I am so sorry for the time it has taken me to write this update, but I hope it was worth the wait! :)

Chapter Eleven

It was the start of shift and I found the team gathered in the break room; Nick and Grissom going over case notes from last night's shift and Warrick and Catherine working on a crossword puzzle together. My head was still pounding from the amount of cocktails I had consumed last night despite having taken several painkillers when I had woken up, but things felt clearer today now Catherine and I had spoken about how she felt and I was grateful for that.

"Hi Sara." Grissom greeted me as I entered the room and I gave him a small wave as I poured myself a coffee.

I caught Catherine's eye and she winked at me before turning back to her crossword puzzle.

"How are you feeling?" Grissom asked.

"Still a little groggy," I told him, "but much better than I was last night."

"Catherine was ill too," he spoke as I took a seat at the large table next to Nick, opposite Catherine. "I hope you're not both coming down with something."

I blushed as I remembered my fingers under Catherine's dress and could only sip my coffee as my brain and mouth refused to create a response. I was thankful that Grissom went back to his case notes with Nick and I glanced over at the crossword to the other side of me. "5 down is 'progression." I smiled at Warrick.

He shook his head as he wrote in my answer. "Damn, girl, you're too good at these."

I sipped at my coffee as Grissom left the room to see if any cases had come in for us.

"Hey, Cath." Nick grinned. "Do you fancy going on a date?"

Catherine frowned, confused.

Nick laughed, realizing he hadn't fully explained himself. "I have a friend, who is looking for a nice lady to wine and dine, and y'know, I thought of you."

"That's very kind, Nicky." Catherine's frown was replaced with a smile.

I could feel my heart in my throat as I wondered what she would say. Would she agree to go on a date with Nick's friend to cover up our relationship?

"But I'm afraid I'm not interested." she added, going back to the puzzle, pen in hand.

"Oooh," Warrick elbowed her lightly, "I think Catherine's got someone already, Nick."

I took another sip of my coffee in an attempt to not attract any attention to myself. Although I was pretty sure I was the last person Nick and Warrick would suspect Catherine of being in a relationship with.

"That's none of your business." She didn't look up from the table, although her voice was light.

Nick gasped, a large grin on his face, "I knew it!"

"Who is he?" Warrick asked.

"I told you, it's none of your business." she repeated.

Grissom re-entered the room, paperwork in hand, and took his seat back down next to Nick.

"Catherine has a boyfriend." Nick told him.

Grissom raised his eyebrows, but gave a smile. "It was about time you found someone that made you happy."

"I have." Catherine replied, glancing over at me.

I could have leant across the table and kissed her right then and there, in front of all of them. I made her happy.

"Okay, so Catherine and Sara, you're on a 211 on Warm Springs Road in Henderson. Nick, you're with me for a 419 at the casino on the edge of town. Warrick, you're on backlog."

Warrick groaned at Grissom's words.

The hint of butterflies I had felt in my stomach increased ten-fold at the idea of spending the evening's shift with Catherine, despite a burglary case being one of the less interesting crimes we dealt with. I gulped down the rest of my hot beverage and we both rose from our seats and headed out the room and into the corridor.

"Shall I drive?" I offered.

"Sure, I'll get the kit and see you outside." she replied and we went out separate ways across the building.

"I meant to say thank you for last night, when you dropped me off in the taxi," Catherine sat in the passenger seat of my Denali, one arm rested on the door, supporting her head with her hand; her other hand was interlaced with mine. "Not just for a lovely evening, but also for knowing that last night wasn't... the right time."

I didn't really know what to say, "I had a good time too, and it's okay." I assured her.

We pulled up at the scene a few minutes later and Brass greeted us at the front door of the property. "The owner of the house is nowhere to be seen, but the burglar made such a noise that a neighbor heard and called it in... unfortunately the guy had disappeared by the time we got here." Brass then made his excuses and left the scene, leaving us alone.

Catherine followed me into the house evidence collection kit in hand and we slowly made out way through the rooms of the house - everything looked relatively neat, not like there had been a break-in at all. The house was large, with glass walls, and winding staircases - whoever owned it obviously had money to burn.

"Apart from the busted front door, there doesn't look like there's any other damage to the property." I frowned.

"Whoever was here was after something in particular." Catherine replied.

We made our way into the the last room of the house - the office. A top of the range computer sat on a large glass desk, papers covered the remaining space of the desk, and a leather chair sat behind it. The room was painted a dark blue colour, with a hardwood floor, and bookshelves lined the walls down towards a walk in cupboard that wasn't more than 1 meter squared in diameter.

"This is it." Catherine switched her flashlight on and shone it at the open closet.

I could see already that the inside of the small space had been disturbed. The contents of the shelves had been pushed to the floor, leaving a pile of receipts and other documents at our feet as we stood at the doorway of the closet.

I began by printing the door as Catherine photographed the scene, we did so in silence, trying to piece together the crime from what we could see. There were a few partial prints on the door and I collected them, placing them into our evidence kit.

"Sara, there's blood in here."

I rose from my knees and joined Catherine in the small space as she shone her torch to the right hand wall. There was a bullet in the brick, some blood splatter surrounding it.

"This was a close contact shot, it went straight through..." I examined the bullet as I pulled it from the wall. "Looks like it's a 9mm." I turned back around to face Catherine and realized how close we were to each other.

I could hear her breathing as my eyes immediately fell to her lips. I so badly wanted to kiss her.

Her fingers slid around my waist, under my shirt, sending a shiver across my body at her delicate touch to my bare skin.

