--
Nick was the first to notice Sara's difficulty sitting, even though technically it should have been Greg, since he already knew she'd agreed to let Catherine go at her.
"What the hell's the matter with you, Sara?" Nick finally asked when he'd had enough of her squirming in her chair.
That brought things to Greg's attention, and his lips split into a wide grin, but he said nothing. It was one thing to know, it was another thing to tell, and he wanted to remain living thank you very much.
Catherine, however, had no such qualms. "What, you forgot yesterday's conversation already, Nicky? Some investigator you are."
Nick's jaw dropped. "You spanked her? She said yes?"
"Hello, I'm right here, can I not answer questions for myself?" Sara piped up, waving a hand first in Catherine's face, then Nick's. "Yes, I said yes. You should try it, it's quite amazing."
"Yeah no thanks," Nick said, looking slightly disgusted.
"Square," Sara coughed under her breath, just as Catherine muttered 'pussy' under hers.
"Call me what you want, you're not getting your hands on this prime piece of ass," Nick said, shaking his head and snatching the newspaper right out of Sara's hands.
Sara watched the newspaper go with a scandalized look on her face. "I was reading that."
Nick snorted and turned the page. "Yeah, right. You were too busy dancing in your seat there to be reading anything."
Sara snatched the paper back and ripped it in half. "For your information, I was reading it, and even if I wasn't, you'd have no right to grab it from me," she snapped.
Catherine and Warrick could sense a storm brewing, and they both stepped in. "Nick, man, what's the deal?" Warrick asked, as Catherine laid a hand on Sara's shoulder.
"Hey gorgeous... my office?"
Sara turned and frowned at her. "You don't have an office, Catherine."
"I use the little girls' room. Come on."
Sara managed a smirk as she followed Catherine into the bathroom. "Nice office."
Catherine grinned and locked the door, then twirled a finger at Sara to indicate she should turn around. "Let's see the damage."
"You're not serious, you want me to drop my pants at work?" Sara asked, both eyebrows shooting up.
"The janitorial service works days. Nobody else has a key to my office. Now drop 'em, Sidle."
Sara actually laughed, and after another few seconds of indecision, she turned around and lowered her pants and underwear. Catherine's wolf-whistle made her blush.
"Hot damn, girl."
"Yeah, I know. I looked in the mirror before I left the house." The lower half of her ass had been almost entirely black and blue at that time, and she wouldn't imagine it looked any different now. That had been just a few hours ago.
"All right, I won't torture you by touching it."
"Gee thanks." Sara rolled her eyes as she pulled up her pants and underwear. She turned around to face Catherine, buttoning and zipping the jeans, then a frown creased her brows again. "What do you think Nick's problem is?"
"Who knows," Catherine shrugged, shaking her head. "Could be jealous. Could be closed-minded. Could be protective of you. There's a ton of could be's. Just shake it off and hope Grissom doesn't partner you up."
--
Sara got paired up with Warrick, and Catherine with Nick. The blonde didn't mind... she'd get the truth out of him one way or another.
"DB in the middle of the desert, no fluids," Nick announced when they finished glossing over the body, wiping sweat from his brow caused by the early morning sun. They'd only been outside for five minutes, but that was long enough to start sweating. Everything was dry as a bone out there, including the body. He looked at Phillips. "Preliminary COD?"
Phillips shook his head. "Nope, have to get him back to the morgue. I see no open wounds, and like you said, no fluids. No blood means no obvious COD until I do the autopsy."
Catherine nodded, slowly standing up and wiping her brow with the back of her wrist. "No bugs, no animals... can't have been out here long. No footprints, no tire treads, nothing. What the hell happened? And what do you think he might be hunched over?"
"It looks like he's trying to hide something, don't you think?" Nick asked, pointing at the vic's body positioning.
"Only one way to find out," Catherine grinned. "Take him away, David. Let's see what lies beneath."
As the body was moved onto a gurney, both Catherine and Nick stared in disbelief at what was revealed - a hole in the ground. They both had their flashlights shining down it in under two seconds.
"A ladder," Catherine observed. "You wanna go first, or should I?"
"Be my guest. I'll cover you."
"All righty then," Catherine said, taking a deep breath and putting her flashlight in her pocket. She carefully climbed onto the ladder and started descending down the shaft, the way lit by Nick's flashlight. "It's pretty far down here, Nick," she called back up. "I can't even see the floor yet! But I can hear music coming from below!"
"Music?" Nick called back. "What kind of music?"
"Something with a mean bass beat!"
"Dance music? Are you serious? All right hang on, wait for me, I'll catch up and we'll go down together!"
"Call Grissom for backup first, would ya? Just in case," Catherine yelled, then waited until Nick was right above her before she continued to climb down. "Great, now we have no light."
"Hang on, testy, I got it," Nick said, taking his light back out of his pocket and shining it down into Catherine's eyes.
"Hey, watch it," Catherine tossed back, averting her eyes from the bright beam and making her way further down.
When they finally reached the end of the ladder, it was a short jump to the floor, and they hit it one after another, the soft thump of their boots echoing throughout the large underground room. "That must've been a quarter mile," Nick guessed, looking back up through the hole. He looked back down when he heard Catherine's gasp.
The blonde was shining her flashlight around in amazement. Pictures on the walls. Furniture. A bar. A lot of empty and half-empty glasses, some still with ice. "What in the hell," Catherine breathed.
"Holy shit," Nick echoed her sentiment, shining his light around as well. "We gotta wait for backup. This is weird."
"I have a feeling we're gonna need everybody on this. Look at the amount of abandoned drinks in here. And the size of this room? Who knows how many people we're gonna find wherever that music's coming from."
"Well, Gris should be here any minute, let's climb back up and wait for him, then tackle this thing together."
"Yep."
It was easy to get back on the ladder and climb up, much easier than climbing down without knowing where you were going to end up.
"Maybe we should've stayed down there. It's cooler down there," Nick complained, taking a seat in the dirt.
Catherine sat next to him and nudged him with her elbow. "Baby." She looked sideways and caught his grin. After a brief pause, she ventured into the topic of earlier that morning. "So what was your issue with Sara?"
"Nothin, man," Nick said defensively, his smile vanishing as soon as she started the question.
"From where I'm sitting it wasn't nothing, and you're sitting right next to me Nick. What's up?"
"All right, fine. I don't like that Lady Heather woman, and I don't like that you're gonna work at her place. Further, I don't like that you dragged Sara into it, either."
"Excuse me, but weren't you the one I heard saying 'take one for the team, Sara'?"
"Catherine, I was joking. I thought you were too."
"Well I wasn't. Next issue, you don't even know Lady Heather. What's not to like?"
"Oh come on, Catherine. She makes money off of other people's pain. It should be illegal."
"Why? Because you don't agree with it?"
"Well yeah!" Nick yelled frustratedly, then ran his hands through his short hair and sighed. "No. Because it's wrong."
"It's wrong according to... you," Catherine pointed out. "My opinion, Sara's opinion, Lady Heather's clients' opinions, none of those matter? Just yours?"
"You're twisting my words," Nick shook his head.
"No I'm not, but I wish I was," Catherine said with a sad smile. "I had no idea you were so judgmental, Nicky."
"I'm not judgmental, a woman died working for her for God's sake Cat!"
Understanding dawned on Catherine, and her irritation deflated. She looked at Nick for a long moment before finishing his unfinished thought. "And you don't want me to be next."
Nick didn't say anything, he just folded his hands on his knees and stared off into the horizon. Anything he might have said after that was interrupted by the arrival of Grissom, Warrick and Sara.
"You owe her an apology."
Nick sighed again and stood up. "Yeah. I know."
"Sara, Warrick, Nick, you three down first. Catherine and I will follow in a minute."
Catherine raised an eyebrow, walking over to Grissom as the other three descended the ladder. Once they were all out of sight, Gil turned to Catherine with a worried frown on his face.
"What's up, boss?"
"I think Sara might be on drugs."
"What?" Nothing could have been further from what she might possibly have expected Gil to say at that moment. She did that little 'what the fuck?' head shake and squinted her eyes at him. "Why?"
"I've never known Sara to be restless, at least not physically, and never on a case. But she would *not* sit still the entire ride out here."
There was a split-second void before Catherine burst out laughing, patting Gil on the shoulder. "She's not on drugs, Gil. Don't worry." And with that, she disappeared down the ladder shaft.
