Some time later, Grissom rolled onto his back with a contented groan. His muscles ached, a heavenly reminder of the passionate activities he had shared with Sara only a few hours earlier. Turning his head slightly he gazed in wonder over her sleeping face. She had given him everything he desired, as well as so much more, and yet, his happiness was still tinged with sadness because of all the time he had wasted in pushing her away.
Rolling onto his side to face her, he reached out to gently skim his fingers over her skin, amazed, even now by how soft she was. She had accepted him last night despite everything he had inflicted upon her over the last year, and he thanked every single one of his lucky stars that she cared enough to stay.
Sara drew in a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes. Light invaded her vision causing her to blink back against the brightness, but when she felt warm hands stroke her skin, sudden memories returned and she opened her eyes again to find her gaze drawn to a pair of beautiful blue eyes that had haunted her dreams for an eternity.
"Mmm…Hey," she smiled, her sleepy voice slurring as she stretched languidly against him.
"Hey yourself," he smiled as he leaned down to hover over her lips.
Reaching up against his chest, Sara pushed herself up on one elbow to press her lips to his, bridging the gap between them to steal the breath from him. Lying back down against the pillows, she took him with her, their kiss deepening as she encircled him in her arms.
Everything from their past had all but been erased, themselves deciding to put an end to the pain that had kept them apart for so long. Grissom groaned into her mouth when her fingers skimmed over his back, her nails delicately stroking his skin. Pulling away from her lips, he leaned up on his elbows to gaze down into her eyes. "I love you," he whispered, amazed at how easily the words slipped from his lips. He was pretty sure that he had never been in love before, nothing that he had experienced before had ever compared to how he felt when he was with her.
Sara's eyes swam with unshed tears. The sincerity in which he spoke those three words of love caused her heart to swell with every emotion she had ever felt. Sliding a hand from his shoulder, she traced a finger over his beard and then his lips. "I love you too," she told him honestly, the simplicity of those tiny words meaning so much for them both. With a beaming smile, she pulled him down to her again kissing him with everything she possessed. He sank into her body, willingly following wherever she led him, eventually falling over the brink of paradise once again.
An hour later, Sara came into the kitchen, fresh from the shower and drying her wet hair. Grissom smiled at her when she stepped up to him to kiss his lips soundly. "Mmm, that smells good."
"Good," he smiled as he slid an omelet onto a plate and handed it to her. "I hope you're hungry."
"I'm starved," she beamed, her eyes meeting his in a smoldering gaze.
Grissom gulped visibly, he was pretty sure she knew exactly how much she affected him when she looked at him like that. Taking a deep breath, he watched her wordlessly as she made her way over towards the table. He knew that tomorrow evening he would be traveling back to Las Vegas, and that whatever time they had left here he wanted to spend together, even if it meant going into work with her tonight.
"What's wrong?" she asked suddenly from the table, her worried eyes scanning his defeated body.
Looking up, he picked up his plate and walked over to join her, taking the opposite seat before reaching across the table to take her hand. "You think I could come into work with you again tonight?"
The smile that graced her features brightened his heart as she leant forward to pull him across the table slightly to kiss him soundly. Releasing him, she sat back down and clasped his hand. "You leave tomorrow," she said sadly, her words more of a statement than a question.
"Yeah," he sighed "5 p.m."
She dropped her eyes from his to look down at the table, and then slowly skimmed back up again to catch his gaze. "I still have another three months left here."
"I could come visit," he suggested, his other hand reaching out to clasp her fingers. "We could arrange to stay somewhere other than here if you want to be away from work…" his voice died away slowly as he took in a shaky breath. "I should have stopped you from leaving before. I should have said something."
"You didn't know," she whispered, her voice aching with sadness as she blinked away the fresh tears that threatened to fall. "If I'd have stayed we never would have come this far."
Pushing his plate away, he stood up; his hands still linked with hers and came around the table to crouch before her feet. "I've been such a fool. I wasted so much time."
Sara smiled down into his eyes, untangling one of her hands to cradle his face in her palm. "When I get back to Vegas will you still love me?"
"I could never stop loving you Sara, I guess that's been my problem all along." Lifting one of his hands to hers on his cheek, he caressed her fingers and leaned in closer towards her to nestle his head in her lap. "Forgive me…I should have told you a long time ago."
The welling tears that had gathered in her eyes finally spilt over onto her cheeks and every ounce of love she felt for this beautiful man washed over her. Leaning forward, she shielded his body with her own, her free hand threading fingers through his hair as she whispered words of love in his ear. "You're here," she whispered softly. "You came, and there's nothing that could ever stop me from loving you."
Pulling back slightly, his eyes found hers and he felt his worries disappear into nothingness as she banished everything from his mind but her. Lifting to his knees, he encircled her waist with his arms and pulled her forward, to nestle his body between her thighs to hold her. An eternity passed between them as the past melted away with the last of their fears, to replenish them both with the freedom to open their hearts without concealing any hidden uncertainties.
Grissom's cell phone rang noisily, its hum breaking through the emotionally charged atmosphere around them. "Your phone," she whispered, her voice absorbed into his chest as he pulled her tighter.
"Let it ring," he told her, unwilling even now to relinquish his hold on her.
Pulling back slightly, she smiled up into his eyes and reached up to place a tender kiss on his cheek. "It could be important," she whispered, her lips placing feather light kisses over his skin as she spoke.
"Let it ring," he groaned defiantly, angling his neck so she could continue her heavenly torture down his throat and chest. But the caller was refusing to go away, the insistent ringing becoming annoyingly persistent. Groaning in frustration, he pulled away from her only to cast a mock glare at her when she found the situation highly amusing.
