DISCLAIMER: Don't own it... No money made... Just for fun and enjoyment.
SUMMARY: Sequel to Displacement. The CSI team and their recently hired coroner Stephanie are back to work solving cases, sharing companionship and generally making their way through the dire world of criminal investigation with humor and friendship... This one will show the development of the relationship between Grissom and Sara and there should be some other surprises down the road as well. Romance/Drama/Angst/Mature Situations
RATING: M for Mature - I'm starting this one out at "M", since we won't be waiting quite so long for the smut this time out ;) Also, there is a sprinkling of language throughout the story.
A/N: Anyone want some more GSR Fluff? Oh yeah, and in case you were wondering... I am softening you up for one of those hellish chapters to come. :)
REVIEWS: I am always looking for ways to improve my writing, and your reviews let me know if I am hitting my mark. Thank you in advance for the time you take to review this story.
Chapter 15
The mirrors were all fogged up. There were towels stacked up on the little table beside the tub. The clothes were thrown into various corners of the room. And the faint sounds of water lapping at the sides of the tub filled the air. With his head resting on the little blowup pillow at the edge of the tub, Gil Grissom was perfectly content to sit that way forever. With her head resting on his chest, his arms wrapped around her and the water nearly up to her neck, Sara was not complaining either.
He broke the silence with a thought, "You want to hear something funny?"
She took in a deep breath and asked, "Funny; ha ha, or funny; oh?"
He craned his neck to try and see her face, "Would the answer be different?"
She smiled, in the way that always made his blood pump faster, "Not really… I just wanted to be prepared for which. So, go ahead." He squeezed her a little tighter with her response.
"Well, before you… I had never actually used this tub."
She pulled his right hand up to her mouth and kissed it, "I know."
This caused him to bristle a little, because he did not understand how she could have known, "Is that so?"
Sensing that her answer had caused him some concern, she wriggled out of his embrace, reached up over her head and pulled herself up a bit by wrapping her arms around his neck, "Don't get edgy… The first time I set it up for us, there was about an inch of dust in the thing, Gil."
He rested his chin into her shoulder and blushed at her answer, "Oh."
That time she laughed, "Don't worry, honey… There's only room for one neat freak in this relationship. And we all know it's not you."
She relaxed her hold around his neck and as her hands trailed down, he took one into his mouth to suckle the fingertips for a moment, "Sara?"
"Mmmm hmmm?"
"We should probably get you out of this tub." He then held her hand away from his eyes enough to get a good look at her pruned fingertips.
She sighed heavily, "Twice isn't enough? I mean, we do still have to sleep before work tonight."
He chuckled at her response. "All current evidence to the contrary," he looked around the room at the damage caused by their first coupling of the day. "That is not the only thing I think about around you." He wrapped his arms back around her torso, and she turned in them to get a better look at his face.
"Really?"
"Don't get me wrong… It is my first and foremost priority at all times." He paused to enjoy the lustful gaze she was giving him, "But, I am also concerned for your well-being, and those fingers are fairly well pruned."
She looked at her fingers and had to concede the point. "Oh, all right." She slid over to the other side of the tub and stood up. Grissom watched as the water sluiced off of her in little streams over her every curve. He was mesmerized by the display, but when she bent down to grab one of the towels he found the air escaping his lungs. And apparently, it was audible, because Sara turned to find him transfixed on her naked form and she blushed. "Gil!"
He looked down momentarily and a blush rose on his own cheeks at having been caught, but his answer rescued him, "I'm sorry, but you do take my breath away." He stood up next to her and took Sara into his arms, planting a deep and passionate kiss on her lips.
When he finally pulled back to gaze on her face once more, he found that she had her eyes closed and her face seemed to have been freeze framed at the moment of his kiss. As her eyes slowly fluttered open she leaned forward and whispered into his ear, "You're not so bad yourself."
As she clung to him in the cooling air of the bathroom, he leaned down and grabbed another towel to wrap around her shoulders. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms to keep her warm, even as he was starting to feel the chill in the air himself. Sara took that as a sign and spoke up, "Okay, we have two options, as I see it."
"I'm listening."
"We can either get back in the water and re-think the whole sleep thing…"
Grissom raised an eyebrow at the hidden meaning in her words, "Or?"
"Or, we can dry off and go to bed, hoping we both have enough sense to get at least a little sleep, since we already have to get up early." Sara pulled the towel she was holding between them, and put it around his shoulders and held him tightly to her.
He pulled back from her embrace with a questioning look on his face, "We have to get up early?"
"Gris! Remember, you told Steph that you'd take Thomas to the airport for his conference?"
"Oh yeah… That was this week?" The raise of his eyebrow told her that he was just kidding, but she still had trouble dealing with his forgetfulness from time to time. She pulled away from his arms and stepped out of the tub. Grissom was left standing there in surprise, "I guess this means we're going to bed now."
"Sorry, the moment has passed." She grabbed a towel and wrapped it tightly around her as she took the one from her shoulders and started drying her hair. He shrugged and grabbed another towel as he too stepped from the tub, wrapping it around his waist. "So, can you believe this stuff with Warrick?" She had made her way over to the counter and was taking out her brush, when he came up behind her and took it from her hands.
"I know…" He began to run the brush gently through her hair as they talked. "It's really tearing him up, I guess."
"Nick told me that she had him served at the bar the other night… Can you believe that?" Sara was still getting used to sharing her life with Grissom, but she had to admit that the little intimacies they seemed to have found, delighted her in every way. This was one of her favorite little rituals. He was so gentle, and always seemed to relish the contact they shared when he performed this small act. The only problem she had with it was that sometimes she got so caught up in the sensations, she forgot what else she was doing.
"Stephanie took her to see that lawyer friend of hers." She scrunched up her nose, trying to recall if she had met the man, "You met him at the wedding reception… I believe you called him oily?"
"Oh yeah! He's a divorce lawyer? Figures." She rolled her eyes to punctuate her comment and Grissom chuckled.
"Well, Stephie trusts him and they've been friends for years. I checked him out, and he does have a rather impressive trial record." Sara should not have been surprised by this move, but for some reason, whenever Grissom did something like that, it always caught her off guard. She turned around and put her arms around his neck before kissing him gently, "Does this mean the moment has returned?"
She smiled from the side of her mouth and said, "Not exactly. But it does mean that I am always amazed at all the ways I can love you."
He leaned his forehead to hers and wrapped his own arms around her tightly, "I say the same thing, every day, but it always comes out more like a prayer when I do it."