"What does that mean?" Grissom asked himself after Catherine was gone and he was standing alone in the middle of the desert. He took a moment to attempt a decryption, but gave up quickly and followed his CSIs down the hole.
Several minutes later, the five of them were standing in the cavernous underground chamber that Nick and Catherine had discovered a half-hour earlier. The beat of the music had changed, but not the type.
"So, in this situation, do we need a warrant?" Sara asked after everyone had been standing around staring for a short while.
"We don't even know if there's a crime yet," Grissom answered, pulling on a pair of gloves. "Glove up anyway and have a look around. Don't touch anything."
The other four put gloves on, and they split up, looking around the room. "Hey Gris? Look at these glasses... what does that look like?" Sara called, pointing to a thick, dark red liquid staining one of the glasses. As she looked around, she noticed it on every single glass in the room. "Uh, guys?"
Everyone else looked where Sara had been looking, and then they all looked at each other.
"What the hell did you stumble on here?" Sara finally asked Nick and Catherine, shining her flashlight directly into a pool of the viscous fluid. She leaned down and took a tentative inhale, then made a face and stood back up. "It's blood."
"Are you sure?" Grissom asked in that way of his.
"No, wait, let me see... it's lemonade," Sara replied sarcastically. "Of course I'm sure. Smell it."
"No, thank you."
Catherine moved up behind Sara and subtly pinched her ass as she leaned down to take a whiff of the 'drink'.
Sara shrieked, her hands flying to her ass to rub it gingerly. "Ow, Cat! What the hell?"
Catherine grinned and stood back up, nodding an affirmative to Sara's preliminary findings. "Yep. It's blood. Mixed with something, but definitely blood."
Nick narrowed his eyes at the women briefly, then his expression changed to curious calculation. "Why would there be dozens of glasses half-full of blood in an underground room in the middle of the desert?"
Catherine continued the thought. "A quarter mile beneath a dead guy with no visible signs of blood loss."
"Yeah, what are we looking at here?" Warrick jumped in.
"There's something in there," Catherine spoke up, having squatted down to be eye-level with Sara's glass. "Come on, Gil... let me touch."
"No."
"Too bad." She already had her tweezers out and proceeded to extract some kind of bug from the glass. "It's a bug."
"Put that back!" Grissom freaked out slightly.
Catherine snickered as she dropped the bug back into the glass and cleaned off her tweezers, tucking them away.
"Lipstick on some of the glasses suggests that people are drinking the bug blood," Sara pointed out, tilting her head to the side in contemplation.
"Oh come on," Nick snorted.
"What?" Sara asked defensively. "Look at the trace on that glass. It dripped toward the lipstick mark when it was tilted up, then dripped back down when it was put on the table."
"Whatever, they're not drinking the blood," Nick insisted.
Sara had finally had enough, and she blew a fuse. "Jesus, Nick, what's wrong with you? You can't see beyond your own narrow interpretation of reality? Just because you don't do it, then it can't be done?"
"Listen, Spanky, just because I--"
Grissom interrupted. "Spanky?" Flashback to Sara in the car. Flashback to the conversation before shift the previous night. Flash forward to the present, and understanding hit him full in the face, leaving him slack-jawed.
"Hey," Catherine snapped. "Potential crime scene. Save it for later. Get your guns out, and let's go crash a party."
"Don't mention the bug," Grissom warned. "We don't want anyone to know you already touched." He gave Catherine a *look*.
"What are you gonna do, Gil, spank me?" Catherine threw over her shoulder with a grin, winking at him before cocking her weapon and heading toward the music.
"Would it surprise you to know that I spanked Lady Heather?" Grissom countered in that infuriatingly casual tone of his.
Catherine tripped and went crashing into Warrick, who in turn stumbled into Nick and Sara, who were heading up the group.
"Hey, easy on the ass!" Sara complained loudly, turning sideways to keep her bruises out of harm's way.
"Would you stop talking about your ass?" Nick asked frustratedly. "You're making me tempted to kick it."
"Fuck you, square boy," Sara shot back. "You don't have the balls."
"Would you keep moving?" Warrick prodded them both after steadying Catherine and glancing suspiciously at the lack of obstructions on the floor behind him. What the hell had she tripped over?
Sara and Nick were still in the front, and their argument escalated to the point that they didn't even realize they'd stepped out of the maze of hallways and into the room that had been playing the music... until they realized that the music had stopped and it was eerily silent apart from their bickering. They both stopped yelling and stared at the sea of faces staring back at them.
Sara spoke first. "Uh, hi."
A voice rung out from the middle of the crowd. "Who are you?"
"Yeah, I think the more important question is who are *you*, and what are you all doing down here?" Sara replied.
"I asked first," the voice persisted.
It was at that moment Sara noticed all the insect specimens adorning the walls and ceiling. Apparently Gil noticed it too, because he stepped up beside her, looking around in awe. "We're from the Las Vegas crime lab. Your doorman had a problem," he informed the group at large.
"What sort of problem?"
"Death."
"Excuse me?" Now the voice was closer, and a man emerged from the crowd, concern creasing his brows. "There must be some mistake."
"No, there's no mistake. How do you think we got in?" Gil asked.
"You killed Jimmy?" the man asked, clearly alarmed, especially when his eyes fell on the gun in Catherine's hands. "Look, we're peaceful people, take what you want..."
"What?" Gil asked, and it was the closest to shocked that any of his team had ever seen him. "You think we... no, I said we're from the crime lab. We were called out to a dead body who happened to be your doorman. We didn't kill anybody."
Catherine couldn't hide her amused smirk as she safetied and sheathed her weapon. "We're not here to rob ya. We might arrest you though, depending on what we find. Now who are all you people?"
"We're an entomological society," the fearful man identified his group.
Grissom looked as though he'd been slapped. "Why don't I know about this?"
Sara bit her lip in an attempt to fight down her grin. "Guess you're a geek even in the bug world, Gris."
Grissom was not amused, and he slowly turned his eyes on her. "Shut up, Spanky."
Sara didn't think her mouth could fall open any further than it did at that moment. She just stared at him as he moved away to talk to the society man in private.
"Well, he told you," Catherine drawled as she walked past, throwing a dazzling smile Sara's way.
Sara just stood there, until a sleek, well-dressed woman approached her and laid a hand on her arm. "He doesn't normally say things like that, does he?" she inquired in a far too intimate tone.
Far too intimate for Catherine's liking, anyway, and she buzzed over to the pair, sliding an arm around Sara's waist and raising an eyebrow at the society woman. "Hands off, lady."
The woman raised an eyebrow back. "I don't see any marks."
Catherine tugged Sara closer, giving a soft snort in response. "The marks are all over her ass. Now get lost."
"Why don't you let her speak for herself?" the woman bristled, obviously not liking Catherine's response.
Sara stuttered, caught completely off-guard by the whole situation and having no idea what to say. "I, I-I-I, it's, I..."
Catherine smirked, kissing Sara's blushing cheek and turning to the society woman with a twinkle in her eyes. "Don't make me get physical. You'll lose."
"What makes you think that?"
"I have a gun."
"Point taken. Bitch," she sneered, giving Sara a parting once-over before she finally walked away.
Sara turned to Catherine. "That was *so* embarrassing."
Catherine's grin couldn't get any wider. "I know. You're really cute when you stutter. And that blush is to die for. Think they have a bathroom in here?"
"For what?"
"What do you mean for what? What do you think?" Catherine asked with a laugh.
"You want to look for trace evidence."
"Uh, no."
"You... need to pee."
"No. Are you playing dumb, Sidle?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Because I'm not gonna have sex with you on the clock, Cat."
Catherine was saved from having to decide whether or not to protest, because Gil's phone rang, and all four CSIs headed over to the boss.
"Grissom."
They watched as he got information from whoever was on the line.
"Okay, thanks Doc." Gil hung up and looked at his team. "Tox screen negative, COD cirrhosis. No foul play."
Catherine raised an eyebrow. "So these guys are off the hook? What about the--"
Gil interrupted her loudly. "YES, Catherine. They're off the hook." He gave her another *look*.
"Well, I want to look around. It's a little suspicious to have a secret entomological society underground in the middle of the desert," Catherine said flippantly. "Did you get permission from the other bug man?"
"As a matter of fact, I did," Gil said with a nod.
"Great. I'll start with the other room," Catherine grinned triumphantly. She fully intended to nail someone for drinking bug blood. If she could find a way to make that illegal.
