Title: Two Drinks and a Murder
Author: Sky_Tye
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Not mine, I just borrow them for lovely inspiration and tea parties and then give them back at the end of the day
Author's Note: Hey y'all, sorry about the wait. We had a lovely little snowstorm up here in Washington and it knocked out the power while I was typing this up so I had to rewrite the whole piece. Anywho, here's chapter four
*~*~*
Lounging back on the pool chair Catherine hoped that the sunscreen she had slathered on Lindsey earlier would still be in effect even after the hour the kids had spent in the pool. Her sunglasses perched on the bridge of her nose; she smiled indulgently when Lindsey begged her mother to watch her cannon ball before returning half of her gaze and her attention to the book in her lap. With the shrieks and laughter of half a dozen preteen girls providing her with background noise, Catherine finally allowed herself to relax and unwind from shift.
But even as her body eased into the chair her mind wandered into territory she had designated as 'Sara Sidle' and went over the impulsive kiss she had given that morning. It also ran through the invite she had offered and wondered if Sara would take the offer or retreat back to her apartment.
Her thoughts were interrupted and her question answered when Lindsey bolted out of the pool and into the arms of someone standing at the open gate to the front yard. Catherine turned, curious, and was delighted to see her daughter squeezing the life out of Sara.
"Hey there Kiddo, miss me?" Sara chuckled, bending down to give Lindsey a proper hug and looking over her shoulder to say hello to Catherine.
"It's been forever, why haven't you been over huh?" Lindsey demanded, letting go of her and stepping back towards the pool, Sara's hand tucked into hers. "Come on, I want you to meet my friends."
Catherine settled back into her seat and watched Sara be introduced to the girls, surprisingly the brunette was handling the gaggle of girls well and was seemingly chatting up a storm with them. Her motherly instincts soothed by Sara's presence with the girls, her attention floated back to the book and she was soon lost in trying to solve James Patterson's latest thriller alongside Detective Alex Cross. But again something tore her away, this time it was a shadow falling over her and blocking her reading light. She looked up to see Sara grinning down at her, hazel eyes dancing with some unknown joke. "Yes?"
"Lindsey wants you to join her in the pool."
"Don't even think about it," Catherine growled playful, her gaze jumping between the impish grins on Sara and the girls' faces. Lindsey giggled and shrugged innocently as Sara leaned down and gripped the chair's armrests, bringing her close to Catherine's half-naked form.
Catherine ignored the delicious shiver running the length of her spine and removed her sunglasses with a fluid motion before staring back at Sara and shaking her head once. "No, Sara."
"Why not? You're dressed for it." Catherine's mouth went dry when Sara let her eyes drop down and take in Catherine's form. Her eyes raked up over her stomach, breasts, and back onto her eyes and Catherine swore the brunette's stare had seared her skin.
"I said no." Catherine swallowed, trying to regain some moisture back into her mouth and blinked slowly. "And that's final."
Sara quirked an eyebrow and her lips pulled upward in a cute half-smile. "Really?"
"Really." Catherine agreed, some semblance of authority creeping back into her voice.
"Well then," Sara made to pull back but then winked and scooped her up easily. "When have I ever taken your orders?"
"Sara!" Catherine yelped, wrapping her arms tightly around the taller woman's neck. "Put me down."
Sara shook her head with a laugh and continued her path towards the pool. "Lindsey, should I put your mother back down?"
"No!" the girls' coursed and Sara gave Catherine a mock-apologetic look.
"Sorry Catherine, they said I couldn't."
"So?" Catherine craned her neck and saw the pool looming closer and whipped her neck back around to glare at Sara. "Sara Sidle if you drop me in that water I'll--"
"You'll what?" Sara smirked, stopping at the edge of the deeper end of the pool and winking at Lindsey.
"I'll threaten to have you take two weeks off *and* have your police scanner taken away."
Sara blinked and then thought it over; her eyes squinted against the sun. "That's harsh Catherine."
Catherine shifted and shrugged. "Put me down then."
"Fine." Sara sighed, tensed her muscles, and then tossed Catherine into the pool to the sounds of girlish laughter.
"Sara Sidle!" Catherine gasped as soon as she broke the surface and got air into her lungs.
"You said drop you." Sara went as if the events were everyday and normal and Catherine vowed to murder the other woman in her sleep ...after showing her who exactly was the boss around here. "So I dropped you."
Catherine laughed dryly and swam over to where Lindsey was giggling on the small inflatable board. "You think that was funny?" She gave her daughter her best piercing glare but Lindsey would have none of it. Lindsey just laughed harder and fell off the raft and into her mother's arms before pulling away and joining her friends perched on the stairs in the shallow end. Catherine smiled over the girls then lazily moved to the side where Sara was standing by.
"You're dead Sidle." she threatened, bracing her arms over the side and allowing her body to simply float in the water.
Sara giggled and knelt to have a better view of Catherine's face. "I had to Catherine, Lindsey said so and you told me to never disagree with her."
"I never said that. I said 'never disagree with me'."
