Lady Dahlia’s Writings

“So, any big plans for your anniversary next weekend?” Sara asked, pulling her jacket out of her locker.

“Not that I know of yet,” you laughed, pulling on your own jacket, “but you know Nick, always a romantic. I’m sure he’s got something up his sleeve.”

“Hey ladies, anyone up for pancakes?” Greg poked his head around the corner of the lockers.

“Always!” “Yeah!” You and Sara answered.

You sat at Frankie’s with Sara and Morgan watching Greg dive into his pancakes with the enthusiasm of a child. You tipped your head back laughing, catching Morgan’s eye, softly gesturing over to Greg with your eyebrows. Her eyes grew wide and she slightly shook her head. You laughed harder, a smirk forming on your lips.

As you were part way through your omelette, the front doorbell chimed as someone walked in.

“There he is! We were beginning to worry you wouldn’t make it, man!” Greg shouted, as Nick walked up to your table.

He leaned down to give you a chaste kiss on the lips. Sounds of gagging from the others made you giggle slightly. You scooted over in the booth, to give him space to join you.

“So, Nicky, Y/N says you haven’t informed her of any romantic plans for your upcoming anniversary,” Sara asked in a conspiratorial tone.

Nick feigned a look of shock, “What? Is that comin’ up? Shit! When?” He placed his hand on his chest, pretending to be shocked by that information.

“Oh you, stop! You aren’t fooling anybody. We know you’re just a big softy, so come on. What do you got planned?” Morgan asked.

“Yeah, Nick. What do you got planned?” You mimicked, leaning into him.

“Okay, yeah. Well, I got somethin’ good planned. It is romantic. It is goin’ to be nice. And it is a secret,” Nick answered, sliding his hand on your thigh and giving it a squeeze. He leaned in to whisper in your ear, “but I think you’re gonna enjoy it.” 

You tried to hide the shiver that ran down your spine. Judging by the smirk on his face, Nick definitely caught it.

A week and a half later, you still only knew a partial plan for the anniversary weekend, even though it was only 2 days away. So far, all you could get out of him was that you guys were going to be staying a couple of nights at a hotel on the strip and that there was going to be a nice dinner. You had been pestering Nick to tell you more, but each time he would just smirk and shake his head; usually distracting you with a kiss. Which usually worked.

The two of you sat at breakfast after shift on Thursday morning. You brought Nick to this new spot you had found that made these crazy-specialty breakfast burritos.

“I figure it’s probably time to tell you about the plans for this weekend, huh?” Nick acknowledged, picking at some diced potatoes on his plate, grinning at you.

“I mean, tomorrow is Friday,” you smirked in response. You were eager to learn more about your mysterious anniversary weekend plans.  

“Okay, well you aren’t going to get too many more details. I like surprising you, angel.” Nick gently ran the back of his hand along your cheek.

“Well isn’t that perfect then! Because I like when you surprise me.” 

He beamed at you. “I know you do sweetheart. I know. So, here’s what you get to know. Tonight, when you go into work, bring a packed bag. We are leaving straight from work.” You nodded. “Okay, now for what to put in that bag. You’re gonna need a nice dress, fairly formal, two days of comfy, hanging out clothes, and shoes that you can walk in.”

You processed that information, “Okay. A nice dress, two days of clothes and comfy shoes.” 

He nodded and kissed your cheek.

*****

That night, as you tossed your overnight bag into Nick’s truck, you noticed two suitcases in the back.

“I think you may have overpacked a little,” you teased.

“One bag is my clothes; the other is bedding,” he answered, “I’ve worked too many scenes in hotels, I know what’s in and on those sheets. No thank you ma’am, I ain’t doin’ that. I’ll bring my own.” 

You let out a loud laugh, shaking your head. 

You could hardly concentrate throughout your shift, it reminded you of how you felt the day that Nick had asked you for drinks. The end of the day could not come soon enough. 

Fortunately there was plenty of work to keep you occupied. You spent most of the day working on trajectory simulations with Finn. The evidence was just…weird and didn’t seem to make any sort of sense. Even with the two of you working together, it was still a mind-boggling case. 

Eventually you found yourself walking towards the lockers. Morgan fell into step beside you, bumping your shoulder slightly as you walked.

“You excited?” She asked, her green eyes twinkled with knowledge.

Stopping at the threshold of the locker room, you turned and narrowed your eyes at the investigator. “You know something, don’t you?” 

“What?” She scoffed. “No I don’t.” She turned too quickly, reaching for her locker.

You hummed, not convinced.

Without turning, she added, “Even if I did know something. There’s no way I’m gonna ruin Nick’s surprise. It’s too perfect.” She grabbed her purse, sliding the strap on one shoulder, before turning to face you again.

You opened your mouth to speak, but were cut off.

“And don’t even ask me,” she held out her hands to stop you. “My lips are sealed.” She motioned, zipping her lips.

“Okay, okay,” you relented with a small laugh, turning to open your own locker.

Morgan leaned a shoulder against her now closed locker. “I can’t wait to hear how it all goes. You have to tell me everything on Monday.” She paused, her face twisting with playful disgust. “Wait, not everything. You know what I mean.” Her hand gestured towards you. 

You laughed as you grabbed your purse and jacket. Before you could close your locker, something caught your eye inside. Leaning closer, you found a piece of paper folded into a football at the bottom of your locker. 

Picking it up, you held it up to Morgan with a questioning look. 

She shrugged, as Sara turned the corner into the locker room. 

“Hey you two,” she greeted, before her eyes landed on the folded paper in your fingers. “Ooh, what’s that?”

“I don’t know, it just fell out of my locker.” 

“Well go on, open it up.” Sara encouraged, sliding beside Morgan. 

Unfolding the paper football, you saw the easily identifiable handwriting of Nick Stokes. 

Angel,

I can’t wait to spend this weekend showing you how much I’ve been falling for you over this past year.

Xo, your cowboy

“Aw, it’s really sweet,” you clutched the note to your chest and gave the two women a love struck grin. 

“Well, what does it say?” Sara inquired before quickly adding, “wait, unless it’s PG-13 from Nick. I really don’t want any of those images in my head. He’s like a brother.” She shuddered jokingly.

You laughed, sliding the note into your pocket. “It’s from Nick. It just says that he’s excited about this weekend.” 

Both criminalists smiled, before Morgan spoke up. “You two are, like, disgustingly cute. If I didn’t love both of you, I’d hate you for being so mushy,” she teased, causing all three of you to laugh.

You pulled out your phone to text Nick.

You: hey cowboy, just found the note in my locker, you sap. I love you!

Nick: hey gorgeous, good, I love you too

You: I’m all wrapped up, where do you want me to meet you?

Nick: I’m just heading to the lockers now

You: see you soon

Giving Sara and Morgan a hug, you wished them a good weekend as they headed out of the locker room, on their way to meet Greg for breakfast. 

Minutes later, Nick was rounding the corner into the locker room. Wordlessly he pulled you into a kiss. 

Gasping into the sudden embrace, you melted as you felt Nick’s arms wrap around you.

He hummed contentedly. “You ready?” he murmured against your lips. 

You nodded, grinning into the kiss.

After grabbing a quick breakfast and driving to the Paris Hotel, the two of you made your way up to the room. Sure enough, the first thing Nick did was strip the hotel bedding and replace it with the ones that he had brought. 

You smiled at your boyfriend. Knowing how he felt about hotel rooms, this was actually a pretty big deal for him to reserve a room on the strip. He must really be trying to make this weekend something special, you mused. 

It had been a long week and no matter how excited you were to be celebrating your anniversary with Nick, the exhaustion was a more powerful pull. You tried to stifle a yawn, but he caught it. 

He pulled you into his arms, “How ‘bout we get some sleep?”

You shook your head, even as another yawn escaped. “No, I don’t want to waste a second of this weekend.”

He chuckled, “Sweetheart, it’s all good. I’ll set an alarm, so we don’t miss our reservation.” 

Leaning back, you looked up into his deep brown eyes, eyebrow raised. “Reservation?”

There was that irresistible dimpled grin again. He bent to kiss your forehead.

It didn’t take too much convincing to get some sleep. It had been a very long week. In short order, the two of you had showered, changed, and fallen into the bed curled up in each other’s arms.

*****

A shrill alarm startled you out of your dream. You groaned softly before rolling over to see Nick reaching for his phone to silence the alarm. 

“G’mornin’ beautiful,” he rasped, tossing his phone back on the nightstand. He turned to pull you into his chest, placing a kiss on your temple.

Burrowing deeper into his warmth, you closed your eyes again. “What time is it?”

“Six,” he noted, before elaborating, “I wanted to make sure that we got plenty of sleep. You’re gonna need your energy later, sweetheart.” 

Your eyes flew open at his suggestive tone, turning your head to peer up at him, your expression shocked. 

He winked. 

Your body was awake in an instant, heat flooding your system with his insinuations. If he was aware of how his words affected you, he gave no indication. But something told you that he knew.

“Plus, we have dinner reservations at eight, and I wanted to give us plenty of time to get ready. Even though we both know that you could go to dinner just looking like this and I’d still think you’re the most beautiful woman in the room.”

You sat up with a loving sigh as you ran your hand along his chest, “You really are quite the charmer Nick, aren’t you?”

He let out a chuckle before bringing your hand to his lips.

*****

Almost two hours later, the two of you were just about ready to go. You had asked Nick to shower and change first, so that your dress would be a surprise to him. Sliding on the red dress and matching heels, you could feel your nerves spike.

