Reaching Perfection 3?
Author: Calie
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sara's feelings for Greg have been changing subtly and after a comment made by him she slowly begins to realize what she needed has been in front of her face the whole time.
"I still do." Her eyes widened slightly at his comment and for a moment Greg forgot how to breath. How could he when he just admitted he was giving her his heart on a silver platter and it was there for her taking. Sara didn't speak or turn away from him so he slowly stepped forward and lowered his head. When she didn't pull away and stayed there meeting his eyes he closed the distance between them in an instant and pressed his lips against her own. Greg closed his lips around her bottom lip and sucked on it gently. When her head tilted back and her lip responded to his own his whole body responded to her. He stepped closer, placing one hand on her waste and the other behind her head to assist in pulling her closer. When he brought her body against his she whimpered into his mouth and the sound alone had an effect on his lower body that he didn't want her to be aware of, at least not yet.
Sara slid her hands in-between their bodies and wrapped her arms around his neck. Nervously she opened her mouth to him. It wasn't that she didn't want to feel his tongue slipping in and caressing the inside of her mouth. In fact she wanted that more than anything right now. What made her fearful was how much she knew she would like it. The only person she'd had strong feelings for in recent years had been Grissom and the extent of their relationship had been gazing at one another. Now she felt the same ache as she had then, except this time she found herself in the persons arms and steadily forgetting anything logical. That didn't happen often with her. When he did deepen the kiss she couldn't help but attempt to pull herself closer to him but no matter how hard she tried it was never enough. For a moment she even considered the thought of how it would feel being pressed against his naked body.
With small careful steps Greg backed Sara up against the door and pressed her up against it with his body. For the moment he forgot the ever growing physical evidence of his need and just concentrated on kissing her. It was when she managed to rub against him just right that his mind began to register how much he had become overcome by his need for her. If he didn't stop then it would be impossible later, especially if she continued to be such a willing partner. It was probably one of the hardest things for him to do when he pulled away from her swollen lips. He couldn't get himself to release her yet so he settled on resting his forehead against her own and watching her with his dark eyes. Sara's mouth had remained open slightly and in the dim light he could see her colored lips and the heaving of her chest against his own. "Sara I've got to stop."
Sara studied him confused for a few moments which felt like forever. "Why?" She had usually trusted her judgment and had believed he had wanted her just as much as she wanted him.
"Because, at the risk of sounding pathetic, I want to know that you feel as much as I feel for you before anything happens." She studied him again and as usual he felt uncomfortable under her calculating gaze but he remained still and silent allowing Sara to draw her own conclusions.
"You think I would hurt you?" Greg hadn't said so much directly but Sara had a strong feeling that is what he was hinting to.
"I don't know, maybe. I mean I know you Sara, but when it comes to stuff like this I never know what you're thinking about me. One minute you're flirting with me, and the next you don't hear a word I've said."
"That's okay." She could understand what he said. Sara knew she wasn't the most open person and no matter how close she had let Greg into her life, she knew she had never really given him any clear indication of what her feelings were for him. For the longest time she had avoided the subject. As strong willed as Sara had always been when it came to romantic feelings with Greg he had always hunted her out and flirted with her. To her Greg had been the kid. She'd always felt him under her, not a blimp on her romantic radar. It had nothing to do with him not being a CSI, it was just that he wasn't what she had been looking for. He was intelligent to be sure but that wasn't all he was. He was easy going, every so often didn't act his age, and had this boyish thing about him that always made her uncomfortable. So she had avoided his advancements like the plague. Now she needed them and she had no way of knowing how to convince him. When it came down to it, rushing things wouldn't be the answer. If she jumped into his bed that night they still wouldn't be sure of one another. It would just take time. "Maybe we should take our time so that we can both be comfortable when things start getting serious."
There was no 'if' in what she said. Sara had said 'when' things start to get serious. It gave him a glimmer of hope, so against his better judgment he pressed his lips against her own, this time not nearly as rushed or as hard. They exchanged a few soft kisses before he pulled away and brought his lips to her ear. "I can go slow," he paused an ran his lips over her neck before he brought them back to her ear, "for now."
