Eric let out a long breath. Things were going okay - Calleigh hadn't freaked out or told him to get out. She was making coffee for them. She had offered him breakfast. She was washing his jeans. These were good signs; Eric hoped she wasn't going to tell him it was a mistake.
Why did he have to kiss her again? Was he trying to make things worse? Waking up to your partner was bad, waking up to your partner after a night of obvious wild sex and a hangover was worse. But making out during sobriety the next day was just plain stupid.
After putting his jeans in the dryer, Eric set to working on making breakfast. Rummaging around in her refrigerator he found ingredients for pancakes and bacon, he decided fresh strawberries would be as creative as they would get. He wasn't sure how much her stomach could handle and he didn't want to go to the trouble of making a breakfast if she wasn't up to eating it.
The batter was ready, he had sliced the strawberries and the coffee brewed without any complications. Eric set the table and cleaned the dishes he used as he waited on his hostess.
Calleigh emerged from her room looking fresh-faced and calm. She was wearing jeans and a long fitted shirt with a low-cut V-neck. She hadn't bothered to dry her hair and it was curling in the messy bun she had put it up in. Eric felt completely underdressed as he stood in her kitchen in the T-shirt she loaned him and his boxers.
When are my jeans going to be ready? he thought to himself.
"Are you hungry?" Eric asked, clearing his throat.
Calleigh looked around her spotless kitchen. "I'm famished. Did you clean up in here?"
Eric smiled. "All we have to do is make the pancakes and wash the pan."
Calleigh glanced down at his legs. "Why don't you check on your jeans and I'll cook the pancakes," she offered.
Eric moved his hands in front of his shorts and moved out of the kitchen to the laundry. They were dry as well as his button up shirt and the T-shirt he wore underneath it. Where was my tie? he wondered.
Calleigh had tied on an apron and had three pancakes already made for them.
"Do you have any whip cream?" Eric asked.
Calleigh looked at him, her mouth agape. "What for?"
"The pancakes. Strawberries, whip cream. It's really good," he said with a smile. "I heard that's how you like it."
Calleigh smiled. "The corner store should have some."
Eric nodded. "I'll be right back."
The streets of Miami were full of couples at brunch and friends getting coffee. As Eric made is way to the corner store, he could understand why Calleigh moved into such a neighbourhood. He had been to her apartment a few times but had yet to spend time in the area. Eric hoped he could take Calleigh for brunch one morning and spend time in her neighbourhood like any other couple he passed. He could almost picture them wearing sunglasses, drinking coffee and enjoying a slow Sunday morning.
The corner store clerk gave Eric a wink when he bought the whip cream.
"Hungry girl," the clerk said with a smile. Eric blushed. "Well you were here last night for condoms and here this morning for whip cream?"
Eric looked around the empty store. Who talks like that to customers?
"Uh, yeah," he said. "Have a good one."
"Did you need anymore condoms?" the middle-aged man asked with a wink. He held up a box of Trojans, large, lubricated, six-pack. "Safe sex, and all."
Eric shook his head. "I think we're good, man. Thanks."
Embarrassed and confused, Eric wanted to know what had happened. He wondered if it would be unethical to flash his badge and obtain the tapes from last night.
Calleigh had cooked the bacon and the pancakes while he was gone. A bowl of sliced strawberries sat on the table and there was warm syrup under in a porcelain container with a spout. Somewhere she had found some flowers and put them in a vase in the centre of the table. Eric had made the kitchen look nice but she had made everything look beautiful.
"Hey," he greeted, tossing her keys on the counter. "I got the whip cream."
"Oh great," Calleigh said and took two of the canisters in the refrigerator. She set the third on the table. "What do I owe you?"
Eric smiled. "Nothing, it was no trouble. Where did you get the flowers?"
Calleigh looked at the Gerber Daisies. "Oh, my neighbour brings me flowers on Sundays. He says it's payment for protecting the city." Calleigh laughed. "I wish he knew what I really did at CSI."
Eric made a face. "Don't be like that. You do so much more."
Calleigh set the coffee on the table, a large pitcher of juice and the pancakes on the table. "I know, I think he just sees the badge and gun and assumes I'm a detective or something."
"Wait, your neighbour brings you flowers? Do I have competition?" he asked with a laugh.
Calleigh smiled as she put strawberries on her pancakes. "He's 55 and fancies young men. Come to think of it, I might be the one with competition."
Eric looked shocked and Calleigh laughed. She shook the whip cream canister and sprayed a mound on top the strawberries with the same precision as when she collected evidence.
He watched her take a bite and smile. "Good?"
Calleigh nodded and giggled with her mouth full. Eric took his cue and dug into the pancakes. Calleigh talked about her neighbour and the young men in drag he often came home with. Eric learned many of her neighbours in the building were eccentric types with artsy jobs. Calleigh was the only civil servant and the only single female living alone.
