Chapter 16

Nick sighed in frustration as he examined the hair sample from the last crime scene under the microscope. He wiped at his brow for the umpteenth time. Even though the lab was air-conditioned it was still uncomfortably hot. As promised the temperature had reached record heat today and the air had not cooled off at all when the sun had set. He stood up and stretched his back, letting the memories of earlier that day fill his head. He couldn't help but smile as he remembered watching Sara sleep. He had been nervous about how they would be with one another now that they had no secrets between them. His worries were all erased the moment she opened her eyes and gave him a beautiful smile.

He laughed to himself when he remembered their shameless flirting and the look on her face when he had left her fully aroused in the bedroom. He indeed had to take a very cold shower. The overwhelming amount of sexual chemistry they had together amazed and thrilled him. She was totally different from all the other girls he had dated. He had finally found what he had been searching for. She was it for him. He just prayed she felt the same way about him.

He went back to analyzing the hair sample retrieved from the last victim's body when he felt a pair of arms snake around his waist and felt a hot kiss on his neck. Nick couldn't help but smile as he stood up and turned around. Sara stood there with a shy smile on her face. He wrapped his good arm around her and drew her close. "Hey," he whispered in her ear. "Hey," she whispered back. He kissed her softly on the cheek and leaned back to look at her. He raised his eyebrows in question of her sudden appearance. She gave him a smile and simply said, "I missed you."

His beautiful brown eyes lit up at her words and a sexy Stokes grin spread across his face. "You did huh?" he said slowly. "Yeah," she said softly as her eyes zeroed in on his lips. "Well that's good Darlin' cause I missed you too," he said huskily as he leaned toward her to capture her mouth with his. His lips slid tenderly across hers as his hand traveled unhurriedly toward her sexy rear end.

Sara's hands found their way up into his hair as she gently pulled him in closer to her. She groaned seductively as she felt his tongue teasing her own. Nick was slowly losing all his will power as he felt Sara's body begin to rub itself against his. The sound of someone clearing his throat sent them crashing back to reality in a hurry.

Warrick stood in the doorway with a knowing smirk on his face. He watched in amusement as both Sara's and Nick's faces flushed red. "I'm glad you two have finally seen the light but keep it outside the lab. If Grissom had caught you, he have both your asses in a sling. And you definitely don't want Greg walking in on you. You'd break the poor guy's heart Sara."

Sara's face flushed even more as she took a step away from Nick. "God you are so right Warrick. I don't know what I was thinking." She turned and looked at Nick and said, "Stop being so damn irresistible Stokes." She gave him a wink and headed out the door.

Nick couldn't help but laugh as he watched her saunter out the door. He turned to face Warrick who was watching him with curious eyes. "What's up man?" he asked. "Sara seems better." Warrick stated.

"Yeah she is. We aired a lot of dirty laundry last night. I think we understand each other a little bit better now."

"You've got it bad, Nick. I can see it in your eyes." Warrick said seriously.

"I'm in love with her." Nick said quietly. "Well yeah I already knew that." Warrick said with a grin.

"What? How? I just realized it. How the hell did you know?" Nick cried. "Man you've always wore your heart out on your sleeve when it's come to her. Just the way you look at her was a dead give away."

Nick groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. "So everybody knows how I feel?" "Nah, Cath and I, maybe Greg. Forget Grissom. You'd have to hit him in the head with jar full of bug larva." Nick chuckled and said, "He knows."

"What?" Warrick exclaimed. "Let me put it this way. We were way off base about Grissom and his feelings for Sara. He has them and there a lot stronger then I like." "Jesus. Why didn't he ever act on them? She mooned over him for years."

Nick started to pace nervously. "I don't know man but he basically gave me the go head last night. He told me I'd be able to give more then he ever could. Myself." "He said that? Grissom actually said that? Man! How does Sara feel about all of this? How does she feel about you Nick? Cause I don't want to see either one of you get hurt." Warrick said sincerely.

Nick sighed and turned to look at his friend. "She scared. I know that. She's said she's moved passed her feeling for Grissom. She admitted she was attracted to me from the moment we met but because we're so different she chose to ignore her feelings. Grissom was similar to her so he provided a comfort level for her. She said she's finally ready to move on with her life with me in it."

Warrick being as perceptive as he was said quietly, "But this situation that your in makes you doubt her true feelings. Your scared she may not feel the same way when this is all over?"

Nick groaned in frustration and started pacing again, "Warrick man, I can feel it when she kisses me right down to my soul. She's it for me. But I don't know if she feels it too. It's there for a moment when she touches me. I can see it in her eyes but then the wall comes up. Last night was a huge step for us. She let me in and it felt great. I just need to get her to keep that damn wall down long enough to get completely in."

"There's no way she can resist the Stokes charm but I really don't think you should worry to much. Because the old Sara I know would have never of kissed you like that in the middle of the lab. I think this situation is forcing her to reevaluate her life and you being by her side as only strengthened her resolve. I think you're the best thing that could have happened to her and she knows it. And that kiss she just gave you confirms it. Don't push her too much Nick just be there if she needs a hand to hold on too."

Nick smiled at Warrick's kind words, "Thanks man. I needed to hear that." "No problem. You and Sara deserve some happiness. We all do." Just them Warrick's cell rang. "Brown," he answered. "Warrick, it's Grissom. We've got a situation and I need you out at the Lucky Sevens motel ASAP." "I'll be there in 20," Warrick said shutting his phone. "Problem?" Nick asked. "Yeah, Grissom sounded very agitated and that's not like him. He and Cath are at a little motel off the strip investigating a murdered girl." "Great." Nick sighed, "You think it has something to do with our guy?" "Don't know but I'll give you a heads up as soon as I can." With that said Warrick was out the door.

Nick shook his head in frustration. They had very few leads to work on. Greg was still working on the listening devices. He learned that they were government issued. He was now trying to find out exactly where they had come from. Sara was working on local shops that carried the name brand ski mask they had matched from the piece of fiber. They were at a dead end with no DNA from the semen recovered. The maniac wore latex gloves so there were no fingerprints to analyze. The hair sample was their biggest lead and Nick was unable to come up with any matches to it. As he stood there thinking, he had a flashback to the night Sara was attacked. He hit him suddenly that the jacket the guy had been wearing was somehow familiar. He needed to find Sara to see if she could remember any more information about the coat. He realized that he and Sara were perfect witnesses and they needed to sit down to try and piece the puzzle together. They had both seen the guy. They needed to pull important details from their memories. He hurried down the hall hoping Sara would agree to his idea. He hated the idea of asking her to relive that night again but he strongly felt they had missed something important. He hoped that putting their memories together they might come up with an important lead.