"Here. Let me get it."
Her key was stuck in the door again and she uttered a few choice words as she wiggled the small piece of silver back and forth in the lock with increasing frustration. She blew her hair back off her face in exasperation and stepped back, dramatically waving her hands at the intransigent lock. "Have at it!"
He stepped up and grasped the key between thumb and forefinger, pulling it back and pushing it in until he felt rather than heard the tumblers accept the key, allowing him to turn it and push the door open with a smug smile.
She rolled her eyes at him and pushed through the door to walk into the front room and angrily throw her coat and purse down on the nearest chair.
"I've told the super three times about that lock."
"I'll tell you what. I'll install a new knob and lock tomorrow, okay"
He moved to her side to run a hand down her back but she jerked away from him, her anger not yet ready to allow her to be placated.
He pulled away with an exaggerated "hands off" look and resigned himself to watching as she kicked off her shoes and sat with a huff on the couch. He stood with a smile on his face and waited for her to finish with her snit. She soon smiled herself and picked up a foot and began rubbing at it.
"Sorry I'm cranky. These stupid shoes are killing me. Look at the blister!"
He sat down on the couch and took her foot in his lap and made a show of staring aghast at the giant humungous life-threatening blister that covered half her foot. In reality, it was pea-sized and on the side of her little toe. He raised the foot to kiss her boo-boo when she jerked it away.
"Ick! I've only been dancing in these shoes the last three hours! "
He laughed. "Can I at least get you a Band Aid?"
She punched him lightly on the arm and pushed herself back up off the couch. "I'm dying of thirst. Can I get you anything, T?"
"Yeah. My mouth is drier than the Mojave. You got any beer?"
She wrinkled her nose. "How can you drink beer when you're thirsty?"
"Nothing better, darlin'," he drawled.
She shrugged and headed off to the kitchen.
He got up and wandered around the tiny living room. They hadn't spent much time here as Mari's brothers were usually around, plus she was for some unknown reason embarrassed by the apartment. He didn't understand why. While it couldn't have been a picnic sharing such a small space with two younger guys, she made the place a home. A colorful hand-crocheted blanket hung over the back of the plain and threadbare couch. Small wooden shelves on the walls held pieces of Mexican pottery and pictures of the Pacheco family, most apparently taken back home in Jalisco. Plants hung from hooks in front of the single window, and more leafy green tendrils grew down to wrap themselves over the bookshelves that crammed the walls of the living room. The spines of myriads of books crammed into every free space on the shelves intrigued him and he bent closer to examine them. She had started off lining them vertically in rows but as her collection had outgrown its space the books began to be piled horizontally on top of the neat rows.
He ran a finger down a row. They were in no apparent alphabetical order and their subject matter and genres were all over the map. Many of the titles were in Spanish.
He noted one title and pried the book free to flip it open and read from a random spot. He looked up as she entered the room carrying a bottle of beer and a glass of ice water.
"Ivanhoe, huh? Good book."
Shelet out ashort laugh as she set down their drinks. "Yeah. Rebecca the Jewess risks her life for him and he throws her in for the Saxon skank, Rowena. Great story."
He smiled and shook his head. "When Ivanhoe falls at the tourney Rebecca nurses him back to health. Later, when she's about to be burned at the stake as a witch, Ivanhoe risks his life to save her. Anyone reading the book knows who Ivanhoe really loved."
"Yeah, well he still abandons her for the perky blonde."
He laughed. "Mar, it was the twelfth century. Things were a bit different back then."
He closed the book up and walked closer to her. Took her hand in his. "You know, not all of us knights want the perky blonde."
"Oh yes, my knight in shining armor," she said batting her eyes playfully. "Get real."
"Hey, I have an idea. How 'bout I drop by the Excalibur and pick up some of their stock costumes. I could get you a Fair Maiden dress," he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively at her.
"Only if I get to see you in tights," she said, her eyebrows waggling back at him.
"Ouch! Okay, forget I said anyth-"
"Oh, no. Can't forget that. And I think you'd have great legs."
He tackled her and they landed on the couch entangled in each other's arms. He drew her face to his and gave her a long lingering kiss. He dug his hands into the soft curls of her hair, enveloped in her perfume. His tongue began to explore her mouth, tasting the tequila they'd been drinking earlier that night. She returned his kiss, her tongue meeting his, their tips teasing each other. He moved down to take her lower lip between his and sucked gently, his mouth then leaving hers to move to her ear. He ran his tongue along the outlines of her ear, finally flicking it into her ear canal. She giggled and pulled away to look into his eyes.
"Why don't you stay the night, T?" she asked huskily, her eyes lowering as she was unable to maintain her gaze.
