Don't Take the Girl Chapter 6: I Need You To Hold Me, a csi: new york fanfic

Ch 6 I Need You To Hold Me

Disclaimer: By reading this story, you are agreeing that:

1) I am by definition the poor fool resigned to only writing fan fiction.

2) Furthermore, that means I don't own CSI: NY or Danny and Lindsay, because if I did, those two would have jumped each other's bones long ago. That being the case, I am just doing this for fun. Fun as I see fit. Fun that's free. No profit is being gained here people.

3) That also being the case, I reserve the right to be bitter about Jerry Bruckheimer and Anthony Zuiker keeping my ship docked for so long and not giving me anything for WEEKS at a time to make my shipper heart happy and causing my muse, Consuela, to seek out the professional psychiatric help she so desperately needs as a result.

4) I reserve the right to fetishize Danny Messer in my fantasy world as it lends itself to the plot of my story, dirty thoughts/jokes that I may or may not share with you, if asked nicely, or just for the hell of it.

5) The contents of this story, dirty thoughts in my head, voices only I can hear and my muse, certify that Danny Messer is the God of eye sex, tongue porn, and all things sexual either real or imagined. DON'T RUIN IT FOR ME PEOPLE!

6) This concludes my psychotic rant and now on with the story.

Danny and Lindsay had stayed in the bed for the rest of the day. Neither of them had gotten a decent night's sleep the night before, and Lindsay was utterly exhausted from the emotions that came with telling Danny about her past. As they lay there, Danny gingerly rubbed Lindsay's back to wake her up. She hadn't eaten anything since that morning, and he hoped he could coax her into at least eating some eggs and toast, and then he'd see if maybe he could convince her to snuggle on the couch with him and watch the 49'ers game he knew was going to be on soon.

"Hey. Come on sleeping beauty, time to rise and shine," he crooned in her ear gently.

"Hmph," was the only response Lindsay gave as she snuggled in closer to the warmth his body provided.

Danny was tempted to just pull the blankets further up and snuggle down with her, just forgetting that there was a world out there and things to do. All he and Lindsay had was that night to be together. His shift started at 8am the next morning, and he wanted to spend as much time being with her and getting to know her before a grueling eight hour work day came knocking. As much as Danny wanted to sit there with Lindsay in his arms on the couch and discover the things she liked, and the things she didn't like both physically and emotionally, he had things to do first. He was on a mission to get her out of bed and make sure she got some nourishment in her.

Then they could take the rest of the night to get to know each other. Sure, they wouldn't be having sex this night, and Danny knew that. But for some reason, that didn't matter so much to him anymore. He was more interested in getting to know his Montana as his girl, not some meaningless fuck buddy only there for pleasure. Danny found that he desperately wanted to get to know things about her that he had never bothered to ask of any other woman. He wanted to know everything a man should about his girlfriend. With that thought in mind, he knew he had to wake her up.

"Sweetie?" Danny said softly as he stroked her hair softly, the loving gesture gently rousing Lindsay from her deep sleep until she opened her eyes and blinked up at him, trying to clear the cobwebs from her brain.

"Hmmm?" was all she managed to get out as her mind tried to gear up enough to speak in sentences.

"Hey" Danny said, speaking softly. "How ya doin'?" he asked, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Tired," Lindsay mumbled, lifting her head and placing a slight kiss on his jaw before lying back down on the pillow again.

"We need to get up," Danny told her, kissing her cheek.

"Why? I'm comfortable right here," she said flirtatiously as she slowly ran her hand up Danny's muscled stomach, over his washboard abs, and coming to rest on his prickly jaw.

Danny groaned inwardly and fought back the urge to grab her and kiss her senseless. She was teasing him and she knew it. And from the impish grin on her face, she was enjoying teasing him as well. Well, Danny Messer wasn't one to let a little country girl get the best of him, so he played along with her little game, hoping he could keep himself from going where he didn't want to go at this time.

Taking her hand off is stubbly jaw, Danny took lithe her fingers and tentatively kissed each one, playfully nipping the sensitive fingertips. Then he allowed his lips to travel from the tip of her middle finger, down her palm, and stopped at the pulse point on her wrist. This entire time, Danny kept his azure blue eyes intensely locked on the coffee brown of hers. During this highly arousing trek, Danny's lips were parted just enough that Lindsay could barely feel the tip of his tongue on her skin.

Once he reached the pulse point of her wrist, Danny allowed himself to arouse the woman before him a bit further. He started by placing an opened mouth kiss on her wrist, then pulling away and blowing lightly on the exposed skin.

Feeling the cool air gently come across the area of flesh Danny had just kissed, Lindsay gasped lightly as shivers ran down her spine.