Taking a deep breath, you opened the door from the bathroom and stepped out into the room.

Before you could bring your eyes to meet his, a whistle, then a low, “holy shit,” instantly rewarded you. 

His response gave you that last bit of courage you needed to raise your eyes to meet Nick’s. You saw his jaw had actually dropped. You spun around for him, letting him appreciate every angle of the dress.

“Holy shit, Y/N. You look gorgeous baby,” he breathed, walking up to place his hands on your waist.

The dress was actually fairly simple. But you had learned long ago that with your curves, you could make a simply-cut dress into something more. It was a red, thin-strapped, floor-length dress. The neckline plunged deeply with a gentle gathering of fabric at the bottom of the vee, accentuating your cleavage. You paired it with red heels, the heart necklace that Nick had given you for Christmas, and a pair of simple diamond earrings. 

Taking a moment to appreciate the man before you, you shamelessly eyed Nick up and down. He was wearing black dress shoes, a dark grey suit with the jacket open, a 3-button vest, and a white button down left open at the top. He looked good.

Nick’s hands began to wander as his eyes hungrily drank you in. 

Beginning to feel his hands become a little too adventurous, you gently placed your hands on his shoulders and said, “I thought we had dinner reservations. Don’t start something that you can’t finish.”

He chuckled and leaned to whisper in your ear, “Oh, but I do intend on finishing it.” 

You didn’t even try to hide the shiver that ran down your spine. He just responded with a devilish grin. 

The reservations were at the steak house, apparently he knew the maître’ d from a case he worked a few years ago. As a result of that connection, you were now seated in the VIP section of the very exclusive steak house and your meal had been comped.  

Dinner was incredible, as you two shared a bottle of wine and ate delicious steaks. You ate, drank, laughed, and forgot that the rest of the world existed. Somewhere during the course of the meal, Nick had placed his suit jacket on the back of his chair, so he was just in his vest and open-collared white button down. 

That patch of exposed skin at his throat tormenting you even more. 

After he ordered dessert for the two of you, he reached around to pull something out of his suit jacket. Turning back towards you, he kept one hand under the table holding whatever he had pulled from his jacket pocket. 

With the hand that was above the table, Nick reached out to clasp your hand. His thumb gently stroking your skin. His eyes looking lovingly into yours.

Glancing at your intertwined fingers, you noticed a slight tremble in his hand. You looked up, meeting his eyes, giving him a sweet smile before gently squeezing his hand. 

The handsome criminalist across from you exhaled a deep, shaky breath. 

“I love you so much Y/N.”

“I love you too.” 

He continued, “This past year has been an incredible adventure. Meeting you has been an incredible adventure. Honestly, I never thought I’d meet someone like you. You came into the lab and just stole my heart and you’ve been stealin’ it every day since.” He paused, chuckling softly. “I am blown away, every day by your absolute beauty. Yes, you are absolutely stunning on the outside,” he gave your hand a squeeze, “but you are just as stunning on the inside too. There is a light and an authenticity in you that just makes me want to be a better man,” he choked up for a second, lowering his head briefly to his chest. 

With his head still bowed, he mumbled, “Listen to me, ramblin’ like an idiot.” 

Tears filled your eyes as you listened to his words. 

Clearing his throat, he lifted his head, meeting your dewy eyes, “Y/N, I’ve been fallin’ in love with you from the moment I saw you. And then every moment after that. I’ve been fallin’ for you for over a year now, every single day.”

Nick slid out of his chair and on to one knee by the table. He lifted the ring box he had pulled from his jacket, opening it to you. 

You gasped and brought the hand that he wasn’t holding to your mouth. “Nick,” you breathed out softly. 

“Y/N, my angel. I want to spend every day for the rest of my life falling more and more in love with you. Will you make me the happiest man alive by marryin’ me?”

“Yes! Yes!” You gasped, nodding without hesitation. The tears were now falling freely. You reached for him, still nodding, needing to touch him.

Nick slid the ring on to your finger then stood up into your embrace, his arms wrapping securely around you. Vaguely you could hear claps and cheers from the other patrons, but honestly, all you had ears for were the words coming out of Nick’s lips as they were pressed tightly against your ear.

“Oh sweetheart,” he choked out in a whisper, “I love you so much. You are my everything. I love you.”

“I love you too, Nick.” 

*****

Nick’s hand drifted down to your ass during the elevator ride back up to your floor after the two of you had finished dinner. Under normal circumstances you would have chided him for being so handsy in public, but tonight you really couldn’t find it in yourself to care. 

Feeling the desire blossom through your system, you pulled him in for a kiss by the collar of that damn opened button-down shirt. 

Not expecting you to be so assertive out in public, he groaned with surprise into the kiss. The kiss continued down the hall to your room.

He fumbled with the keycard, trying to open the door to your room and makeout with you at the same time. It wasn’t working.

Giggling you gave him some reprieve by breaking the kiss enough so that he could open the door. Once inside, Nick haphazardly tossed his suit jacket on a chair with one hand, not wanting to let go of you with the other. 

He pulled you tight against his chest, sliding his tongue against yours in a heated dance of dominance. Your fingers carding through his short hair, giving an experimental tug.

“Oh angel,” he groaned. The brown in his eyes, all but gone, as his pupils dilated to almost complete black.

Turning him, you gently pushed him so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed. You took a step back while he tried to chase you with his arms. 

He looked up at you questioningly.

“I have a surprise for you,” you teased, “but you have to give me a second.”

“Yeah, okay,” he rasped out, nodding.

You quickly removed your heels and walked back into the bathroom, closing the door behind you. Hastily removing your dress, you reached into your suitcase to pull out the special lingerie you had purchased for this weekend. You hadn’t known just how special they would be.

You slid on the lingerie, checking yourself in the mirror before opening the door.

Watching you walk out of the bathroom, Nick thought he was going to faint. All the blood in his body had instantly raced south at the sight of you. You were an absolute vision, a true angel. Dressed in all white, you exuded both innocence and sexuality. 

You were wearing a sheer, white, lacy baby doll set. The lace scalloped edge of the skirt barely covered the tops of your thighs. Lace covered cups pressed your breasts up to form a deep valley of cleavage that Nick was struggling not to run his tongue over as you approached him.

“Damn, Y/N, I think this is the second heart attack you’ve given me tonight,” Nick croaked out, his mouth suddenly feeling too dry.

You chuckled and spun around, showing him the lacy boyshorts under the skirt. Turning back to face him, you saw that he had removed most of his clothing, leaving him in nothing but tight black boxers that did nothing to hide his painfully hard erection.

You sauntered over to him, intending to meet him on the bed, but he had other plans. Nick jumped off the bed and wrapped his arms around you, running his hands over every inch of your exposed and covered body. He left open mouthed kisses across the tops of your breasts and up your neck. 

You felt yourself swoon at his ministrations, fortunately he caught you and picked you up. Walking back to the bed, he tossed you gently against the pillows.

He crawled over you, very much the predator assessing its prey. Dropping his lips to yours, he dominated your mouth with his. Just when you thought you would pass out from lack of oxygen, he moved his mouth along your jaw, placing open-mouthed kisses. 

You gasped, bringing your hands to the back of his head and his back. You slid one hand down his back, feeling the planes of muscle flex beneath your palm. 

Nick started moving his mouth down your neck causing you to moan against him. Slowly, he dragged his lips down your neck, along your collarbone and to the tops of your breasts, pressed up in a breathtaking presentation just for him. He ghosted his lips down the front of the gown, down your stomach, until he reached the bottom of the skirt. Kneeling between your spread legs, he reached under the skirt and pulled down the lacy boyshorts, pulling them down your thighs, over your knees, and off. 

Sliding off the bed, he moved to kneel, pulling your body to him, bringing his face even with your dripping core.

A wanton moan left your lips. 

“I got you baby, I got you,” he whispered. You could feel his warm breath on the insides of your thighs.

He lowered his head and licked a stripe up your core, causing you to let out a gasp which turned into a moan as he began tracing shapes and patterns along your clit, down to your cunt, back to your clit.

He groaned as your flavor dripped across his tongue. He could never get enough of you, of your taste, of the sounds you make. He felt high on you.

You bucked your hips when he slid a finger into you, causing him to softly bite the inside of your thigh in response. Relaxing back to the bed, you brought one hand up to your breast, softly kneading it over the lace cup of your lingerie. You tightened the fingers of your other hand in Nick’s hair, tugging softly as he devoured your core.

He was teasing you; you knew it. He was giving you just enough to bring you to the edge, but not what you needed to be pushed over. His fingers gently caressing your walls brought you to the edge, but not doing enough to make you tip over the cliff. Bringing you to the edge twice, Nick was building you up for the third time. Lapping up everything you had to offer, he had his face snuggly lodged between your thighs, not missing a drop.

You moaned out in frustration causing him to chuckle against you, the vibrations adding to your already fast-approaching release. Looking down at him, meeting his eyes, you silently begged him to allow you to come this time. 

He took mercy on you as his fingers began moving in exactly the way you needed them to, sucking and tonguing your clit. 

You screamed as your climax racked your body, pulling hard on Nick’s hair, you barely heard the groan he released as he watched your body shiver. 

Still panting hard, you watched through half-lidded eyes as Nick brought his fingers to his mouth and savored your flavor on them. You moaned at the sight. 

You sat up and reached out for him, intending to return the pleasure and get your mouth on his cock.

Shaking his head, he held you down gently. “Not tonight sweetheart.” He crawled over you.

