Disclaimer: I still don't own CSI, but if it ever comes up on Ebay, I'll do my damndest.
Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to all of the crazy kids out there who have faithfully reviewed and boosted my ego when I thought that perhaps the fluff was so deep that no one would ever read again. I started to actually type out all your names, but there are a TON of you guys who have reviewed more than once, so I'll just say—thanks! You know who you are.
The first thing Grissom was aware of when he woke up the next morning was the smell of Sara's hair. He quickly realized this was mainly due to the fact that his face was buried insaid hair. He breathed in the scent of her for a few moments before giving in to something he had fantasized about for years. He had oft dreamed of the perfect way of waking her up, and deciding that there was no time like the present, he painstakingly extricated himself from her and slid down the bed. He moved like a cat, not wanting her to wake up until…the opportune moment. The voice of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow briefly flashed through his mind, and he cringed and shoved it away. At a moment like this, a man's voice was the absolute last thing he wanted rattling around in his brain.
He removed the little bit of blanket that was covering Sara's lower body. Thankfully, she didn't move. She was really out of it, he mused. He would be changing that soon enough, he hoped. Although sex had been the furthest thing from either one of their minds last night, she had opted to sleep nude, and for that he was thankful. Not only did he not have to attempt to disrobe her without waking her up, he could take the opportunity to just admire her naked form—again. Damn, he could not get enough of this woman. His eyes flashed past that angry white scar once again, and he had to stop himself from reaching out and tracing a line along it with his fingers. 'Patience, Gil. Give her time…'
After drinking her in for a moment, he reached down and gently spread her legs. He began by dropping slow, sensuous kisses along the inside of her thighs. He was going to enjoy this.
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The confusion that normally accompanies the first vestiges of consciousness was only compounded by the feeling of extreme horniness that Sara Sidle felt. This was not a feeling she was used to waking up with. Going to bed with, ok, maybe, but not waking up. She was even more confused when she realized she was wet. Really wet. The final realization—the one that made her brown eyes snap wide open—came when she recognized the feel of Grissom's rough beard against her thighs. Sweet Mary, Mother of—
"Damn," she mumbled, watching him work. "What a way to wake up."
He chuckled lightly against her flesh, making her moan. She dropped her head back against her pillow and let him have his way with her. She was beginning to wonder if he'd had an exceptionally good teacher, or if he was just naturally gifted in bed. All she knew was thus far, she had not been disappointed by the skill he displayed with his hands, and ah, mouth. Her fingers, toes and face were beginning to tingle with numbness as all the blood traveled to one central location in her body. She barely noticed. And when she finally arched up off the bed with a loud gasp and began grabbing fistfuls of bedsheets, Grissom felt the distinct pride and satisfaction that comes to a man when he knows he has satisfied a woman. When she was done, he began to trail loving kisses up her belly as she laid there gasping for air. "That…" Gasp. "Was…" Gasp. "Incredible." Gasp, pant, gasp. "Shit, Grissom." He let her recover for a moment before silently asking with his eyes if it was okay to make love to her. She gave him a lazy, satisfied smile of assent, and as he loomed above her and entered her, he marveled that this was only the third time they had actually had intercourse. It had been less than 36 hours since the first time they had sex, and yet he already felt as though he knew her body as well as his own. He voiced this thought to her as he began moving inside her, and her reply nearly knocked him on his ass.
"Well," she began, her voice taut with emotion, "maybe that's the way it happens when you're finally with the one you're meant to be with."
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An hour later, they were lying in bed, snuggling, when they were startled by a knock on the door. Grissom grabbed his robe and ambled down the stairs to find a friendly looking gentleman at the door.
"Good morning. You are Dr. Grissom, I presume?" Grissom nodded and smiled. The man continued. "I'm David, Charlie's next-door neighbor. I live here all-year round. I just came over here to give you this. Charlie forgot to tell you a few things, so he emailed me and asked me to print it out and bring it to you." Grissom took the proffered sheet of paper and thanked David. The man smiled and began to leave, turning back to tell Grissom and Sara that they were welcome to ask him if they had any questions about the area.
Grissom looked down at the email in his hand.
