Thank you, so VERY much for all the wonderfull reviews! Sorry it's taken so long for the update, life happens, ya know? Hopefully, I've made up for the delay with this chapter. Ya'll let me know. NN

The cold had forced them back inside, neither had packed anything warm enough for this much snow. Sara had made cocoa for each of them, using her time alone in the kitchen to think about what had just happened, and brought it out to where Nick had settled in on the couch in the game room.

There was an air between them now, a chasm between the declared and the undeclared, an uncomftorableness that had Sara walking a tightrope of trust, and had Nick thinking about Grissom's eclipse.

She sat next to him on the sofa, his arm automatically encircling her shoulders. The only sound in the room was the tick of the clock on the wall.

"You know I love you too, right?" Sara said softly, the cup of hot cocoa warm in her hands, hovering half way to her lips.

Nick let out a deep sigh of relief. "Well, I do now." He watched her face start to crumple, and was immediately sorry he'd said it. He pulled her closer into him, his arm around slung around her shoulders, and kissed the top of her head.

She nestled in to his chest and wondered if this is what love actually was. Not a desperate need for appreciation that had you staying up for three days straight, or a carefully worded, casually uttered barb that only got you a confused glance in return. It's not a decision to be weighed carefully, or a delivered plant that dies in a couple months. It's this, forgiveness for hastily spoken wrong choice of words, it's a discarding of all logical thought, a pronouncement of itself, and damn the consequences.

Yes, she thought to herself as she snuggled impossibly closer and closed her eyes, comforted by the warmth of his body, this is what love is. Just this.

---

It was hours later when Sara opened her eyes again. The cocoa in her hands had long grown cold, Nicks chest beneath her head rose and fell in deep even breaths, and even before she gently moved away from him, she knew he'd fallen asleep as well.

She watched his face, because that is what one does when their lover is asleep next to them, you watch them dream. His eyes moved back and forth beneath his closed lids, his lips were slightly parted, and he just looked so peaceful, she hated to wake him, but his lips were just to damn inviting.

Putting her lips on his, she started the kiss tenderly, she felt him shudder awake, the shock of being woken suddenly quickly gave way, and he responded, returning her kiss just as gently.

She moved, swinging her right leg over, straddling him, and his hand found the crook of her hip, his fingers lightly taping against the denim of her jeans. His hand moved up slightly, finding the edge of her sweater, and his fingers slipped underneath the wool, gently drumming against her skin, intensifying her longing. Her mouth became more animated, deepening the kiss, and he returned the passion, but his fingers somehow kept the gentle, even rhythm, as if there was no urgency in him at all.

Sara's shoulders tensed, as his hand made a slow trail toward the button on her jeans, and pushing the fabric off her hips. Those agonizing slow fingers soon found their way, pushing aside her panties, slipping into her, back and forth though the wetness, and she broke the kiss, throwing her head back, rocking her hips against his fingers.

She licked her lips, whispering his name, over and over again like a hymn, words matching the rhythm of her hips and his fingers. He could barely move his hand, jammed between her legs as it was, but it was just enough, and then his thumb popped up, rubbing against her clit and it was more than Sara could take, she needed more than his fingers inside her, and she needed it right then. With a swoop of her arms, she stripped herself of her sweater, and gasped when Nicks mouth so quickly found her breast, engulfing it with heat, his tongue flicking against her nipple.

She ran her hands down his chest, and swiftly released him from the confines of his jeans. She stood, breaking the connection between his mouth and her breast, a shiver ran down her spine as his saliva on her nipple met the cool air. She quickly shed her jeans and panties, watching him watch her, his errection growing ever more pronounced. Free from the restriction of her clothes, Sara climbed back on to his lap, her hands on his shoulders, as she maneuver her hips just so, and felt him slide in to her opening all pliant and syrupy. She brought her head back down, resting it on his shoulder as she clutched at him, her fingertips digging into his skin.

Nicks hands found her hips, and he rode their tempo as she fucked him, her body crashing into his over and over like waves to the shore, pulling him in to her furthest reaches. He let one hand slip down, and watched her face as his thumb again found her clit, and he liked it when she tossed her head back in abandon, throat muscles moving with words to divine to be said aloud.

His accent was thick, throaty when he said, "You like it when I open you like this?"

"Yes."

"You like my cock so deep inside you?"

"Yes."

"You gonna come for me baby?"

"Uh-huh."

"I want to see you come, I don't want one of those shy orgasms, come hard."

"As hard as your dick" it wasn't a question, but an assurance.