"No you won't," Grissom said with a smile that was meant to be placating, but just pissed Catherine off. "I didn't say *you* had permission to look around, I said *I* have permission."
Catherine looked at him as if he were off his nut. "Are you serious?"
"No, go ahead," he chuckled, finding himself incredibly amusing.
Catherine just stared at him for a good thirty seconds and then shook her head, walking back to the hallway, and then into the first room again. She swabbed each glass's rim, took a sample of the contents of each glass, and bagged the bugs from each glass. There was nothing else of interest in the room, at least not until she got the current samples to the lab and got results.
Upon returning to the dance room, or whatever the hell you want to call it, Catherine was rather surprised to see Sara chatting with flirty lady. She really didn't like that woman... something about her gave Catherine the creeps, and it was this creepy feeling that caused her to pull her gun as she walked over to break it up a second time. "Beat it," she barked, and the lady immediately put her hands up and started to back away. "Come near her again and I'll shoot your tits off, you get me?"
Nick, Grissom, and Warrick stopped what they were doing and stared, open-mouthed, at Catherine. Sara couldn't remember ever blushing so hard. Seriously. Ever.
The woman nodded, clearly believing Catherine's threat, and when she was far enough away, Catherine holstered her gun and grabbed Sara by the arm. "You. Come with me. I found a bathroom off the main room up front."
Sara allowed herself to be dragged through the hallway and into the front room, mostly because she was still trying to decide whether she liked the way Catherine was behaving. She decided she did. No one had ever wanted her enough to threaten someone with a gun, and Catherine's actions were stirring a familiar sensation deep in her stomach.
Catherine pulled Sara into the bathroom and locked the deadbolt behind them. "I thought I was pretty clear on how I felt about that woman."
"Yeah, and?"
"Smart-ass again, are we?" Catherine shook her head. She stepped forward, closing the distance between them, and her hands went to the button of Sara's jeans.
"You can't really be planning to spank me for this," Sara protested as she moved her hands out of the way, letting Catherine undo her pants.
"Why not, Sidle?"
"Because my ass is covered in bruises and I already can't sit. Gil thinks I'm on drugs."
That got a snort of laughter from Catherine as she pushed Sara's jeans over her hips and down to her knees. "Bend over the sink and hold on," she cautioned. "I'm not aiming for your ass."
"What the hell are you aiming for then?" Sara asked, even as she moved to the sink and bent over, grabbing onto the edges.
"Your thighs." SMACK!
"Ow!" Sara shot upright in surprise, turning around to pout at Catherine. "You just want a reason to hit me. I didn't do anything."
Catherine bit her lip to stifle a chuckle, looking away from Sara's adorable expression. "Get back over there, Sidle..."
"Catherine, look at my face. This is me trying to charm you, and it might never happen again, so you probably shouldn't look away."
"I'll look at you when you're bent over the sink, little miss."
"So unfair," Sara muttered to herself as she turned back around and bent over the sink again, continuing to grumble until Catherine smacked her other thigh. She stopped complaining and bit back a moan. It stung. She could feel the transfer of Catherine's skin to hers each time her palm connected. She gripped the sink tighter with each blow, her eyes rolled back a little, her head dropped forward between her shoulders, the tips of her hair brushing the basin of the sink.
When she opened her eyes, she blinked. "Catherine, hand me a swab."
Catherine pulled a swab from her vest and handed it over, then smacked Sara's bottom once for good measure before returning the welcome assault to her thighs. She didn't care what the brunette wanted it for, and handing it over quickly would mean less interruption to her spanking.
Sara groaned in pain at the swat to her ass, jamming the swab into the drain. But Catherine quickly went back to spanking her thighs, and that was delicious. She loved having Catherine on her in any form. She swabbed the drain amidst a few more smacks and moans, then capped the lid and handed it back to the blonde.
"What is it?" Catherine asked, tucking it back in her pocket and raking her fingernails lightly over Sara's panties, delighting in the bent-over woman's shiver.
"Blood."
"I hope you didn't drool in there," Catherine offered, sliding her palms back and forth over Sara's bright red thighs.
"I don't drool, okay? My hair touched the basin, but not near the drain." She enjoyed the soothing sensation that the rubbing provided, and let her eyelids flutter closed. When Catherine finally stopped rubbing and pulled her pants up, she turned around. "I got a question for you, Cat."
"Shoot," Catherine consented as she did up Sara's zipper and popped the button back through the buttonhole.
"Thanks," Sara nodded to her pants, then placed her hands on the sink behind her and leaned back against it. "So, you learned all this stuff from Lady Heather, right? You said she spanked you? Well, you said it felt really good to get spanked, you didn't say it was her, but that's not the point."
Catherine regarded Sara for a moment and then nodded. "That's right."
"Can I ask like, what else you guys did?"
One corner of Catherine's mouth tried to twitch into a smirk. "You can ask, I might not answer."
Sara thought she *had* just asked, but she picked her battles and this wasn't one of them, so she asked again. "What else did you guys do? I just, I'm interested in your whole experience, what it felt like for you."
Sometimes Sara was too cute for her own good, and the way she was looking at Catherine just then was one of those times. Her nose scrunched up like it always was when she asked a question she was hesitant about asking. The blonde smiled, lifting a hand to Sara's face and stroking her cheek as she leaned in to give her a kiss. "Well, first she spanked me, and I gotta hand it to you Sidle, you take much more than I could." The look of proud surprise on Sara's face was precious, and Catherine kissed her again.
"I do?"
"Yeah, you do." She waited a minute, then continued with the story. "She told me I did good, and made me get on my hands and knees on the bed so she could use her dick. I fucked that up by trying to take control, so she tied me up and teased me til I cried and begged. But when she finally made me cum? It was. Fucking. Amazing."
Sara stared at her hands, blushing hotly at the image Catherine's words created in her mind, unable to look at her colleague while she fished for more information. "She, she made you cry, and beg? Like, how, exactly?"
Catherine's lips split into a wide grin. "You want to know what I said?"
"Well, you know, mayb-- yes, I do."
Catherine's grin turned wicked. "Well... she pushed my thighs apart and promised to whip me if I didn't keep them spread, and then she licked me. And I said, 'please, Lady Heather', but she teased me, Sara. She teased me until I screamed." She adopted a low, lilting voice to portray Lady Heather's part of the conversation. "Catherine, do I need to untie you?" Then she imitated her own breathy tone. "No, Lady Heather. Please, don't untie me. I'll stop."
Sara's breathing was far from normal, imagining the scene playing out in her head. Talk about teasing... Catherine's voice dynamics felt like a physical caress. "You uh... you were bad, Cat?" she finally asked, a twinkle in those dark chocolate eyes as she looked up at Catherine.
Catherine nodded, her tongue poking out from between her teeth. "I was." A beat, then, "don't get any ideas. You're in enough trouble already."
"I didn't do anything," Sara argued, pushing off of the sink to stand up straight. "I maintain my innocence in this matter. You have no proof that I even said a word to miss high and flirty."
Catherine stared at her, looking right through her, and then smirked. "The proof is in your eyes. You talked to her."
Sara showed off her gap-toothed smile. "You'll never know."
Catherine grabbed her by a handful of hair and kissed her, hard. No spot inside of Sara's mouth went untouched by her tongue. When she pulled back, they were both breathing heavy, and Sara's eyes were starting to glaze over with desire. "Yes I will. You'll tell me."
"Jesus, Catherine. I just said hi, that's all. You already punished me."
"I spanked you, I didn't punish you. It's hardly a punishment if you enjoy it so much you soak your panties."
"Oh my God. Shut up."
Catherine cackled gleefully, capturing Sara's lips again as the door opened to reveal Gil with a cocked eyebrow.
Sara stuttered, turning bright red for the hundredth time that day, staring at Gil. "No. We locked the door," she shook her head.
Gil grinned, lifting his hand to reveal a set of keys dangling from one finger.
Catherine cleared her throat and smoothed her hands over the front of her slacks. "We got a swab. Blood in the sink."
"That sink? The one Sara was just bent over?"
"How did you know I was bent over it?"
"You just told me."
"Fucker!" Sara cursed under her breath, glaring at Catherine.
"Yeah, that sink," Catherine drawled.
"No," Gil stated simply. "Don't even run it."
"What? It's a good swab, Sara was not *in* the sink, Gil."
"You don't want to chance it," Gil insisted.
"If it comes back a match to Sara, we'll throw it out. But it won't."