Finding his phone in his jacket that Sara had hooked over the back of a chair, he pulled it open and put it to his ear. "Grissom," he growled.
"Hey Gil, how's Maine?"Grissom's anger suddenly died away when his friend's voice registered in his brain. "Jim?"
"Yeah, it's me. I just got home and thought I'd give you a call."
Grissom looked up when Sara ran a hand across his shoulders before walking towards the kitchen. He smiled silently, his heart suddenly quickening its pace. "Uh…Jim, was there something you wanted?"
"Can't an old friend just pick up the phone and call?""Yeah, they can…but I can't remember a time when you just called for the sake of it."
A loud knock sounded on he door and before Grissom could cover the mouthpiece, Sara called out from the kitchen. "I'll get it."
Grissom coughed slightly when she walked past him, and fought to find something to say, but before he could speak he heard Brass' knowing voice at the other end of the phone. "Was that Sara?"
"Uh…" he swallowed hard and tried to deny the obvious. "Jim…"
"Hey, did you two get some things sorted out? Oh wait, no don't tell me…" Brass chuckled quietly before he made his excuses to leave. "Tell Sara I said hi."
"You… you want to tell her yourself?" Grissom asked quickly when Sara pulled open the door to let Treyson in.
The other man stopped deadly still in the living room, his eyes registering with amusement when he spotted the older man in Sara's apartment. Looking up, Sara followed Treyson's eyes and felt the warm flush creep up her cheeks.
"Honey, Jim wants to talk to you." Grissom couldn't help himself. The unnecessary need to prove to the other man that Sara was his reared out to the fore. Sara stepped towards him and took the phone from his hand, but not before shooting him a warning glare that told him that this whole performance was totally superfluous.
"Trey," she called, her eyes still linked with Grissom's as she spoke. "Make yourself a coffee, you know where everything is."
"No it's okay Sara, I'm just running an errand to pick up the bug data for Brewster, he figured that Grissom would be here because he wasn't at his hotel…Quick off the mark those day shift guys." Flashing a smile towards Grissom, he nodded knowingly and winked at Sara. "You two gonna show today, or should I drop the files off?"
"We'll be in within the hour," Grissom told him, not bothering to mask the annoyance in his voice.
"Okay," Treyson grinned as he walked over towards the door. "See you both later then. I'll let myself out."
Sara closed her eyes in infuriation when she heard the door close, but the feeling quickly vanished when she opened her eyes again to see the apology in Grissom's expression. Reaching out a hand, she cupped his cheek as she spoke softly into the phone. "Hey Brass."
"Sara." His voice held a softness that Sara was unaccustomed to hearing from him, and she suddenly couldn't keep the smile from forming on her lips. "How are you doing kiddo? They treating you okay out there?"
"I'm fine Brass," she beamed as she gazed up into the eyes of the man she loved. "Everyone has been great here."
Grissom lifted a hand to hers and pulled her palm to his lips to shower it with nuzzling kisses. Drawing in a breath, she tried to focus on the phone in her other hand but it wasn't working.
"We all miss you here. It's been pretty quiet, but…oh look at the time." His voice quivered slightly as he tried to hold back the humor in his voice. "Early morning here, so I guess you're into the afternoon there. I'll let you kids go, I'm sure you have better things to do than talk to me."
Sara sprang back from the brink of ecstasy when Brass' words seeped into her foggy brain. Pushing the ache that was growing in her center away, she focused on her voice. "I don't know what you're hinting at Brass, but you've got the wrong idea."
Grissom lifted an eyebrow when she looked up into his eyes and stifled the chuckle that was building up inside his chest. Moving closer to her, he aimed to be annoyingly distracting, as much as he could. Creeping around behind her, he dipped his head to plant tiny kisses on her bare shoulders, delighted in the sharp intake of breath that escaped her lips.
"Okay…that's my cue to leave." Brass' voice echoed in her ears, and she vaguely heard him mutter goodbye before she shut off the phone and tossed it onto the couch. Turning quickly, she captured Grissom's errant mouth and kissed him with a force so strong that he lost his balance and fell backwards onto the floor. His body registered with pain which was quickly urged away when her hands raked at his body enticingly. Surrendering to her, he pulled her down on top of him and cast aside every other thought that still lingered in his mind, and let her take control of him completely.
An hour later, Grissom opened the doors to the lab to allow Sara to enter. She smiled up at him adoringly as she brushed past him, and turned around to wait for him to join her.
"I'll take this over to Brewster and explain how it works," he told her, lifting the timeline folder slightly as he spoke. "Then I'll come and help you."
"Well you know I am technically four hours early," she beamed. "Time for me to file my report, and for you to finish up. Then maybe we could grab some dinner before I come back to work."
"That sounds great," he nodded, fighting the urge to kiss her goodbye as they went in different directions down the adjoining corridors.
"Call me when you're done," she called, her smile lingering as she walked backwards, using her hands on the wall as a guide.
"Of course," he smiled, his eyes lingering over her form until she finally turned and disappeared around a corner. Sighing heavily, he made his way towards his temporary office to put the final touches to his report before handing it over to Eric Brewster for completion.
Tomorrow would come soon enough, but he was trying to avoid the inevitable sadness that would envelope him the second he stepped foot into the airport. They had a little over 24 hours together before he had to leave her again, and he wasn't going to waste a second of his time with her. Walking into his office, he forced himself to focus on the case and its eventual conclusion.
TBC
