RATING: M - Mature (for later chapter)
PAIRINGS: GSR
SPOILERS: Post Ep for "Gum Drops" through "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" (specifically relating to events in "Secrets & Flies")
SUMMARY: What was it that made Grissom finally see the light? Could it really have been so simple?
A/N: Anyone wanting to know why there is an "M" rating on this story... You don't have to wonder any longer. There is some language in here, because let's face it, Grissom was being a butt-head. But you all know I'm GSR through and through, so no real worries. Also, there will be an epilogue, because once I got midway through this chapter, I realized it was already as long as any of my one shots, and I still had a lot farther to go. So, as you read through this behemoth of a chapter, I will be working on that epilogue. Enjoy!
ACKNOWLEDGMENT: My trusty beta waited until all hours of the night to be able to read through this one and I have to send out my heartfelt gratitude to her for managing to last out the night in order to help me out.
REVIEWS: Reviews are the way I know if people are enjoying the work or not. So, if you leave one, THANKS! And if not, I hope you found at least a little something to brighten your day, and thanks for taking the time to read.
Chapter 9
Sara woke from her longest sleep of the weekend; a whole five hours in a row. Earlier in the night, she noticed there was a late checkout time, so she decided it might not be a bad idea if she got a few hours of sleep, just in case Grissom was unable to handle the drive back to Vegas. Of course, it was also a good plan, since they probably had to report for a shift that night, as well.
She woke up just before eleven that morning, got dressed, packed up her toiletries and made her way down to the front desk for check out. The one thing about her personal habits that suited her was that she always showered before she went to bed, and it meant she could just jump up at a moments notice and be on the road in no time at all.
As she reached the clerk at the front desk, Sara handed the woman her key and gave her the room number. "Ms. Sidle?"
"Yes."
The woman handed Sara the receipt and she reviewed it quickly to make sure there were no additional charges, signed it and handed it back to the clerk with her credit card. "And you got my request to have the charges separated on the final receipt?"
"Yes, Ma'am… The hotel charges on one receipt and the room service bill on another, just as you requested." Sara nodded her appreciation as the woman gave her the two final receipts and then she ran the charge card. When she turned back to hand Sara her card and the charge slip, she also had an envelope for her. "This was left for you, Ms. Sidle."
Sara took the heavy envelope from the clerk and thanked her as she tucked the receipt into her briefcase and the credit card back into her wallet. When she looked more closely at the envelope, she found that Grissom's handwriting was on it. Running the envelope through her fingers, she thought there was set of keys in it. Confused as to why Grissom would leave her something and not wanting to waste anymore time, Sara ripped into the envelope to find out what was inside.
S-
Cancelled last lecture, took the early flight back to Vegas.
-G
If anyone had been paying attention to Sara at that moment, they would have been able to actually watch her blood begin to boil as she read the note and found the keys to the SUV inside. Crumpling the envelope and the note in her fist, Sara's anger took over when she stomped through the hotel entrance. "Son of a Bitch!"
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Three hours and fourty minutes, three hundred thirty two miles, one stop for gas, one stop for the California Highway Patrol, and a string of expletives starting in San Diego and continuing all the way through to Las Vegas was the best way to describe Sara's solo drive back from the conference. Over the years, she had put up with a considerable amount of abuse at the hands of Dr. Gil Grissom, but this stunt had far exceeded her tolerance for anything. This time he crossed the line.
Sara had no idea what it was that had gotten under his skin, and though she had been willing to let him work it out on his own, all bets were off after he had literally abandoned her in California. She was pissed and he was going to know about it, whether he liked it or not. The silent treatment was one thing, being avoided all weekend could even be overlooked, but leaving her there to drive his Denali back to Vegas without so much as a phone call or a kind word was beyond rude, it was downright cruel, and Sara had taken about all she could stand from whatever temper tantrum he happened to be throwing that time.
However, the closer she got to his place, the more she thought about what would have made him cancel his last lecture and bring him back to Vegas so quickly. As she ran the ideas through her head, she realized that with Grissom being as single minded as he could be sometimes, he might have gotten called back on a hot bug case, and never even considered what a bastard he was being. She tried to back down from her anger, even though it still hurt to have been cast away so easily, but she knew how much his work meant to him, and she knew that he cared, even if he had been in a foul mood all weekend.
By the time she pulled up beside her car out in front of his townhouse, she had managed to get most of her anger under control, though her frustration was still at an all time high. She pulled her bags out of the Denali, retrieved her own keys from her briefcase and dropped the bags into her car. Then she flipped through the key ring to find the key to Grissom's townhouse so that she could drop his keys onto the sideboard near his front door. He had given her the key the last time he had gone out of town, because he was unsure of how long the case would take, and his critters needed tending. She felt no concern about using the key to open his door this time, and besides, he never asked for it back.
When she turned the handle and found the resistance of the bar and chain, Sara's anger had instantly returned in full force. If the bar and the chain were hooked up, it meant Grissom was inside, and that meant… "BASTARD!" Her booted foot immediately made contact with the door.
She paced back and forth in front of the door a few times as her rage began to boil and churn. Then she slammed her fist into the door and screamed, "Grissom! If you don't open this door, so help me God I'll to shoot it off the fucking hinges!"
As the moments and the seconds clicked by, Sara's anger grew. She paced in front of the door, hitting or kicking it each time she passed. Sara had no idea how long she had paced in front of that door, because her rage felt like it had been burning for days. When she heard the sounds of the bar being lifted and the chain retracted from the other side of the door, she turned with her full fury embedded into her expression. She waited for the door to open, but instead she heard the sound of feet padding away from the door.
