Hey! Welcome back.
Apparently I'm on a creative roll this week.
I apologize for my long stints of inactivity, lots going on in my life at the moment.. but I write and brainstorm when I can.
Here's a peek into what I feel may have happened before GSR got called out to the Sugar Cane Ranch... and before he practically told her he loved her.
Enjoy!!
The sound of his pager thrilled through the dark room, startling Sara from an already restless sleep.
Fuck.
Of course on the evening they were both on call... they get a call.
It was rare, once in a literal blue moon that he managed to arrange for them to both have an evening off. Technically, they weren't off, but in this job, on call was usually as good as it gets anyways.
They had to be careful with their corresponding evenings off so as not to raise suspicion, and between the others on their team who needed time off or were tapped out on overtime... these evenings were few and far between.
Sara could count on one hand and still have fingers to spare, the amount of times they had actually been able to enjoy an evening off together in its entirety. No murder, no rape, no bodies found in barrels or washed up on beaches... just fresh bedsheets and intoxicating fingertips on skin and slow mornings with good coffee and crosswords on the couch.
Thinking she could ignore it, maybe it was an error, Sara rolled over into his chest and tried to succumb to sleep again. She ran her long, thin fingers along his abdomen, her short fingernails through his fine greying chest hairs, relishing in the feel of his warm skin under her palm.
God, she had fantasized about this for years.
The simple domesticity.
Sure, her fantasies before they had actually gotten together tended to be more... erotic. Even the most innocent of human beings fantasize about sexual intimacy with the ones they're attracted to, or love, and Sara was not stranger to sexual desire.
But more than anything, Sara fantasized about moments like this. The quiet moments when no words were needed. No gasps of pleasure or sharing of bodily fluids in sticky sheets.
No, most commonly she'd imagine the moments in the darkness when she could wrap her smooth legs around his waist and burry her nose into his skin and feel his heartbeat under her fingers.
Before they had come together, she'd lay for hours in bed wondering what he smelled like, of all things. He never wore aftershave and even her trained nose couldn't pin point a shampoo or deodorant - he didn't have a specific smell to him at work.
She would imagine, though, that in a more intimate proximity he would smell distinctly masculine, but undeniably 'Grissom '.
She had been right, as it would turn out.
He smells of lemons and books and strong coffee and maple syrup. Even now, under her nose, his skin smells like the most delicious and masculine musk and their shared clean sweat from the evenings previous... encounter.
God. She could breathe him in forever.
Just as her breathing began to level out and sleep began to wash over her again, Gil's pager went off a second time, this time startling both of them out of their slumber.
She felt for him, genuinely, when she heard his grumbled groan.
They'd only been sleeping a little under two hours after a rather steamy shared shower and then some passionate love making in bed... and sure enough, duty called.
Rolling over, still not breaking contact with her naked body, Grissom grabbed his phone to check the message from Brass:
"419 out at the Sugar Cane Ranch, 50 minutes east of the strip, local Sheriff on site, Requesting 2 CSIs. Sorry Gil."
"Ugh..." he grumbled as he closed his phone and flipped his arm back down on the mattress dramatically.
"DB?" She asked, trying to keep her tone light as she leaned up on an elbow.
"Mm." He nodded, reaching his free hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, while his other continued its' gentle movements along her bare hip. "Up for a road trip?"
"Road trip?"
"Brass says it's about 50 minutes out. Some place called the Sugar Cane Ranch."
"Shit." She grumbled.
"Sorry dear. I can take Nick, I think he's on tonight.."
"No, no. I'm up now." She smiled reassuringly. "As long as coffee is on the route."
He laughed, half heartedly, before quickly kissing her lips and rolling himself out of their warm bed.
This had happened so many times now, the excitement of a quickie before heading in had mostly faded, and it became somewhat of a mundane routine. Sleep for a few hours, get a page, shower separately, head into work in desperate cars with a quick kiss on the way out the door.
Even though they had had a shower not long ago, she heard the faucet turn on in the bathroom, to wake himself up she assumed.
