Winter's Rime

Chapter Six

Sara grew more nervous as the time approached to meet Alex's family.

"Okay, my mother has three sisters," Alex explained. "Two older, one younger."

Sara nodded as he wrapped his arms around her waist to help her finish making the tortillas. He kissed her neck before continuing.

"The eldest sister is my Tia Beatrice," he explained, slowing her hands as she mixed the ingredients for homemade tortillas that he was teaching her. "Tia means aunt in Spanish. Anyway, she has the darkest and longest hair out of all the sisters, so you can tell who she is right off. My Tia Georgina is short, and my Tia Erica, the youngest, wears all black all the time."

"Why is that?" Sara asked.

"Because she's still mourning her husband," Alex explained. "After nearly ten years."

Sara furrowed her eyebrows.

"How sad," she said. "Okay, Tia Beatrice has the darkest hair, Tia Georgina is short, and Tia Erica wears all black. Got it."

"Good," Alex said as he kissed her neck again.

"Are you sure I'm doing this right?" Sara asked.

"Yeah, just keep kneading for about five more minutes then you can start to flatten out some tortillas," Alex instructed.

He pulled away from Sara and began to chop some tomatoes. Sara turned to look at him for a second and she smiled. Alex knew his way around any kitchen and he was an excellent cook. He'd been spoiling her for the last week because she'd been trying to get everything settled and fixed the way she wanted. She had gotten quick furniture deliveries, and everything was pretty much where she wanted.

Now, she was preparing tortillas in her kitchen for the dinner with Alex's family. She had been wary of her spacious kitchen, for her culinary skills were very limited. He helped her through the entire process though because she wanted what she was preparing to be perfect so that she would make a good impression on his parents.

Alex still had plenty of time to be nervous over meeting her parents.

"Your mom sounds wonderful," Sara said as she flattened out pieces of the dough.

"She is," he said. "I think she'll love you. But you have to make sure to call her Dona Yvonne."

"Why?" Sara asked.

"Respect," he said with a shrug. "Honor, respect, religion, and pride are big things in our family."

Sara raised her eyebrows.

"No pressure here," she said sarcastically.

He kissed her cheek.

"Try not to be nervous," Alex said. "My family is fun."

"From the way you talk about them, they sound like fun," Sara commented.

She leaned over and kissed him again before turning her attention back to the tortillas.

"Well, I wish my family was more like yours," Sara sighed. "I was hoping that we could spend Christmas together, but my mother wants to stay with me, so…"

"I'd like to meet your parents," Alex said.

"You wouldn't like them," Sara said, turning to him. "They're upper crust types…they're not used to culture."

Alex furrowed his eyebrows for a moment in thought then nodded.

"Oh, I see," he said.

"But I'm not going to hide anything from them," Sara said, coming over to him. "I'm not ashamed of you or your background at all. You're so wonderful and a damn fine detective. I don't care what my parents think or say."

She leaned in and kissed him softly before hugging him.

O-O-O

Catherine and Warrick watched as Lindsay had a small party with her friends in the backyard. It was late in the evening, and they were sitting on the porch swing sipping at some red wine.

Warrick saw that she was deep in thought about something.

"Hey," he said, taking her hand in his. "What's on your mind?"

Catherine shook her head.

"I'm just thinking about how big Lindsay has gotten," she said, grimacing. "And how old I am."

Warrick grinned. "Babe, you're not old. You know, people are saying that forty is the new twenty."

She glared at him.

"I'm forty three," she drawled.

"You don't look like it," Warrick complimented. "Cat, you're beautiful."

"You don't mind the fact that I'm older than you?" She asked.

"Nope," he said, pulling her closer.

"It doesn't bother you at all?" She asked incredulously.

"Not in the least," he said. "I love you for who you are."

Catherine smiled and continued to watch Lindsay host her party. She didn't know how to broach the subject of marriage or children with Warrick if he ever brought it up. She knew that their relationship, even though they hadn't been together long, was heading in that direction. What if he did ask her to marry him? What if he planned to propose next weekend at the hotel?

She sighed and smiled.

She would say yes. She would only be hurting herself and wasting time by waiting until the right time. Catherine discovered how much Warrick made her happy. He loved her, he loved Lindsay, and he was a good man. She wanted to take a chance with him. She already was dating him.

"I love you," she said, snuggling in to Warrick.

"I love you too," he said, putting his arm around her shoulders.

O-O-O

At the dinner with Alex's family, her homemade tortillas were a hit and Sara was proud of herself, although she admitted that Alex had to help her out quite a bit.

