Title: Welcome Home, Handsome (1/1) (aka Elevator Smut)
Author: Andrea (abc3969@juno.com)
Rating: R
Pairing: While I might explore the potential of other duos on occasion, my heart will always return to Horatio/Calleigh; and so, to my own muse I must be true.
Disclaimer: Me no profit; you no sue.
Archive: Is anybody archiving these? If so, just say so. I'll come visit. Eve, Laeta, be my guests.
Spoilers: None
Summary: A telephone, an elevator and a glass block shower all play parts in a series of intimate encounters between Horatio and Calleigh.
~~~~~
Part I: Tucked In
Calleigh closed her eyes. Another desperately long lonely day of missing Horatio was coming to and end. Work had filled the hours, kept her hands busy completing tasks as if by rote; but still, her mind wandered, traveled miles and miles away to a leadership conference in Chicago. Wherever he was, there too, was her heart.
Undoubtedly, she enjoyed and excelled at her career. But without Horatio alongside her, it often became more like a depressingly necessary chore, serving the people of Miami. With him, her job was an adventure-every day new puzzles to solve, new mysteries to unravel.
Sometimes, though, the futility of it all overwhelmed her. Yes, the team could solve crimes, and yes, they could help apprehend criminals; but they couldn't restore the victims to life and the peace and comfort they offered the victims' families was only transitory. It was at those times that Horatio could speak softly to her, words not only from a leader and guide, but also from a lover and helpmate. Words hold the power to heal or to destroy, and his words were more effective than the most potent medicine on Earth for Calleigh.
The impromptu trilling of her bedside phone put an end to Calleigh's melancholy. Rolling toward the sound, she floated a silent wish Heavenward. A quick glance at the phone's digital display rewarded her faith.
"Well, hey there, Handsome. I was just thinking about you."
"Hello, Gorgeous. So I didn't wake you?" His voice filled the phone receiver and drifted across Calleigh's senses; her toes curled in anticipation.
"Nope. I've just been lying here missing you. How's the conference going?"
A bittersweet chuckle prefaced his answer. "Bureaucratic paradise. I've kissed enough behinds to last me a lifetime. It's about as exciting as watching paint dry, and less productive."
"That good, huh?" Calleigh laughed.
"Uh-huh. Especially the 'team-building' exercises they want us to take back and use with our people. We could show them a thing or two about teamwork." He sounded almost wistful. "It's getting pretty late there; you should probably get some sleep. I just called to tuck you in."
Those few tenderly evocative words melted her heart and sent warm shivers dancing along her spine.
"I miss you so much, Horatio. I miss having you lie next to me. I crave your touch; ache for it, even. I never thought I could need someone like this."
"I was born with a need for you, Calleigh."
Her shivering escalated along with her heart rate.
"Don't start something we can't finish, Lieutenant," she teasingly warned.
Horatio was more than prepared to meet her unspoken sensual challenge.
"Oh, Sweetheart, you underestimate me. Who says we can't finish?"
His devil-may-care innuendo and banter were priceless to her.
"Well then, by all means, do tell, you eager little beaver you," Calleigh urged playfully, her smile evident to him, even on the other end of the phone line.
"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you. I'm an excellent finisher." His gravelly chuckle gave away nary a hint of his own heightened tension and overpowering urge for completion.
"If I were lying beside you right now, I'd fluff your pillows and prop you against them. I imagine your hair would be up in either a loose ponytail or a single thick braid. That would have to change. As tenderly as possible, I would slide the band away, fingering the strands to form a cascade over your shoulders. I love your hair, Cal. I love the feel of it in my hands and the silky blanket it forms on my chest when we cuddle."
Lord, but that man was a true romantic. Calleigh had been entranced instantly by his words, so she was surprised to look down and find herself propped against the pillows with her own hand slowly combing through her tresses, just as he had suggested he might do.
Noticing that she was being much too quiet for his taste, Horatio ventured a question.
"You still with me, Gorgeous?"
"Ummmm," came her muzzy-brained reply.
"Good. Very good. Just checking," he grinned, pleased with his progress. "So, where were we? Oh, yes, your hair. After I'd looked my fill, I'd begin peppering your hairline with slow, lingering kisses that would meander over your face, stopping only briefly at each eyelid and at the bridge of your nose. I'd indulge myself by nipping at both your earlobes, since I have found them to be sweet and succulent, better than the ripest oranges in the grove. Then I'd move lower to your jaw line. I discovered fairly quickly how ticklish you are there. I'd take my time meting out the sweetest torture."
Calleigh involuntarily squirmed and tucked her ear into her shoulder trying to avoid the merciless assault she swore she could feel through the phone. She uttered a low moan of pleasure that Horatio heard and savored. No way he was stopping now. She was in for the duration, and oh, what a ride it would be.
"By then, I'd have made my way down both sides of your neck, leaving a trail of soft, dewy kisses. When I reached the collar of your silk robe, I would waste little time divesting you of that bothersome piece of fabric- it's beautiful and all, but much more appealing pooled on the floor than wrapped around your alluringly fabulous body."
Calleigh felt herself blush from head to toe, but it was a good blush, a surge of purely feminine pride rather than of discomfort.
"So I can stop shopping at 'Satin and Lace' now, is that what you're telling me?" she sassed in a husky tone.
"Touché, my dear. And I'll leave that decision entirely up to you. But, I will say, I don't need frilly lingerie, I just need you."
Delighted by his response, she graced him with her full-bloom Southern accent, "My, my, Handsome, aren't we the sentimental one tonight?"
He turned serious for just a moment then, putting their game on hold in favor of complete honesty and truth. "Not sentimental, Calleigh, just totally and utterly bewitched by you; everything about you fascinates me. I intend to spend the rest of my life exploring every facet of you, not just the physical, but the emotional, the whimsical, the professional and the spiritual."
Stunned by his admission, Calleigh was at a loss for words. A slow, lazy trail of happy tears wound its way down her cheeks.
"God, you're amazing," she professed breathily.