Sara sighed to herself as she too, crawled out of their warm bed.
As she entered the bathroom, Sara found him standing naked with his palms pressed firmly against the counter and his head hung low.
"I'm sorry, Gil.." she sighed, as she wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging her own thin and bare frame against his back. She could hear his slow heartbeat through his ribcage as she kissed his shoulder and then placed her cheek against his warm skin.
He was so tired.
This year, while it had been incredible for their personal lives, had been so difficult for them on a professional level. Grissom especially.
Between the extra work load, and the miniature killer that had been keeping him up, he was burnt out.
His sabbatical had done him some good, and left him refreshed, but a short time back on the job proved to get to him again.
She wondered, often, what their future held.
Most people in this line of work retired in their forties, she knew that.
The burnout levels were real and the emotional toll of the job was brutal, especially when you were the boss. She wondered if he was reaching his breaking point. If he was just about done with the crime and the paperwork.. and after seeing how refreshed he was after his teaching stint, she realized that maybe he was coming to terms with his own reality too.
She knew he loved the work. He loved the science.
Hell, he had put it before her for years.
But nowadays, every page was an annoyance to him.
"It's fine," he breathed, "It's the job."
"I know.. but it's different for you lately."
He nodded, and turned in her embrace to meet her gaze.
His light blue eyes searched her face, patiently, as his finger tips gently ran down her collarbone to the side of her left breast.
"I'm just tired." He sighed, he clearly didn't want to go into it, so she humoured him, and teased,
"I'm not wearing you out, am I?" Sara smirked, as she felt his manhood naturally respond to their skin to skin closeness. "I can always move back into my apartment so you can get more sleep on your nights off..."
"Not a chance." Grissom returned the boyish grin, his hands beginning to wander from her breast lower, lower, lower...
Sara gasped as his fingertips met her core, and laughed,
"Keep this up, you won't have time for a shower before we need to leave... or coffee on the.. ah.. way.."
"I don't need a shower. I'm awake now."
"I can feel that." Sara grinned as her hands found his very awake and very male organ. She wrapped her fingers around him gently as he continued his ministrations on her. Her voice heavy, she breathed, "How much time to we have?"
"Enough." Was his simple reply, low and intimate, as he turned them around and quickly lifted her so her bottom met the cool bathroom counter top in one smooth move.
Another fantasy of Sara's that he had fulfilled many times over in the last several weeks.
For a man of his age, not that he was old, he was surprisingly strong when it came to these situations, and she lavished in the feel of his dominance.
Lately, ever since his return, he had taken up quite the invigorated role in their love life. She chalked it up to him needing to relieve his stress, but he had been noticeably more assertive and attentive. While still a gentleman, he didn't hold back.
It was a whole new side of him, and it turned her on to no end.
It was always good with him, always.. but God, when he took what he wanted and needed.. when he took control like this, it was earth shattering. Beyond good.
Sara gasped as his lips met her neck and sucked, hard enough to cause a sting, but not enough to leave a mark. He'd learned that lesson the hard way before.
Without much warning, he brought her hips to the edge so they could barely hang off, his hand holding her safe and steady, and his manhood plunged deep inside her in one quick movement. She gasped and then grunted with pleasure.
He instantly let out a moan of relief and paused a second to regain his composure as he buried his face into her warm shoulder.
"God, Sara."
She let out a sensual, low laugh as her hips started to rock against his pelvis and her short nails raked over his muscular back, encouraging him to take what he needed.
Hell, she needed it just as much as he did.
Sure enough he began to rock into her warm body in a steady rhythm, one they had rehearsed many times before. His hands at her hips to steady them both, and her hands in his hair, tugging ever so slightly.
It didn't take long before they both met a quick completion. His lips assaulted hers, and he swallowed her moans of relief with gratitude as his own climax shook through him.
"God.." he repeated a moment later, out of breath, and Sara laughed again as her fingers wiped the droplets of sweat from his hairline tenderly. She tamed his unruly salt and pepper curls with her hands lovingly, before smiling at him,
"Better?" She pursed her lips as his eyes met hers. They were softer, more relaxed.
