Be With Me (B/B smangstmance--rated M) - By Sweetjaimelee Posted 29/09/2007 05:14:17 PM

gimmeagun

Posted 16/10/2007 01:24:24 PM


POST MORE SOON! I can't wait to see where this goes. I loved the interaction between Booth and Hodgins. Also the smut is always good of course. Fantastic job so far.

Posted 22/10/2007 08:47:31 AM

PART I
She had been trying her hardest to keep from moaning, but finally got tired of suppressing what was coming naturally and grabbed the pillow from under her head, pulling it over her face to muffle her cries. “Thumbudeez gon hea, Boof.”

He paused in the midst of work, although he didn’t take his intent gaze off the object of his attentions. “Hmm, baby?”

Pulling back the pillow for the moment, she reiterated. “Somebody’s gonna hear,” she gasped. Jesus. He had at least waited until the morning this time to sneak up to the room where she had slept, tiptoeing in and snuggling next to her as she woke slowly to his kisses. She had thought he had been exaggerating the night before, but apparently he had been completely serious in his intentions of going down on her for an hour. His mouth had been in constant motion on her body, assiduously manipulating just the right spots and bringing her to two shuddering orgasms in the past 38 minutes. She’d be happy to let him continue if she was one hundred percent sure that his mother wasn’t going to come up to the room to call them for breakfast.

“Nah. You can be quiet through one more, can’t you?” She slammed the pillow back to her mouth just in time to cut off the squeal that came unbidden when he did that thing where his tongue rolled up and sucked in her clit into that tiny, hot tunnel…

She wasn’t as confident as he was about her ability to stay silent through his clever and erotic manipulations of these parts of her he had come to know so well, but she somehow couldn’t bring herself to protest. She thrust her hips upwards towards him and, satisfied by this participation, he slid his hands under her bottom and licked her with renewed vigor. Again she felt that pleasurable tension growing, beginning to radiate from her core out to all the most sensitive areas of her body…

“Seeley! Temperance! Come on downstairs. Leah’s making omelets and biscuits!”

Temperance was startled out of her orgasm, and she lifted the pillow from her face. “Omelets and biscuits? Are you kidding me?”

Booth groaned. “Not now.” His tongue went back to what it had previously been doing.

“Seeeeeeley! Temperance!”

Unable to focus any longer, Brennan dissolved into giggles. “Come on, Seeley. Don’t you want a biscuit?” She wiggled a little. “We’re here for Jared, not for a vacation. We’d better get moving.”

Muttering his discontent, Booth reluctantly crawled up from between her legs, planting a wet kiss onto her mouth. “I was moving in exactly the direction I wanted, thank you very much.”

“And you were moving very well,” she agreed, kissing him back before sliding out of bed, pulling back on her sweatpants and tank top. “I promise to make evident my appreciation sometime soon.”

He grumbled a little, having trouble buttoning his jeans because of the reaction his body always had when he put his mouth on his beautiful partner. However, his mood wasn’t completely ruined. They had had a good day yesterday, and a good night. He had put a kibosh on talk about domestic bliss, and this had caused her to noticeably relax. And she had gone yesterday morning to get her Depo-Provera booster shot, on schedule this time, and that made both of them feel better. So, stumbling down the stairs, his grumpy act was mostly just for show.

“Well good morning, sleepy-heads,” Seeley’s mother said cheerfully. She and Jared’s girlfriend Leah were standing over the stove, delicious aromas arising out of whatever they were cooking. “Sit down. We’ll be eating soon.”

Brennan looked a little uncomprehendingly at the duo at the stove. Leah was dressed impeccably and her hair and makeup were perfect at 8 in the morning on a Saturday. A pristine apron unnecessarily covered her dress. Brennan felt a little self conscious as she sat, having the urge to go back upstairs and put on something a little more respectable. Jared, sitting at the table, looked up from his newspaper with a grin. “You look like shit, bro,” he said, pointing with amusement at his brother’s sleep-tousled hair and bleary-eyes.

“Jared, language!” his mother scolded, while Booth looked at him witheringly.

“Aw, Mom, Seel knows I’m just kidding. He wouldn’t feel like he was home unless I made fun of him. Right, Seel?” He nudged his brother, who chose to ignore this and grab a biscuit from the basket on the table. Brennan watched the scene curiously.

The patriarch of the family patted Jared on the shoulder. “No matter, son. You’re the king of the castle today.” Brennan had to laugh when Booth put two fingers in his mouth and feigned vomiting.

“Stop antagonizing each other, boys. Here, eat your eggs.” Plates were placed in front of all of them. Booth’s mother and Leah immediately set to cleaning up the pots and pans used to make breakfast, and Brennan was the only woman left at the table. She looked around a little concernedly.

“Should I…you know…be helping?” she whispered to Booth, suddenly feeling as if she had entered some strange, gender-segregated universe that she didn’t understand.

Booth’s father heard her. “Don’t be ridiculous, Temperance,” his voiced boomed, and she was a bit embarrassed at having been overheard. “You’re a doctor. You just sit here and eat and relax.”

Her eyebrows raised, but she began to eat. “What do you do, Leah?” she asked the woman who looked perfectly content to be up to her elbows in soapsuds.

“I take care of kids at a daycare center,” Leah replied cheerfully. “It’s not a glamorous job, but trust me, I’m used to cleaning up. This is nothing.”

“What a great little lady, huh?” the older man said, again patting his eldest son in approval. Temperance winced at the term ‘little lady;’ with his mouth full, Seeley looked at her with understanding, but also a hint of a warning to not let it get to her.

“Yup. You should have seen the dinner she made for me the night we found out of my promotion. It was incredible.” Leah beamed over her shoulder at her boyfriend.

“We are so proud of you, dear,” his mother said. “Were you expecting it?”

“Sort of. It’s Corporate America, you know? I know the right people, work hard, do what I’m supposed to do…it’s inevitable that I’ll get ahead.”

Temperance could have piped up about how his white male privilege might have had something to do with it, but even she wasn’t quite awake enough for that discussion yet.

“But…you know…I think I’m going to slow down a little bit now work-wise. Not getting any younger…it’s time to start settling down a little bit, you know? There’re more important things in life. Need to start getting home before 7.”

Booth nearly spit out his eggs. “You get home by 7? Every night?”

Jared laughed. “We can’t all be slaves to the man, Seel.” Booth went silent. “Anyway, now I finally have something worth coming home for. A beautiful woman and a great dinner.”

“If you take it easy at work, maybe you can come home early and fix dinner for Leah. I’m sure she’s tired after taking care of all those kids all day,” Brennan pointed out.

Everyone stared at her for a second. Then, Booth’s father began to laugh, a deep, rich sound. Jared joined in, then Booth’s mother. “Isn’t she sweet?” the older man chuckled. “You know what, Seeley? I always pictured it would be your brother coming home with the independent-woman type, him being so ambitious and successful and all. Interesting how things work out.” He leaned back in his chair. “No matter, I suppose. You never know what’s going to happen after you get married and settle down. Your girl here might be begging you to work harder so she can stay at home with the kids.”

Now it was Brennan’s turn to almost choke on her orange juice. “I don’t think…”

Booth wiped his mouth as he abruptly stood up. “You know, this is a great breakfast, Mom and Leah, thanks for that. But Temperance and I have somewhere we need to be.” Brennan looked at him questioningly.

“We do?”

“Yup. Remember, we have to…” His eyes looked desperate for a second. “Pick up a pumpkin for Parker.”

“Well you can do that anytime, Seeley. They have them right down the street at the market,” his mother said, finally joining them at the table.

“No, no. We actually have to go pick one. At the patch down at the farm.” He grabbed Brennan’s arm and she allowed herself to be pulled up, still feeling confused. “And we have to go early, or else they get all picked through.”

“Okay. Well, have fun. Just remember to be back later this afternoon for the cake. This is Jared’s day, after all.”

“Yeah, got it. Jared’s day. Bye, all.” He practically dragged Brennan out of the kitchen and barely allowed her to pick up her bag and jacket before leaving the house. As soon as they hit the car, he started babbling. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

“Booth! Relax.” She shook her head confusedly. “I’m not entirely sure what you’re apologizing for. And what the hell are we doing? Picking pumpkins?”

He looked at her for a second before realizing how paranoid he sounded. But as soon as his father said the word ‘marriage’ he suddenly had a vision of Temperance fleeing in the middle of the night in his SUV, and him never seeing or hearing from her again. “I was just worried that you were feeling uncomfortable…ah, hell, I was feeling uncomfortable. Just wanted us to get some air for awhile.”

She smiled, a little amused. “No…it’s okay, it’s not your fault. Besides, if anything, it allows me to better understand where you get your attitudes from.”

“I don’t think that way,” he said quickly.

“I know.” She put her hand on his thigh reassuringly as they pulled out of the driveway, then pulled down the visor so she could use the mirror there to put her hair into a ponytail. “I am capable of differentiating between you and your family members, Booth.”

“Yeah. It’s not so hard when they are all so damn perfect, is it?” he muttered, almost to himself.

