AN: And speaking of Much Ado about Nothing, TPTB reconsidered. I guess my favorite distraction, writing fics when I should be doing other work, will continue. I just re-read that last chapter and realized it was a bit short and missed some things. This should be better.
Title of the chapter from the song by Everything But the Girl, "Get Me."
"To know yourself is to let yourself be in love / I wanna be addictive / I wanna be secure / I wanna wake up after the night before / Do you get me? / Do you ever get me?"
Oh, and this is where I earn that R rating.
Get Me
They were frozen like that, their bodies unmoving except for the slow boil that was Catherine's blood pumping through her body. Their lips still touched, Sara's arms were still around her waist, and her hands still grasped Sara's hips tightly. She was afraid to break the moment, afraid to let Sara go, Catherine realized, afraid that if she did, Sara would retreat behind the wall that she had thrown up earlier. She really learned a thing or two from Gil about cutting herself off from her emotions, didn't she, Catherine thought.
"Tell me." Sara's voice was soft, reassuring yet commanding. Catherine wasn't sure she heard her at first, wasn't sure what she was asking when she did figure out that Sara had spoken. "Tell me about your nightmare," Sara breathed against her lips in the ensuing silence. Once again, she had been woken by Catherine, and she had paniced when she had reached out and Catherine wasn't there. It took her a moment to remember that Catherine had gone into the guest room when they had returned from work, a not-so-subtle slap in the face, but that hadn't stopped her from hurrying to the room as she heard Catherine crying and yelling.
Sanity had re-inserted itself when she reached the door, pausing in the doorway when she saw that Catherine was still asleep, tangled in the sheets, the sheen of sweat on her face evident even in the faint hallway light. She hesitated, there, one hand on the doorframe, caught in her indecision. Not for the first time that night she wondered when had she become so indecisive and timid. But then Catherine had shot up in bed, eyes wide and unseeing, and nothing could stop her from crossing to the bed and gathering her in her arms.
"Tell me."
"It's you," Catherine whispered, so quietly she was sure Sara wouldn't hear, but she knew she would. Her body had stopped trembling from the aftermath of the nightmare, but she could feel another trembling beginning in her stomach as Sara's hands continued to caress her back through the light cotton of her t-shirt. "I keep... seeing you..." Catherine paused as an image from her dream bubbled up. Sara's face, pale and bruised, in the sweep of the light from her torch. "In the trunk. I found you, you know," she said, almost conversationally, "at the scene."
Sara hadn't known that; she had tried to avoid reading the reports and files, she hadn't wanted anyone to think that she was checking up on them, and she especially didn't want to think of herself as the victim. So she hadn't known many details, just made sure the evidence was all in order, and avoided everything else.
"I saw the keys on the ground. When the trunk opened...." Again, words failed her as Catherine tried to explain. "You were so pale. I thought you were dead." She closed her eyes, reliving that moment when she felt a faint pulse under her fingertips. "In the dream, it's just like that. The lid pops up, I reach out to feel for a pulse, and there's nothing. Your skin is cold. And just when I'm about to start screaming, the whole sequence begins again. I'm arriving at the scene, I see the keys...It's never any different. You're dead, every time." She finished shakily, her eyes still closed.
Sara's fingers circled her chin, bringing her eyes up to her own. "Hey, hey, it's ok. I'm ok. Still here, see?" Her eyes darkened by her memories, Catherine tried but failed to meet Sara's light tone. "You almost weren't," she said sadly. Sara caught her hand and raised it to her neck, pressing her fingers over her pulse. "Feel that? Me, alive and well because of you."
Catherine let the rhythm of Sara's pulse lull her into an almost doze, her own heartbeat matching the beat she felt under her fingertips. When she spoke again, it was almost to herself, absentmindedly reliving the memory of the crime scene. "I thought I had lost you." That's when her eyes finally locked onto Sara's, as a sudden realization struck. "I can't do that again." Sara's expression creased into a frown as she puzzled over Catherine's last remark, her dark eyes clouded. She thought that Catherine had come to the same realization she had earlier, that they couldn't let whatever odd attraction they felt go any further, that they couldn't let it ruin their emerging friendship.
Lost in thought, it took her a while to notice Catherine's fingers were tracing a slow, lazy circle from her hip, down along her thigh, and back up again, or that her thumb was caressing her neck where her fingers still pressed against her pulse. The look of amusement on Catherine's face, amusement laced with a certain predatory lust that took her breath away, made her realize that she was completely wrong in her interpretation.