"We need to process the rest of this scene." I whispered, although I wished that she would ignore my words and kiss me.

Catherine's hand receded from my body and she smiled at me, before turning to continue processing the rest of the inside of closet.

We spent an hour or so with back-to-back as we searched signs that anything might have been stolen from the cupboard, and trying to figure out who was shot there and where they were now. We shared theories and dismissed ideas as we spoke them, hoping that we could piece what little evidence we had together that might bring us closer to an answer.

Working in such close proximity to Catherine was proving tougher as time went on, the odd brush of skin sending my body into overdrive, I knew I couldn't take much longer in this space before I would have to take her to my bed.

"I don't think we're going to get any more out of this, Sara." Catherine sighed, having sprayed the entire space with Luminol to reveal nothing. "There's a search out for the guy who owns the house, Timothy Markson - until he's found for us to question, we can only take the evidence back to the lab to process." She turned to face me.

I reached out and brushed a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear, "Let me take you to bed first."

Catherine's eyes lit up at my words, "I wish you would."

The drive across Vegas was quiet, 4am on a Thursday obviously wasn't a popular time to be out. My heart pounded in my chest at the realization of what was about to occur. I was thankful that the drive to my apartment was a short one and soon we were parked up outside my building and in the lift up to the fifth floor. I glanced at Catherine as I slid my key into the front door and she smiled at me. I smiled back, taking her hand in mine and pushing open the door.

I opened my mouth to introduce her to my apartment, but she had already pulled me close to her, closing the front door behind us, and crushing my lips with hers. I moaned at the hunger of her kiss and reveled in the feeling of her fingers on my black shirt, releasing the buttons in lighting speed to reveal my black bra. I felt my breakfast bar hit the bottom of my back as she pushed me up against it, her lips leaving mine to make their way down my body, sucking hard on my neck before she properly removed my shirt and bra and took one of my nipples in her mouth.

"Oh god, Catherine." I breathed at the sensation of her hot tongue flicking over my nipple before she paid the same attention to the other.

My whole body ached for her as she dropped to her knees and started to place kisses around my belly button, her fingers working on my jeans. "Bed." I muttered, bringing her up to her feet. I kissed her hard, taking the few steps in to my bedroom before pushing her back on to the bed. I stripped myself of my jeans, socks and boots before straddling her. My tongue fought with hers for control, her fingers playing with my hard nipples.

"Do you have any idea how crazy you've driven me?" I asked, pulling away from our kiss to pull her t-shirt over her head. I moaned at the sight of her lace bra, and she slid one of her legs around me to pull me closer to her, my lips falling to her breasts. Her thigh greeted the inside of my thighs and my hips met the rhythm she created with hers, the grind of her body against my own nearly sending me over the edge then and there, but I wanted to taste her.

I slid myself down her body and slipped her panties down her long tanned legs before parting them gently. I blew gently over her and watched as she writhed at my teasing. "Do you want me?" I asked.

"Oh god, yes." she breathed.

I glanced over her naked body as she lay on my bed. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I couldn't believe we were here, like this, the moonlight that broke through my bedroom curtains casting the bed in a mixture of milky white light and shadow. I slid my tongue between her folds and relished in the moan she produced from my actions. I let my tongue slide up and down her several times as slowly as I could bear to put her through, before my lips sucked on her center. She tasted like heaven.

Her fingers entwined in my hair as I slid my tongue inside of her. The sweet, guttural sounds she was making were sending shivers across my skin as I continued my actions.

"Make me cum, Sara, please." she begged.

I couldn't deny her any longer. My tongue flicked over her center repeatedly before I sucked hard on her again. I felt her body contract against mine and words spilled from her mouth as she arched from the bed, her fingers still inter-weaved in my hair, pulling me closer into her.

I watched as her body slowly settled back down, her eyes opening to stare at the dark ceiling. Her fingers slid out of my hair and fell by her side and I pushed myself up the bed to kiss her gently.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

She nodded, trailing a finger down between my breasts and across my stomach. She stopped at the start of my panties, "These need to come off."

I was soaking wet for her, my center was pulsating hard and my release couldn't come quick enough. She slid my panties off of my body and took one of my nipples in her mouth as her fingers teasingly made their way south from my stomach, eventually she slipped a finger into my wet folds and I moaned in appreciation.

Her single finger was quickly joined by another one and she dragged them back and forth across my center before plunging them deep inside me.

"Fuck... Catherine..." my eyes slammed shut with the pleasure she was causing me and she pumped her fingers into my wetness.

Her lips soon joined her fingers, her tongue focused on my center as her fingers continued to fuck me, hard.

I spread my legs further out as I felt my release building inside me like. Her fingers curled inside me, dragging their way out before pushing back in me, the continued intensity quickly sending me nearer and nearer to the edge. My fingers grabbed the bedsheets around me as I felt a third finger enter me and with a last flick of her tongue I came with a forcefulness I didn't know existed within me.

My breath was ragged as she slipped her body around mine.

I wanted to say a million things to her but I was unable to form words, my whole body still coming down from my high. We stayed in silence for a few minutes before Catherine spoke.

"Sara?"

"Yes?" I looked down at her, her head resting on my shoulder, my arm wrapped around her waist.

"I think I'm falling in love with you."

"I fell in love with you a long time ago, honey. You have no idea how happy it makes me that you're by my side."

Catherine smiled at me and we shared a few seconds more of peace, before she said what I was knew was coming "We better get back to work."