“Hey. Nobody’s perfect.” He glanced over at her, grateful for the support. She smiled. “Besides…I don’t think you look like shit at all. The just-got-out-of-bed thing is a good look for you.”

Remembering his disheveled appearance, he laughed a little bit. “Thanks, beautiful. It’s one of my favorites, too.” He squeezed her hand.

She changed the subject. “So where are we going?”

“Oh. We’re going to this farm down the road…they have all this fall stuff. Hayrides, pumpkin patches, corn mazes. And I promised Parker I’d have a giant pumpkin for us to carve for his next visit.”

PART II

“I always thought that would be a fun tradition.”

He nearly slammed on the breaks. “You’ve never carved a jack o’ lantern?” Looking horrified.

“Does that really surprise you?”

He shook his head. “I suppose it shouldn’t. But jeesh, Bones…well, Parker and I will have to show you the basics. Park’ll like that…he thinks you know everything, so it thrills him when he can teach you something.”

That made her smile. “You know, it’s actually based on a pretty sad legend…how Jack was barred from both heaven and hell, and when he asked the devil how he was supposed to see in the dark purgatory to which he was relegated, the devil threw him an ember from hell, which he put in a carved-out turnip and wandered around with for eternity.”

“Don’t tell Parker that.”

She sighed, wondering if she’d ever get a true sense of when kids were old enough to know the truth about things. And this was why she wasn’t a day-care teacher. Among many, many other reasons…

They arrived at the farm, and Brennan felt like she had stepped into a brochure for Amish country. “So what do we do? Just tromp through their fields and take their pumpkins?”

“No. That sounds rude, and vaguely illegal.” Despite her reassurances, he was in no hurry to go back to his childhood home, with his father pushing marriage and his brother dating Martha Stewart. “We take a hayride. And go through the maze. And if we find our way out, we go pick pumpkins.”

She raised her eyebrows. “If we find our way out?”

He nodded seriously. “It might take awhile.”

“I have an excellent sense of direction, Booth.”

“It’s a good thing you are so hot, Bones. Because otherwise? No fun at all.” This made her laugh, and he silently thanked his lucky stars that she had developed the ability not to take everything so literally.

It was getting cooler out, so they grabbed their jackets before leaving the car and paying for the privilege of getting lost in a see of brown husk. It was still early, so there were very few people there, making the experience of wandering through the maze a little eerie as far as Booth was concerned. The only sound was the wind whistling through the stalks. He grasped Brennan’s hand. “Stay close, ‘kay?”

“So what did your dad mean when he said he thought Jared would bring home the ‘independent woman?’ Were you expected to bring home Holly Homemaker?”

He sighed. He had been wondering that himself. “I don’t know. I think he just figured that as much as I want to take care of people…that I’d want to be taken care of myself. Maybe he thinks I need taken care of.”

Her eyes flickered over. “Do you?”

“Not like he thinks I do. Did we try this way?”

“I think we went that way before. Let’s turn right this time. How does he think you need taken care of?”

“Ya know. Having someone so completely dependent on me that I wouldn’t even think of taking risks in the field. Having someone watch me so closely that if I even thought about gambling, she’d slap my hand. Like that.”

Temperance pursed her lips. “So he must not think too much of me, huh?”

Booth laughed. “Are you kidding? He thinks you are fabulous. Way too good for me.” He put his arm around her as they sauntered, meandering through the maze. “You, my love, are the brilliant Temperance Brennan. You are a doctor.”

A smile touched her face. “Yes, I caught that. Which apparently exempts me from any household chores.” The smile faded a little bit. “It’s not true, you know.” She looked from side to side. “Didn’t we just see that little clearing before? Are we walking in circles?”

“Na, we’re fine. What’s not true?”

“No Booth, I swear. We haven’t been paying attention. We’re lost.”

He grinned. “What happened to your ‘excellent sense of direction?’”

Glaring at him, she replied, “Even doctors can get distracted.”

“Oh yeah? What distracted you? Little old me?” Grabbing the lapels of her jacket, he kissed her frown away. She pulled back slightly but he followed her, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her thoroughly and leaving her a little breathless. By the time he released her mouth, she was smiling again, the wind tousling her auburn hair and making her cheeks pink. “So…what’s not true?”

“That I’m too good for you. That’s crazy. There couldn’t be anyone better for me. I don’t care if he had ten degrees on his wall, or millions of dollars, or a trophy case full of Nobel Peace Prizes. It wouldn’t matter, because he wouldn’t be you.” She shrugged, and as nonchalant as she seemed he was incredibly touched.

“Aw, Bones,” he whispered, pulling her back to him and warming his lips against hers. “You know what?”

“What?”

“I don’t care if we got lost in here all day.”

She laughed lightly, took his hand. “Come on.” Pulling him off the trail and in between the rows of corn waving in the breeze. Once they were nestled in where not even a helicopter would see them, she pushed her arms under his jacket and pulled his body to hers so that they were likely inappropriately close for being outside on a cool fall day.

“My, my, Dr. Brennan. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that you might like me or something.”

“Obviously, you don’t know any better.” She sighed lightly as his slightly chilled hands inched under her sweater, caressing her tummy. A memory suddenly came to her of lying, bound and blindfolded and trembling in anticipation as his literally ice-cold fingers trailed down her body right to her…okay, there was no part of her that was cold anymore. She pressed herself against him hard, encouraging him to move his hands further up her shirt.

He was now reminded painfully that they hadn’t really finished what they had started this morning. He thought about asking her if this was really alright, then realized that by now he knew. He knew when she was worried, or upset, or excited, or happy, or hot for it. Right now, it was the last of all these choices, and without a second thought he stripped off his jacket and laid it on the ground, sweeping her legs out from under her as she laughed, and laying her down on top of it. Covering her with his body, he made sure she wasn’t cold even for a second. “I love being in the great outdoors with you,” he murmured, dropping kisses onto her cheeks and down the column of her throat.

“I love being anywhere with you,” she admitted honestly, feeling herself instinctively arch into him while he pulled lightly at the elastic of her sweatpants.

How could a woman make sweatpants look and feel this sexy? He shook his head in amazement, and she caught the gesture. “What?”

“I think my Dad and brother might be right. I think you probably are too good for me.”

“Booth, two things.” She guided his hands under her shirt again and tried to wiggle her own between them to unbutton his pants. “Firstly…that’s ludicrous. Secondly…” She moaned lightly, the sound mingling with the wind swirling over them as his fingers found her breasts and squeezed the tips lightly. “Secondly, please don’t ever talk about any of your family members while we are doing this, ever again.”

“Point taken,” he agreed, and then stopped talking and thinking as he kissed and caressed her passionately, heating them both up and feeling himself hardening while he pushed against her softness and felt the goosebumps on the flesh of her breasts. She finally accomplished her goal pushed at his jeans, laughing lightly as she remembered that he hadn’t had the time to put on underwear this morning. Now, she was reaping the benefits. Then, she laughed harder at that thought, imagining ‘reaping’ benefits in a corn field. Although he wasn’t privy to the joke, he smiled against her lips. Her laughter was like music to him, and he hadn’t heard it enough lately. When he managed to work her own pants down and thrust into her for the first time, he tried to decide what he liked better, her laughter or her moans. Realizing he couldn’t possibly make that decision, he figured that right now, under these particular conditions, he’d be more pleased by the latter and began pumping her more deeply. Yes. Yes, he definitely liked those sounds, and after awhile he was making them with her, alternating between kissing her and gasping for air.

The orgasm she had begun building for the third time this morning made another appearance now, thanking her mightily for revisiting this hot encounter. “Seeley…so….good…God…” And her words at least temporarily convinced him that it was he was the king of the castle today. Or at least of this corn field…he carefully and methodically brought her to the edge, then over it. Once he was positive that she was feeling as good as she had ever felt in her life, he followed her, his body screaming its relief. They stayed together like this until they remembered just how cold it could be outside in October, when you didn’t have a jacket (or pants) on.

Standing and dusting themselves off, they kissed lightly and squeezed each other’s hands before continuing on with the maze. It took awhile…but they eventually found their way out, just like they knew they would. Somehow, it seemed like this might be significant. And after they were through, and harvested their pumpkin, and made their way back home, it helped to think of that place as just another maze to find their path through.

BGWGscienceteacher

Posted 22/10/2007 12:08:44 AM


That was so cool.

My favorite quote was: "Now, she was reaping the benefits. Then, she laughed harder at that thought, imagining ‘reaping’ benefits in a corn field." That one really cracked me up. To bad his family seems stuck in the dark ages in some ways. My husbands family was allot like that, and they still have trouble with my independent nature, and we have been married 16 years this week.

fanofbones

Posted 23/10/2007 09:46:11 PM


Happy anniversary BGWG...

J - fantastic chapter....loved the hayride...maze..pumpkins....tis the season...
sex in the cornfield was way to much for me...
one word.....bugs.........NOT.....
fun fun chapter....Jared is a pain in my ass...
imagine a lifetime of it....

thanks for thinking of us....I know your schedule is busy busy....hugs

fab

Bella Loony

Posted 24/10/2007 11:54:10 AM


J-

Haha, oh I found it!! I snuck up on it and I attacked it!! So good, I can't wait for more! I am reading it on FF too, bt what they hey/ Might as well throw ya a note over here too!! Brilliant job!

