A/N: Oops...I almost messed up my timeline. Is it so unreasonable to think that Sara may lose track of time while at work, or is that just a Grissom thing? Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing. The rating was changed to M, so I hope I didn't lose anyone. Enjoy!

CHAPTER 9: Communicating

Sara arrived at her apartment around 11 am. Her phone was ringing as she walked in the door.

"Where are you?" asked Grissom.

"Um....home," she replied.

"You said that we would see each other this morning. I was worried," replied Grissom.

"Our cases ran late and I forgot to call. I'm sorry. I just need a few hours of sleep," replied Sara.

"Sara, I would like to take you out for a nice dinner after my hospital recheck. Get some sleep and then call me when you wake up....no rush," he replied.

Dinner? Did he just ask me out, Sara wondered? She was too tired to think straight, so she fell into bed and tried to shut out her inner thoughts of a romantic Grissom. Flowers, now dinner. Sara woke five hours later with her arms wrapped tightly around her pillow. After a quick shower, she phoned Grissom and told him that she would be right over.

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Grissom had been ready for a while. He was wearing grey slacks, a black polo shirt, and a black sport coat. Sara arrived a little after five. She was wearing a short dark skirt and green top, with a pair of low-heeled sling-backs. Grissom's mouth dropped open when he saw her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him slowly and deliberately.

"Don't do that again," he breathed.

"What?"

"Don't be gone for so long next time," he replied. "You are so beautiful, Sara". He kissed her back, exploring her mouth with his tongue.

Sara broke the kiss and stared up into his eyes. She took his hand and led him to the car. If they didn't leave soon, they wouldn't leave at all. "First things first," she said.

The hospital was crowded and it took two hours for the recheck. The doctor cleared Grissom to return to work on Monday with some restrictions and gave him a new prescription for any pain. He would have to limit his driving for another week until his ankle was completely healed.

Grissom asked Sara to drive to an older part of town and directed her to a Chinese restaurant she had not noticed before. The place was dimly lit with tall booths and red dragon paintings on the walls. The waiter greeted Grissom by name and walked them to a secluded table near the large salt water aquarium. Sara glanced briefly at her menu and then asked Grissom to order for the both of them. When the waiter returned, Grissom ordered in Chinese. Hot tea was brought to the table and then the couple was left alone.

"What did you do on Friday?" asked Sara.

"Just stuff around the house. I felt good enough to work on schedules and paperwork for a while," he replied. "I always seemed to fill my time with my research and reading and errands, but this whole ordeal has given me a new perspective on my life".

The food was delivered, several different plates of steaming foods, before Sara could respond. Grissom and Sara shared all the dishes, except the Ginger Beef. He had been careful to order fish and vegetarian dishes. Even after years of knowing each other, they had both been a little nervous. Grissom had played with his napkin. Sara had tugged at her skirt. In the end, they both enjoyed the meal, the tea, and the company. As the food was taken away, Grissom reached under the table and took Sara's hand.

"Would you like anything else to eat?" he asked.

"No, it was incredible, but I am stuffed," she replied.

Their waiter brought out the bill, along with containers of the leftover food. Grissom was quick to lay down some cash to cover the check along with a generous tip.

"Ready?"

They walked to the car and he opened Sara's door for her before heading around to the passenger side. Once inside the car, he asked Sara if they could stop at the Rite Aid by his house. He explained that he needed to fill his prescription and buy some condoms.

Sara looked at him in surprise.

"I am trying to keep the lines of communication open," he said. "I have not been able to drive anywhere and I really didn't want to ask Brass to stop so I could buy some...that would have taken some explaining. Is it too soon?"

Sara laughed and shook her head. Grissom did have a new perspective on life. They looked around the Rite Aid while they waited for his prescription to be filled. He kept itching and scratching his chest under his sport coat. Grissom found some alcohol wipes that he could use to get the leftover adhesive off of his chest. Sara left Grissom alone to shop for the condoms, while she picked out some massage oil. Twenty minutes later, they were headed to his town house.

"Why do you keep scratching your chest?" she asked.

"My ribs itch where the doctor pulled off the adhesive bandages," he replied. "Now that they are off, I feel really gross. I bought these alcohol wipes to try and clean up".

They were in the living room. Sara helped Grissom off with his sport coat and gently pulled his polo shirt over his head. She could see the lines of adhesive and the deep purple bruising around his ribcage. His back had adhesive on it too. She opened the wipes and cleaned the area the best she could. Sara was careful to rub the bruised areas as gently as possible.

"Do your ribs hurt much?" she asked.