"Catherine, I said no."
Catherine was about to get pissed, but Sara tilted her head to the side and approached Gil slowly. "What do you know that you're not telling, Bug Man?"
"Yeah," Catherine now added suspiciously. "You got a date with the head of the cult?"
"No, Catherine," Gil said calmly, that infuriating smile still plastered on his face. "I'm not quite as gay as you apparently are." And he left the bathroom, leaving the two women staring after him, wondering if they really ever knew him at all. Then they both laughed.
As their laughter faded, Sara suddenly got shy and found a spot on the floor to analyze with her eyes. "So, I don't want to ride back with Grissom."
"Ohhh, I see baby, are you trying to say you want to ride back with me?"
Baby? Sara's head shot up, her brown eyes wide, searching Catherine's face for any clues that might tell her where that term of endearment had come from, and whether or not Catherine regretted it now that she'd said it. But there was only a coy smirk and twinkling eyes, which gave away nothing. "Uhhh, I think I hear Greg calling me."
"Greg's not here."
"Damn." Now what the hell was she supposed to say? "You know, if you don't see me safely back to the lab, there's always the possibility that some bug lady could find me and start flirting," she slowly said, letting her words trail off at the end.
Catherine fought it but the rumbling laugh escaped anyway. "Go get in the fucking car."
--
"I'm not going in there," Sara stated flatly, shaking her head and gripping her seatbelt as if she were afraid of Catherine physically dragging her from the car.
Catherine shrugged and handed over the keys. "Okay. You can take the car back and I'll ask Lady Heather to loan me a sub."
Sara snapped her eyes to Catherine. "Did I say I wasn't going in? I meant let's go."
Catherine snatched the keys back and got out of the car. When Sara was out too, Catherine was at her side, taking her hand and leading her toward Lady Heather's domain.
Heather answered the door and smiled to see Catherine. "Hello Kitty Cat," she offered in greeting, then flicked her eyes to Sara. "And who is this lovely, petulant lady?"
"I'm not petulant," Sara spoke up without missing a beat. "That's my normal expression."
"Wipe it off your face before you enter my domain," Heather replied smoothly, also without missing a beat, as she stepped back to allow the ladies inside.
Sara turned to Catherine, that petulantly un-petulant frown on her face. "She's not touching me, right?"
"Watch yourself, Sidle," Catherine grinned. "Smile and get inside."
Sara spared one more childish look at Lady Heather before plastering a fake smile on her face and stepping over the threshhold.
"Sara," Catherine barked, stepping in behind her and swatting her ass firmly. "Knock it off."
Heather was an expert at hiding her reactions to things, and now was no exception as she kept her amusement carefully concealed.
Sara thought that if she acted like an ass, maybe Lady Heather would eject them from the facility. But as she rationalized her behavior, she realized that it would be easy for Heather to let Catherine stay. And she didn't want that. As much as Catherine had been possessive of her back at bug central, she felt a twinge of the same in Lady Heather's foyer, ridiculous as it was. But she did not want Catherine learning the ropes on anyone else, at least not today. "I'm not a submissive," she blurted out, seemingly for no reason at all.
Both Catherine and Lady Heather looked at her, each raising a perfectly sculpted brow. Lady Heather spoke first, not to Sara, but to Catherine. "Now that that's cleared up, follow me."
As soon as no one was looking at her, Sara made a disgusted face at herself. Way to go, Sidle. No one asked you if you were a submissive. You definitely just threw yourself on the proverbial train tracks with that one. She trailed along behind Catherine and Lady Heather, and when she was unable to take the awkwardness she felt any longer, she reached out and snagged ahold of one of Catherine's back belt loops.
Catherine felt the pull, and without stopping or turning around, she reached one hand behind her and up into Sara's hair, lightly squeezing as they walked. It wasn't the most comfortable way to walk, but comfort was a minor concern at this point. Soon enough, they were in Lady Heather's bedroom on the top floor, and she released Sara's hair, pointing to a chair against the wall beside the bed. "Go sit down, Spanky."
Sara's eyes flashed, and she flicked one corner of her mouth up for a split second before doing as she was told. "I swear, Catherine, if you start calling me that..."
Lady Heather looked at Catherine. "You have your hands full with this one."
Catherine grinned. "Tell me about it."
Sara waved from her seat. "Hey, I *am* still in the room."
Heather glanced her way almost disdainfully. "Does your own medicine taste bitter?"
"I'm a little out of my element here, okay?" Sara defended herself. "Cut me some slack."
Heather laughed, turning to Catherine, who was blushing slightly. "That sounds familiar."
The blonde rolled her eyes. "Oh fuck off," she muttered with a chuckle.
The discipline she received was so swift and immediate that it left her breathless, her cheek stinging hotly from the slap, tears brimming in her wide blue eyes.
Sara yelped and nearly jumped out of her chair, having no idea what to say or do in this situation. If Catherine looked at her, she'd get up and kick Heather's ass, that was for sure, but Catherine didn't seem angry. And Sara didn't know any of the rules, other than that Catherine was essentially her boss while they were here. She didn't want to fuck up *too* badly by jumping in when Catherine didn't want her to.
"Our relationship may be casual, but you will never, ever speak to me like that, in my home or elsewhere," Heather said sternly, wrapping one hand around the back of Catherine's neck and forcefully pushing her face-down onto the bed, holding her there. "Apologize."
"I'm sorry," Catherine gasped, and she really was. Not only had she been slapped, but she had been slapped for something she should have known better than to say... and worst of all, she had been slapped in front of Sara. Heather's hand on the back of her neck was unyielding. The fabric of the Lady's comforter was trying to invade her mouth.
"Apologize correctly."
Her entire body trembled as she repeated the apology. "I'm sorry, Lady Heather."
Heather lifted Catherine from the bed and turned her to face Sara. "Now apologize to Sara for making me do that in front of her."
Catherine's jaw worked as she stared at a very intrigued and confused Sara. "I..." she started to say, but trailed off, getting lost in those deep brown eyes. She could feel Heather stiffen behind her, but when the dominatrix spoke, her voice was soft and calm.
"If you cannot respect her enough to apologize to her as you did to me, then you have no business topping her."
It only took Catherine a micro-second to realize that Heather was absolutely right, and not only did she apologize to Sara, but she got on her knees to do it. "I'm sorry, Sara. I'm sorry for needing discipline when I'm supposed to be teaching *you*."
Sara didn't really know what to say, but she had to say something to that. Catherine on her knees wasn't your everyday experience. "You, you're not really supposed to be teaching me, I'm just here to... help you get ready for your new job, that's-- that's all, right?"
"Yeah," Catherine said quickly. Too quickly. She didn't mean it exactly, but she wanted Sara's attention on anything other than her burning cheek. Right then she felt like everyone in the world was staring at the side of her face.
Heather curled a hand into Catherine's hair and tugged her to her feet. She then looked directly at Sara. "I'll need to see your ass, please."
"Uh, no."
A dark brow lifted, she turned Catherine to face her. "I thought you said she was willing?"
Catherine flushed, wanting to look at Sara, but Heather had a tight hold. She didn't know what to say. "I thought she was..."
Sara got pissed, not liking to see Catherine being treated like that, and she pushed out of her chair, standing toe-to-toe with Heather. "I am willing, I just don't like you," she said with a frown. "Catherine didn't do anything wrong."
Heather found the protectiveness to be charming, but as was her penchant, she hid it well, releasing Catherine's hair and speaking in a neutrally even voice. "Perhaps the two of you would like a few moments alone to talk things out," she suggested.
Sara gave her a patronizing smile. "That'd be great." She waited for Heather to leave the room, but the Lady just stood with her hands behind her back. "Well?"
Heather returned Sara's patronizing smile. "There's the door," she said with a nod toward it. "Were you under the impression that I'd be leaving my own bedroom to allow you a little tantrum in it?"
Catherine held up a hand between them. She was a little pissed. Whirling on Sara, she furrowed her brows and asked, "if you weren't going to cooperate, why did you agree to help me learn?"
Sara was stunned. "What? You can't be serious?" But apparently Catherine was, so she continued, a tinge of outrage lining her words. "I agreed because I like the way you spanked me... I didn't think I was going to have to drop my pants at some, you know, bitchy stranger's whim."
Heather bristled almost imperceptibly. "For your information, young lady, I intended to go over the placement of your bruises with Catherine and make sure they were well-placed and not straying from the safe areas to hit."
