Putting Senses to Order Chapter 7

…Nearly four years later, he was beginning to make those promises come true. Sara was awake. He knew her eyes were watching.

"A penny for your thoughts," she said.

Grissom moved to her chair, motioning for her to make room. He smiled. "All about you, Dear."

"I didn't mean to sleep."

"You need the rest." He settled behind her and pulled her against his chest. "The lights have just been turned on—I think it's a light show." His arms wrapped around her as they watched laser lights dance across the pyramids.

He made love to her later setting a pace to control his own desires as his fingers roamed across her arm and his mouth held hers captive, releasing her only to pull her shirt over her head. He carefully pulled the band from her ponytail and ruffled her hair. His nearness as he held her hands above her head and ran the other along her neck, to her breasts, to her abdomen and hip, slowly moving his fingers in small, warm circles, the intoxicating intimacy of the sheet making a soft white cocoon around them was her undoing. The bed became a ship sailing through a night of fog, uncharted, but safe.

She shivered as his mouth came to her breast and his hand tightened against the inside of her thigh. He groaned a low, husky sound that started deep within his chest as his thumb found the elastic of her panties. A ripple of laughter left her throat, because his fascination with her underwear had always been a source of amusement for Sara. He always seemed surprised at finding this little "triangle of fabric" as he called it, and, with one hand, he quickly slid them off.

Her hands were released as he moved to her hips and as his head bent to kiss her, everything inside her tightened.

"Gil," she whispered. She felt warm hands and fingers and shifted slightly, running her own fingers through his hair. She drew a sharp breath, acutely aware of what he was doing.

He mumbled something; she heard "dreams" before her own gasp closed out all sound except for the spinning desire consuming her body, coaxing, demanding, wanting more from him. He moved her, fitting snugly against her hips, returning his lips to hers as he probed, playing with the vortex of her passion, finding the bundle of nerve endings that shot fire to her brain. Every touch seemed more intimate, bringing an overwhelming sense of urgency to that spiral of emotion that threatened to consume every conscious thought.

Whispered words came to his ears and in one fluid, smooth movement, he sucked a deep breath and filled her with an intense tightness that concentrated their glorious physical connection. In seconds she had to fight to breathe as waves of sensations flooded her body. She knew she would never tire of him; if she lived a hundred years, she would know this man had been placed on earth for her. Sara had no way of knowing that he was thinking the same thoughts as he plunged into the same whirlpool of passion, lost to cognizant thought. They slept, soundly, wrapped together in a shared nest of warmth, relaxed, and satisfied…

Their tour of Egypt began with a guide, employed by the hotel, who stuck with the couple like glue while guiding them to his small car. Obviously, a well-known man, he held his hand in front of Sara's face as a signal for others to back away and the locals—offering camel rides, trinkets as valuable antiquities, or other offers made in a babble of voices—disappeared to find other customers.

Kermit, an Egyptian with impeccable English, wore the loose native shirt of woven blue and white cotton, and talked as fast as he drove in the congested traffic, often looking at them while swerving around livestock and people and sounding the horn. Their destination of the Egyptian Museum was reached without incident, and, with a wave of his arm, got them into the museum by parting a sea of hawkers offering the same camels and trinkets.

"It is the way of the Egyptians, Dr. Grissom. We all desire the tourists!" He led them into the museum with its thousands of artifacts gathered in some method and displayed, he explained, in chronological order. Some rooms were filled with the mundane objects of everyday life while the next room displayed treasures of uncalculated wealth. Sara and Grissom had selected specific items to see and Kermit swept them from one room to another, giving an explanation on some things, providing a history of how the objects arrived at the museum, until they arrived at the room filled with priceless treasures of Tutankhamen.

They could have spent hours in the vast museum, but hunger and heat got the three outside and into a local café. Kermit understood Sara's explanation of "no meat" and, while he and Grissom were served plates of lamb and vegetables, her plate was filled with rice, lentils, tomatoes, chickpeas, and onions, steaming hot and delicious. The waiter arrived with a tray of sweets, dates, baklava covered with honey, small cakes and sweet biscuits.

The pyramids waited as Kermit found a place to park his car and, waving his arms, scattered the persistent mob of men and boys clamoring for attention.

"Photographs do not do justice," Grissom said as he adjusted his camera and took several shots. City growth surrounded the monuments, but certain angles made near buildings as well as the crowds of people disappear.

As their guide, Kermit earned his pay. His explanations of history were simple, with no involved details. He made no excuses for the poverty or rubbish or stray dogs or small boys running barefoot among tourists. He was their guide, a protector, a translator.

By day's end, Grissom had admired the blue and white shirt, the loose fitting cotton pants of so many Egyptian men, and before they returned to the hotel, the small car eased into a crowded street where Kermit tossed coins to a young teenager and led Sara and Grissom into an open market. An organized chaos surrounded the selling and trading and bartering of merchandise and food from thousands of places. Men shouted words in English to attract attention as the three ignored the most persistent sellers. Sara heard the phase "I saw you last night in my dreams" more than once and dropped her face as she smiled, realizing pick-up lines were the same all over the world.

A/N: This one will be 10-12 chapters. Enjoy!