"Together, we're magical. That's a given. You complete me, Calleigh; it took me a while, but I finally realized it and accept it whole-heartedly. You make me who I was meant to be."
"And you made me see who I am.someone worthy of love and affection-your love and affection, no less. That's a gift I'll cherish forever, Horatio." Calleigh could hardly speak, a fresh flow of tears hindering her inflection.
"Okay, enough with the schmaltzy stuff; I'm on a mission here and you're distracting me." Horatio was back on track, ready to begin his seductive assault anew.
"I'm the best distraction you'll ever have, Handsome."
Horatio conceded the point with grace, but continued on unerringly.
"Let's see. At this point you would now be undressed, if I'm not mistaken," he rejoined his story already in progress.
"And I wouldn't stand for my being the only one in that condition. I'd be as helpful as could be and assist you out of your own clothes, I'm sure." she giggled.
"Why, thank you." He reveled in her willingness not only to play along, but also in her obvious enjoyment at doing so.
"Horatio, you don't think that I'd merely lie back and give you free reign without at least attempting to reciprocate, do you?"
Since her question seemed sincere, Horatio rushed to dispel that idea.
"Oh, I have no doubt you'd be a fully active participant, Gorgeous. In fact, I'm quite certain you'd be equally anxious and proactive."
"Perfect. Just want to make sure we're on the same page here," she smiled.
"Chapter and verse, my love. Chapter and verse."
"As I recall, we were both gloriously naked, lying side by side on my bed." Calleigh cleverly brought him back to task.
"Now who's eager, Detective?" His confident chuckle told her he had never strayed far from the course.
"Hey, no hedging, you were on a mission, remember?" she gently reminded him, just a hint of quiet desperation coloring her tone.
"Yes, ma'am," he answered in mock salute. "God, I wish I was back there so I really could touch you." Now, his voice had taken on an edgy quality, just short of beseeching. "Next, I'd spend a great deal of time simply exploring you, letting my hands roam freely, investigating each nook and cranny, all the hills, valleys and plains of your body. Then, I'm sure my touch alone wouldn't satisfy me, wouldn't quench my desire for you. Inevitably, my lips would find their way to your skin."
Calleigh's hands were not nearly a sufficient substitute, but for now, they would have to do. She dragged her open palms slowly, reverently down her neck, over her shoulders and around each breast, her fingertips just meeting in the valley between them. She trapped each nipple in her hands, applying sweet pressure with her nimble thumbs. When the taut peaks stood at attention, their surfaces rough and pebbled, she slid her hands down to the flat plain of her belly and fleetingly tickled the rim of her bellybutton with her fingernail. A soft sigh escaped her lips only to be captured in Horatio's ear. She moved downward still, to the slightly rounded ridge just above her pulsating center. She rested her hands there, locking her fingers, forming a protective shield over the spot on her body that she knew Horatio adored best.
"You're there, aren't you?" he groaned, his own passion coiling tightly, longing for release, but striving nonetheless for her fulfillment in unison with his own. "Someday soon, I promise you. You'll carry our baby within you there, and every day I'll hold you there and kiss that spot, sending my love to our child."
Upon witnessing his vow, her heart swelled with longing and her empty womb contracted powerfully, as if anticipating the coming visitor.
"Oh my God, Horatio. This is too much. You have to stop," she pleaded, her emotions riding the rails of a tumultuous roller coaster, her breath short and her heart racing, ready to burst free of her chest at only the slightest provocation more.
"No, Gorgeous. It's not too much. It's not nearly enough. Stay with me. I'm right here. Let it happen, Calleigh. I'm here. I'm right here."
Helpless to resist the call of her own body or Horatio's loving entreaty, Calleigh did as he had asked; she scooted her hands over her mound and pushed past the sensitized folds to make quick, electrifying contact with her very core. After only a few glancing touches, her lower body arched off the bed and her world reduced down to simple physical pleasure and sensation. She held her eyes tightly closed, but even that couldn't prevent thousands of light prisms from firing behind her eyelids. Her powerful exclamation of release was drowned out by an equally forceful groan carried across the wires, but undiminished by distance. A few heartbeats passed in silence, their two worlds having merged, now struggling to disengage.
"Calleigh, baby, you still there?" Horatio asked, his concern quickly displaced by immense satisfaction and joy.
"Uh-huh. I'm here; I think," she whispered low, honesty tempering every word.
As their passions ebbed, they traded nonsensical expressions of love and devotion that their hearts understood, even if their ears hadn't.
An urgent plea broke the stillness...
"Horatio, please tell me that tomorrow, I won't have to do that alone again." Calleigh wasn't sure whether she should laugh or cry.
"You have my word, Gorgeous. Tomorrow this will happen again...together this time. Count on it." Horatio reassured her with determined intensity.
"Go-od," she tried to say, the single word interrupted by an unbidden yawn.
"Well, obviously my work here is done." Horatio laughed contentedly.
"Ha-ha, Funny Man. Just you wait until tomorrow. You won't know what hit you. Oh, and by the way, I'll never doubt it again--you truly are an excellent finisher!"
"Go to sleep, Gorgeous. I need you good and rested up for my homecoming."
~~~~~
Part II: The Ride of Your Life
Calleigh spent the entire following day wound tighter than an eight-day clock.
Her concentration was completely gone. Every shot she fired at the range missed the mark and skidded off the target. All the reports she tried to type looked like unrecognizable gibberish, more a collection of typos than strings of actual words. She watched the clock until she thought she'd go insane-she could feel each second ticking away in her chest, overpowering her heartbeat.
She had never felt so anxious in all her life. If she could just hold on a little longer, everything would be fine. Horatio would be back in her arms and they could truly be together. They could express themselves up close and in person, no need for the phone this time.
