Interlude: an intervening or interruptive period, space, or event.

Brennan sat in her bath tub enjoying a cup of hot tea, listening to some soft music, and doing her best to relax. The problem she was having with relaxing though was that every time she closed her eyes, her mind replayed Booth's visit to her office earlier in the day. Not that she was surprised, thoughts of her partner in very un-partner-like situations had kept her from relaxing for many nights.

She wondered which was worse: letting him talk her into dinner, or holding her ground and going home. If she joined him for dinner, she got to spend a couple of more hours with him. The trade-off for that though, was that she had to constantly remind herself that they were just partners, regardless of how much she might want things to be different. If she didn't join him, she had to go home to her empty apartment and spend the evening along.

She decided it really didn't matter which she chose, because at the end of the day, she still went home to an empty apartment. She just didn't have the energy to pretend tonight. It had been a long week and she was too drained to exert the energy needed to convince Booth that she was okay with the status quo of their relationship. She knew it would be a struggle to keep her feelings hidden from him tonight, so when he'd shown up at her office earlier, ready to drag her to the diner, she had flat-out refused. She had felt bad when she saw the flicker of hurt in his eyes, so she had quickly added that she was exhausted and just needed to go home. He had accepted her answer without protest, but she still felt horrible when he left her office without the spring in his step that had been present when he entered.

Brennan leaned her head back against the side of the tub and closed her eyes, trying not to focus on the disappointment she'd seen on his face earlier. And then she remembered that this was his regular weekend to have Parker, but Rebecca had called him on Wednesday and informed him that she was taking Parker with her to see her parents for the weekend and they would have to reschedule. As the memory surfaced, she felt even worse. She should have remembered that earlier and put aside her own feelings to be there for him. Sometimes, she felt that she was incredibly selfish in her relationship with him.

With a resigned sigh, she reached up to let the water start to drain from the tub. She would stop and pick up some pie on her way to his place. It would be a good way to apologize. She hoped.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Booth opened the door with a raised brow. "Bones, what are you doing here?"

She held up the pie for his inspection as she replied, "A long soak in the tub gave me my second wind, so I thought we could share dessert."

He stepped back to let her in with a chuckle. "You don't like pie."

"I know, but I love ice cream and you always have some in your freezer."

Booth inhaled her scent as he stepped around her to close the door. She smelled absolutely heavenly tonight…probably a direct result of her bath. He forced himself not to think about that long soak as he took the pie from her. "What flavor would you like?" he asked as he headed towards the kitchen.

"Surprise me," she replied, pulling off her jacket and draping it on the back of the recliner as she made her way to the couch.

She noted that his television was on, the sound muted on a basketball game and an empty pizza box on the end table. There were several case files on the far corner of the couch, as well as a stack on the floor. "Am I interrupting you working?" she asked as she took note of them, recognizing his organization of the piles form many nights spent working together.

"Nothing that can't wait," he called back. "Feel free to move the files out of the way."

"Are these our cases?" she asked as she picked up the stack from the couch and placed it on the coffee table.

"No," he called back. "I'm doing case reviews for the newest group of agents assigned to our sector."

She picked the other stack up off the floor and stacked it neatly beside the other one and then placed her phone beside his on the table as she settled herself back into the couch.

"You know that I always save our case files for you to help with," he added as he walked back into the room. "You're much better at filling in some of those forms than I am."

Her eyes grew wide as she saw the bowl of ice cream he handed her. "Booth! I can't possibly eat all of that."

He smiled as he sat down beside her on the couch, his own bowl of pie and ice cream in hand. "Sure you can," he replied. "It's a Booth banana split specialty. Chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream on top of a perfectly ripened banana, covered with hot fudge and caramel sauces, lots of whipped cream, and extra cherries because I know how much you like them."

"And I'll have to spend an extra hour working out tomorrow to burn off all of these calories," she replied even as she lifted her spoon for the first delicious bite.

Booth fought back a comment on ways to burn off calories and instead turned his attention to his own dish. He sighed in delight after he finished swallowing his first bite. "This pie is amazing, Bones. Where did you get it?"

"The bakery around the corner from my apartment," she replied. "I love their croissants in the mornings, so I thought I'd let you see if they made decent pies."

"Delicious," he told her. "We might have to start going there on a regular basis."

She laughed at that, but she couldn't tear her gaze away from him. She loved watching him savor his pie. It was almost as if nothing in the world existed at that moment except him and the pie. She often wondered what it would feel like to have his attention focused so completely on her, and tonight was no exception. As his tongue snaked out to snatch an errant drop of ice cream, she forced her attention back to her own dessert.

They ate in silence for several minutes, each of them sneaking glances at the other when they weren't paying attention. When he reached the end of the pie, Booth held the spoon out to her. "Last bite, Bones. You sure you don't want to try it?"

She was tempted to agree just to see if he would feed it to her, but she immediately clamped down on that thought. "I'm good, Booth. But thank you for offering."

"Your loss," he told her right before he put the spoon into his mouth.

She sat her own bowl on the coffee table with a sigh. "I cannot possibly eat another bite."

He laughed as he sat his bowl next to hers. "You made a decent dent in it."

She leaned back and turned her head to look at him as he shifted so he was facing her. "So besides wanting to raid my ice cream stash, is everything okay? I know you said earlier that you were exhausted."

She opened her mouth to apologize for blowing off his dinner invitation when she realized that he had a small spot of ice cream on the corner of his mouth. "You missed a bite," she told him with a smile.

He licked his lips quickly. "Did I get it?"

