(11) the horses are coming

Walking down the main avenue close to the Hoover Building, you keep glancing at your phone to follow the directions to the jeweler you made an appointment with. Today, for the first time, you drove to work all by yourself, using your own car. Aaron did you the favor of driving right behind you in his car in case something goes wrong. It was very considerate, and you highly appreciated it. Then, however, you needed to come up with an excuse why you have to walk into town all by yourself. Fortunately, you have a highly supportive fiancée, and when you say you'd like to take a walk and clear your head before coming into work, he lets you.

Letting out a relieved breath, you stop in front of the shop. Of course, you didn't just choose any boutique. You chose Cartier.

You thought a lot about what you should get Aaron for your engagement. A ring would have been nice, but he cannot always wear one to work. For safety reasons or if he has to go into interrogation. He said, he wouldn't wear one while interrogating a suspect, to not give them the possibility to drag you into it. To not let them make any comments about you. It's sweet and understandable. So, you needed to find something else.

A few days ago, when you were working at your house, you at the dining table, Aaron on the sofa, you looked up jewelers in D.C. It was quite an easy decision to go for the one that's classy and matches Aaron's aesthetic. That being simple and expensive.

And here you are. You're excited when the doors are opened for you. You're glad that you put on your most expensive suite and shoes. You might look out of place at the BAU like that, but not here.

One of the salesmen greets you while shaking your hand, asking if you are his 10 a.m. client. After complimenting your look, he guides you to a table for you to sit down at. Serving you a freshly presses juice and biscuits, he repeats what you said in your e-mail to make sure he understands what you are looking for.

Then he and woman bring you watches and cuff links and whatnot to look at. When you saw the prices online, you gulped, but quickly decided that you are able to afford it. You worked so much in the last months and barely spent any of the money you earned. And what better way to spend it than on a gift for Aaron? Who, which supports your decision, barely spends any money on himself, except for basic needs and suits for work.

After much deliberation, you decide on a large black and silver watch, combined with matching cufflinks that they will engrave for you. The left one with an A, the right one with an H. Then, because you are already spending a ridiculous amount on money anyways, you add a pair of sunglasses. You know how much Aaron likes to wear them during fieldwork. And, what probably is the main reason for this, you know how good he looks in them.

Visibly happy by how much they sold to you, the sales assistants check you out. In the evening, a courier will bring everything to your house, after they engraved the cufflinks. Wishing you an extra good day, they lead you to the exit.

- - - - - - - - -

Back to Headquarters, you took a taxi. You already spent enough time shopping; you didn't want the others to get worried.

Nevertheless, when you enter the bullpen, JJ immediately asks: "Are you okay?"

You give her a smile: "Yeah. My legs feel really good today, so I wanted to take a walk." Which is partially the truth.

Reid emerges from the kitchen to bring you a coffee. It's a habit he picked up in the last couple of weeks. You know he feels the need to do something nice for you every day. You don't call him out on it. It's sweet and a harmless way to do it.

Thankful, you take it and ask: "What's going on today?"

"Not much, honestly." Emily chimes in. "Hotch ordered us to do paperwork."

"Maybe you should make a run for it." Morgan proposes. "Leave before he knows you're here and forces you to help us."

You turn to him and raise an eyebrow: "You do realize he already knows I'm here today since we always get to work together?"

Reid chuckles. Morgan shakes his head: "Your professionalism honestly makes me forget about it."

JJ asks stunned: "You forget that she's Hotch's fiancée?"

"Yes!" He raises his hands in defense. "For me she's our medical profiler!"

"You know," You smile at him, "I think that's really feminist of you and I appreciate it."

When Hotch comes out of his office and spots you, Prentiss comments: "Well, it's too late now anyway."

Walking down the stairs, he gives you a bright smile. When he's next to you, you offer him your cheek and he kisses it quickly before asking: "I have a request for a consult. Would you take a look at the autopsy report?"

"Sure."

"Thank you. Garcia will send it to your laptop."

