Nick felt just about dead on his feet as he made his way out of the lab to his Denali. The shift had been long and they still had what seemed to be tons of evidence to process. Grissom had finally decided to send them all home to grab a few hours of sleep before the beginning of their next regular shift so they could approach things with fresh eyes and renewed energy. A few people from days had volunteered to cover so the nightshift crew could grab a couple extra hours of rest before coming back onto the clock. As he reached his Denali, Nick heard someone calling out his name and a smile spread across his face as his groggy mind realized that it was Sara. The last time he'd seen her was at his house when they'd gone back to get her keys, and he hadn't been able to get the moment in his hallway out of his mind since then.

Sara grinned at him as she approached. "You heading home?" There was something about the tone of her voice that implied that it wasn't just a simple question.

He nodded, returning her grin. "Yeah. I don't know about you, but I'm tired." He was tired, but even that couldn't diminish the fact that he was holding a grudge against the perpetrators of the crime they were investigating because they had hindered things between he and Sara.

"Oh." Sara's expression fell just slightly. "Are you hungry?" She tilted her head inquisitively. She knew that Nick could always eat, but that wasn't really why she was asking the question. Her mind had been on their frustrated encounter in his hallway earlier that they couldn't continue because they both had to work.

Nick let out a soft chuckle and reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "I could eat." He wondered to himself what he had in his cupboards to eat and had a vague recollection that he had some sort of breakfast food sitting in his kitchen on the counter.

Sara plunged right ahead. "I was thinking that we could go to your house since it's closer." She was taking mental notes at how his T-shirt fit him well enough to show off his muscular physique and she didn't even want to think about his jeans. Her mind really wasn't on eating, it was on Nick.

"Sure, that sounds good." He was doing his best to keep from grinning at the way she was looking at him, and at the moment he didn't trust himself enough to kiss her in the parking lot for fear that things would get out of hand. "Meet you there?" As much as he wanted to be hopeful, he didn't want to presume that she wanted to come over for anything other than a meal.

Sara pursed her lips together and a faint hue of pink infused her cheeks. "I was thinking that maybe we could carpool."

It was at that point that Nick finally realized that she held a duffel bag in her hands; the same duffel bag that she kept in her locker with a change of clothes in it. The grin that he had tried to keep at bay let loose across his face and he quickly reached for the passenger door of his Denali. "I'll drive." Nick was certain that they only way he was going to be able to keep his hands to himself during the ten minute drive was to have them on the steering wheel of his SUV.

He made the ten minute drive in eight minutes and thirty-four seconds, pulling into his driveway in a haphazard fashion, garnering a mischievous grin from Sara as they descended from the vehicle.

The moment that Nick's front door was shut behind them, all thoughts of eating few right out the window. Nick's lips found Sara's and the only thought he could form was just how good Sara tasted.

Sara completely forgot about food, all she could think about was how good his lips felt against hers and how much she wanted to redefine the word 'slow'. She let out a whimper as she felt his tongue against her lips and as she opened her mouth to him, she knew she was gone.

There was no question in Nick's mind where this was heading, and even if he wanted to question it, all coherent thought had fled the moment that Sara wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed him to deepen the kiss between them. From the way that she was responding, he was fairly certain that she wanted this just as much as he did. If there was any doubt, it went flying out the window a moment later when he felt Sara's hands slide down his chest and start tugging at the hem of his shirt.

They began to stagger step down the hallway, Sara not having much luck with Nick's shirt since neither one of them seemed to want to pull away long enough to discard it. It wasn't until Nick bumped into the wall that he let go of Sara and finished pulling his shirt over his head, flinging it in no particular direction. When they finally arrived in his bedroom, Nick managed to flip the switch on the ceiling fan as they stumbled towards his bed.

Sara's Harvard T-shirt that had offered Nick so much distraction made its way to the floor just before they tumbled onto his bed, his fingers fumbling to unfasten Sara's button fly jeans as they continued to kiss furiously.

The rest seemed to be a blur of images; Nick's weight pressing Sara into the mattress, the feel of flesh against flesh, and bliss sweet bliss.

A while later they lay tangled in Nick's sheets, the ceiling fan offering a cool breeze over their bodies. The comforter had found its way to the floor and Sara was using Nick's chest for a pillow as she lay nestled against him, an arm slung lazily over his waist.

Nick's fingers trailed up and down Sara's back as they both were still trying to process what had just transpired between them.

Sara smiled as she lifted her head to look at Nick. "I think we pretty much redefined the phrase 'taking things slow'." There was a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Slow is overrated." Nick added with a smile of his own. "Besides, we've been flirting for four years. I think that's more than enough foreplay."

The End

Author's Note: Special thanks to the folks at Home Depot who couldn't seem to help me find a finial for my thirty-five cent garage sale lamp, and thus provided the inspiration for this story. Thank you to Mel for giving me input on the story (even if neither one of us has any home improvement knowledge). Thank you to all of my faithful readers; each and every one of you is appreciated for taking the time out of your day to read my work. And a special thanks to the Boston Red Sox who I hope sweep St. Louis in the World Series