“I lied,” Catherine told Gil after he had settled himself on her sofa. She bit her lip, and continued. “When I said I wanted to cook breakfast for you, and talk about cases.”
He had sensed the excuse was flimsy, but had been eager to use it to see her again. His eyes met hers. “Well... why am I here?”
She stopped fidgeting; a smile broke out across her face, lighting her eyes up. She hoped he wouldn’t mind. “Well, Lindsay’s at Eddie’s, and I’m here alone, and you didn’t mention any big plans... so I was hoping...”
Gil stood up and crossed the room. “You could’ve just told me the truth the first time.”
She shrugged with a nervous laugh. “I’ve never been good at booty calls.”
“Booty calls?”
She tried to explain it without seeming like a horny teenager. “Well, it’s a call... when you want to get it on... you call someone, and that’s the reason you tell them to come over,” she was blushing and she hated it. “No pretenses.”
“You’re shy,” he commented, chuckling. “That helps.”
“Oh, I’m glad,” she stuck her tongue out at him. He raised his eyebrows, a grin spreading across his face. Before she could react or say anything else, he had put his mouth over hers, her tongue still sticking out. He wrapped his arms around her, as he lifted her against him.
She pulled back and grinned. “I’m really glad.” His hands slid down her back, slipping into her back pockets. She shifted her weight, grinding into him a little. “And so are you.”
He laughed. Sometimes she was shy, and other times she wasn’t. “Yes, I am.”
“And look who’s shy now?” She winked, licking her lips. “I thought I would’ve cured that by now.”
He smirked, one corner of his mouth higher than the other, his eyes very dark. “We could work on that now.”
“Mmmm,” she agreed after kissing his chin. “Perhaps we should. Try to nip this shy act in the bud,” she kissed one side of his mouth. “Know where you’re going?”
He nodded. One smooth movement had her body draped over his shoulder. She shrieked, laughing afterwards, while he carried her to the bedroom. He tossed her carefully onto the bed; she looked up at him, breathless. “You’ve got some nerve...” She shook her head, while unbuttoning her shirt.
“Hey,” he sat down next to her, stopping her from undressing herself. She liked it when he directed her; normally, she hated being told what to do, but when he directed her, it was a comfort. It told her he was putting thought into their moments together. “Let me.”
“You take too long,” her voice was dry. “I’m impatient.”
“Humour me.”
“You take too long,” she pressed.
“I’ll be quicker this time.”
He leaned over her, opening one button, and parting the shirt to kiss the little bit of skin he exposed. She sighed and moaned and writhed underneath him. He chuckled, and continued. One button more, parting the fabric, kisses.
She groaned. “Are you doing this deliberately?”
“Perhaps.”
“I’m going to get you back.”
“But,” he assured. “Not tonight.”
She sighed, and tried to let herself relax. He was driving her crazy. When the shirt was finally open, she struggled with his painfully slow actions. Any attempts to pull his head up resulted in her hands being shooed away. “Gil...” Her voice was thick with warning.
He only smiled at her, not saying a word. He helped her out of her shirt, and then started with her pants. He looked down at her, clad only in her bra and underwear, admiring the beauty in front of him while thanking some higher power for these moments he had with her.
Slowly, she bent and lifted her right leg, sliding her toes up his leg, lifting his shirt up. He put his hand on her calf, shook his head, and spoke: “Nice try, Cath.”
“You’re killing me!”
“We have a little while to play,” he responded. “I intend to play.”
“You and your games...” she mumbled, trailing off when he started massaging her lower leg. He set her leg down, and returned to his position hovering over her. “Kiss me?”
He replied by pressing his lips to hers. She felt her heart rate speed up, she relished the sensations he provoked from within her. Sometimes just a look would heat her up; this time, though, she needed more. Her hands slid under his shirt, she gripped onto his flesh, preventing him from separating. She felt his hands explore her almost-nude body, and smiled into his kiss.
Sometimes, knowing he wanted her was almost enough. She knew she wasn’t the one for him in the long run; but, when he was kissing her, she could almost forget that it was only about sex.
“You need to get... naked.”
He chuckled into her neck, where he started kissing, nipping, and sucking. “Yes, I know.”
She put her hands between them, reaching for the hem on his shirt, before she pushed him away a little so she could help pull it over his head. When his chest was exposed, she started kissing the new skin. He was a scientist, and his type had never been attractive to her, but all he ever had to do was look at her and she melted; she loved him, she loved his mind, she loved his body.
When she tried to undo his belt, he grunted. She giggled. “C’mon. Let’s not slow this down anymore,” she licked a trail across his shoulder and up his neck. “Gil... even you aren’t a wealth of patience.”
