"Magnificent Lasagne and Artificial Worms"
by Kristafied
Canon, what canon? Set post Grave Danger; mostly diverges from canon at that point.
Sara/Nick Friendship, becomes Snickers
Rating: M (for language and eventual smut)
A/N: Not sure if the timeline of Nick coming back to work and Warrick getting married matches up with how I have it here, but let's just roll with it for now. Also, I've never been to Vegas, so all locations are completely made up.
Disclaimer: If I owned them, I wouldn't have all this debt from grad school.
Chapter Six
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Thursday, late evening
Nick awoke to his alarm clock and a note on her pillow telling him she'd run home to shower and change and would be back with his car in time for start of shift. The tone of the note was neutral, so Nick wasn't sure if he'd driven her away with unconscious groping or a pesky morning hard-on; he'd slept so soundly he had no idea how long she'd been gone.
He showered and shaved quickly and prepared English muffins and travel mugs of coffee for two, proud that he timed it so that the toaster pinged just as she knocked on the door. He opened the front door and handed her the coffee in one movement, prompting her cheerful sigh of, "Ooooh, you're my hero, Nick."
As an icebreaker, it worked exceptionally well. He relaxed. "I love it when you moan, darlin'," Nick waggled his eyebrows suggestively, smiling as she shook her head. "Do you want eggs?"
"No thanks." Sara trailed after him to the kitchen and hopped up on a stool at the breakfast bar watching him butter the muffins while she sipped her coffee. "Hmm. This is excellent. Is this the coffee you use to contribute to Greg's not-so-secret stash of good stuff?"
"The very same." He handed her a small plate with her muffins, pointed to the jam jar, and sat next to her. "He's spoiled us all."
"Yep."
They munched quietly for a few minutes before Nick ventured, "What time did you leave?"
"Eight-ish. I set your alarm for nine, was that enough time?"
"Yeah, thanks." Her noncommittal answer hadn't given him anything to work with, so Nick pressed further. "Did you sleep okay?"
She turned to face him and gave him one of her full, bright smiles that showed her diastema. "Actually, I did." A hint of devilment lit her dark eyes, "You're a snuggler, you know that?"
Uh, oh. Was that good or bad? His face started to heat up, but he tried to sound casual. "Really?"
"And a very sound sleeper."
Oh, boy. Nick knew he was blushing. "What makes you say that?" He was pretty sure he was in some major trouble.
She drew out her pause until Nick felt his fingers bend to crack a knuckle. "Well, you fell asleep holding my hand..." God, she was killing him here... "...and when I woke up you were holding something else..."
His eyes widened. She licked her lips and continued. "Something soft, something I think you like very much..." Nick's eyes flicked down to her breasts. Crap.
Just before he opened his mouth to start his apology, he looked back to her face and blinked in puzzlement. He'd never seen anyone's eyes actually dance with mischief before, but he was pretty sure that was what he was looking at right now.
"...a teddy bear."
Nick froze. Shit. Double shit. Shit on a stick. Shit with sugar. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. Why couldn't he have just been a normal guy and felt her up in his sleep? Poked her in the back with a little morning wood, tweaked a nipple, tongue in the ear, anything, anything but this.
How could this have happened? He hadn't even noticed when he woke up this evening. How the hell had she seen that? He put Bear away in the back of his closet every day when he made his bed. Every day when he made his... oh. Shit.
Sara had turned her back to him and was rooting through her handbag, seemingly oblivious to Nick's mortification. This was the absolute fucking prizewinning moment of this entire fucking bizarre week of weirdness with Sara. Nick closed his eyes and felt nauseated. He might as well castrate himself now, because as soon as word got out, he was never getting laid again. Other men would point and laugh as he passed through the halls of the lab, Greg would fill his locker with teddy bears, Warrick would be embarrassed to seen with...
Soft lips brushed his. His eyes snapped open to find her inches from his face. Her expression reminded him of that moment in the canoe when he'd told her about the artificial worms – like he'd done something wonderful and surprising without meaning to. One of her long-fingered hands reached up to bracket his cheek, which she stroked with her thumb before dropping her hand and stepping back a pace.
Her other hand came out from behind her back. Nick looked down quizzically at a greyish, threadbare piece of fabric with a tattered yellow satin edge. She was absently rubbing a pull in the satin between her fingertips. When Nick returned his gaze to her warm brown eyes, he noticed her blush.
