Please note this chapter is rated R! This is for all of those readers who have been patiently waiting for the big moment. Hope you enjoy. Thanks!!

Chapter 23

Nick's doorbell rang, startling him. He glanced at the clock. He hadn't been home very long and couldn't figure out who would be at his door so early in the morning. Glancing in the peephole, his eyes widened in surprise when he saw Sara standing there, he hurriedly opened the door with a worried expression on his face.

Sara grinned when she saw his concerned face. "I'm fine," she smiled. She turned to wave at the car parked in his driveway. Brass stuck his head out the window and yelled, "She's all yours Nick. I know you'll take good care of her. See you later." With that said, Brass backed out of the driveway.

Nick's eyes returned to Sara's smiling face and then down to the duffel bag clutched tightly in her hand. His curious eyes met hers. "Are you going to invite me in?" she asked with a smirk. "Yeah, sure. I'm sorry." he stammered stepping aside to let her in.

Sara, however, had other ideas. She advanced on him claiming his mouth in a hungry kiss. Nick lost all conscious thought when he felt her mouth on his. He threaded his hands in her hair, pressed himself fully against her and groaned loudly.

After exchanging heated kisses for a few moments, Sara pulled away and huskily said, "I can't wait any longer. I want you now Nick." Nick's mouth curled into a sexy grin. "You read my mind Darlin." he said as his mouth devoured hers. He maneuvered her body into the house and closed the door with a slam.

He had only been home for a few hours and his desire to see Sara was at a breaking point. It had taken him longer then anticipated to track her down. But he had and now as he sat across the street watching her and that man, fury filled his body. He wanted to wrap his hands around someone's neck and squeeze as he watched Sara kiss the unworthy Nick Stokes. She was throwing herself at an undeserving man, just like she had in SanFransisco. He knew she'd never change, once a whore always a whore. He needed to show her that real men liked submissive women, not aggressive sluts. She needed to feel his hands around her throat to understand. She would learn that he had all the power. He could hear her now begging him not to hurt her. But he was going to hurt her. He ached to hear her scream. She was going to feel the same amount of pain that she had made him feel. It was payback time.

Nick was in heaven with the feel of Sara's mouth on his and her hands caressing his body. She pulled away from him panting heavily. "I needed to see you," she whispered with a small grin. "Good because I needed to see you too." he said hotly before capturing her mouth in another explosive kiss.

He pulled her down the hall. They stumbled against the walls as they went, neither wanting to break the kiss. Once inside his bedroom, he urgently pressed her up against the wall. He pulled his mouth off her, breathing hotly as he reached for the hem of her shirt. "I've been waiting years to do this," he said huskily as he yanked her shirt up over her head.

Sara smirked at him for a moment before saying, "So have I baby." She grasped his button up shirt with both hands and yanked ardently. The sound of tiny buttons hitting the floor filled the room. Nick had to laugh at her passionate display. "Oh is that how it's going to be?" he asked with a sexy smirk. Sara smiled as she ran her hands up his incredible chest and gently pushed the shirt off of his shoulders. It dropped soundlessly to the floor. Her eyes traveled up his amazing body and she was greeted by his lust filled eyes. "Maybe," she answered as she brought her hands up to caress his cheeks. "But I have to tell you something first."

His hands stopped stroking her arms when he saw the serious look on her face. She gave him a reassuring smile before she continued. "You were right. My talk with Grissom didn't go well. But I was finally able to tell him how I really feel, so now there's no doubt in his mind." Nick braced himself for her words, words he wasn't sure he wanted to hear.

Sara gave him a nervous smile and her cheeks flushed with color. She looked him deeply in the eyes and said, "I told him I was in love with you." Nick blinked once, then twice before he stammered, "What did you say?"

Sara's smile faltered just a little bit and a tiny grain of doubt began to run through her mind. Didn't he want this? She felt him grip her arms as he said, "Sara?" As she looked into his eyes she could see a spark of hope dancing there. With that look her worries vanished. "I said I'm in love with you." she quietly repeated.

Sara watched the most wonderful smile spread across his handsome face and his eyes lit up with pure happiness. "You're in love with me?" he asked incredulously. She smiled in pleasure as she answered, "Yes."

"Well Darlin I'm really happy to hear that," he said as his Texas accent became more pronounced. He reached up and took her face in his hands and continued, "Cause I've been tryin' to tell you for days now that I'm head over hells in love with you Sara."

