Growing up

By Dany

Summary: Grissom and Sara continue to build their relationship.

A/N: This is a sequel to "Child's Play". I decided to give this a try and continue this story. I hope you will like. Thanks to Ace for her help.

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI

xxxxx

"Hey, come in!"

Sara opened the door wide and stepped aside to let Grissom in. He had his hands behind his back, and when he didn't show them, her eyebrow lifted in amusement while her eyes were filled with curiosity.

"Dessert, as promised," Grissom smiled, but still kept his hands out of her sight.

Sara didn't move from her spot at the door, not even to close it, so he passed her carefully, making sure to face her. He slipped into the kitchen and put whatever he had brought into the fridge.

By now, Sara had closed the door. "Can I enter my own kitchen now?"

She tried to sound annoyed, but secretly, she was jumping with joy. She loved this side of him.

Grissom was such a serious man most of the time, but when they had delved deeper in their relationship and became more relaxed around each other, he had shown her the side of him that had been buried deep within. She thought she had gotten a glimpse of it when they first met, and all those years she wondered if it had only been her imagination. Now she knew it was not just in her head; he had never been relaxed enough to let go of the tight rein he had over his other side.

As she looked at Grissom, standing in her kitchen, staring into the oven where their dinner was cooking, she felt a warm tingle spread over her.

Since the little girls birthday party over two months ago, they had steadily moved their relationship forward. Their tight schedule at work gave them little time, but they made sure to do something together at least twice a week.

Sometimes it was breakfast, sometimes it was dinner. She had taken him to the movies; he had taken her to the opera. She had wanted to visit some art museum; he had wanted to see a baseball game.

Then, two weeks ago, he had proposed dinner at his place, and Sara had been overwhelmed at how much he was willing to open up. Since then, they had eaten twice at his place and tonight was the second time at hers. With each 'date,' they had gotten more comfortable around each other, and slowly an easiness settled around them, which was mostly characterized by some playful teasing and some heavy make out sessions.

Oh god, they were behaving like teenagers.

It was not only Grissom that seemed to have some hangups about crossing the final line; Sara herself was being hesitant. This was Grissom after all.

This had been pending for over ten years now, and as much as she wanted it to be perfect, the odds were against them. They had waited too long it seemed. Their nervousness would blow things out of proportion and possibly ruin their first time.

She also felt a bit insecure about how to go about it, which was ridiculous. She'd had sex before, but this was Grissom.

Grissom!

The point was, she wanted both of them to be absolutely sure that this was the right moment, and no matter how it turned out, to be able to deal with it.

It had been hard pulling away, but somehow they had always managed to stop. Maybe tonight…

She chided herself for straying so far and returned to watching Grissom, just in time to see him walk back to her. She felt his lips plying hers open and gave into him. She wouldn't have wanted to miss that.

xxxxx

Her lips were so soft, and she tasted so good. Grissom's higher brain functions were non-existent as his hands wove into her silky tresses, trying to feel her, get close, revel in her incredible warmth.

Why had they waited so long?

Oh yeah, his own stupidity.

'Focus,' he told himself and let himself be immersed by her very essence again.

Suddenly a shrill ringing broke through the cloud that surrounded his head. He shook it slightly, trying to clear his ears and not dislodge their lips, but it kept on ringing.

Sara pulled away with a start, and Grissom tried to floor her backward movement. She gripped his arms, halting any further advancement, also shaking her head a bit. He realized it was not to tell him off, but to clear her head.

"I think that was the oven timer. Our food's going to burn," she said when the ringing finally stopped.

A sheepish smile graced his face, but he was somehow pleased that she too had been lost in their own little bubble to react right away. Neither of them moved, still keeping contact and soaking up the heady feelings of arousal.

When Grissom took a deep breath to take the scent of her hair in, he also got a whiff of the food and remembered why they had broken apart in the first place. "Dinner."

"Oh yeah, right."

Reluctantly they broke apart, making him feel the loss immediately. To soften the blow to his body, his hand slid to the small of her back, the single touch sustaining him.