'Good things come to those who wait,' she reminded herself; and 'patience is a virtue.' Well, as far as Calleigh was concerned, 'virtue' was highly overrated. What she needed was a big 'ole dose of Horatio-lovin' and she needed it NOW. Last night's little 'tuck you in' phone call had merely whetted her appetite and she meant it completely when she'd said, "you won't know what hit you." She was bound and determined to give Horatio the welcome home to end all welcome homes-he'd forever after have to think twice about going away and leaving her any time soon. Then again, she'd have to be careful that the reunion wasn't too good-so good he'd leave just to have the opportunity to experience the homecoming once more.
Horatio's flight from Chicago was originally scheduled to land at three o'clock, but a vicious storm brewing over Lake Michigan had delayed the departure. Calleigh had already called to verify the arrival twice, but with each call, the time was pushed back further and further.
Finally, at 5:30, Calleigh could stand it no more. She powered down her computer, grabbed her purse, slung it over her arm and slapped off the lights in her lab. She would just go home and wait for Horatio to call her to pick him up.
She stabbed the "down" button beside the elevator and stood waiting, not sure whether to cross or uncross her arms, tap her left foot or her right, so she did it all in quick, agitated succession.
The elevator "dinged" announcing the car's arrival and the doors slowly slid open. As was her habit, along with most everyone else, Calleigh didn't immediately look up when stepping through the doors. The soft, yet commanding sound of a man clearing his throat brought Calleigh's attention front and center. She hastily blinked away her surprise, but couldn't prevent a startled gasp from escaping her lips. There he was, leaning rather casually against the back handrail of the elevator car. The royal blue dress shirt Calleigh loved to see him wear registered in her brain for a split second. The carnal thoughts she had about that shirt alone could fuel her fantasies for weeks, but the man wearing it was the fantasy come to life.
"Oh, Horatio," she half sighed, half moaned, launching herself at him.
He managed to extend his arms just before she collapsed against his chest. He fought to hold her still in order to greet her properly, but Calleigh was much too frenetic, intent on devouring him with kisses and touches.
Never one to deny the woman of his fantasies her desires he gave in willingly and simply held onto her until the furor faded away.
Neither one had yet chosen a floor, so the car hung motionless, its door still gaping opened.
"Why didn't you call me, Horatio? I wanted to pick you up at the airport!" She was only mildly disappointed.
"I know. I just thought I'd surprise you instead." Horatio smiled and stroked her hair.
"Well, I'm afraid the joke's on you, Funny Man, because you're the one who's gonna be surprised."
She winked lasciviously and flashed him an impish grin as she pivoted calmly toward the button panel and pulled the "Emergency Stop" lever. Since she didn't push the "Fire Department Call" button, no alarms sounded; the car merely became a puppet suspended from strings Calleigh now controlled. The doors drifted closed in desultory fashion, enveloping the couple in their own private grotto of pleasure.
Wagging her finger temptingly at Horatio, Calleigh attempted to beckon him into her embrace, but he remained steadfastly in place, ever mindful of office decorum.
He tried to reach past her to set the elevator back into motion, but Calleigh caught his hand midway and intertwined her fingers with his, effectively putting an end to his efforts.
Calleigh peered up at him with deceptively demure eyes and purred, "Ah-ah- ah, Funny Man, don't think you're getting out of here so fast. I'm not finished with my 'hello' yet."
She beamed a devastatingly beautiful smile at him just before she took hold of his lapels and propelled them both backward once again to the rear of the car.
Keeping her word, Calleigh went about the business of well and truly welcoming Horatio home. Before he even had time to think, she had fastened her mouth to his jaw while simultaneously clamoring to remove his jacket and wrapping one leg around him to achieve body-to-body contact. She used the back of his knee as leverage to remove one of her shoes, then reached down and removed the other shoe, tossing it over her shoulder. It bounced off the elevator doors with a dull 'thud' and fell unnoticed to the ground.
Calleigh's thoroughly enchanting onslaught of kisses was a carefully calculated exaction of Horatio's unconditional surrender. Without thought or reservation Horatio relinquished himself to her, lock, stock and barrel, quickly deciding that wherever she would lead, he would follow. With Calleigh so enticingly nibbling on his earlobe, it was easy for him to tuck professionalism away temporarily.
Immersing himself in the moment, Horatio pulled slightly away from her to look her more fully in the eye for the first time since their encounter began. Calleigh was slightly miffed at the rebuff, but Horatio moved quickly to placate her. His eyes lit up with a devilish glint all their own just as he breathed out an almost feral groan of resignation and pulled her face toward him, keeping one hand firmly at the back of her head and the other latched to the small of her back, locking her in the warm cocoon of his embrace.
Her hands wandered over his neck and shoulders, impatiently working loose the knot in his silk tie and tugging his shirt open. Within seconds, they became a tangle of arms and legs, one indiscernible from the other.
Horatio grasped the clip in Calleigh's hair and slid it free. He neatly deposited the clip in her blazer pocket and then set about pulling the jacket from her shoulders. The more he tugged, the further trapped her arms became, resulting in commingled sighs of frustration and peels of uninhibited laughter. Calleigh made fast work of disentangling herself from the garment and casting it aside. Now unencumbered, the pair reconnected and continued their sensual explorations.
In short order, Calleigh's blouse was unbuttoned and hanging uselessly on her frame. Moving with both grace and swiftness, Horatio snapped open the front clasp of her bra and pushed the fabric away to reveal her chest, rising and falling with every labored breath. A lone trickle of perspiration wound its way from her hairline, down her neck and over her collarbone. Before it could reach the valley between her breasts, Horatio leaned in and lapped it up, punctuating the act with a moist lick to the swell of one peak. Calleigh held him to herself and threw her head back, meeting the paneled wall of the elevator with an echoing 'thump.' No pain registered; only pleasure-remarkable, unrestrained pleasure. Calleigh ached to have him more fully on her, inside her, but they were still only relatively undressed, and her passion was not so overriding that their current locale went forgotten.
Actually making love then and there was not a practical consideration, but they could get damned close. In a last ditch effort to achieve a modicum of the intimacy she craved, Calleigh ground her hips wantonly to his and thrust her thigh to his groin, dragging it slowly over the hard length of him, causing Horatio to gasp out a strangled groan.
