Disclaimer: It's been a year; hopefully by now everybody knows CSI: Miami does not belong to me.

Author's Note: Wow; a year simply flies by, doesn't it? I missed two deadlines and had a Douglas Adams moment. I will always send my deepest regards to Mr. Hathaway, b8kworm, and SunMee; your collective support means the world to me. So many new friends have been made this year, however, the triad, in particular, must be named: Marianne, kdeb, and Andrea. Finally, I always intended to do a follow up to Nights Under, so here goes. So many, many thanks to Marianne! You rock my world to infinity. Finally, I love my betas.

Summary: If anything, the moment for turning back was six months ago when he gave her the choice to meet him for dinner. For him, his choice had been made the moment he walked up to Calleigh in the club.

Rating: R

Archive(s): Evidence of Things Unseen, Lonely Road, mine. Anybody else, email me; I like to go visiting.

Pairing(s): Horatio/Calleigh

Spoiler(s): None that I'm aware of.

Must read Nights Under the Full Jazz Moon first.

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Title: Full Moon Promises

Author: Laeta
Email: ladylaeta@yahoo.com


Chapter 2: Jeweled Perfection

Horatio, in anticipation of the next day's pickup, had arranged for the day off. He was sure that he would not be able to afford the necessary mental capacity needed for work. So, he progressed through the start of his day, slowly, lingering over his thoughts and impressions.

She smiled more, he realized, after their moonlight confessions. Since then, they alternated between quiet nights together, continually moving closer and closer to this point, and wild nights at the club. Although he preferred the quiet nights, the ring in the way Calleigh introduced him reigned him in nicely.

He had told her seriously at the outset that he aimed to court her. So they stepped to the old fashioned rules of the courtship dance. Neither was overly concerned with hurrying to the conclusion. When they arrived, without a doubt, it would be worth the wait and anticipation.

For Horatio, it was becoming harder and harder to walk away from Calleigh each night. When he finally would meander his way home, he would plan the rest of his suit.

It took him a month to find the right stone that reflected the sun off her eyes. It took another month to gather the courage to finally convert the image in his mind to paper. He researched jewelers carefully. This had to last forever; he was not going to take any chances in the craftsmanship.

Once he contracted the jeweler, they slowly fine tuned Horatio's initial concept. Because he had to maneuver almost sneakily, this agonizing process took six weeks. Just as Calleigh left for her solo night at the club, he received the phone call he had been anticipating all week.

He called for a taxi to take him downtown to the jeweler's shop. There, Horatio examined the creation carefully, amazed his wish came true so beautifully. All that was left was to give it to Calleigh. He thanked the jeweler, who wished him all the luck in the world.

Preferring to walk in the midday sun, enjoying its shine without a crime scene to visit, Horatio walked toward the lab. Along the way, he called the restaurant to confirm his reservation for early evening. He wondered when the anticipation would change to nervousness while the rest of his mind moved his body through the doors of the crime lab.

He followed all the procedures for a guest visiting the lab, though they let him wander to Calleigh's bench rather than call her to the waiting room. Taking a moment to watch her through the glass, he thought again that she looked so happy. The artificial light flickered off her hair and the paperweight he had given her on a whim.

Moving to the door, he quietly called, "Knock, knock."

Calleigh whirled to face him, her body glowing in pleasured surprise even before her eyes landed on him.

"I thought you were off today. What are you doing here?"

Horatio walked into the room and leaned against the table, barely touching her. When she opened her body to him, he gently entered her personal space. Soft caresses sent her into a smiling haze.

"I thought I'd relieve the monotony and surprise you. And figure out how difficult it would be to convince you to leave early."

She was laughing, her face utterly transformed by the humor in his words.

"So, your plan, Handsome, was to save me from tedium?"

"In a way. If you'd let me, of course."

They shared a private smile together because, if anything, life was everything but dull as a criminalist in Miami.

She ran her hands along his chest, fiddling with the collar before unbuttoning the top couple of buttons. Calleigh leaned back, fully trusting him to support her, and studied the results of her action.

"So?"

"So, you're going to have some fight on your hands."

"Yeah? Why's that?"

"I have a boss who expects nothing but the best from me. I have a certain amount of pride giving it to him."

He could not prevent the smile her words caused, so he tempered it with words of his own. "Okay, then, will this tip your opinion in my favor?"

Horatio kissed her, dipping into an endlessly burning fire of passion. He knew it was unfair of him, but he loved the feel of Calleigh against him. Kissing her only guaranteed the physical closeness that their relationship did not cover - yet.

Without even realizing it, they had deepened the kiss without regard for where they were. Consequences be damned, they were beyond caring who saw. Eventually, a well-meaning knock intruded into their pleasure fog. Whoever it had been was gone, disappeared down the hall, but both Horatio and Calleigh placed bets on Alexx.

Calleigh leaned against him, eyes still closed, chewing her bottom lip. Horatio brought a hand up to cup the subtle jaw line of her face, rubbing his thumb to draw the lip out. It stopped her from torturing it but not from torturing Horatio as she replaced her lip with his thumb. Suddenly, he was glad for the solid support of the table that braced him.

Calleigh smiled triumphantly and straightened her posture.

"I give as good as I get," she said.

"Tease." Horatio nearly growled the word, and it told her everything she needed to know.

In a pseudo act of contrition, she nuzzled her face into his neck and made no attempt to soften her resolution.

"As much as I want to, Handsome, I would feel guilty leaving right now."

"Compromise?" He angled his head in hope.

"One hour and you can convince me again." She fell so completely for the full smile he bestowed upon her.

While he waited, he leafed through her other reports, lingering inside her lab. He easily could have chosen to wait in his office, but he had no desire to see the accumulation of paper on his desk. With Calleigh, he weighed his priorities differently and preferred not to shift back into the man he once was. Besides, he had plans tonight, which relied on his ability to convince Calleigh to play hooky with him this one Friday afternoon.

In his pocket, his jeweled creation preyed upon his mind. It distracted him, teased him, with its perfection. As far as he was concerned, only perfection could own another form of itself, so he had to quench the urge to view it in comparison to Calleigh, the real priceless jewel of his life. Slowly, the last minutes of his life as a bachelor ticked away.


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© RK 14.Nov.2003