Sara took their dinner out of the oven and placed it on the counter. She had made pasta, which looked promising to him, even without meat.

"What are we having?" he asked, seating himself next to her.

Taking one look at Sara, who was dividing the mass in the form, he realized that it didn't matter what they were having because his senses would be otherwise occupied.

"Cannelloni with ricotta and zucchini. I will convert you, you'll see."

When they had relaxed at their shared meals, Sara had started teasing him about their different eating habits. She didn't mind if he ate meal, but only as long as he was not handling it raw in front of her, and he didn't try to convert her. He knew better than that. Despite his previous lapse, he hadn't forgotten why she had become a vegetarian and always respected her decision. That didn't mean that she would stop teasing him, and although he enjoyed it, he put on a pout just for her amusement.

"You are so not hurt. Stop the pout and let's eat," she laughed, calling him on his bluff.

xxxxx

They were relaxing on the couch, watching some chick flick that Sara had dug up, reasoning that if they were a couple, they should have had at least one evening where she forced him to sit through a sappy love story so that he could complain about it the whole time.

The problem was, they were not an average couple.

Grissom didn't put up much of a fight – to be honest, none at all; he only asked once why she wanted to watch this particular movie – and he didn't complain once throughout the whole movie.

Sara, on the other hand, couldn't stop talking.

Almost every scene was commented on, but Grissom indulged her, not stopping her continuous rant. He sat back, soaking up the feeling of Sara leaning into his side, and spent the time watching her instead of the TV. In fact, that might have been the reason he never joined her nitpicking. He just did not watch the movie.

When the credits finally rolled, Sara stretched, rubbing against him. His sharp intake of breath made her freeze.

Grissom reached for her face, slowly turning upward so that he could look into her eyes. What he saw there made him dizzy.

Sara's eyes were dark with passion, boring into his, silently asking him for a sign. His mind took a back seat as his head dipped low to let his lips fall on hers.

He started teasing her with a few light pecks, always drawing back before she could deepen the contact. When she opened her mouth a fraction to let out an annoyed huff, he lunged for her lips again and caught her breath in his mouth, letting it flow down into every pore of his being.

Now she was really floating through his body. Before Sara could separate to draw in some air, he tightened his hold on her and gave her her breath back, laced with his own essence.

Sara did as he had done, taking the breath into her system. Only when they began to feel light-headed did they regretfully pull away. Huge gulps of air were drawn in, but the smile and the cloud of desire in their eyes remained.

From the additional glint in her eyes, Grissom knew she wanted to say something, but he placed his index finger over her lips. His gaze bore into her, pleading with her not to ruin everything with words. He realized it was ironic that the man who usually sprouted big words was pleading for silence.

He knew that once they started talking they wouldn't be able to stop, and the evening was lost.

To support his request he leaned in again, covering her lips with his again, using his fingers to hold her in position. As he deepened the kiss, he could feel any remaining tension flow away from her body.

xxxxx

The smell of coffee woke her.

Without opening her eyes, she tried to stretch her aching limbs, but she was too wrapped up in the blanket to actually move. The tingle of her skin told her that his touch had been real, the deep satisfaction that it had been right, the relaxation that it had been what she needed, and the coffee told her that it was better than any dream could ever be. Grissom was really here.

To keep floating on these heavenly feelings, Sara snuggled deeper into the covers and let her mind drift.

Some time later she was softly brought back to the real world. Lips were wandering up her collarbone, nipping and tasting her flesh.

Sara let an appreciative hum escape her throat, stretching her neck to make it more accessible.

"Good morning, honey," he whispered against her neck, tickling her with his breath.

"Morning," she mumbled, still not willing to rise from beneath the covers.

She wished he would lie down beside her again, but he didn't seem to have the same idea. Grissom tugged on the covers, trying to wrestle them off of her.

To redirect his efforts, she turned her head and sought out his lips, pulling him into the bed to deepen the kiss.

This time, Grissom seemed more willing to follow her siren call.

TBC