She shook her head and reached out her hand to wipe off the spot just as his tongue took another stab at it. She froze when she felt the heat of his tongue brush against the pad of her finger and her eyes followed it as he quickly pulled it back into his mouth. She lifted her gaze to his then and was surprised to see the desire and longing she'd been fighting for months shining back at her from his eyes.

She dropped her hand back to her lap as her heart began thumping wildly in her chest. Her eyes never leaving his, she spoke softly. "I should probably go."

"Yeah," he agreed just as softly. "You probably should."

The continued to stare at each other for a long moment, but of them trying to remember why this was a bad idea.

Booth's voice was husky with desire when he spoke again. "Or you could stay."

"Which do you want?" she asked tentatively, knowing they were on the verge of a monumentous decision.

His voice was strong, almost forceful, as he reached a hand up to caress her face. "Stay."

She leaned into his hand as a smile spread across her face. She nodded her agreement and then his lips were on hers, claiming her for himself.

Brennan's hands went to his chest to steady herself against the onslaught of his passion. She could feel the rapid beat of his heart beneath her splayed hands and it thrilled her to know that it matched her own.

As their tongues dueled playfully, his hands slid to her waist and lifted her effortlessly, moving her until she was straddling his legs. "Oh God, Booth," she moaned against his lips as her center came into contact with his obvious arousal.

He moved his hands around to cup her ass, bringing their hips into closer contact as he trailed kisses down her jaw to her neck. "This is what you do to me, Bones," he whispered. "I want you so much that it drives me crazy."

Her hands slid down his chest until she found the edge of his t-shirt, and then she was tugging it up. When he lifted his hands to help her remove it, she dropped her mouth to his bare skin, her tongue darting out to taste him as her hands learned every contour of his muscular chest.

He quickly tossed the shirt aside before bringing his hands back to her waist, his fingers reveling in the softness of her skin as he slid them under her shirt.

She kissed her way up to his ear, her teeth gently tugging the lobe into her mouth before she spoke. "Take it off of me, Booth."

He was quick to comply. His hands deftly pulled the sweater up and over her head. As it dropped carelessly to the floor, his eyes took in the red lace of her bra that contrasted perfectly with the paleness of her skin. His hands trailed slowly along the straps of her bra, following the material down to the swell of her breasts. He lifted his eyes to her then, his hands barely touching her. "You're so beautiful, Bones."

She smiled shyly at him, the tenderness in both his eyes and his touch stirring something deep within her. He continued to look at her as his fingers slipped just under the fabric of the bra to tease her.

Unable to stand the intensity in his gaze any longer, she leaned down and kissed him. As they slowly tasted each other again, she reached behind her back and undid the clasp of her bra. Desperate for more of him, she broke the kiss and leaned back, a gentle shrug of her shoulders displacing the bra and allowing her to drop it out of the way.

His eyes immediately dropped to her breasts and his hands cupped their full weight in them. When he began to tease her nipples with his thumbs, she moaned. "Yes, Booth."

He stopped then and looked up at her. "Tell me what you want, Bones."

She met his gaze and answered him as honestly as she knew how. "I want you, Booth. All of you."

He smiled then and brought one hand to the back of her neck to bring her down for another kiss. As he plundered her mouth, he squeezed her nipple, tugging playfully on it until she was writhing against him, his name a breathless whisper on her lips. Finally releasing her lips, he latched onto the other nipple and began to suck on it, his tongue flicking back and forth across the hardened nub as her hands found their way to his hair, holding him against her chest as he pleasured her.

Her hands moved from his hair to caress his shoulders and back before moving back to his hair and tugging gently. When he finally released her nipple, she pushed him back for another kiss as her hands made their way to his belt buckle. They shook slightly as she released the belt and then fumbled with the button on his jeans.

He had just brought his hands up to help her when his cell phone rang. They both froze as the sound penetrated the fog of desire that had enveloped them. Brennan started to scramble off of his lap when her own phone began to ring, but he wrapped an arm around her waist to secure her to him as he leaned over and grabbed both phones from the coffee table. After handing hers to her, he opened his own. "Booth."

She mimicked his action, answering her own phone with a brisk, "Brennan."

They listened in silence as the details of yet another body were given to them and they both agreed to be at the scene as soon as possible. As soon as their calls ended, their phones were dropped onto the couch with matching sighs.

"Duty calls," she said softly.

He placed his finger under her chin and lifted it until her gaze met his. "Look at me, Bones." When she finally lifted her eyes to his, he gave her a tender smile. "We're not done here. This is just a minor delay."

"An interlude," she offered.

"Something like that," he agreed. "Maybe even extended foreplay." She laughed then and he leaned up and kissed her gently, his hands smoothing across her back.

"Promise me that we're going to finish this," he said when he broke off the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers.

She rocked her hips against his once, eliciting a guttural moan from him. "I promise," she whispered softly. "Now unhand me so I can get dressed."

He did so reluctantly, standing and adjusting his jeans in an effort to ease the pressure. He watched as she got dressed and carried their dishes to the kitchen before he finally picked up his own t-shirt and pulled it back on. By the time she reappeared, he had donned his gun and holster and was putting on his jacket.

"You ready?" he asked.

She shrugged into her jacket with a nod of her head. "Back to work."

"And then back here," he reminded her as they made their way out of the door. "This is one of those promises I'm going to make sure you keep."

My apologies if the tenses got a little confusing in the beginning. In my defense, it's one in the morning and I have no beta reader to make these read better. Regardless, I would love to hear your thoughts.