm saying." Booth exhaled loudly and placed his hand over Brennan's on the table. "I'm saying that I don't just want one night of coitus, or whatever squinty term you use. I want … us, every night, making love, not just a single sexual encounter."
"A romantic relationship?" He felt her hand being pulled away and watched her lips tighten into a disapproving line before she shook her head from side to side. "That … I'm not built for that kind of interaction."
"Sully seemed to think you were" Booth shrugged "Or he wouldn't have asked you to sail off with him. You're built differently than you think."
"He left! He left me because I couldn't commit to him!"
"You stayed because you'd already committed to your family … that I'm very thankful to be part of!" Booth raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to cede or argue against his counterpoint.
She did neither, she picked up the empty plates and went into the kitchen to load the dishwasher while Booth took his water and went to sit on the couch while she stewed on his comments.
#
Dr Temperance Brennan was far from stupid and had a very high level of self-awareness and she had often thought of her break up with Sully and tried to analyse it. The important facet wasn't why he left, he had often moved around and changed careers unwilling to settle and build a life, it was the way he was and why should he change for her? Sully also knew how committed to her work she was, how much she appreciated having a proper home of her own but he expected her to change for him.
But then there was Booth, he wanted the same type of relationship she had with Sully. He was stable, settled and would never ask her to leave her career or grudge her visits to sites of anthropological interest. He seemed almost perturbed that she was missing her trip to Peru … that could change if they were more intimately involved but, somehow, she just knew that it wouldn't.
Steeling herself, she closed the dishwasher and took two beers from her fridge before going into her living room.
#
Booth was staring into space, it's not like Bones had a TV to catch his gaze, when a bottle of Yeungling hovered to his right. Turning his head, he lifted his hand to accept the beer when it was pulled back slightly.
"Our partnership would be at risk." Brennan put the bottle in his hand and they both held it looking into each other's eyes.
"Only if we let our relationship affect our partnership, you don't work for the FBI, telling my bosses we're involved would be a courtesy, not a necessity." Her hand gripped the bottle tighter and Booth put his other hand over hers "I know how well we can compromise, how well we can communicate, how damn much we already care for each other … I just know, deep down, that we would really work as a couple from now until we shuffle off this mortal coil."
"I can't change." She spoke brusquely.
"I didn't ask you to. I'll never ask you to change, Bones. I want to be with you, not some fantasy version of Dr Temperance Brennan I have in my head." Booth took the bottle and sipped, keeping his eyes on her face.
"You have fantasy versions of me in your head?" She sat facing him, one leg curled underneath her.
"You don't have fantasy versions of me?" Booth smirked and lightly drew his fingers over her knee.
"It is increasingly difficult to prevent your image and demeanor being superimposed over my imagined liaisons during sexual activities - especially while masturbating." She smiled wryly and expected him to sputter, blush and talk about privacy. Instead he took her beer and placed both bottles on the coffee table before running his hand up her thigh and placing the other behind her neck to pull her closer.
"Mmm, you think about me when you touch yourself? That's hot, Bones, damn hot!" He whispered against her mouth before capturing her bottom lip between his own and sucking lightly. His tongue flicked out and she opened for him, letting her own tongue slide smoothly against his. Booth's pupils were dilated to the point where his warm, brown iris was barely visible in the low light of the room when he pulled back and stroked her neck and shoulder.
"I thought you didn't like to talk about sex?" Brennan murmured against his jawline as she drew her lips closer to his ear.
"Not with you, I don't like to torture myself with what I can't have." Booth's hand slid up to her buttocks and squeezed before lifting her onto his lap and arranging her knees either side of his hips. "But now, I can have you, I can tell you everything."
Brennan gasped as Booth captured her mouth with his again and grasped tightly to her hips before letting his hands travel higher, his fingers under her shirt and stroking gently at the skin along the waistband of her jeans.
"Tell me" she whispered between kisses, feeling that this was but a fraction of the passion that Booth could unleash upon her.
"I thought about you when I was alone, when I was with other women. I thought about your voice and all the sounds I could get you to make." Booth pulled her shirt up and off, tossing it next to them on the sofa before nuzzling into the cleavage that had been teasing him for years. "I thought about these, how they feel, how they taste."
A half-gasp, half-moan slipped through Brennan's mouth when Booth settled his mouth against the nipple that was visible through her bra. Already puffy with anticipation, it hardened with the heat and moisture from his tongue.
"Oh yeah, those kind of sounds." The catch on her bra released and it was pulled away from her body quickly before Booth cupped her naked breasts and brought his talented lips and tongue back to the delicate coral pink tips. "Amazing, Bones, I can't wait to taste you everywhere."
Not to be outdone, Brennan pressed her hips against Booth's, feeling the hard evidence of his arousal through the sweats he was wearing and grinning at his groan and the way his hands gripping her at the waist and pulling her against him harder as he moved his hips slightly.
"I thought about how you would taste too, Booth." She tugged at his shirt and threw it towards her dining room before sliding away from the delicious friction of his groin and licking softly at his chest and nipples. "I thought about how you would feel as I sucked you and brought you to orgasm."