The fact that the man could not even be bothered to open the door and speak to her was the last straw for Sara. She pushed her way inside and found him walking towards his couch as she barreled into the room. Without a moment's hesitation, she took the keys still in her hand and hucked them at his back, waiting for him to acknowledge her presence.
He cringed at the intrusion on his back, bent down and retrieved the keys; never saying a single word or even turning to look at her. But Sara was not about to let him get away that easy. "Is that it?"
"Thank you for the keys, but you could have left them at the office." His tone was completely flat and lifeless.
"Are you drunk!"
"No."
"High, then!" She was grasping at the air at that point, as she desperately tried to understand his bizarre and infuriating behavior.
"Of course not."
"Hit over the head, abducted by aliens, a clone, a robot, what! Something has to explain why you have completely lost your mind." She had thrown her arms up as she finished.
He was still staring at the opposite wall, away from Sara the whole time. "If you're done…"
"No! I'm not done. In fact, I'm just getting started. What the hell are you doing!" Grissom had continued to keep his face turned away from her and she was done with being avoided. "Dammit!" She grabbed his shoulder and spun him around to face her. "The least you can do is look at me, when you-" Sara was taken aback by the hollow and empty expression on his face, but her anger spurred her on. "You've done some pretty horrible things to me over the years, Grissom, but this…this was…just…cruel."
His voice broke a little when he answered, "I could say the same to you."
"What!" Sara was dumbfounded by his answer. "What are you talking about?"
Grissom closed his bloodshot eyes as he said, "I don't want to hold you back… I never wanted that. If you wan-"
"I want to know what the hell has gotten into you. First you give me the silent treatment, which was fine… I know you need your space sometimes, I don't have a problem with that, and then you completely avoid me at the conference." Sara was shaking her head as she spoke, trying to work the whole thing out. "But abandoning me in San Diego without so much as a damn phone call? That's too much, Grissom… And I'm not leaving here until you tell me what in the world would make you do something like that?"
He opened his eyes and swallowed hard. "You're the one who said we shouldn't be together."
Sara stood there in a state of total shock, with her mouth hanging slightly open. She had no idea why he would say something like that, let alone how he thought she had ever said such a thing. "What? I never sa-"
"Thermite," was all he said, leaving her to try and understand the meaning behind the obscure comment. She vaguely remembered a conversation from a few days ago when Grissom had mentioned thermite, but she was having trouble remembering the details.
Grissom shook his head in defeat and practically whispered, "You don't even remember… I guess that just proves my point."
The shock was fading and quickly being replaced with her anger once more. "What point! I have no idea what you're talking about!"
"Maybe your friend from the conference can explain it to you when he comes out for his visit." The words from his mouth were said with an unmistakable disdain.
"Okay! That's it… You need to tell me, in black and white, what the fuck you're talking about, because I am not moving from this spot until you do." Sara was beyond angry at that point, and she was confused on top of it. The only thing she understood was that she was apparently being accused of something, and she needed to know what it was before anything else was said between them.
"Sara, I saw the man at your door, so there's no po-"
"At my door?" Sara searched her brain for the answer to that one and then it dawned on her, "You mean, McNally?"
"I don't care what his name is, it was obvious that you t-"
"Aaaaaahhhhhh! My god, is that what set you off!" She watched as his jaw clenched several times and she had her answer. "Unbelievable! That guy was bringing me something I dropped in the back of his cruiser when he and his partner gave me a lift back from the beach."
Grissom's face became a testament to his confusion. "Partne-…cruiser… He was a cop?"
"Yeah," Sara shook her head as she recounted the evening out on the beach. "I decided to go for a run and ended up down at Mission Beach. I guess I lost track of time an-"
" Mission Beach was five miles from the hotel… What time did you leave?" Grissom was lost in his own thoughts again, and Sara knew the only thing she could do was to follow along to be able to speak with him any longer.
"Ah, I guess it was around four thirty, five o'clock… I wasn't interested in a room full of boiled chicken, so I skipped the keynote dinner and grabbed a sandwich at a little vendor by the marina before I took my-" Grissom was quickly becoming impatient with her story
"This time of year it gets dark around six, what were you thin-"
"I was thinking that boiled chicken and the cold shoulder was the last thing I wanted while I was in California." Her words cut into him as she continued to explain. "So, I chose running down through the marina and onto the beach since it was better than anything at the conference, at that point." Sara stood firm with her arms crossed over her chest.
"When you didn't come to the dinner… I went looking for you." He paused, swallowing what looked to be a bitter pill and then continued, "And you were at your door, in your robe, tal-"
"Talking to a slimy guy, who was obviously trying to make a pass." Sara shook her head in disgust as she continued to explain, "Too bad I shut him down in favor of getting all my stuff together, so I wouldn't be late checking out in the morning, in order to keep from giving you another reason to not talk to me on the drive back."
All the rigidity in his posture disappeared and he lowered his gaze to the floor in the hopes of hiding his shame. "I thought… I was wrong…I…" He huffed and the last of his pride went out with the breath. "I thought that I was too late, that you were-…weren't interested in being with… me." The last words were barely heard, and Sara found herself taking a few steps toward him.
"What made you think that?"
"The thermite."
"What about thermite! I have no idea what that means!" Sara was beyond frustrated by that point.
"Before we left, I was explaining about the properties of thermite and you said we shouldn't be together." Grissom blurted the whole thing out in a rush.
Sara stood there trying to process what he had said, as well as trying to remember the exact conversation. "You mean the case with that spoiled party girl?" He nodded his head and she laughed. His face looked pained as she continued to laugh. "My god, Grissom… It was just a comment about the girl."
