Masquerade & Disguise

Part Three

Sara stared at him, at those eyes and cursed herself for not recognizing them instantly. She balled her fists as shedesperately fought back tears and the emotions that threatened to consume her. She didn't know what to do, whether to run as fast as she could, scream at the top of her lungs, throw herself off of the balcony or collapse into acrying mess on the floor. The tears that were beginning to form stung, and she wondered what emotion was behind their emergence. Did she feel betrayed? Or maybe her dream had finally came true...She searched his eyes, his face, looking forsome kind ofexplanation, anything to explain what had just happened, among other things…But nothing. He simply observed her, studied her as though he was monitoring his effect on her, the results of this possible 'experiment'.

She didn't know what to say, what to think, what to feel. It was all so overwhelming. What did he expect of her? Should she say something? Should she leave? Should she wait for him to do something? Her mind continued to race, as did her heart. He'd known all along that it had been her, it wasn't hard to recognize her beneath that small mask. He could've been watching her, waiting for her, and for what? Unlike him, she had been completely oblivious. She saw him, although she didn't truly see him, and she had bee attracted to him instantly, unknowing of his identity. No wonder he'd seemed so familiar to her, and yet so foreign. The attraction was familiar, but the situation...that was something else entirely. She'd taken a huge step, trying to be someone different, to let herself go…Had he done the same? His intentions still remained unknown to her, but she began to worry. What would he think of her now?

He watched her as she continued to stare at him.She appeared to have found her way out of the shock of it all, and into the difficult task of trying to analyze the entire situation. He knew what she was feeling. He had been battling millions of questions for the past few days, analyzing them all in detail, wondering, hoping, wishingfor something like this. For hours he'd pondered questions, wondering if he should or shouldn't go through with it, whether he should show his face, or wait until she'd shown him that she was completely comfortable...and still attracted to him, whether she could see his face or not. It had all proved to him what he hadbelieved all along. Their attraction was magnetic, it was strong, and it was unbreakable, undeniable, especially now. He'd hurt her before, he'd regretted it all, and as much as he wanted to repress everything concerning Sara, he just couldn't do it anymore. He couldn't forget, learn to live without, and obviously she couldn't do the same.

He'd planned this all out. Everything so far had gone according to plan, it was this part of the night which he couldn't hope to predict. So many variables, so many different outcomes...he could only hope...watch, wait...he knew he should say something to her, but what? Apologize? He wasn't sorry...He frowned. Now her eyes looked away from him. The tears that threatened to fall glimmered in the light. He didn't mean to make her cry. But then...he really wasn't sure what he meant to do after all. Sure he wanted to prove their attraction, but what then? He found her forcing herself to look away from him, to focus her eyes on anything but him. She crossed her arms across her chest. She felt exposed; her stance told him that. He took a deep breath, taking the next step that he needed to take. He stepped forward, his arm reaching out for hers.

"Sara..." He soothed.

She pushed past him and hurried inside, disappearing into the costumed crowd. He sighed. At least she didn't seem overly angry with him. He struggled to follow her as she headed for the exit.

"Sara!" He called out to her, trying to get her to turn around, to wait for him, but she continued on, completely ignoring his calls.

"Is that Sara?" Catherine asked Warrick before he spun her. He followed her gaze, spotting his co-worker as she hurriedly made her way out of the ballroom.

"Looks like it."

"I wonder what's..." She began as Sara disappeared, and her attention became drawn to another person, someone who seemed to be following Sara outside...someone who seemed awfully familiar. "Is that...Grissom?" She asked in an almost disbelieving tone. She watched as the familiar man quickly followed Sara out, disappearing from her sight. She shook her head. It couldn't have been Grissom. He wouldn't be caught dead at one of these things. Warrick looked to the doorway once more but didn't see Grissom, as Catherine had claimed.

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"Sara, please wait..." He pleaded with her for the 12th time since they'd left the ballroom. She'd quickened her pace, increasing the distance between them as she headed towards the front of the casino. She exited the front doors which automatically closed behind her.

