Catherine, thoroughly disgusted, popped out of the chute feet first. She landed in the dumpster. The smell of garbage was even stronger outside the chute. She wanted to gag. “Ah,” she spoke. “Touchdown.” She spoke to Warrick through the radio. “Uh, chute’s clear. Looks like trash is picked up every morning. We got nothing.”
Beyond her, she saw two frustrated search dogs at the alley’s entrance. She sighed softly. This case was going nowhere, really quickly. They didn’t have the evidence necessary to piece this case together. “Hey, Warrick, it looks like we’re not the only ones chasing our tails.”
She heard someone clear their throat. When she turned, she saw Gil standing in front of the dumpster with a very amused look on his face. “I liked the dismount.”
“Did I get a 10?”
Gil nodded. “Definitely. Although, I’m a partial judge, when you think about it.”
“Yeah,” she nodded, rolling her eyes. “Want to give me a hand out of here?”
He shook his head. “You smell. I’m not—”
“Gil Grissom, I’ll make you sleep on the sofa for a week.”
“Okay, okay,” he neared her and lifted his arms so she could use him as a support system. “I’m going to see Mr. and Mrs. Rycoff. Did you want to go back to the office?”
“For what?”
“A shower?”
After she jumped down to his level, she growled and narrowed her eyes. “You have some nerve. I smell... wonderful.”
“To a raccoon,” he joked dryly.
She laughed. “Yeah, you’re right.” She picked up her radio. “Hey, Warrick, I’m going to go back to the lab and get cleaned up. I’ll meet you there.”
“A’ight.”
She turned the radio off. “My car or yours?”
He replied: “Both. There’s no way I’m sitting with you all the way back to the lab.”
“That ripe?”
“Afraid so.”
“I thought you were offering me a drive!” He shrugged and chuckled. She frowned and sighed. “Can I have just one kiss?”
Gil nodded and leaned in carefully. Their lips met once; when she pulled back, he followed her with a gently moan, so they kissed again. She pulled back and smiled. “I’ll see you at the lab, when I’m clean.”
~*~
Gil had been watching the footage from the video surveillance in the Audio-Visual Lab when Catherine came into the room. Before she stopped next to him, he knew it was her; he knew her stride from anyone’s, and he could always sense her presence. He sniffed the air quietly, pleasantly discovering that she no longer smelled of garbage.
“You showered.”
She countered: “Thanks for noticing, Gil, you’re very observant.”
He replayed the video feed, stepping closer the the screen. He was standing right in front of it, almost expecting the evidence to pop out at him. He was so frustrated; he wanted answers, and he couldn’t find them.
“Yeah?” He responded. “Well, I can’t tell what I’m observing here. What does that look like?”
Her voice was dry when she replied. “A five-foot-eleven workaholic.”
He turned, feeling sheepish. “Sorry.”
She looked at the monitor. “It looks like somebody carrying something.”
“Paige Rycoff was missing a rug from her room.” Nick entered the room and told them that he found out who covered the cameras in the residence. Gil finally felt like the case was beginning to take some sort of direction. “Good,” he spoke. “We know what he might’ve carried out.”
Nick smiled. “Great. I’m gonna go find Brass. I’ll catch up with you two later.”
Catherine waved. “See ya, Nicky.” She looked at Gil, before closing the gap between them. Electricity crackled; sometimes he wondered if his reaction to her would lessen. “So, now what?”
He wagged a finger at her. “Don’t look at me that way. We have work to do.”
She sighed. “I know, I know. I can’t help it.” He picked up her hand in his, and kissed her open palm. He felt her move underneath his lips. “God, if you’re not going to follow through, Gil... don’t get me started.”
Gil chuckled. “Alright. When we go home.”
She nodded, giving in briefly to kiss him. “When we go home.”
~*~
Mr. Rycoff stood up. Catherine saw the emotions running across both parents’ faces and could imagine how they felt. “We’ll hire an investigator, as many as necessary. Someone killed Paige, and my wife and I won’t rest until every question is answered.”
She watched them leave. Gil broke the silence. “We told them what happened.”
“Yeah,” she responded from her perch, “But, we didn’t give them what they needed: some closure.”
“Truth brings closure.”
“Not always.”
He turned and looked at her. “People skills I’ve missed out on?”
She stepped to him and put her hands on his shoulders. “Maybe. I still love you, though.”
He chuckled, leaning against her. “Good.” He tilted his head back, while she leaned down. Their lips met in a delicate kiss. He shivered. “We should really clock out and go home.”
Catherine smirked. “Maybe, yeah. I have to pick Lindsay up on our way home, though.”
“I can get her,” he offered. “If you want to go straight home and take a bath.”
She sighed, nuzzling him with her face gently. He was so good to her; she figured she was working up a large debt. “You don’t mind?”
“Catherine,” he answered her. “We have this discussion every time I offer to do something with Lindsay. I love her, I love you...” She kissed his forehead. “We practically live together, I don’t mind doing my share, and spending time with your daughter is hardly any kind of work.”
She giggled. “Do you prepare these speeches?”
“No. Why?”
She kissed his forehead again. “You just always know the right things to say.”
“It’s true.”
“I know... Hey,” she changed the tone in her voice as she lifted her head. “When are you going to make it official and move in for good?”
She walked away a bit, to grab his coat and keys, while he answered her with a question: “Do you think that’s such a good idea?”
He stood up and met her by the door. She shut the lights off; he locked the door behind them. They walked down the hall while she talked. “You live there anyway. You go to your place, to what? Feed your bugs?”
“Because you won’t let me keep them at your place.”
“Why don’t you sublet?”
He shrugged. “I haven’t thought much about it.”
“Well, maybe if you find a university student that likes bugs, it would work even better,” she grinned, leaning against him briefly. “Then, he could take care of your bugs, and you wouldn’t have to leave.”