"Young lady?" Sara asked, getting ready to launch into a tirade, but Catherine interrupted her.
"Sara? Zip it!"
Catherine had that look in her eye, wild and dangerous and full of promise, and Sara snapped her mouth shut, taking a seat on the bed behind her.
The blonde turned back to Lady Heather. "Lady Heather, I'm sorry. For my comment, and for Sara's behavior. On the phone you said you had a submissive available to instruct me on?"
"No!"
Both heads snapped to Sara, who had jumped up from the bed and was fumbling with the button of her jeans. Catherine smirked, watching Sara free the button and tug down the zipper.
"There," Sara offered, staring at her shoes.
Catherine started to move to her, but Heather subtly put a hand out to stop her. She addressed Sara, who still wasn't looking at either of them. "We're waiting."
"Waiting for what, exactly?" Still staring at her shoes.
Catherine caught on quickly and at Heather's slight nod, she answered Sara's question. "For you to present your ass to the Lady and myself."
"It's... that's just... I undid my pants for you," Sara blushed hotly. She made the mistake of glancing up, and saw two pairs of intense blue eyes focused on her. She spun around like a bat out of hell to face the wall, not wanting any more accidental glimpses of those penetrating gazes. "They're, you know, they're ready to come down, for you I mean, they're ready," she stammered. Smooth, Sidle. Bees and dogs can smell fear. So can sadists.
"That's wonderful news, but you will be taking them down, not Catherine, not myself," Heather said distinctively. "Now would be lovely."
"Well that's just fucking great," Sara muttered to herself under her breath, forcefully shoving her jeans and underwear down to her knees and leaning forward, bracing herself up with her forearms on the bed. The impressed hum from behind her did not go unnoticed.
Heather was duly impressed. "Nice work, Kitty Cat," she exclaimed, stepping forward and stopping just behind Sara. "Sara, I'm going to lightly touch a few of the bruises while I speak to Catherine about them, is that acceptable to you?"
Well, at least Lady Heather said lightly and at least asked for permission and didn't just go pawing all over the place now that her ass was on display. "Yeah, whatever," she consented, trying to sound casual when in fact her stomach was doing flips about the entire situation.
Heather reached out and with one fingertip, gently traced the perimeter of the darkest bruise. "This is perfect," she told Catherine in a low, pleased voice. "Not too high, not too low, and not too far out toward her hips." She regarded the blonde's work for a moment longer and then added, "as a matter of fact, they are all well-placed."
Sara ground her teeth, not really knowing what to feel at the moment. So she just decided to be proud for Catherine about the praise her lover-- errrr, colleague-- was getting.
"I'll need to show you how to flog. Have you discussed specifics and limits with her?" Heather asked Catherine.
"Uh... no," Catherine admitted sheepishly.
Heather tilted her head to the side and regarded Catherine with a slightly raised brow. "No? So she is unaware of what may be asked of her?"
"It certainly seems that way," Catherine drolled.
Heather gave Catherine a look, not unlike the looks Grissom tended to give her when he was disappointed. "So it does," she agreed with the blonde's statement. "And as such, if she does not want to be flogged, you will be held responsible, Kitty Cat. You disappoint me. Why would you bring her into a daunting situation without discussing what to expect?"
Catherine was at a loss as to how to answer that. Finally she just blurted out the truth, as egotistical as it was. "Because she's Sara. I figured she'd just do whatever I wanted."
"Catherine Willows," Heather scolded her, appalled at Catherine's answer.
Sara didn't like where this seemed to be heading, so she spoke up quickly. "Whatever it is, just go ahead and do it," she consented.
"I'm sorry Sara, but it doesn't work that way. Consent needs to be informed consent. The submissive needs to know what he or she is agreeing to, and these decisions cannot be made on the spur of the moment."
"Well, I already said I'm not a submissive," Sara pointed out. "I'm just the practice dummy," she added in a mumble.
Catherine looked as if she'd been slapped... again. "Are you crazy, Sidle?" she asked, walking over to sit down next to the bent-over woman. "Is that really what you think?"
Sara shrugged. "Unless you tell me different, why wouldn't I?"
"Because I-- you-- we-- Jesus Sara, I don't know! I can't believe you think that!" Catherine stood up and started to pace back and forth in front of the brunette. "What the hell is going on here, you can't tell how much I like topping you, this is ridiculous..." she rambled, talking half to Sara and half to herself.
Sara turned her head around to look at Lady Heather. "Does my ass really still need to be on display for this?"
Heather swallowed a chuckle and moved forward, effortlessly pulling Sara's clothing back into place. "I think Catherine's met her match in you," she said with a small smile. "Just don't let her push you into anything you're not comfortable with." She leaned down to whisper her next piece of advice into Sara's ear, for only the brunette to hear. "Just because you love her doesn't give her the right to take advantage of you."
Sara shot upright off the bed, her eyes wide. "I don't love her!" she denied vehemently, yanking up her zipper and buttoning her pants. "I don't." She was shaking her head now, trying to convince herself. "No, I don't. We're just, you know, messing around. That's it."
Catherine was offended even though she knew that she and Sara didn't love each other. "Well let's just announce it to the world, shall we?" she said bitingly.
"Because it's not obvious?" Sara's eyebrows shot up as she stopped in front of Catherine, hands on her hips.
Catherine waved her hands in the air as she volleyed, "just because it's obvious doesn't mean we need to start screaming it from the rooftops."
"You know I don't get you, Cat," Sara said, her incredulity fading as she took a seat beside Catherine. "You've never gone out of your way to even be my friend, and now, well, now you're freaking out because I said I don't love you? What *is* that?"
"I'm not freaking out. If I was freaking out, you'd know."
"You're avoiding the question."
"Yes I am."
"Why? You don't love me, do you?" Sara asked fearfully, her eyes going wide.
Catherine laughed and slid a hand up Sara's back to tangle in her hair, pulling her in for a fierce kiss. When she pulled back, she shook her head. "No, it's not that. It's an ego thing."
Sara smirked and wiped a bit of Catherine-slobber from the corner of her mouth. "I do love the way you kiss, though."
The blonde didn't miss a beat. "And I love the way you take it." She was quiet for a second, and then asked, "so, are you amenable to being flogged?"
"What exactly is that? Exactly, I mean. I have a general idea, but, you know, exact would be good."
Catherine grinned, showing off her pearly white teeth. Sara was making her smile so much today... "It's a little hard to explain, *exactly*," she informed the brunette.
Lady Heather, who had been silently observing the banter between the two ladies, spoke up at that moment. "Since she did not take the time to prepare you for this afternoon, I'm sure that Catherine would be more than happy to offer her body as an exemplar." At the horrified look from the blonde, Heather smiled. "Shirt off, Kitty Cat."
Catherine grumbled and turned bright red as she stripped her shirt and bra off, folding them neatly and placing them on Heather's bureau.
"I'm not taking my shirt off," Sara frowned.
"That is between you and Catherine," Heather deferred.
Sara looked at Catherine, only momentarily distracted by the hard pink nipples begging to be sucked. "I'm not, Cat. I'll walk out the door and crawl back to the lab before I take my shirt off."
Catherine regarded her curiously, and she couldn't help but ask. "Why?"
"I don't like showing off my scars." Her face was set into a deep frown, her eyebrows furrowed as she continued to look at Catherine. "If you can't do it with my shirt on, then you can forget it."
Bright blue eyes stared into Sara's, trying to figure her out. But the maze of complexity made the attempt futile. "Sara, there's nothing to be ash--"
"Catherine," Heather interrupted smoothly, laying a hand on Catherine's bare shoulder. "Sara has just stated a hard limit. You need to respect that, and accept it without question."
"Oh," Catherine said, clearly wanting to push the issue, but falling silent with a nod of understanding.
Heather had selected an implement from her walk-in closet, and she now stood beside Sara, showing it to the CSI. "This is a flogger. The tails are deerskin, one of the softest leathers you'll ever find. As far as I know, Catherine has never felt the lash of a whip, and this is one is gentle compared to most of its counterparts."
Sara wasn't really sure what to say to that, but she sensed that a response was required, so she nodded. "Right on." Oh wow, that was bad.
Heather's nostrils flared slightly as she swallowed a snort of laughter, and she turned back to Catherine, whom she noted with some satisfaction had already taken a position against one wall with her hands pressed against it.