Once he felt her shiver, Danny knew his job was done. He had the upper hand now and was sure he could convince her to do whatever he wanted in return for a little reward. It was a game of reciprocation really. If she got out of bed and ate a little something, he would continue his loving actions. If she didn't comply with his request, well, he knew she would comply.

"Okay, I think we've taken that far enough for now," Danny said nonchalantly as he sat up and looked down at her for a reaction.

Lindsay was dumbfounded. He'd just been playing with her. This was some sort of game, she concluded. 'Well, if he wants to play dirty, then I guess it's only fair to make it a game for two', she mused before saying anything to him.

"You really don't want me. I knew it. Danny Messer, just another notch in the bedpost of Lindsay Monroe. This happens all the time. Although, I'm not sure you could be considered a notch seeing that we didn't even make out properly. A splinter, maybe, but a notch? No," Lindsay said, shaking her head in dismay, and trying her damnedest to school her face to be impassive and her voice flat.

Danny stared at Lindsay in shock. 'She did NOT just call me a notch in HER bedpost.' It was then that he noticed the look on her face. A grin tugged at the corners of her mouth at the expression on his face and her shoulders shook slightly as she laughed to herself. He obviously hadn't been expecting her to say that, and she knew as much.

"Alright, Miss Sweet Little Country Girl. Two can play at that game," Danny responded, a hint of teasing in his voice, but a look of complete lust in his now cobalt blue, eyes. Before Lindsay could even think of a smart comeback, Danny's lips came crashing down on hers.

The intensity of the kiss took Lindsay completely by surprise. She stiffened for a brief moment before returning the kiss with all the lust and passion she had kept pent up for almost two years. When Danny felt her return his kiss with an equal amount of need and passion, he knew it was over. 'So much for not letting her have the upper hand,' Danny thought when he felt Lindsay part her lips slightly against his mouth. Tentatively, Danny licked her bottom lip, eliciting a moan of pleasure from Lindsay. That single noise was all the permission he needed to slip his tongue into her mouth and twist with hers.

"God, he's a great kisser," Lindsay thought to herself as she allowed her left hand to travel up and run her fingers through his short hair as her other hand wrapped around his waist allowing her to run her fingers up and down the warm, naked skin of his back. She started at the base of his spine, then with her fingernails scratched up the nape of his neck and back down again.

Feeling her nails on his skin almost sent Danny spiraling out of control. He felt his arousal building up in his pants and knew that if they didn't stop this very soon, either he would be trying to hide the embarrassing evidence of the extreme effect her kisses had on him, or he'd be taking her, at that moment, with no formalities.

Letting his ego take over momentarily, Danny wanted to leave at least one mark on her to show the world that this wonderful woman had chosen him, and she was not to be messed with, or there would be consequences. Danny pulled away from her mouth, causing a whimper of protest to escape her lips. Trailing kisses down her throat, Danny smiled at the sound and mumbled against her skin, "Don't worry baby. I'm not done with you yet." With those words, Danny sucked and nipped at the sensitive skin at the hollow of her throat. Having been rolled onto her back so that Danny's weight was partially on top of her, Lindsay moaned his name and arched up, giving him better access to her neck.

Knowing that she wanted more, Danny tangled one of his strong hands firmly in her sleep-tousled hair as his right hand traveled down her side, easily tickling her ribs and even brushing his fingers along the side of her breast lightly.

"Danny," Lindsay gasped as her breath caught in her throat and her nails scratched down his back, leaving her own mark on his body.

Hearing his name and feeling her body's reaction to his fingers, reminded Danny of that spot behind her ear. It was the one that definitely aroused her when he kissed it. He decided for the finale in this round of lustful kissing, he should finish off by teasing that very sensitive spot. Danny's lips traveled to her ear where he brushed the hair away from her neck and his intended target. Deftly, Danny began to kiss and suck that spot behind her ear, effectively leaving another hickey for her to discover later on. "Oh God, Danny," she gasped as bolts of electricity made their way from where his mouth met her skin all the way down to her toes, only stopping long enough to deposit moist heat between her legs before continuing downward.

Hearing her gasp with increased arousal, Danny knew it was very possible that he could bring her to orgasm just by teasing her with his lips, and he didn't want to do that… at least not yet. So, he moved his lips to her ear and whispered, "Do you like that, Lindsay?" the dominance in his voice present. Lindsay could feel the smile on his lips as they brushed against her ear.

"Mmhmm," she groaned deeply, hoping he'd continue his sweet torture on her body.

"What was that? I don't think I heard you, baby," he whispered in her ear huskily, his Staten Island accent thick with arousal. When she didn't answer him after a couple seconds, Danny's tongue slipped out of his mouth and the tip of it traced the shell of her ear, causing her to finally answer his question.

"Yes. I-I like it! Oooh!" she shrieked with pleasure at his oral ministrations. Danny had found her biggest point of arousal and he was playing her body as a classical musician expertly played a violin.