"But you…the way you-"
"Don't you think if you and I had gotten to that point, I would have said something…in private?" Sara took another step closer as she asked her question.
"Well, I-…" Grissom slumped even further as he realized what a horrible mistake he had made and what that mistake could cost him: a mistake that could cost him everything. He looked up quickly to say, "Sara, I-" He was cutoff from saying anything else when Sara put her finger over his lips.
"Since you obviously have a hard time listening to me… I want to make sure you understand every word I am about to say. Got it?" He nodded shyly. "Good… There's something you need to know." Sara took a deep breath, and Grissom followed each movement intently, afraid to look away for even a moment. "It…can…never…be…too late."
"But…" Grissom could not understand how she could say such a thing. "How?"
The corner of her mouth turned up, and when he thought she was going to say something, she caught him totally off-guard with her next move. As her lips pressed into his he was no longer in his own body because of the shock and the overpowering sensation of joy that filled his soul in that moment.
As her mouth left his, she pressed her forehead into his and sighed, "Easy… Because I love you, bonehead."
"But why?" Grissom could not believe the words escaped his mouth, but they had and he could only wait to hear her answer.
Sara laughed at the tension that had filled him as he spoke those frightened words. She shook her head and then said, "I'm not sure… It's either that I'm completely insane or-"
"Because I love you?"
She smirked at the tone in his voice and asked, "Was that a question?"
Her question gave him a needed boost of confidence, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her to him as he answered, "Not for me. Not for a very long time." That time it was his lips that met hers in a gentle and tender promise of the depth of his feelings for her.
When his lips finally left hers, Grissom pulled Sara even closer into his arms and held her tightly as he said, "I'm an idiot, and I can never make it up to you, and I certainly don't deserve you, but…" He squeezed her even tighter and kissed into her hair. "Please don't ever leave me."
Sara tried to speak, but he stopped her. "When I was sitting in that dinner, alone at the table, no one thought it was strange for me to be alone. Not one of my colleagues asked if anyone was with me, and I felt like a complete failure. After the speaker finished, I didn't waste a moment, I went to your room to ask you for another chance, because I didn't want to be that person anymore."
She exhaled into his chest and interrupted him, "And you saw me in a robe with that punk cop and thought-"
"That it was over. And I shouldn't have taken off like that, but-… I couldn't face you… I couldn't see you, knowing that I could never-…" He choked on his own words and had to take another breath before he could continue, "That I would never be that guy at your door, that I'd screwed it up, that I waited too long, and did too little, and-"
Sara exhaled again, and then she pulled away so that she could look into his eyes. "Look, I know this isn't going to be easy…for either of us. We're both way too used to being on our own, but we've got to find a way to meet in the middle on this stuff, because I can't handle rollercoasters the way you do." He cast his gaze down and she tilted her head to catch his eyes again. Grissom followed her back up and she asked, "I need you to promise me something, okay?"
The emotion was so strong in his voice that it could be felt. "Anything."
She smiled, trying to give him some reassurance. "When stuff like this comes up, I need you to talk to me. I don't care if you have to scream and holler at me to get it out, you can't cut me out of the process anymore… Not if we're gonna give this a real chance." She took her hands from his back and moved them to hold his face, forcing him to look her in the eyes. "You understand, this is what I need to make this work, right?" He nodded and she kissed him to seal the deal. "Thank you."
Grissom once again brought her close to him in his arms and buried his face in the crook of her neck, apologizing and professing his love over and over. Sara in turn, ran her hands up and down his back, whispering her confessions of love to soothe his fears.
Soon, the words began to fade away and were replaced with kisses and nuzzling in her neck. Before long, Sara felt as though she was being swept up in the emotions that poured off of Grissom and the sensations he created in her body. Each touch of his lips to the skin of her neck was electric and it made it difficult for her to think. When his lips made contact with the space behind her ear, she found that the pace of her breathing had quickened.
With one hand, he turned her head to the other side, and then brushed her hair away from his intended target with the other. His warm breath and tender lips played over the fresh skin on that side of her neck, and Sara was fighting to try and figure out what it was she was supposed be thinking about. Her voice was her only tool in trying to break the spell, "Ah, Gris?"
"Hmmm?" His voice rumbled over her skin and the vibration of it made it even harder for Sara to clear her head.
"Um…" His mouth was on her ear and she felt his hand roaming over her back, holding her to him. Each touch brought her farther and farther from rational thought, and that was when it dawned on her; she left her car unlocked, and her bag was in it. She really needed her bag.
Sara decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and pack for the conference a little early, just in case they got caught up in a big case that week. So, she took a quick trip down to the drugstore to get a set of those travel containers for her toiletries. As she walked the aisles looking for the items she would need for the trip she passed by a display that caught her attention. There at the end of the pharmacy was a racked filled with several very colorful boxes. She found herself with a lopsided grin as she read the different labels and analyzed which one would be the better product.
As she took one of the boxes off of the rack and placed it into her basket she smiled. She was preparing to spend a weekend in San Diego for a conference, and to be alone with Grissom for the entire trip. Things had been progressing between them, albeit very slowly, but if anything were to happen while they were away, she wanted to be ready for it. "Just in case."
"Ah, Gris…" She was trying to get his attention, but his continued kisses were making it hard for her to remain focused. "I ah, need-… Mmmmm…" Her breathing kicked up another notch and she fought to give words to her thoughts. "I um… I need my… Mmmm…my bag."
Grissom let up for a moment and asked, "What?"
It was just the break she needed in order to regain her faculties, "My car, it's not locked, and my bags are in there."
He brought his face back to the crook of her neck and said, "Just push the button." Her hands moved up into his hair and she threaded her fingers through the curls as his lips began to work at her neck again.