Two helpings later, Eric lay on Calleigh's couch, his stomach full and feeling much better. Calleigh washed the dishes in the kitchen, insisting Eric not clean after cooking most of the food.
Just as he was starting to drift off, Calleigh called his name softly. He opened his eyes to find her standing in front of him. Eric patted the couch and moved back, inviting her to nap with him.
"I have a better idea," she said, holding out her hand with a soft smile.
Eric took it and she led him down the hallway. They lied down first, and opened his arm for Calleigh to lay next to him. With her back to him, Calleigh felt nervous, not being able to see his face.
"Eric?" she asked.
Eric's eyes were closed but he was still conscious. "Yes?"
"What happened last night..."
Eric cut her off. "Calleigh, I'm still here."
Calleigh sighed. "I know." She turned over in the bed, to face him. "I'm glad you're here. I was scared - I was worried we had ruined -"
Eric pulled her close to him. "I was too."
She kissed his chin and he placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. In the daylight of the afternoon, her bedroom looked so much different. She was studying his face, looking for something. Eric kissed her lips, moving his hand from her back to her hip, squeezing and massaging her through her jeans. He turned her body, moving her onto her back and taking his arm from under her neck to lean on it.
Kissing her was like riding a roller coaster. His heart was pounding and his blood was racing. As much as he wanted to move things along, Eric didn't want to push her. Sober, laying on her bed in the light of day, when she kissed him back was so much better than anything that happened last night.
Calleigh kissed him back, one hand in his hair and the other on his back, her nails digging into his back through his shirt. Spreading her legs, Eric settled himself between her thighs and pressed his hips into hers. She moaned and pressed back, grinding her hips and moving against each other.
It didn't take long for her to get impatient and started to pull at his T-shirt. Eric pulled his lips away from hers and began kissing her neck, as he did the night before. Her moans grew louder and Eric quickened his pace with his hips.
One hand reached into the back of his jeans, squeezing his bare skin on his butt and Eric grunted. Calleigh's other hand moved to under his shirt and she dragged her nails down his back. Eric sat up, took off his shirt and began working on getting her jeans off. Calleigh allowed him to slide them off and he tossed them onto the ground. She sat up and took her shirt off and then eyed his jeans.
Eric was too busy staring at her body to notice the hungry look in her eyes. How did a woman, who studied bullets all day and looked into microscopes, look so amazing? Her flat stomach, her taught breasts and toned legs were not that of a scientist. He stood up from the bed and took his jeans off and she unhooked the white cotton bra. She took her hair down from the messy bun and gave him a smile.
"God you're beautiful," he breathed and Calleigh melted. "I want you so much."
Calleigh pulled him onto her again and reached into his boxers, finding his arousal thick and ready. Eric could feel himself close and pulled away from her. He kissed her on the lips and then began a trail of kisses down her body.
Eric kissed her chest, he licked her nipples and massaged her breasts before kissing and licking down her stomach. Using two hands, he pulled her white cotton panties off.
Calleigh groaned as she realised his intentions and bit her lip. "Oh God."
Eric kissed the inside of her thighs and dipped a finger inside her, groaning to find her more than ready for him. Licking her was like tasting ice cream after a year in the desert. He wanted to spend the next hour down there, licking her and touching her. It wasn't long before Calleigh was screaming and Eric was bringing her down from orgasm with soft kisses.
Calleigh ran her fingers through his hair and pulled him back towards her. She moved to kiss him and he pulled back. "What?"
Eric looked embarrassed. "It doesn't bother you?"
Calleigh smiled and shook her head. Eric kissed her deeply and she sighed, wrapping her legs around his waist. "I want you."
"You don't know what it's like to hear that," Eric said, shaking his head.
As he took off his boxers, Calleigh pulled a box of Trojan condoms from the night stand. Eric's eyes widened and Calleigh took notice.
"What?"
"It's just... Those are the exact same brand the clerk at the corner store offered to me this morning when I bought the whip cream." Eric said. "Same size and everything."
Calleigh looked at the box and her eyes widened. "Wait, what? The clerk offered you these exact condoms?"
Eric nodded. "Yeah, he said you must be hungry."
Calleigh's face turned bright red. "Oh, no!"
Eric shrugged. "What? It's embarrassing but just shop at another corner store. They'll forget about it sooner or later."
"I remember going there," she said with a groan. "Oh, no."
Eric couldn't say the same. "What happened?"
Calleigh, still holding the box of condoms, was stark naked on her bed and Eric wanted nothing more than to be inside her. She looked concerned, just like when there was an unexpected piece of evidence or the case wasn't going well.
"We were drunk and took a cab. We stopped two blocks from here because that was all the cash we had on us. We got to the store and bought the condoms and I remember coming back here. We took each other's clothes off, and we made love - three times."