Sara wrinkled her nose playfully and straightened up; going over to take the seat she had pulled Catherine from. "Eh, same thing."
"Is not. And since I'm now thoroughly soaked, why don't you come in as well? Seeing that you are halfway wet already."
"I wouldn't say halfway KitKat," Sara replied with an enigmatic smirk and a look that sent a jolt of desire straight through Catherine, making her eyes widen at the sudden darkening of Sara's normally hazel eyes. "And since I actually did pack a swimsuit, you mentioned a water-fight and I know Lindsey, I might take you up on that offer later but for now I'm content to sit in your seat and read your book."
Catherine wanted to fire a snappy comeback, really, she did, but the fact that her daughter and a few other young girls were mere feet from her and the fact that her choice of words and topic weren't meant for their ears, she swallowed the ideas coming to mind and dipped underwater in an effort to cool off. She was slightly thrown off guard by this new side of Sara.
****
The stroke of midnight nine hours later found Sara reclining on Catherine's couch, her mouth wrapped around a fork filled with the pasta salad she had promised to bring and Catherine stepping off the bottom step to upstairs. She paused in the space between the stairs and the living room to admire Sara from afar before heading in and snatching the other fork to dig in the salad.
"The troops are settling down. I believe it's "whose got a crush on who" time but Lindsey shooed me out before I could get any real gossip." Catherine spoke around a mouthful of pasta and nodded in appreciation of the meal. "This is excellent."
"And ten times more healthy then pizza." Sara teased, forking another bite and shifting her position. "Lindsey's a great kid."
"She is, isn't she?" Catherine glowed with maternal pride before smiling and nudging Sara's foot with her own. "You're a natural around her, and around the other girls too. They loved you."
"And here I am thinking kids and me were like oil and water." Sara shook her head and grabbed for the iced tea on the coffee table. Catherine shook her head as well but allowed the matter to drop.
"Well, now that the kids are in bed, what do you want to do? Watch a movie?"
"Actually, Cath, I want to talk."
"Talk?" Catherine froze at that and furrowed her brow. "About what?"
"About why you kissed me earlier." Sara said, turning so she was facing Catherine fully, her eyes focused solely on the strawberry blond.
"I..." Catherine winced inwardly and sighed. "I'm sorry--"
"I'm not."
"What?" Catherine frowned, pulling her legs up underneath her as she went for her own iced tea, needing something other then Sara's gaze to put her attention on.
"Catherine, you've checked me out dozens of times, before we had that nasty spat we flirted to beyond any normal safety point, and if I had moved my head a few millimeters we would have been in a nice lip lock."
"Sara--" Catherine started but Sara's raised hand made her fall quiet.
"Let me finish. Now normally I'm so shy that I tiptoe around the person I want that in the end I never get a chance with them. I did that when we were friendly before the fight, and now that I know what it's like to not have you around as a daily part of my life I realize that it sucks and I don't like that." Sara pulled her lower lip between her teeth and gnawed on it as her confidence slowly began seeping away. "So I'm going to just throw away all the past rules I had on dating and whatnot and just come out with it." She pulled in a long breath and then gently grabbed one of Catherine's hands, which were now shaking slightly. "I want you Catherine."
Catherine was stunned, her jaw almost dropped but she retained enough mind to prevent that from happening. Her mind was reeling with the sudden onset of new information and she darted her tongue nervously over her lips. She knew Sara was waiting for an answer but how did someone answer that properly? Her mind ran over a list of scenarios and settled on one good one. She pushed herself up into a kneeling stance and plucked Sara's iced tea from her hands and set it alongside her own. Avoiding Sara's now confused gaze she turned her head to eye the stairs and then moved closer until she was halfway over Sara, her hands bracing herself on either side of the woman's waist.
"Catherine?" Sara's voice was barely more then a whisper as Catherine leaned down and pressed her lips gingerly to Sara's. "Catherine," this time her name was breathed out slowly and was accompanied by two hands encircling her waist and gently tugging her down and fleshed against Sara's body.
It was everything like a first kiss was described in the books and the movies, Catherine swore she saw fireworks streaming in her minds eyes and Sara tasted the right combination of honey and cinnamon, her lips soft against her own. Catherine sighed into the kiss and shuddered pleasantly when Sara took the sigh as an invite to run her tongue over the cupid's bow of Catherine's lower lip. Her left hand was running a faint circle on the skin just above Catherine's jeans and her right was slowly becoming entangled in Catherine's hair.
The need for oxygen forced Catherine to break the kiss and she stared somewhat proudly at the smoldering desire rising in Sara's eyes and the swollen state of her lips. She had put that expression in Sara's eyes and she found that she liked that knowledge. She sucked in a lung of air before crashing her lips back to Sara's. This time it was different: instead of a slow kiss, this was a clash of teeth, lips, and tongues, both wanting to dominate the other as the kiss deepened in both fire and passion.