Bella

gimmeagun

Posted 24/10/2007 01:19:45 PM


First off...THUD! sex in a corn maze! Where haven't they done it. I don't know how you keep thinking up all these different places...they are so adventurous!

Secondly...I want to smack Jared upside his head and the rest of Booths family. They really under appreciate what Booth does for his country.

At least Booth and Brennan get to have all the fun... *cough* smut *cough*

miller0259

Posted 25/10/2007 04:13:44 PM


*THUD* that would be a FANTASTIC morning, in my opinion....my god........is it wrong to be jealous of a fictitious character?

Posted 05/11/2007 07:15:11 PM

PART I

Sometimes, Brennan felt that she and Booth were never more normal than they were at the diner, sharing a cup of coffee after a hard day’s work. Not that the other times and places weren’t good—she loved the sometimes-serious, sometimes-playful back-and-forth discourse they had in the car on the way to interview a suspect. She loved the sleepy teasing that they took part in when lounging in bed on a Sunday morning (did Temperance Brennan lounge nowYes…yes, she did). And of course, she adored the dirty talk that typically followed long days apart, when they began to feel the familiar itch for each other’s…um…company. Yes, all of that was very good, indeed. But when they sat across from one another, sipping their coffee and chatting about everything under the sun and nothing at all, anything that was hard or complicated about their relationship disappeared. They were the essence of Booth and Bones, and she was the picture of contentment. Right now, they were discussing, of all things, Parker’s pumpkin. Or, more accurately, Bitey, the murderous vampumpkin from Hell.

“I promise you, Booth, it’s completely developmentally appropriate for a boy Parker’s age to be fascinated with mythical creatures and identify with them. In some ways, it’s much healthier for him to associate them with fun and entertainment, rather than to internalize a fear of them.”

Booth still looked a little squeamish. “Maybe. But it still kind of disturbing when it’s your own kid.” He was remembering watching in disbelief as his sweet little boy delightedly instructed his partner to carve a fanged snarl into the face of the pumpkin. Then demanded red food coloring so that it would like his pumpkin had just had a feast. Then asked if they could leave the carving knife buried firmly in the side to add to the effect. Yesiree. His little angel had a little devilish streak.

“He’s a good kid. That’s not going to change.” Her voice was soothing.

He smiled gratefully at her. Bones claimed to know so little about children, but her understanding of Parker was somehow, to him, inherently trustworthy. “Well, as long as you don’t think he’s turning into some morbid, death-obsessed child of the night—I suppose I’ll hold off on taking him to a psychiatrist.”

Laughing, she shook her head ruefully at his dramatics. “Probably a good move.”

Booth’s face turned a little more serious. “He was disappointed when you left on Saturday evening. Was wondering when you’d be there to tuck him in every night he stayed.” He hadn’t meant for it to sound like a guilt trip, but it sort of came out that way, he thought.

His partner sighed. “I know. I would have liked to stay. But since we were away all last weekend, I had so much work to catch up on…” She knew that really wasn’t the issue. Both sets of eyes looked guilty when they met. “Booth…”

“No, don’t worry about it…I’m sorry. I just wanted to let you know how much you’re missed when you’re gone. Nothing else.” He smiled at her, just a little forced, and tried to change the subject. “So what do you think of our suspects? The husband was really looking good for this one, but the boss is showing a little to much interest in this case, if you ask me…”

“I still want to live with you,” she interrupted. The words sounded awkward to her, but she just wasn’t used to him being the avoidant one in their relationship, and she wasn’t going to let him get away with that now. Not when things had been going so well.

“Temperance, we don’t have to make any decisions right now…”

“No, I think we should. The house is ready for us now.” She shrugged. “I think we’re ready for it, too.”

He looked at her intently, a little disbelieving of how easy this suddenly was. “You sure, gorgeous?” Her nod was simple, but conveyed no hidden meaning, no internal conflict about whether or not this was right for her, and for them. He reached across the table and squeezed her hand tightly. “I’m gonna build the best office for you,” he promised her. “It’ll be a fortress. And you can get all the work done you need to, for as long as you need to. And then when you’re done, I will entertain you in any room of the house you want.”

She was laughing. “That sounds…as perfect as anything could be.” Her face became more serious. “It’ll be different for me, and I can’t promise there won’t need to be some…adjusting. But that’s really what I want. A place where we can be ourselves, and be together at the same time. I think we might be on the same page now…”

Thinking about what got them on the same page, he realized that he had largely relaxed his white-knuckled death-grasp on their relationship. And since he had done so, he had been gradually coming to an epiphany: she wasn’t going anywhere. In fact, she seemed more invested than ever. And this entire process, happening largely under his own radar, had allowed them to largely move past seeing how they fit together as a couple, and began understanding how their relationship fit more largely into the context of their lives. As evidenced by his increasing reluctance to let his family anywhere near Temperance again. Holy hell. Maybe he should have worked out his own family issues before bringing Bones into it…

No family thoughts right now. He quashed them as they discussed the details and strategic aspects of their moving plans. And by the time the conversation had died down, their coffee was cold and their waitress was looking at them a little impatiently. He had to chuckle a little bit at that. It felt like the old, “just-partners” days, when their reluctance to abandon the stimulating pleasure of the other’s company led them to sit here for hours on end. “So what do you do on Monday nights, now that it’s too cold to swim?” he asked her.

She looked a little embarrassed. “I do laundry.”

Oh, it was so hard not to make some sort of homemaker joke right now. He kept his mouth shut. “You want company?”

“Well, I have some research I should probably do…”

“’Kay, babe.”

“But, I was going to say that I can do that while you watch your show later. And we can spend the rest of the evening together.” She smiled at his pleased expression. “Hey, we have to learn how to function while we’re living together sometime, don’t we?”

“Very true,” he agreed, tossing down the tip for the (probably relieved) waitress and standing. “It can’t all be globetrotting and great sex. Sometimes, you have to watch TV and do laundry.” And right now, even that sounded like paradise.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Is it over yet?” she teased him as she leaned over his shoulder from behind the couch, pressing a kiss against his neck as he stared engrossed at whatever crime drama it was that he watched on Monday nights. She had bought the TV so that she could watch documentaries related to her work. The basic cable that she had purchased made life just a little more bearable for Booth when he was over at her apartment and she was busy.

“Just about. Are you done?” His eyes stayed lodged in the television set, but his head tipped to the side, silently asking her to continue with her attentions. When she pulled back he made a displeased sound in the back of his throat, and his hand reached back blindly in an attempt to grab her. She was already halfway to the laundry alcove.

“I’ve got to put this stuff in the dryer. Remember what we said about great sex and laundry? They are both important.”

He turned in his seat, starting to say something about still needing to prioritize, and then got distracted by the sight of her bending over, pulling the wet clothes out of the washer to deposit in the dryer. He always did like the way her ass looked in blue jeans.

She hummed softly to herself while she transferred the laundry from one machine to the other, and then caught herself, chuckling a bit at the thought that she was probably doing a pretty good imitation of Leah, Jared’s girlfriend, right now. Singing while doing chores. But, different than Leah, she reminded herself, because her sense of contentment was coming not from taking care of other people, but from being productive in general. She had gotten a lot done today, even despite their extended stay at the diner. And now, she thought as she slammed the door of the dryer shut and set it vibrating softly, she could justify taking some time to relax with her partner. That is, if she could pull him away from the TV…

Brennan was unable to finish her thought because the instant she turned, she found her ass being pushed up against the cool metal of the dryer, while her lover pressed his hips into hers and captured her lower lip between his own lips, sucking and nibbling softly. His hands braced on the machine to either side of her body, and she found herself quite willingly trapped in this tight spot.

“You know,” he told her, pushing his groin against her, “You’re right. Laundry and great sex are both very, very important…and multitasking is an essential skill.”

She sighed lightly at his implication, feeling a delightful dual throbbing from the machine behind her and…well, the one in front of her, as well. Grinding back against him just as hard while thrusting one hand into his hair to deepen the kiss, she suddenly felt absolutely nothing in common with Leah, in her apron and dress and perfect hairdo. “Is your show over?” she asked him between heated kisses.

“I like this show better.” Punctuating his point, he slowly pulled down the zipper of the sweater she was wearing with his thumb and middle finger, making sure that his index finger traced the path of the zipper on its way. The dryer was heating up the little alcove, making the area feel a little steamy, and this wasn’t helping the state of her body. When the zipper was halfway down, Booth paused in his exploration, pressing searing hot kisses against her exposed chest, above her bra. When he rose up, he was pleased by the flush that had come over her, not just from the temperature of the room. Glancing downward again, he remembered what he had come over here for. With a growl, he lifted her and sat her directly on top of the now-shaking machine, now pawing much less artfully at her tempting pink flesh. Pulling at her bra, he tugged down one cup to expose one pink, swollen nipple, begging for his attention. Ooohh yes. Tongue swirling around the taut nub, he sighed his contentment at having his mouth on her while she squirmed against him in delight and worked desperately with her own hands to get her bra undone.

