Chapter 15

Long minutes passed before Eric and Calleigh pulled apart, only far enough to rest their temples together, remembering where they stood and knowing their passion teetered on the brink of overflowing.

"You'll be the death of me, Calleigh Duquesne," Eric breathed in her ear, a low chuckle rumbling from his chest.

"Same," Calleigh laughed.

Eric ventured another kiss to her temple before he attempted to withdraw from her arms; "attempted," because Calleigh held on fast to him, refusing to let him retreat.

"Cal," he protested, "We're in the middle of Horatio's office surrounded by glass walls."

"I'm not ready to let you go, Eric," she confessed quietly.

Had the script really flipped this drastically? Calleigh, ever-private, ever-aware of decorum and propriety, stood wrapped in his arms, stubbornly hanging on to him. Horatio promised them some time together, and a long hallway separated his office from the south stairwell, but that didn't mean someone wouldn't wander this way and see them in an intimate embrace.

As if I'd ever say 'no'…Eric thought to himself.

He gifted her with a small, content smile and leaned down to press a light kiss to her lips.

"No one says I can't hold you and give a debrief at the same time," he caved.

Calleigh smiled back briefly, feeling equally full of bliss and disquiet, as the weight of their circumstances began to press in on her again—despite the comfort she found in his arms and in his kiss.

"The storm surge breached the canal closest to us," Eric began, freeing a hand from Calleigh's waist to run his fingers through her wet, wavy hair, clearing it from her cheeks so he could behold her full features. When he tucked her locks behind her ear, she tilted her head into his palm for a second, and he graced her cheekbone with his thumb before dropping his hand.

"Everything within a two mile radius of the canal is flooded, as far as H is aware. And that's just this area," he sighed. "Miami Beach is gone."

"What?" Calleigh exclaimed.

Eric nodded somberly. "What's left of the structures on the coast is completely under water, and they predict the beach will disappear with the surge."

Calleigh let that sink in before she asked, "Little Havana?"

He gently squeezed her. "It doesn't look good."

"I'm so sorry, Eric," she whispered.

"Calleigh…Bal Harbour and Surfside took a major hit, too. It's not just Miami Beach."

He didn't want to tell her, but she needed to know. Her home may be completely gone, and she would have no way of verifying that for quite some time.

Eric felt her take a trembling breath before she dropped her forehead to his chest. He tightened his hold on her and ran a comforting hand up her back. Calleigh lightly bumped her head against his chest a few times, then she inched away to look at Eric; while her eyes were watery and Eric could see the pain and worry etched in them, he also saw clarity and determination.

"I can't do anything about that right now," she declared.

This is what he loved about Calleigh. The fight, the fierceness, the gentle courage that all intertwined perfectly with the soft parts of her spirit she only showed to those closest to her.

Eric ran another reassuring hand up and down her back.

"Right. Who knows what mess my place is in," he lamented, "with only the greenbelt between me and the beach. At least if we're homeless, we're homeless together."

Calleigh actually laughed this time. "We should not be joking about this, Eric."

He grinned. "I know, but I needed that," he said.

Calleigh drew small circles on Eric's back with her fingertips. "Me too, I guess. What else from Horatio?"

"When the storm made landfall, it slowed and stalled," he imparted.

"Right over Miami," Calleigh sighed. "Which explains the severity of the flooding. God, this is like Katrina all over again."

Eric nodded. "No one had time to get out. The big differences between us and New Orleans being our high-rises and the canals versus the levees."

"More structural damage, but fewer casualties," Calleigh concluded, grateful for at least some good news.

"Exactly. H is getting reports that water rescues are ongoing, but given the circumstances, they are fewer than expected. For now. This isn't over yet."

"What's the plan, then?" Calleigh asked.

"All hands on deck…Cal, I'll, um, I'll probably help with underwater recovery for a while," he said slowly.

For as long as they'd known each other, Calleigh worried every time he donned a wetsuit. She had told him on multiple occasions and always asked him to be safe. Even before her near drowning, Calleigh feared the water, and the only reason she ever went on dives herself over the years was to spend time with Eric. She had the utmost confidence in him; he made her feel safe. But that didn't ease her concern for him on his recovery missions.

Calleigh hugged him tight. "How long?"

"I don't know yet. We're still in the thick of it. H needs me at CSI but underwater recovery is shorthanded, too. So I'll be pulling overtime," Eric explained. "As soon as we get out of here, I may leave with the extraction team."

So soon, Calleigh thought. Too soon.

She nuzzled her forehead into the soft space between Eric's chin and collarbone.

"Do what you need to do," she affirmed quietly. "Do we have any extra sat phones?"

Calleigh referred to the satellite phones they typically kept in their Hummers for emergency communication. With the cell towers and phone lines down, this would be their best shot at staying connected.

"I don't know. Horatio has one. That's how he's getting his intel," Eric replied. "We'll have to ask."

"We have to go back, don't we?"

Eric heard the sadness in her voice, and he reached a hand to her jaw to guide her lips to his for another long kiss of promise.

"Yes, we do," he told her, feeling just as reluctant to leave this sanctuary they'd created for themselves.

"Eric, when we get to the team—"

"I know. Business as usual," he sighed.

She nodded in the semi-darkness. "Kiss me again before we go?"

Eric had never heard such a soft plea so full of want and need from a woman, and it left him dizzy with desire.

And Calleigh, when Eric touched his lips to hers, had never felt so much love, so much passion and promise, from any man. All she could do was melt into his embrace.

They finally parted and, with one last yearning gaze and a few more caresses, took some time to recompose themselves before they headed back into the fray.