Sara arched up against Catherine, making the smaller woman move backward on the couch until she was the one underneath. Her hands danced along the bottom hemline of Catherine's shirt and her thigh nestled between Catherine's own, pushing at Catherine's center in time with the kiss. Burying a throated moan, Catherine tore her lips from Sara's again and latched onto the brunette's neck, nipping and suckling at the tender skin there, making Sara whimper softly and squirm with the actions of Catherine's mouth.
"You know what?" Catherine breathed, her breath tickling Sara. Sara offered a noncommittal grunt and nuzzled Catherine's ear, taking it into her mouth. Catherine moaned at the sensation of Sara's lip working at her earlobe and tried to continue speaking without her voice cracking. "You said you'd join me in the pool later on. It's later on and I want to go swimming again."
Sara chuckled around Catherine's ear and moved down the column of her neck. "I lied when I said I brought a swimsuit."
"You don't need one."
"Lindsey?"
"Told me to get my act together around you. She said she'd keep the girls upstairs and in her room for the rest of the night." Catherine grinned but trailed into a muffled murmur of contentment when one of Sara's hands idly traced the contour of her left breast.
"Smart girl, takes after her mother." Sara noted, pushing away from Catherine's body and letting the smaller woman sit up. Catherine did and grabbed Sara's hand to tug her to the back door and out onto the porch where moonlight had spilled silver onto everything and turned the pool into a glowing reflection of the night's sky. Standing on the porch, her hand still tucked in Sara's, Catherine gave herself a glance to the sky above and then smiled as she made her way down and over to the dark pool.
She stopped at the edge and turned, now a bit nervous, to face Sara and couldn't read the other woman's expression. Sara, however, seemed to know exactly what was bothering Catherine and with a soft laugh tightly embraced the smaller woman and pressed a kiss to her temple, tucking a strand of hair behind Catherine's ear.
"Scared?" she asked and Catherine nodded into the crook of her neck. "Me too."
"Sara Sidle, scared?" Catherine tried teasing, hoping to shake away the tremble in her skin and her voice. "Those two things should never go together ever."
"Well they did now," Sara commented, smoothing one hand down Catherine's back, "If you want Cath, we could head back inside, watch a movie and cuddle or something along those lines."
"Mmm..." Catherine thought about it, and then gave Sara a no. "I said I wanted you out here with me so I'm going to have you out here with me. So strip Sara." Catherine extracted herself from Sara's hold and started on Sara's buttoned over shirt, giggling freely when Sara batted her hands away so she could have access to Catherine's shirt. Catherine wasn't having that and danced out of Sara's reach only to return to the shirt.
"I'll toss you in the pool again," Sara warned, smacking Catherine's hands to no effect for the third time. Catherine slid Sara a sly smile and made for her shirt again to be scooped up and tossed into the pool for the second time that day. When Catherine came up for air, Sara sat at the edge and smirked openly. "I warned you."
Catherine didn't answer, instead she bent in the water and fumbled with her jeans, tugging them off and tossing the heavy material at Sara who caught them with ease. Catherine's shirt followed by her bra and panties. Sara caught all three of those too and set them in a pile by the soaked jeans.
"So you coming in or what?" Catherine questioned, one eyebrow raised in expectation and her body concealed by the water. Sara paused, shrugged, then moved to slip into the water but a shake from Catherine's head stopped that. "Strip before you get into the water."
"That's not fair Catherine," Sara argued, folding her arms and giving her best pout.
"I don't care, you tossed me in! It's only right that you show yourself off before you can hop into this cool refreshing water." Catherine treaded away from the edge and ducked under, relishing the feel of the water and the contrast to her burning flesh. When she resurfaced Sara had taken her shirt off and Catherine stared brazenly at the exposed flesh before her. She could feel her heart shoot off like a rabbit and in her mind's eye she was already running her hands down the long line of breasts, ribs, and stomach.
She pondered briefly on why she was becoming so wanton at the removal of Sara's shirt when she had seen more (or less if one preferred it that way) of Sara in the locker room showers once after a grueling case. Maybe it was because it was Sara standing before her like a hunting cat, muscles long and lean and tensed to flee if needed. Maybe it was the moonlight framing Sara in a halo or maybe it was that she was naked in her pool, her daughter was dozing off to dreamland in the house and the person who had occupied the starring role in her most erotic dreams was shifting her weight nervously from foot to foot.
"Cat?" Sara asked when Catherine went too long into the silence. Catherine noted the underlying question in her voice and smiled a (what she hoped) seductive smile and beckoned for Sara to continue the impromptu strip tease.
Sara remained motionless for only a second more and with a self-conscious smile, went for the clasp in her bra. Catherine watched, completely turned on, as Sara undid the bra and slowly slid the garment off her shoulders one at a time before dropping it directly at her feet, she kicked them aside and went to unbutton her jeans, also taking her time in letting the denim leave her hips to puddle at her feet, she stepped out of those and finally her hands went to remove her underwear and slowed, almost stopping, but then the hesitation was gone and the material was tossed onto the pile of clothes. Then, fear evident over the entirety of her body, Sara crossed her arms loosely over the flat expanse of her stomach and tore her eyes away from the intense fire burning in Catherine's eyes.