He quickly made his way outside and sighed; no sign of her. She'd disappeared. He'd lost her. He slowly shook his head, ready to admit defeat. This definitely wasn't how he had imagined things. He turned to lean against the wall adjacent to the exit, but was immediately stunned by the sight before him. There she stood, watching him with inquisitive eyes.Now thereseemed to be no trace of anger, at least, none that he could detect...just questioning. He joined her against the wall and focused on the fountain across from them. He couldn't bring himself to look at her in fear of what her eyes might say to him, and further what she might actually say to him. Why had he become so afraid? Wasn't this what he had prepared himself for? Wasn't this what he wanted to happen? Well, not exactly like this...

He finally looked at her. She was about to ask him something, but stopped herself, swallowing whatever the original question had been. "Can you drive me home?"

That definitely wasn't what he was expecting. He nodded, offering his arm as they began to walk towards the car park. She looked at his arm, and then his face before reluctantly interlocking her arm with his. She rolled her eyes at herself. What was she doing?Grissom tried to gather his thoughts as they continued to walk. They soon found themselves underground, in almost complete darkness except for the flickering neon lights scattered throughout the parking lot. Neither of them spoke as they headed towards his vehicle. At that moment Sara was honoring the 'if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all' code, while Grissom fought himself over what to say, and in doing so kept himself in complete silence, not wanting to worsen the situation.

They stopped at the passenger side door. At first she blocked his path, preventing him from opening the door as she stared into his eyes. She tried to channel all of her thoughts into her gaze. She wondered if he could read her, if he knew exactly what she was thinking. Whether he knew that she'd already decided that she would regret this night in the morning, that she'd hate him, and still love him like she always had, and that she was willing to take this situation a little further, 'cause what did it matter? She was already going to regret it all in the morning. She had him focused entirely upon her face, upon her eyes. Sara knew that he was trying to figure her out. She felt that she was having a little more luck in that department. She now figured that she knew some of the reasons behind his actions; to prove that what they have cannot be denied. Even without seeing his face, hearing his voice, knowing his name and identity, she was drawn to him. At least now Grissom would be aware of the attraction, and not simply oblivious to anything between them. At least now, it was her turn to show him how undeniable their attraction was, how much he'd want her, even if he didn't have a mask to hide behind.

Grissom finally broke himself out of the daze he'd fallen into. As lame as it would sound, he'd lost himselfin her eyes, and could've sworn that she was trying to speak to him through them. He cleared his throat as she continued to watch him. He moved closer to the car, reaching around Sara's body for the door handle. She moved closer to him, preventing his hand from reaching the handle, causing him to withdraw it back to his side. A smirk formed on her face, and at that moment Gil Grissom realized that he was in trouble. Yet again she moved closer to him, and before he could process it all she had him against the car, her body pinned up against his, pressing him against the metal. He tried to speak, but his words stuck in his throat and came out as nothing but an incoherent mumble. She smiled a mischievous smile, knowing that she had him exactly where she wanted him.

She pressed her body further into him as she brought her gaze up to his. He looked down at her, and she was certain that there was a hint of fear in his eyes. She wrapped her arms around his neck, mimicking the position they had been in during their dance. She tilted her head, creating the perfect angle as she pulled his head to hers, locking them into a kiss that easily out did the kiss on the balcony. The heat between them was intense, so intense that Sara even struggled to keep her mind focused. She was going to prove her point, as enjoyable as this all was for her. She broke the kiss as she shifted her weight against him, the affect making itself known through his sharp intake of breath. She smirked as she slowly moved her lips to his ear.

"How does it feel Griss?" She whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

He gulped hard as the hairs on his neck stood on end, tickled bythe sensation of her breath against his skin. He wondered if she was trying to be as seductive and appealing as she was now, or if it just came to her naturally. Again he stumbled over his words, unable to form anything closely resembling a word. She looked at him once more, burning this image of a hot and bothered Gil Grissom into her mind, knowing that she, and she alone had this affect on him. She was tempted to continue, but she was pleased with herself, at least for now. She moved away from him and waited for him to open the passenger door for her.

Thanks for the reviews!Sorry for the delays in updating. Hopeit was worth the little wait. I have no diea where to go from here, any suggestions?As always, let me know what y'all think, love to hear from you / Britt