Truths of the Heart

Title: Truths of the Heart
Author: Dani Shafer
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from CSI.
Feedback: DaniMarieShafer@aol.com
Rating: R (maybe a tad strong in some parts)
Pairing: N/S
Summary: A grueling case leads to a discovery and a declaration of love. (I know this has most likely been done a million times... sorry I'm new).
AN: This is my first CSI fic, so sorry if I didn't get everything just right. I might make this into a series, depending on popularity. Please let me know what you think.

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The dark blue cotton slid delicately over the sensitive surface of her skin, a shiver running down her spine and making her arms break out in Goosebumps. A lop-sided grin appeared on her face, a hint of teeth peaking between her lips as the masculine smell surrounded her. She walked groggily, her brunette tresses tangling through her fingers as she tried to rid her bead head appearance.

The instant pounding at her front door made her nimble fingers work quickly at the buttons on Nick's shirt from the previous night, her bare feet padding across the living room.

"I'm coming!" She yelled, her husky voice even thicker with sleep as she stumbled her way towards the door. Her legs felt like jell-o, the ache in her muscles and coreing ing her body purr in satisfaction.

She opened the door in exhaustion, not bothering to look through the small peephole as she normally would have. Her brain was overloaded on sensation and pleasure, anxious to get back to her lover sleeping peacefully in the next room. The door came open, a tall man standing before her, his inquisitive blue eyes immediately racking over her barely clad form.

He started with her long slender legs, toned and stretched with her height. The shirt tales of a male dress shirt rested high on her thighs, the sleeves just an inch or so too long on her arms. Her small pert breasts were accentuated through the thin material of the shirt, her nipples hardening at the evening chill in the room.

Her thin lips dropped open, her chocolate eyes quickly snapping in alertness at the man before her. She could feel the blush creep over the pale velour of her skin, her cheeks flushing with rouge.

"Grissom." She stated in surprise, her eyes blinking a few times. What in hell was he doing at her apartment? What time was it?

"Sara?" He asked, his normally even tone squeaking ever so slightly with arousal.

She subconsciously wrapped her long arms around her body, feeling extremely bare before his lustful eyes. He had small wire rimmed glasses perched on his nose, his chest rising and falling in slow steady breathes.

He couldn't tear his eyes away from the healthy shine of happiness that appeared her eyes, the brown orbs sparkling in a way he had not seen in a long time. She looked sated, refreshed with sleep and what ever else that had prompted her to answer the door in what appeared to be only a dress shirt. He mentally groaned, shifting his feet minutely at the tightening he felt in his lions.

His eyes quickly darted around the room, his detective tendencies quickly taking in the scene before him. Who was she with? What was she doing? Where had she been?

shirshirt she was wearing was vaguely familiar, the scent of male cologne making a fuzzy picture in his head that he couldn't quite place. Clothes were thrown haphazardly across the living room floor; 2 pairs of shoes, one distinctively male and one female, a black fitted shirt that he recognized as the one she was wearing the previous evening, the one that hung to her curves like a second skin. There was a black lace bra; a pair of black Dickey pants and 4 random socks all littering the not so tidy apartment. It suddenly dawned on him; she wasn't alone.

Nick rolled over in the queen-sized bed, his long arm moving to cover his face from the night moon that peered in through the window. The cotton sheet shifted low on his bare waist, hinting at the thick patch of hair that surrounded his manhood. He yawned, his face and body stretching taut as his toes curled off the end of the bed. The pounding of a door mimicked the dull pounding he was beginning to feel in his head. How long had he been asleep? He groaned rolling back over to his previous indentation, his arm moving to the other side of the bed to search for his co inhabitant.

A lazy smile lit his rugged face. He could still smell the faint intoxication of her unique scent embedded on to the sheets and onto his skin, only out done by the smell of sex that permeated around the room. He could feel himself start to stiffen at the memory of their several couplings throughout the early morning and day. He could still feel the softness of her lips moving over his body, the way her supple skin felt under his own lips. His eyes slowly pulled open at the emptiness of her spot that was still warm. She could not have gone far.

He rose slowly, the sheet falling from his body, as he stood unabashedly nude in the middle of her room. His hand scratched at the light dusting of stubble that had grown on his squared jaw as he looked around for his clothes. His hand traveled over the hard planes of his muscular chest before settling on his straight hip. His body groaned in exon aon as he moved, his muscles stiff with over use.

He spotted the dark flannel of his boxer shorts, his feet padding towards them. He pulled them up his strong legs, the faint sound of a masculine voice coming from the living room. Still half awake he stumbled out of the bedroom.

"Sar, who are talking to? Come back to bed sweetheart." He wined, his eyes only half open. His hair was sticking in all different directions, light red scratches clawed on his back, and a dark purpling bruise that resembled a bite that lay brightly on the curve of his shoulder where his neck began.

