Emily let the hotel room door close behind her as she breathed a deep sigh of relief. It was late, she had just gone through three of the longest, roughest days of her adult life; and despite her insistence that she was fine, she hurt like hell.

She closed her eyes and leaned against the door. She wanted a shower, but was so exhausted she wasn't sure she'd be able to stay awake long enough. Even so, the thought of going to bed without one was beyond her.

The knock at the door pulled her from her thoughts and she groaned as her muscles protested the movement of pushing off the door. She looked through the peep hole, a bit surprised by the figure on the other side. Letting the door frame support most of her weight, she opened the door with a raised eyebrow.

"Reid wanted someone to make sure you're okay."

"Did he now?"

Rossi nodded slowly, avoiding eye contact. "He's very concerned."

Her smile was weak, "Cut the crap, Dave." She pushed off the door frame, holding the door open just long enough for Rossi to decide to come in or let the door slam in his face. She stepped out of her shoes on her way over to the bed, not caring that she was leaving them right in his path.

She shrugged off her jacket, letting it fall to the floor, wincing as her muscles protested. When she turned Rossi was sizing her up, frowning as he took in each cut and bruise. She offered a smile as she sat on the edge of the bed, though she knew it would be of little to no comfort for him.

"I'm fine."

Rossi grimaced and sat next to her on the bed, his hand placing gentle pressure against the muscles of her neck, slowly kneading them.

"I'm glad that it was you out there." Her voice was low, soft and she wasn't sure why she felt the need to express the thought to begin with. She wasn't even sure why, but she had felt better knowing that he hadn't pushed this involvement issue and declined the position. As soon as she'd realized who it was on the other end of the negotiations, she'd felt safer. She just trusted him and his abilities.

"It almost wasn't me."

She stayed silent, not sure if he was going to elaborate, or if she even wanted to know.

"I almost told Aaron. Hell, I practically did tell him. He just assumed my 'personal involvement' was being a member of the team. Either that, or he was being ridiculously naive and ignoring the obvious."

Emily sighed and leaned back into his touch.

Right now she didn't give a damn about Aaron Hotchner and what he did or did not know. What she did want was to relax and completely lose herself in Dave's touch.

She leaned back into him more, flinching slightly as his fingers massaged a sore spot.

"I should let you get to bed." His breath brushed against her neck and she shivered in response.

"I need to shower."

Dave's fingers threaded through her hair and worked over her scalp. "Em, you're ready to pass out."

"Dave, I haven't showered in almost four days. I'm disgusting. I need to shower before I crawl into bed."

He brushed her hair out of the way and kissed the spot on her neck just below her ear. Emily felt her skin break out in gooseflesh as his goatee tickled her ear lobe. "Let me run you a bath, then."

Emily smiled, her head tilting back to rest against Dave's shoulder. "You know, if you pamper me like this I might be more willing to have the crap kicked out of me again."

He cupped her head, turning it so that he could kiss her. Her lips stung a bit under the force, but not enough for her to complain. "Let's not make that a habit, okay."

It surprised her how open he was being about his feelings. After all, they had rules. They were casual. Certain things just weren't done. And visiting each other's hotel rooms when they were working a case was one thing that they never did. "I'll do my best."

He kissed her again, this time more gently. "Let me run your bath before you fall asleep." He moved off the bed, kneading her shoulders as he moved. "You strip."

"Yes, sir." She quipped, as he moved into the bathroom. She stood up, rolling her loosened shoulders as she heard the water flowing, and grabbed the hotel robe from the closet before stripping out of her clothes.

It surprised her how much her muscles protested as she went about discarding her clothes. She found herself staring at the pile of clothes that formed at her feet. Not even the best dry-cleaner in Virginia would be able to get the blood stains out of the pale blue blouse, it was ruined. The whole outfit was ruined – not that she'd ever want to wear it again anyway. Tossing it into the trash bin was an action that she completed without the slightest semblance of conscious thought.

