Thank you for all the wonderfully kind reviews. This has been a wonderful journey into my imagination. I truly didn't think I had it in me.

Chapter Eighteen

Sara had just finished her calming bath, as she looked for something to put on. She found a terry cloth robe hanging in Grissom's bathroom, so she decided to put that on while she decided what to wear. She started looking through her bag for today's outfit. Smiling, she removed the small red box that Catherine had bought for her so she could get to some of her clothes. Upon placing the box on the bed she spoke, "One day, Dr. Grissom; one day I will most definitely have to delight you with the contents of this box."

Grissom unlocked the door and entered his home. He was surprised that he didn't see Sara sitting on the sofa reading; instead, the radio was blaring and Sara was nowhere to be found. "She must still be in the bedroom," he deducted.

Decisively, he grabbed a small box from his shopping bags and made his way to his bedroom. Grissom knocked lightly on the door. "Sara, honey, are you in there?"

"Come in Gris, I just finished a bath, I love that tub! I think I might have to come over here after those long shifts just to take a bath!"

As Grissom opened the bedroom door and peered in, he couldn't help but stop in his tracks and stare. For about the fifth time in the past 3 days, she was the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen. He knew that she would catch on that he was staring, but he didn't care. The sight of her at this very moment took his breath away. He could hear his heart beating faster; almost out of his chest. There she was; standing in his bedroom, wearing his robe. Her hair was still wet, as it cascaded around her face. A few small drops of water trickled their way down the lovely strands of hair around her face, and made their way down the front of her chest, disappearing beneath the robe. He couldn't move; he couldn't speak; all he could do was look at her.

Sara began to feel a little uncomfortable. "What? Is everything Ok? Is it the robe? Sorry Gris, I, uh, I know I should've, um, well asked before just putting it on. It's just the first thing I saw. I was dripping wet." When Grissom still didn't move or speak she added, "Look, just give me a minute; I'll change."

Finally, Grissom realized that Sara thought he was upset with her. He took a few steps into the room toward her as he stuttered, "N-n-no, uh it's not that. I mean y-y-you can wear the robe, um my robe." He paused a minute to compose himself and declared, "God Sara, you really do have no idea how beautiful you are." He picked up his pace and moved toward her. "I think I stopped breathing when I opened the door and looked at you. I'm losing control here, Sara."

"Well, from what I hear," she answered deviously as she placed her arms around his neck, "Losing control isn't always a bad thing." Her hands were exploring the soft curls of the back of his head as she closed the gap between them. Sara felt a surge of electricity through her body as her lips touched his. Waves of passion and desire seemed to replace the blood that was raging through her veins as he vehemently returned the kiss. His tongue gently tested the outside of Sara's lips as if asking to be invited in. She obliged and their tongues were soon dancing together as if they were one. Grissom drew her closer to his body and ran his right hand up and down her robe-covered back.

Sara was the first to break the passionate kiss; needing to come up for air. She took a small step back from him and noticed that he held a small box in his left hand.

Feeling flustered, she tried to speak, but Grissom beat her to it. "Sara—honey, Jesus!" He exclaimed. "You can't just, just, well—My GOD, you can't just do THAT! Wait, you can do it; it's just, I, uh, I kinda need to do something, or rather say something here before, um, before..." He was stumbling on his words and looking away from her. He noticed the bright red box on the bed.

Motioning toward the box he inquisitively asked "What's in the pretty red box?'

Sara, sensing that he was changing the subject, answered, "Oh, just something Catherine bought for me. Don't try to wiggle your way out of this. What were you trying to say, and what is that in your hand?"

Grissom looked at the small box in his hand and deviously came back with, "I'll show you mine if you show me yours!"

"Oh, you wanna play that game, Grissom! Fine, I can't really see myself wearing it anyway; well unless there was some alcohol involved!" She opened the box and pulled the sexy red nightie out, held it up against her body, and turned to face Grissom.

"So, Mr. Entomologist, do you think it's me? I mean, I guess Catherine thought that maybe you-uh, I mean we needed a jump-start. This is stupid," she concluded as she pulled the garment away from her.

Stunned from the piece of lingerie, Grissom didn't say a word.