His mother, Yvonne Vartan was a sweet woman of fifty three who fell completely in love with Sara from the moment she saw her. She took her on a tour of her house which included a peek into Alex's childhood bedroom, still furnished and with the toys he used to play with until he moved out. Alex turned red with embarrassment and led his mother to a different part of the house as fast as he could. He wasn't able to escape Sara's teasing though.

She only felt slight bashfulness when Alex kissed her in front of most of his family members, but otherwise, she felt no anxiety whatsoever. She had fun and enjoyed herself truly.

She had a brief talk with Mr. Vartan who looked stern from a distance, but once Sara got to know him, she realized just how much Alex was like his father in many ways.

They both had kind of the same look of placidity and contentment, like they knew they would be right where they are at the moment. Nothing shook him or made him waver from what he believed or thought. The realizations made her fall harder for Alex.

His other family members were warm and welcoming toward Sara, and they wished her happiness with Alex because he was a good man.

The only thing that appalled them about her was the fact that she was vegetarian. There was a long, awkward pause as Alex announced that aspect to his mother after she placed a fajita platter in front of a paling Sara. She had not come into close contact with meat in a long time, and she thought about the dead pig that Grissom used to measure linear regression. She cringed inwardly, not wanting to offend his mother or his family.

She was angry at him only for a second because he let her sit there looking like a fool for a few minutes before remembering that she indeed was a hard core vegetarian, not just a situational one, and he spoke up in her behalf. Dona Yvonne quickly removed the plate, apologizing for not asking what she liked before she cooked. Sara waved it off, saying that it was a personal problem.

After dinner, Alex assisted Sara in a few games of spades, her sitting on his lap, letting him see her cards before placing them down. She won two games and lost the last, Alex telling her to make bad plays. His cousins teased him as she sat on his lap, saying that she "had him whipped" and he replied that he didn't mind in the least.

After dinner was over, and everyone had left, Dona Yvonne asked Sara to help her clean up in the kitchen and Alex went to chat with his father.

Sara pushed hair out of her face as she washed dishes then handed them to Dona Yvonne to dry.

"How long have you and Alex been dating?" She asked.

"Oh, about a month now," Sara said with a small smile.

"So you're the reason why he kept on coming to mass in a good mood," she laughed. "I'm glad that he's happy now. After everything with Xavier and his divorce from Vanessa, I didn't think I'd ever see my only son happy again. That is, until you."

Sara blushed with the compliment.

"He's told me about his ex-wife, Vanessa," Sara said, not sure if she should discuss anything any further. "She's still hackling him. She called him the other day on his cell phone asking when he would pick Xavier up from daycare. He told her she would have to because he was with me. Then, I felt kind of bad. I feel like I've intruded or something."

"No, you haven't," his mother said softly. "You've made Alex so happy. He has obviously made you happy. He's trying to detach himself from Vanessa now because, no matter what he does for her, she still can't seem to get enough even with him seeing Xavier. You're just what he needs and wants."

Sara grinned and ran her wet fingers through her hair.

"Thank you Dona Yvonne," Sara said with a bright smile.

When the two women were finished with the dishes, Sara looked in on Alex talking to his father. Father and son interacted well. They were deep in conversation about something or another, Sara just lost in Alex and not wanting to hear the conversation. She'd had this feeling before; the lost feeling. She'd felt it with Grissom.

When she first came to Vegas, she always marveled at his eyes…the beautiful blue of them making her lose all sense of time and place. That was when he had that spark in him, that thirst for life that she knew he only felt with her. But over the years that changed. His eyes changed to something much more hollow and tired. Eyes like what he had during the bizarre Debbie Marlin case. She didn't know him anymore. It broke her heart to know how he really felt about her.

She was his second chance at life…a chance that he chose not to take because he realized all that was involved. Sacrificing his career, his uncertainty that they would work out, unsure if he wanted her wholly. She remembered feeling sad and happy at the same time. She was happy that her four-year ordeal with overwhelming emotions and mixed messages was finally over because he finally had made himself clear. It wasn't that he didn't want her. He just got tired of the pursuit and the waiting for the right moment and her withdrawal and misunderstanding of him.

She understood his reasons completely, and she wasn't upset at him anymore. She couldn't be. His heart was broken too, along with hers and they were both left in the realm of what could have been between them.