Gil,
I inadvertently left out some important information for you. First of all, the key to the boat is in the first drawer to your right in the kitchen. You'll find the wrist key for the WaveRunner there, as well. They both have full tanks, but if you should run low, there is a marina on the way out into open water. I wouldn't suggest taking the pontoon out into the Gulf unless it is an extremely calm day. The WaveRunner can go anywhere, however. To get out to open water, just follow the canal. The canal opens up into Choctawhatchee Bay. Make a left in the bay—you'll see Destin Bridge ahead. When you get to the Bridge, you're in the East Pass. If you go left from there, you'll be heading out into the Gulf. If you go right (under the bridge), you'll be heading back into Choctawhatchee Bay proper. In the middle of the Bay is a spot we locals call "Crab Island." It's a sand bar that is about two feet under water at low tide, and four or five feet at high tide. The water is the clearest blue I've ever seen. For a romantic interlude, I highly recommend taking Sara out on the pontoon to Crab Island for a day. I promise you won't regret it.
There's also a great little place called AJ's Seafood and Oyster Bar I wanted you to know about. It's located on Hwy. 98, but you can actually reach it by boat and dock at their pier. The top floor is Club Bimini, a very popular nightspot. I recommend their famous "Bushwhackers."
Please, enjoy yourself, and if you have any questions, feel free to call me.
Charlie
Grissom turned at the sound of Sara's voice calling his name. Walking back up the stairs, he found her at the breakfast bar with a glass of water, cell phone in hand. "I just checked my messages," she smirked, "and you have got to see what Catherine sent me!" She flipped the display around toward Grissom. Grissom leaned in and saw a picture of Nick, Warrick, and Greg. Nick had a stupid grin on his face, Warrick's mouth hung open in disbelief, and Greg just looked grossed out. Sara scrolled down to the message Catherine had left and handed the phone to Grissom so he could read it.
Sara, I wish I could have had a videocamera to capture the guys' reactions. At first they were in disbelief, so I showed them the picture you sent me. I flipped the phone around on them and took their picture after they saw Grissom kissing you in the airport—this is their reaction. They truly had to see it to believe it! Hope you guys are having fun. –Cath
Grissom chuckled in amusement. "Greg looked…enthused." Sara snorted in reply.
She took another sip of her water and set the glass down with a thud. "Uh, Griss, the place is bare, and I'm hungry. Why don't we get dressed and explore Destin? We can grab a bite to eat and then find a grocery store."
Grissom pulled the straps of her tank top down and ravished her shoulders with kisses as she giggled. "Sounds good," he mumbled.
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Two hours later they were back at the house, armed with enough groceries to feed them for a week. As they put the food away, Grissom quizzed Sara on what she wanted to do next.
"Lay out by the pool and be lazy," she snorted, as if it was the only possible response.
Grissom laughed as he headed to the bedroom to grab his swim trunks. "Yeah, well," he called over his shoulder, "We're going to have a hell of a time explaining our matching tans to Ecklie."
Sara changed into her swimsuit, grabbed a towel and a boombox and carried them out to the pool with her. Grissom was already there, idly floating in the pool while hanging his arms over a pool "noodle" that he had found in the garage. Sara wrinkled her nose at him as she flopped on a lounge chair. "You look like a 12 year-old on that thing," she said with an adorable eye roll. Grissom splashed her in retaliation.
"Well, I can't stand just lying out in the sun with nothing to do, so I thought I'd get in the pool."
"With a pool noodle?"
"What's wrong with my noodle?"
"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response," Sara giggled. The man who had perfected the art of the double entendre was at it again, she mused.
She sighed contentedly as she let the sun soak into her skin. "Mmm, this reminds me of college…"
Grissom shot her a puzzled look. "College? Really, how does the Florida sunshine remind you of Boston?"
Sara snickered. "Not Boston…college. God, Grissom, spring break is as much a part of college as classes are!"
Still confused, Grissom could only say, "Huh?"
Rolling her eyes, Sara elaborated. "Spring break, Gil. I did the requisite Spring Break experience in Daytona Beach with some girlfriends my first three years of college. You know, tens of thousands of drunk college kids converging on one city for a week in March? Hello? Spring Break?"
A withering stare from Grissom. "Yes, Sara, I am aware of the Spring Break phenomenon. I just didn't have you pegged for the partying type in college."