Catherine quirked an eyebrow and pushed herself halfway out of the water to gently touch Sara's ankle. The touch made Sara jump and she stared accusingly down at the upturn smirk Catherine was giving her.
"How about you stop hiding yourself and climb on in here with me." Catherine offered, lowering herself back into the water and backpedaling a ways out.
"I'm not hiding." but Sara trailed off and dropped the subject. She paused, took a deep breath, offered up a prayer to some long forgotten god, and stepped forward to nimbly dive into the water beyond Catherine and rose a few seconds later for a lungful of air. Catherine turned and silently enjoyed the view as Sara moved onto her back and floated in the water just inches from Catherine's fingers. Then, seeing that Sara wasn't going to speak anymore, she too moved to float aimlessly in the water on her back.
"The sky's beautiful tonight." Sara's voice came to her after what seemed hours of amiable silence. Catherine looked up and agreed. The night had cleared up from the unusual stretch of rain that had fallen onto Las Vegas the past week, giving the city a rare bath. ".and I'm suddenly as nervous as a school girl."
"You too?" Catherine turned over and stared quietly at Sara, who was returning her gaze. Sara nodded almost solemnly which brought a flicker of a grin to Catherine's lips. "Good. So am I. I don't know exactly why I'm nervous, but I am."
Sara chuckled, perhaps to just break the silence. The growing awkward silence. Catherine paused in her movements and swam so that if she leaned forward a fraction, her body would meld against the softness of Sara's. She hadn't decided to madly kiss Sara and have her treading water naked beside her only to chicken out and hide. She taught her daughter to stand up and fight and she wasn't going to let her down.
"Sara," Catherine murmured, lifting her hand out of the water to slid it down the curve of Sara's now trembling shoulder. "This is most likely your last chance to leave, to escape whatever this thing starting is."
Sara shook her head wryly and mirrored the touch. "It's funny how you're the one reassuring me yet I was the one to tell you I want you."
"Then show me." Catherine said, her voice just low enough for Sara to pick it up.
"Show you?"
"Show me how you want me Sara, I'm right here in front of you."
A flash of understanding went off in the chocolate eyes and a smile filled with a sweet wonder crept onto Sara's face before she nodded slowly and gently wrapped an arm around Catherine's waist to press their bodies flush together. She peered into Catherine's gaze for a second of eternity before tilting her head to the side and bringing their lips together. Like the kiss shared on the couch, this made Catherine see the light of heaven in her mind and her arms locked tight around Sara's neck as she drank the brunette in for all she was worth. The feel of Sara's skin flushed up directly to hers added to the element of bliss and elicited a moan of bewildered pleasure from deep within Catherine's throat only to be lost in the night air when the two broke to suck in a lungful of oxygen.
They made love in the water, fingers slipping into wet folds of skin and even further to touch the very essence of the two women. Tongues, teeth, and lips marked bodies as territory; a visual reminder to all that from this moment on Catherine was Sara's and Sara was Catherine. Voices were shushed to prevent the whole world from sharing the experience and yet Catherine crossed over the edge of ecstasy feeling as if the entire universe had come with her, Sara's name falling from her lips in a mantra of praise and devotion.
And afterward, when the need for talking had ceased, cuddled together on the stairs leading up out of the pool, Sara making a joke about her nipples freezing off, did Catherine grin slyly and take each breast into her mouth with a heated kiss and start the cycle all over again, this time Sara being the one to hold onto a slippery waist as she rode out a climax brought on by skilled fingers.
Finally Catherine broke from Sara's hold and returned to the side to get out and covered, tucking her slightly damp oversized shirt back on and gesturing impatiently for Sara to do the same, after all it was freezing out there and now her nipples were freezing. Sara complied and stole a kiss as she moved past Catherine and into the house.
"Your left breast is going to be covered in bites," Catherine commented, locking the back door behind her and making her way up the stairs, an eager and sated Sara trailing not too far behind.
"Whose fault is that?" Sara mock-scolded, her eyes dancing as they passed Lindsey's room, Catherine poking her head in to check on the sleeping girls. Her motherly worries calmed for the night she switched back over into the lust-addled lower brain dedicated to the pleasure of Sara.
"I wonder." Catherine mused, her hands already reaching for Sara's flesh again. They crashed together in a mesh of lips and limbs and fell into Catherine's bed, the door easing shut behind them.
*~*~*~*~*
(Author's Note): Yes I know this part took forever and you can blame my computer and my muse. In a way I wanted to never post this because from here on out the story's going to take a lot darker twist. There will be a lot of physical and emotional pain for our two favorite ladies so if you want a less intense and watered down version of each upcoming chapter, e- mail me and I'll see if I can do that for you.
And remember: Feedback makes the characters want to work.
Thanks to:
CRaZyPiXiE- Here's your update, I hope it's worth the long wait (
T- Thanks for staying with the story, you get kudos
Lil'River- Here's the more you wanted
Marie47- Since it was a slumber party for Lindsey I couldn't have a pillow fight, but I threw in the pool scene (
Manx1- Thanks for reviewing!
