Sorry for the delay on this one folks, glad you've enjoyed it! – Riviera –

Chapter 8

Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist and best selling author, sat in her office at the Jeffersonian, typing away on her keyboard on a report for a case that she'd been working on from Bone Storage, or as Zack liked to call "Limbo". These cases always meant a lot to her, for it brought answers to those out there wondering, and waiting. Like she had been for so many years. Although she now had the a lot of answers, she still felt unsettled, searching for answers that she would probably never have.

Glancing up at the clock, she frowned at the time. It was 9pm Thursday night. Her line of vision drifted down to the doorway of her office, to the darkened lab, and sighed. Other than a few security guards, she was alone in the building, and the silence reminded her that everyone else had long left for the evening. She knew she should leave, because if she didn't leave now, she'd end up here into the wee hours of the morning, focused on the task at hand.

Leaning back in her leather office chair, inhaling, she stood and stretched. She bent over facing her computer and with a few movements of the mouse, and keystrokes, she saved her document, thinking 'this will have to wait until tomorrow'. After shutting down her computer, turning the lights off in her office and closing her office door, she was on her way out.

Temperance's thoughts returned to the last few evenings. This was the first night she'd been able to work late. She was mildly surprised that he hadn't called her today, or insisted on her leaving at a decent hour. Temperance of course liked spending time with her partner, both working and during non working hours, she was especially loving the extra effort he'd put forth recently. She'd been struggling to retain her feelings of professionalism towards him, and felt herself leaning more towards him in a very unprofessional way.

Although her partner, Booth, had no official case they needed to be working on, he had made it a point to spend every morning and evening with her. Monday morning he had met her at her desk armed with coffee and her favorite kind of bagel. That evening, he brought over some board games that they'd spend playing together, laughing and having a great time, she couldn't recall the last she'd laughed so much.

Tuesday morning, he insisted on driving her to and from work, each time with some sort of food item to entice her with. In fact, she'd put on 3 pounds alone in the last few days, she smiled at the thought. Yesterday Booth again played chauffer and even met her at the diner for lunch. Last night, he picked her up to take her to Wong Foos, where he spent long hours into the evening telling her of tales from his youth, and the trouble he and his younger brother had gotten into, which made her reminisce about her time as a child with Russ.

Although she was certainly enjoying all the attention he was lavishing her, and all the time they were spending together, was of course fantastic, she almost felt confused at his actions, maybe even suspicious.

Temperance took her time walking to her car in the deserted parking garage, rummaging through her bag for the keys to unlock and disarm it. She unlocked the car, got in and started it. She drove home through the deserted dark streets of DC, still thinking about Booth's recent actions. She'd come to the realization that he was doing all this because of what had happened the other night on the rooftop.

Booth must be afraid he was going to loose her, that she was going to jump. He was evidently attempting to get her to forget how alone she was by being in her life and by making her see that she had him, that she wasn't alone as she thought. The revelation took her by surprise, and she was slightly irritated with herself that she didn't think of it before, but she had been distracted though, by all of his over the top attention.

Finally arriving home, she unlocked and entered her darkened apartment, setting her keys and bag down on the table by the door. She shrugged out of her jacket and tossed it on the chair by the door. Her hand swiped the wall switch to turn on the lamp, and as light illuminated the dimly litthe room, she was startled to see Booth, lying asleep on her couch.

Temperance stood there a moment, unsure not only why he was there, but how in the world he'd gotten in there to begin with. Instead of waking him, she went into her dark bedroom to put her pajamas on, intending on waking him once she was done. Not bothering to turn on the light, she opened her large walk in closet, and turned the light on. She slid out of her skirt, and unbuttoned her blouse. She discarded the clothing into a laundry basket in the corner, removed her bra, pulled a tank top off the hanger and slid it over her head, and pulled on a pair of grey leggings. She ran her fingers through her hair, and yawned.

She turned to leave the walk in closet, and nearly had heart failure when she ran right into Booth.

She gasped "Booth! My God, you scared the hell out of me! I thought you were asleep" the words tumbled out in a rush.

Still groggy from sleep, yet awake in other ways, he appraised her quickly from top to bottom, causing her to flush bright red in embarrassment. She looked down at the floor, and back up at him again. "Booth…." She said softly, "we shouldn't…."

"Bones…God…" he said raggedly, his eyes filled with desire. He licked his lips, and ran a hand through his hair, his eyes closed, trying to regain control of his mind, of his body.

Seeing his turmoil, she reached out to him, but before her fingers met his, he took a step, and gently pushed her up against the wall of her closet, his mouth consuming her own. In spite of his declaration of not crossing lines, and her own personal boundaries, she submitted to him, allowing him to kiss her deeply, his body pressed tightly against hers, his arousal evident to both of them.

She wasn't sure how long they went on like that, minutes perhaps, hours? She had no idea, she just knew she was enjoying it, when suddenly he pulled back and looked into her eyes, his expression intense. One hand in her hair, the other on her waist. He exhaled, and said roughly "Sorry. I'm sorry Bones, I shouldn't have…I shouldn't have done that…" he trailed off, making no move to pull away from her.

Thinking about what had just happened, she hesitated a moment, and said quietly "Remember that line Booth? I think we just crossed it" with a smile on tugging at the corners of her mouth and her eyes shining, stroking the nape of his neck she pulled him back into her waiting lips...

The End!

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