Catherine watched the comprehension dawn on Sara and felt her stomach contract as she sucked in a sharp breath, her own mouth curving into a smirk in answer to Sara's wide-eyed expression. She shifted just slightly, closing the distance between their bodies, and she felt the pulse beneath her fingers speed up percipably. She took her time sliding her body up Sara's, enjoying the conflict between fear and desire she could see in Sara's eyes and the way she bit her lower lip before unconsciously running her tongue between them. Her lips poised a whispers-breadth away from Sara's, Catherine hesitated, stretching the moment to see how long her endurance would hold.
It held longer than Sara's, as her arms tightened to pull Catherine closer, their lips meeting in a smoldering kiss. Catherine's gasp of surprise opened her mouth to Sara's insistent tongue, darting in and out to caress her lips and war with her tongue. A moan rumbled low in her throat and she felt Sara's lips curve into a smile against her own. Determined not to be outdone, Catherine snaked her hand up under Sara's t-shirt, playing her fingers lightly over her spine before digging her nails into the tender skin. Sara's gasp was muffled by their kiss, her back arching under Catherine's fingers as they began another trip up her spine.
Sara nibbled on Catherine's lower lip, biting down hard when Catherine dug her fingernails in again, loving Catherine's low moan as her tongue teased the tender lip. They sparred, tongues and hands tangling in their urgency to drive the other crazy. Sara managed to pull Catherine's shirt off an instant before Catherine tugged her shirt over her head, and she had just a moment to marvel at the beauty of Catherine's lithe body before any ability to think was drowned in the feeling of their bodies pressing together again.
Catherine fell back on the bed, pulling Sara down on top of her, keeping bodies and lips locked tight, before Sara pushed up on her hands to kiss and lick her cheekbones, eyelids, and neck. She discovered that Catherine sighed in pleasure when she sucked at the tender skin of her neck, and that she squirmed when she licked her ear. She also discovered that fingernails were both a blessing and a curse as Catherine ran her hands down her back, distracting her every time. Catherine fought to catch her mouth as it passed over from one check to the other, finally bringing a hand up to hold her head steady so she could drown in another scorching kiss.
Sara's exploration continued down to Catherine's quivering stomach and back up again, avoiding much more than a tender kiss on each breast, smiling against her skin at Catherine's strangled curse. She continued with light, teasing kisses as Catherine squirmed under her hands and mouth, until Catherine flipped her over with a sound in between a curse and a growl. She laughed as Catherine glared at her, until Catherine discovered how incredibly sensitive her ears were and she bit her lower lip, completely lost in the sensation.
-------------------
She woke, puzzled by how the light from the window striped the wall until she remembered that she was in the guest bedroom. The heaviness that held her down resolved itself into Catherine's head, arm, and leg, as she lay on her side, curled around Sara's body. Sara let the moment of pure panic fade as quickly as it came as she remembered the events of the night. That's how Catherine first saw her, her mouth curved into the sweetest smile Catherine had ever seen as her fingers twisted in the soft curls of her hair on the pillow. It had taken Catherine all of her courage to open her eyes, scared that once she did, Sara would bolt from the bed.
The happy smile on Sara's face made her bold. "Morning," she whispered, breaking the silence. Sara pressed a kiss against the top of her head in reply, and continued playing with her hair. "Hungry?" she asked, finally.
Catherine chuckled at how Sara always had an appetite, but then realized how empty her stomach felt. They had slept through at least one meal, she was sure. "Starving."
-----------------
Annemarie watched and wondered at the change in Catherine and Sara as they walked into the break room, laughing, sharing a amused grins and light touches on the arm as Sara poured and fixed coffee for them both and Catherine flipped through the assignment slips. The meeting was over quickly, and she and Jerome were the last to leave as they finished their coffee. "So...." Jerome began, drawing the word out with an exaggerated drawl., "do you think they finally did it?"
"Huh?" Annemarie's confusion was complete. "Who? Did what?" When Jerome wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and glanced in the direction of Sara's office, she sat up, her mouth snapping shut with a click as she realized who and what he meant. "You think..." she began, but as soon as the suggestion registered, the tension of the last shift suddenly made a whole lot of sense. "Oh." She giggled, hating how she sounded like a schoolgirl, but unable to control it.
Jerome shook his head at her in disbelief. "You mean you watched that reenactment last night and didn't see that? You should be more observant," he said in mock-disappointment.