Tilting your head, your brows furrowed, you looked up at him with a clear question in your eyes.

With a laugh, Nick explained, “You know I love those lips on me, honey. You know I do.” Bending down to capture your lips in a messy kiss, he gently ground his hardened length against your core. “But tonight…” He trailed off. “Honey I...” He took a ragged breath. “I want to feel the future Mrs. Stokes.”

You let out a soft whimper at his words, your eyes fluttering shut. A smile on your lips. 

Effortlessly, Nick rolled the two of you over so you were draped across his chest. Your core pressing firmly against his clothed length. Helping you to sit up, he brought your left hand to his mouth, placing kisses along your knuckles and your engagement ring. 

The air shifted. Your eyes met his lust-blown ones. Still holding his gaze, you lifted your hand to slip the straps of your lingerie down your shoulders, allowing it to fall, pooling around your waist.

Beneath you, you felt Nick groan appreciatively as he took in your bare chest, running his hands along the planes of your stomach, hips, thighs, breasts, anything he could reach. 

With some maneuvering the two of you removed the last pieces of clothing that separated you. He held you tight to his chest, as he kissed you with an intense passion. Your dripping core coating his cock as you rolled your hips along his length. 

He groaned, feeling how wet you were. He gripped your ass, gently massaging the ample flesh, pulling you down on him. A growled expletive rumbled through his chest. 

In a sudden flurry of movement, Nick moved so he was leaning against the headboard, dragging you up his chest, notching his cock at your dripping entrance. 

“C’mere angel. I need to feel you.” He growled, gripping your hips tightly. 

You whimpered.

Straddling him, you slowly lowered yourself onto his cock. Your cunt stretched around his considerable size. Even though you had just come, you could feel your walls stretch to accommodate him once more. 

Nick could feel it too, he could feel your muscles, tensing and relaxing as you slowly sank down on to him. His eyes rolling back at the feel of your walls adjusting to his length. 

To distract you from the stretch, Nick leaned to capture your lips in a heated kiss. He swirled his tongue around your mouth, licking into you, tasting every bit of you. Slowly, he pressed further into you, feeling your walls relax and open to him. 

You both gasped as he bottomed out, filling you completely. 

Putting your hands on his shoulders, you relished in the feel of him deep inside you, your eyes squeezed shut with pleasure. 

Straining against the pleasure coursing through his body, his fingers gripped your hips tightly. “I love you, Y/N.”

“I love you too, Nick.”

Gently you began to rock your hips, building a slow, grinding rhythm. His strong grip on your hips helping to guide your movements. 

“Oh fuck, yes,” you lewdly moaned into his ear, as you continued to roll your hips. You pressed your chest against his, feeling your nipples rub across his chest. The sheen of sweat that covered your bodies aided the delicious friction across your taught nipples. His lower abs pressing perfectly into your clit.

Nick slightly bent his knees behind you to begin thrusting up into you. He groaned as he felt your walls flutter, somehow constricting even more around him. “Oh shit, ‘s tight…fuck.”

As both of you neared your release, you quickened the pace of your hips, rolling in time with Nick’s thrusts. 

“Look at me baby,” Nick was somehow able to moan, tightening his hold on you, snapping his hips.

You locked eyes with him as you felt your release beginning to erupt. “I love you,” he rasped. That was it, those three words sent you spiraling over the edge into the white-hot abyss.

Your eyes squeezed shut as your climax wracked your body; mouth open in a silent scream. The force of your release caused your nails to rake along Nick’s shoulders, eliciting a deep growl from the CSI.

Working you through your release. Nick was overcome by the sensation of your walls tightening impossibly around him. The pulses of your grip threw him into his own release. Needing to feel every inch of you, he thrust hard up into your, his hands pulling your hips down as he spilled inside of you with a deep groan. 

The roll of your hips stuttered, seeking out the last ripples of your orgasm, Nick twitched at the sensation, causing you to flutter around him. He mouthed at your shoulder, feeling the final throbs of his climax wash through his body.  

The two of you remained locked together, both trying to catch your breath. Slumping against him, you rested your forehead against his, still panting. Uncurling your fingers from his shoulders, you brought your hands to caress the back of his neck. He ran his hands soothingly up and down your back. For a few minutes, the only sound was your combined heartbeats and breathing. The sounds of the strip faded to the background. 

Humming against you, Nick bumped your nose. Smiling, you opened your eyes to look at him. 

“That was incredible,” you said breathlessly, shifting back to rest against Nick’s thighs,

“It really was, you are incredible,” Nick whispered back, a loving grin on his features, “you truly are somethin’ else, and now you are my somethin’ else forever and ever.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart.”

Ten minutes later, both of you had cleaned up and were sliding back into bed. 

You were curled into Nick’s side, neither of you bothering to put clothes back on. The pleasant ache between your legs brought a smile to your face as you gazed at the man you loved. His breathing had begun to deepen as he relaxed. His chest gently rising and falling.

Your ring sparked in the dim lighting as your hand rested on Nick’s chest, making your heart swell every time you glimpsed it. The emotions of the evening overcame you suddenly, your eyes beginning to water, as you reflected on the past year. 

Everything that the two of you had experienced and overcome over the course of your relationship. You reflected on the man whose heartbeat you felt beneath your hand. His soulful brown eyes, dimpled grin, contagious laugh, unwavering integrity, and deep empathy. How soundly he had captivated your soul. 

You breathed deeply against his chest, feeling the comforting warmth of his armed slung over your back. A contented hum vibrated through your chest. 

“Hey angel, whatcha thinkin’ ‘bout?” Nick sleepily drawled, catching the lovestruck expression on your face.

Tilting your head up to look at him, you answered, “You.” 

He hummed in response and pulled you tighter to him, placing a sweet kiss to the top of your head. 

Burrowing deeper into his embrace, you elaborated, “I was just thinking about how grateful I am for you. And how happy I am that I fell for you.”

Noticing your reaction, Morgan and Sara moved to stand by you, each taking one of your hands and gently squeezing. 

You gave them grateful smiles.

Feeling somewhat more confident with your friends by your side, you raised your head again. Next your eyes took in the pictures from the explosion in your lab. Pictures of the carnage were pinned along one wall, blasted glass, dented metal, blood smeared tile. You quickly averted your eyes; you weren’t ready to see those pictures just yet.

Russell started reviewing what was known, going over the letters (from your house, your car, the one left at PD, and the one left at Nick’s house). Greg reported on his conversation with the patrolman who had unwittingly played a role in placing the letter on your car, as he pinned up a sketch from the description the patrolman had given. Next DB reviewed the evidence from the explosion: the footage of the unknown female assailant, the shards of the bomb that survived, and Hodges’ chemical analysis of the odd shrapnel used in the bombs. Then, Catherine reviewed the analysis of the lip smear that you had caught on the pictures from Nick’s house. Sara and Morgan spoke up, offering updates from their interviews with the receptionist (who had unknowingly received the bomb) and other people who had been seen in the lobby around the same time.  

As a lull fell in the conversation, Catherine glanced over at Nick, “Looks like your wheels are turning, Nicky. What do you see?”

“I’m not sure yet,” he answered slowly, “but there is something familiar about some of these details. I just don’t know what it means yet.” Sensing his increased distress, Sam nudged his leg with his nose in comfort. Absentmindedly, he reached down to scratch Sam’s head.

Greg jumped in, “Ok, maybe that’s good. Let’s pull out the details that feel familiar and focus on those?”

“Good idea, Greg,” Cathrine responded, “Okay, Greg and Sara you two stay here with Nick and compile all familiar aspects of this case.” She turned to you, “Y/N, if you’re up for it, I’d like for you and Morgan to take a look at those bomb fragments, try to find some kind of signature or something unique. You up for that?” You nodded. “Great, and I’m going to go review the security footage from the secure employee lot.”

DB spoke up, “I’ll head over to PD to catch Brass and see what his canvases have turned up.”

You glanced across the layout room to see Nick talking with Greg. Upon meeting your eyes, his seemed to soften momentarily, giving you a tight nod, his jaw ticking wildly. His muscles taught with the stress of the case and growing fear of what this woman would do next. 

Before heading out with Morgan, you gave Nick an encouraging smile. 

*****

You and Morgan had been pouring over the bomb fragments for the past 2 hours but hadn’t been able to come up with any sort of signature. The only thing of any remote interest was that you two had discovered that all the materials were most likely purchased from a Home Depot. All the serial numbers seemed to trace back to batches sold at the home improvement giant.

You sat up and stretched your back, “Ugh, this chick is so frustrating.”

Morgan looked over at you, “We’ll figure this out.” She reached over with her gloved hand and squeezed the top of your gloved hand. “I mean, look we already figured out that she bought all this stuff from the same place. And I’m sure everyone else is discovering useful tidbits too.”

You had to admire Morgan’s optimism; you smiled over at her and nodded, a sense of hope flickering in your heart. Your phone buzzed in your pocket.

DB: Family Meeting, layout

You and Morgan looked at each other. Hopefully this meant good news. The two of you eagerly packed up and stored all the bomb fragment evidence in the evidence locker.

Fifteen minutes later, the team was all back in layout.

“Okay guys give me some updates,” DB started, glancing around the room and clapping his hands together.

Catherine stepped up and inserted a flash drive into the computer in the corner of the office, “Well, I found something interesting on the footage from the employee lot.” She clicked a few things as the pulldown screen filled with slightly grainy security footage showing the gated entrance to the employee parking lot. She fast-forwarded to the right time. 