Danny grinned a mischievous smirk when he rolled to his side and propped himself up on his elbow and took in the look of disappointment on her face.

"Danny," Lindsay practically whined as she looked up at him.

Danny chuckled before speaking. "As cute as the whining is, Montana, I think we've tortured ourselves enough for now. Besides, you still need to eat something," he told her as he lovingly ran his fingers through her hair.

'He calls this torture? In that case, he can torture me anytime he wants,' Lindsay thought as she smiled at him sweetly. "So you just did that to set up a situation for bribery?" Lindsay queried as she sat up, crossing her arms over her chest and pretending to pout.

"I'm sorry baby, but you need to eat something!" Danny said laughing at her very convincing impression of a three-year old.

Lindsay couldn't help but laugh with him. His laugh was contagious. She pulled back the covers and got out of bed before she spoke. "I'd be more inclined to eat something if you had helped me work up an appetite beforehand, but that's okay. I see how it is," she said with a smirk.

Danny knew she was baiting him for some reason, and he was sure it was going to be worth playing along to hear what unpredictable, funny thing his Montana was going to say next. If Danny had learned one thing about Lindsay Monroe since she'd started working at the New York Crime Lab, it was that she had a surprising sense of humor. To many, she came across as the shy, studious, country girl, but he knew better. Danny and his friend Don Flack were probably two of the few people that actually knew Lindsay Monroe was every bit the smart ass as the two of them were. But Danny was the only one who knew she could say the most outrageous things with an attitude of complete seriousness, and that made whatever she was saying all the funnier.

"And just how is it, Miss Monroe?" Danny asked her as he also climbed out of the bed and stood in front of her, muscled arms crossed over his bare chest in a stance he knew scared the hell out of many suspects he interrogated, but never made the petite beauty flinch with an ounce of trepidation.

Lindsay looked at her shirtless cowboy and the stance he was in and chuckled inwardly. 'This is gonna be great,' she thought, her response already formulated in her head. "I totally understand your need to distract me with the fact that I haven't eaten in twelve hours, Danny. It's only natural that a city boy like you would be concerned about not being able to measure up to the high standards of sex we country girls have come to expect," she explained with a nonjudgmental look on her face and a tone of understanding in her voice. 'Wow, I can't believe I was able to question the sexual abilities of Danny Messer with a straight face! Stella's gonna die when I tell her this!' Lindsay mused as she waited patiently for his comeback.

Danny's face immediately when slack jawed when she gave her reasoning. "Are you telling me, of all people, that I don't know how to please a woman?" Danny gasped out in disbelief of what she just said.

'God, I hope Flack never finds out Lindsay has the balls to say something like that to me. I'll never hear the end of it, if he does,' Danny thought of the fact that his best friend would never let him live down such an accusation if the right person were to tell him about this conversation.

"Oh, don't be silly, Daniel," Lindsay giggled as she reached out and brushed her fingertips over his muscled forearm. "I'm just saying that country girls have higher expectations than city girls, and most city guys don't know the tricks we do," Lindsay explained, grinning at the look on his face when she said 'tricks'.

"Are you challenging me, Monroe?" Danny asked, using the same tone he did whenever they geared up for a competition in the lab.

"Maybe," came Lindsay's simple reply.

"You're on," Danny told her, and with that, he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to his chest firmly as he pressed his lips against hers. He pulled away from her lips and moved to her ear, barely touching the sensitive skin with his lips as he whispered, "But first, why don't you go take a hot shower and change into something warm while I make us something to eat. It's gonna be chilly tonight and I don't need you getting sick on my watch." Danny pulled away to look at her face.

Lindsay shuddered when Danny's warm breath and lips fanned across her ear as he spoke. God how she loved the feel of those lips on hers and the sound of his voice in her ear.

"You sure you don't want to join me, Cowboy?" she asked, gesturing towards her bathroom. "You know, to make sure the water isn't too hot and I'm appropriately warmed up afterwards?" she added, cocking an eyebrow at him.

Danny didn't even bother to hold back the lustful groan the images of being in a steamy shower with a naked Lindsay conjured up in his mind. "Um, ya know what? I think it's just…safer… if I stick to the food and stay as far away from you in a shower," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck, a sure sign that she'd ruffled his feathers.

"Alright, but you just missed the opportunity to see me naked and wash my back," Lindsay tossed over her shoulder as she headed towards the bathroom.

"Don't teas me, Lindsay," Danny said, shaking a finger at her in mock sternness.

"But it's so much fun!" she laughed as she turned on the shower to let the water get hot, before turning her attention back to him. "I'll be out in ten minutes," she said before closing the bathroom door and leaving Danny to concentrate on making dinner with visions of a wet, naked Lindsay dancing in his head.