Author: Sky_Tye
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Not mine, I just borrow them for lovely inspiration and tea parties and then give them back at the end of the day
Author's Note: Hey y'all, sorry about the wait. We had a lovely little snowstorm up here in Washington and it knocked out the power while I was typing this up so I had to rewrite the whole piece. Anywho, here's chapter four
*~*~*
Lounging back on the pool chair Catherine hoped that the sunscreen she had slathered on Lindsey earlier would still be in effect even after the hour the kids had spent in the pool. Her sunglasses perched on the bridge of her nose; she smiled indulgently when Lindsey begged her mother to watch her cannon ball before returning half of her gaze and her attention to the book in her lap. With the shrieks and laughter of half a dozen preteen girls providing her with background noise, Catherine finally allowed herself to relax and unwind from shift.
But even as her body eased into the chair her mind wandered into territory she had designated as 'Sara Sidle' and went over the impulsive kiss she had given that morning. It also ran through the invite she had offered and wondered if Sara would take the offer or retreat back to her apartment.
Her thoughts were interrupted and her question answered when Lindsey bolted out of the pool and into the arms of someone standing at the open gate to the front yard. Catherine turned, curious, and was delighted to see her daughter squeezing the life out of Sara.
"Hey there Kiddo, miss me?" Sara chuckled, bending down to give Lindsey a proper hug and looking over her shoulder to say hello to Catherine.
"It's been forever, why haven't you been over huh?" Lindsey demanded, letting go of her and stepping back towards the pool, Sara's hand tucked into hers. "Come on, I want you to meet my friends."
Catherine settled back into her seat and watched Sara be introduced to the girls, surprisingly the brunette was handling the gaggle of girls well and was seemingly chatting up a storm with them. Her motherly instincts soothed by Sara's presence with the girls, her attention floated back to the book and she was soon lost in trying to solve James Patterson's latest thriller alongside Detective Alex Cross. But again something tore her away, this time it was a shadow falling over her and blocking her reading light. She looked up to see Sara grinning down at her, hazel eyes dancing with some unknown joke. "Yes?"
"Lindsey wants you to join her in the pool."
"Don't even think about it," Catherine growled playful, her gaze jumping between the impish grins on Sara and the girls' faces. Lindsey giggled and shrugged innocently as Sara leaned down and gripped the chair's armrests, bringing her close to Catherine's half-naked form.
Catherine ignored the delicious shiver running the length of her spine and removed her sunglasses with a fluid motion before staring back at Sara and shaking her head once. "No, Sara."
"Why not? You're dressed for it." Catherine's mouth went dry when Sara let her eyes drop down and take in Catherine's form. Her eyes raked up over her stomach, breasts, and back onto her eyes and Catherine swore the brunette's stare had seared her skin.
"I said no." Catherine swallowed, trying to regain some moisture back into her mouth and blinked slowly. "And that's final."
Sara quirked an eyebrow and her lips pulled upward in a cute half-smile. "Really?"
"Really." Catherine agreed, some semblance of authority creeping back into her voice.
"Well then," Sara made to pull back but then winked and scooped her up easily. "When have I ever taken your orders?"
"Sara!" Catherine yelped, wrapping her arms tightly around the taller woman's neck. "Put me down."
Sara shook her head with a laugh and continued her path towards the pool. "Lindsey, should I put your mother back down?"
"No!" the girls' coursed and Sara gave Catherine a mock-apologetic look.
"Sorry Catherine, they said I couldn't."
"So?" Catherine craned her neck and saw the pool looming closer and whipped her neck back around to glare at Sara. "Sara Sidle if you drop me in that water I'll--"
"You'll what?" Sara smirked, stopping at the edge of the deeper end of the pool and winking at Lindsey.
"I'll threaten to have you take two weeks off *and* have your police scanner taken away."
Sara blinked and then thought it over; her eyes squinted against the sun. "That's harsh Catherine."
Catherine shifted and shrugged. "Put me down then."
"Fine." Sara sighed, tensed her muscles, and then tossed Catherine into the pool to the sounds of girlish laughter.
"Sara Sidle!" Catherine gasped as soon as she broke the surface and got air into her lungs.
"You said drop you." Sara went as if the events were everyday and normal and Catherine vowed to murder the other woman in her sleep ...after showing her who exactly was the boss around here. "So I dropped you."
Catherine laughed dryly and swam over to where Lindsey was giggling on the small inflatable board. "You think that was funny?" She gave her daughter her best piercing glare but Lindsey would have none of it. Lindsey just laughed harder and fell off the raft and into her mother's arms before pulling away and joining her friends perched on the stairs in the shallow end. Catherine smiled over the girls then lazily moved to the side where Sara was standing by.
"You're dead Sidle." she threatened, bracing her arms over the side and allowing her body to simply float in the water.
Sara giggled and knelt to have a better view of Catherine's face. "I had to Catherine, Lindsey said so and you told me to never disagree with her."
"I never said that. I said 'never disagree with me'."