"Are you sure? I mean -"
She placed a magenta enameled nail on his lips. Finally raised her eyes back to his. "I'm sure. You know, I'm… I'm not really…"
"It's cool," he said with a gentle smile.
"You know?" she asked with a growing blush.
"Well, yeah. I mean, I figured. Catholic girl raised on the family farm in Mexico. I mean, I know you've been in Vegas a while…"
She shook her head. "It took so long to get us settled, and then I had my brothers, and my grandfather, and the restaurant… I never really had time to meet anyone."
He leaned back, hands settled in his lap. "Mari, I don't want to -"
She grabbed his hand and pulled it to her lips. "Well, I do." This time her gaze met his and didn't waver. He read heat and desire there to match his own. She began to suck gently on his fingers, the experience oddly erotic, especially as she grazed his fingertips with her teeth.
She dropped his hand and moved her body closer to his to resume the kiss she'd interrupted before.
A lifetime later she whispered in his ear, "My brothers are out tonight. I told them to spend the night at Abuelo's."
By mutual agreement they stood, and he took her by the hand and led her back to her small bedroom at the back of the apartment. She sat on her bed and he lowered himself next to her, his mouth already back on hers, his hands beginning to roam over the generous curves he loved so much.
Her hands eagerly sought out the bottom of his shirt and he raised his arms to allow her to pull the garment up off of him. She quickly pounced on his chest, running her hands over his well-defined pectorals, up and over his shoulders to feel his biceps and pull his arms around her. She lowered her mouth to his smooth skin and rained soft kisses down and over his small nipples.
He held her head, his fingers entwined deeply in her curls, then freed them to run his hands down her back and onto the burgeoning swell of her posterior. His fingers caught in the hem of her shirt and he allowed her to sit back so he could relieve her of the fabric barrier between them. Her bra was pink cotton, her tanned skin covered in a rosy flush to match.
He traced a finger over the curve of her breast, onto where her stiffening nipple was pushing against the cloth. She stood abruptly to allow him to pull her skirt down, the garment barely off of her as she began to fumble with the fly of his jeans.
She leisurely tugged the denim off and tossed his pants in a ball in the corner next to her hastily discarded skirt.
He reached around her back and freed the clasp of her bra, easing the straps down off her shoulders and releasing her breasts to the cool air of the apartment.
He had barely gotten to enjoy a split second of them when her hands came up to cover them, cupping them in a way he found even more alluring than he thought possible.
He noted her hesitation and sat back to give her a minute. She blushed a deeper red, barely noticeable in the darkened room, then removed her hands to lie back down on the bed giving him free rein to her voluptuous body. He pulled her hair free for her and arranged it on the pillow in a halo around her head. She raised her arms above her head, twining her fingers together, and stared at him, her gaze defiant as if she was fighting him, the ambient light glinting in her eyes.
"God, you're beautiful, Mar. But if you're not -"
She shook her head, her eyes never leaving his and he seized the moment, her body open and available for him.
He ran his fingertip from her cheek down to her chin, dropping down to her collarbone as if chasing a tear. She arched her back slightly at his touch and, encouraged, his finger continued its journey to traverse the swell of her breast. He traced lazy circles around the soft flesh, his touch moving ever closer to its desired destination, til he stopped, his finger hovering above her. She took in a deep breath and held it until his finger finally descended to brush lightly across her nipple. She gasped and arched her back further, her body begging for his touch. His finger returned and teased the rosy peak, his thumb joining in to pinch and tweak her flesh as she squirmed underneath him.
His mouth fell to the sensitive nub as he wrapped his tongue around it, then, returning the gesture she had made earlier, raked his teeth lightly across it. His left hand rose to knead her other breast, the stiffened peak rasping against his palm as he took pleasure in her soft warm skin.
She brought her hands down from above her head to knit her fingers into his hair as he continued to minister to her beautiful breasts, her fingernails digging lightly into his scalp, the sensation surprisingly stimulating and relaxing at the same time.
He began to lower his head to kiss her soft belly when he felt a tug at his head. He looked up to see her blushing again, her lips parted as she lightly panted, her body flushed and trembling. He raised himself on his arms from the bed to meet her eyes.
"You need to-"
"I didn't -" he said as realization dawned on him, frustration he tried to hide creeping into his voice.
"I did." She dropped a hand to her bedside table and pulled open the drawer to remove a box of condoms. Her gaze returned to his. "Told you I wanted this," she said with a smile.