"She's gonna tease me to death," Danny said as he stared at the bathroom door for another minute, imagining Lindsay stripping naked, before shaking himself out of his thoughts and heading into the kitchen to see what he could come up with for dinner.

Exactly ten minutes later, Danny turned from plating the hash-browned potatoes alongside the scrambled eggs and toast he'd made for their dinner to see Lindsay lazily leaning against the archway into the kitchen.

'God she's beautiful,' Danny thought as he let an approving gaze slide over her petite body as he took in her appearance. She stood before him casually as Danny longingly looked her over from top to bottom. Her hair had been towel dried and her loose curls allowed to fall around her face. Next, he took in the shirt she was wearing. This night she'd chosen a long sleeved, yellow Henley that comfortably hugged her breasts where the garnet 49'ers logo came to rest across her chest. 'Perfect breasts too. Dammit. Why does she have to be so perfect? Doesn't she know that kind of shirt only makes a horny Danny hornier? What am I thinking, of course she does,' Danny thought as he allowed his gaze to travel lower to check out the well-sculpted muscles of her calves and thighs tucked into a pair of black velvet lounge pants with another 49'ers logo resting over her left hip.

The longer Danny stood there staring at her, the more Lindsay became nervous. 'Why is he staring at me like that? Has he changed his mind about me now that he knows everything I've been hiding?' were the thoughts that ran through Lindsay's head as she nervously twirled a damp curl around her finger, chewed on her lower lip and made a scuffing action at the linoleum under her bare feet as she avoided Danny's hungry gaze.

Trying her best to cover up her insecurities, Lindsay spoke, doing her best to keep the fear of his rejection out of her voice. "You like what you see, cowboy?" she asked him and looked him in the eye, hoping that her insecurities and fears weren't present in her innocent wide eyes.

When I'm all alone at night
I can hear the beating of your heart
I should tell you and I might
Before you tear me apart
You're all I ever think about
All I ever dream about
Can you read my mind?
Can you read my mind?

Danny looked into Lindsay's coffee colored eyes and he could almost read her mind, thought for thought. He saw the insecurities that he could only assume had to do with him changing his mind about being with her now that he knew her terrible secret. Then he heard it in her voice when she spoke. She was afraid. Afraid of what though? Then it occurred to Danny that he had just been ogling her for several minutes. 'That must be it. She's afraid I'm gonna tell her 'thanks, but no thanks,'" Danny concluded as he looked at her luscious pink lips.

Oh when I look at you
I probably should go
Cause I wanna be with you
More than you'll ever know
Hmm for a taste of you
I could calm my desire
Baby you blow my mind
You light my fire, oh

Danny licked his lips and quickly crossed the small kitchen to stand in front of her and pull her against his chest swiftly and firmly.

"Danny?" Lindsay breathed, leaving the rest of her question unspoken. He understood what that one word meant and that she needed an answer. She knew he understood that.

I want you (yeah)
Need you (yeah)
Can't live without you

Before she could form another coherent thought in her brain, Danny's lips came crashing onto hers in a powerful, passionate kiss. Briefly, Lindsay stiffened and parted her lips as she gasped from the shock of the intensity of his kiss. That moment of shock was all Danny needed to thrust his tongue into her mouth and begin a sparring match with hers. Lindsay sighed contentedly with the answering kiss and brought her hands up to wrap around his neck as her fingers lazily played with the short hairs at the nape of his neck; and she melted against his warm, muscled chest.

With his mouth still fused to hers, the handsome detective growled low in the back of his throat when he felt her warm, delicate fingers on the sensitive skin of his neck. Danny's left hand roughly tangled in her hair, tilting her head to allow his tongue to explore her further, while his right hand splayed between her shoulder blades, pressing her chest into his and bringing her as close as he could. Lindsay moaned her pleasure at his affections into his mouth as her left hand left his neck to rub sensually down his chest. The pair continued to kiss until they pulled away from each other simultaneously, gasping for air.

Is it the way I feel?
The curiosity or the things you do
That brings out the lust in me
The thought of me and you, drives me wild
Come close to me
Can you stay awhile?

The couple stood frozen in place as their breathing settled back into a normal rhythm. Only then did Danny move his hands. He cupped her face in his palms as his forehead rested against hers and he grinned at her, that famous, cocky Messer grin. Not being able to help herself, Lindsay smiled back, thinking of how she loved to hate that grin.

Hold you, need you
Can't live without you

"Does that answer your question?" Danny asked softly.

"Yeah… yeah. It does," Lindsay declared with an air of certainty.

"Good. Because I don't want you to think for one second, Lindsay Monroe, that what happened to you makes you a less lovable, sexy, desirable, sweet, incredible woman than I've always known you to be. You are an amazing woman and any man would be lucky to have you. It just so happens I am that lucky man and I thank whatever God it is that brought you into my life at the zoo that day," Danny told her firmly. "You think you can do that for me? Remember how special you are? And that you deserve this; us?" Danny finished, his voice softening with the intense emotion.

