Disclaimer: Don't own them, didn't create them, don't profit from them, etc. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Nick Stokes was completely distracted. As much as he tried, he just could not concentrate on the fiber he was looking at under the high powered microscope. For the umpteenth time his thoughts drifted to his partner on this case. Sara Sidle.

For the last several months, he and Sara had worked together on nearly every case they'd been assigned. Nick wasn't one to complain. He enjoyed Sara's company and she was a brilliant CSI. In short, they worked well together. They had become fast friends when Sara had moved to Vegas and at that time, he had thought about asking her out, but it had become apparent that she held a torch for their supervisor Gil Grissom, so he'd just been content to be her friend and kept his attraction to himself despite the fact that they flirted shamelessly with each other.

Ever since he'd learned a couple of months ago that Sara had asked Grissom out to dinner shortly after the lab explosion and he'd turned her down without any hesitation, Nick had sort of become Sara's sounding board. In addition to all the time they spent together working cases, logging many hours of overtime in the process, they began spending more and more time together outside of work. It seemed to Nick that slowly both he and Sara had become somewhat at odds with the rest of the team and they had turned to each other for friendship and a place to just vent.

He didn't feel content with just being her friend anymore. The attraction that he'd initially felt when he'd first met her had become more and more intense. And now, here he was trying to analyze a fiber that was critical to their latest case and all he could think about was Sara and how her clothes hugged her in all the right places. If truth be told, Sara could wear a burlap sack and Nick would have found it attractive, simply because she was the one that was wearing it. When she stood to close to him, he made a point to step away for fear that his body would respond to her proximity, revealing his secret attraction to her.

A voice suddenly cut through the fog his mind was in and he lifted his head toward the door where the object of his daydream stood. "Nick, you look like your mind is on another planet." Her lips turned up in a slight curve as her arms crossed in front of her. She was clearly amused with him.

He flashed her an embarrassed grin and tried with a great deal of difficulty to focus on her face and not to stare at her body. "Just trying to concentrate on this fiber."

"Must be pretty interesting, I've said your name three times." Sara's laugh caused his stomach to flutter. What was it about her that affected him like no other woman?

Nick could have sworn by the heat in his cheeks that he was blushing, but tried to play things cool. "Sorry. Did you need something, Sidle?"

She tilted her head and smirked at him. "Shift is over, Stokes. You promised you'd help me put my new entertainment center together. Or did you forget?"

Nick's throat felt dry. He wasn't sure he could handle spending time alone with her right at this moment, but at the same time, that's all he wanted. He shook his head. "No, I didn't forget. I just lost track of time."

"Well, I'll see you at my apartment in about half an hour then." She turned and breezed back down the hallway wondering to herself if Nick realized that she was more than capable of assembling her entertainment center by herself, but lately she kept coming up with reasons to spend time with him outside of work. More and more she'd noticed how attractive her coworker and friend was, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could handle a platonic relationship with him. The more they worked together, the more she wanted him. Lately her thoughts had become decidedly more and more carnal in nature. At some point, she was going to have to risk something and test the waters to see if he was interested. She had hoped he might be attracted to her, but she just wasn't sure. It seemed that every time she stood close to him, he'd step away. She wasn't sure she could handle another rejection after Grissom had turned her down so readily.

There was a knock at her door about thirty minutes later and she opened the door to reveal Nick standing there looking far too sexy in a pair of faded blue jeans and a Rice University T-shirt, which seemed to hug every nuance of his muscular chest. Suddenly, Sara wondered if this was such a good idea as she let him in.

Nick was having similar thoughts. Sara had changed her clothes and was wearing a pair of button fly Levis and a button down shirt. And at the moment she was barefoot. Nick had a sudden urge to push her up against a wall and ravish her body, but he refrained and instead walked over to the box that held the pieces of Sara's new entertainment center.

Sara got them both sodas and sat down cross legged on the carpet next to Nick as they began unpacking the box and reviewing the instructions before starting to put the pieces together. Sara sat on one side of it and Nick sat on the other. They had assembled the entertainment center about halfway when Nick glanced up at her with a quizzical expression. "Are all the pieces here?"

