Because of the Snow
Winter coats donned along with hats and gloves, Eric and Calleigh stood at the front door of the hotel looking out at the foot of snow before them with a mixture of wonder and caution.
"So, what do you do with snow?" Eric asked as they stepped outside. It was warmer than he had expected.
Calleigh squat down to inspect the white fluffiness closely, almost treating it like evidence. "I really don't know. I've only seen this in movies."
A couple of children, looking to be around eight and ten, respectively, came flying out of the doors, whooping and hollering. They immediately began flinging snow at each other, chasing each other into the drifts. They laughed boisterously as the Floridians looked on.
Eric picked up a generous amount of snow and aped the packing and rounding motions of the children. When he had a passable snowball, he lobbed it at Calleigh. It hit her square in the chest. "Oh, look, my first snowball," he said with mock sincerity.
"You didn't-" She picked up a similar amount of snow, repeated the packing and rounding motions and sent a fast ball at him. It exploded all over his back as he bent to gather more snow. "Oh, look, that was mine."
"Now you're gonna get it," Eric threatened as he chased her through the snowdrifts, his own snowball forgotten. He grabbed her, lifting her up and tossing her lightly into a drift. She hit with a soft whoof. He laughed. "You should see your face!"
She arched an eyebrow. "Really?" Calleigh let fly a double handful of snow. It drifted down all over Eric's head and shoulders. "You should see yours! Nice case of dandruff."
Eric was about to pounce yet again when he noticed that the children had stopped their playing and were watching them. "Yeah?"
"Mister, haven't you ever seen snow before?" the older on asked.
"Nope; first time. I'm from Florida. We don't get snow down there," Eric replied.
"Hey, Mister loo-"
Eric turned to look behind him, but it was already too late. Calleigh lobbed snowball after snowball at him, grinning from ear to ear.
"I think I like snow," she said sweetly after running out of ammunition. She took off at a dead run.
Eric growled and tackled her, both of them falling into a snowdrift. They smashed snow wherever they could, the more snow, the better. Finally, they lay there, caked in snow and laughing like two little kids.
"I'm soaked and freezing. I think it's time to go in; I need a warm-up," Calleigh said, teeth trying to chatter. She had no real resistance to the cold, barely ever experiencing it.
Eric stood, offering her his hand. He was getting cold, too. The snow that Calleigh had managed to get down his collar had made an icy trail down his back. That was definitely not fun."Yeah, I think so too. Maybe we can come back out later and try for that snowman."
They stomped and slapped the excess snow from themselves before entering the hotel and returning to their suite. There they peeled layer after layer of cold, wet clothing from their bodies. Eric picked up the pile. "I'll take these down to the laundry room and throw them in the dryer. Why don't you take first shot at a hot shower?"
"Thanks," Calleigh said, still shivering. "A real gentleman."
He grinned at her over the top of the wet clothes. "Imagine that."
Calleigh sat on the couch, curled in a ball, warming her face over her hot coffee. She had opted to change into sweats, donning a robe over the top. Even after the hot shower, she found that she still couldn't warm up and was seriously considering getting the comforter off her bed.
The bathroom door opened and Eric stepped out. He, too had changed into sweatpants and t-shirt. He toweled his wet hair. "Are you still cold?"
"Yeah. I can't seem to get warm. Even hot coffee isn't helping," she said, taking another sip of the hot liquid.
"Let me see what I can do about it. I don't want you getting sick," Eric said. He went into his bedroom and came out again carrying his comforter. He stood in front of her. "Take the robe off."
"What?"
"Go on, take the robe off and then I'll help you get warm," he said reasonably. "Trust me."
She stood and removed her robe, leaving her in Tulane University sweats. "I do trust you but I don't understand why removing something for keeping me warm is going to help me warm up."
He stood next to her and draped the comforter around the both of them, pulling her back down on the couch. He put his arms around her and drew her to him, encircling them both with the blanket. "Body heat; I'll share mine with you until you warm up. It works best when there's as little as possible between the two bodies."