You squeeze his hand before he walks back to his office. You're really excited about the gifts you got for him and have to force yourself to not say anything. When you sit down at your desk, JJ leans over: "Now tell me, what did you really do this morning?"

Clearing your voice, you take a sip of your coffee before replying: "I told you, I went on a walk."

"And where did you go?"

"Oh my God!" You whisper shout. "How could Aaron and I hide our relationship from you, but you know I did something else besides taking a walk?"

Prentiss chuckles: "She didn't."

Your eyes dart between the two of them. She's right. JJ didn't know. She merely asked where you went.

"I really want to be mad at you for pulling that interrogation tactic on me, but honestly, my bad for not seeing it coming." You chuckle.

"So?"

"Okay, fine!" You pull out your phone to show them what you got. "I bought Aaron a gift for our engagement. I want him to have something as well."

Curious, they look at the pictures.

"A gift?" JJ questions flabbergasted. "It looks like you spent my yearly salary on this."

"More or less." You grin.

Reid, who was looking over your shoulder, comments: "That actually matches what Hotch wears."

"You think so?"

Instead of giving you a simple yes as an answer, he presents you a statistic of the colors Aaron wears most often and the styles of his suits and how what you bought matches that.

"You keep track of-" Prentiss starts to question but JJ silences her with a look that says of course he does.

"Thank you." You smile at Reid.

These people really are like a chaotic good group of children that sees Aaron as their parental figure. It's amusing and heartwarming to be part of that family.

"Hey!" Morgan, who's already writing a report, throws a paper ball at you, validating your former thought, and calls across the bullpen: "Will you stop whispering and start working?"

- - - - - - - - -

"We'll sleep at your place, right?" Aaron asks in the parking lot.

"Yes!" You answer a little too enthusiastic as you keep checking your watch. The courier should be at your house in about an hour.

Aaron looks amused: "What's going on with you?"

"Nothing!" Again, a little too loud.

He waits for you to admit: "Okay. I have a surprise for you. Can we get going already?"

"You do?" Evidently, that's not what he expected. You press a kiss to his cheek and wink at him before getting into your car.

On the drive home, you keep checking your mirror, to make sure Aaron is still following you. His ridiculously large SUV is hard to miss. Almost home, you get a message that the courier is on its way. You resist the urge to step on the gas and keep driving at a legal speed.

After you parked, you wait for Aaron to catch up to you. Grabbing his hand, you basically drag him to your house. He chuckles at your excitement. After putting away your coats, you make him sit at the dining table and get two glasses of wine. Just after you took a sip and he goes to ask you what's the surprise, the doorbell rings.

You jump up. Your legs hurt a bit because you got up so quickly, but you ignore it to take the unbelievably bougie looking bags from a very polite man who wishes you a good evening before leaving.

With a pounding heart, you put the red bags down in front of Aaron. He reads the name of the brand on them, and his eyes widen.

"What on earth did you get me?"

"Just open it." You tell him impatiently.

"Okay, okay." He has a bright smile on his face.

As he carefully gets out all three boxes, you explain: "I wanted you to have something for our engagement as well, and since you cannot wear a ring all the time, I found an alternative."

"Which one should I open first?"

You push the largest one towards him. His mouth falls open when he sees what's in it. Incredibly gentle, he lifts the watch.

"Do you like it?"

He looks up at you: "That's a rhetorical question, isn't it?" As Aaron puts the watch on, you notice the childlike expression on his face. Like he is opening presents on Christmas morning.

"Thank you." He leans over the table to give you a kiss. "I don't think I ever owned something this fine."

You lift your hand to point at your ring: "Me neither. Now open the rest."

Looking at his other presents, he shakes his head: "Babe, that's too much."

"No. It's not." You assure him. "Please, I can see you like them."

"Of course, I do." He mumbles, looking at the engraving on the cufflinks.

Eventually, he looks up and reiterates: "Thank you."