The team watched as a blonde woman, dressed in jeans and a black tank top loitered around the gate. She was holding a folded piece of paper in her hands. She was holding it with her bare hands, but you already knew that. There were unknown prints on all the letters. The video continued, as a patrol car was pulling up to the gate to enter, the officer rolled down the window and spoke with the woman, eventually she handed him the piece of paper and walked away. Catherine paused the video.

“Can you get a better shot of her face?” Greg asked.

“Unfortunately, no. There weren’t any better shots of her face on this video. But that doesn’t mean I struck out. I went through other footage from around the building from the same time period, and that’s where I found it,” Catherine pointed triumphantly.

She pulled up another video that looked like it was from the civilian parking lot along the street, in front of the lab. This video showed the same blonde woman walking down the sidewalk in clear view of the camera. Catherine turned to the group and raised her eyebrows triumphantly, as though to say “see, what did I tell you.”

“Good thinking and good find, Catherine,” DB praised.

“Thank you,” she answered, “I pulled a still of her face and a still of the car she got into. I’ve got one of the weekend guys running it through the DMV database now.”

“Okay, good. Stay on it,” DB instructed, before gazing around the room, “okay, who’s next?”

“Y/N and I were able to determine that all the materials to build the bomb were purchased at a Home Depot. There were readable barcodes on many of the fragments; we did a database search and found that most, probably all, the parts were purchased from a Home Depot,” Morgan gave the report from the work you and she had compiled.

“Interesting. Good find ladies,” DB responded, “any kind of signature?

You shook your head, “Unfortunately not. The key components were just too degraded.”

“Okay, still interesting. Greg, Sara, Nick, before you help piece this all together, I’ll share what I found out from Brass,” DB said. “He didn’t have much to add, unfortunately. But there was one interesting piece of information, that became a lot more interesting when combined with what Morgan and Y/N found.” He nodded in your direction before continuing, “Brass said that one of Y/N’s neighbors had seen a contractor’s truck parked outside of her house a couple of times, in the days before the explosion at the lab. This neighbor thought it was odd because no one on the block is doing any sort of remodeling.”

An intrigued silence followed DB’s information, as each member of the team tried to stitch the information together. 

Nick was sitting with his elbows propped on his knees, his bowed head resting on his clasped hands. Without looking up, he asked, “What was the shrapnel made of again?”

“Umm, looks like metal shavings. Steel and aluminum shavings,” answered Sara, reading from the lab report. “Such an odd choice for shrapnel.” She shook her head, confused.

Nick raised his head to look towards Sara, the gears turning behind his eyes, before turning and gesturing towards Catherine, “Hey Cath, pull up that still of her face again, would you?” Nick asked. The zoomed-in still of the unknown woman filled the screen. “Thanks, and Greg, would you hand me that composite sketch from the patrolman?”

“Sure, here you go,” Greg answered, sliding the drawing over towards Nick, “What are you seeing, man?

Nick started to put the pieces together, “Okay, so we have crazy possessiveness…metal shavings… contractors vehicles…and that face” he tapped the composite sketch with a finger, “….I know that face from somewhere….”

As Nick was thinking, Henry walked into layout. “Hey guys, I just finished the analysis on that smear from the bottom of that picture.” He handed the analysis printout to Catherine, “It looks like it was a weird combination of ginger extract, cinnamon, and”

“Wintergreen!” Nick shouted.

“Uh, yeah, actually. How did you know that?” asked Henry, cocking his head baffled.

“Shit, guys I know who it is,” Nick declared, “but she wasn’t blond when I knew her, and I wouldn’t really consider her an ex-girlfriend.”

Everyone looked at Nick, stunned into silence.

Russell recovered first, “Who is she Nick?”

“Her name is Rebecca Forman,” Nick answered, “I haven’t seen her in years, I knew her in Dallas. I didn’t even know she was living in Vegas. She was one of the assistant DA’s; I met her through my folks. I had a couple of joint cases with her when I was with the Dallas lab. We were never together; we had drinks a couple of times, but it was never serious…well it wasn’t for me anyways.”

DB was instantly on the phone with Brass, “We got a name for you, Rebecca Forman. Connected to Dallas PD, used to be an ADA out there,” he paused to listen, “okay, you keep me posted,” more listening, “thanks.”

Everyone looked at Nick again. 

Finally, Sara broke the silence, “Nick, how did you put it together?” Her tone was a combination of impressed and intrigued. 

Taking a deep breath, Nick slowly wrung his hands and he started to explain. “Like I said, there was something familiar about the composite from the patrolman. Then, I just couldn’t shake this nagging feeling that the odd shrapnel was also somehow familiar. When DB mentioned a contractor’s truck, the pieces started to come together. Honestly, it wasn’t until Henry mentioned the ginger and cinnamon that it all came crashing together.” 

He started sliding the various lab reports around on the layout table, before continuing. “Back in Dallas, I remembered that this ADA - Rebecca - who worked with my folks had a step-dad who worked as a contractor. He did a couple of things for my dad one summer. He specialized in fabrication…metal fabrication. Now that wouldn’t have stuck in my mind, except Rebecca was always complainin’ about how he was leaving metal shavings in her house when he visited. Lastly, it was the ginger extract piece that made things really slam into place. I remembered that the couple times I went out to drinks with Rebecca, she would always put on this weird homemade lip gloss stuff - she called it a lip plumper. I remember asking her about it once, and she said that it was her own creation, made from ginger extract, cinnamon, and wintergreen.”

Nick glanced around the room at the faces of his teammates, regret in his pained expression, “She was a redhead back then. I’m sorry guys, I should’ve figured it out sooner.”

It was Cathrine who spoke first, “Oh no you don’t, Nicky. You solved it! You put the pieces together! Nicky you solved the case!” She walked over and pulled Nick into a tight embrace.

“Yeah, seriously good job, man.” Greg seconded, clapping Nick on the back. “That was a lot of weird pieces to pull together, but you did it,” 

More sentiments of praise came from around the room, as the team slowly began packaging up the evidence to be sent over to PD. 

You looked over at Nick, flashing him a proud smile and a thumbs up, before slumping against the nearest wall. A deep sigh of relief left you. With a name, it wouldn’t be long now before Brass picked her up and this nightmare would be over. 

*****

Six hours later, you and Nick were sitting in the living room of the safe house when you got a text from DB.

DB: Brass found LKA for Forman, has officers checking it now

You: thanks DB, hopefully she will be detained soon

DB: I’ll keep you posted

You: thanks

*****

Three hours after that, you and Nick were trying to get some sleep, but both of you were too wound up. You ended up sitting in bed, talking about the case. Nick’s phone buzzed.

Russell: She’s been detained

Nick: Good news, it go smooth?

Russell: yes and no, she tried to stab one of the officers but it caught his vest

Nick: damn, everyone ok?

Russell: yea, everyone is ok. Brass is interviewing her now. Do you want to watch?

Nick: umm….I don’t think so. I think I’d rather spend my evening with Y/N

Russell: ok. By the way, I have the bomb squad sweeping your truck, your house, and Y/N’s house

Nick: thanks man

Tossing his phone aside, Nick breathed out deeply. “Hey, they got her. Brass is interviewing her now. It’s over. It’s finally done.” He tilted his head back against the headboard and let out another deep sigh.

“Oh good,” you breathed out. Dropping your head as tension released from your shoulders.

“I don’t really wanna go watch. I think I’d rather stay right here with you.” He pulled you close to him, wrapping his arms around your waist, resting your head on his chest.

You hummed contentedly. “I like that idea.”

“Yep, right here.” He whispered, “perfect.”

*****

Across town at PD, Brass sat across the interview table from the blonde woman from the security footage.

“Why am I here?” The woman sassed at Brass.

“You tell me,” he responded coolly, “you tried to stab one of my officers.” He spread his hands casually, his head tilted with curiosity. 

“I didn’t know he was an officer,” she snapped.

“He was wearing a uniform.” He deadpanned. “But, that’s not why you’re here,” Brass added, icily, “you are here because you were stalking a good friend of mine and then you tried to blow up another one of my friends.” 

The woman started to open her mouth to respond, but Brass cut her off. 

“That’s why you’re here, Rebecca.” 

He saw her eyes flare at the use of her name. 

“Oh yeah, I know your name. I know a lot of things about you.” He nodded casually. “Like for starters, you aren’t really a blonde.” He stretched out his hand. “Take off the wig Miss Forman.” 

She pulled off the wig, letting her red hair fall to her shoulders. 

Brass smiled, “See isn’t that better, now we can have an honest conversation.”

The woman seethed. “Where is Nick? I need to see him. Does he know that you have me in this cage?” Rebecca demanded accusingly looking around the room disgustedly.

“Oh, he’s not here. And yeah, I’m pretty sure that he knows you’re in here.” Brass paused, before leaning forward and adding, “Seeing how he’s the one who put you in that chair.”

Rebecca recoiled, “You’re lying. Nick loves me.”

“Really? Oh okay, if he loves you so much, why were you stalking him?” Brass quipped, his patience already growing thin with the irritable woman in front of him.

“I’m not stalking anybody. Nick and I have a very close bond, he loves me. He just got temporarily distracted by her,” Rebecca spat. 

Brass raised an eyebrow.

“You see, we’re gonna get married. Me and Nick. I just had to get rid of that distraction and remind him of our love. But you’ll see, once she’s out of the way, we’ll get married, you’ll see.”

“Is that so?” He goaded, “and how were you going to,” he used air quotes to emphasize her words, “get rid of that distraction?” 