Sara wrinkled her nose playfully and straightened up; going over to take the seat she had pulled Catherine from. "Eh, same thing."
"Is not. And since I'm now thoroughly soaked, why don't you come in as well? Seeing that you are halfway wet already."
"I wouldn't say halfway KitKat," Sara replied with an enigmatic smirk and a look that sent a jolt of desire straight through Catherine, making her eyes widen at the sudden darkening of Sara's normally hazel eyes. "And since I actually did pack a swimsuit, you mentioned a water-fight and I know Lindsey, I might take you up on that offer later but for now I'm content to sit in your seat and read your book."
Catherine wanted to fire a snappy comeback, really, she did, but the fact that her daughter and a few other young girls were mere feet from her and the fact that her choice of words and topic weren't meant for their ears, she swallowed the ideas coming to mind and dipped underwater in an effort to cool off. She was slightly thrown off guard by this new side of Sara.
****
The stroke of midnight nine hours later found Sara reclining on Catherine's couch, her mouth wrapped around a fork filled with the pasta salad she had promised to bring and Catherine stepping off the bottom step to upstairs. She paused in the space between the stairs and the living room to admire Sara from afar before heading in and snatching the other fork to dig in the salad.
"The troops are settling down. I believe it's "whose got a crush on who" time but Lindsey shooed me out before I could get any real gossip." Catherine spoke around a mouthful of pasta and nodded in appreciation of the meal. "This is excellent."
"And ten times more healthy then pizza." Sara teased, forking another bite and shifting her position. "Lindsey's a great kid."
"She is, isn't she?" Catherine glowed with maternal pride before smiling and nudging Sara's foot with her own. "You're a natural around her, and around the other girls too. They loved you."
"And here I am thinking kids and me were like oil and water." Sara shook her head and grabbed for the iced tea on the coffee table. Catherine shook her head as well but allowed the matter to drop.
"Well, now that the kids are in bed, what do you want to do? Watch a movie?"
"Actually, Cath, I want to talk."
"Talk?" Catherine froze at that and furrowed her brow. "About what?"
"About why you kissed me earlier." Sara said, turning so she was facing Catherine fully, her eyes focused solely on the strawberry blond.
"I..." Catherine winced inwardly and sighed. "I'm sorry--"
"I'm not."
"What?" Catherine frowned, pulling her legs up underneath her as she went for her own iced tea, needing something other then Sara's gaze to put her attention on.
"Catherine, you've checked me out dozens of times, before we had that nasty spat we flirted to beyond any normal safety point, and if I had moved my head a few millimeters we would have been in a nice lip lock."
"Sara--" Catherine started but Sara's raised hand made her fall quiet.
"Let me finish. Now normally I'm so shy that I tiptoe around the person I want that in the end I never get a chance with them. I did that when we were friendly before the fight, and now that I know what it's like to not have you around as a daily part of my life I realize that it sucks and I don't like that." Sara pulled her lower lip between her teeth and gnawed on it as her confidence slowly began seeping away. "So I'm going to just throw away all the past rules I had on dating and whatnot and just come out with it." She pulled in a long breath and then gently grabbed one of Catherine's hands, which were now shaking slightly. "I want you Catherine."
Catherine was stunned, her jaw almost dropped but she retained enough mind to prevent that from happening. Her mind was reeling with the sudden onset of new information and she darted her tongue nervously over her lips. She knew Sara was waiting for an answer but how did someone answer that properly? Her mind ran over a list of scenarios and settled on one good one. She pushed herself up into a kneeling stance and plucked Sara's iced tea from her hands and set it alongside her own. Avoiding Sara's now confused gaze she turned her head to eye the stairs and then moved closer until she was halfway over Sara, her hands bracing herself on either side of the woman's waist.
"Catherine?" Sara's voice was barely more then a whisper as Catherine leaned down and pressed her lips gingerly to Sara's. "Catherine," this time her name was breathed out slowly and was accompanied by two hands encircling her waist and gently tugging her down and fleshed against Sara's body.
It was everything like a first kiss was described in the books and the movies, Catherine swore she saw fireworks streaming in her minds eyes and Sara tasted the right combination of honey and cinnamon, her lips soft against her own. Catherine sighed into the kiss and shuddered pleasantly when Sara took the sigh as an invite to run her tongue over the cupid's bow of Catherine's lower lip. Her left hand was running a faint circle on the skin just above Catherine's jeans and her right was slowly becoming entangled in Catherine's hair.
The need for oxygen forced Catherine to break the kiss and she stared somewhat proudly at the smoldering desire rising in Sara's eyes and the swollen state of her lips. She had put that expression in Sara's eyes and she found that she liked that knowledge. She sucked in a lung of air before crashing her lips back to Sara's. This time it was different: instead of a slow kiss, this was a clash of teeth, lips, and tongues, both wanting to dominate the other as the kiss deepened in both fire and passion.
