Sources

Chapter 23

The shrill ringing in his ears was annoying Grissom. He was so warm and comfortable, but that ringing noise was going to do him in.

"Griss." Sara's throaty mumble made him open his eyes. They were in her bed, arms still wrapped around each other. Her eyes remained closed as she nestled into his shoulder. "Phone," she breathed.

He pulled her tighter. "What's a phone?" The ringing stopped, and he closed his eyes again with relief, breathing in the scent of her hair.

Sara fell back to sleep, her breathing becoming slow and even. Feeling her breath against his neck, Grissom realized that this was the most erotic moment of his life. And they were both wearing flannel pajamas.

The night before, he'd changed and met her in her room. He'd been surprised to find that there wasn't a trace of awkwardness between them. She'd turned out the light and gotten under the covers, and he'd slid in next to her, wrapping his arms around her securely. He couldn't remember a time when he'd fallen asleep so quickly and slept so soundly.

The ring started again, and Sara groaned.

"I'll take it outside," he whispered, drawing back the covers to stand.

"No, stay," she protested, clutching him. "Please."

He pulled the covers back up, grabbing his cell phone off the nightstand roughly. "Grissom," he answered quietly.

"Hey, it's Catherine."

"Catherine. it's 3 AM, why are you calling me?"

"Uh, sorry, Gil, I figured you kept the night shift sleeping schedule on the weekend."

He pinched the bridge of his nose, annoyed. Sara murmured softly in her sleep.

"Look, what do you want, Cath?"

"DB was found in the desert, covered with various types of insects. We need your help."

He looked down at Sara. "No."

There was a pause. "What?"

"I said no, Catherine. I'm off today. Ask Warrick for help, he's done the insect timelines with me before."

"But-"

"Goodbye, Catherine." Grissom closed his phone swiftly, nesting back into Sara's arms.

She cracked one eye open, peeking at him. "You just turned down a bug job."

He kept his eyes closed, smiling. They drifted back to sleep.

The phone rang.

Growling, Grissom snatched his cell back up. "I said no, goddamn it!" he snarled. The ringing continued, and his eyes shot open in confusion.

"Ugh, it's mine," Sara mumbled, groping her hand across her nightstand until she found her phone. "Hello?"

"Dude, get this - Catherine called Griss because she needed help on a bug job, and he said no!"

Her brows furrowed. "Who is this?"

"Don't tell me you don't recognize my voice!"

"Give her a hint, it rhymes with hickey!" Sara grinned when she heard Mandy's voice calling from the background.

"Hey, Nicky," she said, stretching. She felt Grissom lean over and begin kissing her collarbone gently, trailing into the crook of her neck. "Maybe he's sleeping, like me."

It took all her willpower not to moan out loud when Grissom whispered in her other ear, "Or with you."

"You don't think that's a little odd, that he would turn down the chance to work with bugs? He lives for that stuff!"

Sara tried to ignore the faint suckling noises that Grissom's mouth was emitting from its position on her neck. "Actually, Nick, what I find odd is that it's 3 AM, Catherine's at work, and you're with Mandy."

"She suckered me into one of those TBS chick flick marathons by promising me jelly doughnuts," Nick said. She could hear the smile in his voice. "She knows my weak spot. Anyway, I've got to go in and work now, since Dr. Grissom needs his beauty sleep."

Sara almost dropped the phone when she heard Nick yelp suddenly. "Nick? What's going on?" She heard giggling in the background.

"Uh, nothing, Sara. Your sister just decided to get a little handsy on me."

Sara heard Mandy's voice whispering, "I never took you for a screamer."

"Whoa, okay, that's my cue. Nick, good luck with the bugs. Mandy, good luck with the cold shower." She hung up quickly with a shake of her head.

"Everything okay?" Grissom gazed up at her.

"Well, let's see," she said. "Cath is pulling Nicky in to work on the insect timeline, they're both highly suspicious that you'd choose sleep over work, and Mandy seems to have developed a crush on our favorite Texan, which may be a mutual thing."

"On the other hand," she added, drawing the covers back over herself and slipping back into his waiting embrace, "I've got my arms full of Gil Grissom. So yeah, everything's okay."

He stroked her lower back gently with his thumb. "Go back to sleep, honey, it's still early."

The term of endearment made her feel that much warmer, and she felt her lids closing again. "Hey Griss."

"Yeah?"

"You're wondering what kind of bugs they are, aren't you."

He chuckled in amazement. "You really know me that well?"

"Nah," she said, smiling, her eyes still closed. "I was wondering too."