“Oh her?” She sneered. “Well, at first, I tried to just scare her off; left a couple of notes. But that bitch didn’t take the hint. She just continued on, gallivanting around town with my man. The nerve!” Rebecca scoffed. “So then, then I read on the internet on how to make pipe bombs. I figured if she wouldn’t back off my man, I would end her. Or disfigure her so much that he wouldn’t want what was left of her.” She puffed out her chest.

Brass looked on with satisfaction as the woman took his bait and detailed her homicidal plot.  

“But again, that skank slithered right out of it.”

Before Rebecca could continue, Brass held up his hand, “I’ve heard enough. You’re done. Miss Forman you are going away for a very long time. Stalking and attempted murder of a member of law enforcement carries a pretty hefty sentence.”

The blonde woman started defending herself, but Brass was having none of it. 

“Mick,” he gestured for the officer in the corner, “get her out of here.”

“My pleasure,” the officer replied. 

*****

One week later, the construction was finally done in your lab and you were able to return to it. You thought it might be triggering, but it felt more comforting than anything else. The lab was where you felt most comfortable; it was where you could be in control. 

It felt like the first step of life settling again. 

You knew Rebecca was behind bars, the threat was gone. Life could go back to normal. You breathed out a deep sigh, smiling contentedly, looking around at the newly repaired walls of your lab. 

Yeah, everything was going to be okay; you could feel it.

You pulled your headphones from your pocket, getting ready to start analyzing shell casings from a recent shooting at Caesar’s. Glancing down at your phone, you saw a message from Nick.

Nick: hey sweetheart, hope the first day back in your lab feels good. Let’s grab breakfast after shift

You smiled. You were so grateful to have him in your life. With everything that had happened over the past few weeks, he had been your constant, your rock. He said the same thing about you, never second guessing the relationship or him. 

Sighing softly, you responded before switching on your music and putting your phone back in your pocket and getting to work.

You laughed as he brought you back upright, “What’s gotten into you this morning cowboy?” 

“Hmm, somethin’ ‘bout wakin’ up next to a beautiful, naked, woman in my bed and knowing that she is all mine,” he answered with more accent than usual, giving you another long kiss. 

“All yours,” you answered, giving him a chaste peck on the cheek, “You pick up the paper yet?”

“Nope, not yet. Got distracted.” 

“Clearly,” you joked, with raised eyebrows, glancing towards his phone as the next song started to play. You sauntered to the front door. Opening it, you reached down to pick up the paper when you suddenly saw a manila envelope sitting on the front porch next to the paper. 

“Uh, Ni-Nick! Nick!” You stuttered-yelled. 

“Yeah, baby, what’s wrong?” He knew by the tone of your voice that something was amiss. He quickly jogged over to the front door, pushing you behind him protectively. “What? What did you see?” he asked, still scanning his front yard for anything out of the ordinary. 

“L-Loo-Look down….” you whimpered from behind him, clutching his hips tightly, fingernails digging into his skin. 

Glancing down, Nick immediately saw the envelope. “Shit,” he muttered under his breath, gripping your hand instantly. 

Sensing the sudden shift in both of your moods, Sam jumped up and ran to the front door. 

“Reste en arrière," (stay behind) Nick commanded. Sam understood and instead turned his attention to you, nuzzling his nose into your thigh. Sitting by your feet. Your hands mindlessly scratched his ears. 

Nick raced back to the kitchen island, one hand still pulling you along. Grabbing up his phone, he dialed Russell’s number. 

“Mornin’ DB, sorry to bug you on the weekend, but we got a problem,” He listened for a second, “No she’s fine. Everyone is fine. But we got another letter. This time it showed up at my house.” More listening, “Yeah, okay. See you soon.” 

Before long DB and Catherine were standing in the kitchen, processing the envelope. You had put leggings and a bra on, but kept Nick’s shirt on, along with his faded maroon Texas A&M crewneck sweatshirt, which you had pretty much commandeered after your first night together. Nick had slid on a white t-shirt. 

Catherine had laid out a roll of parchment paper over the kitchen island and was preparing to open the envelope. Reluctantly you stood up and walked over to stand by Nick, intertwining your fingers with his. He gave your hand a reassuring squeeze. 

Carefully with gloved hands, Catherine sliced open the envelope and slid the contents out onto the parchment paper, catching any and all trace that may have been attached. It looked similar to the envelope that had been delivered to PD: pictures and a letter. 

DB carefully slid the pictures apart and separated them from the letter. You gasped as you looked at the pictures. These were different. These were more...personal. The first picture showed you and Nick liplocked in an intimate embrace in front of his house. The second picture had clearly been taken through the bedroom window as it showed both of you shirtless embracing each other. The third picture showed you and Nick holding hands, walking alongside Sam outside of the lab. And the fourth picture appeared to be a close up of you and Nick walking down a sidewalk, but what made this picture unique was that the sender had X’d out your face with a black sharpie. The letter read: 

I TRIED TO GET RID OF HER FOR YOU. WHAT DO YOU EVEN SEE IN HER? WE ARE MEANT TO BE TOGETHER NICK. 

You stopped breathing, stumbling back until you hit the back of the couch. You were being stalked by one of Nick’s exes? A thousand questions swirled in your brain. Each more ridiculous than the last. 

The room plunged into an uncomfortable silence. 

Catherine was the first to break, “It looks like this is more connected to you Nicky than to Y/N. This handwriting look familiar to you?” 

He shook his head slowly, chocolate eyes jumping with growing alarm as they flew over the pictures in front of him, clearly still reeling from this information. “Its….its an ex of mine who’s stalking Y/N and making fuckin’ bombs?” His voice went from soft to angry by the end of his question. 

DB stepped forward and placed a calming hand on Nick’s shoulder, “Okay, okay. Let’s hit pause. Nick, take a deep breath…” 

After making sure that Nick was calming down, he continued, “Catherine and I will get this over to the lab and get the weekend crew to start processing it.” Sensing an argument from Nick, DB raised his hand, and continued “I trust them, Nick. This is not a member of the family; this is an outsider. And I need our family rested and refreshed to be able to fully go after this guy...or gal in this case.” 

Nick bristled, his jaw clenching, but nodded his agreement, “Okay, yeah. I understand.” 

“Good,” DB turned to Catherine, “start packing up this evidence please.” She nodded and moved to start sliding things into evidence bags. As she slid one picture, something caught your eye.

“Wait, hold up,” you raised your hand towards Catherine. She stopped and glanced at you with a quizzical look. “Look at the bottom of that picture,” you pointed, making sure you didn’t get too close. “It looks like a lip print or something.” 

Leaning down to get a closer look, Catherine broke out the magnifier from her kit. “Good eyes Y/N. There is something there. I’ll make a note about it and make sure that the lab analyzes it. Good catch.” 

“Okay, good. Now Nick,” DB said, turning to look at Nick, “you guys can’t stay here. When we thought the threat was against Y/N, this was fine. But now….” Nick nodded. “Right, I’ll call Brass, get him working on a safe house for you two. So, get packed. Do not go doing something stupid. I’ll text you when I know something,” he said firmly to Nick.

Nick nodded again, sinking down in a dining room chair. You moved to stand next to him, placing a calming hand on his shoulder.

Soon enough, DB and Catherine were packing up their kits and heading out of the house. The quiet sanctuary of the morning had been broken. You knew there were things to do: you needed to get Nick packed, you needed to pack up your own things, and you needed to connect with Brass about whether Sam would be able to come to the safe house with you or not.

You knelt on the floor beside Nick, “Come on, we gotta get moving.” You gently ran your hand along his shoulders, feeling the tension beneath your hands.

“I’m missing something,” he muttered. 

“Hey, we’ll figure this out. Okay? I promise. What were you saying to me last night...the whole team is working on this. We will solve this. Okay?” 

He nodded slowly and reluctantly allowed you to stand him upright and lead him back to the bedroom to get packing.

Thirty minutes later, the two of you were fully packed and driving to the lab. Brass had suggested swapping vehicles before driving to the safe house, unsure if Nick’s truck had a tracking device (or worse) in it. He assured Nick that he would have an officer search it just in case. And, it turned out that Sam was allowed to come to the safe house - thank goodness.

After swapping to an unmarked vehicle, you, Sam, and Nick drove to the address Brass had given you. You could tell that Nick was tense, his hands almost white with the death grip he had on the steering wheel. He had been unnervingly quiet since you left his house. You didn’t know what to say to help him, so you resorted to calming physical reassurances.

The three of you settled into the safe house and you texted Russell and Brass, letting them know that you had arrived. It was a small townhouse on the other side of town, with a kitchen/dining room, living room, and half-bath downstairs with two bedrooms and a full bathroom upstairs. Fortunately, there was even a little fenced-in yard out back for Sam. 

As you dropped your bags onto the masterbed, you looked over at Nick. He looked worse than he had at the hospital. Looking ashen, with bags under his eyes, the tension on his face made him look years older than he was.

You walked around the bed and wrapped your arms around him, pulling him into your body. He dropped to his knees, pulling you to awkwardly sit on the edge of the bed with him on his knees between your spread legs. He wrapped his arms around you and dropped his head to your chest. 

You simply held him like that, occasionally whispering reassurances. 

Suddenly, you felt his chest shudder and his arms tightened their grip on you. Bringing one hand up to cup his head, you pulled his head further into your chest, keeping your hand cradling him. He held you tight as soft tears dampened the front of your sweatshirt.