Lindsay smiled and choked back the happy tears she knew were threatening to spill down her cheeks at any second. "Yeah, I can do that. It's just going to take time. I've been through a lot, Danny, and trust doesn't come easy for me," Lindsay told him honestly, as her vision clouded with the tears she knew were going to fall very soon.

Yeah
Hold you, need you
Can't live without you

"I know it's hard for you to open yourself up and let others in, Montana. I just want you to understand that whenever you have doubts or fears about us, the way I feel about you, anything, I hope you'll come talk to me about it. Okay?" Danny finished, wiping away the tears that were now freely pouring down her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs.

Lindsay nodded as she spoke. "Okay, I'll try," she choked out through her tears.

Danny placed a soft, soothing kiss on her lips before drawing away and speaking. "Great, let's eat. I'm starving!" he declared, leading her to the counter and the plates of food. Lindsay just laughed as she let him lead her. This man marked a new chapter of her life. Danny Messer, her boyfriend; a detective that was always charming, honest and incredibly sexy.

An hour later, the food had been eaten, the dishes put in the sink to be tended to later, and Danny and Lindsay were on the couch ignoring the game on T.V. The position of their bodies was a provocative one that would easily lend itself to things getting carried away should either one of them take the initiative to start something. Danny lay on his back with one leg bent up at the knee resting along the back of the sofa, while his other leg was lazily flopped on the floor. Lindsay had crawled up between his legs and lay on her stomach, her head resting comfortably on his chest, and her hands resting on either side of his torso. Danny brought his legs to cross over her calves and his hands came to rest on her back.

"I have an idea," he said, kissing the top of her head and brushing a few strands of hair behind her ear. Danny had never thought about if a woman had beautiful ears before, but Lindsay definitely did, he decided. 'How corny of you, Messer,' he chided himself for such a mushy thought.

Lindsay sighed contentedly at the feel of his fingers lightly brushing her ear before answering. "What's your idea?" she asked softly, ready to agree to anything as long as he continued to touch her like that.

"Let's play a game," Danny stated simply and looked down at her for her answer.

Lindsay looked up at him with an impish grin on her face as she answered. "You know, that could be taken as a naughty proposition if the appropriately dirty minded person heard it, detective," Lindsay said, her face taking on an ever-so-innocent expression.

"You mean a dirty minded person such as yourself, Miss Monroe?" Danny teased back with a waggle of his eyebrows at her.

Lindsay laughed and playfully hit his chest. "You better hush your mouth and tell me what this game is you're thinking of before I decide to go to bed…alone," Lindsay slyly bribed, effectively getting Danny's mind back to his original point.

"Oh, so does this mean if I tell you the rules and we play this game, then I get to hold you all night?" Danny asked expectantly.

"Only if you promise to behave all night long," Lindsay said, not joking this time.

"I'm not going to make you do anything you aren't ready to do, Linds. I care too much to make you do anything that would make you feel uncomfortable. We're taking this at your pace, because the last thing I want is for you to feel forced or pressured into doing something you aren't ready to do. You're the one in charge here, Lindsay. If things move too fast, you just say the word and I'll back off. Okay?" Danny said, his voice soft and gentle. "I don't want to screw this up, Montana. You mean too much to me to just toss what we have and what we're building for just sex," Danny finished, his voice cracking with emotion, as he looked at the woman laying on his torso; pure adoration for her shining in his eyes.

"So if I say stop, then that's it? No questions asked?" Lindsay questioned, not quite sure that she'd heard him right. After all, this was Danny Messer. He was the lab's resident playboy. He wasn't used to women telling him to stop, and she couldn't quite believe that he was willing to let her say so, if she wanted.

"That's right, if something makes you uncomfortable, just tell me, Montana. I want us to do this right, and you being comfortable telling me things are part of that. Okay? So, do we have a deal?" Danny finished running his fingers through her hair and tilting her head to meet his eyes.

"We have a deal, Messer," Lindsay said and leaned up to his lips and kissed him gently, letting her lips linger on his for a few seconds before she pulled away and spoke. "So, what is this game you have in mind?" she asked, not as afraid of what he'd suggested, as she had been moments before.

"Well, it's a variation of twenty questions," Danny began to explain as he stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. "We take turns asking each other a question. Each person gets to pick ten questions, and the other person has to answer as much as they are comfortable. You get three pass options, so if a question makes you too uncomfortable, you can use one of your passes and get another question. Sound like a good idea?" he finished, hoping she'd go for it. There was so much Danny wanted to know about Lindsay and this kind of icebreaker seemed the perfect way to start to know those things.

"Okay. And since you came up with the idea, then it's only fair you ask the first question," Lindsay said with a smile as she placed a chaste kiss on his collarbone.