"Mm." He nodded, kissing her forehead.
Another shrill of his phone went off, breaking the moment, and Grissom rolled his eyes as he slipped himself out of her warmth.
"Sorry." He grimaced, as he kissed her lips.
"Don't be." Sara shook her head as she hopped off the counter and dampened a clean wash cloth to wipe herself off, and winked as she made her way past him to their shared room to change.
They got ready in a comfortable silence, and eventually hopped into Grissom's Tahoe in the cool Las Vegas night air.
The drive had been quiet, with occasional sighs and sips of hot black coffee. About ten minutes in, Gil reached across the center console to grab Sara's warm hand and held it firmly in her lap against her thigh. It was something he did every time they were alone together in his car on the way to a scene, but tonight it felt more intimate than usual.
After three rounds of love making in one evening, his libido was undeniable.
Maybe he needed her for the release, which she would never deny and it didn't upset her in the least. Maybe for some women it may seem disrespectful, but she was more than happy to be a source of comfort and liberation for him when he needed it, because he often reciprocated the favour.
Maybe, and more likely though, he had sensed the shift in their relationship lately too.
There was more tenderness and affection. More unspoken understandings, and more adoration. More intimate looks and general comfortability. If she wasn't mistaken, it felt a lot like love.
Of course, though she hadn't said it yet, Sara knew she loved him months ago. Maybe even years. If she really admitted it to herself, she had probably even been a little in love with him since their first conversation in San Fransisco. He had this captivating way about him.
He had always been affectionate through the duration of their relationship, but he was still Grissom. Aloof, emotionally unavailable, poor at communicating, sometimes selfish and unthinking.
But recently, it all felt so much more reciprocated.
It started feeling different when she took him home a few months back with a nasty migraine.
He usually wasn't the kind of man to allow her to see his weakness. Even up until then if he wasn't feeling well, he'd ask her to come over another time. She had never taken any offence to it because she too, was an independent person and understood the need for solitude every now and then, even in a mutually happy relationship.
That morning, though, he allowed her to care for him. Drive him home, find him his medication, dim the lights, close the curtains and rub his temples until he fell asleep with his clothes on in his bed. He allowed her to see his vulnerability in a new way, and that evening when he woke up and she was still there, something between them felt different. His head was better, and he made love to her with what she swore were tears behind his eyes.
Then he had officially asked her to move in, stay, at his condo shortly after he returned from his sabbatical. She had initially thought he was getting spooked by his own feelings and needed time away from her, because things had been heating up emotionally. It wasn't just sex and chemistry anymore, it had turned into big, scary, complicated feelings that neither of them could ignore.
He had come back from his month away a new man, and he was all of a sudden much more in touch with his emotional side. Hell, he practically chased her down the hallway at work with those bedroom eyes and that scruffy beard. He'd been more assertive in their bed, and more confident in what he needed and wanted. His confidence also seemed to grow in his abilities to lavish her with pleasure, because the sex had just been so good lately.
He'd asked her to shave him.. and while she was apprehensive, it was such an intimate moment between them, that ended in an even more intimate display of his feelings. He quite literally devoured her that evening and left no trace of beard burn in his path.
After the case with the showgirls, he didn't speak much, but he didn't need to. He took her home, drew her a bath, joined her in the warm bubbles and massaged her hips and neck until she was nearly asleep in his arms. He made her tea, and once again made love to her body in this intimately powerful, moving way. He wiped her tears as they fell mid climax.
He was a different man these days, and it really did feel a lot like undeniable love.
"You sure you're ok?" She spoke, barely a whisper.
"I'm sure." He nodded.
"Are you happy?"
She caught him grin in the light of the traffic, before he glanced over to her quickly.
"I am."
With a deep exhale, Sara squeezed his hand, "So where is this place again?"
Thankyou for reading!!!
As always comments and or reviews are much appreciated! Xx