"Mmmmmm…but I…" His mouth was doing more to control her thoughts than anything ever had before, and she knew where it was leading. That knowledge propelled her to break through the sensations. "Gris, I really need…my bag." He stopped and took a deep breath before looking up.
"You're serious?" She gave him a shy smile and he asked, "Right now?" She bit her bottom lip and nodded. Grissom held out his hand and said, "Keys?" He reluctantly took the keys from her and went to retrieve her bag.
As soon as he was out of sight, she looked around the room and saw Grissom's open garment bag. She grabbed something from it and took off for the bathroom.
Once Grissom was outside, he had to work to get a hold of himself. It was also when he started to think that maybe he had gone too far. Sara had obviously put the brakes on. So much so that she had to send him outside to put some tangible distance between them.
He pulled her bag and the briefcase out of the front seat of her car, closed the door and locked it. Grissom took in a deep breath and prepared for the worst when he looked into Sara's eyes again. He never wanted to push too hard, and he needed to be ready when she told him it really was too fast.
When he walk back into the house, Grissom was ready for whatever Sara had in store for him.
Once he reached the living room, he realized she was no longer in the room. He looked around and then called out her name. "Sara?"
He heard her voice call back to him through the bathroom door, "Be out in a sec… Did you get my bag?"
Self-consciously, he held them both up into the air, even though she could not see him, and he answered, "Yeah, got 'em right here."
He suddenly felt very foolish to be standing in the middle of his own living room waiting for someone else to decide his fate. "Sara, you know, if this is moving too fast, you just have to tell me. I understand, and I don't want you to feel pressured into anything." As he paced around the room and continued to talk to someone in another room, through a door, he resigned himself to being foolish. "I just want to make sure you're ready, and I don't want you to-"
The sound of her voice behind him stopped him in his tracks, "You got the bag?"
When he turned to find the source of that smoky and sultry voice, he was cemented in place by the sight his eyes beheld. His gaze started at the floor, where he found her bare feet. Slowly dragging his eyes up, he found a small tattoo on her right ankle, which bore a strong resemblance to a sunburst. As his eyes slowly made their way up her interminably long and luscious legs they finally came to the hem of a white shirt; his white dress shirt. Grissom's breath caught in his throat as he realized that Sara stood at the end of the hallway, leaning against the wall with her hand resting on her opposite hip and her left arm hanging down at her side, wearing nothing, save for his dress shirt.
She started fussing with the sleeves of the shirt and asked, "What's wrong with these sleeves? There's no buttons."
Grissom swallowed and somehow managed to say, "They're French cuffs, they…don't have buttons."
With her head still cast down at the sleeves, she looked up at him with her incredibly seductive eyes when she asked, "Then how do you keep the sleeves down?"
Clearing his throat to speak, Grissom found that he was taking a few absent minded steps toward her. "Cuff links."
"Oh, then should I roll them up or-" She was stopped from doing or saying anything else, because Grissom had reached her and had begun to run his fingers up along her arms, turning her back to the wall, and sending those deliciously warm feelings rushing through her blood once more. When the fingers of his right hand trailed all the way up her arm, they continued over her shoulder and then ran up the side of her neck, making her close her eyes in the throes of that amazing sensation.
"About that taking it slow thing…" She was practically purring the words when his lips replaced his fingers at her neck. "Ten years is long enough."
His answer was lost in the crook of her neck, and his hot breath played over her skin sending her deeper into the moment of bliss. When his lips dropped into the dip above her collarbone she gasped with the intensity of his touch. She needed to steady herself before she started sliding down the wall and so she began to run her hands over his arms and back, moving in time with the caress of his lips to her skin.
Soon she reached the point where she needed to feel his skin against her palms and she started tugging at his shirt with little success. Not being one to give up easy, Sara changed her plan of attack and slid her hands down around to his sides, then over his soft belly, delighted in the fact that she had her hands all over his body and there was nothing stopping her. When she reached the button of his jeans, she had to pause a moment as Grissom took the lobe of her ear into his mouth and gently sucked on the tender bit of flesh, making her momentarily gasp for air as she waited for her mind to reconnect with her sanity.
Once some semblance of reason returned to her highly aroused mind, she worked the first button of his jeans open. She realized that he must have been taken away with his own activities because he failed to notice what she was doing. Sara took full advantage of his distraction as she ran her hands down from his hips to his thighs, feeling the strength of his legs before moving painfully slow back up to the next button of his jeans. That was when she knew she had been discovered from the groan that erupted from his throat as he pressed his weight into her, having effectively pinned her to wall.
With her advantage removed, Sara returned to her original plan and began to once again tug at his shirt. That time it released from his pants in the back and she was finally able to slide her hands up under the shirt. When her slender fingers made their first contact with the skin on his back, Sara was shocked at the heat pouring off of him. Grissom's skin was already beginning to become slick with the perspiration fighting to control his body temperature.
She was desperate to expose his flesh to the air, and to have full access to its warm and delicious expanse. She struggled to work the back of his shirt up his body. When she had managed to push it to his shoulders, she reached up in an effort to pull it over his head, but that was when Grissom suddenly took the upper hand again.
He pulled both of her arms from his body and held them over her head as his mouth pressed into hers for an amazingly passionate kiss. As their tongues began a seductive dance, he wrapped both her wrists within his left hand and pinned them to the wall above her head. Then he reluctantly pulled away from her mouth and watched her face flush with arousal as he slowly drug the backs of his fingers down the length of her left arm, and then tickled them along her side, pausing at each rib and curve as though he tried to memorize her every reaction and every curve of her body.