"Alright. Let me see. What do I want to know about Miss Montana here?" Danny said to himself as he contemplated a question to ask her that wouldn't be too personal, but would make her think about the answer a bit. Finally having thought of a good question that would require more than a yes or no answer, Danny asked his question. "What was the first thing that you found attractive about me?" he asked, hoping she'd answer the question he'd always wanted to know about instead of passing right off the bat.

Lindsay stared at him in quiet contemplation as she considered her answer. "Hmm. That's a tough one. If I had to pick the very first thing that I thought was attractive about you, it would have had to be that day at the zoo," she stated. Danny's eyebrows shot up in surprise as his face gave her a silent, 'really'. "The way you were bent over concentrating on collecting the evidence was so cute; I couldn't help but take notice," she finished her answer, seeing that he hadn't expected her to pick that particular day.

"And here I thought the impression I made on you that day was that I was a pain in the ass. Guess I was wrong," Danny mused as his fingers lightly traced patterns over her back.

"Oh, I thought you were a pain in the ass all right; but you asked what was the first thing that attracted me about you, not what was the first thing that made me want to kick your ass," Lindsay jested, and chuckled when he lightly slapped her shoulder. "Okay, my turn to ask a question," she said as she thought about what to ask him now. "Do you think that physical attributes are more important to maintaining a relationship or do you think that friendship maintains a relationship?" she asked, deciding to give him a slightly meatier question than he'd given her.

Danny looked down at the little minx in his arms and smirked at her. "You're not beating around the bush here are ya Montana?" Danny asked teasingly.

"Well, you know, if you give the wrong answer here, it's better for me to find out I'm wasting my time now instead of in six months."

"You aren't wasting your time. I can promise you that," Danny said as he kissed her lips.

"Well prove it to me then and answer the question," Lindsay replied coyly.

Danny took a deep breath before he began to speak. "Until I met you, physical attributes were all I looked at. I never thought of those other women as relationships. See, to me, you need to have something besides the physical to have an actual relationship. And what we have here," Danny said pointing a finger between the two of them, "is more than just physical. We have a great friendship that has lasted through all the tests we've put it through. That's what makes a great relationship, Montana. Being good friends first and then good lovers," Danny finished sincerely, surprising her, and himself, with his honesty.

"You're really sweet Danny. You always know just how to say the right thing, and mean it," Lindsay said and cuddled into him more, bringing her arms up from his sides and draping them over his neck in a light hug.

"And I do mean it. Every word. I don't want you to doubt that for a second, Lindsay," he told her, tightening his arms around her waist.

"Okay, my turn," Danny said, after a couple minutes of companionable silence passed between the two. "What were you thinking about right before you kissed me for the first time?" he asked without hesitation.

Lindsay chuckled at the question and at her answer before saying anything. "Simple, really. I believe my exact thought was, 'holy cow I'm gonna kiss Danny Messer!'" she said smiling at his reaction.

Danny looked at her in surprise before responding. The country girl was usually such a deep thinker that he expected her to give him some deep philosophical answer; not one that he'd expect to hear from any other normal girl. "Well, let me respond to that by saying, holy cow I'm gonna kiss Lindsay Monroe," Danny said with a chuckle before his lips captured hers in a kiss that was lingering and sensual, not demanding, as one might expect from a man like him. After all, Danny had meant it when he said he was going to let Lindsay set the pace of their relationship.

Feeling her lips yield under his kiss, Danny's arms tightened around her waist and he effortlessly rolled onto his side, taking her with him. Lindsay's back was pressed against the back of the sofa and she let out a moan as Danny took her lower lip between his, and sucked her tongue into his mouth. Soon, Lindsay's tongue was wrestling with Danny's for dominance as two hot bodies pressed up against each other and their hands roamed freely, exploring where the other liked to be touched the most and where they didn't. Danny's left hand roamed sensually down Lindsay's back, starting at her shoulder and stopping at one of the firm rounds of her ass, cupping and squeezing it, as he pressed her hips more firmly against his. Danny's mouth made contact with the juncture of Lindsay's neck and shoulder, and began to suck; sure to leave a rather noticeable hickey when he was done feasting on her.

Lindsay felt a bulge in Danny's pants pressing into her thigh. As delicious as his kisses and caresses felt, she knew they needed to stop this before the two of them ended up doing something to relieve that bulge. While she was ready to give a relationship with Danny a go, she knew that was something she was not ready to do. Knowing that Danny would stop anytime she asked him to, she spoke up.

"Uh, Danny?" Lindsay said, effectively grabbing his attention and causing his lips to come off her neck, as he met her eyes.

"What's the matter baby? You want me to stop?" Danny asked as he gently stroked her hair and looked directly into her eyes, his voice full of concern that she was feeling pressured into doing more than she was ready to do.