You smile brightly and get up to put your arms around him from behind and kiss his temple. Then you whisper: "Me diving such a hard bargain with the director really paid off."

Aaron shakes his head in disbelieve before turning it to press a kiss to your lips.

With your arms still around him, he looks up at you and asks: "Is that what you did this morning?"

"What gave it away?"

"I could tell that you weren't telling the whole truth, and I saw the excitement in your eyes."

"You knew that I lied?"

"I knew that there was something else going on."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

Aaron chuckles and gets up: "I didn't want to ruin it."

"That's very sweet of you."

"It doesn't even compare to how sweet you are for getting me these gifts."

"You're my fiancée." You state as an explanation while Aaron puts everything except for the watch back into its boxes. He's very delicate with it, even though the boxes are ridiculously small in his large hands.

You using that word reminds you of the fact that you haven't planned anything yet. You were just floating on the amazing feeling of being engaged and promising each other a future together.

"I thought maybe I could use a few of my vacation days." He starts.

„Which I assume you have an ungodly amount of?" You chime in.

He nods: "Oh, yeah. And maybe we could then take our time planning everything."

"We agree that it won't be an ostentatious event?"

"No, I was more thinking about charmingly intimate."

You kiss him: "Then we agree."

- - - - - - - - -

When you break the kiss, Aaron stops you by grabbing your hair. Your eyes widen in surprise. He starts to kiss the side of your neck. You chuckle: "What are you doing?"

"Seducing my fiancée." He answers deadpan.

Knowing how much it turns you on, Aaron gently bites your shoulder and moans into your ear. His hands wander all over your body. For a moment, they stop at your boobs to squeeze them.

Then his right one wanders down to your crotch, and he ever so lightly pushes against your core. You squirm. After pressing a wet kiss to your mouth, he asks with a breathy voice: "Is it working?"

"God, yes, it is." You tell him, already opening your belt.

Unceremoniously, you throw away your shoes and pants as Aaron hastily takes off his clothes as well. Quickly, he puts the bags on the ground to make space on the table.

After spitting into your hand, you start to stroke his dick. It makes him groan and corner you between him and the table. You sit on it, still having fun with his cock, making Aaron quiver when you run your thumb over the tip of it.

When he falls to his knees in front of you, you have to let go. Determined, he pushes your legs apart. Your heartbeat speeds up in excitement. Without further ado, Aaron buries his face between your thighs, scratching the insides with his beard.

"Good Lord." You breathe out when he starts to circle your clit with his tongue.

"Hm." He hums, the vibrations of his voice causing your skin to tingle. "You like that darling?"

"Yes." You nod even though he cannot see it.

Leaning back, you put your arms behind you to support yourself. Not thinking about the glasses on the other side of the table, you knock one of them over, spilling wine everywhere. You curse and Aaron's head shoots up.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I just-"

He stands up, and observes the red wine all over the table, dripping to the floor. With a smug look on his face, he chides you playfully: "Look at the mess you made."

Before you can reply or have the chance to get up to get a towel. Aaron puts his hand on your chest and pushes you down. With a splash, you fall into the pool of wine, getting it all over your back.

"Are you serious?" You ask but laugh out loud. As you're laying on your back, you run your finger over the table and pick up some of the wine to lick it off.

Hearing Aaron putting on the condom he probably had in his pants, you sit up, the other glass of wine in your hand.

When he positioned himself between your legs, you tell him: "It's good wine." Then you splash the wine onto his chest. He lets out a high-pitched laugh: "Are you serious?"

"Just as serious as you." You tell him smugly, putting the glass back down, as far away as you can reach. Leaning towards him, you lick some of the wine that's slowly dripping down his torso off his chest.

He grabs your face and presses a kiss to your lips, tasting the wine on them. With a groan, he pushes you back down, your back getting covered in wine a second time.

Locking your legs around him, you push him towards your entrance.

A mixture of a moan and a whimper escapes your lips when he pushes himself all the way into you. "Fuck." Aaron groans.