Now, she felt that exact same lost feeling again, her stomach swirling with different emotions and feelings that she was familiar with, but had never gotten used to. It was a beautiful, glorious, yet unnerving feeling that sent shivers up her spine. Then the swirling in her stomach became a collapsed heat, staring at Alex's profile, that had turned into a warm, melting sensation that spread through her body. It made her feel loose and relaxed, so relaxed that she closed her eyes to the sensation, letting it caress her body like a silhouette and then, she allowed it to be pulled right down to her center, giving her thoughts erotic jolts of electricity.

Sara opened her eyes and she saw that he was looking at her, little knowing that he had the same feeling taking over his body as well. His father had gone outside to smoke a cigar and Sara came over to Alex and sat by him.

Alex noticed that she was emanating heat, and he took in her lustful beauty before leaning in and capturing her lips with his in a soft, short kiss.

Am I sure I'm ready for this feeling, this want? She asked herself. I'm almost craving it now, and it's a horrible and wonderful feeling all at the same time.

"Are you ready to go?" He asked, his voice deep and husky.

Sara nodded, biting her lip as she played with the top buttons of his simple black shirt. She knew that she was eyeing him hungrily, like a lioness in a savannah hunting down her prey.

He took her hand and led her out back to say goodbye to his parents, before they quickly exited, unable to decided whether to go to his house or hers. While they both silently debated in their heads, Sara was becoming more aware of her own body as she felt the flush in her face an on her chest. Her hair on her neck suddenly became a new stimulation and she put it up with a spare ponytail.

Alex was gripping the steering wheel harder than usual. She was radiating heat, desire, and lust, and he'd never had that kind of response from a woman. He had reached a whole other level of want. He felt the urge to just pull over and take her right then and there, but arousal looked so exotic and beautiful on her.

He was instinctually heading to her home.

Sara saw familiar buildings and street signs and realized he was taking her home. She had been contemplating everything she thought she knew about sex; not that she was going to have it tonight, but she contemplated the subject anyway.

For her, it was more a natural progression. Feelings that had been upgraded to arousal through thoughtful examination of the man next to her. Sex for her had never been casual. She'd always taken it seriously, except for one time, and that was on the flight from Boston to San Francisco. But she was still young and stupid then; she hadn't realized how hard she fell for Grissom until she saw him at work again.

Then, years later, there was Hank. Their intercourse had pretty much been one-sided. He got most of the pleasure and took what he wanted from her then fell asleep, not feeding her need for conversation or closeness afterward.

Sara was fearful but she also found herself wanting so badly that the ache reverberated in her almost full heart. Alex didn't realize how happy he was making her. She felt like a woman again. She felt like she was starting to get back to who she really was. The woman from months ago was not her. She was the disgruntled, disillusioned part. The woman now was happy, vibrant, and more sensual than she ever thought she cold be.

Thank God! Home at last! Sara thought to herself. I can't even think straight anymore.

Alex pulled rather harshly into her driveway and quickly turned off the car. It was then that she heard deep breathing and looked into his darkened eyes.

O-O-O

Everything else was like a blur as they fell into bed, naked, holding each other tightly, kissing passionately, lustfully and still wanting to be closer even after they let their bodies connect intimately. It was the single most wonderful feeling. Their skin was bathed in illustrious moonlight as they made love.

Alex moved slowly at first, then he gradually picked up the speed and pace, making Sara beg for mercy.

"Oh God," she whimpered. "Please…"

Sara dug her fingernails into the skin of his back, wrapped her legs around his waist, and moaned hotly into his neck, making his body shudder against hers with more arousal. They were both damp from heat and intimate movement, and Alex savored the feel of her body against his, the way her skin tasted, the swelling and sensitivity of her lips. She looked beautiful with the flushed glow of her cheeks, and her hair wildly splayed over the pillows. He sighed at the sound of her sensual whimpers, cries, and moans.

"Alex," Sara heard herself moan.

She'd never been this vocal before. She was overcome by the amount of sensations coursing through her body. She both demanded from him and surrendered to him. She liked the way his body complimented hers, basked in his passion, and relishing the feeling of his soft lips on hers.

"Sara," he sighed inches from her lips.

She gave herself over to him completely and they uttered each other's names as they gave into their passion.

They separated and cuddled up next to each other, both smiling in contentment.

Sara turned onto her side and rested her head on her elbow and Alex faced her, only resting on his elbow.

"Are you tired?" He asked.

Sara smiled and shook her head as she used her other hand to bring the covers up to cover her chest. Then she reached over and wiped the dampness from his Alex's forehead. Never had she seen him more sated. In fact, she'd never seen a man this comfortable after making love with her. Was she that good? Or was he proud of his own performance? Sweat on the forehead was a good thing, she supposed, and she found herself wanting to actually go for a second time.

