Disclaimer: Refer to chapters one, two, and three.

Rating: This installment is rated PG-13 for safety… and now that I have written it, maybe a little higher than that?


Chapter Four: Had to Be This Way

Sara sat in the front seat of her car, five minutes before shift started, gripping the steering wheel tightly in her hands as she stared straight out the window. Her eyes were beginning to sting from not blinking and finally she did. Her hands hurt from the death-grip she had on the wheel and she noticed that her knuckles had gone white. Finally, she let go and let out a loud exasperated sigh that filled her vehicle. She needed to get inside because she needed to do her job without thinking about how awkward it was going to be in the lab that day and every other day for the rest of her career there.

Stepping into the locker room, she headed straight for her locker and opened it finally after the seventh try. Her hands were slightly shaky and she could barely stand. What was happening to her? She had been fine the night before and all of that day until she had parked her car. Maybe that was when she had finally realized what she had done the night before and how greatly it could affect her job, her life, her relationship with Nick.

Nick. She moaned soundly and let out a breath.

"Wow, I don't even have to be in the same room as you to get you going," a voice teased from the door.

She turned her head towards the door and looked up, instantly grinning at the furtive smile on the Texan's lips. Everything seemed to melt away at that moment and she knew it had to do with the fact that it was Nick who caused all of this melting to occur.

"What can I say? That Texas drawl does it for me every time."

"Oh really?" he stated, gradually making his way to her in a fashion that had her feeling like she was the prey and he was the predator.

There was a hungry look in his eyes that sent a shiver down her spine and back up. He came up from behind her, wrapping his one arm low around her waist while the other slowly slid up to her breast, kneading it seductively through the fabric of her shirt.

"I missed you last night," Nick whispered into her ear, his voice deeper and thick with his accent. His lips practically kissed her flesh when he spoke the words. "You left me all alone, Sar. Do you know what that does to a man?"

"No," she replied meekly, trying to stifle a whimper when he pinched her nipple in between two of his fingers.

"I have the worst case of blue balls thanks to you, darlin."

No shame. The man clearly had no shame. She blushed profusely and then gasped when his teeth sunk into the curve of her flesh where her neck met her shoulder.

"Why didn't you take care of it?"

"It's not the same. No one knows what I like, like you do, Sar."

There was a shimmy of his hips against her behind and she promptly felt the hard bulge in his pants.

"You're going to be sporting that all day, I hope you know," she breathed out in slight relief when his hand released her breast. But his intentions weren't to stop, he simply just moved to the other breast, this time slipping underneath her shirt and into her bra.

"What, you won't join me in the shower?"

"As tempting as that is, and believe me it is, shift starts in one minute."

"It's going to take me a lot longer than that to calm down."

Reluctantly, she pulled away from him, her back pressed up against the lockers. She really had no other place to go.

"Then I suggest you start now."

"Sara," he drawled out, his tone a slight plea.

"No Nick. I am not going to suck you off at work."

He raised an eyebrow. "That was not what I had in mind but now that you mention it…"

Leaning into him, Sara chastely kissed his lips and slipped out of his grasp when he tried to bring her in deeper. If he got the chance to kiss her the way he wanted to, they both knew that there was no one that she would be able to refuse him. His kisses were delicious, mind-blowing, and so goddamned addictive that Sara would have gone down on him right in the middle of the lobby had Nick asked her to.

"See you in the break room," she smiled, eyes trailing down from his face to stare for a lingering moment at the impressive display nestled tightly in the denim of his jeans.

Nick made something that sounded awfully like a growl as she left and her grin widen before faltering when she saw that Grissom was already in the break room with Warrick and Catherine. Sara grabbed a chair at the far end of the table, thankful that it was her usual spot, the farthest away from Grissom.

"Where's Nick?" he asked the group, eyes flashing briefly at Sara before he turned away.

"He just got in. I saw him in the break room," she answered evenly, meeting his eyes defiantly.

"Alright."

"Sara and Warrick, the two of you will be working together. Nick and Catherine will be working with me." He handed over the case files and then nodded his departure. "Oh and Sara, could you see me in my office for a moment?"

Warrick and Catherine didn't think anything of it and nor did she expect them to. Sara leisurely got up from her chair and was coming out of the room just as Nick was entering. The two of them tried to get through the door at the same time and just when Nick had finally recovered to a normal, presentable state, Sara's body rubbed against his and he was almost immediately hard again. Thankfully no one noticed as he sat down cautiously, hating the feeling that his jeans created when he sat down.

"Nicky, you're working with Grissom and I," Catherine said, sliding the folder across the width of the table to Nick. He stopped it and opened the folder up, looking inside.

Meanwhile, Sara had just stepped into Grissom's office, closing the door behind her. Just yesterday she had been in there, asking him to dinner and now everything was done. Her plan had been fulfilled and she no longer felt the need to prove herself to Grissom, or anyone else for that matter.

"I believe these are yours," he said evenly, tossing the pair of handcuffs onto his desk.

She reached for them and slipped them into the pocket of her jacket. She turned to leave, knowing that that was all Grissom wanted of her.

"Sara?"

She looked over her shoulder at him.

"I'm sorry that it had to be this way."

"Me too."