"Um, no. I don't want you to stop, because I like being here with you like this. I really, REALLY like being like this with you. But we need to stop." Seeing the confusion on Danny's face at her half explanation, Lindsay took a deep breath to calm her hormones and interlaced the fingers of her right hand with those of his left, giving it a gentle squeeze before speaking. "Danny, if we don't stop, then it looks like a certain appendage of yours is going to want to come out and play too, and honestly, I'm just not ready to take that step with you." Stopping to let her words sink in, Lindsay decided to just tell him what else was on her mind, which caused her not to be ready, and hoped he'd understand.

"Since I've lived in New York, I've only been with two men. One, as you know, was Kevin, the other was a man named Brad. And well, Kevin wasn't ever the most gentle or caring lover, and Brad was just a guy I dated a couple of times, and one of those dates happened to be on a day I was feeling really homesick and he just served as a distraction from the homesickness. I don't want to use you as comfort sex Danny. And I don't want to be thinking of how rough Kevin was and how much he hurt me while I'm with you. I want us being together to just be about us, not about comfort sex. Does that make sense?" Lindsay told him, amazed that she was able to say all of that rationally, instead of just blurting it out, now she unconsciously held her breath while she waited for Danny to react.

Danny looked deep into Lindsay's eyes, letting all the love he felt for her shine through, and hoped that she could see it, so that his words wouldn't have the wrong effect on her, or them.

"Kevin never gave a damn whether you wanted it or not, or if he was hurting you, did he, Lindsay?" Danny asked her, his accent thickening with the brewing anger he had towards that low-life scumbag that essentially, had raped his Montana.

As the feelings of shame and guilt for not saying anything to him earlier began to fill Lindsay's already cluttered mind, she found herself not able to make eye contact with Danny. Compounding those emotions was the overwhelming feeling of being forever dirty that she had coursing through every fiber of her being. Realizing that she had yet to give Danny any answer, she just nodded, telling him that his statement was correct.

"He raped you. That worthless son of a bitch raped you!" Danny shouted angrily, wishing he'd known this the previous night when he went over to Kevin's apartment. If he'd known that Lindsay had been raped by that animal, Danny was certain he'd be sitting in jail on a murder charge; or attempted murder, at the very least.

Hearing the anger in Danny's voice as he yelled, coupled with the fact that he'd had stated that she had been raped when she couldn't find the strength to call it anything more than rough sex without permission, shook her to the very core, and Lindsay began to cry.

"È bambino giusto. Sono spiacente che ho urlato. Non ho significato spaventarlo. Non gridi prego." Danny whispered in that Italian language that he'd grown up to comprehend, and speak, as well, while he cocooned a sobbing and babbling Lindsay in his arms. As she cried, Danny whispered the same phrase repeatedly in her ear, telling her that he was sorry for yelling and scaring her, as well as urging her not to cry; all in his family's native language.

As Lindsay began to calm down and listened to Danny speak soothing words, in what she assumed was Italian, in her ear; what started out as her babbling began to make enough sense for him to understand what she was saying, and what he heard shocked him.

"I'm so sorry!" she sobbed as she clung to the wife beater he'd put on before dinner. "I should have told you earlier! Please don't be mad!" She continued to cry as she held on to Danny desperately hoping he wouldn't be mad at her for not telling him.

"What?" Danny asked in shock as he continued to hold her close and rub her back soothingly. "Why are you sorry? You have nothing in the world to be sorry about! I'm not mad at you Lindsay. I'm mad at Kevin. You're the victim here, babe. He hurt, and scared you, that's what makes me mad, not that you were afraid to tell me about it," Danny assured her; relieved to see that she had heard and believed him, as her sobs decreased and her grip on his shirt loosened so that her knuckles were no longer white.

"Maybe if I hadn't told him I didn't feel like it when he wanted to have sex, or if I hadn't said no when he threw me down on the couch and sat on me. If I had just relaxed and stopped fighting him, as he told me to, then he wouldn't have had to be so rough and hurt me. He didn't want to hurt me, he said he loved me, but I just wouldn't let him do what he wanted to do, so he had to hold me down and push into me so violently. He said that if I would just lay there, then it wouldn't hurt as badly; so that's what I did. I just laid there and let him do whatever he wanted to do to me Danny! And the things he did. The words he said, names he called me…I feel so dirty!" Lindsay rambled on, until the emotions were too much to handle and she dissolved into tears again.

Hearing her blame herself for this, tore at Danny's heart strings. Gingerly, Danny sat up on the sofa, allowing both his legs to hang over the edge of the cushion. As he sat up, he pulled a distraught Lindsay onto his lap and held her; letting her cry it out before he spoke his piece.