Just then, the harsh drone of a buzzer sounded from the elevator panel and a disjointed voice called out, "Building Maintenance. Is everyone okay in there? The elevator seems to be stuck. We'll have you out of there in no time."
Calleigh buried her face in Horatio's chest and groaned dejectedly. As if only just then realizing their position, the couple went into hyper-drive, racing to redress and right themselves before the doors came open again.
Horatio buttoned up, leaving the top button undone and shoved his tie into his pocket. He threw his jacket over one shoulder and attempted to help Calleigh with her own buttons. Together they fumbled over the tiny plastic disks, but the extra pair of hands only made Calleigh more nervous than she had been already. She playfully slapped his hands away and finished the task alone. Horatio took that opportunity to cradle her face in his hands and, after dropping a quick, yet thorough kiss to her lips, whispered, "That was some 'hello' Gorgeous."
The elevator 'dinged' once again. As the doors spread apart, they came promptly upon the uniform-clad maintenance man standing at the ready on the other side. Calleigh took hold of Horatio's shirtsleeve and urged him forward.
"Excuse us," she grinned politely as they passed the technician.
The duo beat a hasty path to Calleigh's car and hurriedly made the short trip to Horatio's condo. Preliminaries completed, Calleigh was primed to make good on her vow that he wouldn't know what hit him.
~~~~~
Part III: Shower Me with Love
The trail of haphazardly discarded daywear strewn from his front door down the hall to his bedroom betrayed Horatio's penchant for an orderly, methodical universe.
Calleigh would have been perfectly content to end their trek at the master bed, but Horatio had other notions.
"I've been sitting in airports for too long.I need a shower."
Her crestfallen expression might have caused him to laugh if he weren't already enveloped in a hazy cloud of desire that hid all things trivial from his purview. She flashed him a girlish pout, meant to taunt and tantalize more than to communicate displeasure.
As he made his way into the bathroom he called over his shoulder rakishly, "Are you coming?"
Releasing a delighted giggle she could not suppress, Calleigh whispered lowly, "I certainly hope so," but said aloud "Right behind you Funny Man." And with that, she strolled through the door and approached the glass block shower, already steaming and buzzing with the sounds of water jets hitting their target and careening to the tile below. She carefully opened the door just far enough to allow her entrance without letting a torrent of water flood the bathroom floor.
Horatio was relaxing under the pounding jets with his back to her, soap bar in hand, gently lathering his chest. As he did so, the muscles in his back registered his every move in fascinating detail. Calleigh moved in close behind him, spooning herself against him, her chest lightly brushing his moistened skin. Horatio moved to turn around, but Calleigh stopped him mid- step, urging him to face the wall rather than her. She reached deftly under his arms and around him to take hold of the washcloth he'd been using and began her own special brand of bathing-a rollicking hit and miss journey over his body, inspiring heat and passion more than cleanliness.
Calleigh was pleased to no end when she noticed that Horatio's breathing had quickly gone erratic. She appreciated how he visibly fought the impulse to turn around and ravish her, but seemed to understand instinctively that she needed to be in the driver's seat this time.
He relinquished his safekeeping to her capable hands and surrendered to the comfort of freefall into weightlessness, not a care in the world, save Calleigh's touch. Once her nimble hands had made short work of cleansing him from head to toe, she dropped the washcloth to the floor and reached above them for the shampoo in the shower caddy. Bottle in hand, she slid effortlessly around Horatio's bulk and positioned herself in front of him.
Every other time they indulged in a shower-for-two, the end result was a cursory bath followed by Horatio's washing Calleigh's hair, and culminating with the main event in the bedroom. Calleigh was determined that this time be different. She slowly worked the shampoo into a sudsy mass atop his head and finished with a firm, yet achingly gentle massage of his temples.
Until now, Horatio's arms had been hanging limply at his sides in total relaxation and deference to Calleigh's control of the encounter. But now, he could stand it no more. He had to touch her. He wrapped his arms snugly around her waist and clasped his hands together at the small of her back, trapping her within, and proceeded to drag his thumbs lazily along her spine, eliciting a breathless sigh from Calleigh.
She wasn't quite ready to give in to his advances, so she thought for barely a second before she mischievously reached up and made spiky little horns in the lather.
"Oh look," she teased, "I caught the Red Devil by the horns!"
Horatio groaned and lunged under the shower spray, crushing Calleigh against him and engaging her in a heated kiss that left no room for misinterpretation of his intent.
Long, dizzying seconds later, giving them both the chance to breathe, Horatio watched, transfixed, as the free-flowing rivulets on their bodies tumbled over and around each other in a delirious race to the floor. He began tracing and following their paths with eager, questing hands, his eyes closed, the better to concentrate and enjoy the experience. With the long-practiced skill of a sightless man, he partook of her textures, her worldly physicality. In a move that surprised but delighted Calleigh nonetheless, Horatio mimicked her actions in the elevator by sliding his thigh smoothly into the juncture of her thighs and drawing it over the sensitive folds. The pleasures of the flesh could no longer be denied.
Horatio lifted her left arm and wrapped it above her head, a halo of sorts. Without preamble, he began tracing her face, neck and upper body, in all its sodden glory, with his own hands and finally with his lips. It fleetingly registered in Calleigh's preoccupied mind that Horatio was reenacting their phone call from the night before. She closed her eyes against the onslaught of emotion the image brought. He was doing just as he said he would and making sure she wasn't alone the next time they made love.
He purposefully maneuvered them to the shower wall and uttering a growl of determination, he made the ultimate connection, pushing inside her supple, welcoming depths. Calleigh's gasp of fulfillment and gratitude was his reward.
With a mastery over her flesh that only he could possess, a skill borne of innumerable unions and scores of unchecked fantasies, Horatio milked her body of its every response, each of her sighs proof of her surrender, every twitch and moan evidence of his craftsmanship.
His absence from her lent itself to a joyous and intense coupling, a long time in coming. As they came down from their emotional highs, Calleigh kissed the tip of Horatio's nose and whispered, "Welcome home, Handsome."