Distracted thoughts flowed through her. How warm she was. How the suction he was creating against her flesh seemed to pull at something deep inside of her. How the vibrations of the machine underneath her were joining with the quivering of her own womb, leaving her unable to tell the difference between the internal and the external. How right and real and normal yet exciting this all felt. She used her fingers in his hair to drag his mouth back up to hers to kiss her before whispering in his ear. “Take off your clothes now, baby.”

He forced a chuckle over the lump in his throat that always formed when she talked sexy to him. “What do you wanna see?” He was teasing her, but already pulling his shirt up over his head, unable to deny her.

“Hopefully, a hot naked man looking at me with his make-out face on.”

“Make-out face?” he asked, nearly tripping on his pants in an attempt to get them off as quick as possible.

“Angela told me about it. The expression that a man gets when he wants to kiss you really, really badly.”

“Nobody else has been looking at you lately with their make-out faces on, have they?” he asked, riled up by her and the heat and the thought of anyone even thinking of looking at her like this, pink-skinned and topless in front of him. When she shrugged innocently, it led him to believe that she had meant to provoke him. In response, he sucked on her neck and nipped there a little punishingly. She seemed to take it all in stride, wrapping her long, jean-covered legs around his hips. Without him even noticing it, she slid her ass off the end of the dryer, sliding down his body and surprising him by ducking out of his arms and circling him, pushing his back up against the now-warm machine and kneeling in front of him.

“Keep meeting all my make-out needs and you’ll never have to never have to worry about it,” she said throatily, before pulling his underwear down half-way and tracing the lines of his exposed hipbones with the tip of her tongue. She liked the strangled noise he made in the back of his throat at her proximity to his most delicate areas. Which didn’t seem so delicate right now…she tugged his underwear down the rest of the way and purred her approval. Stroking him gently with her hands a few times first, her mouth watered a little bit at the sight of the treat she was about to get. Torturing him for awhile with the lightest of kisses, she waited until his groans became demanding before taking him fully in her mouth, thrumming her tongue against the underside of his erection in time with the gentle thumping of the machine behind him. God, she really did love those sounds he made when he was right on the edge of losing control.

With a tortured gasp, he pulled away from her before he embarrassed himself, ignoring her pout and lifting her by her shoulders to give her the hot, open-mouth kiss of her life. Holding her by the hips, he sat her up on the dryer again, where he had put her in the first place. “I’m pretty sure that if you keep working that magic, your make-out needs are guaranteed filled for the rest of you life.” Trying to calm down the hormones that were coursing through him at nearly teenaged-speeds, he took his time stripping her of her pants, and stroking the milky flesh of her thighs.

“I’m going to hold you to that,” she promised, her eyes squeezed shut during his tickling, and then flying open when she felt the engorged tip of him brush against her trembling inner flesh. “Booth,” she gasped, tossing her head back, her body already being vibrated to a frenzy by the machine, without any intentional movement on her part. Relentlessly, he leaned into her, filling her with the thick heat of him, making her feel she was being cocooned from the inside out by a delicious, nearly unbearable warmth. A long moan left her, and her body tensed in preparation for the explosion that was to come.

“Hold on, baby,” he said raggedly, showering her breasts with kisses while he held her hips to his, tightly. “Let’s do this together…” He thrust into her slowly, lovingly, and couldn’t stop the cry that was ripped from his own throat when he bottomed out inside of her. She grabbed onto his hips, as well, not content to let him passively rock her to orgasm, but wanting to drive this ride with him. It drove him crazy every time her breath hitched, and the warmth and the rocking and the shaking of the machine was just too much stimulation to allow them to last for long. He came first, almost unexpectedly, flying apart inside of her.

The feeling of him throbbing deep inside completed the experience for Temperance, who now felt her entire body was buzzing from the inside out. She screamed out one final “Yes!” before yanking him as close to her as she could get him, and toppling off the precipice that she had been lingering on. He grunted and pulled her hard to him, trying his best to hold her firmly while they shook for the inside and the outside. Finally realizing the effort was in vain, he lifted her from the machine, carrying her as gently as he could from the tiny, hot alcove to the bedroom. Placing her down, he crawled beside her, and they lay, cooling down and panting slightly.

PART II

He looked over at her, grinning at the slight, breathless smile on her face. “Not bad for ‘normal,’ huh?”

“I’ll take it,” she agreed, rolling to her side and resting her head on his strong shoulder, feeling as satisfied as she ever had. Tilting her head up and pressing a light kiss onto his light kiss onto his lips, she laughed when he started to deepen in, pulling away. “You’re going to kill me, Booth.”

“Kill you?” He feigned alarm.

“Death by good lovin’.”

“If you’ve gotta go…” He made her squeal as he pounced on top of her. They wrestled for awhile until they were interrupted by a ringing phone. “Go away,” Seeley shouted to the phone. It apparently wasn’t in the mood to be obedient.

Laughing, she wrapped the sheet around her and shuffled out of the room. “You aren’t the only one who requires my attention tonight,” she called behind her as she made to answer the phone.

“But I’m the most important one,” she heard him from the other room, and she shook her head at him.

“Brennan.” She held the phone with her ear against her shoulder while she tried to readjust the sheet around her so it wouldn’t fall off.”

“Temperance?” The voice sounded familiar, but it didn’t click right away who it belonged to.

“Yes…who is this?”

“This is Jared.”

“Jared…” she said slowly.

“Jared Booth…Seeley’s brother.” It had come together before he said the words, but that didn’t decrease her surprise.

“Oh…hi, Jared. No, I recognize you now. I just wasn’t expecting you.” Her brow furrowed a little in confusion, and she remembered to make small talk. “Um…how are you? How’s Leah?”

“I’m fine,” he said, his voice sounding vaguely distracted. “Leah’s doing well, too…she’s off making cookies for a bake sale right now.”

Of course she is, Temperance thought, smiling to herself. In the back of her mind, she had the ridiculous thought that maybe “making cookies” was some kind of code phrase for what she and Booth just did, and she had to hold back a chortle at the thought of Little Miss Perfect turning into a wildcat once the lights turned out. Yeah, right. The woman probably didn’t even take her apron off during sex. She shook off the image. “What can I do for you, Jared? Is this about Seeley?”

“Not at all,” he said, and she found herself a little annoyed at how quickly he brushed off the topic of his younger brother. “I actually called to see if you’d be willing to give me a little business tutorial.”

“What kind of advice are you looking for?” she asked him, thoroughly confused now.

“Remember how I mentioned around Labor Day that I was considering trying to publish that book on growth investment that I co-authored?”

“Mmm-hmm.” She remembered wondering how anyone could find such things interesting enough to write an entire book on it, but was vaguely admiring that someone in the world could do it.

“Well, a publishing company accepted it.”

“Jared, that’s great.’ She was genuinely impressed.

“Yes, it’s great…but I don’t know anything about negotiating these things, how to manage editorially, or how to plan the design. And while I was stressing over these things, I remembered that I know a best-selling author. So I decided to give her a call and see if she’d be willing to lend her expertise.”

“Wow. I…well…sure. I mean, it’s a little different, publishing fiction, but I can give you some ideas about things to pay attention to, and what to look out for.” She moved to her desk and began pulling out some of her writing resources.

“That’s great! Could we do that over lunch sometime this week?”

“Oh! You don’t have time now?”

“Ah, this is such a stuffy medium. We might as well make it enjoyable for both of us. I’ll treat, since you are doing this favor for me.”

She didn’t know whether to be pleased that Booth’s brother was so obviously trusting of her knowledge in this area, or put off by this little bartering agreement. “You don’t have to do that.”

“No, I insist. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your advice. And besides…you’re practically family.” Was that a touch of humor she heard in his voice?

“I’m glad to help you out, Jared.” She heard Booth’s impatient teasing of her from the other room, insisting that she come back to bed. “Is Thursday at one okay?”

“That would be perfect. I’ll have my secretary give you a call once something is arranged?”

Secretary? Arranging something? She had just thought they’d meet up at the diner. Again, she reminded herself that Jared was from a different world than what she was used to. “Sounds good.”

“Wonderful. Thanks again, Temperance.” His voice was charming, and she heard an element of her Booth in that tone, only a little bit more polished. “You really are fantastic, you know.”

For some reason, his compliment made her feel slightly uncomfortable. “See you later, Jared.” Hanging up, she was left with a vaguely puzzled feeling, which she pushed away as wandered back to the bedroom to join her partner. However strange this particular conversation was, she new that once she entered into that bedroom with the man she loved, everything would be normal again. Just the way it was supposed to be.

BGWGscienceteacher

Posted 05/11/2007 08:08:46 PM


I don't think I like Jared. He is to sneaky, and I get the impression that he is jealous of Booth. PPS

gimmeagun

Posted 05/11/2007 08:57:54 PM


i wish i had some laundry to do...

i agree with BGWG...jared does seem sneaky. something feels a bit off about this meetting but hey it could just be me.

awesome job ssjl! love the smut as always. wish i had half your talent!

miller0259

Posted 06/11/2007 05:01:35 PM


mmm....I suddenly feel inspired to do laundry... I wonder what all that was about with Jared.....I can't wait for more!!

