Chapter 12: Keeping Pace

Sara's eyes fluttered open to the darkness of the cabin and she sighed happily. Though she was practically flattened against the wall by Grissom's body, she was content. She twisted and stretched, only to be pulled closer to the pillar of warmth behind her. His head burrowed into the back of her neck, a rumble low in his throat as he planted a sloppy, open mouthed kiss on her shoulder.

It was like a dream come true, she thought as she rubbed her hands up and down Grissom's muscled forearm. They were here, in paradise, together. "Morning," she whispered as she twisted around so she was facing him, a quite perilous operation in the tiny space of the bed.

"Morning," He almost barked, burying his head into her once again as she settled down, wrapping his arm up around her back.

Sara dropped a kiss on his hairline smiling. "Not a morning person?" He groaned again, but this time began kissing up her neck.

"No," he whispered when he got to her ear, "Not when you're in my bed." He sucked the lobe in his mouth and nibbled as his hands moved down her naked body.

"Mmm..." Sara moaned. "I'd suggest a shower together but we'd never fit."

Grissom pulled away and looked at her. He thrust his hips into hers, making sure she could feel his reaction to her as he raised an eyebrow. "You want to shower now? What, do I smell?"

"No," Sara laughed, kissing him soundly. "I just always had this fantasy about you and me and a shower..."

"Really?" He asked, kissing her back.

Sara raised her eyebrows. "We'll just have to find out when we get home, won't we?" She had meant it as a joke, or maybe even as the truth, but all of a sudden the two froze, fear flashing in both their eyes. Shit, Sara thought, I ruined it. "I'm sorry," she whispered, trying to get out of his grasp. To her surprise he yanked her back down to the bed, holding her eyes with an intense cerulean gaze.

"I don't want to lose this... not yet, not when it's just started," Grissom quietly confessed. He reached a hand up to stroke her cheek.

"I don't either," Sara said gently as she kissed his knuckles. "Maybe," she sighed, "Maybe we shouldn't think about it. We think too much for our own good... it always gets us in trouble when it comes to this..."

"Yeah," Grissom smiled, holding her close again. "Let's just... do."

"Mmm, sounds good to me!" Sara said as she leaned in for another slow kiss. After a moment she pulled back, her brows knit and a smile on her face. "Why am I squished against the wall?"

"You don't remember?" Grissom asked, laughing.

"What?" she asked, becoming concerned as he laughed.

"You fell out of bed. Twice. You must still have been half asleep." Sara rolled her eyes as he started laughing harder. "I had my arm around you, but you kept rolling over that way. After the second time you climbed right over me and told me not to let you out."

"Ever?" She smiled.

"Ever..." he smiled as he kissed her deeply.

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

"Why isn't she answering?" Erika whined to Mary Beth.

"Why are you trying to ruin her morning? If she's lucky, she got lucky, and is laying in bed right now with her bug doctor." Mary Beth smiled and leaned back in her chair, sipping on her coffee.

"But she'll miss out on the beach with us!" Erika protested like a spoiled child.

"Hun, we're gonna be guy watching. Do you really want two love birds cramping our style?"

"I'm gonna call Keri!"

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

"Where are we going?" Sara asked, delivering a cup of coffee to Grissom a few hours later as he finished dressing.

"You don't have to come with me, you know." Grissom smiled, sipping his coffee with one hand and pulling her over to him with the other. "You can go with your friends."

Sara took his lips in a short, soft kiss. "Now why would I want to do that?"

"You did come on this trip with them. It only figures that you might want to spend some time with them." He rubbed their noses together before dropping a kiss on the tip of hers. "I won't be offended, you know."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Sara laughed, planting herself on his bed. "Are you doing some super-secret entomologist thing?"

"Nooo," Grissom laughed, sitting beside her, "but it's not exactly exciting."

"Hum, let's think about this: Beach with hung over college friends who are going to be looking for ass, or a not exactly exciting trip with my own personal piece of ass." Sara turned and straddled Grissom's lap. "Not exactly a hard decision on my part."