A wistful look passed over Sara's eyes. "Well, yes, I did my share. I was kind of a loner in high school, and I was determined not to spend my college years like that. It would have been more fun if I'd had someone special to share it with," she said sadly. "I mean, my girlfriends were great, and I have wonderful memories of it. My apartment is full of pictures from college. It just didn't seem…I don't know, meaningful, somehow without someone special to..." She stopped. "I'm sorry, I'm not making any sense."
"Actually, you are," Grissom said quietly. "I do understand."
Sara tossed him a quiet, surprised look. "It would have been fun to have had you there for all that partying. 'Course," she drawled, unable to resist teasing him, "you'd have been 33 when I was a freshman, but that's okay…"
He beaned her on the head with his pool noodle. "Haha. Funny." He considered something for a moment. "Uh, this may strange, but you want to recreate your college years for a week?"
Sara sat up, curious. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"Well, let me ask you a question. When you were on spring break, what did you do?"
"Drink."
"Oh, come on, there must have been more to it than that."
"Not much," she smirked. "Ok, ok," she admitted. "The drinking was mostly a nighttime thing. During the day we'd lie on the beach or at the pool, play volleyball, go shopping, go parasailing, go to waterparks—stuff like that. You know, fun stuff."
"Then what did you do at night?"
"Go out to clubs. We'd hit a different club every night. We would dance, drink, eat, and try to find guys." The wistful look returned. "Usually my girlfriends had more success than I did. All the guys I met just struck me as immature, drunk, horny jerks." She locked her eyes with his. "This might sound stupid, but…I think that's one reason I always had such a strong attraction to you. You're the polar opposite of almost every man who has ever expressed interest in me. You've always been more interested in my mind than in just trying to get into my pants…" Her voice trailed off and she shook herself back to reality. "Uh, sorry, where were we?"
Grissom reached up out of the water and took her hand. Kissing it gently, he said, "Sara…you are an incredibly beautiful woman, and as much as I have always desired you physically…" He paused, unsure of how to phrase what he wanted to tell her. "Sara, your amazing beauty is intensified by your incredible mind. It's the whole package that interests me. I want you to know that."
"I know," she said softly.
They gazed at each other tenderly for a moment before Grissom remembered the point of their conversation.
"Sara," he began. "Let's do it. Let's just…play. We'll lie on the beach, go out on the boat, go shopping, go to a waterpark. At night, we can go find some good clubs. Let me be the guy you could never find in college," he said earnestly.
A slow smile spread across Sara's face. It sounded nice. Without warning, she launched herself out of her lounge chair and at Grissom, knocking him backward and underwater. When he surfaced, he shook the water from his hair and beard and dove toward her, causing her to swim frantically toward the deep end, shrieking in delight. He caught her and pulled her close to him with strong arms. Their eyes locked, suddenly caught in the moment. Grissom stared at her, noting how sexy her eyes looked. Her eyelashes were thick with water droplets and her hair hung in curly ringlets around her face. He slowly closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to hers, lightly at first, then more passionately. They stood in the pool for several minutes, tongues and hands sensuously roaming. When Grissom slipped his hand down her bikini bottoms, Sara moaned with pleasure, then said "A word of warning, Gil—sex in the water isn't all it's cracked up to be."
An inexplicable wave of jealousy washed over him at the thought of his Sara having sex with anyone else. Shaking it aside, he cocked an eyebrow and said, "And you would know this how, Ms. Sidle?"
She grinned at him and said, "It's most unfortunate, but you are not the first man I've ever slept with, Gil Grissom."
"And just how many men did you have sex with before me, Ms. Sidle?" He asked, both teasing and curious.
Sara took a deep breath and considered. It was now or never.
She looked him sadly in the eyes and said, "Willingly or unwillingly?"
TBC…
A/N: Umm, if anyone's curious about the various places I'm describing in here (Crab Island, Choctawhatchee Bay, East Pass, the Destin Bridge, etc), you can see pictures at my little picture site. Click on my name at the top of this page, then click on the "homepage" link on my bio page. It'll take you to some good pictures of all the aforementioned places. It might help you visualize, if you're interested.
Thanks again for all the rockin' reviews!