Switch

Posted 08/11/2007 11:40:28 PM


OMG I just read the whole thing and I LOVE it...sooo amazing and hot... lol.. seriously I loved this fic...please get to posting ))

CaRiNeSs

Posted 09/11/2007 03:47:14 PM


Hrm....surely he isn't going to hit on her....can't wait to see what happens next...please post soon!!!

ashangel45-boothsbaby07

Posted 09/11/2007 08:49:46 PM


oh i just lovelovelove this fic. never end it, mmmkay?? haha

=)

space

Posted 16/11/2007 05:19:40 PM

[Only admins are allowed to see this image]
Hey J, I found a pic to accompany your laundry smut!!

miller0259

Posted 18/11/2007 00:48:34 AM


OH MY GOD...... I about died when I saw that picture......oh wait! *THUD*

Posted 20/11/2007 10:49:39 PM

PART I

“I don’t like this. Have I mentioned that I don’t like this?” he griped. To be fair, by this point he was only halfheartedly griping, laying on the bed in his boxers and flipping through the pictures they took today of the empty rooms. He was mentally filling them. They would get new furniture for the living room, they had agreed on that. Well, maybe he’d keep his old recliner. He had worn it in just the way he liked. And they’d keep Bones’ bedroom stuff. He was sort of attached to this bed; call him sentimental.

“I know, Booth,” she called from the adjacent bathroom, a little garbled because she was brushing her teeth. “We have discussed how neither of us like this. But that it is surely harmless.”

“It’s not a good idea to be giving business advice to family.”

“He’s not…” she started automatically, but then stopped, catching herself before she said something that he would surely find hurtful, even though it wasn’t intended that way. “I’m not going to give him advice, really. Just some guidelines.” Rinsing the last of the foam from her mouth, she poked her head out of the bathroom for a second. “Besides, you want me to form bonds with your family, right? Jared’s identity is formed primarily through his work. By helping him become more successful in his business venture, he’ll accept me more readily than he would otherwise. What are you doing?”

“Planning our new bedroom. I don’t know if I want you bonding with my brother. That makes me feel weird.”

“Don’t worry Booth. We won’t bond that much. I don’t bake cookies.”

“Huh?”

Looking out again, she saw him looking intently at the pictures, only half paying attention to her. She frowned, not knowing what could possibly be so interesting about digital images of empty rooms. Suddenly finding herself in competition with the camera for his attention, she strutted out of the bathroom barefoot in her pink lace boyshort panties and matching bra. “Cookies. Hot, sweet, tasty cookies.” She struck a faux sexy pose, with one hand on her thrust-out hip and the other laced through her hair, giving him a pouty look and nearly collapsing in giggles when he glanced up and his eyes nearly bugged out. “So I have to practically walk around naked to get your mind off interior decorating?” she teased.

“Apparently. Do that again.”

“What? This?” she asked as she posed again, smiling. Quick as a flash, he lifted up the camera and snapped her picture.

“Booth!” she admonished, still not being able to help her laughter.

“What?” he said innocently, slipping the camera under the pillow and looked at her with wide eyes.

“That was completely inappropriate,” she laughed, grabbing his own discarded dress shirt off the bed and slipping it around her shoulders, buttoning a few buttons. Grabbing her around the waist, he pulled her down to the bed, giggling the whole way. Once she was down, he hovered over her.

“I need something for when you go on those long trips for your book signings or for research…something to get me through those long nights.”

“Aren’t your memories enough?”

“Man can’t live off memories alone.” He was mostly just teasing her. But damn she looked sexy lying below him in his white shirt and her delicate panties, face free of makeup but flushed from her laughter.

She saw his fingers slip under his pillowcase to the camera and she gave him a warning look.

“Please?” he asked nicely, his question accompanied by the smile that made her insides flip a little bit.

“Will you delete them?” As soon as she asked, he knew he had her, and he grinned.

“Smile, baby,” he whispered. He pushed the bottom corner of her (his) shirt up, exposing pink lace and just a swatch of the milky skin of her abdomen. His eyes locked on hers for a moment, tacitly assuring that this was okay with her. In answer, she smiled seductively and stretched, her hair splaying across the white sheets and putting every model in every men’s magazine he’d ever seen to shame. Dear God. Slowly, he raised the camera, capturing her pose in the lens and holding in there until her smile grew in anticipation—perfect—click. Greedily, he flipped the camera mode to image view, anxious to assess his…um…photography skills. Oh, she didn’t really expect him to delete these, did she? They belonged on the walls of a museum somewhere. A personal museum that only he would have access to, of course…His thoughts were interrupted when she flipped around to her knees and pushed him to his back on the bed.

Somehow, the camera had brought out her inner exhibitionist, and even she was a little surprised at the show she was making in crawling towards him, catlike, while he snapped frame after frame of her every movement: biting her lip almost innocently while her fingers nimbly unbuttoned her shirt, shrugging it off and looking at him over her shoulder into the lens, pulling down the straps of her bra and pushing her breasts together to create the most tempting cleavage. All of it, somehow arousing her as much as it was him. Why? Maybe it was because the intensity of his eyes on her—and his eagerness to capture everything about her. It made her feel somehow more than ordinary; like she was the most exceptional creature to ever walk the face of the earth. Reaching behind her back, she flipped open the hooks of her bra; before she let it fall, she reached for the camera and gently took it from Booth’s hands, tossing it aside before letting her bra fall off to the bed. She loved the way his eyes turned black when she bared herself to him. “Why do you want me so much?” she whispered, not entirely sure what prompted her to ask the question but now very interested in the answer.

His now-free hands trailed their way up her body as she straddled him. Pulling her chest a little closer to his mouth, he pressed gentle kisses against the marks where her bra had pressed into her before blowing cool air onto her already-hardening nipples, enjoying how they puckered in response to his teasing. “Why do I want you…” he repeated slowly, now tracing his fingers around the tight peaks of her breasts, making her squirm in an effort to increase the contact. “I want you because when I see how passionate you are about everything you do, I just know how incredible it’s going to be to be the focus of that passion. And I want you because you bring so much excitement to the world, and just being in your presence kicks my energy up.” He tugged her face downwards to his so that he could kiss her now, deeply, while stroking his hands down her bare back and then circling them around to finally give her nearly-aching nipples the attention they deserved. “I want you because you are incredible and sexy and unique and fun. And I want you, Temperance Brennan, because you aren’t like all the other girls. And I love that.”

That worked for her. It was enough of a reason to kiss him lustfully in thanks, while grinding her lower half against his. She felt him grow in response to her stimulation, which in turn made her grow wet. Her memory had neatly catalogued most every encounter in which he had used that part of him, hot and hard and throbbing, to bring her the most exquisite pleasure, and all those memories flowed through her now. She wanted him. Wanted to take everything that he was willing to give her. Wanted to be shown, by him, just how incredible she was. Lifting up, she dragged her moist center up his body, higher, and higher, adjusted her legs over his shoulders, until she was straddling his face, looking down at him with a wicked smile. “I want…”

“You want me to fuck you with my tongue.” The man had a good memory, that was for sure. And he would never forget that time, so long ago now, that she first made that request of him. He was now less surprised, but just as aroused as he was then.

“Into oblivion,” she whispered, and chuckled with him softly until he pressed a light kiss onto her pulsing center, through her panties. Gasping, she fell backward a bit, bracing herself against his hips while she strained against him, trying to get contact back with his mouth without smothering the poor man. Thankfully, he seemed happy to be smothered, as he carefully pulled what was covering her aside, took a hold of her ass, and gently circled her clit with his tongue. Shuddering, she groaned, her fingers digging into the skin of his hips.

If this pained him, he didn’t show it, only gripping her harder and probing more deeply, running his tongue up and down her wet flesh to vary the stimulation, pausing to thrust hard inside of her one moment and to flick rapidly over her clit the next. All in all, giving her the tongue lashing that she so richly deserved. And it was all she could do to stop herself from leaning forward and madly thrusting in her face, so intense were the feelings spiraling through her. He sensed her frustration from her moans, and didn’t want her to hold back any longer. “Fuck me, gorgeous,” he pulled away and whispered raggedly, drunk on the taste of her, wanting nothing more than to make her scream with pleasure.

With a moan, she complied, struggling to sit up and then move her hips downwards again, low, and lower. And she found him with her center at the same time her lips found his, tasting herself and him while she sunk down on top of him and swallowed his groan into her mouth. “Fuck, Temperance,” he said shakily. “How the hell do you feel so good, every single time?”