Sara didn't even think about it, she walked the couple of feet that separated them on her knees and placed her hands on his shoulders, leaning over him to look at the instructions. Pointing over his shoulder at part of the diagram, it didn't occur to her that her breasts were pressing against his back. "Look, I think that part is supposed to go there instead of where we put it."

Nick was feeling a little too warm and was having a hard time forming words and his jeans were starting to feel uncomfortable.

Sara took his silence for confusion. She braced her hands on his shoulders and stood up behind him before walking over to the piece she had indicated and bent over, tugging at it. She glanced back at him and smirked. "I'm going to need a little help here."

Obediently, Nick stood up hoping she didn't notice the bulge beginning to develop in the front of his pants and walked over to where she stood. She gestured for him to stand closer. "Here, grab that right there, I think we're going to have to pull really hard."

They tugged and pulled on the offending shelf which didn't seem to want to budge. In the process, Sara turned and lost her balance, knocking into Nick and causing them to tumble backwards onto the floor. As they landed, Sara ended up astride Nick.

If she had any doubt about whether or not he was attracted to her, it was erased as his body involuntarily responded to the proximity of hers as she lay on top of him. The expression on Nick's face was complete mortification and he closed his eyes to hide his embarrassment, his hands resting on her hips in preparation to push her away so he could flee her apartment and salvage what was left of his pride.

Surprise crossed Sara's face for a moment and then she decided that fate had presented an opportunity that she was not about to waste. Her hands splayed out across his chest and she leaned down and kissed him.

It was soft at first, but as Nick got over the initial shock that Sara Sidle was indeed lying on top of him, and kissing him, he began to fervently respond to it. His hands slid down and firmly cupped her butt and his tongue probed her lips, seeking entry into her mouth.

Sara began grinding against his arousal, delighting in the moans coming from Nick as he kissed her. She began tugging his T-shirt out of his jeans, sliding her hands underneath it in search of bare flesh.

Nick's hands left her butt and reached between them to unbutton Sara's shirt.

Sara sat up long enough to shrug off her shirt and then reached down and began to unfasten Nick's jeans.

Nick took this opportunity to sit up and pull his T-shirt over his head, pulling Sara back against him as he placed a searing kiss on her mouth, unfastening and removing her bra before pulling them back to the floor, rolling them over so he was on top of her. He quickly began to unbutton her jeans as his mouth broke from hers and began to trail kisses down her neck mumbling her name as he went.

Sara felt like her body was on fire. As Nick's lips trailed down and began to caress her breasts one at a time, Sara groaned his name. He began to tug her pants down, pausing to allow his hand to explore the most intimate parts of her body. Sara whimpered his name.

Nick pressed his lips to hers again and his hands continued trying to free her from the rest of her clothes.

She managed to kick her jeans and panties off the rest of the way and began to pull Nick's down.

He pulled away for a moment to remove his shoes and socks and pull his jeans and boxers the rest of the way off.

Sara sat up, reaching over with both hands to cup the back of Nick's head as she leaned in for an open mouthed kiss, pulling him back on top of her as she lay back on the carpet.

Their hands roamed freely over each other's bodies as they shared mind numbing kisses. They finally joined their bodies and began to move together, letting out cries of pleasure freely, as a feeling of mind blowing ecstasy overwhelmed them both. They finally collapsed against each other, out of breath.

Nick rolled over onto his back, pulling Sara on top of him as he tried to fathom that this wasn't just another daydream. He glanced up at her as she grinned at him, trailing her fingers in a lazy pattern on his chest. "Did we just really do that, Sara?"

"Oh, yeah." Sara leaned over and kissed his neck.

"Would you mind pinching me then?" Nick was still dumbfounded that he and Sara had just had the most amazing sex of his entire life.

"I've got a better idea." With a mischievous glint in her eye, Sara slid her hand down his body and gently fondled him.

Nick let out a moan as he felt his body respond to her touch. "Sara."

"Any doubt now?" Sara murmured as she placed a searing kiss on his lips.

When they finally broke apart he answered her. "No doubt here, but I sure as hell wouldn't mind trying that again." Nick replied with a grin.