“Shhhh, it’s okay, baby. I’m right here,” you gently cooed as you held him. He muffled something in response. Leaning back slightly, you hummed in question.

“It’s my fault that you were blown up. You could’ve died because of me. All of this is because of me,” he choked against your chest.

Pulling him back to look him in the eyes, your heart broke at the sight. His beautiful brown eyes were rimmed red and bloodshot, his charming dimples nowhere to be found, instead blotches of pink covered his handsome face.

“No.” you firmly stated. “Don’t say things like that. None of this is your fault.” You chased his eyes, trying to maintain eye contact. “No. This is because there is some crazy chick out there who can’t move on. This is not your fault. Don’t you think that for a minute, Nick Stokes.” You held his face in your hands, looking him square in the eyes, “This. Is. Not. Your. Fault.”

He gave you a slight nod, sniffling and closing his eyes. Once again you pulled him into your body. He sighed deeply against you. 

Minutes later you realized what you could do to help.

You slowly stood up and disentangled yourself from his grasp and took a step away from him. Very slowly you stripped out of your sweatshirt, shirt, and leggings. You pulled his t-shirt over his head and pushed his sweats down his legs. Once both of you were naked, you wordlessly pulled him towards the bathroom and turned on the shower. 

Gently kissing his chest and caressing his back, you waited for the water to heat up. Once it was hot enough, you pulled him in with you. Pushing him to stand under the spray, you curled your body into his allowing his arms to wrap around your back. The two of you just stood there, under the warm spray of the shower, embracing each other while you whispered sweet nothings to him. 

After a while, Nick’s hands started to wander further down your back and over the curve of your ass. Beginning to grope and massage the flesh. Leaning closer to him, placing a kiss on his chest, you felt something hard nudge your hip. Pulling back slightly, so that you could look up at him without the water hitting you in the face, your eyes widened at the look in Nick’s eyes. He was looking down at you with a fierce combination of determination and love that made your heart melt and thighs clench. 

Slowly he brought his face to yours, pressing his lips against yours with a quiet tenacity. 

“Nick,” you moaned against his lips. 

“I’m right here,” he whispered back, gently nudging your nose with his nose.  

Without a word, he reached back and turned off the water. Swapping kisses and gentle gropes you tried to dry yourselves off. He gently peeled off your now-wet bandages, reverently assessing each mark on your body, until he was satisfied they didn’t need to be covered again. Quickly retrieving supplies from the bedroom, he redressed the two wounds that were still needing to be covered, placing soft kisses across your stomach, chest, and arms. 

Eventually, the two of you were able to make it into the bedroom wrapped in your towels.

Once you reached the bed, he pulled you flush against him and unwrapped the towel from your body. With one hand holding you close to him; he unwrapped his towel with the other. Now bare to each other, skin to skin, he whispered “I need to feel you. I need to know this is real. That you are real.”

“I’m here. I’m real,” you rasped against his lips.

The brunette criminalist scooped you into his strong arms, wrapping your legs around his waist and walked to the edge of the bed. Instead of tossing you on the bed, however, he gently laid you down, caging you beneath him.

You brought one hand from around his neck to caress the stubble on his cheek and run your fingernails along his jawline. He momentarily closed his eyes, still holding himself above you.

“What do you need?” you quietly whispered.

A barely-there smile formed on his lips, as he opened his now hooded eyes. “You,” he quietly answered.

“I’m here.”

He bumped his nose against yours, closing his eyes and humming in thought for a moment. When his eyes softly opened, you understood the unspoken plea in his eyes; understood what he needed.

Gently moving your hips, you rolled him over so that you could straddle him. You leaned down, softly kissing him as his hands slid to your thighs. You sat up, placing your hands on his chest and looking him in the eyes, “I’m right here Nick. I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

With that, you leaned down to kiss him again. This time, you poured all the passion you had into the kiss, swiping your tongue against the seam of his lips. 

With a moan he opened his lips to you, running his hands along the soft skin of your thighs. You swirled your tongue around his mouth, memorizing his every reaction as he let you dominate the kiss. 

Shifting your hips, you slid your soaking core along his length.

He bucked his hips up against you, as he let out a sudden gasp, effectively breaking the kiss. “Damn,” he rasped. You slid your core along him again, moaning his name in response.

Removing one hand from your thigh, he slid it between your bodies, tightly gripping his length. He looked up at you, a silent question asked. You nodded; a silent question answered. 

With one hand gripping his cock and the other gripping your hip, he guided himself to your entrance. Slightly rising up, you allowed your core to catch on his length, moaning an expletive. You sank down, taking the first inch of his length into your cunt.

Both of you groaned at the connection; his hands sliding to grip your hips. Somewhere along the way, Nick’s eyes had closed. Opening them now, he was unprepared for the view that greeted him. Your arms were straight against his chest, palms flat on his pecs, holding yourself up. Your head was thrown back, neck stretched. Nick’s eyes traced the lines of your neck, sliding down your throat to your chest. He unexpectedly bucked his hips up, sliding himself into you another inch unintentionally with the sight of your breasts bouncing with your every breath. You let out a loud moan as your cunt fluttered and stretched around him. 

It was his turn to moan loudly as he took in the way your breasts shimmered with a light sheen of sweat; the way your nipples were drawn taught into pebbled buds. 

You whimpered, as you looked down at him, sinking down further onto him. 

He brought his thumb up to make gentle circles over your clit, careful not to apply too much pressure…not yet at least. 

As soon as he felt the backs of your thighs come flush with his hips, Nick thrust his hips up, filling you completely. You gasped at the feeling of being so filled by him. He brought one hand up to caress your breast and toy with your nipple, as you threw your head back with a low moan.

You slid your hands up to his shoulders and started to roll your hips.

Nick’s hands immediately dropped to the bed as he gripped the sheet so tight you thought it was going to rip. He turned his head to gently bite your wrist as it sat against his shoulder, releasing a groan.

As you continued to gently roll your hips, you could feel your body beginning to relax and accommodate Nick’s size even more. Allowing you to change up your pace and add a slight swivel to each roll.

Nick had released his teeth from your wrist and was now clenching them tightly as his hands gripped your hips so tightly so knew there would be bruises later. 

You didn’t care; this is what he needed. He needed to feel you, to know you were real. 

You began to increase the pace, rolling your hips harder and faster; feeling every inch of Nick slide along your walls on each roll. He began bucking up into you, meeting your rhythm with equally enthusiastic thrusts.

One, two, three more rolls of your hips had you seeing white as your climax burst explosively through your system. Electricity sparked through every nerve in your body. You felt your toes curl with the force of your orgasm. Your fingernails scratched down the front of Nick’s pecs. 

Forcing your eyes open, you glanced down in time to watch Nick go tumbling into his release. He pulled your hips tightly to him, pushing himself as deep into you as possible. His head was thrown back into the pillows, eyes closed tight, as he growled your name deep from his chest.

For a moment, neither of you moved. Honestly, you weren’t sure if you could move. Every muscle in your body felt utterly depleted. 

You dropped down onto Nick’s chest, panting against the smattering of dark hair across his chest. 

He softly groaned, as the shift in your position changed the angle of his cock inside of you. Once he was able to regain control of his arms, he brought his hands up to your back, holding you tightly to him.

“Thank you angel,” he murmured, sounding dazed.

You continued to lay there, intertwined in every possible way for a few minutes. Your mind wandered as you lay there; thinking of all the ways you were rapidly falling head over heels in love with Nick. It was a rapidly growing list.

From his dimpled grin to those soulful brown eyes; the strength in his shoulders to his soft stomach that just made you want to run your tongue over it every time you glimpsed it; the sexy southern accent; the kind soul who never hesitated to do the right thing or help someone; or his fierce protectiveness for the people he cared about. 

Really, there were hundreds of reasons, but one conclusion: you were falling…no, you were no longer falling.  

Deciding it was best not to look up, lest you blind yourself with whatever was falling on and around you, you dropped your eyes. Looking down was even more confusing, because your eyes recognized the floor of your lab but...it didn’t look right. There were drops and smears of a dark fluid. 

Okay, I’m in my lab...

Sneaking a glance down your body, you realized you were sprawled across the floor, why were you on the floor of your lab? What happened? Your navy lab coat looked polka dotted, there seemed to be drops of a dark substance creating spots. It seemed to match the dark fluid from the floor.  

You frantically looked around, noticing broken glass beside you on the floor, and a large piece of dented metal, a table maybe? Oh god, that's my workbench. Which means the shattered glass is from the windowed wall that looks out into the hall...what? 

Did I fall through it? What the hell happened here? 

Bewildered, you tried to crawl to the hall, but your hands kept slipping and couldn’t find traction. Looking down you saw that your hands were covered in that same dark fluid that was ruining your lab coat.

The realization took your breath away. Blood. You gasped, stumbling again. 

With a determined grunt, you pulled yourself towards the hall, cursing every time your hands slipped. You needed to make sure everyone was okay, secure evidence...

Suddenly arms were lifting you and dragging you into the hallway. You wanted to thank whoever had come to your rescue, but as you moved your head to speak, you were overcome by a wave of dizziness, which forced your eyes and mouth closed again. 

Through the ringing, you heard someone desperately shout your name repeatedly. They sounded scared, frantic. Was it the same person who had pulled you from your lab? You needed to thank them. 

More arms reached around your body.

The last semi-coherent thought you had before you slipped into unconsciousness was about dark brown eyes and a dimpled smile.

*****

Shit, why does everything hurt? 