You extent your arm and smear the wine from his chest up to his shoulders and down his arms. While starting to fuck you hard, he retaliates by covering his hand in the wine that you spilled on the table and covers your boobs and neck in them before holding two fingers to your lips. You open them willingly and suck on his fingers, swirling your tongue around them to get all the wine off. It makes Aaron's hips stutter. With a pop, you let go of them and lay your head back down on the table as your hair is already drenched anyways.

Apparently, the visual of you spread out on the table, covered in wine, is a major turn on for Aaron, because he tells you: "This is so hot." You can only agree by taking one of his hands that is resting on your hip into yours. He intertwines his fingers with yours and speeds up his movements.

Angling his pelvis upwards, he manages to stretch you even wider, hitting your g-spot with every thrust. It elicits a loud moan out of you, followed by several praises.

"Harder, please." You ask him.

His voice is husky when he replies: "Anything for you."

Leaning down to lick the wine off your boobs, he slams into you with hard thrusts. Prying your eyes open, you look at him. His lips are tinted red, his hair disheveled and the red liquid that ran down his chest left traces along his muscles, accentuating them.

"My god, how are you real?" You breathe out.

A smile spreads on Aaron's face as his head falls back and he indulges in the sensation of being inside you. You can tell from the way his jaw clenches that he's close to his orgasm.

The steady stimulation has you right on edge as well. You just want to…

"Look at me." You order.

His eyes shoot open. The light above the table reflects in them, making them look like they are sparkling. Entranced by the visual, you forget anything around you. He puts his hand around your neck. He cannot really squeeze because the wine made it slippery. But it's enough to add stimulation into this already intoxicating mix.

The taste of wine on your tongue, your jaw hanging open, you stare into his eyes.

"I'm cumming." You breathe out.

Aaron's grip on your hips tightens and he hardens his thrusts to fuck you over the edge. When you clench around him, he falls over, resting his forehead on your chest. Burying your hand in his hair, you moan into his ear.

Eyes now closed you concentrate of the warmth spreading through your body while stroking the back of his neck and whispering: "Please, cum for me."

Aaron groans and you feel his thrusts lose any rhythm. When he stops moving, you let go of him and lay back down on the table with a sigh.

After pulling out of you and getting rid of the condom, Aaron lifts you off the table. Still hazy, you don't really know what he's doing until you realize that he carried you upstairs and into the bathroom. He lets you down and you use the wall of the shower as leverage to keep standing. Quickly, he gets in the shower as well and turns on the water. He makes sure it's warm enough before he starts to wash the wine off your skin.

"Lean your head back, darling." He tells you. When you do, he gently starts to scrub your hair as well.

You hum in appreciation as you slowly get out of your foggy-brained state. One arm around Aaron's torso, you keep your eyes closed as he starts to lather you and himself in shampoo.

When you are able to form a full sentence again, you ask: "Do you remember when you told me that you loved me while we were in the shower?"

Aaron chuckles and kisses you wet cheek: "Of course. I also remember panicking when I thought you didn't feel the same."

You nod, lifting your hand with the ring on it: "Funny, isn't it?"

He gently grabs your chin and makes you lift your head so that he can kiss your lips. Eyes still glazed over, you look at him full of wonder.

"That look in your eyes is going to be the end of me." He tells you. "It shifts gravity towards you." You chuckle, running your hands up and down his upper arms.

"I mean it."

"I know you do." You press a kiss to his lips. "It's one of the many reasons I love you, Aaron Hotchner."

- - - - - - - - -

After cleaning up the mess in the living room, Aaron proposed that he will cook dinner. Just as he opens the fridge, the doorbell rings again. You look at each other surprised.

"I didn't order anything." You state.

"Me neither."

Confused about who would come here this late, you walk to the front door. Surely, if there was a case, Garcia would have called. Neither of your phone rang. Maybe a neighbor?

When you open the door the person you probably expected last looks at you with a serious face.

"I need to talk to you."

You step aside to let her in.

