TITLE: Glass Doors
AUTHOR: Vanth's Key
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Established relationship.
DATE: RK 02.Sep.2005
DISCLAIMER: CSI: Miami, its characters, and its franchise are copyrighted to CBS, JB, AZ, CM, AD, etc.
FEEDBACK: If it pleases you.
PAIRING: Horatio/Calleigh
RATING: PG13/T.
SPOILER: very minor reference to 10-7.
SUMMARY: It was there with the falling rain and the wind that Horatio, naked and slick with water, kissed Calleigh.
The sky was that particular shade of gray which hinted at heat-relieving, thunder-and-lightning summer storms. Storms where one can feel the energy building and building, and one needed only to wait for the climax--the start of the heavy downpour of rain. It was during these kinds of storms when one would understand the phrase 'sheets of rain' because the rain literally fell just that way. It would obscure everything so all one could do would be to listen to the falling rain and feel the storm's energy.
It was at these times when Horatio felt the most restless, wanting to move, wanting to use the energy outside. He resented enforced enclosure.
Then, once in a while, something would break within him and he became free of himself.
xxxxxHoratio was at home, alone, when it broke this time. Leaning against his dining room table, he stared out the glass of the patio doors--waiting, simply waiting. He had waited long enough for this moment; he could afford to wait for the perfect cue.
A flash of lightning illuminated the sky; its answering thunder resounded. There it was.
He took four steps to the door, opened and closed them, and walked to the edge of the pool all the while staring ahead into the choppy water. The wind whipped his hair, and the combination of thunder and lightning had his heart racing.
Already, his clothes were plastered to his body, but Horatio merely relaxed and judged the distance downwards to the water's surface. He glanced, once, at the patio doors to ensure their closure. Then, he stripped off his clothes and, without hesitation, he jumped.
xxxxxThe storm was still strong when Calleigh parked in the driveway to Horatio's home.
In one of those afterglow games all new lovers play, she had asked him for his favorite time of day; he had surprised her with his answer of thunderstorms. Needless to say, his explanation had aroused both her and her curiosity.
She also had sensed the increased restlessness within Horatio, the frequency of insomnia as well as his tendency at aloofness. Somehow, she knew it would all stop--at least temporarily--today.
So she dressed carefully, non-seductively, to simply stand guard while whatever would happen to Horatio occurred. She vowed to give him a safety net if need be.
Calleigh walked through his house, noting his absence and the off position of all the lights. She was certain he was here but where?
Then, she saw movement through the patio doors; it was too deliberate to be a storm driven object. She went for a closer look and understood that it was one, only it was Horatio swimming laps in the pool while it rained atop him.
From the shelter of the dry house, Calleigh felt herself become wet. It was--many sensations--to watch Horatio when he was unaware and out of control. She could see the pull of muscle beneath his skin as he swam the length of the pool; each stroke reminding her a thousand different ways of how he lost control in other situations.
Suddenly, it was too much; she needed out.
xxxxxHe was not tired yet, but compulsion had him slowing down to obey. Horatio trusted his instincts; they were rarely ever wrong. Grasping the far edge of the pool, he turned, examining his surroundings to find nothing amiss.
When he wiped rain from his eyes, blinking in the process, he saw her standing in the rain and moderately soaked. He felt the energy rebuild.
Horatio swam unhurriedly towards her; he was halfway there when he realized how aroused she was. It made him further slow his approach. She rewarded him, unknowingly, by parting her lips. Her chest rose with her shallow breaths.
He saw now that he had been wrong with an earlier assessment: she did indeed wear white, but what he saw was not the white of clothing. It was the white of her skin through translucent wet fabric. Nothing was a mystery to his gaze.
He waited, at the near side of the pool, for a signal from her--anything to tell him why she was here, at this particular moment. There were no secrets between them, not since that day so long ago, a day never far from their memories or their hearts. It kept them from forgetting.
She remained standing, leaning somewhat against the patio doors. Her face was impassive; her eyes reflecting passion. They were so much like the doors against which she leaned because beyond the smooth, clear strength of the glass that composed them, there was so much spirit, energy, whirling around and needing some exit. That was what he needed, wanted.
Horatio used only his forearms to hoist himself from the pool. It was then the wind from the storm affected him--goosebumps and other tightening body parts.
None of it mattered; not with the way Calleigh looked at him. Still, he needed to ask.
"What are you doing here, Calleigh?"
"Lunch was cancelled. Can't have an outdoor lunch with a thunderstorm going on."
"Why didn't you go home?"
Surprise showed on her face. "Where else would I be on a Sunday afternoon if I wasn't with you?"
"With friends--" He hesitated without knowing why.
"I don't know why, but you happen to be the man I love. So, deal." She grinned, tempering potentially harsh words.
"So I am." Still, he waited, now knowing the cue he wanted.
"Yes, you are. And if you don't come here and kiss--right now, by the way--I'm leaving--"
It was there with the falling rain and the wind that Horatio, naked and slick with water, kissed Calleigh. Quickly, she found the cool glass doors of the patio and used them for support. Her arms and legs wrapped around his body, giving and taking warmth that the storm took away and fed into increasing its own frenzy.
When it was over, Horatio was calm again; the restlessness had gone leaving behind contentment. Calleigh smiled, cat-like and coy as if she hid a secret.
Horatio held her more securely, not moving inside for privacy, accustomed to the enclosure of his backyard. He kissed her cheek, a move too chaste for their relationship but fitting for the moment.
"What's the smile for?" he asked, ever wanting to know her thoughts.
Calleigh's eyes showed laughter. "Oh, just thinking 'Wow'." At his silent question, she continued, "If I had known just how good this was going to be--"
There was no need to finish; indeed, she could not finish with Horatio's mouth on her lips.
"Foreplay with candles and a bath isn't the way you want it, Calleigh?" he teased.
"I could go for that," she said laughing. "But there's something very, very appealing about watching you."
The only answer for him was a non-committal verbal sound and a full-body shiver that prompted him to adjourn the remainder of their afternoon to the bedroom.