Sara's attention was drawn to Catherine at the same time Heather's was, and she watched the way her colleague's fair skin twitched beneath her shoulder blades. The roll of smooth muscle under flexing skin had Sara transfixed, until Lady Heather stepped up behind Catherine and obstructed her view. It was at that moment that Sara realized, Heather intended to strike Catherine's back. She should have known that as soon as Cat stripped out of her shirt, but for some reason it hadn't clicked at first. Now, she felt her heart start to beat faster, her palms started to sweat and a panic was rising up in her chest. Without speaking, she stood up and bolted from the room, not even bothering to close the bedroom door behind her. She had no idea where she was going... just that she had to get away.
Heather stepped back and was already holding out Catherine's shirt by the time the blonde turned around.
With a smile of gratitude, Catherine pulled on the shirt and took off after Sara, catching up to her in the foyer, where Sara was just about to open the front door. "Sara, wait up a second," she asked as she reached out a hand to stop her colleague from turning the door handle.
When Catherine's fingers brushed hers and settled on top of her hand, preventing her from opening the door, Sara yanked her hand away and stepped back, almost hissing at the blonde through clenched teeth, with tears streaming down her face. "Don't touch me right now Catherine!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry," Catherine said quickly, at a loss for what to do with her hands. The urge to put an arm around Sara was overwhelming, but was clearly not what Sara needed at that moment. "Please, don't go," she then said more quietly. "Talk to me?"
"Why, so you can feel sorry for me? I don't want that," Sara said bitterly, swiping at her tears, but she didn't reach for the door again.
Catherine lowered her voice, speaking softly and without judgment. "You were abused."
Sara's eyes flew wide, her hands clenching into fists, but just as quickly she relaxed her muscles, giving in to the pull and almost melting against Catherine, the resistance leaving her body.
"Oh Sara," Catherine breathed, a few tears stinging her own eyes as her arms enveloped the woman in a comforting embrace, one hand rubbing her lower back while the other stroked Sara's head, which was resting on her shoulder. She couldn't imagine ever hurting Lindsey, and she didn't understand how Sara's parents could have ever hurt her, either. "I'm sorry. Not in the pitying way, I promise." She was quiet for a minute, and the moment soon became awkward, so she attempted some levity. "Do you want me to give you head?"
Sara couldn't help the grin that she tried to suppress, and she playfully bit Catherine's shoulder in response. "Oh yeah. Right here, right now. On your knees, baby," she drawled sarcastically.
To Sara's unequivocal and immeasurable surprise, Catherine gave her a coy smile and slowly slid down to a kneel in front of her.
"Yeah, I was joking," the brunette said with an awkward laugh, glancing around the foyer.
"I wasn't," Catherine purred, leaning forward and wrapping her lips around the button of Sara's pants. She tongued the silver hardware until it shined brilliantly even in the dim lighting.
Sara wouldn't have thought that a simple button could provide the basis for coming in her pants, but Catherine got her close with that little display, and she groaned, pulling the blonde head away from her crotch. "Not here."
Catherine looked up at her with a sultry pout. "Please, baby?"
There it was again. Baby. Sara faltered for a split second, but quickly came back to herself and shook her head incredulously. "No! If you want to give me head, take me home."
"Oh," Catherine said sarcastically, scoffing and getting to her feet, waving her hand in the air for emphasis as she made fun of Sara's slip. "Home, huh? You don't love me, but now we've got a home together?"
"You-- what? Shut the fuck up," Sara groaned, gently putting her hand to Catherine's face and pushing her away.
"Ooh, do it again," Catherine purred, wagging her eyebrows at Sara.
Sara obliged, and before she pulled her hand away the second time, Catherine had turned her head and was kissing her palm.
"Good girl," the blonde murmured between kisses. "I like it when you're good."
Sara lightly scratched Catherine's face and flashed a wicked grin. "I'll try so hard to be bad... Kitty Cat."
Catherine stared at her in something resembling shock for a minute before she uttered, "You did not just call me that."
"Do you need your hearing checked?" Sara asked, feigning concern.
"Do you need your ass any more bruised?" Catherine shot back, taking hold of Sara's bicep and tugging her close.
"Yes please," Sara said with a sweet smile plastered on her face.
Catherine hissed into Sara's ear, licking the lobe as she did so. "Then you'd better behave."
Sara almost groaned playfully, but dropped her head at the last second and whispered the truth. "I can't, Cat."
Catherine opened her mouth to retort when she realized that Sara was serious. "What?" She immediately went into protective mode, placing her hands lightly on Sara's waist and pulling her close. "What's wrong, baby? Can't do what? Can't behave?"
Sara leaned into the touch, her hands at her sides, and rested her forehead on Catherine's shoulder. "I can't take this to that level," the brunette explained quietly. "I can't be submissive. It... it has to be playful for me."
"Okay baby that's fine," Catherine soothed her, stroking Sara's hair and again using the term of endearment without thinking. "Don't you worry about a thing. I like you just the way you are," she added with a grin. "Sassy and sexy."
"You keep calling me baby..." Sara started.
Catherine blushed, realizing it at about the same time Sara stated it aloud, but she quickly re-gained her footing and countered with, "and you screamed in protest when I asked Heather for someone else to play with, so we're even."
Sara frowned into Catherine's shoulder. "I don't think that makes us even. You've called me baby three times."
"And you've been counting them, apparently. We're even, Sidle." She turned to head back up the stairs, intending to tell Heather that she'd come back another time, when Sara stopped her.
"Hey, Cat?"
"Yeah?" She turned her head around, one foot on the stairs.
"I don't mind. If you call me baby."
Catherine flashed a dazzling smile at her and nodded. "I know." She started up the stairs and called back down to a frowning Sara, "I'll be right back."
Sara waited with her arms crossed over her chest, leaning against the doorframe, annoyed that she was so easy for Catherine to read. When the blonde came back down the stairs and took her hands away from her chest keeping a hold on one of them, she offered an awkward smile and an apology. "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you in front of her," she said, not quite sure how to refer to Lady Heather, substituting the standard female pronoun in place of her name.
Catherine's heart melted a little at the insecure tone in Sara's voice, and gave her colleague's hand a squeeze, opening the front door and tugging the brunette out onto the porch. "Honey, she's jealous. Stop being so hard on yourself. You wanna know what she said to me?" Without waiting for Sara to answer, Catherine closed the door behind them and led her toward the car. "She said she's wildly, insanely jealous that I got to mark you like that and you would barely even let her look at you, let alone touch you. She told me you are beautiful and stubborn and full of sparks, and that I'm damn lucky to be enough in your good graces to warrant some kind of intimacy."
Sara stared at her, watching first her face, then the flexing of the muscles in her arm as she yanked open the car door, and finally back up to her eyes, which the brunette found staring back at her curiously.
Catherine watched, and suddenly Sara got this intense look on her face and before she had time to wonder what was going through that pretty little head, she found herself grabbed around the neck and kissed desperately.
Sara couldn't explain the butterflies in her stomach as she'd listened to Catherine's hearsay, but whatever exactly had caused them also caused her to need those lips on hers like she needed air in that moment.
Surprised, Catherine was frozen for an instant before she got back her equilibrium and returned the kiss, sliding her hands through Sara's hair and then down to squeeze her ass.
"Ohhh," Sara groaned into Catherine's mouth, the heat in her ass flaring up at the rough handling, and for a second it felt like she'd just been paddled all over again. The groan turned to a moan, then a needy whimper as Catherine's tongue pushed through her lips, claiming her mouth possessively. The butterflies kicked again and Catherine was undoing her pants, forcing her hand inside, stroking once and then penetrating her with the same possessiveness she felt in the kiss. They were in broad daylight, in the middle of the street, and yet Sara couldn't tell her to stop. It felt too good and the compulsion to be fucked was too strong.
Catherine marveled at how wet Sara was, and how much wetter she became with the rough penetration. "You're soaked," she growled into the brunette's ear, thrusting her fingers in hard and lightly scraping her way back out.
Sara just whimpered, consumed by sensation, her knees faltering at the feel of Catherine's lips on her ear. "Please," she begged, grinding her hips, not caring who might be able to see her.
"Sara Sidle, I wanna take you home and fuck you so good..." Catherine nearly groaned herself. "I'll do it here if you want me to, but I know you really don't."
Sara took a moment to steady her ragged breathing, Catherine's fingers still lingering around her entrance. "Let's go," she decided, her voice raspy and broken as she moved around Catherine, grunting at the loss of contact as she flopped into the passenger's seat of the car.
