A/N: A new story for 2019...following the finale episode of CSI. GSR with a little something extra. Enjoy!

A Beautiful Enchantment

Chapter 1

Ten men huddled in the inflatable boat, shoulder to shoulder, holding the dark hoods they wore with pinched fingers or the press of their hands to keep the night wind from blowing the covering from their heads. They did not know each other, not yet, as the small boat snaked through the bay, avoiding a few small yachts and cruise vessels. Beyond these were other ships, silhouetted against the darkening sky with lights brighter than the stars.

No one on the yachts and ships paid attention to another small boat; dozens crisscrossed the bay from sunrise to sun set hauling tourists from ship to shore, from beach to boat.

The man handling the boat managed a smooth landing, slowing the motor so the front bumped into sand and nine of the men simply stepped into shallow water and easily walked to a narrow sandy beach.

By now, the sun had disappeared, darkness came quickly, and moonlight reflected on the sand to provide a path among the lounging sea lions that barely bothered to open an eye to these newest arrivals. The air was filled with the grunts and snores of these placid animals, unafraid of the two-legged things walking among them.

The group walked until sand disappeared against black rocks and the sea lion sounds soon disappeared. A new scurrying sound, the clawing of tiny crabs on rock, became as distinct as the snores of the sea lions as the men made their way across rough terrain. A few birds roosted along the rocks, reacting much as sea lions and small crabs to the late visitors—ignoring the intrusions by these dark-clothed visitors.

That the creatures were oddly indifferent in the presence of humans was well-documented since the discovery of these islands. There was no fear of men; the animals cared about mating and food, sunning and swimming. One theory explained the lack of wariness in the animals came from thousands of years without predators; or perhaps each animal looked at its fearless neighbor and decided to live the same way. If either of the theories was correct, the men did not care as they hiked in a determined method, showing no interest in the birds or sea lions or crabs. Their target was inland, away from the beach and black lava rocks.

An hour passed quickly as the group became mere shadows in moonlight moving across ground that changed from rocky coastline to grassland meadows. They came to several dense brambles of low growing plants but easily pushed onward, fear and panic non-existent as they continued their hike because the men, as the animals, had no real fear of discovery.

By the time the moon was high in the night sky, they reached their destination—an open pasture with a few scrubby trees. Quickly, they spread out, stooping to pick up dark objects about the size of dinner plates, and dropping these into sturdy cloth duffle bags. Each man carried two bags and when one appeared full, it was tied and placed on the ground while the second one was filled.

Not a word was spoken but each man thought about the ease of this job; quick money to be made with this one-night excursion. And they had no idea how much money would eventually be made by the sale of these prized reptiles; did not care as long as they received their cash as soon as these bags were passed to a waiting ship…

…Gil Grissom had given up on anything resembling a normal life with a wife, a family, a home; had decided he was born to be a loner, an outsider. The isolation of working alone had not bothered him; or so he told himself. Until he had returned to Las Vegas, was in the physical presence of the only woman he'd ever loved—and he had been speechless.

Now, months, later, he knew he was never meant to be alone. He had chosen a path and refused to admit his mistake; could not bring himself to acknowledge his own role in leaving his wife until he sat across from Heather Kessler and on an impulse, started talking. By then, it was too late. Sara had moved on, becoming the head of the crime lab.

And then, things changed. In a heartbeat—not a heartbeat, but in a few hours.

Sara had come to him. Dropping everything in her life, she'd found him; joined him on the boat and neither had ever looked back to what could have been.

Since that amazing cloudless day, his life had been happier than he could have imagined. He wanted to smile every awaking minute; he did laugh—often. He was happy. And in his happy state, he could remember his fear, his exhaustion, his painful thoughts. For years, he had thought something was wrong with him—wrong for thinking Sara was just a woman. She was off-limits, younger, attractive—and the prospect of pleasure such as he'd never experienced. Yet he had been drawn to her in a way that defied reason and that had scared the hell out of him. Even when he saw the desire in her eyes, he had been the one with willpower to back away.

Then, one nameless morning, after a long, mundane shift, she—the woman he had tried to ignore, rebuke, pretend to misunderstand the invitation in her eyes—had a dead battery. Her car would not move so he'd stayed with her until the tow truck arrived, taken her to the repair shop, and waited while she learned what needed to be done to her hybrid-multi-battery car.

Driving her home, she had been silent, looking out the window, her face turned away and something—some inner voice—told him she was crying. His fingers ached with the yearning to touch her. She was so beautiful.

When he stopped at her apartment, she had scrambled to find her door key before giving him a smile.

He blamed the smile.

His hand seemed to move without conscious thought to touch her face where a single tear was caught in her dark lashes. His thumb brushed it away and, suddenly, the yearning for her that he'd been so determinedly holding at bay swamped him like an ocean wave. He got the same sensations he'd experienced as a child playing on the California beach—a feeling of being knocked almost off his feet, staggering to catch his balance on shifting sand. And dear God, he wanted her.

It wasn't a thought or a decision; his high minded principles were forgotten as he reacted to a need that had been growing within him for years and had suddenly become bigger than he was.

As his mouth met hers—soft lips parting slightly—there were no alarm bells or warning whistles. The sensation of fine silk drenched in warm honey, he had thought. Sara, sweet, wonderful Sara who responded with fierce hunger, taking her cues from him. He remembered thinking he had to stop kissing her; he had to breathe. But her hands were in his hair while his fit perfectly around the beautiful, graceful column of her neck and that was the last rational thought that went through his head for some time.

They did get inside her apartment while fully clothed.

What followed was still a vivid experience in his mind. She felt perfect in his arms as if she'd been fashioned just for him. Right for him. In a daze, he'd assured her he would never hurt her. He had tasted every inch of her—trailed kisses in the wake of parting fabric as she cried and shuddered—and she had satisfied yearnings he had never realized he had…

A pale light had entered the room as he had reminisced and he realized he was stiff; not the uncomfortable, inflexibility of his body after being in one position. The other kind of stiff—he had a hard-on as rigid as a flag pole.

With a slight turn, the heaven he remembered—the soft-scented warmth of the woman he loved—filled his senses. As his hand circled her body, as he felt the soft ladder of her ribs beneath his fingertips, that sense of quiet awareness filled him again. And then his hand cupped her breast. When his thumb grazed her nipple, she moaned quietly, half-awake, and shifted to her back.

Sara whispered, "I thought you were awake."

A/N: If you enjoyed this chapter, leave us a comment! More to come! Thank you!