With her eyes closed against the potency of his gaze, she was shocked when his hand left her body for a moment, only to have his lips crash back into hers with a fierce wantonness that she never expected from Grissom. When his grip on her wrists was released, she dropped her arms to his shoulders to steady herself and found that she had made contact with his bare, searing skin. She could only assume that he had removed the shirt in that brief moment of contact loss, but she had no time to think of anything else, because her body immediately took over for her mind.
Her hands practically danced over the flesh of his back, searched for every dip and curve and relished in the intense warmth of his skin against her touch. Soon, it was no longer enough, not with his mouth working hers and his hands gripping her neck and pulling her hip to grind against him as they both writhed in a sensual and perfect rhythm. When he finally pulled back from her mouth, gasping for air, she already had her hands dragging along his sides and she quickly moved them up to his chest.
She splayed her hands over as much of his flesh as her long and nimble fingers could manage, and with his head momentarily thrown back as he sucked the desperately needed air into his lungs, Sara took the opportunity to start her own assault. She began to kiss along his neck, across the whole length of his beard, working her way up to that spot behind his ear where she began to run her tongue. As he leaned into the touch of her tongue to his flesh she caught him off-balance and managed to push him back into the opposite wall of the corridor. He groaned at the impact, but that was quickly replaced by moans of pleasure as her adept fingers made contact with the most sensitive flesh on his chest, all the while her tongue flitted along the shell of his ear.
Grissom was no longer in charge of his own mind. With every sensuous lathe of her tongue on his ear or his neck, he lost more and more of his grip on conscious thought. When she started moving down his neck, his eyes were closed as he struggled to deal with the intensity of the moment, but the instant her mouth made contact with his nipple he lost that control entirely, as he arched his back and wrapped his hands up in her hair to hold her still. Too late, he realized that she took that as a sign to continue and she gently sucked his nipple into her mouth, teasing at the taut nub with her tongue and her teeth. That was simply too much for him to handle and he pulled her face up to his where he could crash into her lips with a ferociously passionate kiss.
Halfway into the kiss he felt her weight begin to fall away and he wrapped her up into his arms, pulling her body against his as he continued to assail her lips. Her arms wound their way around his neck and held onto him with a rapturous grip.
With their tongues writhing and battling for dominance, Sara was shocked each time he tried to deepen the kiss. She felt as though he was actually pulling the breath directly from her lungs, and forcing his own breath down into her chest. The power of his assault was not lost on her, as she struggled to stay upright and keep him pinned to the wall. That struggle ended when the hand stroking her neck dropped down along her spine in a languid line to rest in the small of her back. She was not sure if it was the feeling of his powerful hand sitting just above her ass or the total lack of oxygen, but she felt her knees give way just in time for him to catch her in his arms and pull her firmly into his body.
Apparently that move was too much for him as well, as her hip ground right into his crotch and he finally released his tight hold on her mouth with a guttural moan. "Nnnnnahhhh." With sudden access to air they both gasped for every breath of it. As their chests heaved in a ragged rhythm, and the oxygen finally found its way back to her brain, that was when something finally dawned on Sara; the bag.
"Um…Gris?" She buried her forehead into his shoulder, as she tried to muster the power of speech.
It became obvious that he had found the power for something else, when she felt his lips begin to trail down her neck once more. And that power was quickly making it difficult for her to concentrate on the task at hand. Well, the necessities for the task at hand, anyway. When his kisses began to dip below her collarbone she knew she had to take control of the situation.
"Grissom." She reached down and took his head between her hands. It took her a moment to catch his eyes again, because she was momentarily lost in the feel of his curls intertwined between her fingers. But she shook away the thoughts that came with the sensation and asked him clearly, "What did you do with my bag?"
He shut his eyes tightly and drew in a deep breath. Apparently Sara was not the only one who had trouble using their speech faculties. "It's in the next room… What's so damned important about your luggage?"
Her mouth turned up into a careful smile and she leaned her forehead into his and whispered, "It's what's in the luggage that's important." And with that conspicuous statement she pushed away from him and stepped around the chair to find her bag.
Grissom watched in amusement as he noticed that her heels never touched the floor as she walked barefoot across the expansive tiles. She bent over as she rifled through her bag and he was unable to stop himself from tilting his head to the side in order to improve his view of her bottom. Just barely peeking out from under the hem of his shirt he could see that his earlier suspicions had proven true, when he caught a glimpse of her naked ass. It brought a lascivious grin to his face as he raised his head back up and fought to control the pulsing energy that was rapidly building in his crotch.
With his thoughts continuing to head southward, Grissom's mind instantly popped back into focus, and he desperately tried to get his mind to recall exactly where he had put it.
Grissom decided that since he had a couple of hours before meeting Sara at the art house for the Buster Keaton festival, and it was likely to be the only free time he was going to have for the rest of the week, that he might as well get his packing done for the trip to San Diego. He double checked his suit before placing it in the garment bag, and then picked out the white, tailored dress shirt to wear with it. As he stared at the tie rack he tried to think which tie it was that Sara had liked so much. Running his hands across the rack, he stopped at the deep blue one. That was the one. She had commented on how it made his eyes look and that she thought it shimmered a little in the light.
The rest of his wardrobe was easy, just some work clothes, underwear, various socks, and a couple pairs of pajamas. He also wanted to pack that book that he had been trying to finish for more than a week, but just could not seem to find the time. He thought that if they shared the driving duties, he would finally get that chance. When he reached into his nightstand to retrieve the book, his hand grazed over something else that sparked a thought about the weekend to come.