Catherine got in the other side and started up the car, turning to Sara with a lustful gaze as she hissed softly, "touch yourself while I drive. I don't want you to lose that intensity."
Normally Sara would have flat-out refused, but the way Catherine was looking at her and the insistent throbbing between her legs combined to make her work her hand inside her pants as soon as the words left Catherine's lips.
Catherine's eyelids fluttered and she forced her gaze to the road ahead as she pulled into traffic, her breathing quite irregular. "Lean the seat back baby, get comfortable, but don't cum yet, save it for me, okay?" she half demanded, half requested.
Sara could only nod, rubbing herself through her panties, trying to stay hot but not go over the edge.
They were stopped at a red light when a problem presented itself. A man crossing the street caught sight of Sara's... situation... and turned to head for the car.
Catherine could feel Sara tense as much as she could see it, and she quickly commanded, "keep rubbing. I'll take care of it."
Sara growled, but she trusted Catherine enough to take her at her word, so she kept rubbing herself, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth and biting gently.
Catherine wasted no time pulling out her gun and pointing it directly at the man's head through the window, and his lecherous smile vanished, replaced by wide, fearful eyes, and he took off running back in his original direction.
"Brandishing a firearm is illegal," Sara groaned, tilting her head back and softly rocking her hips into her hand.
"He's lucky I only brandished it," Catherine muttered, tucking the gun away and hitting the gas as the light turned green.
Sara smirked, even though her hand was feeling really good right then. "You'd shoot someone over me, Cath?"
"Damn right I would," Catherine answered without hesitation. "Ogling my piece of ass is a capital crime."
Sara reached over and smacked Catherine's arm with the back of her left hand, hard enough for Catherine to squeal in surprise.
"Ow!"
Another smirk from the brunette. "You're gonna have to work me back up with some major flattery now, Cath. You killed my buzz."
"Believe me, I know how to work you up," Catherine drolled, growling under her breath as she finally turned onto her street. "Almost there."
Sara started to button her pants, but Catherine stopped her.
"Why don't you just leave those open, baby? They're gonna be around your ankles in thirty seconds anyway." She parked the car in the driveway and got out, going around to Sara's side and opening the door, then practically dragging her colleague out of the car and kicking the door closed. A hand immediately went into Sara's open pants, which Sara forcefully pushed away. Now it was Catherine's turn to smirk, and she popped Sara on the ass, loving the way both hands shot back to rub it. "Inside, Sidle. March."
Sara deliberately zipped and buttoned her pants before striding up the walk and stopping at the locked front door, arms crossed over her chest, a petulant frown on her face.
Catherine followed her up with a laugh, shaking her head and unlocking the door. "Don't look at me like that. Get inside and wait for me in the bedroom," she ordered nonchalantly.
"You know, you seem awfully comfortable throwing out orders," Sara pointed out, stepping into the house and turning to face Catherine. "And I don't think I want to obey." She caught Catherine's look and backed up into the wall beside the door, raising her arms above her head and adopting a coy expression.
Catherine readily took the bait, locking the front door behind them and moved to Sara, taking hold of the brunette's wrists and pressing them lightly against the wall. "Can I tie you up?" she asked in a low, silky voice.
Sara shook her head, speaking softly as well. "No... but you can pin me down..."
"I'll take that offer gladly," Catherine grinned, slowly licking her lips and pushing Sara's wrists more firmly into the wall, testing the waters.
Sara tested back and struggled against Catherine's grip, holding her breath... when Catherine immediately let go of her wrists, she exhaled slowly and put her arms around her colleague's neck. "You let go..."
"You struggled."
"I know."
"What did you want me to do?"
Sara rested her forehead against Catherine's and lightly kissed her lips. "Exactly what you did."
"Well good," Cat grinned again, rubbing her hands up and down Sara's sides, letting her fingertips slip just beneath the hem of the brunette's shirt. As she started to push the fabric upwards, though, Sara's hands flew to hers, pushing them away.
"No," Sara reminded her, pulling her shirt down as far as she could.
"Sorry, baby," Catherine apologized, smoothing out Sara's shirt and then sliding her hands around to rub the brunette's lower back.
"It's, it's okay, Cat, I just, I just..." Sara dropped her head to Catherine's shoulder, trying to find the words to explain.
"Hey... you don't have to explain," Catherine assured her. "I get it. And you're sexier with your shirt on than half the people in Vegas with them off."
Sara's lips twitched and she bit her bottom one, ending up grinning. Sometimes Catherine could be so... perfect. "Just half?"
Catherine laughed, raising a finger beneath Sara's chin to tilt her colleague's face up. "I've only seen half, Sidle."
Sara nodded and looked away, fidgeting with her fingernails. "I'm getting pretty tired, so..."
"Yeah, same here. Bed?" Catherine asked without really thinking about the implication of her words.
Now Sara looked at her. Stared was more like it. "What? Are we... I hadn't planned on staying the night, Cat... I mean, I didn't bring anything, or expect to, or you know."
Catherine cursed internally, realizing her mistake in assuming Sara would stay to sleep before shift that night. She tried to play it off. "Well we have about six hours to sleep, and if I drive you back to your apartment, that cuts off a half hour for you and an hour for me. I've got extra sweats and a toothbrush, you can have my bed and I'll take the couch if you're un--"
Sara interrupted her, quickly shaking her head. "It's not that. We've already fucked, I think I could handle sleeping in your bed with you. I just don't sleep well when I'm not at home, that's all."
"Really?" Catherine asked, raising an eyebrow. "What if I put on some music and give you a massage?"
Sara raised an eyebrow back. "I don't know, but it's worth a shot just to get a massage," she accepted.
"It's cool if I slide my oiled up hands under your shirt, right? As long as the shirt stays down?"
"Yeah," Sara said with a quirky smile, finding the question to be oddly sweet. "As long as it's one of your t-shirts that's getting oil all over it."
"How nice," Catherine drolled, patting Sara on the ass and then practically trouncing down the hall to her bedroom.
--
Sara laid face down on the bed and folded her hands under her cheek, trying to relax. She was naked from the waist down, and Catherine was about to give her that massage, and she could smell the strawberries and champagne massage oil that her colleague was heating up next to her. She could hear the slick, squishy sounds of the oil being rubbed between Catherine's hands, and when Catherine finally climbed over her to sit straddling her thighs, she felt warmth and bare skin against her own. She craned her neck to look back over her shoulder. Catherine was completely naked. Holy. Shit.
She must have been staring, because when she finally looked at Cat's face, her lo--colleague was grinning like a kitten.
"See somethin ya like?" the blonde drawled, continuing to rub her hands together, keeping the oil warm. She loved the way Sara was looking at her. It sent chills and thrills up her spine that spread outward and made her shiver. And she loved the blush on those adorable cheeks when Sara realized she was caught. But to the brunette's credit, she just answered the question.
"Yeah, a lot of things." And she laid her cheek back onto her folded hands, closing her eyes.
Catherine laid her palms over Sara's buttocks, and as soon as she touched the woman beneath her she heard and felt the moan reverberate out from deep in Sara's chest. Encouraged, she slid her hands up Sara's spine, under the t-shirt she'd given her, and worked her thumbs firmly over the tense muscles they found.
Sara groaned and gasped and purred when it felt good, and whimpered when it hurt. Some of her muscles were so tense it felt like a knife slicing through them at the lightest pressure, but Catherine somehow managed to work the kinks out of every knot along her spine. She couldn't remember ever feeling such a warm, relaxed glow settle over her, and she was definitely glad she'd agreed to stay.
"How do you feel?" Catherine asked softly, tracing light circles over the back of Sara's neck with one fingertip.
Sara licked her lips before attempting to answer. "So good, Cat. Ugh. Thank you."
"You're quite welcome," Catherine purred, dropping a kiss to the spot her finger had been circling. "You have a beautiful body," she added, pushing back up to a sitting position straddling Sara's thighs. Her fingernails now lightly raked up and down the bruised ass beneath her. "Thank you for trusting me with it."
Sara ignored the beautiful comment, not wanting to ruin the moment with her cynicism, and instead focused on the thank-you. "You're welcome... thanks for not betraying that trust."
"Never, ever, Sara bear," Catherine whispered.
"That nickname dies when and where it was spoken," Sara said immediately.
Catherine laughed, settling her weight more fully on Sara's thighs and bending over the brunette's back, kissing the side of her face. "Fine, fine."
