Chapter Ten

"What do you mean you still haven't gotten anything?" Grissom's voice woke Sara as she lay on the bed. "Well, get on it and call back as soon as you find anything out."

Sara glanced down to see that her legs were exposed, then her midsection had a sheet draped over it, but once it got up past her waist, she was again exposed to the cool air coming from the air conditioner. She immediately looked at where Grissom was pacing back and forth at the bottom of the bed, moving from the front door back to the entrance to the bathroom area, then back again. The glances he was throwing her way didn't even reach her face as he would looked at her exposed parts, then turn his attention back to the telephone. The fact that he was fully clothed in his jeans and shirt that she had been wearing the night before, turned her attention to the pile of clothing that he had evidently folded and put on the dresser for her. She immediately grabbed the sheet and yanked it up to cover herself, her action turning his attention back to her where he seemed to notice for the first time that she was awake.

"I'll start working on getting more collected just in case. Fine!" He flipped his telephone closed then leaned back until he was half-sitting/half-leaning against the top of the desk where he ran his hand over his face in frustration. "They still haven gotten the shipment from yesterday morning."

"I'll—uh—get up and get ready. We'll have to go back and collect it again."

She got to her feet and pulled the sheet around her as she started toward the pile of clothing he had stacked for her, then she turned and started toward the shower again. The tug he gave on the sheet not only stopped her, but effectively pulled the top down until it was hanging off of her waist. She attempted to pull it back up but got blocked when he placed his hands on her waist and pulled her closer until she stood between his legs. She finally met his eyes and watched as a half-smile formed on his lips. With a sudden jerk, he pulled her closer and before she even realized what he was doing, he had his head bent as he took a pert nipple between his lips. His sucking made her sway against him and hold onto his shoulders for support, but sharp knocking at the door slowed his efforts until he eventually just moved his head until his forehead was leaning against her shoulder. As the knocking continued, he finally looked up at her.

"This isn't over," he told her then allowed her to go into the bathroom as he went to answer the door.

Sara overheard the sheriff talking to Grissom as she turned on the shower as they discussed the fact that there would have to be a re-examination due to what seemed to be an accident caused by flood waters. Sara had lived in Vegas long enough to know that although the previous night had been a continuous downpour, and there had been areas where the waters gathered in dangerous amounts, once she would go outside into the bright sunshine, everything would be dry again without any traces of the earlier weather disturbances.

She took a quick shower and threw on her now-dry clothes, then hurried out of the shower only to find Grissom waiting by the Denali. He had two cups of coffee waiting and handed one to her, then got into the truck and they went back to the body again for any new evidence they could collect. When they were through, they went to the crime scene and started going over the grounds but within two hours, they were alerted that another body was found a few houses down. By dinner time, they were both dusty and tired as they walked down the main street and Sara half expected a buggy to pull up while someone tied their horse to the post out front of the general store, and when they came across what very closely resembled said store, Sara paused and started inside.

This time she was going to be prepared as she went directly to the blue jeans and pulled out a pair in her size, then rummaged through some tee-shirts until she found one suitable for working in. The underclothing was a little harder to come by, but she found some that would fit. Sara paid for her purchases and went outside where she was beginning to feel the effects of the Nevada heat so decided that a cool Diet-Pepsi would go down well. She shoved a dollar bill into the slot of the nearby soda machine and listened to the clunking of the bottle as it dropped from its shoot. Another dollar and a regular Pepsi dropped for her and she picked up both bottles and headed back toward the motel.

Upon entering the room, noticed all of her and Grissom's belongings were gone. She took a step back outside and glanced around, then went to the office where she found the manager sitting behind the counter, watching a small thirteen-inch television. He seemed reluctant to turn away from what appeared to be an old episode of the Andy Griffith Show, but finally looked up at her.

"Oh—I guess he didn't tell ya. We got another open room so we moved your stuff in there. We gotta fix the leak in Nine. Didn't think you'd want to be in there while we were working on it."

Sara waited as he looked back at Don Knotts and when it became apparent that he was going to say nothing more, she tapped her fingers on the countertop.

"Um—just where would "my things" happen to be?"