Calleigh snuggled into his warmth, wrapping herself around him in as decent a manner as possible. "Where'd you learn that?"
"Discovery Health channel," he answered, realizing that it made him sound so very nerdy. "Are you feeling any better?"
She nodded, sighing in contentment. "A little."
"You have cold feet," Eric commented as her right foot tucked itself behind his knee. It was a size 6 ½ icicle.
"Cold feet, warm heart," she murmured.
"I think that's cold hands, warm heart, but I'll give that one to you. You have one of the warmest hearts I have ever been around," Eric said truthfully. He had always loved her kindness and compassion she displayed when dealing with victims and their families. He loved her gentleness with young children and animals. She even doted on that disgusting lizard she found at a crime scene a while back. She got it all sorts of things, called it Winchester, or Winnie for short, and spoiled it rotten. If she could see beauty in something so disgusting, then he had to admire her, love her for it. "I bet you miss Winnie."
"I do. I miss his sweet little amber eyes and having him lounging on my shoulder while I go over morning reports. Natalia said she'd take good care of him for me. He likes her better than Ryan or Horatio anyway," Calleigh said. She leaned her head on Eric's chest and closed her eyes. "You're the only one he does his full aggression display for."
"Why is that?"
She shrugged against him. "Maybe he sees you as a threat or rival."
"A rival...for what?" Eric asked, completely puzzled.
"My attention and affection. Reptiles are very primitive but acutely perceptive. He can sense, or maybe even smell our bond and he may see that as a threat. So, he displays for you, trying to show you that he's the better 'man' so to speak. It's a macho lizard alpha male dominance thing," she said. "He's incapable of realizing that you're vastly larger than he is and can squish him at any time."
"So, I'm a rival for your affection. How does that happen?" he asked. He found it weird that a reptile could sense what he was feeling for Calleigh, yet she chose to brush it off and had gone back to Jake. "How did he react to Jake?"
"He positively hated him. It was the only time I had ever seen him actually get angry. He actually tail whipped him and then bit him," she said. "I guess Winnie has better sense than I do. I should have listened to the lizard and saved myself a whole lot of pain."
Eric lifted his hand and gently stroked her hair, tucking a few strands behind her ear. "I'm sorry about that. I really am. I never liked the guy, but he seemed to make you happy."
Calleigh looked up at him. He had flat out told her months ago how he felt about her and them. She had gotten scared and went back to old, familiar Jake to deny what she felt growing between her and Eric. Now Jake was out of the picture for good. The trip to Chicago to work on the serial killer case had only proved to repair and strengthen the emotional bond that she shared with Eric. She refused to deny her feelings any longer and reached her hand up behind Eric's neck. Before he could even react, she pulled his head down just enough for their lips to meet. When she felt him respond instead of reject, she deepened the kiss.
Eric's body responded before his mind could react. He tightened his grip on her and pulled her as close as he possibly could without hurting her. He parted his lips and begged entrance to hers. She assented, nipping at his lower lip, making him smile. She tasted of coffee and something sweeter, perhaps it was her own unique taste. His hands wandered across her back and arms, memorizing every inch of her that he could get his hands on. But when he slid them up under her sweatshirt, she stopped him, pulling back.
Calleigh was out of breath, her head spinning. She felt intoxicated and her body burned where Eric's hands had touched. Her body ached for it all to continue, but her mind, while clouded by pleasure, had enough strength to stop her. "Wait; this is going a bit too fast right now. We need to stop before we go too far too fast."
"So, you want this?" Eric asked, puzzled.
"I do, just, not so fast, alright? I don't want to make the same mistake with you that I always tend to make. I want this to be full and real and lasting," Calleigh said clearly. "Am I scaring you?"
Eric caught her lips with his, kissing deeply and passionately before releasing her. "You got your answer."
She smiled. "Good," she said before leaning into him, resuming their previous activity. As far as she was concerned, that was the best Snow Day she ever had.