~fin~
Author: Andrea (abc3969@juno.com)
Rating: R
Pairing: While I might explore the potential of other duos on occasion, my heart will always return to Horatio/Calleigh; and so, to my own muse I must be true.
Disclaimer: Me no profit; you no sue.
Archive: Is anybody archiving these? If so, just say so. I'll come visit. Eve, Laeta, be my guests.
Spoilers: None
Summary: A telephone, an elevator and a glass block shower all play parts in a series of intimate encounters between Horatio and Calleigh.
~~~~~
Part I: Tucked In
Calleigh closed her eyes. Another desperately long lonely day of missing Horatio was coming to and end. Work had filled the hours, kept her hands busy completing tasks as if by rote; but still, her mind wandered, traveled miles and miles away to a leadership conference in Chicago. Wherever he was, there too, was her heart.
Undoubtedly, she enjoyed and excelled at her career. But without Horatio alongside her, it often became more like a depressingly necessary chore, serving the people of Miami. With him, her job was an adventure-every day new puzzles to solve, new mysteries to unravel.
Sometimes, though, the futility of it all overwhelmed her. Yes, the team could solve crimes, and yes, they could help apprehend criminals; but they couldn't restore the victims to life and the peace and comfort they offered the victims' families was only transitory. It was at those times that Horatio could speak softly to her, words not only from a leader and guide, but also from a lover and helpmate. Words hold the power to heal or to destroy, and his words were more effective than the most potent medicine on Earth for Calleigh.
The impromptu trilling of her bedside phone put an end to Calleigh's melancholy. Rolling toward the sound, she floated a silent wish Heavenward. A quick glance at the phone's digital display rewarded her faith.
"Well, hey there, Handsome. I was just thinking about you."
"Hello, Gorgeous. So I didn't wake you?" His voice filled the phone receiver and drifted across Calleigh's senses; her toes curled in anticipation.
"Nope. I've just been lying here missing you. How's the conference going?"
A bittersweet chuckle prefaced his answer. "Bureaucratic paradise. I've kissed enough behinds to last me a lifetime. It's about as exciting as watching paint dry, and less productive."
"That good, huh?" Calleigh laughed.
"Uh-huh. Especially the 'team-building' exercises they want us to take back and use with our people. We could show them a thing or two about teamwork." He sounded almost wistful. "It's getting pretty late there; you should probably get some sleep. I just called to tuck you in."
Those few tenderly evocative words melted her heart and sent warm shivers dancing along her spine.
"I miss you so much, Horatio. I miss having you lie next to me. I crave your touch; ache for it, even. I never thought I could need someone like this."
"I was born with a need for you, Calleigh."
Her shivering escalated along with her heart rate.
"Don't start something we can't finish, Lieutenant," she teasingly warned.
Horatio was more than prepared to meet her unspoken sensual challenge.
"Oh, Sweetheart, you underestimate me. Who says we can't finish?"
His devil-may-care innuendo and banter were priceless to her.
"Well then, by all means, do tell, you eager little beaver you," Calleigh urged playfully, her smile evident to him, even on the other end of the phone line.
"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you. I'm an excellent finisher." His gravelly chuckle gave away nary a hint of his own heightened tension and overpowering urge for completion.
"If I were lying beside you right now, I'd fluff your pillows and prop you against them. I imagine your hair would be up in either a loose ponytail or a single thick braid. That would have to change. As tenderly as possible, I would slide the band away, fingering the strands to form a cascade over your shoulders. I love your hair, Cal. I love the feel of it in my hands and the silky blanket it forms on my chest when we cuddle."
Lord, but that man was a true romantic. Calleigh had been entranced instantly by his words, so she was surprised to look down and find herself propped against the pillows with her own hand slowly combing through her tresses, just as he had suggested he might do.
Noticing that she was being much too quiet for his taste, Horatio ventured a question.
"You still with me, Gorgeous?"
"Ummmm," came her muzzy-brained reply.
"Good. Very good. Just checking," he grinned, pleased with his progress. "So, where were we? Oh, yes, your hair. After I'd looked my fill, I'd begin peppering your hairline with slow, lingering kisses that would meander over your face, stopping only briefly at each eyelid and at the bridge of your nose. I'd indulge myself by nipping at both your earlobes, since I have found them to be sweet and succulent, better than the ripest oranges in the grove. Then I'd move lower to your jaw line. I discovered fairly quickly how ticklish you are there. I'd take my time meting out the sweetest torture."
Calleigh involuntarily squirmed and tucked her ear into her shoulder trying to avoid the merciless assault she swore she could feel through the phone. She uttered a low moan of pleasure that Horatio heard and savored. No way he was stopping now. She was in for the duration, and oh, what a ride it would be.
"By then, I'd have made my way down both sides of your neck, leaving a trail of soft, dewy kisses. When I reached the collar of your silk robe, I would waste little time divesting you of that bothersome piece of fabric- it's beautiful and all, but much more appealing pooled on the floor than wrapped around your alluringly fabulous body."
Calleigh felt herself blush from head to toe, but it was a good blush, a surge of purely feminine pride rather than of discomfort.
"So I can stop shopping at 'Satin and Lace' now, is that what you're telling me?" she sassed in a husky tone.
"Touché, my dear. And I'll leave that decision entirely up to you. But, I will say, I don't need frilly lingerie, I just need you."
Delighted by his response, she graced him with her full-bloom Southern accent, "My, my, Handsome, aren't we the sentimental one tonight?"
He turned serious for just a moment then, putting their game on hold in favor of complete honesty and truth. "Not sentimental, Calleigh, just totally and utterly bewitched by you; everything about you fascinates me. I intend to spend the rest of my life exploring every facet of you, not just the physical, but the emotional, the whimsical, the professional and the spiritual."
Stunned by his admission, Calleigh was at a loss for words. A slow, lazy trail of happy tears wound its way down her cheeks.
"God, you're amazing," she professed breathily.