"Cat?"
"Yeah?"
"You're getting me wet."
"I thought you didn't like the nickname."
"No, Cat, *you're* getting me wet."
"Well what do you expect?" Catherine asked, rubbing herself a little on Sara's thighs. "I'm looking at you."
"Come on," Sara nearly growled. "We both know I'm not enough to bring you to your knees."
Catherine easily flipped Sara over and grabbed her wrists, pinning them to the pillow on either side of the brunette's head. She dipped her face low and hissed, almost angrily, "yes. You are."
Sara arched her back, but didn't try to get free of Catherine's hold. Her breathing picked up, her heart started to race as she stared into those incensed blue eyes that seemed to see right through her. Why had her statement irritated the blonde? Wasn't she just speaking the obvious truth? Neither of them had made any claims of love or adoration, so why was Catherine being so defensive about it? "What?" she breathed, her voice barely audible around the lump in her throat. "What'd I say, Cat?" She didn't like how small her voice sounded, but there was nothing she could do about it.
"I don't like being accused of lying," Catherine explained, squeezing her thighs around Sara's hips. "If I say looking at you makes me wet, then it damn well makes me wet, Sidle."
Sara was just trying to even out her breathing and calm down her pounding heart, so she didn't say anything, she merely nodded, inhaling and exhaling through her nose.
Catherine's gaze softened after that and she kissed Sara sweetly. "And I don't like hearing you talk about yourself that way," she added gently. "You're a beautiful woman, inside and out, and you've got to be able to see that. I don't understand why you can't."
"I don't know," Sara said, her voice even quieter than before. She turned her head to the side, unable to look at Catherine, not wanting to see the disappointment she was sure would be there.
Catherine had a knot in her own stomach and a lump in her own throat as she stared down at the side of Sara's face, watching the brunette look away from her. She wanted to kill whoever had stolen the self confidence that should be behind those deep brown eyes. Most likely Sara's parents, but it could have been a friend, a teacher, a lover... "Let me see your scars," she finally said.
"No," Sara answered without missing a beat. Still she didn't struggle against Catherine's hold.
"Let me see them," Catherine insisted. "Please, Sara."
"No, they're ugly," Sara stated firmly.
"Scars don't make you ugly, they make you unique," Catherine tried to reason, but Sara wasn't hearing it.
"No."
"I want to kiss them."
"No!"
"Please."
"NO!" Sara screamed, sitting up so suddenly that she knocked Catherine off her lap, and in the process she managed to twist her arms out of her colleague's grip. "You need to LISTEN!" she continued to yell, feeling the anger start to bubble too close to the surface for comfort.
Catherine sat on the bed next to Sara, shocked into immobility and silence for a good ten seconds, just staring at the seated brunette. Her jaw worked several times with no audible result, and she could see how angry Sara was.
They both sat, unmoving, just breathing hard, for what must have been at least five minutes, and then Catherine moved.
Sara watched in disbelief as Catherine crawled toward her and laid across her lap. Oh God, what was she supposed to do with a naked Catherine across her lap? The gesture wasn't lost, she knew what she was *supposed* to do, but what the hell was she supposed to do?! "I'm, yeah. I don't know what to do with this," she spluttered lamely.
"Just..." Catherine tried to think of something suitable to say. "...teach me to listen." Yeah. Simple and-- "Jesus Christ!"
"Are you listening?" Sara's palm was stinging.
"Yes, my God, I'm listening," Catherine promised. Sara hit her again. Fuck! Even Lady Heather hadn't gotten her that hard. "I'm listening!" she shrieked.
Well Sara was rather proud of herself. Judging from Catherine's reaction, she was listening. "When I say no, don't push me, okay?"
"Okay, yes, I swear," Catherine affirmed, hoping to avoid another devastatingly painful blow, but no such luck. When Sara hit her the third time, she burst into tears.
Sara's jaw dropped and she stared at Catherine in horror-struck shock. "Why are you crying?"
Catherine would have laughed at the naivety of the question if her ass wasn't stinging like hell. She couldn't help the tears that continued to fall even as she tried to swipe them away. "Because it fucking hurts!" she choked out on an exhaled sob.
Sara was astounded that she'd made Catherine cry, and she had no idea how to fix it. "I, I told you I didn't know what to do," she defended herself, feeling panic start to rise in her chest. "I didn't mean to make you cry, Cat..."
"I know you didn't," Catherine said shakily, feeling her mascara run down her cheeks as she sniffed and blinked out another round of tears. "I'm probably just being a baby... I cried when Heather got me, too, but she'd been hitting me for a lot longer before I lost my pride that time."
"So, if it makes you cry, why do you like it?" Sara asked carefully, tilting her head slightly as she absently began to rub Catherine's behind.
"I didn't like that, I wasn't supposed to like that, it was a punishment for pushing you too far... Can we not talk about it anymore? I'm embarrassed enough already."
"Just... don't park yourself over my lap again unless you've taught me how to, you know, spank you the right way."
"You did fine, Sara, you gave me what I was supposed to get."
"I, yeah. So... I like it better when you spank me."
"Believe me, baby, so do I."
Sara grinned at that, and the grin slowly turned into a smirk. "And I like that I'm tougher than you."
"Yeah well, if I were you I wouldn't mention that again. Might make me feel challenged to see how tough you really are."
"I can take anything you give, Catherine," Sara said with a cocky drawl.
"No, you can't," Catherine disagreed.
"Yes I can," Sara insisted, her smile turning into a slight frown.
Damn but that woman was stubborn! "No, Sara, you can't." She didn't want to have to prove her point.
"What the hell, Cat?"
"All right." Catherine pushed off of Sara's lap, sitting on her knees next to the brunette. "Take off your shirt."
Sara was speechless for awhile, staring at Catherine with her mouth slightly open, that adorable and sexy gap between her front teeth just barely showing.
Just when Catherine thought she was going to get up and leave, Sara stripped her shirt off in a fury and balled it up in one fist, throwing it to the floor beside the bed. "Do your worst," she whispered in an eerily calm voice, her eyes much too hard for Catherine's liking.
Gracefully, Catherine slid off the bed and picked up the shirt, holding it out to Sara. "No," she whispered, shaking her head. When Sara didn't move, Cat slipped the shirt over her head and took her hand, fitting it through one sleeve.
Sara allowed Catherine to re-dress her, her jaw set, expression stony, but deep down inside she was relieved at her colleague's reaction. Relieved and grateful, and her respect for Catherine grew. Sara knew she wanted to see the scars, but apparently she was unwilling to take advantage in order to do so. It made Sara feel safe.
Safe. Now there's a feeling she didn't often experience.
Catherine wasn't sure what was going on in Sara's head at that moment, as the brunette sat stock still and allowed her to finish putting on the shirt. She had no idea what to say, and tried to imagine what she might want to hear if it were her in Sara's place. "I cheated." Brilliant.
But it got a reaction. A confused one, but a reaction nonetheless, which was hopeful.
"Huh?" Sara finally looked at her.
"I deliberately misinterpreted your words."
Understanding was beginning to dawn on Sara and one corner of her mouth twitched upward before settling back down into its previous position. "Yeah. You did."
"I knew you were talking about a spanking. I pushed you until I knew you wouldn't back down."
"But you didn't take advantage once you got what you thought you wanted."
"I realized it wasn't what I wanted."
"Then what do you want?"
"I want you to show me, when *you're* ready. I don't want to betray the trust you've put in me."
Sara's mouth curved upwards once again, a genuinely happy smile gracing her features. "You didn't betray my trust, Catherine." She reached a hand out to tuck Catherine's hair behind her ear. "Matter of fact, just the opposite."
Catherine lifted one knee over Sara's legs, slowly straddling her, and took the brunette's face in her hands, gracing her with a long, sweet kiss. "I'm glad to hear that, baby."
--
True to her word, Sara didn't sleep a wink all afternoon. She didn't mention it to Catherine, though, she just drank a cup or five of coffee and got in the car when it was time to leave.
Gil still hadn't explained why he wouldn't let them run the swab from the entomology 'den'. He was being especially coy about that. He definitely knew something that he wasn't telling.
Sara was laying on the couch in the break room with an arm draped across her eyes, blocking out the harsh lights, trying to ignore Greg's off-key singing, when Catherine strolled in and tossed an assignment slip onto Sara's chest. "You're with me. B and E, get up, let's go."