Sara fought the lust that filled her body at his promise and pulled back only slightly. "I probably should go."
Greg pulled back and looked into her eyes. To his surprise he could actually see the regret in her face. It was harder for him to let her go now then it had been before they had kissed. Greg knew she was right though. Not only was it late but if she stayed any longer he ran the risk of letting go of all reason and doing what his body wanted. "I know. I'll walk with you." The walk back to her car bordered on painful. Something inside of him ached when he let her go. Most of it stemmed from the fear of what she would say the next time he saw her. At the moment she seemed content with the idea of exploring this new thing between them but Greg always felt that Sara was the type of person that would reject a relationship if it wasn't suited to her needs. He'd always known that he hadn't been the kind of man that she wanted. This change of heart made him nervous and scared. They shared a gentle kiss before she entered her car and even as she was driving off he was already thinking of seeing her the next day.
The next day Greg had been paired up with Sofia. Even when Greg did arrive Sara had already been ushered off to her own crime scene. It seemed crime didn't stop when he was trying to start a relationship. Usually he hadn't minded working with Sofia, it helped to ease his yearning for Sara and also allowed him to learn something from a different CSI. He had nothing against her, even though Sara hadn't been too fond of her at first, but at the moment he didn't want a thing to do with her. When they were finally through collecting evidence they headed back to the office. To his misfortune Sara hadn't arrived yet. When she did come back hours later she hadn't even seen him as she passed up the glass window. Abandoning his work, Greg made his way out of the office and watched Sara walk down the hallway. It didn't take him long to make up his mind and follow her. When she entered the break room Greg grabbed a hold of the door before it shut and kept quite as he followed her in. Not once did Sara give any indication of detecting his presence. She preceded to her locker and yanked it open with enough force for it to swing out and hit the adjoining locker. Greg knew she was pissed. He wasn't sure about how to approach her at this point, even though he had been thinking about it all day. Finally he settled on just saying hello. "Hey."
The voice that broke the silence caused Sara to jump. She hadn't even registered who it was till she turned around. "God Greg you scared the hell out of me."
"Sorry." Slowly he took a couple of steps forward but still allowed Sara her own personal space. Whatever he did he was going to be sure not to crowd her. "What's wrong?"
For a moment Sara considered not telling him anything. She really hadn't been in the mood to talk about her evening but talking to Greg had always been so easy and to push him away now would have been foolish. So she sighed in an attempt to calm her nerves and preceded to explain to him. "Nothing really, just a long day. The evidence was tampered with which is really going to hinder my investigation." She tried to smile at him, more to make him think she was okay than to try to convince herself.
He really wished he could do something, anything to bring her out of the foul mood she was in. "Have you eaten yet?"
"No." Sara turned back to her locker and began hanging up her jacket. "I don't really have time to right now." The jacket fell to the ground and she cursed. With an angry sigh she bent over and reached for her jacket and preceded to hang it up again. When it fell again she screamed in frustration and threw her locker shot. When it bounced back and hit the adjoining locker she glared but bent down and picked up her jacket again. Before she could hang it up hands closer over her own and took the offending piece of clothing away. For the moment she forgot her anger and watched as Greg hung up her jacket and closed her locker, all while standing behind her.
"Is that all that happened." It wasn't often that Sara got this angry. She was one of the most controlled out of everyone. Tampered evidence wasn't her fault so it had to be something else that had pushed her to this point.
Slowly she dropped her head in defeat. Fighting his concerned questions was impossible. "It was two children. A boy and a girl, siblings. The mother drowned her daughter. We think the little girl'sbrother tried to save her but she killed him too." Through her whole revelation she tried to remain calm and keep her words empty of emotion. But as she finished her sentence she could picture the little boy trying to revive his sister and failing only to be killed himself. They were so innocent. "And the evidence." Sara threw up her hands. "The evidence is ruined." She couldn't help the sob that followed. Nor could she help the tears that broke free when he turned her to him and wrapped his arms around her. Sara knew before she had arrived at the crime lab that seeing him would be a bad idea. She had tried to avoid him only because she knew once she saw him she wouldn't be able to control the tears that had been held back since she saw the two children absence of any life.