Sara drew in a long breath. "This is Boop. I don't know where I came up with the name, but I've had Boop since I was a baby. He was a gift from my Nanna. She died when I was eleven, two months before my mother killed my dad. I sleep with Boop whenever I've had a bad day, and I fold him up and hide him in my file cabinet behind my old tax returns so no one ever sees him." The flare of total vulnerability in her eyes squeezed his heart when she whispered, "Not even Grissom."
Nick reached down and touched the soft old blanket, continuing his caress to enclose her hand in his as he stepped closer to her. Acting purely on instinct, he stroked her silky cheek with his other hand, dipped his head and brought his mouth to hers in a slow, tender press of lips.
The sheer electricity of the contact caused him to suck in a gasp of air. Stunned, he kissed her again, gently at first, and then with escalating desperate energy as the taste of her made his heart pound and his head swim. The moment his tongue felt the slick, hot interior of her mouth and he heard her moan, really moan, Nick knew he was lost.
Nick faintly registered the soft phlump of Boop slipping to the wooden floor as Sara reached her arms around his back and pulled her body closer to his. Nick found himself stepping forward as she stepped back until they found a wall for him to press her against. Her hands were in his hair and her short nails against his scalp were driving him insane. A shudder went through his whole body and he leaned forward, pushing closer to her until he felt one of her long, long legs leave the floor and wrap around his thigh. Nick groaned and felt his hips buck into hers involuntarily. His hands were buried in the cool threads of her hair with the thumbs running across the smooth skin of her ears and jaw.
He was drowning in the scent of her, in the feel of her heat pressed against his groin, in how she was tall enough that he felt like he could just keep kissing her for hours without getting a crick in his neck.
A shrill beeping cut through the air and made them both jump away from each other like kids caught necking on the porch. Both panting and wide-eyed, Nick stared at Sara in shocked wonder until his cell phone rang again and startled him out of his daze. Not taking his eyes from Sara's, Nick fumbled for his phone and held it to his ear. "Stokes."
"Nicky, man, you awake?"
"Hey, Warrick," pause to catch his breath. Sara nodded at him and turned to walk away. Nick grabbed her hand and pulled her against him in a loose, comfortable embrace. "Yeah, I'm up. Uh, Sara's already here to pick me up; we'll be in soon."
"Actually, that's why I was calling. Do you think you guys could swing by and get me? Tina's piece of shit Dodge, which she refuses to replace, wouldn't start tonight and I woke up to a note saying she was taking my car."
"Nice of her to leave the note, at least." Nick commented wryly. He felt the muscles of Sara's back relax into his chest and smiled as he absently rubbed his cheek in her hair.
"Yeah," Warrick's voice was unamused. "So, anyway, think you two could swing by and get me?"
"Of course, man, no problem. We'll see you in twenty."
"Thanks."
Nick flipped his phone closed and stuffed it into his pocket so he could wrap both arms around Sara and squeeze her in a tight hug. She grumbled something about needing to breathe, so he let go and stepped back a pace to look at her. Her cheeks were pink and her hair tousled, but she met his gaze steadily. Nick brushed a quick kiss against her forehead and asked, "Are we okay?"
Her lips twitched in a flirty, nervous smirk. "Well, I can't comment on myself, but I have to say you were much more than just okay."
Nick laughed, and couldn't resist retorting with, "That's what all the ladies... ow! Did you just pinch my ass?!"
"You asked for it," she had stepped back, her eyes sparkling and her hands fisted on her hips, "Mr. Mood Killer."
"Sorry," he reeled her back in, "you're just too much fun to tease."
One devilish eyebrow arched in response. "Fun to tease, eh?" Her hands moved sensually up his sides, trailed over the nape of his neck, and along his ears to trace his mouth. Nick shivered and felt all the blood rushing back to his groin. He licked his lips as her fingertips brushed his Adam's apple on the way to his pecs, and he gasped when they moved in a featherlight touch across his nipples. Nick leaned forward to kiss her, and she suddenly let him go and stepped back, an impish smile on her face. "You're right, Nick, teasing is lots of fun." She turned to grab her purse and his keys. "Ready to go? We'd better head out if we're going to be at Warrick's in twenty minutes."
Nick was pretty sure he looked like a goldfish, standing there with his mouth opening and closing but no words escaping until he finally croaked out, "Okay, you win." He snatched the keys from her hand, "But I'm driving, wild thing."
She bumped him with her hip and he looped an arm around her shoulders, locking the door and setting the alarm automatically. Their teasing continued as they piled into Nick's truck and headed over to Warrick's apartment.