"No, they look worse than they feel," he replied.

You may want to jump in the shower and see if that helps," she said.

Grissom limped off to the bedroom. Sara put the Chinese food in the refrigerator and was unpacking her back pack in the guest bedroom when she heard him calling her name. The shower was still running, but she walked into the bedroom anyway.

"Sara, could you try to scrub the glue off my back?"

Grissom had opened the door to his large shower and had his back turned to Sara. She reached for the soap that he was holding and tried to focus her eyes on his back. She noticed how well-muscled his back and shoulders were. She washed the lines of glue, but not much was coming off.

"I think I have some body scrub in my stuff. Let me go check."

Sara closed the shower door and disappeared. She retrieved the pomegranate and lemon body scrub from her bag, slipped off her skirt and clothing, and put her short silk robe over her now naked body. Sara grabbed the bag with the prescription and condoms off the counter. She called out to Grissom as she came back in to his room, so as not to startle him. Once there, Sara slipped off her robe and stepped in to his shower.

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Grissom had his face to the shower head. He heard the shower door open and then felt Sara standing behind him.

"I think it might be easier for me to use the scrub in here," she said casually. "Are you OK with that?"

"Yeah," he said softly.

Sara couldn't see the look of surprise on his face, but she felt him jump slightly as she applied the body scrub. She worked the scrub carefully in to his back and was relieved that it took the adhesive away with little pressure. Once his back was clean, she massaged some scrub into his shoulders and then told him to stand still so she could get the glue off his chest. Sara followed the adhesive lines around with her hands and began to work on Grissom's chest. He wasn't too hairy and the glue came off easily. When she was done, Sara reached over his shoulders and rinsed off her hands. She directed Grissom to rinse off his chest.

"Could you please turn around, Sara?" he asked.

Now Grissom had his back to the shower head and he rinsed his back and hands quickly. Then he slowly pulled Sara's back into his body. He let the warm water flood over them while he slowly worked his hands down her sides. His left hand slid between her legs with the softest touch, while his right arm supported Sara from slipping. He thought about baseball stats in order to keep his own body under control....listing off the ERA of each of his favorite pitchers. His right hand stroked her nipple. Sara moaned softly against him as he rubbed and teased her body. Within a minute or two, Grissom turned both of them to face the water. The water flowing from the massaging shower head combined with the stroking fingers of Grissom's left hand were driving Sara close to the edge of orgasm. Grissom slowed up. He was losing his balance as his ankle began to tire.

"Honey, could we move this party to the bed?" he asked. "I don't have much balance left."

Sara nodded. Grissom reached back and shut off the water. They stepped out of the shower with Sara leading Grissom toward the bed. She fished the box of condoms out of the bag as she walked by Grissom's dresser. Sara climbed on top of the blanket, her body glistening with water droplets in the subdued light from the bathroom. Grissom reached for a condom packet, tearing it with his teeth, and quickly slipping it on his wet penis. She moved back on the bed, her wet hair hitting the soft pillows, pulling Grissom with her. He kissed her stomach and slowly worked his way towards her mouth. Sara's hands were now free to explore the rest of Grissom's body, but she could wait no longer.

"Gil, please," Sara breathed. She was careful to keep her hands on his hips, so as not to injure his bruised ribs.

The sound of his given name, spoken by the woman he loved, provided the last bit of motivation he needed. He slid carefully on top of Sara and she guided his erection into her body. Her senses were on fire and he rocked gently in and out of her. Gil had to use his arms to keep his upper body from crashing down on Sara, which left him defenseless against her touch. She timed her stroking with each thrust and pushed them both over the edge in a matter of minutes.

They were both breathing hard. Their bodies were soaking wet from the shower and the exertion. Gil stood carefully and made a quick trip to the bathroom. He came back with a towel around his waist and a second towel for Sara. She stood up and wrapped her arms around his butt, pulling him close to her. He held her close, absorbing the feeling of her skin in his hands.

"I rushed things," he said.

"Are you kidding me?" she replied. "That was wonderful and I think I had something to do with the pace, too."

Grissom walked them over to the side of the bed and flung back the wet blanket, exposing the clean sheets below. He toweled Sara off, drying her hair as much as possible. He tossed her towel back into the bathroom and pulled her toward the sheets. His towel hit the floor as he climbed in bed next to her. Gil wrapped his naked body around Sara and covered them with a sheet. The house was warm enough that they didn't need anything else. Their eyes met and the smile on Sara's face told the story. The kisses that followed were tender and soft. Neither was tired, but neither of them were willing to let go now.