It had been something of an impulse buy, right after Sara had found him people watching on the campus, but he had rationalized it to himself that "chance favors the prepared mind." He knew that Pasteur never had that particular instance in mind when he said those famous words, but Gil Grissom was not about to leave that to fate. If and when the time came, he wanted Sara to know that he was a caring and responsible man. It had only been a couple of weeks, but he checked the expiration date before sliding the black and gold box into the interior pocket of his garment bag.
A weekend, away from the lab, alone, with Sara. He carefully closed the pocket and patted it saying, "Just in case."
He instantly pushed away from the wall and began to attack his garment bag, looking for the pocket which was so easy to access when it was hanging up. When he finally found it, he could hear Sara's stifled giggles coming from behind him. With the box firmly in his hand, he spun around (the box carefully tucked behind him), and found her joy filled face. He eyed her suspiciously when he noticed that she was also holding something behind her back.
"What've you got there?" Grissom raised his brow and it only made Sara giggle more.
With her free hand, she held it over her mouth as she tried to control her girlish laughter and then placed it in the center of his chest when she started to speak, "Now, when I was packing last weekend-"
He could not stop the laugh that escaped his throat and said, "You, too?"
Sara smiled and blushed a little, "Well, with how our weeks usually are, I didn't think I'd have any other time to do it right."
"Ditto." His grin told her that everything people had been saying about them for years was apparently true. They did have some weird mind meld thing going on.
"Well, I started thinking about the weekend, and that we'd be together, away from the lab and well," Grissom tried to control his amusement as she stumbled through her explanation. "Then I passed by this display at the drugstore and I thought since we'd be at a hotel, and if anything would um, happen, that it wouldn't be a bad idea to plan ahead… Ya know, just in case…" She paused as she looked up into his sparkling eyes and then slowly brought her other hand into view. Grissom had to hide his surprise at seeing another black and gold box appearing from behind her back. "So, I got these."
Grissom fought back the smile that was threatening to fall over his countenance as he reached out with his free hand to take the box from her. Her voice met the raise of his eyebrow, as he looked at the box, with a squeak. "No pressure or anything, but when we were, um, making out before, I sort of got the impression that um…y-you might need those."
He screwed his mouth up into one of those crazy grins that always served to melt her resolve just a little, and then tossed the box onto the couch behind him. When he saw the surprised look on her face, he brought his other hand out in front and handed her the slightly different black and gold box that had been residing in his garment bag all week. "There is something to be said for having like minds."
She looked up into his eyes and saw the desire hiding behind the humor and then she glanced down at the box he had placed in her hand. It was almost identical to the one she had purchased at the drugstore: identical, except for the red lettering under the brand name. She instantly shot her glance back up at him, and she finally understood the smirk on his face. Without realizing it, there was a flush coming over her and she suddenly felt very warm under his lascivious gaze.
Grissom reached out, brushed the hair away from her face and then leaned in for a kiss. It was sweet and soft and tender and just the thing she needed to help her understand that they truly were on the same page. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck as she moved to deepen the kiss, telling him with her actions what her words had been unable to voice.
Instantly, she was wrapped up in his powerful arms, being held to him tightly with her feet dangling just barely off the floor. He leaned back, arching as much as he could to leave her with no ground, and she held onto his neck for dear life. When she felt his hands moving down her back, she nearly yelped when they finally found their destination and took firm hold underneath her ass. He locked his wrists together in order to manage all of her weight in his arms.
Once she understood what he was trying to do, she brought her legs up and wrapped them around his waist, locking her ankles behind his back. Without having to hold herself up with her arms any longer, she returned to kissing him. She kissed his mouth, his ears, his shoulder, his neck, behind his ears, anywhere she could reach without losing her grip on him, or that black and gold box.
It was not the most graceful retreat to the bedroom, as they staggered their way down the hall. And at one point Sara was fairly certain that they had knocked something off the wall, but his tongue distracted her when it snaked out to run along behind her ear, so she was not entirely sure what, if anything, it was that made that crashing noise.
When they finally made it to the bed, grace was not even a small part of the equation. His legs hit the side of the bed and then they both crashed down into the mattress, not once breaking the impassioned kiss that had kept him from realizing their proximity to the bed. As they did break the kiss in order to come up for air, it was met with instant laughter from them both. With Grissom holding the bulk of his weight away from her by resting on his elbows as he smiled down at her and said, "Well, I guess my reputation for being smooth is pretty much shot."
Sara's smile was as bright as he could ever remember having seen it. In fact, he decided he had only seen her smile even half as brightly on two other occasions; when they first met and began their dance of flirtation, and the day she had arrived in Las Vegas. He blew the hair off her forehead and leaned down to kiss it as he thought to himself, This is her best smile.
Her smile began to transform into something else, something inherently and delightfully dangerous. She started running her hands down his smooth chest, over his tender belly, which made him tense as she took notice of his middle aged paunch. She whispered into his ear, "Don't." He looked down and saw that her eyes were still filled with her unbelievable desire, turning them into an almost smoky brown. She slowly brought her hands back up and began to run them through his hair. "Gray hair…" She kissed the corners of his eyes. "Creases…" Her hands then went back down his torso, stopping at his belly and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Paunch and all the rest…" She leaned in to whisper once more, "As long as it's part of you, I'll love it… All of it."
He shied away from her intense gaze and mumbled, "Sorry, it's just hard for me…to believe sometimes…that this is…real."
She lifted his chin, kissing only his bottom lip as she slid one of her hands up and down his chest. "Does that feel real?"
He inhaled sharply and then exhaled quickly. "Oh yeah."
Sara smirked at his reaction and then said, "Then quit worrying, and…get working."
A smile blossomed over his face, and he took the woman's advice. Grissom wrapped his arms under her back and then rolled them both over in a flash, so that she was on top of him while he covered her mouth with his to stifle her yelp of surprise.