Booth groaned again and pulled her upright, hurriedly pulling at the button and zip of her jeans. "I thought about how wet I could make you, Bones, how much I could turn you on."
Brennan stood up and pushed out of the rest of her clothes, then offered Booth her hand. "Why don't you come to bed and check to see if it meets your expectations?"
"Hell, yes!" Booth stood, almost knocking Brennan off balance but catching her in his arms and slanting his mouth over hers. They kissed and licked and groped the entire length of her hallway, bumping against every wall and piece of furniture on the way there. Brennan pushed Booth towards her bed, one hand on his chest and the other pulling down his sweats.
He landed on the mattress, his pants at his ankles and his cock almost touching his stomach he was so hard. Bones was between his knees, her hands tugging his pants off his feet and her teeth nipping lightly at the inside of his thighs. This was definitely something he had fantasised about.
"I thought about this, about you taking me in your smart little mouth, fuck Bones, you're gorgeous!" His breaths became short as Brennan moved closer to her prize, his head falling back to the mattress as the flat of her tongue slid between his balls and up his shaft before her lips sucked at the tip of him, sweeping her tongue across his slit.
"You're … larger than I expected, I don't quite know why I envisioned you with an average sized penis when the rest of you is obviously above standard for a male." Her mouth closed around his glans and her tongue flickered against his frenulum, she took in what she could and wrapped her hand around what she couldn't. The shaky breath Booth released and the way his hands threaded through her hair just behind her ears made her moan around his length.
"So good, baby. Oh Bones your fucking mouth, Jesus!" The fact that Booth was obviously, and vocally, enjoying the experience, made her throb, she could feel her desire smeared on her ankles as she knelt before Booth making him quake and moan.
Booth's head raised enough to watch Bones taking his cock deeper into her mouth, enjoying sucking and licking at him, moaning at the taste of him and it was just too much for the amount of time he'd been without female company. He waited until she was pulling off and sat up, enjoying that last suckle of her cherry coloured lips before pushing her shoulders back.
"Didn't we come in here so I could see how turned on you are?" Booth lifted her up by the armpits and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her on top of him then rolling them over, his lips sucking and licking at hers the entire time. His voice was rough and primal as he kissed and nipped his way down her body. "You always smell so amazing, but right here, right now, I could just eat you up."
His fingers swiped at the heat of her, drawing the moisture from her entrance and painting it over her entire sex. She was so hot and so wet for him, his mouth watered in anticipation and pre-cum wept from his cock in yearning. Booth's nose rested against her mons pubis and he inhaled deeply, exhaling his warm breath over her clit then following it with a cool blow through pursed lips.
"I didn't tease you, Booth, don't tease me!" Brennan gasped.
So he didn't. His tongue, lips and fingers worked her, making her so much wetter. Booth had thought, correctly, that she would be his favourite flavour, the sounds emanating from her were driving him crazy. Booth's mouth and hands worked on pure instinct, pushing her closer and closer to the edge, he had been watching her reactions the entire time; her throat working to moan, her chest heaving with every breath, her hands squeezing her breasts, the fingers pinching her nipples.
It was so much hotter than anything he could dream up; reality, for once, was the best place to be. Inside Bones, his fingers thrust and curled to hit just the right spot as he struggled to keep his mouth on her slippery clit. The lower half of his face was covered in her and he couldn't have been more happy or turned on. Bones' thighs tensed, her hips raised and he heard the sharp intake of breath from her before her pelvic muscles contracted in pure pleasure.
"Booth! Oh fuck!"
As soon as the words had left her, Booth lunged forward. He pushed into her while her walls were still fluttering, the sheer heat and tightness of her making it a challenge to hold off his own orgasm.
"You feel so good, baby, I knew it, I knew you'd feel this good." His jaw firmed as his hips set a slow, languorous pace. Brennan undulated beneath him, repeating his name through panted moans.
"So good. Oh God you fit inside me so perfectly!" She could feel him brush against her cervix with every thrust, not enough to hurt, just enough to give her that awareness and feeling of fullness.
Booth leaned on one elbow and draped Brennan's knee over his shoulder, squeezing her hip and tilting her pelvis for an incredible angle that made him hit her right there with every movement. Her thighs tensed again and he increased his speed, he was too far gone, there was no stopping it, he just hoped he could get her there again before he …
"Oooohhhh, fuck, Booth!" Bones wailed a second before his vision was clouded by stars and he coated the inside of her with his seed.
"Uh, baby, shit Bones! Jesus fucking Christ!" He rode out the aftershocks, his hips rocking slowly as the rest of his body was stiff as stone. "I haven't come that hard in years."
"Me either." Brennan purred in languid satisfaction. "I told you we were sexually compatible."
"Yeah." Booth panted and rolled to the side, pulling Bones with him into an embrace. "You sure did, you were absolutely right. Now we just need to prove I'm right about us being together forever!"
Brennan opened her mouth to point out that forever was a completely unfeasible time frame, but as the tingles of the post-orgasmic haze made her flutter her fingertips over Booth's chest quite without her conscious thought, she decided against it and closed her eyes to revel in the comfort and safety of his arms.
Booth smiled as he dozed off, considering how it started, this was the best Christmas ever.