She slipped into the thick cotton robe, wishing that she was at home and could curl up in her own terrycloth robe - she'd be afraid that the satin one would turn Dave's head a bit more than she was up for. She felt more exhausted than ever before, drained both physically and emotionally. She was almost to the point where, if she thought for one minute Dave would leave without making certain that she was safely and comfortably in bed, she wouldn't consider relaxing in a tub for fear of falling asleep and drowning.

She opened the door to the bathroom, her eyes becoming heavy under the steamy air, and watched as Dave tested the water temperature with his hand.

"Are you sure you're up for this, Em? It is a hotel. They clean the sheets regularly. I'm sure they won't mind if you sleep in the bed dirty."

She glared at him, "I need to bathe, Rossi."

Dave smiled as he stood, moving from the edge of the tub. "You don't have to push yourself so much." He rubbed his hands up and down her arms as she crossed them in front of her. "You did a hell of a lot more than prove yourself out there."

Emily blushed slightly as she relaxed into his touch. She was at a point with the team where she didn't feel the need to prove herself anymore, and yet she apparently did still exhibit the behavior. She wondered if the whole team could see that, or if it was just Rossi.

The gentle tug of Rossi's hand on the tie of her robe pulled her from her thoughts. "Come on, before you fall asleep."

Emily nodded, the pull of exhaustion was back, her eyes were drifting shut and even the feel of David Rossi's wonderful fingers against her skin could not pull her from the warm comfort she was edging towards. Her reliance on the fact that he wouldn't let her drown was the only thing that allowed her to step over the edge of the tub and into the warm water. For a moment, she was just sinking, her eyes closing, her muscles relaxing, until she stopped her chin just above the water line. She allowed herself to just let go of the tension from her earlier assault.

The feel of the warm face cloth against her eyes startled her.

"It's okay. Just relax."

Dave's voice was rife with emotion and she was sure he was enjoying the fact that she couldn't see. So she relaxed more fully into the back of the tub and enjoyed the feel of his touch. She heard him splash around in the water a bit, could feel the warm, slow movement of the gentle waves against her skin. Then he gently massaged at the muscles of her back and shoulders, the water and soap of the washcloth sluicing across her skin as he continued his ministrations.

Dave paid careful attention to her muscles, deeply kneading into the soft tissue of her shoulders and arms where she was tense. He worked his way down, careful to avoid massaging, but gently cleaning, the area around her stitches. She sighed as he moved down to the foot of the tub and started on her feet. He paid more attention to a single toe than she felt her entire body could endure. He moved up her leg, fully catering to her foot, her ankle, and her calf before moving further.

Emily felt her muscles turning to jelly as she relaxed impossibly further, her hips slightly arching into Dave's touch. She heard his breathing change as he chuckled lightly at her response, before setting her leg down and moving on to the other. This time his movements seemed more driven, more purposeful. As if his touch was intended to arouse.

This time, as he worked his way up her thigh his head leaned down and he nuzzled her hair before tracing the outline of her ear with his goatee. His breath gently stirred her hair and sent a warm tingle across her skin as she tilted her head to the side to allow him better access.

"Em…."

She turned, moving the facecloth covering her eyes enough so that her lips could meet his easily. When they broke she leaned back against the wall of the tub. "I'm not dead, Dave. No where near up to our typical escapades, but I'm not dead."

Dave smiled, but shook his head. "We have rules; I think I've already overstepped them enough tonight."

Her hand wove its way up behind his arm, drawing his shoulder downward. "You have broken the rules quite a bit, Rossi. You're the one always toting about how much of a 'bad boy' you were, and how much you play the lineman now. So, since you've already broken or stretched the majority of the rules about as far as you can, why not blow what's left of them to hell?"

Dave groaned. "You will be the death of me, you know that?"

Emily let out a light laugh. "I highly doubt that the cause of your death will be me, David Rossi. It's far more likely that you'll wind up with an obsessed fan or something."