Grissom's jaw dropped down almost to the ground. He pushed his way into the small apartment uninvited, the door slamming shut behind him with a thud that rattled the pictures on the wall. He looked quickly back and forth from Sara to Nick, anger starting to boil within him. He knew he had no right to feel anger or jealously, she didn't belong to him. He had told her to get a life, and that is exactly what it looked she had done.

Somehow, that didn't seem to matter at that exact second. "What in the hell is going on here!" He yelled, his deep voice making Sara wince.

She closed her eyes willing the situation to just go away.

She opened her dark eyes to Grissom, the jealousy that she could feel pumping off of him making her angry. What right did he have? He had pushed her away; he had rejected her. He had no right to come into her home and act like a jealous lover.

"It's none of your damn business! What in the hell are you doing here anyways?" She yelled, her hands perched on her slender hips.

Nick stayed quiet, his eyes moving back and forth from Sara to Grissom and then back to Sara. Despite the damming situation they were both in, he couldn't help but admire how beautiful she looked with fury in her eyes. Her whole body seemed to come alive in one instant, her skin flushing, and her lips set in a fiine.ine.

"What am I doing here? What in the hell is he doing here?" He pointed towards Nick. Grissom sighed, taking a deep breath, "and would the both of you please get dressed!"

Sara huffed rolling her eyes at his nerve, "I'm not moving until you tell me what your doing here. You haven't spoken, let alone looked at me, in months. Then you just show up on my door step at..." she paused looking towards her kitchen for a clock, her eyes squinting at the distance before she yelled out the time, "at 8 o'clock at night!"

"8?" Nick squeaked out, damn they were late for work. They must have slept much longer than either had anticipated. He ran his hand through his thick hair in nervousness.

"Yes 8!" Grissom hissed, his anger barely held in check. "I tried calling both of you after you didn't check in after your shift this morning, and then when you didn't show up for shift today I got worried!"

"You called?" Sara asked sheepishly, her brain filtering through eve events of last night, trying to remember where she had thrown her phone in her haste to help Nick take off her clothes.

"I called several times! But its obvious you were too busy too pick up the damn phone!"

"Hey just calm down Gris." Nick stepped up, his jaw twitching, his accent slightly more pronounced from the gruffness of sleep and anger. There was no reason for him to yell at Sara, it was just as much his fault as it was hers. "You don't need to talk to her like that."

Sara sighed, feeling the testosterone riddle the room with tension. "Nick, please just go get dressed... I'll take care of this." She met his soulful brown eyes, the emotion in his depths enough to make her heart flutter. She silently pleaded with him, willing him not to make the situation any worse than it already was. Would Grissom fire them? Demand that one of them moved to days?

Nick nodded his head slowly, before shooting Grissom a glance of warning, 'You hurt her, and I'm going to hurt you.'

Nick walked back into the bedroom silently, his head cast towards the ground. He sat down on the corner of the bed, resting his head in his hands as he closed his eyes. The look of desire in Grissom's eyes did not escape him. He could see the jealousy and anger. He wasn't mad that they were late for work, he was mad because Sara had finally moved on.

He suddenly wondered if she had in fact moved on, a pang of hurt sinking in his chest at the thought. Was he a rebound for her broken heart? Was he just a stepping-stone in her way? Was he just a means to an end? An emotional outlet for a gruesome case?

He shook his head, standing up and quickly finding the black material of his slacks. He didn't have time for a shower, and he certainly didn't have time to go home and change. He kept a spare pair of clothes in his locker, so he decided he would just change there. He buttoned his pants, looking around for his shirt with a bewildered expression on his face, the skin around his eyes crinkling slightly.

The smile that lit his face was priceless, a masculine pride slowly ebbing away the pain he was just feeling mere moments ago. She had answered her door in his shirt and only his shirt. He felt his groin stiffening at the thought, wishing that they had the night off so he could ravish her again and again.

"Griss..." Sara turned her body facing towards him. "I'm sorry that we were late. I guess we over slept." She told him honestly, trying to defuse the situation as best she could. Yes they should have stopped by the lab before going home, or at least called to check in.

"So how long has this been going on?" He asked with a slight pain in his heart.

"Not that it's any of your business, but this morning was the first time. Last night was brutal... for both of us. You know that Griss..."

Sara winced at the image of the small child lying face down in a pool of dark maroon clotting blood. It had been a grueling case. A mother had murdered her three small children and then killed her self in an act of redemption.

"I didn't want to be alone, so he came back here with me and one thing just lead to another."

The mounting sexual tension that she had been feeling with Nick had erupted in one fierce kiss of passion. As soon as the door to her house had been shut as had found her self back up against the wall, her long leg wrapped around his waist and his hands inside of her shirt. He had taken her hard up against the door the first time, his pants around his ankles and his head buried against her shoulder as he filled her again and again. It ended almost before it began, Sara's nails marking his back as she screamed and tensed her body around his shaft, both reaching their peak in a blinding moment of bliss.