"Hey!" She slapped him affectionately on the shoulder. "I was working,. You know, what you should have been doing." She chuckled again, glancing at the closed door of Sara's office. "Come on, we've got a scene to process."
TBC
Title of the chapter from the song by Everything But the Girl, "Get Me."
"To know yourself is to let yourself be in love / I wanna be addictive / I wanna be secure / I wanna wake up after the night before / Do you get me? / Do you ever get me?"
Oh, and this is where I earn that R rating.
Get Me
They were frozen like that, their bodies unmoving except for the slow boil that was Catherine's blood pumping through her body. Their lips still touched, Sara's arms were still around her waist, and her hands still grasped Sara's hips tightly. She was afraid to break the moment, afraid to let Sara go, Catherine realized, afraid that if she did, Sara would retreat behind the wall that she had thrown up earlier. She really learned a thing or two from Gil about cutting herself off from her emotions, didn't she, Catherine thought.
"Tell me." Sara's voice was soft, reassuring yet commanding. Catherine wasn't sure she heard her at first, wasn't sure what she was asking when she did figure out that Sara had spoken. "Tell me about your nightmare," Sara breathed against her lips in the ensuing silence. Once again, she had been woken by Catherine, and she had paniced when she had reached out and Catherine wasn't there. It took her a moment to remember that Catherine had gone into the guest room when they had returned from work, a not-so-subtle slap in the face, but that hadn't stopped her from hurrying to the room as she heard Catherine crying and yelling.
Sanity had re-inserted itself when she reached the door, pausing in the doorway when she saw that Catherine was still asleep, tangled in the sheets, the sheen of sweat on her face evident even in the faint hallway light. She hesitated, there, one hand on the doorframe, caught in her indecision. Not for the first time that night she wondered when had she become so indecisive and timid. But then Catherine had shot up in bed, eyes wide and unseeing, and nothing could stop her from crossing to the bed and gathering her in her arms.
"Tell me."
"It's you," Catherine whispered, so quietly she was sure Sara wouldn't hear, but she knew she would. Her body had stopped trembling from the aftermath of the nightmare, but she could feel another trembling beginning in her stomach as Sara's hands continued to caress her back through the light cotton of her t-shirt. "I keep... seeing you..." Catherine paused as an image from her dream bubbled up. Sara's face, pale and bruised, in the sweep of the light from her torch. "In the trunk. I found you, you know," she said, almost conversationally, "at the scene."
Sara hadn't known that; she had tried to avoid reading the reports and files, she hadn't wanted anyone to think that she was checking up on them, and she especially didn't want to think of herself as the victim. So she hadn't known many details, just made sure the evidence was all in order, and avoided everything else.
"I saw the keys on the ground. When the trunk opened...." Again, words failed her as Catherine tried to explain. "You were so pale. I thought you were dead." She closed her eyes, reliving that moment when she felt a faint pulse under her fingertips. "In the dream, it's just like that. The lid pops up, I reach out to feel for a pulse, and there's nothing. Your skin is cold. And just when I'm about to start screaming, the whole sequence begins again. I'm arriving at the scene, I see the keys...It's never any different. You're dead, every time." She finished shakily, her eyes still closed.
Sara's fingers circled her chin, bringing her eyes up to her own. "Hey, hey, it's ok. I'm ok. Still here, see?" Her eyes darkened by her memories, Catherine tried but failed to meet Sara's light tone. "You almost weren't," she said sadly. Sara caught her hand and raised it to her neck, pressing her fingers over her pulse. "Feel that? Me, alive and well because of you."
Catherine let the rhythm of Sara's pulse lull her into an almost doze, her own heartbeat matching the beat she felt under her fingertips. When she spoke again, it was almost to herself, absentmindedly reliving the memory of the crime scene. "I thought I had lost you." That's when her eyes finally locked onto Sara's, as a sudden realization struck. "I can't do that again." Sara's expression creased into a frown as she puzzled over Catherine's last remark, her dark eyes clouded. She thought that Catherine had come to the same realization she had earlier, that they couldn't let whatever odd attraction they felt go any further, that they couldn't let it ruin their emerging friendship.
Lost in thought, it took her a while to notice Catherine's fingers were tracing a slow, lazy circle from her hip, down along her thigh, and back up again, or that her thumb was caressing her neck where her fingers still pressed against her pulse. The look of amusement on Catherine's face, amusement laced with a certain predatory lust that took her breath away, made her realize that she was completely wrong in her interpretation.