“Because I’m not like the other girls,” she responded breathlessly, moving, letting his slick length caress every part of her inside. Sighing with need, she slowly ascended, leaning back again like she had before as he made love to her with his mouth. This caused him to slide to a new position inside of her. A really good one, too. Quickly catching on to which of his movements brought the most whimpers to her lips, he responded to her the best he could while letting her ride him on her terms. Between groans of ecstasy, he wondered at how she could be so demanding and giving of a lover at the same time, and at her power to thrill him like she did. He bucked her, hard, and she held on to his thighs, fingers gripping tight enough to leave marks. And there was that face he looked for, that sound he loved to hear; she cried out, fingers contracting on him while her taut body stiffened.

He rocked her gently, making sure her pleasure was brought to its highest peak before he allowed himself to let go inside her, letting her then take her turn pulling every last good feeling out of him. And once he was so high that he could barely see anymore, she soothed him down again, dropping to his chest gasping, until their breathing synchronized and everything was clear again.

“I dare you to find anything better than that,” he told her with a sigh, pushing her damp hair back so he could see her heavy-lidded eyes.

“Pretty close to perfect,” she agreed, kissing him lightly before rolling to his side. Perfect. That word bothered him somehow.

Something bumped her shoulder and she looked over and laughed breathlessly. Picking up the camera, she suspended it in front of him.

PART II

“You won’t let me keep them?” he asked, pretend-pouting.

“Well, I could…but I can promise you there ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby,” she teased, pulling back the sheet and sliding underneath them.

“True.” Flicking on the power, he flipped through them, looking admiringly, then regretfully as he deleted them. “Hey Bones?”

“Yeah.” Her eyes were already falling closed; she would sleep like a baby tonight, he thought, a little proudly.

“If Jared starts talking shit about me tomorrow…you’ll steer the conversation back to business, right?”

Her eyes cracked open again. “You really think he’d do that?” She looked doubtful.

“I don’t know. All I know is that I never want you to stop looking at me the way you do when we are done…you know.”

“I’m pretty sure you don’t have to worry about that,” she mumbled, eyes closing again. Booth looked at her briefly before turning back to the camera.

She might never get it, he realized, looking at the last undeleted picture: the one where she posed playfully in all her sweet, sexy, silly, and unassuming glory. He loved that side of her, and the fact that she was willing to show it to him. But for all her smarts, she was still naïve when it came to family.

Switching the camera off, he put it on the nightstand, turned off the lights, and climbed under the sheets with his partner, mostly trusting in the knowledge that she would always be on his side. It was everybody else that he didn’t trust so much…

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By midmorning on Thursday, Booth’s uneasy were mostly forgotten. There was too much work to be done to focus on his insecurities. In fact, he nearly had forgotten all about his brother’s odd lunch request. Until he came into his office around 11:30 and found Jared there, gazing at the pictures and commendations that Seeley kept framed on his wall. “Jared.”

His brother turned, giving him a patented Booth family grin. “Hey bro.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” Suspicion crept into his voice, although he didn’t know why.

“I’m not allowed to visit my baby brother at work? See what he does with his days? And nights?”

“Well, maybe. But I thought that today, you were trying to schmooze your baby brother’s partner.”

“Partner?” Jared snorted. “Would hope you’ve moved beyond that.”

Seeley felt his face redden a little. “She doesn’t like to be called ‘girlfriend,’” he mumbled.

“Well, that’s a shame that you embarrass her.”

‘Don’t let him get to you, Seel. You know that just makes it worse,’ he told himself. “So did you come for something? Other than to irritate me?”

Jared looked innocent. “I’m hurt. Did you are didn’t you tell me to come pick up your key so that I can help you start moving things in your new place this weekend? I figured I’d pick it up before my lunch with Temperance.”

Well, now he just felt bad. “Oh…yeah. Sorry.”

“No problem. I forgive you. That’s what family’s for.” Jared laughed. “Can’t wait to see the new place. You’re moving up in the world”

“Yeah…we were there taking pictures and measuring the other day, getting ready. Getting pretty excited.”

“I bet you are. This is your biggest achievement.”

“I don’t know if I’d go that far.” He could only imagine Brennan’s reaction if she found out that landing her was “an achievement.”

“You’re a lucky man, Seeley.” Booth was about to brush it off when he caught a look that he’d never seen from him brother before. Was that…envy? Whatever the hell it was made him just a little uncomfortable.

“The key’s in my locker. I’ll go get it,” he muttered, sort of anxious to get out of there for awhile. He left his brother in his office while he took a walk.

Wasn’t this part of what he wanted, if he was honest with himself? His brother and his father had a mutual camaraderie based on respect, and Seeley had always felt left out of that. Everything he had, they already had…or they didn’t want. And he felt the loss of not being part of that world, but he learned to cope, learned to appreciate the things he did and what he possessed, even without their acknowledgement or approval. Sort of. He always thought that the day he earned a nod in his direction—true appreciation--would be the day he felt largely complete. But if he had seen what he thought he saw on his brother’s face…he opened the locker and fished for the key inside his bag, slamming the door closed a little too hard when he was done. He was overanalyzing things. It was only making him anxious. On his way back to his office, he forced himself to relax. But the sound of his brother’s laughter put him up in arms.

He walked back into the office, indignant. “What the hell’s so funny?” he asked, not processing the scene before him for a second.

Jared was still chuckling, with a disbelieving expression. “Shit, bro. I knew you were lucky just about now. But I didn’t know you were this lucky.” And at that moment, Seeley realized with horror exactly what was in his brother’s hands. And what he was staring out. With that look on his face.

His first thought should have been about what Bones was going to think when she found out he forgot to delete one of her pictures from the camera. The cute one, with her being that her that no one else saw. And that he brought it to work so that he could download the pictures of the house. And that his brother, seeing the camera so carelessly lying on his desk, got the eyeful of his life when he went to check out the photos of the rooms. He should have been worried about that. But right now, all he was worried about was erasing that image from his Jared’s mind for good. “Gimme that,” he snapped, trying to snatch the camera from his brother’s hands. He didn’t give it up easily.

“Aw, c’mon Seel, share the wealth,” he said with a grin, pulling it back. “You certainly don’t have anything to be embarrassed of. Jeez, this is what you go home to at night? I’d never leave.”

“Jared I swear to God…”

“Damn. Relax, Seel.” Jared flipped the power off, and handed the camera back to him. “Does your partner know about the soft porn you keep of her at work?”

He didn’t know what to say, and could feel the heat rushing to his face.

Jared’s grin had faded a little. “You fucked up, didn’t you?” Seeley’s silence gave him the answer he needed. “I’ll tell ya bro, you better be careful. This isn’t the kind of woman you risk losing.”

Booth could read him right now. Was that concern on his face? Smugness? “I’m never gonna lose her,” he muttered.

“Lose her, or have her taken away.” Seeley’s eyed flashed, and he looked at his brother with horror. “Settle down Seel. Don’t worry. I’m not gonna tell her. Your secret’s safe with me. Just be careful.” Jared winked at him, and patted him on the shoulder before moving to the door. “It was great to see you. I’ll tell Temperance you said hi.”

Booth was left red-faced in his office, not really being able to identify what he was feeling. All he knew was that the last thing in the world he wanted was his brother spending time with one of the two people in the world that he couldn’t live without.

BoothnBones9

Posted 21/11/2007 11:55:45 PM


Jared is a bastard. A fucking shit-faced bastard. He can't steal Brennan away from Booth! What the hell is he thinking?

MORE! PLEASE!

Bella Loony

Posted 22/11/2007 10:21:51 AM


I am really not liking Jared!! I think he is a sneaky snake of a man and someone needs to de-fang him!!! Get to postin'!!!

Bella

BoothnBones9

Posted 22/11/2007 02:20:50 PM


Haha de-fang! That's hilarious!!! But true.

=]

Posted 03/12/2007 07:39:02 AM

PART I

A/N: Y'all over here at the ABY rock, btw. Your comments make me giggle:-) Thank you! More story for you:--------------------------------------------------------
Brennan glanced around the restaurant. This wasn’t the type of place that she usually had lunch. This was the type of place that she had gone to on romantic dates, or before making major deals on her books. The classy décor, the soft music, the impeccably-dressed waitstaff. The wine list that was, in essence, a novel itself—apparently, she would be dining today with a bon vivant. But it was the place that Jared had chosen, so she was glad that she had dressed so professionally for work today so that she wouldn’t be out-of-place here.

“Temperance.” She recognized the deep voice behind her and turned with a polite smile. Jared gave her a kiss on the cheek and gestured her to follow him from the lobby into the restaurant, apparently familiar enough with the owner to have a table reserved. “Sorry I’m a little late. I had to go harass my little brother at work.”

She raised her eyebrows, amused. “You two like to do that, don’t you? Harass each other.”

“We’re brothers. That’s our job.” Jared grinned as he pulled out her chair for her, the Booth chivalry gene apparent. “Thanks for meeting me here. I wish you would have let my driver pick you up, though.” He pulled out his own seat across from her.

“Don’t mention it. I actually enjoy driving, and don’t get to do it as often as I’d like.” Brennan studied the man in front of her, noticing, not for the first time, the resemblance between him and her own Booth. The dark hair and eyes, the muscular build…the smile. But there were differences, too. The slightest hint of gray touched the elder Booth brother’s temples, the jaw wasn’t quite as strong. And despite the similarities in their smiles, Jared’s seemed somehow more polished, as did his manner of speaking. “I’m just hoping I can be helpful for you today.”