Eric's excitement was beginning to fade. "Does this mean you're changing your mind?"
Calleigh looked at him in the eye, saying seductively. "Never."
He smiled at her and kissed her again. They kissed for a few moments before laying down again, their kisses becoming more insistent and heated. Eric was hard, he wanted to be inside her and instinctively rubbed against her. Reaching her hand between them, she massaged his erection, Eric thrusting into her hand. As his kisses became more insistent, Calleigh's legs opened and he was pushing inside her. She was hot, very tight and so wet. It was like being held with a vice, she was so small.
Calleigh's eyes widened as he settled inside and grabbed the sheets beside her head. "Oh God," she said, but in her southern twang it sounded like "Owe Gawd."
"Don't move," Eric breathed painfully. "God, don't move."
Calleigh's muscles had relaxed and she felt ready. She licked his earlobe and smiled at him. "Why not?"
"Because I'm going to cum," Eric said, sounding pained. Eric hung his head, taking a deep breath and tried to regain control.
It was difficult for Calleigh to remain still as this gorgeous man hovered above her. He had the softest skin of any man she knew and the softest lips. She immediately thought of spending her days off having sex with him; she wanted to do things to him she had never considered before.
Calleigh looked up at him and started a pace, her eyes challenging Eric to move back. Eric kissed her on her lips, sliding his tongue in and out of her mouth as he moved inside her. They were making love slowly as Calleigh wrapped her legs around his waist.
Just when she felt she couldn't feel anymore pleasure, Eric reached down and tucked her knees over his shoulders, sliding in deeper, causing her to let out a surprised: "Ohhhh."
Eric quickened his pace and she could feel herself getting close.
Calleigh couldn't form a sentence. "Oh...my...God...oh..."
Eric thrust three times, hard and fast causing her to thrash beneath him as her pleasure took over. Eric watched in complete awe.
"You're so beautiful," he said, wiping her hair back from her face.
Calleigh kissed him and squeezed her muscles inside. Eric groaned and began to move again.
"I'm getting close, babe," Eric warned and Calleigh produced a condom from under the pillow. She sighed as he pulled out and bit her lip as he slid back inside her.
Calleigh breathed. "I want you to -"
Eric thrust hard, her voice cutting off and she moaned loudly. His pace was frantic and Calleigh felt herself getting close again. His dark skin was beginning to glisten with sweat and he stared at her naked body.
"God, Cal-" he struggled before shaking above her.
Calleigh smiled and reached between them, rubbing herself until she came again. It took Eric a few minutes to regain clear thought as Eric rested on top of her. She stroked his hair and kissed his neck.
"Wow," Eric said.
"I know," Calleigh said quietly, looking away from him as he took off the condom. "I'm impressed you remembered."
"Are you mad?" Eric asked concerned, leaning down to her.
"That's very sweet," she said and kissed his lips. "Actually, you probably just saved us - I'm not on anything."
Eric was shocked. "Really?"
Calleigh shrugged. "After John... I didn't want to get involved and it was making my emotions crazy. I cried for no reason. I was suddenly happy but then upset. If you're not a teenage girl, the emotional roller coaster isn't worth it."
Eric looked at her in disbelief. "I never would have noticed."
Calleigh shrugged. "I was embarrassed the lab and PD knew about John and I. When it ended, I was even more embarrassed. I decided to go off the pill as a deterrent from getting involved again."
"No protection for something you can't be hurt by," Eric mused and shrugged his shoulders. "I can't say my history has been spotless. After all the things I did, all the stupid mistakes, the girls... It was because it was easier than letting someone else in."
"Losing Tim was hard. I was – I don't know," Calleigh sighed, wanting to choose her words wisely. "I was glad we finally went to have a drink for Tim, in memory."
"You were dressed for more than just a memoriam drink," Eric remembered and she chuckled. "You were wearing those kind of boots."
"I haven't gone out in a while. I wanted to dress up," she justified with a mock pout.
Eric smiled. "You looked fantastic."
Calleigh blushed. "Thank-you. You looked pretty handsome yourself."
"I remembered having a few too many drinks," he said. "We did three rounds of shots."
"What were they called?" she asked. "Dirty whores?"
Eric laughed, laying next to her. "Dirty Hookers."
Calleigh nodded, kissing his left temple. "Oh right."
Eric kissed her neck. "You're such a tease."
Calleigh feigned a look of shock. "Me? I am just a friendly southern girl."
They laughed and Calleigh kissed him again. It wasn't long before Eric was hard again and he was pulling her on top of him. She put on the condom and lowered herself onto him. It was almost too much, to see her riding him; her long hair wild and curly. She looked so exotic, she looked so wild. They finished together and he held her in his arms until she fell asleep.