A small moan slipped out of Grissom as Sara kissed him soundly. Their tongues mingled languidly for long moments before Grissom pulled away with tiny kisses. "Plenty of time for that later. Let's get going or we'll never see anything except the inside of my cabin."

Sara smiled. "Fine. Have it your way. Off to our 'not exactly exciting' adventure."

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Sara gripped Grissom's hand as the bright pink bus that was taking them to the interior of the island swerved around another tight curve, throwing branches against the open window.

"And I thought Warrick was a crazy driver..." She whispered, "Thank God we decided not to moped."

Grissom laughed and kissed her neck just below her ear. "We'll be there soon, I promise."

A few tense minutes passed by before they stopped at the small square alcove. A few passengers filed off with them, and cautiously crossed the street to the landscaped and sprawling building.

"Leave it to you to find something educational in the middle of an island paradise..." Sara laughed.

Grissom simply shook his head as he tugged on her hand.

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Something was different, Grissom mused, as he and Sara walked around the indoor aquarium before heading out into the zoo. He couldn't quite place his finger on what it was as they quietly strolled, hand in hand, and paused at each window to read the blurb and take in the animals housed there.

Grissom waited as Sara searched a tank, finding the eel the that matched the color of the coral it was hiding in. His eyes lingered over the curve of her neck, visible and accentuated by her low ponytail. He watched as a tiny smile lifted the corner of her mouth when she found the animal. Then he realized exactly what it was that was different.

Sara was still standing beside him. In fact, she hadn't let go of his hand since she'd tried to pay for her own entry fee at the door, which he'd emphatically refused. While that in itself was fairly unspectacular, especially seeing the recent shift in their relationship, what made it spectacular was the setting. Grissom had grown fond of going to museums and zoos alone for one reason and one reason alone: he always ruined everyone else's fun. He could always remember as a little boy being the one on the class trip that was always left behind, then rushed out of the exhibit to the next one. Even his mother, though patient with him, had never understood his need to both study what he was supposed to be looking at, and to read every word available to him on the subject.

Sara was the first person, no matter how silly it sounded, that both understood his 'museum pace' and seemed to enjoy it as much as he did. Just one more sign, he thought, that this really is as right as it feels.

"Griss?"

"Hum?" He asked, realizing that he'd been lost in thought.

"What is it?" Sara smiled and squeezed his hand. "You're smiling at me."

"You make me smile," He said simply, slowly walking to the next exhibit window. He watched as she shrugged and began to read the tiny blurb about the fish inside. "Are you enjoying yourself, Sara?" It came out a bit more serious than he intended, but he softened it by rubbing his thumb over her hand.

"You mean our 'not exactly exciting adventure'?" She asked, and he nodded. "Best time I've had in ages."

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

The Bermuda heat was more humid than Vegas' dry heat, and Sara felt the sweat dripping down her back as they quietly walked out of the Alligator exhibit and along a shaded tree lined path.

Most of the afternoon had been spent in silence, but it was an incredibly comfortable silence filled with science and smiles. Sara felt Grissom slow and gently pull her to the side of the path with him. Her eyes widened as he led her over to a tree lined spot just off the trail. Caged in by a black fence, it overlooked clear blue water and opened up to bright blue sky.

"Oh, Grissom..." She whispered as she leaned over the rail, looking down to where the dirt and sand dropped into a cliff and met the crystal water. Sara felt his strong arms wrap around her from behind, his body melting into hers.

"Beautiful?" He whispered just behind her ear.

"This place is more beautiful than I ever imagined."

"It's nothing compared to you," he moved and turned her in his arms until they were staring at each other, their hips resting on the black railing.

"Oh stop, I'm all sweaty and-" Grissom cut her off with a soft kiss that lingered slightly longer than it should have in public.

"You're beautiful," He sighed, rubbing a thumb over her cheek. "And I've waited entirely too long to tell you that."

"You're going to make me believe that one of these days, you know," Sara added with a smile. She silenced Grissom's protests with a sound kiss, and then pulled away. "Come on," She said, pulling away and grabbing his hand. "There have to be some bugs around here for you to look at,"

"Ahh, a woman after my own heart..."

(TBC...)