"Down in Fifteen. Jeez, your partner could've told you that. Hell, he's been back for over half an hour."

"Yes, well—that would be kind of difficult, considering that I "wasn't" here to tell." She started for the door, but he called after her and stopped her.

"Here—you'll need a key. He left about five minutes ago. I saw him head back toward town."

Sara took the key and went back out into the heat of the sun and walked the extra six rooms where she opened the door to be blasted with the cool air within. She sighed in relief and dropped most of her new things on the dresser, but continued on to the bathroom with her bare essentials: a pair of panties and tee-shirt. She decided that after a quick shower, she'd put on the rest, but the thought of warm water beating down against her tired muscles made the shower irresistible.

She must have been a lot longer than she thought because as she towel-dried her hair, she noticed Grissom sitting at the small table, wearing what appeared to be new clothes he must have gotten when he returned to town. His button-down shirt was opened to mid-chest level and his sleeves were rolled up to his mid-forearms. The color was only slightly darker blue than the faded jeans that were hugging his legs.

"You took a shower already?" she asked as she dropped the towel and entered the room with him.

"Mm-hmm, before you got back."

She noticed how he was looking at something in his hand before popping whatever he was holding into his mouth. She slowly approached him and looked at the box he was now pouring more of his treasure from. The sight of the small pink and white capsule-shaped confections made her eyes widen. She watched as he seemed to be taking great joy in eating the candy, then finally looked up at her.

"What's that?" she asked with faux curiosity.

"Nothing," he lied.

"Are you going to share?" She took another step toward him and paused when she was only a foot away.

"It's all gone." Again, a blatant lie as he poured more candy into his palm and popped it into his mouth as his eyes watched her with amusement.

"I bought you a soda."

"Oh—thanks." He reached for the bottle and opened it, took a drink, then sat it back down as he took some more candy.

"Come on, Grissom!" she said, finally losing her composure as she took another step toward him. "You can't sit there and eat a whole box of "Good and Plenty" without sharing it with me! You know it's my favorite candy!"

"Your favorite? Boy, that's a coincidence, huh?"

"You know perfectly well it's my favorite! You bought it for me every day when we were in San Francisco! Come on—give me some."

He smiled mischievously as his eyes met hers. "And what do I get in exchange for it?"

"I told you—I got you a soda."

"Not good enough." He put a pink candy in his mouth.

"Fine," she told him, then moved back to her pile of new clothes and slid the treat out from beneath it. "Keep your "Good and Plenty." I'll eat these—all by myself."

He looked at her smugly—until he saws the orange wrapper she was tearing open. The aroma of peanut butter filled the room and he leaned forward in his chair as he watched her.

"Where did you get that? They didn't have any left when I went back to the store."

"That's because I bought the last one. I knew you'd want something to snack on—but since you're filling up on those—you won't need any peanut butter cups." She slid her finger along the chocolate and licked the brownness from its tip. "Just where did you find those, anyway? I certainly didn't see them."

"They just brought them out. They were restocking the candy shelves. Here—I'll trade ya."

"No, thank you," she teased as she took a bite of what she knew was "his" favorite candy. "This will be fine."

He slowly got to his feet and got that sexy smile in his eyes that could melt her. He slowly approached her and she popped the entire cup into her mouth and started laughing at him when she watched his eyes widen in surprise. She held the cup's twin out for his inspection as she slowly backed away from him and when he reached for it, she stuffed that one between her lips as well.

"Jesus, Sara! Good thing I didn't have hold of it yet—you would've bitten my damned fingers!"

She was having trouble with the amount of peanut butter in her mouth, but she couldn't stop her smile as she watched him still approaching toward her until the backs of her legs touched the mattress. She wanted to tell him that he would have deserved it, but she couldn't get the words past the mass of food, causing her to laugh again.

"You certainly can put a large quantity in your mouth," he mumbled as his eyes remained on the chocolate on her lips. "It makes me wonder what else you could manage to stuff in there."