You groaned as you tried to move, every muscle protested profoundly. 

Why can’t I move? 

Struggling not to panic, you tried opening your eyes, only to be met with blinding white lights. Your eyes slammed shut again. You groaned. 

Something was beeping. Pain ripped across your stomach. 

Taking a deep breath to steel yourself, you tried to open your eyes again, moving slower this time. Your head was turned. Inching your eyes open, the harsh light seared. Continuing to breathe, you pressed on. 

The first thing you saw was a railing of some kind. It was white, a white railing. Blinking slowly, you tried to focus your vision more. 

More objects started to take shape...some tubing? Maybe a window in the distance? Some kind of machine...more beeping...medical maybe? Medical….tubing….am I in the hospital? 

A voice crackled over an intercom. Shit, I AM in the hospital. 

The horror in that realization sent a wave of panic rippling through your body. You took a deep breath, trying to make sense of what was going on and fighting to keep the rising panic in check. Hesitantly, you worked to move your arms and legs. Relief flooded your system, as you were painfully able to move all of your limbs. 

Keeping your eyes open, you tried turning your head to look straight ahead or up (it was hard to tell if your chest was elevated or if you were flat on your back). Turning your head, you saw more signs that confirmed you were in some kind of a hospital: more tubing, more incessant beeping, more medical equipment, those terrible hospital chairs they put by patients' beds. Your skin prickled with fear and rising anxiety. 

Only, wait, hold on...that terrible hospital chair has someone sitting in it. In other circumstances, it would have been comical to see the broad man curled into such a small chair. But it was anything but funny at that moment. It was a relief. The man’s rumpled black jacket had been wadded into a makeshift pillow against the wall. His knees pulled up to his chest. 

“Ni….Nick….” you croaked out, trying to reach out to him.

The man in the chair jolted awake, frantically untangling himself from the chair. Swearing as his jacket hooked a chair. Nick jumped to your side, taking your hand in his and cradling your face in the other. 

He looked like he had been through hell, his face was pale, his eyes bloodshot, and his hair looked like he had been running his hands through it for hours. 

“Y/N! Yeah, baby I’m right here. I’m right here. You’re awake!” Nick rambled, firmly holding your hand and squeezing. Turning to yell out the curtain doorway, he shouted “Hey, hey nurse, someone! She’s awake!” 

Turning back to you, he bent down and placed a gentle kiss on your lips. 

“Shit, sweetheart. You had me so scared.” he whispered, fear tinged his words, making his voice come out gravelly and broken. 

You groaned in pain at the contact. Apparently everything hurt. 

Nick saw the pain and subsequent confusion flash over your bruised features. He grimaced, he really didn’t want to show you all of the bruises or explain to you what had happened. He just wanted to celebrate that you were finally awake and that you were going to be okay. 

“Wh...what….what….hap….happened?” you rasped, voice horse with disuse. 

You watched his face fall as his eyes darted away from your face. Stalling, he reached for a cup of water from a nearby table and offered you the straw. As you were gulping down the most refreshing water you’d ever experienced, a nurse walked in and began looking you over, shining a light in your eyes, taking your pulse, etc. 

She ushered Nick closer to the curtain barrier and spoke briefly with him, before turning to leave the room. 

“Good news, sweetheart. They say you’re gonna be okay. They’re gonna keep you for a couple more days, just to monitor for any concussions, but it looks like you’re out of the woods now,” Nick answered your unspoken question, gently running his hand down your arm, mindful of the many bruises and bandages.

Your eyes met Nick’s. Relief evident in his rich brown eyes. Someplace deep in your soul, a tension eased, as though just feeling his touch melted away stress.  

With a rough clearing of his throat, he broke the quiet which had settled over you, “Now, I’m gonna let Russell know that you’re awake, which means we have about 20 minutes until the entire team comes barreling through that curtain.” He reached into his back pocket to grab his phone, before adding, “Don’t worry, I’ll fill you in before they get here.” 

True to his word, after sending a text to Russell that you were awake, Nick dragged his chair closer and started to explain everything to you. His voice was heavy with emotion.

He described how Hodges had brought two bags of evidence, which had been left unattended at reception, to your office. You had tried to open one. 

That part you could roughly remember. Something had been off about the evidence. The memories came back in bits and pieces. You tried to describe the strange label to Nick, how it had looked out of focus. 

He pulled out his notebook and jotted down the details you could remember before describing the full devastating scope of the explosion. Nick choked up, faltering as he told you how lucky you’d been that you tilted it away from your head as the explosion went off. The bomb, which had been hidden in the bag, had been designed to kill whoever opened the bag. 

Your heart lurched, hearing how close you’d come to dying. Sensing the change in your demeanor, he leaned in to kiss your forehead, giving your hand a comforting squeeze. 

He related how Greg and Henry had been the first to respond to the explosion, pulling you out of your lab before you passed out. From there, you had been rushed to the hospital and immediately into surgery for internal bleeding from the concussive force of the explosion. 

The bomb had been rigged with crude shrapnel. Fortunately, the bombmaker didn’t really know what they were doing and used ineffective scrap metal instead of more lethal ball bearings or nails. Your body was littered with hundreds of shallow cuts, but it could have been much worse had the bombmaker been more knowledgeable. 

Nick explained that you had recovered well but you’d been unconscious for two days. 

“Two days?” you blurted, aghast. “What about the team? Is everyone okay? Was anyone else hurt in the explosion? Oh crap! All of that evidence. What all was destroyed? Greg had a-” 

With an endearing huff of laughter, Nick gently squeezed your hand. “Sweetheart, slow down. It’s alright. Just breathe.” 

He waited for you to take a deep breath and exhale before continuing. 

“Good. Now, first, no one else was injured. Second, your lab was the only thing destroyed. Third, we did lose some evidence but you managed to save most of it. Thank goodness you had placed most of it in the vault before the explosion.”

When you gave him a questioning look, brow raised, he smiled, “Security cameras.”

You nodded with a hum of understanding. 

“And lastly, Morgan owes me twenty bucks! I was right.” He gave you a smug smile, leaning back in his chair. “She bet me that you would ask about your lab and all the evidence first, and I said that you would ask about the team first.” He grinned knowingly, “I know you care about the people more.” 

You rolled your eyes, giving him a smirk before letting out a groan at the pain the movement elicited. Raising your hands to your head, you closed your eyes to absorb all of the information Nick had given you. The wounds along your arms and chest began to throb. Your head spun, trying to analyze and make sense of everything.  

Something was still bothering you. Lowering your hands to your lap, you cocked your head. “Wait….you said the evidence had been abandoned at reception, where did it come from?” 

Again, Nick chuckled goodheartedly. “Always the investigator.” He gave you a proud grin. “That’s the thing, we don’t know. At least not yet. The whole team is working on it though.” He soothingly ran his hand along your arm. 

“There is one last thing,” he spoke cautiously, hesitating. You nodded, encouraging him to continue. “You had a lot of cuts and gashes all over your face and body.” 

“Yeah, I kinda figured when I woke up and everything hurt.” 

“Well…” He was stalling, obviously not wanting to disclose whatever he had to tell you. His eyes darted around your face, his fingers twisting his ring unconsciously. “When they pulled you out of your lab, Greg and Henry weren’t sure where you were injured...and,” he paused again, “baby, you looked like you were in rough shape...So...”  

“Yeah?” 

“So, Greg ended up cutting through your top to see if they needed to stop any bleeding.” He rushed out.

Taking a moment to digest that, you finally replied, “So Henry and Greg saw my chest?” 

“Yeah,” Nick breathed out, solemnly. 

“God! Don’t do that!” You shouted, smacking him on the shoulder, “Shit, your build up made it sound like I was tragically deformed or something! Fuck! I hate you!” 

Nick erupted with a deep laugh, throwing his head back. Honestly it had been the first time he actually laughed since before the explosion. He’d been terrified the entire time you’d been unconscious, afraid you’d never wake up. Knowing that you were going to be okay had lifted an enormous weight from his chest. It was in that moment that he really understood how far he had fallen for you. 

“That was so mean!” You tried to smack him again, but he dodged your aim. A playful glint to his smirk.

“Well, I see that we have our girl back,” the voice of DB Russell floated into the room. 

Turning to look, you saw the whole team standing outside the curtain. You nodded to Nick, and he stood up and threw back the curtain, letting the team crowd around your bed. Tears started flowing quickly down your cheek, your heart felt like it was going to burst with the amount of love you felt. 

Glancing around your bed, at your team, your people...your family, you felt a connection, a sense of belonging you’d never experienced before. Your heart swelled with the emotions. Another round of tears streaked down your face.

Nick remained by your side, holding your hand as everyone gave you hugs, kisses, and wished you well. 

Ever the doting mother hen, Catherine wrapped you up in a warm embrace and asked how you were feeling. You clung to her tightly, grateful for her maternal energy and love in that moment.

Sara and Morgan kissed your temples with promises to bring you home cooked meals. Both joked that hospital food wasn’t going to help your recovery. You laughed at their playfulness, but deep down you felt immense gratitude for having both of them in your life. The sisters you never knew you were missing. 

Greg, Henry, and Hodges all gave you big hugs and promised that they would keep you up to date on the progress of the case, agreeing to drop by every day after shift to check on you. 

After half an hour of love and well wishes, Nick noticed you were looking worn out. 

“Alright, alright everyone,” he called out, “we should probably let Y/N get some rest. She did just wake up after all!” 