“I have no doubt you will be. You want a drink? They carry an excellent port here.”

“Oh, no thanks. I have to go back to work after this.”

“Ah, yes. The work you do when you aren’t being a best-selling author.”

She shrugged. “The forensic work…it’s my life. Or was. But I still can’t separate my identity from it. The writing is really just a hobby.”

Jared gazed at her with his chin on his hand. “So you do you do it? Make being successful at everything seem so effortless?”

Her mind said, “I think that Booth thinks the same thing about you.” But she knew better than to verbalize that thought. “Trust me, Jared. I’m not good at everything. I’m not even allowed to make breakfast at your parents’ house, remember?”

“That’s because you’re not an ordinary woman, Temperance.” His words made her remember Booth’s from last night: “You aren’t like all the other girls,” he had said. The comparison made her feel uncomfortable, especially when they had been whispered to her in a most intimate moment. And, also, because of what they implied about Jared’s own girlfriend, Leah. Who, despite looking meticulously put-together at ridiculous hours of the morning and baking like Julia Child, was apparently ordinary.

“So you wanted to talk about publishing?” she asked quickly, shaking off the strange feeling.

“Yes.” He transitioned to the topic easily, which made her feel a little better. “This is a bit of a dream-come-true for me…I always wanted to be a writer. Of course, as a teenager, I didn’t think it would be about growth investment…I wanted to write adventure stories. But this is about as close as I can get.”

“You wanted to be a writer? Why didn’t you pursue that, then?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “Writers are a dime a dozen. I wouldn’t have been nearly as assured of success as a writer as I was in business school.” He seemed eager to change that topic from him not being a success. “In any case, it’s a foray into the unknown for me, and I would very much appreciate the benefit of your expertise."

“Of course,” she said, relieved, as they got their menus. “I’m happy to share the basics with you. We’ll start with the process of negotiating about your manuscrïpt. And end with the importance of keeping your editor away from fire ants.”

“What?”

“You don’t want to know.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jared Booth was no stranger to competition. His family—particularly his father—always had high standards for him. And he was pretty good at the things he did, so in the beginning it hadn’t taken an enormous effort to reach those standards. Not until his brother had been born.

He gazed across the table at the forensic anthropologist and author with whom he was dining today, as she talked to him about manuscrïpt formats and book doctors. His brother’s partner. Not girlfriend, Seeley had told him. The woman commanded respect from everyone who knew her. Temperance Brennan was successful in every way, not to mention beautiful and classy. And, judging by the picture he had stumbled upon on Seeley’s camera today, also a tiger in the bedroom.

And, not for the first time in his life, Jared felt a muted panic growing inside of him. Seeley was going to win. Without even trying.

His little brother was good at things too. And he did care about making his family proud. But, thank God, not so much that he was willing to change the path of his desires and hopes and dreams to please his father. Not to the extent that he would give up everything else in order to become his father’s definition of successful. Not like Jared.

Jared had been successful in staying ahead of Seeley, and in keeping his father’s favor, by not just meeting the standards but exceeding them. He had studied in school so much that some days he was practically dizzy from lack of sleep. He had practiced so hard on the football field that his body had been in a near constant state of aches and bruises. He had sacrificed having a long-term, committed relationship with a woman thus far so that he could spend nearly all his time running his business and making it as profitable as it could be. Doing those things was how he kept his edge. Every time Seeley had screwed up in his life, he had felt concern for his little brother, followed almost immediately by a stab of nearly painful relief for having a brief reprieve from working so hard to stay ahead. But he never felt safe for long.

Especially not when Seeley had brought home Temperance Brennan. That was when it all started to turn around. Their father had been resentful at Seeley having left the military to join the FBI, and had been disappointed by his gambling issues. Not to mention the scandal of having a child out of wedlock—thank God Jared had dodged that bullet in his lifetime. But now…Seeley was becoming more and more respected in his line of work. His gambling was apparently under control. Their parents loved their grandchild and seemed to mostly put aside their disapproval about the circumstances of his conception. And now…now Seeley was with this nearly preternaturally perfect woman (in Jared’s eyes), who both challenged him and still looked at him like he walked on water. And now they were getting a house together? Jared was one wedding away from being dethroned as the prodigal son. And he wasn’t entire sure how to handle that yet.

He thought of Leah. He liked her, he really did. She reminded him of himself in at least one way…she was so eager to please. But she didn’t challenge him. Didn’t understand the world he lived in. All the women who he had dated who did challenge him quickly became tired of his late nights at work, or were so involved in their own that they didn’t need or want the kind of relationship he wanted. They didn’t get him. Couldn’t possibly understand why it was so important that he be successful. Jared Booth was the best. If he weren’t the best…well, he’d have no clue who he was at all.

Cocking his head, seemingly listening intently, he studied Brennan, trying to understand what she saw in his baby brother. He wasn’t well-spoken like they were. Didn’t have any graduate degrees. Wasn’t wealthy.

And now she was wrapping up, reminding him that they had to go back to work soon, and thanking him in advance for the help he was going to give them moving into the new house this weekend, she and Booth really appreciated it. Booth. Booth. The wrong Booth.

He stood and thanked her, as well, for meeting with him today, and for being so supportive and helpful. She turned to leave. And, on impulse, he stepped forward and grabbed her elbow before she could go. Surprised, she spun around, and her eyes grew rounder when she saw how close he was standing. She smelled like jasmine and honeysuckle.

“Is my baby brother treating you right?” Jared asked her.

Her mouth opened, and closed again, and she seemed to be thinking about how to respond to him. Finally, she spoke. “Your brother is anything but a baby, Jared. He’s one of the truly great men in the world. And he’s been great for me and great to me.” A small smile touched her lips at the last statement. “You should be proud of him.”

If only it were that easy, doc, he thought. He struggled with his conscience for a second. “Temperance…there is something you should know about Seeley.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jared released her elbow then, thankfully, and she took a step back, a questioning look in her eyes. When he pulled her close like that, she had the sudden crazy notion that he might kiss her. What was that look on his face?

“When I went to his office today…I saw something.”

Her comfort level, which had increased while they ate and talked publishing, suddenly descended a notch, and she remembered the suddenly insecure look in her partner’s eyes when he talked about his brother. These two did something to each other. For all their facades of good-natured teasing, they really did know how to push the other’s buttons. Right now, she felt situated firmly between Jared’s finger, and Seeley’s button.

“I saw…” he hesitated.

“What did you see?” she questioned, anxious to get this over and get back to work. So much to do…”

He sighed, and finally took a step back, himself. “I saw how much you mean to him. How happy you make him. And it’s obvious you feel the same way, and…that’s rare. So I just wanted to say…congratulations.” He smiled, that winning Booth smile, not quite so polished at this moment as when she first saw him today.

“Oh. Well…thank you.” That was nice, she supposed…in a peculiar kind of way. “It’s good to know you are on our side, Jared.”

“Always will be.” He sat back down at the table, and sipped the last of the port left in the tumbler. “It was nice meeting with you today. If there’s anything I can ever do for you…don’t hesitate to ask.”

She thanked him ahead, and headed out through the restaurant lobby. Before exiting, she glanced back, and saw her partner’s brother still sitting, seemingly contemplating his empty glass. For a second, she almost felt sad, seeing him so alone. Shrugging off the thought, she walked out into the crisp, sunshiny day—back to her normal life.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PART II

Booth had left her a message after work, letting her know where she could find him, should she want to see him tonight. Which, depending on how her lunch with Jared went, she might not. He was as dirty on the outside now as he felt on the inside. How could he have forgotten to delete that picture? Dirty and stupid. He had made such a big deal about wanting Temperance Brennan and her body to be his own personal little secret…then he practically handed over images of her to his brother, of all people. He slid out from under the car, tossing the wrench back in the toolbox beside him, before noticing the long, shapely calves standing to his right. His eyes followed them up, up, until they reached the blue depths that had become so familiar to him. She must have entered silently through the house.

“You,” she declared, “are a mess.”

As if he didn’t know that. Especially standing next to her, her shiny hair pulled back perfectly and her skin unmarked, dressed in her oh-so-professional wrap-around dress and her high-heeled shoes.

“I don’t think I realized you were such a handy-man.” Realizing that the one room in this house that she hadn’t closely examined was the garage, she walked around the car slowly, past the space heater that he had set up buzzing in the corner. It had been serendipitous that the electricity had been turned on today.

“I’m a little bit of everything, Bones,” he said, a hint of ruefulness to his voice as he ran his hands down the sides of his t-shirt, leaving grease-marks there. “I needed new suspension bushings,” he mumbled. “And it’s been a long time since I worked on the car myself. It relaxes me.”

“Bushings?” she said doubtfully. She’d take his word for it. Brennan could change a flat tire if she had to, but all the other work she entrusted to her mechanic Burt. She trusted Burt. But Burt sure as hell didn’t look like Booth when he was fixing her car. How the hell could a man make grease and dirt look sexy?