His remark made her choke a moment on the candy, then when he smiled at her again she swallowed and leaned toward him to press her flavored lips to his. His tongue slid over the chocolate then dipped inside and she could taste the licorice left on it that mixed with the peanut butter cups she had just swallowed. He held her by her hips and soon she knew their simple kiss wasn't enough for him. In a split second, she was turned as he reversed their positions and he sat on the mattress's edge. He pulled her with him as he lay back on the bed, but on his way, he reached to her pile of clothes and slid his hand beneath them, pulling back with another pack of peanut butter cups in his hand.

"Hey!" She pushed herself up onto her elbows as she looked down at him and his sneaky smile charmed her. "How did you know that was there!"

"I saw it when I was looking at your new clothes." He turned away from her as he opened the package and she promptly grabbed the candy and pulled it away from him.

"You can't be serious," she breathed. "You'd rather eat candy than. . ."

His eyebrow rose as he stared at her. "Than—what?"

"Never mind. I'll leave you alone and let you eat."

She moved to get up, but he took the candy from her again and tossed it back onto the dresser, then pulled her back down on him. He turned onto his side, then maneuvered himself up farther on the bed and pulled her along with him. She barely had time to look at him before his lips were spreading kisses across her forehead and cheeks. He pressed her onto her back as his hand skimmed down over her side and his finger hooked onto the elastic of her panties where he paused only a moment before pulling them down and she assisted in removing them from her long legs.

"I don't think we need these," he murmured against her lips.

"And you don't need this closed," she told him as she unbuttoned his shirt all the way and pressed it open, then opened his jeans and lowered the zipper.

He grunted with discomfort until he assisted her in releasing his erection, then he pulled her neck closer as his tongue teased the inside of her mouth. She could feel him growing harder in her hand and she couldn't resist pumping her hand along its length to take in its velvety heat.

"Who needs peanut butter cups?"

He dipped his head lower and rubbed his beard across her neck before dropping his lips to caress the area he just scratched. His tongue moved slowly across the skin as he moved his jean-clad thigh between her legs and pulled her knee up over his hip. As his hands moved up from her waist and slid beneath her tee-shirt, she felt a shiver begin at her toes and work its way through her until his palm reached its destination and he cupped her perfect mound. His thumb found her nipple, circling it until it became a hard bead and she gasped at the sensations he was creating. She met his eyes briefly, the intensity of the blue orbs causing her legs to tighten around his thigh in an attempt to assuage the coiling that was taking place there. Then he moved his head lower and replaced his hand with his mouth. He suckled her like a man thirsting for the essence of her and soon his hand had moved down to her hip, sliding over her buttocks where he took his pleasure in touching and stroking the soft skin he found there. Soon, he was removing his leg from between hers and he dropped his kiss lower until he found her belly button and nipped around it while his fingers traced their way around her body and down to the core of her.

"God! Grissom!" she breathed without being aware of it and it urged him onward as his thumb began circling and stroking her hardened clitoris.

He pushed her thighs apart and moved himself until he was lying between them, then his destination was apparent as his fingers moved lower and he pressed one inside of her. His tickling beard was lower now, actually brushing against her hardened nub as he nuzzled the sensitive skin at the bottom of her abdomen. Her breathing turned to panting and without a conscious thought about it, her hands moved to grasp onto his head, easily moving him to where he could fulfill her desperate need of him. Upon the first flick of his tongue, she actually yelped and bucked up against him, causing him to chuckle slightly before resuming his hungry assault on her senses.

"Look at me," he whispered against her and she whimpered as she lifted her head and watched the beautiful head of curls nestled between her legs.

The effect was mesmerizing. She was actually here with Gil Grissom. God! How long had she wanted this? How long had she dreamed about this, only to be repeatedly shot down by his distance. But he was here now. He was doing things to her that were so intimate that the mere sight and reassurance that it was actually him was driving her toward a climactic ending such as she had never experienced before.

"Grissom! Grissom!" she panted as he slid two fingers inside of her and started stroking into her as he manipulated her hard bead with various strokes of his tongue, flicks and sucks.

She clung to the softness of his curls, letting the intimacy wash over her as she pressed her head back against her pillow and arched her back. He grasped onto her buttocks and pulled her more tightly against him, tilting her hips to give himself better access. Her breaths were catching in her throat until the massive explosion rocked her and she tugged fiercely on his hair before collapsing in a heap on the mattress.