You wouldn't have this chapter if a) I hadn't been snowed in today, and b) I wasn't such a procrastinator ;-)
Disclaimer: Still don't own any of this stuff.
Chapter Eleven
She held his gaze for a couple of seconds, then resumed fluffing out the blankets. While Cal still stood behind the sofa, she walked around it, careful to avoid the table, and sat down. Draping one blanket over her legs, she flung the largest one over her upper body, drawing it up to her chin with one hand, while with the other hand she held the blanket up at the side, ready for Cal to sit down.
"Well? Are you just going to stand there all evening? I was under the impression you were cold."
Slowly, Cal moved closer to the sofa and sat down. Gillian threw the blanket over him, then scooted closer. Pressing her body close to his, she rested her head on his shoulder, and gently brought one hand up to rest on his chest, letting out a soft sigh as she did so.
Cal lifted his arm, gently shifting the position of her head as he wrapped that arm around her shoulders, pulling her in even closer. With his other hand he rearranged the blankets over them.
"Mmm," Gillian said sleepily. "This is nice."
"It is." Cal inhaled slightly; her hair smelt like some kind of fruit, although he wasn't quite sure which. Sniffing again, he thought perhaps passion fruit… or mango? Perhaps a combination of the two…
"Did you just smell my hair?" Gillian lifted her head from his chest and looked at him, her eyes sparkling with amusement.
"Er… yeah. What of it?"
She giggled. "Don't you know what it means when a guy sniffs a girl's hair?" she teased.
"Does it mean that her hair is very close to his nose, and he accidentally smelt her shampoo, but couldn't quite work out what fruit it smelt of, so he sniffed again?"
"Hmm... maybe. Usually it means he likes her."
"Well, you know I like you, we're friends," Cal replied, pretending he didn't know what she was talking about, and Gillian smiled.
"So what fruit do you think it is?"
It was so hard to read her facial expressions with only the flickering candlelight illuminating the room, and Cal frowned slightly, not used to being at that disadvantage. "Mango," he said at last. "Or passion fruit. Or..." He leant in closer, so his face brushed against her hair, and felt her shiver slightly. "Kiwi?"
"Kiwi??" she said incredulously. "Cal, have you ever smelt a kiwi?"
"Yes," he said, his voice slightly higher pitched with a pinch of good-humoured irritation. "And it smells just like this." He ran his fingers through her hair, bringing a handful gently to his nose and inhaling again. "It's definitely kiwi."
Silence fell between them, but with their eyes locked on one another, Gillian felt she didn't need words to communicate with Cal Lightman right now; come to think of it, they could communicate without words quite a lot of the time. Surely her feelings were written across her face? Cal's hand trailed slowly from her hair down her face and neck, tracing over her skin with a feather light touch that made Gillian shiver. He was looking at her intently; no doubt trying to tell if she was comfortable with this new level of intimacy between them. The darkness in the room was probably making it harder for him to read her expressions, she thought, and bit back a laugh at the look of concentration on his face as he surveyed her.
"Cal.." she said quietly.
"Glad you spoke, love. It's hard to see in this damn darkness." She caught the smile on his face.
"Well, when you can't see properly, you have to use your other senses. Hearing, touch," she ran her hand lightly over his chest, "smell…", she flicked her hair slightly with a smile, "and… oh, what's that other one, I forgot…"
Her lips just had time to curl into a teasing smile before Cal closed the gap between them, kissing her so softly and sweetly Gillian thought she must be imagining it. After a few seconds the kiss intensified; Cal drew her closer to him as he slid his tongue past her lips, seeking out her own, and felt a quiver against his lips as she moaned into his mouth.
She moved her hand from his chest to his hair, pushing herself up from the sofa a little with her other hand. The feel of her in his arms, kissing him back with as much passion as he poured into her, was more powerful than Cal had ever imagined it could be. She fit so perfectly in his arms, she tasted so sweet, and as her fingers scraped along his scalp, eliciting a low moan from his throat, he knew they had reached the point of no return: this was it. No going back now. Line, be damned. Gillian Foster was in his arms, and he intended to keep her there.
"Guava," Gillian said a little breathlessly as they eventually broke apart.
Cal looked confused for a moment, then smiled. Burying his face in her neck, he kissed her lightly, trailing a line of kisses up her neck and biting gently on her earlobe before kissing her hair and inhaling deeply. "Guava," he agreed. "Definitely guava."
She smiled at him in the half darkness, her fingers still running through his hair. "Feeling warmer now, Dr Lightman?"
"Much warmer, thank you Dr Foster. Although I think there's still a little room for improvement…" He pulled her towards him so she was straddling his lap, their chests pressed together. "That's better," he murmured, brushing her lips with his own again. "It's not a bad way to pass the time, is it?"
"Mmm," she sighed. "No. Much better than watching reality TV, that's for sure."
"Couldn't agree more, love." He kissed her again, sliding his hands up her back. "You know," he murmured against her lips as they broke apart again for air, their faces still close enough together to feel each other's breath on their faces, "I think you planned this whole thing – the snow, the blackout, everything – just to seduce me."
Gillian giggled. "Oh just shut up and kiss me, Cal," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"You know I love it when you're bossy." His voice hummed in her ear as he shifted his lips to hers, gladly obeying her request. The darkness may have masked visual clues as to how the other was feeling, but the passion in their kiss spoke volumes. As Cal felt Gillian's body melt into his as he kissed her, he realised that he'd just discovered his new favourite form of non-verbal communication with this beautiful woman, and nothing in the world was going to drag him away from it now.