"Together, we're magical. That's a given. You complete me, Calleigh; it took me a while, but I finally realized it and accept it whole-heartedly. You make me who I was meant to be."
"And you made me see who I am.someone worthy of love and affection-your love and affection, no less. That's a gift I'll cherish forever, Horatio." Calleigh could hardly speak, a fresh flow of tears hindering her inflection.
"Okay, enough with the schmaltzy stuff; I'm on a mission here and you're distracting me." Horatio was back on track, ready to begin his seductive assault anew.
"I'm the best distraction you'll ever have, Handsome."
Horatio conceded the point with grace, but continued on unerringly.
"Let's see. At this point you would now be undressed, if I'm not mistaken," he rejoined his story already in progress.
"And I wouldn't stand for my being the only one in that condition. I'd be as helpful as could be and assist you out of your own clothes, I'm sure." she giggled.
"Why, thank you." He reveled in her willingness not only to play along, but also in her obvious enjoyment at doing so.
"Horatio, you don't think that I'd merely lie back and give you free reign without at least attempting to reciprocate, do you?"
Since her question seemed sincere, Horatio rushed to dispel that idea.
"Oh, I have no doubt you'd be a fully active participant, Gorgeous. In fact, I'm quite certain you'd be equally anxious and proactive."
"Perfect. Just want to make sure we're on the same page here," she smiled.
"Chapter and verse, my love. Chapter and verse."
"As I recall, we were both gloriously naked, lying side by side on my bed." Calleigh cleverly brought him back to task.
"Now who's eager, Detective?" His confident chuckle told her he had never strayed far from the course.
"Hey, no hedging, you were on a mission, remember?" she gently reminded him, just a hint of quiet desperation coloring her tone.
"Yes, ma'am," he answered in mock salute. "God, I wish I was back there so I really could touch you." Now, his voice had taken on an edgy quality, just short of beseeching. "Next, I'd spend a great deal of time simply exploring you, letting my hands roam freely, investigating each nook and cranny, all the hills, valleys and plains of your body. Then, I'm sure my touch alone wouldn't satisfy me, wouldn't quench my desire for you. Inevitably, my lips would find their way to your skin."
Calleigh's hands were not nearly a sufficient substitute, but for now, they would have to do. She dragged her open palms slowly, reverently down her neck, over her shoulders and around each breast, her fingertips just meeting in the valley between them. She trapped each nipple in her hands, applying sweet pressure with her nimble thumbs. When the taut peaks stood at attention, their surfaces rough and pebbled, she slid her hands down to the flat plain of her belly and fleetingly tickled the rim of her bellybutton with her fingernail. A soft sigh escaped her lips only to be captured in Horatio's ear. She moved downward still, to the slightly rounded ridge just above her pulsating center. She rested her hands there, locking her fingers, forming a protective shield over the spot on her body that she knew Horatio adored best.
"You're there, aren't you?" he groaned, his own passion coiling tightly, longing for release, but striving nonetheless for her fulfillment in unison with his own. "Someday soon, I promise you. You'll carry our baby within you there, and every day I'll hold you there and kiss that spot, sending my love to our child."
Upon witnessing his vow, her heart swelled with longing and her empty womb contracted powerfully, as if anticipating the coming visitor.
"Oh my God, Horatio. This is too much. You have to stop," she pleaded, her emotions riding the rails of a tumultuous roller coaster, her breath short and her heart racing, ready to burst free of her chest at only the slightest provocation more.
"No, Gorgeous. It's not too much. It's not nearly enough. Stay with me. I'm right here. Let it happen, Calleigh. I'm here. I'm right here."
Helpless to resist the call of her own body or Horatio's loving entreaty, Calleigh did as he had asked; she scooted her hands over her mound and pushed past the sensitized folds to make quick, electrifying contact with her very core. After only a few glancing touches, her lower body arched off the bed and her world reduced down to simple physical pleasure and sensation. She held her eyes tightly closed, but even that couldn't prevent thousands of light prisms from firing behind her eyelids. Her powerful exclamation of release was drowned out by an equally forceful groan carried across the wires, but undiminished by distance. A few heartbeats passed in silence, their two worlds having merged, now struggling to disengage.
"Calleigh, baby, you still there?" Horatio asked, his concern quickly displaced by immense satisfaction and joy.
"Uh-huh. I'm here; I think," she whispered low, honesty tempering every word.
As their passions ebbed, they traded nonsensical expressions of love and devotion that their hearts understood, even if their ears hadn't.
An urgent plea broke the stillness...
"Horatio, please tell me that tomorrow, I won't have to do that alone again." Calleigh wasn't sure whether she should laugh or cry.
"You have my word, Gorgeous. Tomorrow this will happen again...together this time. Count on it." Horatio reassured her with determined intensity.
"Go-od," she tried to say, the single word interrupted by an unbidden yawn.
"Well, obviously my work here is done." Horatio laughed contentedly.
"Ha-ha, Funny Man. Just you wait until tomorrow. You won't know what hit you. Oh, and by the way, I'll never doubt it again--you truly are an excellent finisher!"
"Go to sleep, Gorgeous. I need you good and rested up for my homecoming."
~~~~~
Part II: The Ride of Your Life
Calleigh spent the entire following day wound tighter than an eight-day clock.
Her concentration was completely gone. Every shot she fired at the range missed the mark and skidded off the target. All the reports she tried to type looked like unrecognizable gibberish, more a collection of typos than strings of actual words. She watched the clock until she thought she'd go insane-she could feel each second ticking away in her chest, overpowering her heartbeat.
She had never felt so anxious in all her life. If she could just hold on a little longer, everything would be fine. Horatio would be back in her arms and they could truly be together. They could express themselves up close and in person, no need for the phone this time.
'Good things come to those who wait,' she reminded herself; and 'patience is a virtue.' Well, as far as Calleigh was concerned, 'virtue' was highly overrated. What she needed was a big 'ole dose of Horatio-lovin' and she needed it NOW. Last night's little 'tuck you in' phone call had merely whetted her appetite and she meant it completely when she'd said, "you won't know what hit you." She was bound and determined to give Horatio the welcome home to end all welcome homes-he'd forever after have to think twice about going away and leaving her any time soon. Then again, she'd have to be careful that the reunion wasn't too good-so good he'd leave just to have the opportunity to experience the homecoming once more.