"Who is it?" Aaron calls after he heard you close the door.

His question is answered a few seconds later, and he blurts out: "Strauss? What are you doing here?"

"There has been an incident." She tells you.

Before she can continue, Aaron states: "You could have called."

"No." Her face is so stern; it honestly starts to scare you.

You go to stand next to Aaron: "What's going on?"

Strauss takes a deep breath before she tells you: "Tim Foyet escaped from prison."

Your legs almost give out beneath you and Aaron has to put his arm around you. You feel sick. Your head is spinning. Your abductor is walking around freely.

"He knows where I live." You whisper.

Since he went to prison, you didn't see any reason to move. You didn't even consider the possibility of him being a threat in the foreseeable future. Neither did Aaron.

"That's why I'm here. We will place you in witness protection until this is over."

"That's not necessary." You disagree. "I can help with the profile. I know him."

"He also knows you." Strauss replies. "It's a done deal. Witness protection or security holding, for your own good."

You feel like crying, eyes darting over Aaron's face who didn't say anything since Strauss broke the news.

"No!" You plead. "You cannot do this. I want to stay with Aaron."

"I will go with her." Aaron's dark voice cuts through the tension.

"I know you will." Strauss replies calmly. "I arranged transport for the both of you."

"You did?" Your eyes widen.

"Agent Hotchner is just a big of a target as you are. I believe that if he is removed from the situation as well, Foyet will get frustrated and slip up." Her eyes darting to the ring on your finger and back to your face, she adds: "And I'm not a monster."

"When will we leave?" You ask.

"Now." Aaron answer for Strauss. Switching into Agent-At-Work mode, he takes your hand to walk up the stairs with you. Over his shoulder, he tells Strauss: "We'll be outside in five minutes. Wait there."

You can barely keep up with what's going on. Just a minute ago, you were over the moon and now you are placed in witness protection?!

"Can we say goodbye to the team?"

"Pack a small bag. We will get everything we need. Just take your favorite things." He tells you instead of answering your question.

"How long will this take? Are we going to be informed on how the case is going?"

He's already putting his stuff he permanently has at your apartment in his go-bag.

"Aaron!"

His head shoots up: "I don't know. Please, hurry."

Suddenly, some sort of survival instinct takes over and you methodically start to pack a suitcase. Your favorite clothes, special jewelry and perfume that hold personal value to you. Then you throw your meds and creams you may need for your legs on top. Rushing downstairs, you get your two favorite books you have a first edition of and carefully place them between your clothes. When you go for your phone and laptop, Aaron stops you: "Leave it."

It breaks your heart to leave your work, your connection to your friends and colleagues behind. But you understand that you have to. With a tight feeling in your chest, you nod. Aaron takes the Cartier boxes with his presents in them and puts them in his bag. At least that you don't have to leave behind.

"Anything else?" He asks you. His demeanor is patient even though you see the stress in his eyes.

"I don't know." You breathe out, a tear running down your cheek. Aaron puts his hand on your face and wipes the tear away with his thumb.

"It will be fine." He assures you. Then he kisses your forehead and whispers: "We have to leave."

Sniffling, you nod and take one last look around. In the end, your eyes land on Aaron. He's coming with you. You don't have to be alone ever again, he told you. He's keeping his promise.

You grab his hand and make your way outside, leaving your keys and other personal belongings you would normally always take with you behind. In the hallway, though, Aaron grabs your cane. It makes you smile.

In front of your house three SUVs are waiting for you.

"They really sent the cavalry." You mumble.

"I would have given them hell for anything else." Aaron whispers back.

An Agent opens the door to the SUV in the middle for you. Strauss is sitting inside; she gives you a nod.

"Don't you want to go to your apartment?" You ask Aaron quietly.

He shakes his head: "Everything that's of value to me is here."

You smile at his cheesy reply. Even brighter when you realize that he actually means it.

With screeching tires, the cars speed off.

Strauss hands you passports and a dossier: "Your new life."