Sara turned toward the mirror and held it back up against her body. "What was she thinking anyway? Do women really wear this sort of thing? Don't get me wrong; I'm a true believer in romance, why else would I hang around in Vegas for five years waiting for an emotionally unavailable man to become available." She paused for a minute as she noticed in the mirror that Grissom was directly behind her. Nervously she muttered, "I'm over-talking again. You're making me nervous. Can you please say something?"

He put his hand on her shoulder and turned her so that she was facing him. Carefully, he peeled the nightie out of her hand and held it up to get a closer look. "Well—it certainly is something! Sara—" he seemed to be searching for exactly the right words. "Sara, honey, now keep in mind that you are talking to me and I'm not exactly an expert in these things, but I, well I would never expect you to wear something like that. Wait that came out a little wrong. First of all, you would look AMAZING in sexy lingerie. Hell, you look sexy in sweat pants. It's just that, from what I know of you, I think you'd feel, un-uncomfortable in that. Sara, I'm so bad at this. I don't think I'm getting my point across. Ok, can I start over?"

Sara gave him a smile and tried to rescue him, "You don't have to. I get it, I really do. You're not into that sort of thing."

"No, no, Sara, that's not it. Let me try again; I need to try again." Grissom paused to collect his thoughts. He placed the small box he brought with him in her hands and placed his hands on top of hers and the box. "It's not that I'm not into that sort of thing; the truth is that I don't really know. I've never had anyone wear anything like that with, or rather, for me. Sara—the truth is, I'm into YOU; all of you. And if you feel comfortable wearing a sexy red night gown, then I'm going to be into it."

Sara was taken aback by his words, that she hardly noticed him place the small box in her hands. She couldn't believe this was the same man who had rejected her so many times. When Grissom let go of her hands she realized she was holding the box. Her voice was so quiet that he hardly heard her ask, "Should I open it?"

"Yes, I'm sorry, of course. But before you do; I want you to know that I was going to give you that for your birthday next month. I figured I'd have enough courage by then. I ordered it about two weeks ago; it was before this, um, ordeal with Lurie."

Her curiosity peaked, and with trembling hands, Sara opened the box. Tears filled her eyes as she peeked in at the beautiful gold heart-shaped locket. "Oh, it's beautiful!"

Her words put him slightly at ease. "I was hoping you'd like it. If you open it; um I had it inscribed."

Even though she tried hole-heartedly hold back, a single tear escaped her eyes as she pulled the necklace out of the box, opened the locket, and read the words: Sara, I never knew love until I knew you. Love, Gil

Several more tears streamed down her cheeks. "I don't know what to say—I think I dreamt this moment. Can you pinch me, please?"

Grissom took the necklace from her still trembling hands and turned her to again face the mirror. "How 'bout I put this on? It's a beautiful piece of jewelry and it deserves a beautiful neck to rest itself on." He fastened the clasp and put his arms around her waist. They both stared at their reflection in the mirror. Grissom lowered his head to gently kiss her neck; then he moved the robe off her collar to tenderly kiss her shoulder. "Can I confess something to you? I-uh, I know you may have had your heart set on the lingerie, but this-this, um you standing right here in my robe, THIS does it for me." He spun her toward him, grasped her hands and added, "You—in my bedroom—in my robe; the most beautiful, sexy sight I've ever seen in my life!"

Sara had never seen or imagined this side of him. As he spoke to her he stared at her, his beautiful alluring cool blue eyes never left her. She was completely mesmerized. All she wanted was to frantically rip his clothes off and devour him. All she could manage were a few faint words spoken in an almost whisper, "Gil, I want you!"

As she clenched his shirt in her hands and pulled him closer to her, he hesitated, "Sara, wait. Honey, I want you too; more than anything else in the world; but I want to, I need to do this right." Grissom led her around to the side of his bed. "Now don't go anywhere, my dear, I'll be back in two minutes."

As Sara waited for him, her body was shuddering from sheer anticipation. She swore to herself that if he touched her one more time, she'd lose it right there. After all, it had only been him who had occupied heart for the last five years; she'd had sex a few times in that time frame, but it was meaningless and hadn't even been that good. It had been quite a long, long time since she had made love with someone she truly cared about.