Horatio's flight from Chicago was originally scheduled to land at three o'clock, but a vicious storm brewing over Lake Michigan had delayed the departure. Calleigh had already called to verify the arrival twice, but with each call, the time was pushed back further and further.
Finally, at 5:30, Calleigh could stand it no more. She powered down her computer, grabbed her purse, slung it over her arm and slapped off the lights in her lab. She would just go home and wait for Horatio to call her to pick him up.
She stabbed the "down" button beside the elevator and stood waiting, not sure whether to cross or uncross her arms, tap her left foot or her right, so she did it all in quick, agitated succession.
The elevator "dinged" announcing the car's arrival and the doors slowly slid open. As was her habit, along with most everyone else, Calleigh didn't immediately look up when stepping through the doors. The soft, yet commanding sound of a man clearing his throat brought Calleigh's attention front and center. She hastily blinked away her surprise, but couldn't prevent a startled gasp from escaping her lips. There he was, leaning rather casually against the back handrail of the elevator car. The royal blue dress shirt Calleigh loved to see him wear registered in her brain for a split second. The carnal thoughts she had about that shirt alone could fuel her fantasies for weeks, but the man wearing it was the fantasy come to life.
"Oh, Horatio," she half sighed, half moaned, launching herself at him.
He managed to extend his arms just before she collapsed against his chest. He fought to hold her still in order to greet her properly, but Calleigh was much too frenetic, intent on devouring him with kisses and touches.
Never one to deny the woman of his fantasies her desires he gave in willingly and simply held onto her until the furor faded away.
Neither one had yet chosen a floor, so the car hung motionless, its door still gaping opened.
"Why didn't you call me, Horatio? I wanted to pick you up at the airport!" She was only mildly disappointed.
"I know. I just thought I'd surprise you instead." Horatio smiled and stroked her hair.
"Well, I'm afraid the joke's on you, Funny Man, because you're the one who's gonna be surprised."
She winked lasciviously and flashed him an impish grin as she pivoted calmly toward the button panel and pulled the "Emergency Stop" lever. Since she didn't push the "Fire Department Call" button, no alarms sounded; the car merely became a puppet suspended from strings Calleigh now controlled. The doors drifted closed in desultory fashion, enveloping the couple in their own private grotto of pleasure.
Wagging her finger temptingly at Horatio, Calleigh attempted to beckon him into her embrace, but he remained steadfastly in place, ever mindful of office decorum.
He tried to reach past her to set the elevator back into motion, but Calleigh caught his hand midway and intertwined her fingers with his, effectively putting an end to his efforts.
Calleigh peered up at him with deceptively demure eyes and purred, "Ah-ah- ah, Funny Man, don't think you're getting out of here so fast. I'm not finished with my 'hello' yet."
She beamed a devastatingly beautiful smile at him just before she took hold of his lapels and propelled them both backward once again to the rear of the car.
Keeping her word, Calleigh went about the business of well and truly welcoming Horatio home. Before he even had time to think, she had fastened her mouth to his jaw while simultaneously clamoring to remove his jacket and wrapping one leg around him to achieve body-to-body contact. She used the back of his knee as leverage to remove one of her shoes, then reached down and removed the other shoe, tossing it over her shoulder. It bounced off the elevator doors with a dull 'thud' and fell unnoticed to the ground.
Calleigh's thoroughly enchanting onslaught of kisses was a carefully calculated exaction of Horatio's unconditional surrender. Without thought or reservation Horatio relinquished himself to her, lock, stock and barrel, quickly deciding that wherever she would lead, he would follow. With Calleigh so enticingly nibbling on his earlobe, it was easy for him to tuck professionalism away temporarily.
Immersing himself in the moment, Horatio pulled slightly away from her to look her more fully in the eye for the first time since their encounter began. Calleigh was slightly miffed at the rebuff, but Horatio moved quickly to placate her. His eyes lit up with a devilish glint all their own just as he breathed out an almost feral groan of resignation and pulled her face toward him, keeping one hand firmly at the back of her head and the other latched to the small of her back, locking her in the warm cocoon of his embrace.
Her hands wandered over his neck and shoulders, impatiently working loose the knot in his silk tie and tugging his shirt open. Within seconds, they became a tangle of arms and legs, one indiscernible from the other.
Horatio grasped the clip in Calleigh's hair and slid it free. He neatly deposited the clip in her blazer pocket and then set about pulling the jacket from her shoulders. The more he tugged, the further trapped her arms became, resulting in commingled sighs of frustration and peels of uninhibited laughter. Calleigh made fast work of disentangling herself from the garment and casting it aside. Now unencumbered, the pair reconnected and continued their sensual explorations.
In short order, Calleigh's blouse was unbuttoned and hanging uselessly on her frame. Moving with both grace and swiftness, Horatio snapped open the front clasp of her bra and pushed the fabric away to reveal her chest, rising and falling with every labored breath. A lone trickle of perspiration wound its way from her hairline, down her neck and over her collarbone. Before it could reach the valley between her breasts, Horatio leaned in and lapped it up, punctuating the act with a moist lick to the swell of one peak. Calleigh held him to herself and threw her head back, meeting the paneled wall of the elevator with an echoing 'thump.' No pain registered; only pleasure-remarkable, unrestrained pleasure. Calleigh ached to have him more fully on her, inside her, but they were still only relatively undressed, and her passion was not so overriding that their current locale went forgotten.
Actually making love then and there was not a practical consideration, but they could get damned close. In a last ditch effort to achieve a modicum of the intimacy she craved, Calleigh ground her hips wantonly to his and thrust her thigh to his groin, dragging it slowly over the hard length of him, causing Horatio to gasp out a strangled groan.
