Thanks Emmakins for da beta.
As it turned out, Grissom took his coffee black in the morning… but they didn't have coffee in the morning. It was the early afternoon before either of them made a trek out of bed. When Sara did, she nearly yelped with pain; every muscle in her body ached terribly, her thighs mostly.
Grissom had tried not to over-stimulate her, but truly couldn't help himself. There was something about wanting and needing a woman that made a man need to know every part of her intimately. Grissom didn't stop before he'd made a thorough exploration of her entire body.
She was raw, but so very much loved that it didn't matter that she had to limp to the bathroom. Sara rummaged around the medicine cabinet for a couple of aspirin and stuck her mouth under the tap to swallow them. Upon standing and glancing in the mirror, she was shocked at the flush on her face, the purple bruises on her neck, her chapped lips. Damn, he'd worked her over good. She twisted around and got a glimpse of her back; slight scratches ran up and down her pale back. That was it, she was lost it in a fit of laughter.
Sinking down on the toilet, she dropped her face into her hands. Unbe-freaking-lieveable. Sex, with Grissom, surreal. She tried to remember the night bit for bit, but could only gather glimpses inside her mind. It had all been so wonderful, but had passed by so quickly and that couldn't seem to firmly grasp the situation.
Would it happen again? Dare she hope?
There was a hesitant knock at the door, "Sara?" He asked, leaning into the door so he could hear her. "Are you uh, are you crying?" He sounded so confused that she couldn't help it, she laughed harder. The laughter sounded more akin to sobs to him so he quickly opened the door to find her red faced and giddy, bouncing on the toilet cover, grasping the sink to keep from falling off.
"I, uh, Sara?" he asked, leaning down to catch her eyes. She lifted a finger to hold him off for a minute and allowed her laughter to die down.
When it had passed, she swallowed hard and looked up at him. Grissom, still disheveled from sleep, was looking at her with a gaze of such concern that it broke her heart. Sara kissed him deeply, ignoring the morning breath, allowing him to steal her tongue from her mouth. "Never thought this'd happen," she taunted, whispering against his lips.
Grissom shut her up, adding more force to his kiss, wrapping his arms around her, helping her to stand. "Bed, want you in bed," he rasped, walking her backwards into her bedroom and tossing her onto the bed.
"Naked, now," he ordered, helping her peel off her tee-shirt and panties. "Love you, honey," Grissom uttered before leaning down to kiss her belly button.
Sara missed his words first, simply moaning in response. After a moment, however, they finally sunk in and she pushed her hair out of her eyes and balanced herself on her elbows. "What?"
"What?" Grissom parroted and stopped the trail of his hands over her hips.
Sara set her neck straight and stared him down, "You just said something, what was it?"
Grissom bit his lip and leaned his forearms on the bed for support. And thus the internal war waged; he hadn't meant to say it, but there it was, up close and personal. It wasn't like he could take them back either. He wanted to say them, really, but he'd wanted to wait for a more appropriate time, one when they weren't naked and sweaty and about to have sex for the fourth time in the past twelve hours.
"Nuh," he began, looming over her. "Nothing, I didn't say anything."
Sara eyed him wearily, disappointed. "Oh, okay," and with that she leaned back on the bed and waited for him to continue with whatever he'd begun.
Grissom didn't move, just sat and watched her chest rise and fall. "I said, I love you," Grissom stated, finality in his tone.
She continued to lie there, staring at the ceiling. Dear God he wanted her to say something, anything, just respond. "Really?" she asked, again, staying perfectly still, leaving the ball in his court.
Clearing his throat, he admitted fully to his admission and nodded his head. "Yes. I uh, I love you."
"Because you don't sound so sure..."
Grissom growled and crawled over her, placing his lips on her breast, above her heart. "I love you," he swore, kissing her there, but looking up at her, making sure she could see what he meant there in his eyes.
It was a long time coming, but the smile that dawned on her face was the most brilliant he was sure he'd ever seen. "That's okay then, me loving you?" he asked, dragging his hands up her body to her face. Sara pretended to think about it for a moment, but then she laughed and he kissed her lightly.
"Only if it's you know, okay that I love you back, and maybe more..."
Grissom laughed and hovered over her. "That's not possible."
"I beg to differ," she challenged, rolling her hips to meet his and then they were joined. A cackle left her throat as he pumped into her and she brought her arms up around his neck. "You are, without a doubt... so good."
He agreed, kissing her. "Mmm, yeah."
The rest of the afternoon was spent in bed, and when the sun slipped low on the horizon they shared a shower, getting soap in each other's eyes and slipping around. It was fun, it was normal. And when it was all over, they drove to his townhouse so he could change clothes before shift.
They ended up having a little tryst against his front door before he actually changed the clothes, but neither one was worse for the wear. Eventually they made it to work, only ten minutes early but no one seemed to notice.
She stopped him at the doorway to headquarters, grabbed his hand so that he turned to face her. "So, we're really in this? For real?"
"Day by day, Sara. That's all we need to stick to, day by day." Grissom muttered, plucking the sunglasses from his face. He glanced around to make sure no one was coming. Quickly, he leaned in and kissed her deeply, pulling away breathless to steal down the halls of CSI with a smile on his face.
Day by day. Well, that could mean this wonderful, incredibly dysfunctional relationship would last a week, maybe a year, possibly a lifetime. But day by day... yeah, she could do that.
And yet when he kissed her he tasted of pomegranate and peppermint... and more than a little bit of promise.