Soap Opera Ch 7

Not mine. No money made.

It seemed to Greg like several years passed between his glorious encounter with Sara in the Taylor's parking lot and their Tuesday date. In fact it was only four days, but since she'd had a red-hot case the next two nights and he'd been up to his neck in DNA on the third night he'd seen very little of her at work. Still, Tuesday finally arrived, and he found himself pulling up in front of her apartment yet again.

He took a deep breath before knocking on her door. He held the box of Godiva chocolates he'd gotten her behind his back as he waited for her to answer the door. His heart was pounding.

"Sara!" He stepped into her apartment with a grin. "You look beautiful." He awkwardly handed her the big box of candy. "I, um, hope you like chocolate."

"Aaahhh! Godiva's my favorite! Thank you!" She kissed him on the cheek and smiled when he blushed vividly. "This was so sweet of you."

He grinned and looked at his shoes. "I'm, um, glad you like it. You 'bout ready?"

"Yeah." She grabbed her purse. "Let's go."

"So where are we going?"

He grinned. "I thought we'd try Antonio's this time."

"That sounds great, but Greg, you're spending way too much on me."

"No more than you deserve."

She beamed. "I feel bad, though. Next time, I cook for you."

Next time. Her apartment. Greg smiled at the thought. "That sounds wonderful. I can bring a movie for us if you like."

Sara nodded. "Sounds good."

Antonio's proved to be a small, intimate Italian restaurant with two rows of well-separated booths, one on either side of the narrow dining room. Each table sorted several candles, and these comprised all of the room's lights. Sara looked around the room. "Now THIS is romantic."

Greg took her hand across the table. "The food is great, too. They have the best eggplant parmesan in Vegas."

"I'm really enjoying this."

"Antonio's?"

"No. Us going out together."

"Oh. THAT this." He smiled and kissed her hand. "I am too. You're, well, you're an amazing woman."

"You're not half-bad yourself, Greg Sanders."

The food was excellent, and Greg had her laughing throughout the meal. Too soon the dishes were gone and the ticket deposited on the table, and he was again standing with her in front of her door. "So." She shifted nervously. "I had a wonderful time."

He sighed. "Me too. The evening passed too quickly, though."

"Yeah. Listen, it's still pretty early, would you like to come in? For coffee, I

mean. Just if you want."

"I, ah, yeah. That'd be, that'd be good."

Greg sat gingerly on the sofa as she started the coffee. "It's not top of the line; hope that's okay."

"That's fine." Note to self: buy Sara some decent coffee, he thought with a smile. He had great hopes he'd eventually be waking up to her coffee on a regular basis.

She flopped down next to him and handed him the remote. "Help yourself. I have cable."

Greg turned on the television and flipped to Forensic Files. "Here we go. Now that's quality programming."

Sara snorted. "You're as bad as me."

He slipped his arm around her. "I take that as a compliment, Miss Sidle, I truly do." He pulled her closer, his gaze dropping to her lips. "I would really, really like to kiss you right now." She didn't move away, so he slid his lips across hers and gently pressed into a kiss. He slipped his tongue across the seam of her mouth, begging entry, slipping in when it was granted. The kiss deepened into fiery exploration, and he felt her hands move to the back of his head, pulling him further into it. His heart was pounding like a racer's, his body responding wildly to the passion washing over them, and this time they weren't in a car in front of a restaurant. No outside force was going to intervene and stop the flames threatening to consume them. If she didn't stop him the conflagration was going all the way this time.

He pulled back panting and rested his forehead on hers. "Oh, Sara," he whispered hoarsely. "What you do to me." He stroked her cheek with one finger, then trailed that finger over to trace the outline of her swollen lips. Moments later he leaned down to begin slowly following that same path with the tip of his tongue. Luscious, he thought as he sucked her full lower lip into his mouth.

Her low moan affected him like gasoline influenced a bonfire. He slipped one hand under the hem of her shirt and ran it delicately across her stomach. When she offered no resistance he moved his explorations higher. She wasn't wearing a bra, and her breathing quickened as his fingers stroked over the silken curve of her breast.

They ended up in her bed, their clothes piled together in an untidy heap on the floor. Tender exploration turned to fevered need, for the ancient chemistry driving them was volatile. They clung together in the aftermath, satiated and boneless, their bodies still locked together. Greg smiled into her hair. She had been with him for the entire journey; even as he'd plunged over the precipice she'd been with him, crying out his name as she fell. Now they rested together in the warm ashes of the inferno and let sleep take them into the night together. Morning would be soon enough to examine what had happened.