That was incredible and beautiful at the same time, she thought. Is wanting to do it again a good thing? Was this the right time to do this?

Alex saw the hesitation in her eyes.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked.

Sara began to trail her fingers down his chest.

"You were wonderful," she whispered.

"You were fantastic," he whispered back with a smirk.

Sara blushed.

"Do you want some coffee?" He asked.

Sara nodded. Sara watched as he searched around her spacious bedroom for his boxers. He was walking around, naked as the day he was born, and Sara took in every inch of his anatomy. He was in shape and well muscled; he had to be for the job, but his was more natural and she liked that.

"They're not there," she informed in a sultry tone. "Try looking by the laundry room."

He turned to her with a smirk. She mirrored his expression before he walked down the hallway. Sure enough, his boxers were where she had told him to look, hanging from the doorknob.

A while later, Alex returned with two cups of coffee in hand.

"Just the way you like it," he said as he handed Sara her favorite cup.

Sara inhaled the aroma and grinned.

"Mm, thank you," she said.

They sat in comfortable silence, sipping at their coffee before Sara began.

"You don't have to stay the whole night," Sara said. "I mean, you can if you want to, but you don't-"

He put his fingers to her lips before kissing them.

"I'm not going anywhere," he whispered.

Sara smiled and snuggled into the covers. Alex put his coffee aside and kissed her. Sara wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him on top of her. The coffee was soon forgotten.

They made love again and the second time was even more pleasurable than the last.

Sara rested on top of him, kissing him deeply and passionately. She had never felt so sexual in her adult life. Doing it a third time was a tempting opportunity.

Alex tangled his fingers in her hair and kissed her. She was beautiful and sensual and he just couldn't resist her. Everything about her was sexy and beautiful.

"Mm," she moaned as she pulled away. "You arouse me."

Before he could even get a word out, her lips were on his again, and there was no more talking for the rest of the night.

O-O-O

Sara found herself having yet another erotic flashback of last weekend with Alex during work. They hadn't been able to see each other because of work, but she had plenty of memories to last her a while. Alex had called her to tell her that he was doing the same thing and that she was gorgeous.

Sara couldn't keep the smile from forming on her face, but she quickly went back into work mode before someone saw her.

Just then, Grissom walked in.

"How are you doing on this case?" He asked her.

"I'm just looking through the photos," she said.

Grissom tilted his head to one side and furrowed his eyebrows. Her skin didn't look as pale as it always does, and her hair was silkier, her eyes brighter, and her lips fuller. He associated that with her actually using her off time to rest.

"You look nice," he said. "Have you been getting better sleep lately?"

"Yeah," Sara nodded, trying not to give anything away because she didn't want Grissom to start prying.

He sat next to her.

"Are you and Detective Vartan still-"

"Yes, we are," Sara interrupted. "And yes, he makes me very happy, to answer both of your questions."

Grissom twisted his lips.

"I was actually going to ask you if you were planning on throwing a Christmas/housewarming party?" He asked. "I would really like to see your house."

Sara rested her cheek on her fist.

"Since you didn't come help me pack?" She asked with a grin. "Trying to make amends?"

After all the years Sara had known Grissom, he still baffled her. He was like a rubix cube. Distorted, and incredibly difficult to solve. She had wanted so many times for him to open up to her, and she was sure that he wanted the same thing from her, but she wouldn't give her heart without him giving her his first. She knew that she was slowly moving on with Alex, a part of her still wanted to know if Grissom loved her or not.

What she had with Alex right now was happiness, passion, and…comfort. It wasn't love as of yet, but she knew that it was getting to that point. He was someone that she could love and live happily with. He knew what it was like being alone and not having anybody to hold on to. And she believed him when he told her that until last weekend, he'd gone through a period of celibacy. Sara told him that she hadn't had intercourse in two years. They both knew what it felt like, not having someone to calm you when upset or someone to talk to even.

Over the last few months, Sara had felt isolated and she couldn't trust anyone with her thoughts or feelings. She thought she had gone crazy when she started rambling on angrily at her PEAP counselor about her family and about her anger over how she couldn't deal with her emotions anymore.

But now, she finally had someone that cared and possibly loved her for who she was and it felt so good.

"Sara?" Grissom broke into her thoughts.

"What?" She asked, coming out of her reverie. "Oh, yeah, the party. Um, yeah. I'll have it Christmas Eve. I'll call everyone and tell them."

Grissom nodded as his pager went off.

"I'll see you later," he said. "Brass has just paged me for suspect pick up."

He walked out and left Sara in peace.