Dave's lips touched hers again. His touch gentle, but probing. The face cloth covering her eyes acted like a blindfold. She couldn't see what he was doing, where he was going. But she didn't want to be able to see it either. She liked the fact that while she wasn't blind, she was blinded to his actions. It took a bit of the tension away because she trusted him just that much more. She was able to relax into the situation. She was able to let things happen.

His fingers traced along the edge of her knee. Gently running up the muscle of her thigh, slowly delving deeper into the water and closer to where she wanted them.

She breathed in a sigh; her head tilting back even further as she leaned back into the tub. Her hips tilting up to meet Dave's hand again.

His touch was gentle; his fingers sure. He knew her better than anyone ever had before. He knew just where and how she wanted and liked to be touched. But this was new to them. They'd never done so much as kissed when they were on a case. And neither of them had ever been this badly hurt - never mind almost killed, while working.

His fingers curved and she gasped; the actions and her response to it, causing a slight wince of pain.

"Emily..."

She rolled her eyes, knowing that he had no way of seeing the action under the facecloth. "David Rossi, I swear to God, if you even think about stopping now I will go out and pick up my service pistol and shoot you."

She could hear the smile behind his words as he replied, "Yes, ma'am. I never thought I'd be so in to taking orders."

His fingers continued on their previous course and Emily smiled. "I never thought I would enjoy issuing them quite so much."

She felt the brush of his goatee just before his lips captured her lower lip and pulled it gently between his teeth. Her hand found his neck, her fingers raking through his hair and holding him closer to her. Their kisses continued as his fingers moved. She felt his rhythm falter and she jumped a bit in reply, her leg slipping against the edge of the tub as she slid a little deeper.

They both laughed as the facecloth slid to the ground and the water splashed across the front of his shirt.

Rossi gently wrapped one arm around her shoulders to support her while his other hand continued on its mission. His lips claiming her mouth in gentle, yet searing kisses as his other hand set about finishing its task.

Her fingers threaded through the hair at the nape of his neck, fisting into the longer hair above it as her arm pulled him closer. She no longer cared how he looked when he left her room, he could wind up in the tub with her and she wouldn't bat an eyelash, as long as he didn't stop.

Emily winced and pulled back, gasping as Rossi moved along her jaw, careful of the bruises that lined her skin, and nipped his way down her neck. Her lip throbbed, her arms ached, she could feel the tight pull as the stitches held the slice in her forearm together, and her ribs burned; but none of it overshadowed the warm curl of tension that was building low in her stomach.

Doctor's orders be damned, she was going to enjoy this.

The scruff of Dave's goatee against her neck was enough to send a shiver down her spine and that, combined with a flick, swirl, and dip of his fingers was enough to send her shattering over the edge. Her eyes squeezed shut as she tried not to do anything stupid, and barely managed to avoid slipping below the surface of the water.

"God you're beautiful." His words were punctuated by gentle nips along her earlobe.

Emily's eyes opened and she quirked an eyebrow up in doubt, "If there was ever a time when I did not feel beautiful, tonight is it, Rossi."

She could feel him smile against her skin before he pulled back. "What you went through doesn't make you any less beautiful." He moved away from the tub and stood up. "It does, however; make you much more in need of rest." Reaching forward he helped her stand and get out of the tub before he wrapped her in one of the hotel-furnished jumbo towels.

Getting dressed for bed took more effort than she thought she had at the moment, but she finally curled up under the covers and rolled over so that her hand could rest against Dave's leg where he sat on the edge of the bed.

"We can't make a habit of this, you know." He murmured as he tucked a stray lock of her hair behind her ear.

Her eyes closed, not wanting to meet his. She didn't want to discuss all of the things that they shouldn't be making a habit of. Not now, not with him. Instead, she opted for the glib remark that he could take or leave however he wanted.

"I have no intention of it."

She relaxed feeling his hand caress its way through her hair and let sleep come, knowing that another case was over. Another day was done. And regardless of how things had progressed tonight, she would still wake up alone in the morning, wishing that she could feel this content again.