Grissom returned with a few scented candles. After lighting them and placing them on the fireplace and nightstand, he turned down the lights. Slowly, and without lifting his gaze from her, he made his way to the exact spot he left Sara. He pulled her into his arms and traced kisses up the front of her neck and toward her ear. Sara shivered when he took her earlobe between his teeth and lightly nibbled. Gently, he blew into her ear and she was so overwhelmed with desire that she almost didn't hear him declare into her ear, "God, Sara, I love you! I should've told you years ago. I completely love you."

His lips met hers and years of pent up love were unleashed in one very passionate, very sexy fervent kiss; it could've lasted for days except that each of them had other ideas in mind. As he broke the kiss, Grissom took a step back to again admire the beautiful woman before him. He grabbed the lapels of the robe and carefully felt the velvety skin beneath the robe all the way down to her waist. Delicately, he untied the robe and let it fall to the floor. "Sara, you are gorgeous! Your skin is glowing in the candlelight, driving me crazy." He pressed his forehead to hers. "Honey, you have no idea how terrified I am. It—it's been a long time for me. I want to be everything you need."

Her breathing sped up, she admitted, "You already are everything I need; and as far as this is concerned; I am almost there right now, and you're still fully clothed!"

With his mind more at ease, Grissom again attacked her neck, tracing kisses down the front of her neck, and down her chest. With his hands and his lips he drove Sara over the edge.

When Sara's breathing calmed down she questioned, "What—are—you –smiling at? Admiring your handy work? And you were afraid you wouldn't give me everything I needed? I've never felt anything that intense in my life. I'm on fire here. Gil, I want you—naked—in this bed—now."

He tore off his clothes and climbed into bed beside her. Passionately, he kissed her already swollen lips. His tongue darted in and out of her mouth thoroughly tasting all of her. He softly ran his hands down the length of her body, carefully covering every velvety inch. As she lost control again she cried out, "What are you trying to do to me?"

"Make you feel more pleasure than you ever have before!"

"Dr Grissom, you accomplished that about forty minutes ago. God, Gil, you are gooood. Tell me; is it always gonna be this good?"

"I truly hope so," he answered as he rolled over to prop himself on top of her. He slowly made love to her, giving himself to her completely.

She looked into his eyes and saw only intense passion like nothing she's ever seen. She sensed that he finally let go of his inhibitions, of his fears. There was only want, need, and desire behind his beautiful blue eyes now. Want, need, and desire for her. This was like a fairy tale; Grissom was her handsome, sexy, totally pleasuring prince.

After the fire erupted in both of them, he fell on top of her, completely spent, and utterly exhausted. They both stayed in that position, catching their breaths for the next few minutes before Grissom rolled off of Sara. Hair soaked and completely drenched in sweat, Grissom could only manage one word, "Wow!"

Sara turned onto her side to face him. She wiped the sweat from his brow and traced her hand down the side of his face. Tenderly, she leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. As she pulled back from him she revealed, "Gil Grissom, I love you, and WOW right back at you."

Those were the best words he had ever heard in his life. Sara Sidle loved him; she really loved him. He put his arms around her and held her close until she fell asleep in his arms. Grissom pulled the blanket up over Sara's naked sweat covered body. Lovingly, he wiped the hair from her face, softly kissed her forehead and vowed, "Sara, I have no way of knowing what's in store for us. But this I promise: you will have me, all of me, every ounce of my love, strength, passion; every beat of my heart for the rest of my life." After his declaration, he closed his eyes. After a few minutes, he couldn't help but open his eyes and touch Sara's arm; just to make sure it wasn't a fantasy; that he hadn't dreamt the entire thing.

As he felt her soft skin she stirred slightly and reassured him, "Hey, you don't have to keep checking, I'm here; I'm real; I love you; oh and while I know you want to give me the world, all I really need, all I've ever needed is YOU!"

The End

Wow, this has been amazing! I was advised to change the rating, so this being my first fic, I decided to take people's advice. When I started writing this, it was just going to be a couple of pages; but it went in a totally different direction than I originally intended it to. I actually wrote this chapter a little steamier, but I thougth it was too much for If you'd like to read this chapter as I originally wrote it; just email me and I'll send you the file. I'm going to post it on adult as soon as I figure out how. Thanks everyone for reading and please review if you can. What a Ride!