"Better?"
She pushed up from his chest and flashed him an almost feral grin. "Oh yeah." She leaned back down and captured his mouth in another kiss. As she was getting caught up in having the upper hand, Grissom took advantage of her distraction to begin unbuttoning his shirt. When he started to push the shirt off of Sara's shoulders, she sat up, bringing her legs up along his sides until she was straddling his waist. "And just what do you think you're doing?"
As she sat hovering over him, she did not bother to pull the shirt back together, leaving it opened almost to her belly, which gave him a very distracting view, and it took all of his strength of will to look away. He stared straight into her eyes and said, "You said to get working."
She cocked her eyebrow at his answer and then said, "I did, didn't I? Hmmmm, but I'm thinking that maybe you're done…for the moment." The glint in her eyes made his heart swell and when she dipped her head down to take his nipple into her mouth once again there was an entirely different organ swelling.
He arched his back under her careful caresses, which only made his hips grind up into her. As she began to kiss and wiggle her way down his body, an involuntary moan came from deep down in his throat, sounding very much like a wild animal. Her fingers made concentric circles all along his torso, which increased the contact between them and caused him to sink further into the waves of pleasure that crashed over him.
So consumed with the tendrils of ecstasy rippling over his body, Grissom had completely missed the moment she had reached his pants again, but the instant he felt that next button being popped his eyes shot open with a realization. When he heard her amused chuckling, he knew she had figured it out. He sat bolt straight up and took her hands into his, leaving her seated atop his legs.
Through her smirking expression she asked, "Really, Gris… Commando?"
He brought her hands up to his mouth and kissed them gently with a deceptively shy smile on his face. And then, in another flash, he had flipped her onto her back once more, with his weight holding her into place. "I should be doing laundry right now, but…someone…had…other ideas."
Then it was his turn to explore her body with his mouth. First he kissed along her neck, then across her right shoulder, alternating between his lips and his tongue across her collarbone, and back up to her neck over her left shoulder. There were only two buttons left done on the shirt, so it offered little resistance to his chosen path. Dragging his lips down her sternum, he stopped every few inches to kiss a new spot, until he reached the space between her breasts.
First, he drug his bearded cheek along the inside of her left breast, and then turned his head to drag the opposite cheek along the inside of the right one. Once he reached the apex of the right breast, he stopped and then lifted his head slightly, sending his heated breath over the nipple and bringing a near silent whimper from her slightly open mouth. And in one amorous moment he took the peak into his mouth, applying only the slightest suction to bring it further into a state of arousal. When it popped from his lips, it was taut and wet from his ministrations. That was when he blew a cool breath over the damped flesh and watched as it pebbled into full hardness. The smile on his face as Sara groaned at his handiwork was dangerous. Without a moment's hesitation, he repeated the same process on the other breast and watched as she added an arched back to her moan of approval.
Delighted with his progress, Grissom began to lick and kiss his way down to her flat and smooth belly. He brought his gaze up just long enough to undo those last buttons and pushed the shirt out of his way. He wanted to see her, all of her, and know that the reactions in her body were because of him. He wanted to watch each writhing muscle, each bead of sweat forming, and every motion her body made under his touch.
When his tongue made contact with the lines and curves over her stomach, he felt Sara's hands reach out for the sides of his head, twining her long, luscious fingers into his dampened curls. At first he thought she was guiding him lower and he took in a deep breath through his nose, catching hold of her natural scent as the air entered his body, causing him to grow even more aroused than he could ever remember being. Then he felt her tugging at his head, straining to pull him back to her again. He took the signal and slowly made his way back to her face.
Once they were back on the same level again, Sara buried her head into the crook of his neck and then brought her mouth to his ear. "Gris… Now." He was shocked by her words and had to look at her to fully understand what she was saying. In her eyes, he saw a need that shook him to the core. And he knew she was serious when she handed him the single foil packet. While he had been busy exploring her body, she had found the box, opened it and retrieved a single condom.
He smiled at her, and kissed her swollen and trembling lips. "Are you sure?"
His answer came in an undeniable gesture. She grabbed the back of his head with one hand and brought his lips crushing into hers with a deliciously passionate kiss. Her other hand had snaked its way into his partially opened jeans, wound her fingers fully around him, freed his flesh from the restricting denim and began to stroke along his length. As the pulsing energy started to ramp up to his breaking point, Grissom had all the answer he needed.
He closed his eyes for a moment, relished in the feel of her tongue as it danced with his and the intense sensation of her hand pumping him into full arousal before he pulled away from the kiss and sat up on his haunches.
Grissom maneuvered enough to be able to stand up, and then shucked the last of the jeans, leaving him naked, in all of his middle aged glory, before her. Sara propped herself up with her elbows behind her and gave him all the encouragement he needed. She leaned on one elbow and then reached out her hand to him. "Grissom…"
Carefully he came back down onto the bed with his knees and crawled to her once more. Spreading his body over hers, he enveloped her tiny frame beneath his weight and kissed her waiting lips. In one hand, he held the condom she had given to him, and with the other he stroked her cheek. Then he trailed the backs of his fingers down her neck, down along the outside of her breast, skated over her ribs, tickled down her side, traced the ridge of her hip and then finally slid them along the top of her thigh, rounding into the junction of her legs. He captured her mouth in yet another passionate embrace as he plied her other lips with his middle finger, and at the moment of contact he felt as though she was trying to extract the air from his lungs with her gasp.