Catherine watched the comprehension dawn on Sara and felt her stomach contract as she sucked in a sharp breath, her own mouth curving into a smirk in answer to Sara's wide-eyed expression. She shifted just slightly, closing the distance between their bodies, and she felt the pulse beneath her fingers speed up percipably. She took her time sliding her body up Sara's, enjoying the conflict between fear and desire she could see in Sara's eyes and the way she bit her lower lip before unconsciously running her tongue between them. Her lips poised a whispers-breadth away from Sara's, Catherine hesitated, stretching the moment to see how long her endurance would hold.
It held longer than Sara's, as her arms tightened to pull Catherine closer, their lips meeting in a smoldering kiss. Catherine's gasp of surprise opened her mouth to Sara's insistent tongue, darting in and out to caress her lips and war with her tongue. A moan rumbled low in her throat and she felt Sara's lips curve into a smile against her own. Determined not to be outdone, Catherine snaked her hand up under Sara's t-shirt, playing her fingers lightly over her spine before digging her nails into the tender skin. Sara's gasp was muffled by their kiss, her back arching under Catherine's fingers as they began another trip up her spine.
Sara nibbled on Catherine's lower lip, biting down hard when Catherine dug her fingernails in again, loving Catherine's low moan as her tongue teased the tender lip. They sparred, tongues and hands tangling in their urgency to drive the other crazy. Sara managed to pull Catherine's shirt off an instant before Catherine tugged her shirt over her head, and she had just a moment to marvel at the beauty of Catherine's lithe body before any ability to think was drowned in the feeling of their bodies pressing together again.
Catherine fell back on the bed, pulling Sara down on top of her, keeping bodies and lips locked tight, before Sara pushed up on her hands to kiss and lick her cheekbones, eyelids, and neck. She discovered that Catherine sighed in pleasure when she sucked at the tender skin of her neck, and that she squirmed when she licked her ear. She also discovered that fingernails were both a blessing and a curse as Catherine ran her hands down her back, distracting her every time. Catherine fought to catch her mouth as it passed over from one check to the other, finally bringing a hand up to hold her head steady so she could drown in another scorching kiss.
Sara's exploration continued down to Catherine's quivering stomach and back up again, avoiding much more than a tender kiss on each breast, smiling against her skin at Catherine's strangled curse. She continued with light, teasing kisses as Catherine squirmed under her hands and mouth, until Catherine flipped her over with a sound in between a curse and a growl. She laughed as Catherine glared at her, until Catherine discovered how incredibly sensitive her ears were and she bit her lower lip, completely lost in the sensation.
-------------------
She woke, puzzled by how the light from the window striped the wall until she remembered that she was in the guest bedroom. The heaviness that held her down resolved itself into Catherine's head, arm, and leg, as she lay on her side, curled around Sara's body. Sara let the moment of pure panic fade as quickly as it came as she remembered the events of the night. That's how Catherine first saw her, her mouth curved into the sweetest smile Catherine had ever seen as her fingers twisted in the soft curls of her hair on the pillow. It had taken Catherine all of her courage to open her eyes, scared that once she did, Sara would bolt from the bed.
The happy smile on Sara's face made her bold. "Morning," she whispered, breaking the silence. Sara pressed a kiss against the top of her head in reply, and continued playing with her hair. "Hungry?" she asked, finally.
Catherine chuckled at how Sara always had an appetite, but then realized how empty her stomach felt. They had slept through at least one meal, she was sure. "Starving."
-----------------
Annemarie watched and wondered at the change in Catherine and Sara as they walked into the break room, laughing, sharing a amused grins and light touches on the arm as Sara poured and fixed coffee for them both and Catherine flipped through the assignment slips. The meeting was over quickly, and she and Jerome were the last to leave as they finished their coffee. "So...." Jerome began, drawing the word out with an exaggerated drawl., "do you think they finally did it?"
"Huh?" Annemarie's confusion was complete. "Who? Did what?" When Jerome wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and glanced in the direction of Sara's office, she sat up, her mouth snapping shut with a click as she realized who and what he meant. "You think..." she began, but as soon as the suggestion registered, the tension of the last shift suddenly made a whole lot of sense. "Oh." She giggled, hating how she sounded like a schoolgirl, but unable to control it.
Jerome shook his head at her in disbelief. "You mean you watched that reenactment last night and didn't see that? You should be more observant," he said in mock-disappointment.
"Hey!" She slapped him affectionately on the shoulder. "I was working,. You know, what you should have been doing." She chuckled again, glancing at the closed door of Sara's office. "Come on, we've got a scene to process."
TBC