Grissom's jaw twitched, "You should have at least checked in Sar. I was worried sick when you didn't pick up the phone... I thought... I didn't know if you were okay. It was so unlike you." His strong hand slowly came out to caress her cheek, the pad of his fingers stroking her skin.

Sara fought the urge to lean into his touch, the brief contact making her heart skip a beat. It had been so long sense she had felt his skin on hers. This was in fact the longest conversation they had in months. She had realized a few months ago that what she felt him would never be reciprocated. Maybe she wasn't in love with him after all. She admired him, looked u him him. Had she mistaken infatuation with love? When he touched her it was tender and made her heart skip, but it didn't elect the same sensations as Nick's touch did deep inside of her gut.

Nicose ose that time to come out of the bedroom, his broad tanned chest silhouetted from the moon shining through the window. His heart stopped, the site of Grissom cupping Sara's cheek, the site of Sara leaning into his palm with a dazed expression on her face. He closed his eyes, his un-beating heart breaking into several small pieces. He had been wrong about this morning; she didn't feel anything for him besides comfort and friendship.

They were both emotionally and physically exhausted, and his defenses had been down. He could no longer stand by and act like he didn't care, act like he didn't love her. As soon as they had closed the door to heartmartment he had practically attacked her, sealing his lips with hers, pressing her lithe body up against the door. They had kissed with wild abandon, his hips pressing into hers, grinding his erection into the softness of her stomach. It had all happened so quickly.

Nick cleared his throat, his dying heart on his sleeve as Sara's eyes snapped towards him. She could read the pain in his face, could see the way his shoulders were slumped just a fraction of an inch in defeat. No one else would have noticed his guarded expression, but she, as his best friend, knew that look.

"Nick..." She pulled out of Grissom's tender touch as if she had been burned.

"Don't Sara. Um... I'm going to need my shirt back, and then I'll be out of your way." He tone was clipped, harsh and unforgiving as he walked towards were his socks and shoes were scattered next to the couch.

"Nick, don't do this." She knew exactly what he was thinking.

Grissom looked between the two lovers, seeing for the first time the chemistry that they held between them, the way the air around them crackled with energy. With all of his keen observational skills how could he have missed the love that shone from Nick's eyes? Was he that out of touch with his emotions where Sara was involved that he had disregarded it thisle tle time?

He looked sheepishly between the two, Sara crouching to her knees in front of Nick as she pulled his chin up from his the concentration of his shoes. It was obvious that she loved him too.

In his attempts to forget Sara, to push her out of his life, he had failed to notice that she had moved on.

"You two sort this thing out before you come back to the lab, I wont stand for it out on the field. We have a busy night and I wont have your emotions clouding your judgment." With tsaidsaid he exited the same way he came in.

He shut the door, leaning his back against the wood as he took several deep breaths. He knew in his heart that she would not wait around for him forever. He slowly walked down the hallway of her apartment and out of her life, if they truly loved each other he would not stand in the way. That however, would not stop him from sitting down with Nick and having a man-to-man conversation.

Sara looked deep into the misting eyes of her lover, her heart surging with love. "Look at me Nick." She whispered, her hands cupping his face.

His eyes widened slightly, looking at her in confusion. "I'm sorry Sar... I just..."

She silenced him with a kiss, her soft lips pressing against. Nick's strong arms wrapped around her body, pulling her towards him. Sara's joints popped indigently as she rose, her legs straddling the outside of his as she sat down in his lap.

"I love you." He said quietly, han hands rubbing the smooth surface of her thighs, his fingers edging up under his shirt and settling on her bare hips. He looked deep into her eyes, the words falling from his lips as his own name would. It felt so right to have her in his arms.

Sara smiled a full hundred-watt smile, the small gap in her teeth that he found so endearing making his heart pitter-patter. "I love you too Nicky."

His hands moved up to her waist, pulling her lower body closer to his as his lips sealed over hers, his tongue lightly tracing the skin before she parted to his entrance.y kiy kissed tenderly, tongues lightly touching, bodies lightly moving over one another as fiery passion engulfed them.

She slowly pulled away from his kiss, breathless and dazed. His teeth gripped her lower lip playfully as he nibbled on it softly, his eyes sparkling with mischief. She smiled, her hands around his neck, her fingers playing with the short strands of hair at the nape. "Come on, let's jump in the shower..."

If it was possible his smile grew larger. "Oh I'll jump you in the shower all right..." He laughed huskily, the hardness straining against his pants rubbing against her center.

Sara shook her head, laughing as she moved from his lap, her fingers intertwining with his. She shot him a pointed look over her shoulder as she drug him towards the bathroom, his feet stumbling behind her. "Oh I'm counting on it."

She winked, her tongue reaching out to moisten her lips as she heard him groan full throatily.

-Finis-