Spoiler Alert: Spoilers for Seasons 2 & 3, up to and including "Silent Night".
A/N: Okay, as requested (twist my arm, go on). M-rating on this chapter!
Disclaimer: No infringement of copyright is intended. All characters originated with CSI:NY; all song lyrics are from The Beatles.
It's A Long Journey Home
Chapter 26: Open Up Your Eyes Now
If you let me take your heart I will prove to you
We will never be apart if I'm part of you
Open up your eyes now, tell me what you see
It is no surprise now, what you see is me
Lindsay gasped, "Danny! My parents are home!'
He laughed quietly, "So? I'm on the subway."
"You are not." Lindsay could feel the flush at his suggestion working up her body to her cheeks.
Instead of answering, he held his phone up to the intercom system, and she heard the announcement for the next station.
"We can't do this." Her voice was weak, though.
"There's no one in my compartment. Come on, Montana; I dare you."
"Danny," Lindsay's face was burning now, and he hadn't even started.
"Lind-say," he drew her name out teasingly. "Think of it as research. You wanted to know why people do this, right?"
She stood up, a little shakily, and locked her bedroom door. "I've never done this."
"It's easy. First of all, find somewhere comfortable."
"Like bed, perhaps?" Her breathing hitched.
"Bed would do nicely." His voice was lower, and that rasp was back.
Lindsay felt as if his hand had just run down her back. She sat on her bed a little self-consciously. None of her boyfriends before had been interested in play of any kind – the first had been a virgin, as she was. Their few times together had been memorable mostly for the feeling of disappointment she had felt; after waiting so long, she had expected something with a bit more fireworks. The second college boy had been a little better; at least he had heard of female orgasms, even he was incapable of helping her to reach one.
Danny, though. Danny could practically make her come just by whispering her name, the way he was doing now.
"Lindsay, what do girls in Montana wear to bed?"
"Well," she started to grin. After all, he had asked. "Usually nothing."
It was Danny's turn to lose his breath, but only for a minute. "So, why don't you get ready for bed, then?" He waited a moment, then added, "And give a progress report, Monroe."
Lindsay nearly dropped the phone. "Umm, Danny? I really don't think I am very good at this."
Danny said easily, "Practice, Montana. It just takes practice."
"Oh? And how many times have you practiced this?" Her voice had a bit of an edge, she noticed with chagrin.
He laughed out loud, "I'm naturally gifted, Montana. The only person I'm going to practice with is you."
Lindsay lay back against her pillows, "Seriously, Danny."
"Seriously what?"
"How many women have you been with?" She closed her eyes. Why was she so determined to screw this up?
"Because if you screw it up now, there's a chance you'll survive. But if you get in any deeper, losing him could finish you." The voice in her head was a persistent buzz in her ears, like a mosquito draining her one drop of blood at a time.
Danny didn't answer for a minute, and Lindsay held her breath. That was it, then. Sex or honesty: it looked like a coin toss, and she'd lost. She wanted to tell him it didn't matter, to forget she had said anything.
She heard a deep intake of breath. "You know how a troll counts, Linds?"
"Sorry. Did you say troll?" She bit her lip in confusion.
"Uh huh. Do you know how a troll counts?"
"Umm, I can't say I've ever really thought about it."
"One, two, many, lots."
Lindsay burst out laughing. Only Danny could take her from virtual sex on a subway to troll mathematics and still have her panting for him, she thought wryly.
"So, your count, in troll, would be …?"
"I'd have to say lots," he admitted.
"Oh." Lindsay picked at the cover on her bed nervously.
"Lindsay. You okay?"
"Yeah, sure," she lied.
"Then lie back and close your eyes. Just listen, okay?"
"Yes." She did as she was told, lying stiffly, still fully dressed, on her bed.
"Relax," his voice deepened and slowed. "Feel me beside you. I start running my hands through your hair. It feels warm, like living silk. My hands go down your back and arms, and I pull you towards me. Your eyes are closed, so when I kiss you, you're surprised. Open your mouth for me, Lindsay. Let me in. I want to taste you: your lips, your tongue. I could spend a lifetime just kissing you and never get tired of it."
Lindsay curled up on her side and bit back a moan. A lifetime of kissing Danny sounded like bliss.
"If I had you naked in my arms, though, I could never stop at just kissing you. I couldn't stop my hands from running down your back, caressing your soft skin, running down your arms to hold your hands. I'd go slow, Lindsay: give you time to catch up with me. I want you so bad, but I'd take my time."
Lindsay stifled a groan. She was way ahead of Danny this time, and the torture of his deep voice was already becoming too much to bear. She could feel his hands on her skin, feel the trails of heat he left behind him.
"Your breasts are begging for my touch; your nipples are erect and waiting for my mouth. But not yet. I can't stop kissing you yet, or I'll stop breathing. You give me life: only you. I can feel your body moving against me. What do you want, Lindsay? Tell me."
Lindsay was biting her lip. "I want your mouth on me, your hands on me. Please, Danny."