With his thumb, he found his way to her nub and began to slowly stroke it, as he made absolutely certain that she was ready for the next step in their journey. When he felt her hips beginning to gyrate of their own accord, Sara clenched her fingers in his hair and pulled his lips away from hers long enough to tell him exactly how ready she was. He nodded, kissed her nose and rolled slightly onto his side in order to open the wrapper and prepare himself for that next step.
Her breathing came through in ragged gasps as he quickly finished his task. Grissom then reached over and pulled Sara on top of him. At first, she looked surprised, but then she realized what he was doing. She looked into his eyes, and saw her own need reflected back at her, but she also saw his fear. It was their first time together, and he wanted her to control how far they went. She pushed off from his chest for a moment and then bent down to kiss his lips.
When she brought herself back up, she was once again straddled around his waist, only this time, there were no barriers between them. She quickly shed his shirt from her shoulders and then reached behind her so that she would be able to guide him into her. As she wriggled into position, she found that he had one hand resting at the top of her thigh and the other helping to guide her down.
As the tip made contact with her center, his other hand moved to the opposite thigh and he waited for her to make the next move. She looked down at his face and saw the serene concentration on his brow as he kept his eyes shut while he focused on maintaining his control. She smiled, knowing that he could not see it, but unable to keep it from forming on her lips none the less.
She dropped lower and she felt the head enter her. Sara closed her eyes under the waves of pleasure already starting to soar through her, and that was when she felt his thumb once again stroking her, as he kept her on the brink and allowed her to continue on. She went lower, taking more of him inside of her and then she heard Grissom moan under the contact. That was all the confidence she needed, so she buried him into her fully as she cried out with the fullness of the act.
Grisssom's eyes shot open as he felt himself become completely enveloped within her walls. Then she screamed, and he worried about her pain, but as his eyes focused on her face, he could see that her head was thrown back and her face bore a rapturous expression of sheer pleasure, and he smiled. Within moments, she had started rocking in time with the stroke of his thumb. And soon it was no longer enough, so she planted her palms into his chest and used it for leverage.
Grissom matched her rocking motions with the thrust of his hips, and before long he was unable to keep up the stroking with his thumb in favor of gripping onto her hips to increase the contact and depth of their thrusts. He could feel it as she started clamping down around him, but her legs became weak and she collapsed onto his chest, as her breaths came in heaving gasps.
She whimpered into his ear, and he quickly rolled them over so that Sara was on her back. Her groans and the incredible emptiness he felt told him that they had come undone in the process and so he lifted up on one arm and guided himself back within her walls with a single, fluid thrust. She arched into him as he entered her and clutched at his back as he positioned himself over her.
Wrapping her left leg around his hip, she gave him added purchase as his first thrust crashed into her, sending her closer and closer to the brink. Thrust, repost, over and over he worked himself into and through her, taking every ounce of energy he had in his body to bring her to that blissful state of ecstasy, and still she urged him on, begging him for more.
Pulling himself up onto his stiffened arms, he gave himself a better angle, as his back arched and contracted with each thrust of his hips. When she suddenly cried out, he felt her walls contract around him in a cascade of spasms. The sensation was simply too much, and it triggered his own climax in a breathy and violent fit, sending him collapsing on top of her, with Sara clutching him to her with the very last of her strength, as she stroked his soaking wet hair and whispered into his ear the depth and breadth of her love for him.
Within a few moments, once the oxygen and the blood started circulating through his brain once more, he realized that he needed to get up. When he reached down to extract himself from her, she grabbed at his arms to stop him. He looked up at her and grinned. "If I don't it would defeat the purpose of having worn it." She blushed at his words and he leaned up to kiss her gently, before completing his task. Once free, he painfully got out of the bed and tossed the condom into the waste basket. He struggled to stay on his feet as he looked for something to clean up with, and then he spotted the folded towels that sat on top of the hamper. Grabbing them, he quickly handed the first one to Sara, who shyly accepted it and as he stumbled back towards the bed he made quick work of himself before falling back down onto the bed with a loud and distinct thud.
As he laid back, he reached out for her and pulled Sara on top of him once again, then he draped the last towel over the spot on the bed they had just vacated. She pushed off of his chest and regarded him with a curious glare. He lowered his gaze and chuckled as he pulled her back to him. "Just in case, by some miracle, I happen to roll you over."
Sara nuzzled into his chest and giggled at his insinuation and then the devil took over. "Well, I'd have to say, for an old guy…that was pretty damn impressive."
His laughter vibrated in her ear and shook her whole body. "Yeah, well, I had my Geritol this morning."
She slid down onto his left side, with her leg still draped over his and said, "Well, then you better start sharing if I'm gonna be able to keep up." They were both laughing at the ridiculousness of their post-coital banter, but if they were honest, it was the only way they knew how to be.
Sara was just about to drift off into sleep when something caught her eye. She raised up and turned her head to the wall facing the bed and found four lithographs staring at her. Four very familiar lithographs. "Grissom?"
He was farther into dreamland than she had been when he responded, "Hmmmmm?"
"I know you said you had prints of those paintings, but you didn't tell me where they were…"
"Yeah?"
"You kept paintings that you claimed reminded you of me, in your bedroom?"
Grissom's eyes popped open in an instant when he realized what she was insinuating. A blush fell over his entire body and then he answered with a wry smile. "Yes?"
She laughed into his shoulder and asked, "Can I ask you why?"
Grissom cringed under her scrutiny and tried to recover using his wit. "How about we call it inspiration?" Sara's body shook against his as her laughter took control of her. He had to find something that would turn the tables in that conversation. And then it dawned on him. "So, since I have the real thing now… Should I give those to Greg?"
As he waited for the ringing to leave his left ear, Grissom knew that he would feel that punch to his ribs for a very long time.