He gave in; she was glad. She didn’t think she could handle any more of his torture. “It was supposed to be for you,” he muttered between kisses.
She smiled at him. She liked how they could keep their eyes open and it wasn’t weird. That kind of connection was hard to maintain, and they did it easily, without effort. “It already is.”
He shed his clothes quickly, before helping her out of her remaining clothes. Everything was tossed onto the floor. He met her kisses with kisses of his own; they parted briefly so he could slide into her. Her sigh was strangled by a moan.
Briefly, she considered closing her eyes and just feeling, but she knew it wasn’t enough. When her lids fluttered, Gil requested: “Stay with me,” she nodded, knowing what he meant. They had discussed their habit of eye contact once, but were never able to reach a conclusion that explained it.
When she was close to her end, he slowed down so she could savour it more. She tried to increase the friction, but when she did that, he stopped moving.
“You’re being sooooo difficult.”
“I just like driving you crazy.”
“Already there... if I don’t... soon.... I’ll kick your ass....” She felt his hand slip lower, while he continued slowly sliding in and out of her. “Ooohhh. God! Gil... I... ohhhh”
“Eyes, Cath.”
She growled, low and ferocious, before babbling again. She felt him increase his thrusting speed, knowing he was close too. As her release began to hit her, she felt her nails in his back. He yelped, but it brought him over the edge.
They collapsed together, panting.
He spoke first. “That’s going to leave a mark.”
“No one sees your back,” she shushed him. “You’ll survive.”
He rested against his shoulder. “I love you, Cath.”
She stiffened. She knew he didn’t mean it; he couldn’t. How could he? She was still technically married, waiting for the paperwork to go through and end it, she had a daughter, she used to be an exotic dancer. She worked with him. They were friends. There was no way the feelings she had for him were returnable. She wasn’t his type.
She kissed the top of his head. She felt her eyes fill with tears; part of her wanted to believe him, but she was smarter than that. She fought for control, before he noticed she was upset. “I’m smart enough to know it doesn’t count in bed.”
“Cath...”
“Gil, we just had sex. Great sex. Amazing sex. It’s a normal reaction.”
“But—” His phone rang. He cursed and reached down to the floor to pick it up. “Grissom...” Catherine sat up, watching him, listening. “Four bodies? One house? Man... Yeah, I’ll be right over.”
“Big case.”
He nodded before kissing her shoulder. “Yeah. I should get going.”
“If you need help.... maybe I should come?”
“No,” he shook his head. “You’ve had enough for tonight,” he winked at her. “I’ll only call you if there’s no one else. Rest.”
“Will you be coming back?”
“Maybe...” He smiled while getting dressed. “Think you’d survive a second round?”
“It’s not me I’m worried about,” she countered.
She knew that when she left, she’d have to cry.
~*~
When Sara got up to get the child from the hospital, Gil looked at Catherine. She smiled at him nervously and averted her eyes. He had no idea why she was denying the feelings between them. Briefly, he considered that it was only one-sided; it seemed painfully obvious that it had been, after her reaction to his tender words. He knew her, though. He wasn’t a complete fool.
As he studied her, he noticed a mark on her neck. Shocked, he looked away.
Nick left, leaving them alone. Catherine looked at him. “What’s wrong? You jumped about a foot in the air.”
“I left a... you know... on your neck.”
“It’s called a hickey, and yes, I know.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
She smiled. “No, you just wanted to brand me. It’s okay.”
~*~
“It’s me,” he could hear Catherine’s voice in his ear. “Something’s off on the map.”
His pulse quickened a little. “Off... how?”
“I’m looking at Dad’s blood in the hall, and I found an interesting drop.” He was pleased she had made progress, but he also noticed that there was something off in her voice. She sounded like she was shaking. “The droplet tells me that he wasn’t running to the little girl’s room.”
“He was coming out of it?” He couldn’t believe it.
She sighed. Again, he heard the shaking in her voice. “Yeah.”
They ended their conversation. Gil looked over the files spread over his desk, wondering what was going on. This was the weirdest case he had in a while; Catherine’s weirdness wasn’t helping. His mind was divided, half on the case, half on her. It was struggle to keep it from being more orientated towards her.
She had been upset. He wondered what about.
He picked up his phone and dialed a number to his favorite florist. “Hi, I’d like to order some flowers... Yes... some white roses. On the card, I’d like to say: ‘You seemed upset last time we talked. I hope these brighten your day. Yours Always, Gil.’” He paused, looking her address up; he knew where she lived, but didn’t always remember the street name. “Great. Bill them to Gil Grissom, at Las Vegas Crime Lab. Thanks.”
Gil hung the phone up, and looked at the case again. He hoped that would cheer her up.
The End!
