A Few Days Continued Time in the Triangle Chapter 21
They had dozed in the afternoon, warmed by the nearness of each other, the quiet room, and the consciousness of satisfaction. The sun was setting by the time they woke—an amazing spectacle of nature without the need of neon. The incredible colors of the desert swept across the plateau to the western mountain range, turning shapes from muted shades to brilliant pinks, scarlet reds, and burgundy purples. Man-made lights twinkled and brightened as the sun disappeared, but the sky remained streaked with colors of twilight.
Sara called Catherine to hear that all was well; everyone was happy, not to worry. Grissom found juice and energy bars in the room's refrigerator and fed her bites as they rushed to bathe and dress and order dinner for afterwards.
Sara tried to sweep her hair into some style other than a pony tail." Leave it," he said, so she did.
They wore black—the color of easy dressing or to disguise all faults, to erase social barriers or to admit wardrobe shortage, Sara was never sure. When she thought they were ready, Grissom pulled her once again to the balcony.
"To see the Strip," he said. Instead, he pulled a small box from his pocket and Sara saw nothing else but his intense blue eyes as he opened the box and carefully unwrapped a necklace.
She knew she made some sound because air left her lungs. Five stones shaped in a lazy 'S' sparkled with fire only real diamonds can create. "Oh, Gil." She must have said the words because he smiled as he reached around her neck.
"One for each."
Her fingers felt each stone. "Oh, Gil, we said the house was our gift—this is…"
"Something I should have done years ago!" He kissed her forehead, her nose, her lips. "Come, we don't want to be late!"
They did make it to the concert entering the smallest theater on the Strip just as lights dimmed the first time to find their reserved seating—excellent second tier seats and greatly superior to the usual narrow bucket chairs of the super sized auditoriums where audiences of several thousand saw the latest, greatest entertainment acts.
Tonight's concert was for several hundred people; the group of brothers had been performing together nearly all their lives. Their music provoked, entertained and excited the audience as the brothers played together and in solo. The cultural mix of instrumentation used percussion and keyboards and horns with vocals that moved from harmony to a pleading, velvet heartbreaking solo. It was a blend of ballads, jazz, and reggae with one of the brother's high falsetto adding classical songs to their performance.
The crowd was standing, many singing the well-known words of a favorite song, by the end of the concert. Sara knew the words as did her children—her head rested on Grissom's shoulder as the crowd thundered applause for another song.
They returned to the room where maid-service had cleaned and made the bed and a touch of the room service key pad brought their previously ordered dinner to the room. The waiter arranged a table with candles and elaborate silverware and dinner plates on the balcony, providing service a' la russe for the multiple courses. The couple had no time for long conversation as their fruit plate was replaced with clear soup. A salad of cucumbers, mushrooms, avocadoes, and olives was followed by asparagus and leeks baked in a pastry shell. A plate of vegetables—potatoes, beans, squash, artichokes and greens—was placed before each, preceding another salad of lettuces, tomatoes and walnuts. The end of the meal was a sweet lime and raspberry desert pudding with dried and crystallized fruits and bonbons and warm buttered biscuits with a variety of cheeses. Each plate had brought words of pleasure and marvel at the preparation and presentation. And when the waiter—whose skill ranked among those of award winning chefs—cleared the table, poured requested drinks, he disappeared as quickly as he had arrived.
Grissom and Sara continued to sit on the balcony, satisfied, contented, and extremely delighted with this unexpected gift of luxury.
"Do you remember how we usually visited rooms like this one," she asked.
"I do. We never got to see the fun side of Vegas—the real reasons why people come here." They had moved to the chaise lounge. "I'm getting one of these," he laughed as he shifted to make room for her.
"You need one a little larger."
He chuckled. "Are you gaining weight?" He knew she had not gained weight except in pregnancy and with five kids to follow, it wasn't likely she would do so soon.
"We'll have more than us sitting in a chair," she laughed. "I do miss them, their noise." She kept laughing. "I can only imagine Catherine trying to bathe and shampoo all that hair tonight."
"Bizzy will take charge, I'm confident. And what she doesn't do, Eli will."
Sara fingered the stones on her necklace. "Should we take Eli to the cemetery? I'm never sure what to do."
"We'll go tomorrow—Nick wants to go; take flowers. Catherine goes alone." They were silent as their thoughts returned to Warrick Brown. "Many times, I've thought about Warrick's death as the catalyst that made me do something." Grissom's voice was low, husky with emotion. "I'm not sure I would have had the courage to come to you…"
Her hand slipped inside his shirt. "We would not have Eli."
Quietness came again; the midnight sounds of traffic far below their balcony as they considered the effects of events that changed lives, taking away and adding of so much.
As night deepened, the hushed noise of tourists lessened but never stilled in the city that never sleeps. Their talk came in bursts or single thoughts or quiet laughter with periods of comfortable silence. Long after midnight, one suggested the bed would be better for sleeping; Grissom added, "and other things".
Sara protested the amount of food he ordered as he tapped a request for breakfast into the little screen. "I never get breakfast in bed," he complained when she patted his stomach, "unless it is cereal and jelly smeared." He smirked, lifting an eyebrow. "And I can sleep naked, too."
Sara snorted a laugh as he threw his pants in the direction of the closet, followed by his boxers. He was, he confessed, a horny old man with lecherous desires for the woman he loved, in an atmosphere that provided seclusion and discretion. He crawled into bed wearing nothing but his white tee shirt.
"Take those off," he instructed as he waved a hand in her direction. "I want to feel you—just you!" He pulled his shirt off. Her pants and shirt ended up in a puddle around her feet and as she went to unhook her bra, he grinned, "I'll take care of those."
She slid between the sheets as his hands sought her. She joked, "I really wanted a bath in that tub!"
"In the morning—before we leave—you can have your bath. I need to tell you something else, too. Later." His mouth found the top of her panties seconds after he released her bra and tossed it. "I love these," he muttered.
Sara giggled. He loved removing the panties was what he meant, she thought. Her one extravagance was finding undergarments just for his pleasure. He knew the bits of silky fabric and lace in exotic colors were for him. Of course, he didn't stop at just "removing" her panties; he played, gave her pleasure, sought gratification in the male to female dance of leisurely desire. And when she thought she could not take another second of the intimate, intense stimulation, when she moaned and called his name in ecstasy, knowing she was reaching her peak of desire, he moved, wrapping arms around her, covering her body with his as he plunged, pulled by her craving into the warm fluid filled part of her that belonged to him.
He said her name in a wisp of air as every nerve in his body fired in one direction, as her body rose to meet his, neither having to think of words or actions as they bonded, seamlessly, appearing as one in the bed they shared. Afterwards, he held her whispering simple words of couples, content with fulfilled passion, before she fell asleep. He followed her within minutes, comfortable with legs entangled and arms holding each other.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Enjoy a little bit of GSR before returning to kids and friends!!