Budding
Chapter Thirteen
The feel of her lips and her soft skin drove him crazy; but he couldn't, wouldn't take advantage of her like this.
"Catherine," Warrick said. "We have to stop."
"What? Why?" She panted.
"I don't know," he said. "I've always cared about you, and I think that we need to slow down."
"Okay," she said.
"You had the dream too, didn't you?" Warrick asked.
"Yeah," she said. "What's going on?"
"I don't know," Warrick said.
The heat surrounded them, and instead of fueling their fires, it only served to make them miserable as Catherine cried.
One more day, and they would finally leave New Orleans.
***
Warrick caressed Catherine's cheek as he kissed her lips lovingly.
"Mm," she moaned. "I love you."
"I love you," he said. "You're beautiful."
Catherine lightly smiled and closed her eyes, reveling in the sheer pleasure of Warrick's kisses. She kissed him passionately one final time before they started to fix their clothes. Catherine sighed happily as she buttoned her shirt up.
Catherine looked around the spacious room again and smiled.
"I really like this house," she said as she smoothed down her skirt.
They made love on the cold hard floor of the luxurious master bedroom of their new home.
"You really truly like it?" He asked, fixing his shirt back the way it needed to be.
"Yes," she said as she got up on tip toe to kiss him again. "You did very good babe."
They checked each other's appearance before linking hands and walking out together.
They went to lunch before heading home.
Catherine stared steadily at the entrees on trays that waiters were carrying by as she stuffed food in her mouth. Warrick noticed her strange behavior and was trying to decide whether to address the issue or not.
"Sweetie," he started. "Why are you staring at other people's food?"
"I keep thinking that I should have ordered something else," she said, cutting another large piece of meat. "This steak is the pits."
Warrick furrowed his eyebrows at the moment of irony; she expressed dislike for the meat but she was eating it still, with more intrepid feelings than the trepidation of a person who clearly was not enjoying the meal at all. He just shook his head.
When they finished lunch, they picked up Lindsay.
"My girl," Catherine said happily. "Guess what?"
"What mommy?" Lindsay asked in anticipation.
"We got the house!" Catherine exclaimed.
Lindsay jumped up and down with joy.
"Is my room big?" She asked.
"Yeah, just a little too big," Catherine teased. "I think Warrick and I will have to take yours."
"No mommy," she giggled.
"Come on, want some ice cream to celebrate?" Catherine asked.
"Yeah!" She exclaimed.
Warrick wrapped his arm around his wife's waist and kissed her cheek.
***
Sara sat in her living room thinking about the answer Grissom gave her to her question. She was wondering if it was real, of a nightmare.
Grissom didn't love her. Knowing that now, after ten years made her cry, but she was also strangely happy; her heart felt like it was slowly mending itself back together. She was no longer in limbo. She had a direction in life.
Sara shook her head of those thoughts. It was the medicine talking. Her heart felt heavy and limp. It was just a mass hanging in her chest. Her hopes and dreams of a life of love were shattered at his words, and at that point she figured everything else that they had been through; that she had been through, were in vain. Everything that they shared didn't matter now because he finally admitted that he didn't love her.
Sara cried and she moaned in the pain of knowing it all now. There was now a reason for his treatment of her.
"I love you still, Grissom," she cried quietly to herself. "I love you."