Temptation

See Part 1 for Disclaimers, etc.

A/N: I want to thank everyone who left feedback for the last chapter. You guys rock and inspire me to write more so don't stop now, please :) Let me know what you think of this one....

For the next couple of days, Speed barely saw Calleigh at all, as he, Megan and Delko became entrenched in a case that kept them out of the office all day Thursday and most of Friday. She was often in his thoughts but he didn't see her until Friday afternoon when they ran into each other in the hallway outside the Trace lab.

"Hey stranger." Calleigh greeted him. "How's your big case going?"

"It's going great, actually. We're wrapping things up right now and then we'll be able to call it a day. How about you?"

"Oh, I'll be out of here soon too. I'm really looking forward to tonight."

"So am I." Speed said. He was looking forward to it more than she would ever know.

"What time should we meet you at Silver's?"

"Well, the gig starts at ten so why don't we meet outside the entrance at 9:30?"

"Okay, that should give us enough time." Calleigh said thoughtfully. "Cathy's coming over to my place at seven..."

"I'm sure that's plenty of time for you to get ready." Speed assured her. Calleigh gaped at him.

"Two women, trying to get ready for a rare night out? Don't even get me started. We could take hours."

"Calleigh, you're both beautiful so I can't see how getting dressed up would take that long." Speed couldn't resist the compliment, it was truly how he felt.

"That's sweet of you to say but there's always room for improvement, believe me. Besides, sometimes it takes me half an hour just deciding which shoes to wear."

"How many shoes do you own, anyhow?" Speed asked her, eliciting a somewhat embarrassed giggle from Calleigh.

"Tim, you don't even want to know. Listen, I've got to go but I'll see you later, okay?" Calleigh walked away, smiling once over her shoulder.

"Yeah, see you later." Speed called, as she continued down the hall. Hopefully tonight would go well. He and Delko were going to be taking a cab but he still wasn't planning on drinking much because he really didn't trust himself around Calleigh right now. He didn't want to risk making a fool out of himself tonight.

Delko and Speed were outside Silver's at 9:15 and there was no sign of Cathy and Calleigh yet so they just hung out, chatting while they waited. Speed could not relax and kept looking around, keeping on the lookout for the two women.

"You seem pretty antsy." Eric observed, with a grin. "What's going on with you?"

"Nothing's going on." Eric looked unconvinced. "Seriously. I just hope they get here soon, because it's going to start getting busy out here."

"Well, you don't have to worry because there they are." Eric said, looking over Speed's shoulder. Speed turned around and saw them waiting to cross the street to get to the club. The sight of Calleigh literally took his breath away for a moment---he'd never seen her looking more beautiful. She was wearing a silky looking dark red dress that fell just past her knees. It was sleeveless and had a plunging neckline, showing off plenty of cleavage. Speed checked to make sure his mouth wasn't hanging open as the two women approached. He wanted to say something but his mind went blank for a moment.

"Hey guys." Calleigh drawled. "Well, don't you two look great." Speed swallowed and managed to speak at last.

"Hey Calleigh. You both look beautiful." He honestly hadn't really looked at Cathy, Calleigh was the only woman he could see right now. Speed just hoped he wasn't being too obvious in his admiration.

"Yeah, Calleigh, you both look awesome." Delko said.

"Thanks, guys. Cathy, you remember Tim?" Cathy nodded and smiled at Speed, who managed to pry his eyes away from Calleigh and smile back. "And this is Eric Delko, who works with us at CSI. Eric, meet Cathy Gaillard, a good friend of mine." Eric and Cathy shook hands and the four of them headed for the entrance to Silver's, with Calleigh and Cathy leading the way. Delko shot Speed a look that told him he was totally onto him. He knew that he probably wasn't doing a very good job of covering his feelings for Calleigh right now. He just hoped it wasn't so obvious to the object of his affection because he wasn't ready to face her quite yet.

An hour later, the band was onstage performing and the place was getting pretty crowded. They'd managed to get a table with a great view of the band and Speed sat there with Calleigh across from him as they listened to the music and watched their friends dance. Calleigh had been out there for awhile too but had come back to their table after a little while. Speed wasn't in the mood to dance quite yet so he was glad she had decided to come back to finish her drink and keep him company. Eric and Cathy on the other hand, had hit the dance floor as soon as the live music had started and hadn't stopped since then. Calleigh leaned close to Speed for a moment, catching him off guard. He thought maybe this was it, she was going to kiss him, but instead she cupped his ear and spoke into it, her warm breath sending shivers up his spine.

"I'm so glad I talked her into coming here. Look at her, she's having the time of her life." Speed nodded at Calleigh as she pulled away, her hair brushing against his hands. It was true, Cathy was totally losing herself in the music as she and Delko danced in an ever-growing sea of bodies. They talked back and forth for a little while, about the way Cathy was smiling at Eric and how great the music was. Speed pointed out the members of the group, including the base-guitarist Nick, who was a friend of his.

He found that the way Calleigh's eyes were sparkling in the dim light and the sweet smell of her hair completely intoxicating. They were both drinking but Speed knew that it wasn't the alcohol making him feel this way. Every time Calleigh put her head next to his to make him hear her over the loud music he wanted to put his hands on her face and pull her lips to his. She was driving him crazy tonight and he was sure she had no clue.