He pushed the double doors open for them to walk outside through. “I’ll think about it, Cath.” He stopped them both and faced her. “Now, how about you go home and relax, and I pick Lindsay up from school?”
She smiled. “That would be great. Did you want me to cook or do—”
Gil shook his head. “Nope. I’ll take care of all that. You just rest, and we’ll be back.”
Catherine sighed happily when he kissed her temple. “Okay.”
~*~
Her heart skipped when she saw Gil come into the bedroom that night. “Hey you.”
“Now, this is what I like to see,” he grinned, sitting on the bed next to her. “You, in bed, wearing my shirt, and the necklace.” She smiled and reached for his hand. “Lindsay’s just finishing her homework. Then, we were going to watch Discovery for a little while.”
Catherine laughed softly. “You’re turning her into a scientist...”
“What’s wrong with that?”
She answered happily: “Nothing,” she squeezed his hand. “She told me she was really excited to see you this afternoon.”
“I was excited to see her, too, Cath,” he told her.
When he said things like that, he really got her going; she knew that Gil loved her, but Lindsay was part of the deal, and when he was so open about his affection for the little girl, it really made Catherine happy. “I know... I just...” She sighed.
“I know,” he smiled, rubbing her knee through the comforter with his other hand. “I’m going to go check on her. Did you want to hang out with us later?”
“I’d love to.”
~*~
Gil had been sleeping soundly for a few hours when he felt Catherine’s fingers scratching his chest gently. He whispered: “Cath, is everything okay?”
He didn’t hear a reply; instead, he felt her lips at his throat, the touch creating an immediate reaction. Everything was fine. He felt her hands spread out over his skin, the suction in her mouth a little stronger. She chuckled, creating vibrations that made him shudder.
However, when he reached to reciprocate, he found his hands secured to the bed, above his head. She giggled. He tried to move his legs, and found them secured as well—and naked, since his pajama bottoms mysteriously disappeared. She giggled even more, obviously pleased with herself. “Cath,” he whispered. “What did you do?”
In the dark, he could barely make out her face, but he could see the smile she wore. “Nothing. Just relax.”
“I’m tied to the bed! What if Lindsay comes in?”
“It’s three o’clock in the morning,” she sighed. Even in her whisper, he could sense her exasperation. “As long as you don’t yell—and I can make a gag, in case you can’t control yourself—we should be fine. If she sleeps like you, it won’t matter, anyway.”
Slowly, she inched so that she was partially on top of him. He was in trouble, and he knew it. “Does this have anything to do with the garbage comments earlier?”
She chuckled softly. “Maybe. I just felt like having fun.”
“Why?”
She bent down, and licked his nipple, taking it into her teeth for further pleasure. He arched his back into her, biting down on his lip to keep himself from talking or moaning. Catherine did the same thing to his other nipple; apart from her tongue, teeth, and lips pleasuring him, her hair tickled his chest and her scent wrapped around his brain.
“You have to ask why?” She had paused to look up at him and ask her question.
“No,” he tried to shrug but found it hard since his wrists was still quite bound to the headboard. “But, you don’t usually... like this.”
She kissed his neck and then his lips. “We fell into a rut.”
“So you decided to tie me up.”
“Pretty much, yeah.” She kissed him again, nibbling on his lower lip; her hands, meanwhile, were busy teasing secret places on his skin. “Hold still, would you? It’s not like I’m going to spank you or make you my slave...” She giggled, while tickling a place on his side, over his ribcage. “Although, the idea of you serving me breakfast in bed for a week sounds great.”
He grunted softly. She was driving him crazy. Slowly, she slid down his body, pausing when her mouth hovered over his navel. When he felt her tongue over the tiny dent, he sucked in his breath; she, in reaction, clamped her hand over his mouth. He chuckled, and tried to stay quiet.
After a while, she released him. “Be good,” she said while sliding her hand down over his chest. She slid a bit lower, her hot breath driving him crazy. When she ran her tongue over his hard length, he jumped against the bonds. She giggled, after regaining her position over him. She dipped her head again; the sensations below his waist took over. He felt her lick and suck, but he couldn’t see her because of a combination of darkness and positioning.
When his hips bucked against her, she lifted her head. “Not so fast, Gil.”
He panted. “Well, Cath, you’re not exactly helping to slow me down.”
She chuckled. “I guess not.”
“Please,” he asked, “Can you just untie me, and then we can do this together?”
He felt her slide up his body again. In the dim light, he saw her sit up. She leaned forward and put her hands on his chest. When she lowered herself onto him, he gasped, flexing his hips upwards to hurry the process, since he could do nothing else. She sighed as she rested on him, arching her back a little, stretching her muscles.
Then, she started moving. As she used her legs and hips, she used her hands to caress Gil and support herself. He could barely make out her face, but he saw the darkness in her eyes and knew how close she was. He tried to help, by straining against the incredibly strong scarves, but he found it useless; she was in control.
When she moaned, low and lust-filled, he knew she was nearing the end. Her nails dug into his chest as she leaned back; he gasped out when her muscles tightened around him.
Catherine fell forward, crying out softly. As the last of her contractions squeezed him, he found a release, and his cries were muffled by her hair.
She showered his face with light kisses. “I love you,” she whispered between nips to his earlobe.
He kissed the parts of her body that her position allowed him to reach. She nuzzled into his shoulder, and rested there, huffing softly. He didn’t mind her there until he heard her breathing deepen. “Cath?” He tried softly. “How about untying me now?”
No response.
“Cath?”
Nothing.
“Cath?!”
He stopped trying to whisper her name, scared that he might wake Lindsay. He definitely didn’t want to explain his predicament to her daughter.
The End!