Sara's eyes filled with tears as she looked into his loving eyes. "Say it again Nick," she whispered. "I love Sara. You're the best thing that as ever happened to me." She gave him the most radiant smile he had ever seen. She pulled him tightly against her body and whispered in his ear, "I love you so much Nick. I've never felt this way about anyone. You make me so happy." "You make me happy too." he whispered back as he gently kissed her neck.

She pulled away from him slowly and met his eyes with a passionate gaze. "I want to show you how much I love you. I want to completely surround you with it." she hotly whispered. Nick's eyes flared with desire as he captured her mouth in an all consuming kiss.

They took their time slowly exploring each other's body as the remove one piece of clothing at a time. Hands and lips moved unhurriedly over the silky surfaces of each others bodies. Every touch, every kiss sparked a deeper need in each of them. They moved in total sync with one another, like they had danced this dance a hundred times before. His hands and mouth touched every part of her body as hers did the same to his body. Every sigh, every moan and every cry of each other's name only aroused them more.

Sara had never experienced anything so erotic as Nick and his love making. As he laid her gently on the bed, she was consumed with his desire as he looked down on her with his hungry eyes. She felt his love for her as he softly kissed each of her fading bruises, from her forehead, to her neck down to her stomach. With each tender kiss he would whisper, "I love you." After he finished his loving journey, he rose up above her in all his splendid glory. Sara's eyes trailed hotly down his body and she sighed at the magnificent sight of him. "You are absolutely gorgeous Nick," she said to him with lust filled eyes. "And you Sara are perfection." he replied back.

He reached down and began caressing her body, his mouth soon following the path of his hands. Within moments he had her crying out his name as he savored the essence of her. Sara's body shook from her explosive release as she urgently pulled him to her mouth and kissed him passionately. She rolled him quickly and smiled down at him from her new vantage point. "My turn," she growled hotly.

Nick's senses were on overload. He had never been more stimulated in his life. No woman had ever responded to his touches and his kisses like Sara had and now her hungry mouth and hot hands were driving him wild. As her mouth moved further down his body he knew he was losing his control. He growled her name as he pulled her up and flipped her onto her back. She smiled at him knowingly. "I need you now," he breathed.

Sara reached up and gently touched his hurt shoulder. He could see the question in her eyes. "I saw the doctor yesterday. He said I could put some weight on it and that I could start physical therapy. I figured you were the perfect form of physical therapy for me." he said with a sexy grin. She reached up and stroked his cheek lovingly. "Just go easy okay? We'll have a thousand more times to do this when your completely healed." she said tenderly. "A thousand times huh?" Nick said with a waggle of his eyebrows. "I like the sound of that." He leaned down and kissed her, running his hand slowly down her body.

They stroked and caressed each other's bodies until they had reached the point of absolute arousal. As he poised himself above her, his eyes locked onto hers and he whispered, "I love you Sara." and as she opened herself to him she whispered, "I love you too." Their passion for one another reached its peak as their bodies joined together. They rode wave after wave of pleasure until they reached its crest. "Come with me," she whispered hotly in his ear. "Always," he whispered back as they fell together.

They laid there after a tangle of arms and legs still intimately joined. Nick rolled onto his back, pulling her on top of him. He ran his hand through her damp hair and smiled at her lovingly. "I have never experienced anything like that in my life. You just rocked my world Sara." She smiled down at him and kissed the tip of his nose. "And you just made me see stars." She grinned back.

His face suddenly got very serious as her stroked her cheek softly. "I've never made love to a woman that I've truly loved. Everything is so much more intense, the kisses, the touches, the feelings. I never expected it to be like this. I love you so much Sara. This is right. You and I together. I don't ever want these feelings to end. I know I'll love you till the day that I die."

His words filled her heart with joy as the tears formed in her eyes. "I never thought that I would ever get the chance to experience real love. I thought that no one would want me and that I would always be alone. But you came into my life and with you came hope. That hope as filled me completely and I'm happy for the first time in my life. You make me happy Nick and I can't imagine not having you by my side. I love you with my whole heart." She leaned down and kissed him tenderly.

They wrapped themselves up in each other's arms and drifted off to sleep. For the first time in a long while they both felt safe and secure. Their love for one another blanketed them for a moment against the horror that awaited them, a horror that was closer then either one realized. It sat across the street plotting the destruction of their new found love. Nick and Sara's lives were about to be placed precariously in the hands of a madman.

TBC