Just then, the harsh drone of a buzzer sounded from the elevator panel and a disjointed voice called out, "Building Maintenance. Is everyone okay in there? The elevator seems to be stuck. We'll have you out of there in no time."
Calleigh buried her face in Horatio's chest and groaned dejectedly. As if only just then realizing their position, the couple went into hyper-drive, racing to redress and right themselves before the doors came open again.
Horatio buttoned up, leaving the top button undone and shoved his tie into his pocket. He threw his jacket over one shoulder and attempted to help Calleigh with her own buttons. Together they fumbled over the tiny plastic disks, but the extra pair of hands only made Calleigh more nervous than she had been already. She playfully slapped his hands away and finished the task alone. Horatio took that opportunity to cradle her face in his hands and, after dropping a quick, yet thorough kiss to her lips, whispered, "That was some 'hello' Gorgeous."
The elevator 'dinged' once again. As the doors spread apart, they came promptly upon the uniform-clad maintenance man standing at the ready on the other side. Calleigh took hold of Horatio's shirtsleeve and urged him forward.
"Excuse us," she grinned politely as they passed the technician.
The duo beat a hasty path to Calleigh's car and hurriedly made the short trip to Horatio's condo. Preliminaries completed, Calleigh was primed to make good on her vow that he wouldn't know what hit him.
~~~~~
Part III: Shower Me with Love
The trail of haphazardly discarded daywear strewn from his front door down the hall to his bedroom betrayed Horatio's penchant for an orderly, methodical universe.
Calleigh would have been perfectly content to end their trek at the master bed, but Horatio had other notions.
"I've been sitting in airports for too long.I need a shower."
Her crestfallen expression might have caused him to laugh if he weren't already enveloped in a hazy cloud of desire that hid all things trivial from his purview. She flashed him a girlish pout, meant to taunt and tantalize more than to communicate displeasure.
As he made his way into the bathroom he called over his shoulder rakishly, "Are you coming?"
Releasing a delighted giggle she could not suppress, Calleigh whispered lowly, "I certainly hope so," but said aloud "Right behind you Funny Man." And with that, she strolled through the door and approached the glass block shower, already steaming and buzzing with the sounds of water jets hitting their target and careening to the tile below. She carefully opened the door just far enough to allow her entrance without letting a torrent of water flood the bathroom floor.
Horatio was relaxing under the pounding jets with his back to her, soap bar in hand, gently lathering his chest. As he did so, the muscles in his back registered his every move in fascinating detail. Calleigh moved in close behind him, spooning herself against him, her chest lightly brushing his moistened skin. Horatio moved to turn around, but Calleigh stopped him mid- step, urging him to face the wall rather than her. She reached deftly under his arms and around him to take hold of the washcloth he'd been using and began her own special brand of bathing-a rollicking hit and miss journey over his body, inspiring heat and passion more than cleanliness.
Calleigh was pleased to no end when she noticed that Horatio's breathing had quickly gone erratic. She appreciated how he visibly fought the impulse to turn around and ravish her, but seemed to understand instinctively that she needed to be in the driver's seat this time.
He relinquished his safekeeping to her capable hands and surrendered to the comfort of freefall into weightlessness, not a care in the world, save Calleigh's touch. Once her nimble hands had made short work of cleansing him from head to toe, she dropped the washcloth to the floor and reached above them for the shampoo in the shower caddy. Bottle in hand, she slid effortlessly around Horatio's bulk and positioned herself in front of him.
Every other time they indulged in a shower-for-two, the end result was a cursory bath followed by Horatio's washing Calleigh's hair, and culminating with the main event in the bedroom. Calleigh was determined that this time be different. She slowly worked the shampoo into a sudsy mass atop his head and finished with a firm, yet achingly gentle massage of his temples.
Until now, Horatio's arms had been hanging limply at his sides in total relaxation and deference to Calleigh's control of the encounter. But now, he could stand it no more. He had to touch her. He wrapped his arms snugly around her waist and clasped his hands together at the small of her back, trapping her within, and proceeded to drag his thumbs lazily along her spine, eliciting a breathless sigh from Calleigh.
She wasn't quite ready to give in to his advances, so she thought for barely a second before she mischievously reached up and made spiky little horns in the lather.
"Oh look," she teased, "I caught the Red Devil by the horns!"
Horatio groaned and lunged under the shower spray, crushing Calleigh against him and engaging her in a heated kiss that left no room for misinterpretation of his intent.
Long, dizzying seconds later, giving them both the chance to breathe, Horatio watched, transfixed, as the free-flowing rivulets on their bodies tumbled over and around each other in a delirious race to the floor. He began tracing and following their paths with eager, questing hands, his eyes closed, the better to concentrate and enjoy the experience. With the long-practiced skill of a sightless man, he partook of her textures, her worldly physicality. In a move that surprised but delighted Calleigh nonetheless, Horatio mimicked her actions in the elevator by sliding his thigh smoothly into the juncture of her thighs and drawing it over the sensitive folds. The pleasures of the flesh could no longer be denied.
Horatio lifted her left arm and wrapped it above her head, a halo of sorts. Without preamble, he began tracing her face, neck and upper body, in all its sodden glory, with his own hands and finally with his lips. It fleetingly registered in Calleigh's preoccupied mind that Horatio was reenacting their phone call from the night before. She closed her eyes against the onslaught of emotion the image brought. He was doing just as he said he would and making sure she wasn't alone the next time they made love.
He purposefully maneuvered them to the shower wall and uttering a growl of determination, he made the ultimate connection, pushing inside her supple, welcoming depths. Calleigh's gasp of fulfillment and gratitude was his reward.
With a mastery over her flesh that only he could possess, a skill borne of innumerable unions and scores of unchecked fantasies, Horatio milked her body of its every response, each of her sighs proof of her surrender, every twitch and moan evidence of his craftsmanship.
His absence from her lent itself to a joyous and intense coupling, a long time in coming. As they came down from their emotional highs, Calleigh kissed the tip of Horatio's nose and whispered, "Welcome home, Handsome."
~fin~