He groaned quietly, "Oh, yeah. Beg me. I love it when you beg. Tell me where you want my hands."
"On my breasts. Everywhere." She was unashamedly asking now, her voice hoarse and needy.
"I kiss your throat, just under your ear. There's a pulse there; can you feel it beating?"
Lindsay's fingers went to that spot: the blood was racing. She moaned.
"Oh God, baby, I love the sounds you make. My mouth trails down your throat to your breasts. Can you feel me?" Danny's voice had dropped to an intimate whisper. She trailed her own fingers down her body as he described where his mouth would go next.
"Danny, I can't wait any longer … please."
"Wait for what? Please what? You'll have to tell me; tell me what you want, Lindsay." It was his turn to beg now; not even in fantasy would he take control again.
"Danny, I want you in me ..." a thread of sound, liquid with need.
He groaned. "Feel me inside you, Lindsay. I'm filling you, feeling you convulse around me. It's like nothing I've ever felt before. There is no one else, nothing else in the world. Just me and you."
She came apart, breathing out his name. His whisper didn't stop, saying her name, telling her she was beautiful, soothing and gentling her as she rode the storm. She clung to his voice as she would have to his body had he been beside her: her one stable point in a tilted universe.
"Lindsay. Lindsay? You okay?" His voice had returned to something like normal, though a bit shaky.
"No," she said on a gasp. "I'm not sure what I am, but okay does not begin to describe it."
Danny chuckled. "So, I'm hoping that's a good thing."
Lindsay stretched and smirked, "Oh yeah. I'm not sure I can survive many more practice sessions with you, Messer. How are you?"
"Shit, I missed my stop." His voice, aggrieved and surprised, made her laugh uncontrollably.
"Hey, now I have to walk an extra ten blocks. See what you do to me, Montana?" His voice was light and teasing; she recognized it from what seemed a long time ago.
"Danny, don't walk. Take a cab, or go back on the subway to your stop." Lindsay couldn't keep a note of worry from her voice.
Danny just laughed again. "Don't fuss, Montana. Tonight, I could practically fly home."
Lindsay purred. There was no other expression to describe the sound she made. "I think I owe you one." She was pretty sure he was going home a little short of purring, so to speak.
She could hear the smirk over the phone, "Yeah, well, I'll hold you to that some time."
"Any time. I like to return a favour, especially such a thoughtful one."
Lindsay could feel a bubble of joy rising through her, one which swept away all the fear and anxiety of the past few months, leaving no room for anything but him. She bit back the words that rose along with the sensation. She couldn't say that, didn't want to say that, for the first time on the phone.
A sigh escaped her as, with a thump, she came back to earth, to Montana, and the reason that she was stuck talking to Danny on the phone, instead of lying in his arms right now, basking in a blissful after glow.
Danny picked up on her changed mood immediately. "You okay there, Montana?"
"No. I miss you. I want this all over so I can come home." Her voice was once more steeped in misery.
"Ahh, Lindsay. If I could, I'd be there to help you through this."
She could hear the noises of the city street underlying his voice, and the combination made her throat close up with unshed tears.
"Shit, my phone is gonna die here pretty soon. I'm worried about you. Be careful, okay? What are you going to do next?" His words coincided with a car back-firing, and brought back the crack of the rifle shot that had chased her across the meadow earlier.
She shuddered, but took a moment to make sure her voice did not betray her. "I'll talk to the Sheriff and John in the morning. I need my parents protected. If there is someone after me, if it wasn't just a random drunken idiot, I want to make sure they don't get caught in any cross-fire." She congratulated herself on how steady her voice had been, but she under-estimated Danny.
"Lindsay, do you have to stay? If it's dangerous, shouldn't you get out of Bozeman at least for a while, until the investigation is finished? This guy is just going to get antsier as the investigation gets closer to him."
"Danny, I know you don't expect me to leave an investigation incomplete." Her voice had gone a little cool. He knew her better than that.
"If you were here in New York, with Mac and me watching out for you, no. But they don't seem to have noticed that you're in danger out there, Montana." Danny's accent was getting stronger every time he opened his mouth, a sure sign that he was getting upset.
"Danny, I promise, I'll talk to Olafsen and John tomorrow. They're good cops. They won't let anything happen to me. Scout's honour." She raised her fingers in the Girl Scout's salute, even though Danny couldn't see her.
His chuckle was forced, but he sighed and stopped pushing. "Phone me in the morning, after you talk to the sheriff. I'm on the afternoon shift. Tell me what's going on, okay? Everything, Montana. I'll feed the team whatever data you find and we'll let you know if we come up with any ideas."
Lindsay smiled at the thought of the team. Having Mac, Stella, Sheldon, and Don at her back was better than a Kevlar vest, as far as she was concerned. "I promise. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Danny."
Once more, words rose to her lips; once more she fought them back. Not now. Not like this.
"Good night, Lindsay." Danny's voice faded as his phone ran out of power.