Sara arched up against Catherine, making the smaller woman move backward on the couch until she was the one underneath. Her hands danced along the bottom hemline of Catherine's shirt and her thigh nestled between Catherine's own, pushing at Catherine's center in time with the kiss. Burying a throated moan, Catherine tore her lips from Sara's again and latched onto the brunette's neck, nipping and suckling at the tender skin there, making Sara whimper softly and squirm with the actions of Catherine's mouth.
"You know what?" Catherine breathed, her breath tickling Sara. Sara offered a noncommittal grunt and nuzzled Catherine's ear, taking it into her mouth. Catherine moaned at the sensation of Sara's lip working at her earlobe and tried to continue speaking without her voice cracking. "You said you'd join me in the pool later on. It's later on and I want to go swimming again."
Sara chuckled around Catherine's ear and moved down the column of her neck. "I lied when I said I brought a swimsuit."
"You don't need one."
"Lindsey?"
"Told me to get my act together around you. She said she'd keep the girls upstairs and in her room for the rest of the night." Catherine grinned but trailed into a muffled murmur of contentment when one of Sara's hands idly traced the contour of her left breast.
"Smart girl, takes after her mother." Sara noted, pushing away from Catherine's body and letting the smaller woman sit up. Catherine did and grabbed Sara's hand to tug her to the back door and out onto the porch where moonlight had spilled silver onto everything and turned the pool into a glowing reflection of the night's sky. Standing on the porch, her hand still tucked in Sara's, Catherine gave herself a glance to the sky above and then smiled as she made her way down and over to the dark pool.
She stopped at the edge and turned, now a bit nervous, to face Sara and couldn't read the other woman's expression. Sara, however, seemed to know exactly what was bothering Catherine and with a soft laugh tightly embraced the smaller woman and pressed a kiss to her temple, tucking a strand of hair behind Catherine's ear.
"Scared?" she asked and Catherine nodded into the crook of her neck. "Me too."
"Sara Sidle, scared?" Catherine tried teasing, hoping to shake away the tremble in her skin and her voice. "Those two things should never go together ever."
"Well they did now," Sara commented, smoothing one hand down Catherine's back, "If you want Cath, we could head back inside, watch a movie and cuddle or something along those lines."
"Mmm..." Catherine thought about it, and then gave Sara a no. "I said I wanted you out here with me so I'm going to have you out here with me. So strip Sara." Catherine extracted herself from Sara's hold and started on Sara's buttoned over shirt, giggling freely when Sara batted her hands away so she could have access to Catherine's shirt. Catherine wasn't having that and danced out of Sara's reach only to return to the shirt.
"I'll toss you in the pool again," Sara warned, smacking Catherine's hands to no effect for the third time. Catherine slid Sara a sly smile and made for her shirt again to be scooped up and tossed into the pool for the second time that day. When Catherine came up for air, Sara sat at the edge and smirked openly. "I warned you."
Catherine didn't answer, instead she bent in the water and fumbled with her jeans, tugging them off and tossing the heavy material at Sara who caught them with ease. Catherine's shirt followed by her bra and panties. Sara caught all three of those too and set them in a pile by the soaked jeans.
"So you coming in or what?" Catherine questioned, one eyebrow raised in expectation and her body concealed by the water. Sara paused, shrugged, then moved to slip into the water but a shake from Catherine's head stopped that. "Strip before you get into the water."
"That's not fair Catherine," Sara argued, folding her arms and giving her best pout.
"I don't care, you tossed me in! It's only right that you show yourself off before you can hop into this cool refreshing water." Catherine treaded away from the edge and ducked under, relishing the feel of the water and the contrast to her burning flesh. When she resurfaced Sara had taken her shirt off and Catherine stared brazenly at the exposed flesh before her. She could feel her heart shoot off like a rabbit and in her mind's eye she was already running her hands down the long line of breasts, ribs, and stomach.
She pondered briefly on why she was becoming so wanton at the removal of Sara's shirt when she had seen more (or less if one preferred it that way) of Sara in the locker room showers once after a grueling case. Maybe it was because it was Sara standing before her like a hunting cat, muscles long and lean and tensed to flee if needed. Maybe it was the moonlight framing Sara in a halo or maybe it was that she was naked in her pool, her daughter was dozing off to dreamland in the house and the person who had occupied the starring role in her most erotic dreams was shifting her weight nervously from foot to foot.
"Cat?" Sara asked when Catherine went too long into the silence. Catherine noted the underlying question in her voice and smiled a (what she hoped) seductive smile and beckoned for Sara to continue the impromptu strip tease.
Sara remained motionless for only a second more and with a self-conscious smile, went for the clasp in her bra. Catherine watched, completely turned on, as Sara undid the bra and slowly slid the garment off her shoulders one at a time before dropping it directly at her feet, she kicked them aside and went to unbutton her jeans, also taking her time in letting the denim leave her hips to puddle at her feet, she stepped out of those and finally her hands went to remove her underwear and slowed, almost stopping, but then the hesitation was gone and the material was tossed onto the pile of clothes. Then, fear evident over the entirety of her body, Sara crossed her arms loosely over the flat expanse of her stomach and tore her eyes away from the intense fire burning in Catherine's eyes.