“How was your lunch with Jared today?” There was no use beating around the bush (bushings?). If she was going to kill him, he might as well get it over with.

She looked thoughtful. “It went fine. I think I was able to give him a lot of useful information.” She paused, and Booth relaxed for a moment. “You know though…there was a second there…when I swear he was going to kiss me.”

Any relaxation that had crept into his muscles was obliterated in an instant. “What?” he choked out.

“I really thought so. It was a strange moment.” She saw her partner’s face redden while his knuckles simultaneously turned white from being clenched so hard. “Oh, settle down, Booth. Nothing happened. It was just a thought I had.”

“Settle down? Settle down? I swear to God if that bastard even thought about touching you…” He was pacing now, his hand running through his hair, making it spike.

“Stop. He doesn’t want me.”

“How do you know that Bones? It’s not enough for him to have everything else. Everything I have something good in my life, he wants it, but better. Of course he wants you. Who the hell wouldn’t want you? Fuck. I can’t believe this.”

“Would you just listen to me? What’s wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with me is that he saw your fucking picture.” She started a little at that, her eyebrows raised, not quite getting it. “I forgot to delete one, okay, Bones? I was a dumbass. And I took the camera to work and he found it and he saw it. Saw you. The one thing that was private to me…I fucked up and he saw it. And I’m sorry. And I know you probably want to kill me, but right now I want to kill him for even thinking about you…”

“BOOTH.” She said it loudly enough this time that it echoed a bit, and stopped him mid-rant, staring at her. “He doesn’t want to be with me. He just wants to be you.”

Booth was looking at her like she was speaking a foreign language

“Which is even stranger to me, but I’m pretty sure that’s the way it is. You two are so ridiculously jealous of each other, for one reason or another, that you can’t even see. Even I can see, and I really don’t see things much of the time.” Her exasperation was apparent as she crossed her arms, but he was now in a stunned silence. She cocked her head to one side. “You forgot to delete one of the pictures? That’s…unfortunate.”

His mind was reeling right now. The pictures…Jared, wanting Bones…Jared, wanting his life…Bones, probably hating him right now…him, hating her a little bit right now for being so damn desirable that he just had to take pictures like that… He chose one route. “Why would Jared want to be me? He’s the golden child. He’s the one that gets all the pats on the head from Mom and Dad, who lives this perfect, successful life…”

“And you are the one who does what the hell you want regardless of mom and dad’s approval. Do you realize how freeing that is? Think about it, Booth. Who wants to write books on growth investment? Nobody wants to do that. Did you know that Jared wanted to write adventure books? But he didn’t. And I’ll bet I can guess why.”

Booth chuckled dryly. “Mom ‘n Dad would have hated that career choice.”

“Exactly.” She rolled her eyes. “You’re the one who lives based on your own values and beliefs…not on the expectations of others. You might not be getting the metaphorical pats on the head…but you are happy.” Pausing, she glanced at him, a little shocked that she was the one giving her partner insight about his family and his life. Did she even know what the hell she was talking about? She hadn’t even had a family in her life until recently. Suddenly, seeing his stare, she felt a little disarmed. So she changed the topic. “Our pictures, Booth?”

“Just one.” He sighed. “I’m surprised he didn’t tell you.”

Brennan remembered Jared’s impulsive grabbing of her, followed by the seemingly out-of-place encomium regarding his brother. “Maybe he was thinking about it. I don’t know. But…I’m pretty sure…he cares about you, Booth. Doesn’t want to hurt you.”

Booth was a little befuddled by the ease with which his partner was being distracted from something that he had been fairly certain would be cause for him sleeping alone tonight. “Fuck Jared. Are you mad at me?”

“Mad? I don’t know. Do I think you need to be taught a lesson in discretion? Maybe.” A small smile played at her lips.

Damn, she never ceased to amaze him. “I thought you’d be pissed. I’m pissed. At myself.”

She shrugged. “It’s not like you did it on purpose, Booth. I know that. Besides…your brother, seeing me in my underwear? It’s not like that affects me professionally in any way. I think that, given our attitudes on topic, it’s more a punishment to you than to me.” That was for damn sure. He was still practically seething. “Nonetheless…you really do need to be more careful.” She took a step towards him, and his eyes became bigger.

“I shouldn’t even be allowed to touch you right now, Bones. I was so stupid. Not to mention the fact that I’m a mess. Like you pointed out.” He said the words, but seeing her there, looking far too perfect and most likely being the object of his brother’s fantasies tonight, made him want to do more than touch her. He wanted to brand her with himself.

“Do I look concerned about getting a little dirty? Besides. This isn’t about you.” With a coy look, she pushed her way up until she was sitting on the hood of his Tahoe, the smell of grease and oil and gasoline and just a hint of his spicy cologne filling her nostrils. One side of her wraparound dress fell over her knee, and she saw him staring, mesmerized by the creaminess of the skin that it exposed. “Touch me now,” she demanded in a whisper.

“Temperance…”

“Now.” She didn’t leave room for argument. His trembling fingertips went to the side of her knees, trailed experimentally upwards. They both watched the inky smudges he left behind stand in stark contrast to her alabaster skin. Her breathing hitched, and he looked up into her eyes, surprised. She liked this…his marking her like this. Her eyes were challenging against his…’Make it up to me,’ they told him. ‘You gave away that private moment to your brother. Now make me yours again.’

Growling at his own internal interpretation, he became bolder, pawing a little more roughly at her thighs and spreading them so that she would wrap her legs around him. She took hold of his leather jacket and pulled his smudged face to hers, crushing their lips together. Leaving behind any notion of keeping her clean, he grabbed at her hips, leaning hard against the fender of the car and grinding his growing erection against her middle while his tongue went to work on hers. In his groping, he found the sash that held her dress in place. She wouldn’t be needing that. Yanking hard, he tossed it aside. His large hands nearly spanned the entire width of her tiny waist while he buried his face between her breasts. Impatiently, she pushed his head away in order to unhook her bra. “Fuck,” he groaned as she laid back on the hood and spread herself out for him, a sea of untouched flesh, just begging to be made dirty. Eager himself, he reached for his belt and…

“I don’t think so.” She had seen the motion and sat up slightly to grab his hands. “Not about you, remember?” she reminded, winking pertly as she positioned his hands at the place that she wanted them. The material of his jeans was rasping against her panties, making her writhe, and her back arched against the cool metal at the feeling of him touching her breasts, leaving fingerprints against her swollen nipples. “Harder,” she demanded, and he squeezed. “Harder.” Waves of hot pleasure arose from her, and she would have felt bad about being so selfish if she hadn’t known that he needed this as much as she did. Seeley Booth wanted redemption today, and she was going to give it to him and enjoy every second of it. He was lapping at her throat, seemingly the only part of her that wasn’t stained now, and her fingers clutched at his oily hair, serving as a living and breathing anodyne for his jealousy and anger and confusion. Holding his hair, she pushed him. Down. Further. There was at least one other part of her still clean enough to put his mouth on.

Cock throbbing painfully in his pants, he accepted the discomfort as his retribution. He took his satisfaction from that fact that those were his fingerprints on her. It was his name that was hissed from her lips when he pressed his face against her. And it was his tongue and lips and teeth that were pulling those gasps and moans and groans from her throat while he expertly manipulated her clit in the ways he had come to know that she loved, occasionally taking a break to nibble at her inner thighs or thrust his tongue inside of her, hard, just like she was insisting on over the rattling of the heater in the corner. Yes…yes, his brother should be jealous, he thought, overtop the sound of the blood rushing through his head right now. And not just because it was he who was the recipient of this most tasty of treats right now. But Temperance was right. He was happy, dammit. And he poured every ounce of gratitude he had for her making him see that into his erotic kiss. And when she cried out, fingernails of one hand scraping lightly against the paint of his Tahoe while the others tugged on his hair (as if he’d even consider pulling back from her now), he felt his atonement completed. He’d made her happy, as well, and the satisfaction of that coursed through him and was nearly as much a relief as a climax of his own. Nearly.

He kept his mouth on her until she became almost painfully sensitive, and she pulled his head from her with a gasp. They regarded each other with darkened eyes. Looking down over her own body, she noted just how thoroughly he had taken her, and marveled at how just a few hours ago she had been in that classy, pristine restaurant. But as she and Booth both knew—and his brother Jared was apparently just learning—was that real life was rarely so polished.

“Lesson learned?” she breathed, and he nodded slowly. The car wasn’t the only thing that had been fixed here today. Taking her hand, he pulled her up to a sitting position slowly, bringing her face, now as smudged as his, to his own for a kiss. “The water on at this place yet?” she asked, smiling wickedly.

For the first time that night, he grinned. Yes, and there was another benefit to getting a little dirty now and then. Sometimes it could be so much fun to clean up. And in that moment, he felt sorry for his brother, who tried so hard to stay out of the mud that he never really got to experience this. He lifted his lover, carrying her through the entryway into the house and towards the waiting shower. Relishing in their imperfections and how well those notches fit together.