As he looked into her eyes he hoped that they would be able to spend some time alone later, someplace where he could hear himself think. Then maybe he could work up the courage to tell Calleigh how he was feeling. She was staring right back at him and a small smile crept onto her face. Something about the way she was looking at him made Speed realize that there was a good possibility that she might share his feelings, this couldn't be his imagination, could it?

Calleigh eyes suddenly left his and Speed looked up to see a tall man with dark blonde hair standing behind her. He leaned close and said something to Calleigh that Speed couldn't hear. Calleigh nodded at him and smiled. Speed's heart dropped as Calleigh stood up and told him she was going to go dance. He tried to smile back and wanted to kick himself for waiting too long to get out there with her. Now someone else had beaten him to the punch. Calleigh followed this mystery man onto the dance floor and Speed watched them move with the music. He looked over at Eric and Cathy, who still appeared to be having a great time.

This night wasn't going as he had anticipated and he was starting to feel kind of sorry for himself since he was the only one left sitting at the table. At the same time, he didn't want to dance with anyone if he couldn't dance with Calleigh. Speed sat there watching Calleigh dance with another man and tried not to scowl as she laughed at something he'd whispered in her ear. Hopefully they would only dance together for one song and then Calleigh would come back to their table, sending this guy on his way.

Unfortunately, when the song ended, the two showed no signs of stopping. Speed was so busy watching them that he didn't notice Eric and Cathy return to their table. Delko wordlessly handed him another beer and gave him a sympathetic smile when he saw what had captured Speed's attention. Speed took the beer and wasted no time in downing it, forgetting his earlier intention not to get loaded. Watching Calleigh with that guy was irritating him to no end and he wanted nothing more than to drown his sorrows right now.

The song ended and Speed saw Calleigh look over at their table. Maybe she had had enough and was going to come back. Disappointment flooded his emotions when the next song started and he realized it was a much slower one this time. Calleigh's dance partner took that opportunity to pull Calleigh close to him and Speed bristled, feeling sick to his stomach as he watched someone else's fingers weave themselves through her long hair. He turned to Eric to see his reaction but he was on his way back to the dance floor with Cathy, who was leading him by the hand.

Speed decided he had seen enough and decided to go and get another drink. To hell with saving the table. He got another beer and drank it sitting at the bar. He took his time and tried to calm down. Calleigh, Eric and him had gone out to the bar plenty of times and he'd seen guys flirt with Calleigh before. He'd even seen her flirt back and while he had never liked it, it had never pissed him off as much as it was tonight.

Maybe he was off base when he thought there was a chance she had feelings for him. Speed decided that tonight was obviously not the night to talk about things. A woman with long dark hair sat down beside him and smiled shyly at him. Tim smiled back but turned away. She was cute but just wasn't Calleigh and right now she was the one on his mind.

Ordering another beer, he took it back to their table and wasn't surprised to see that it had been taken. Looking out onto the dance floor he saw Eric and Cathy right away but Calleigh wasn't anywhere around. Glancing around him he couldn't see her and suddenly felt a little worried. Pushing his way through the crowd he approached Eric and Cathy.

"Have you seen Calleigh?" He asked them. They both looked around, confused.

"I thought she was dancing." Cathy replied and shot Eric a worried glance. It wasn't like Calleigh to take off with some strange guy and all of them knew it. "I'll go check in the ladies room. Maybe she went in there." Cathy took off through the crowd, leaving the guys standing alone in the mass of dancing bodies. They followed her and watched as she entered the bathroom.

"Could she be outside?" Eric asked him, quickly scanning the crowd for any sign of their friend. "Who was that guy she was with?"

"I don't know. All I know is that she was dancing with him when I went to get another drink and when I came back they were both gone. I can't see them anywhere." Speed responded, hoping that wherever she was, Calleigh was okay. It just didn't make sense that she would leave the bar with some guy she didn't even know. Cathy came back out of the bathroom alone, looking more worried than ever.

"She's not there." She said, appearing close to tears. Eric put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"We're going to find her. Calleigh's smart and can take care of herself, don't worry." He assured her.

"I know, it's just there are so many people here and I can't see Calleigh ditching us like this."

"Let's not jump to conclusions, okay?" Speed said, sensibly. There was no way that Calleigh would leave with this guy, it just wasn't in her character. Especially to leave without telling any of them that she was going. "Why don't we split up and really look around the place. Eric, you can talk to the bouncers and see if she left with anyone. We'll meet back here in ten minutes, okay?" Cathy and Eric agreed and the three of them headed in different directions.

Speed decided to go back into the crowd and see if he had just missed Calleigh the first time. The place was packed and he really had to push his way through to get anywhere. His frustration grew as he realized there was no sign of Calleigh or the guy anywhere. He walked around the bar several times, checking everywhere and was ready to give up when he finally spotted the familiar sight of her long blonde hair.

She was at a table in a dark corner of the bar and as he got closer he realized that she wasn't alone. The guy was still with her and they were sitting very close as he whispered in her ear. He couldn't see her face but noticed the hand on her knee that was slowly inching its way up her thigh. She put her hand on his and his lips suddenly grabbed hers in a rough kiss. Calleigh shifted a bit and Speed could finally see her face as the kisses moved from her lips down to her neck. He couldn't believe this was happening. Now, when he finally knew that Calleigh was the one he wanted. Some other guy had his hands all over her and Speed just wondered why it couldn't be him.

TBC....