"You always were resourceful," he said with a laugh. He enjoyed the sight of her nearly naked body shaking with giggles under him. She was an incredible mix of innocence and flirtation. She could tell a dirty joke without a blush, every man at the bar captivated by the harsh words coming out of such a young woman. But then she'd surprise him, like with her confession of earlier, and the slightest word or touch could make her flush a deep crimson. She was a study in contradictions was his Mari, and he smiled wider at the thought that he had fallen in love with this woman.
"Peso for your thoughts, T," she said, not understanding where his reflection had taken him.
"Oh, they're worth much more than that. What do ya got?" he said lowering his mouth back to hers and kissing her awkwardly around the smile he couldn't get off his face.
He moved his body over her, her hips already straining as she pressed her body against him, undoubtedly feeling his undeniable excitement.
His fingers found the elastic of her underwear and she lifted herself up to allow him to free her from the soft pink fabric.
He felt a thrill run through him as her hands reached around to run her nails lightly up and down his back, returning finally to hook on the band of his boxer-briefs. She teased for a bit, dragging her nail along the waistline, then finally thrusting her hands beneath the cloth and pushing them away from his body.
There were now no barriers. Flesh on flesh, with nothing hidden.
His hands sought out her thighs and he kneaded the strong muscles there. Long hours on her feet and dancing when she could had toned them, and life and too many churros had put an extra layer of flesh on them and she giggled as his hands dug into her. "I hate my thighs, T."
He merely smiled and lowered his head to kiss the soft skin on her lovely hated thighs, his desire bringing him closer to her center when he was brought up short by the most unromantic thing he had ever heard.
"Good thing I decided to shave above the knee, huh?"
He couldn't help it. Here he was, naked in bed with the woman he loved, and he was laughing. Side-splitting, tears-forming laughter. And she giggled and snorted, her laughter unique and in a category all to itself.
He finally wiped away the last bit of moisture from his eye as she settled beneath him, a giggle or two left spontaneously combusting her body into ever so enticing wriggling.
"I love you, Mar. You don't have to say anything but-"
The look she fixed him with was priceless. How anyone could look so angry and so happy at one time … "I thought I was pretty clear on this. You think I'd be here with you now if I didn't love you?" She raised an eyebrow- so Grissom-like - but there was no room for Grissom or the rest of the team or any of his outside life in this bed. There were no abused children, OD'd junkies, rolled johns, dead gang-bangers. No suicides leaving letters about how alone they were and how they just couldn't take it anymore.
Nothing else in this bed but him and the woman he loved. He covered her body once more with his and lost himself in her warm and sweet-smelling embrace.
A while later they lay in Mari's bed, staring at the cracked ceiling. She had tried to cover the fissures with art prints, and Frida Kahlo's uni-browed face glowered back at them from some of the brightly colored posters. He rolled over to avoid the late artist's stern gaze and looked at Mari. She had drawn the sheet up to her chin and was snuggled up against him. He raised himself up on one arm, laughing as something caught his eye.
She roused a bit. Sat up to see what he found so amusing.
He smiled and reached over her to grab her underwear which had wound up on the bedpost near her head.
He twirled them around his finger teasingly. "Pink? Very cute."
She snatched them from his hand with a lightning quick move and an embarrassed smile on her face. "They were white, but I foolishly asked Berto to take some clothes up to the Laundromat and he threw his red sweatshirt into the load.. That boy is so smart, and yet so incredibly dumb," she said. Her expression softened and warmed as she thought about her youngest brother.
"He's sweet, you know. But so sheltered. I mean he's only been in Vegas a little while and I don't think he knows yet that there are Bad Guys out there. He'll catch a ride from any stranger. His first week here, he brought a homeless man home for dinner." She sighed. "It's my fault. I got him the job at the restaurant. Didn't even let him try for another on his own. I just wanted to keep him close to me, I guess."
"Berto's a good kid, Mar. With a good head on his shoulders. Like his big sister," he said, a smile broadening on his mouth. "Maybe once this INS stuff is over Berto can go to college."
"Yeah, maybe," she mused, not willing to ruin the night with discussion of their ongoing 'INS stuff'.
Her thoughts continued, as they inevitably did, to Alberto's older brother. "I thinks it's too late for Rey. I think now that he's tasted the life Ramón can bring him, he'll never go back to washing dishes or mowing lawns."
"Don't worry, Mar. We'll talk with him tomorrow night…well, tonight," he amended with a chuckle as he saw the hour on the bedside clock.
"I really appreciate this, T. but you don't have-"
"I know, I don't have to do it. We'll go, talk with Rey. I'll beat some sense into that thick skull of his, and there'll still be plenty of time to go out. Getting this time off was hard enough and I'm not gonna waste a single second of it. So wear your dancing clothes," he laughed. "But not those shoes!"