Catherine quirked an eyebrow and pushed herself halfway out of the water to gently touch Sara's ankle. The touch made Sara jump and she stared accusingly down at the upturn smirk Catherine was giving her.
"How about you stop hiding yourself and climb on in here with me." Catherine offered, lowering herself back into the water and backpedaling a ways out.
"I'm not hiding." but Sara trailed off and dropped the subject. She paused, took a deep breath, offered up a prayer to some long forgotten god, and stepped forward to nimbly dive into the water beyond Catherine and rose a few seconds later for a lungful of air. Catherine turned and silently enjoyed the view as Sara moved onto her back and floated in the water just inches from Catherine's fingers. Then, seeing that Sara wasn't going to speak anymore, she too moved to float aimlessly in the water on her back.
"The sky's beautiful tonight." Sara's voice came to her after what seemed hours of amiable silence. Catherine looked up and agreed. The night had cleared up from the unusual stretch of rain that had fallen onto Las Vegas the past week, giving the city a rare bath. ".and I'm suddenly as nervous as a school girl."
"You too?" Catherine turned over and stared quietly at Sara, who was returning her gaze. Sara nodded almost solemnly which brought a flicker of a grin to Catherine's lips. "Good. So am I. I don't know exactly why I'm nervous, but I am."
Sara chuckled, perhaps to just break the silence. The growing awkward silence. Catherine paused in her movements and swam so that if she leaned forward a fraction, her body would meld against the softness of Sara's. She hadn't decided to madly kiss Sara and have her treading water naked beside her only to chicken out and hide. She taught her daughter to stand up and fight and she wasn't going to let her down.
"Sara," Catherine murmured, lifting her hand out of the water to slid it down the curve of Sara's now trembling shoulder. "This is most likely your last chance to leave, to escape whatever this thing starting is."
Sara shook her head wryly and mirrored the touch. "It's funny how you're the one reassuring me yet I was the one to tell you I want you."
"Then show me." Catherine said, her voice just low enough for Sara to pick it up.
"Show you?"
"Show me how you want me Sara, I'm right here in front of you."
A flash of understanding went off in the chocolate eyes and a smile filled with a sweet wonder crept onto Sara's face before she nodded slowly and gently wrapped an arm around Catherine's waist to press their bodies flush together. She peered into Catherine's gaze for a second of eternity before tilting her head to the side and bringing their lips together. Like the kiss shared on the couch, this made Catherine see the light of heaven in her mind and her arms locked tight around Sara's neck as she drank the brunette in for all she was worth. The feel of Sara's skin flushed up directly to hers added to the element of bliss and elicited a moan of bewildered pleasure from deep within Catherine's throat only to be lost in the night air when the two broke to suck in a lungful of oxygen.
They made love in the water, fingers slipping into wet folds of skin and even further to touch the very essence of the two women. Tongues, teeth, and lips marked bodies as territory; a visual reminder to all that from this moment on Catherine was Sara's and Sara was Catherine. Voices were shushed to prevent the whole world from sharing the experience and yet Catherine crossed over the edge of ecstasy feeling as if the entire universe had come with her, Sara's name falling from her lips in a mantra of praise and devotion.
And afterward, when the need for talking had ceased, cuddled together on the stairs leading up out of the pool, Sara making a joke about her nipples freezing off, did Catherine grin slyly and take each breast into her mouth with a heated kiss and start the cycle all over again, this time Sara being the one to hold onto a slippery waist as she rode out a climax brought on by skilled fingers.
Finally Catherine broke from Sara's hold and returned to the side to get out and covered, tucking her slightly damp oversized shirt back on and gesturing impatiently for Sara to do the same, after all it was freezing out there and now her nipples were freezing. Sara complied and stole a kiss as she moved past Catherine and into the house.
"Your left breast is going to be covered in bites," Catherine commented, locking the back door behind her and making her way up the stairs, an eager and sated Sara trailing not too far behind.
"Whose fault is that?" Sara mock-scolded, her eyes dancing as they passed Lindsey's room, Catherine poking her head in to check on the sleeping girls. Her motherly worries calmed for the night she switched back over into the lust-addled lower brain dedicated to the pleasure of Sara.
"I wonder." Catherine mused, her hands already reaching for Sara's flesh again. They crashed together in a mesh of lips and limbs and fell into Catherine's bed, the door easing shut behind them.
*~*~*~*~*
(Author's Note): Yes I know this part took forever and you can blame my computer and my muse. In a way I wanted to never post this because from here on out the story's going to take a lot darker twist. There will be a lot of physical and emotional pain for our two favorite ladies so if you want a less intense and watered down version of each upcoming chapter, e- mail me and I'll see if I can do that for you.
And remember: Feedback makes the characters want to work.
Thanks to:
CRaZyPiXiE- Here's your update, I hope it's worth the long wait (
T- Thanks for staying with the story, you get kudos
Lil'River- Here's the more you wanted
Marie47- Since it was a slumber party for Lindsey I couldn't have a pillow fight, but I threw in the pool scene (
Manx1- Thanks for reviewing!