"Lindsay," Danny said, once she'd calmed down a bit and he felt he could get her attention. When she didn't respond to her name, Danny tried again with a bit more determination in his voice. "Look at me Lindsay," he said, cupping her chin with his hand, effectively forcing her burdened and tired looking brown eyes to meet the loving gaze of his cobalt blue eyes.

"It's not your fault. Do you understand that?" Danny asked, continuing to speak without waiting for her to respond to his question. After all, he knew the answer was that logically, yes, she knew this wasn't her fault, but on the emotional level she was the only person she had to blame for this. And that's what she did. He'd heard similar rationale from other rape victims. "I know you feel like blame needs to be put somewhere for this. And I suspect that since this happened to you, it's easier for you to blame yourself for what you didn't do to make him stop, make it hurt less, or what you could have done to avoid it in the first place," Danny said as his eyes never lost contact with hers and he continued to hold her chin gently in one of his large hands. "But, and I want you to listen to me good here, okay?" he said and waited for her to respond.

"Okay" Lindsay whispered and nodded that she was listening to what he was saying.

"But," he continued right where he left off, "this wasn't your fault. That bastard was hell bent on hurting you in one-way or another and no matter what you did or didn't do; he was going to do whatever he wanted. See, no matter what he told you, you could have done nothing to make things better; he lied to you sweetheart. The best thing you can do now though, is not to blame yourself. Put the blame where it belongs; with him. Nowhere else. Kevin is the one at fault here, not you Lindsay." Danny let out a shaky breath before continuing what he needed to tell her. "I hear you blame yourself for this, and it kills me inside to think that some man has made you feel so bad about yourself when you're a wonderful person. You're smart, sweet, a little sassy, and incredibly sexy. Don't let him take those things away from you, Linds. Hold on to that. What happened doesn't make you dirty, or worthless, or a whore or…whatever other horrible things he told you, okay? I would never lie to you Lindsay, so you can take everything I just said to the bank, okay?" Danny finished what he was saying, and let go of her chin in case she felt the need to look away from the intense emotions flowing between them.

Once Danny let go of her chin, Lindsay didn't feel the need to look away from him; to hide the emotions she was feeling, as she expected she would. Instead she wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered, "Okay," before laying her head in the crook of his neck and just enjoying his musky scent, the warmth and hardness of his chest pressed against her, and the safety of his harms as they wrapped around her back in a comforting hug that lasted several minutes, until Lindsay spoke once again.

"I'm really tired now," she said simply, knowing that Danny wouldn't hesitate to put her to bed. After all, he knew all the talking they'd done that day had taken an extreme emotional toll on her, and even if he wouldn't come out and say it, he was going to be keeping an extra close eye on her this week for signs of depression, and that would mean he'd only be spending as much time away from her as absolutely necessary for work.

Reaching over to the lamp, Danny flicked it off and next hit the off button on the remote as he wrapped one arm around Lindsay's back and the other came to rest under the bend of her knees as he placed a kiss on her forehead and stood up, saying, "Let's get to bed," and carried her into her bedroom so they could catch a few hours of sleep before Danny had to get up for work in the morning. He hoped Lindsay would spend his time at work resting, but knew that was highly doubtful. Being still seemed to be something she didn't do well for an extended period.

Once the couple was in bed, with Lindsay comfortably spooned up against Danny, did he find the courage to say what he'd wanted to say all day.

"Lindsay," he said quietly in case she'd dozed off.

"Huh?" came the reply as she turned around to look at him.

"Umm, I just wanted you to know that, Montana, I like you… a lot," Danny said with a smile using the words she'd spoken to him at one time.

Lindsay smiled and placed a chaste kiss on his lips before replying, "I like you too Danny… a lot." With that, she rolled back over and once again snuggled into his chest, his arm wrapped firmly around her waist, her right hand grasping his, as the two feel asleep.

With two mutual admissions of 'like', Danny and Lindsay knew that their relationship had just been set into motion, and it was only a matter of time until the rest of the team found out about them. The reactions would be varied, but overall, everyone would be happy for the two young CSI's that had finally found the love they both so desperately needed, and in the last person they expected to return it.

A/N I finally finished this chapter! I'm so glad! I hope you all like this one as much as you seemed to the last one. I got such positive feedback from last chapter about the emotions, and I hope I wrote them as well this time too. I tried to reply personally to everyone that reviewed and I hope I got to everyone; if not, I sincerely thank you for your reviews! They mean a lot to me! I also want to thank those that are just reading and not reviewing. Even you guys are a huge help! And of course, a special shout out to my beta, DKM. You rock chica! Thanks for all your help on this chapter! You know how close to home the subject matter here hit with me and I thank you for encouraging me to stick with the emotions and write through them! Luv ya!

Okay, and now it's time for a game I like to call, 'Name that song/artist'. C'mon, what's the song? Who's the artist, I know that at least someone out there has to know this one!