A round of murmured understanding and agreement filled the room. With wishes of well being and promises to catch the bastard, the team filtered out one by one, until only Nick and DB remained.

Both men pulled up chairs, sitting on either side of your bed. Nick continued to hold your hand, his thumb drawing soothing circles across your skin. 

“You gave us all quite the scare there missy,” DB confessed, his fatherly tone laced with worry. 

“So I’ve gathered,” you answered. 

“We’re all just glad you’re gonna be alright.”

“Me too,” you breathed out. “Me too.” You hesitated, peering at DB with a hopeful expression, “Can you fill me in on what you have so far? Or….?”

“I think that’d be alright, what do you think, Nicky?” 

The brunette investigator nodded, “Yeah, I think that’s probably a good idea, maybe you can help us out.” 

DB summarized the evidence for you. Unknown prints had been lifted from both threatening letters; they were run through the system but nothing popped. Prints of a patrolman were lifted from the second letter, explaining how it got inside of the secure employee lot. DB explained that a woman had approached the patrolman, asking him to leave a love note on her boyfriend’s car. 

You rolled your eyes. Brass was going to have fun with that one, no doubt.  

Video footage of the reception area showed a blonde woman drop off the fake evidence bags when the receptionist was busy. There were no clear shots of her face, unfortunately. 

The bomb fragments were still being analyzed, but so far it looked like a run-of-the-mill homemade pipe bomb set with a motion detector trigger device, which had been supposed to go off when someone opened the bag. DB explained that both bags had been rigged with similar devices, so no matter which one you had opened, it would have been the same. He did note that both bombs used the same interesting combination of shrapnel. Most people use nails or ball bearings, this bomber used an odd combination of metal shavings, mostly steel and aluminum. 

Again your heart lurched at the reminder of how close you’d come to losing your life.

Lastly, DB detailed how an anonymous letter had been dropped off to PD, the day after the explosion. In it were pictures of you, clearly taken with a long-range lens. There were four pictures and a note. The pictures included one of you walking up to your front door with a bag over your shoulder, one of you at a grocery store laughing at someone/something out of frame, one of you walking out of the lab, and one of you and Nick holding hands walking at a park. The note was written in the same style as the previous ones and read: 

YOU GOT LUCKY BITCH. YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DIE. YOU WON’T GET AWAY WITH THIS. I TOLD YOU TO BACK OFF! 

The team was no closer to identifying the mystery stalker-turned-attempted-murderer, but they were still working through all of the evidence. The evidence suggested a woman was involved, but was she just planting the notes and bomb for someone else? Or was she the one threatening you? And why? Was she connected to a case? Was it something else? 

*****

Two days later you were medically cleared to go home. But you weren’t DB-cleared to return to your home. He had given you strict orders to stay with Nick and when you couldn’t be with him, you were to be with another member of the team. He did acquiesce and allow Sam to be considered part of the team, that way you didn’t have to be babysat while in your own lab...well your temporary lab, since yours was still under re-construction. And since Sam was technically a member of law enforcement you were allowed to bring him into the lab. 

As you packaged up the automatic rifle you had been processing, you remembered that you had still had a box of evidence over at PD to pick up. A rookie officer on Sara’s B&E case had mistakenly left the evidence at the station instead of bringing it to the lab. She had not been pleased. 

Glancing at the clock, you noted that you still had time to zip over to PD, pick up the evidence and get back in time to actually start processing it before the end of shift. Now all you needed was a chaperone. You pulled out your phone and opened the night team family text. 

You: hey everyone, I need to run to PD to pick up some evidence. Anybody wanna go for a ride?

Sara: sorry, I just got to my secondary scene on the strip. 

Morgan: dang, I’m over in Henderson right now

Catherine: elbow deep in the evidence garage, I don’t think you’d want to be in a confined space with me right now

Morgan: oh no! Cath, did you end up with that Lake Mead floater?

Catherine: yep, processing the vehicle now 😐

You: ew, I think I’ll pass. Thanks though!

Greg: I’m just wrapping up some fingerprint analyses. I’ll be free in like 10 min. 

Nick: sorry hun, just walked in to the ME’s office for a post

You: Thanks Greg! Just swing by my lab when you’re done

Greg: sounds good

Sara: oh and if you see Officer Swidell, remind him of proper evidence handling please

You: will do 😉 

Soon, you and Greg were making the quick trip over to PD. 

“Thanks again for being my chaperone, Greg.” You looked over at your friend, as he turned the SUV into the PD parking lot. 

“My pleasure,” he smiled. “It’s nice to get out of the lab. I’ve been running those fingerprints for hours. It’s nice to stretch my legs.”

“Well, I appreciate it.” It was true, you really did feel tremendously grateful for all of your friends. This had not been an easy ordeal on any of you. 

As the two of you made your way through the station, a loud commotion drew your attention to one of the bullpens. Inside, an officer was struggling to restrain a very sweaty man who kept growling at the officer. Another two other officers raced down the hall chasing a second man who was dragging ankle shackles behind him. The fleeing man kept shouting vulgarities at the pursuing officers. 

You and Greg darted to one side of the hallway to avoid the rush of officers. Just as the two of you safely collided with one of the glassed walls of an interview room, one of the officers jumped and tackled the escaping man. The hall filled with sounds of metal clashing and unintelligible yelps, as both men landed hard. 

Brass’s voice boomed down the hallway, “Swidell! This is why you double check that you’ve properly secured the cuffs!” 

Greg shot you a “oh that guy is totally screwed” grimace before his face fell, taking in your blanched expression and quivering lips   

“Whoa, Y/N, are you okay?” He reached out to grip your upper arms.

You flinched, eyes frantically taking in the scene in front of you. Sweat beaded along your hairline.

Instantly he understood. The commotion had triggered a panic attack. 

He tried to keep his voice calm and soft, as he offered you assurances before steering you into an empty conference room. “Breathe, you’re safe.” Greg continued to coach you through the panic attack. 

It felt like the walls were closing in on you. When did PD become so claustrophobic? And loud? Through the buzzing in your ears, you could faintly hear another sound, a calmer sound. Almost like someone was trying to coax a scared animal or talk to a child. The voice was familiar…

“Y/N, just keep breathing. I’m right here. You’re safe.”

Greg’s voice began to overpower the buzzing. He soothed his hands along your upper arms.

You didn’t flinch this time. 

After a few more minutes of deep breathing, you were able to gain control again. The world came back into focus, your pulse returned to normal. The shaking was lessening and your heart didn’t feel like it was going to rip open your chest. 

“Let’s grab this evidence and get you back to the lab.” Greg offered kindly, giving you a warm smile and giving your arm a comforting squeeze.

You exhaled loudly and nodded. “Yeah, okay. Thanks Greg.”

“Hey, don’t mention it,” he replied, before adding jokingly, “I’m a sensitive guy, chicks love it.” 

You chuckled, rolling your eyes. Leave it to Greg to be able to make you laugh after having a panic attack. 

Later, you were cleaning up the dishes from having breakfast with Nick. Soft music played from the speakers in the living room. He hummed along to a Josh Turner song. 

“...time is love, gotta run, I’d love to hang a little longer, but I got someone who waits for me and right now she’s where I wanna be…” Pulling you into his arms, he twirled you around the kitchen, holding you firmly against his chest. 

“Do you want to talk about today?” He whispered before placing a chaste kiss to the shell of your ear.

You exhaled heavily, sinking into Nick’s strong embrace. “Not really,” your words mumbled as you tried to shake your head into his chest. 

He hummed in response before beginning to gently sway with you in his arms. “Greg texted me. He’s worried about ya.”

When you didn’t respond, Nick leaned back to peer down at you. His heart clenched at how exhausted you looked. Why hadn’t he seen it before? Gone was the sparkle that usually lit up your beautiful eyes, replaced with a dull fatigue. Dark circles had formed beneath your eyes. The tone of your skin was a shade off, lacking it’s usual luster. 

“C'mere,” he pulled you into the living room, on to the couch, settling you into his lap so he could cradle you against his body. “I’m right here.”

You shook your head, “It was just a stupid panic attack. I just,” you stopped, dropping your head to Nick’s shoulder, your eyes closed. 

He soothingly ran his hands along your back.

“It just gets to be too much sometimes,” you brokenly whispered as tears started dropping on to his white t-shirt. 

“Yeah, I know sweetheart,” he consoled, leaning his cheek to rest against your head. “How ‘bout you let me keep you safe?” 

Raggedly you breathed in slowly, before mumbling, “okay.”

“Okay, good. Just stay in this moment with me. I got you.”

Minutes passed as your breathing slowly began to even out, the tears stopping as well. Nick thought you’d fallen asleep. He held you, reassuringly running his hands along your back. 

“Thank you,” your voice was small, startling out of his revere. 

“Of course, angel.”

Three days into your new bodyguard arrangement, you were working on creating a computer simulation for court, showing the various trajectories involved in one of Morgan’s cases. You had your headphones in, with your back turned to the door, lost in your work, when suddenly you felt a hand on your shoulder. 

Jumping you shrieked, causing Sam to jump up and start growling at the intruder. You leapt to the very corner of the temporary lab space, pulling your knees up to your chest, putting Sam and the workbench between you and the intruder, you instinctively reached for the gun on your hip, only to remember that you were in your lab and your firearm was securely locked in your locker. 

Panicking without your gun, your hands shook violently as you raised your arms in front of you in a protective stance, forcefully twisting the bandages across your stomach. A cry tore from your lips.  

A very shocked Henry was standing with his arms raised high over his head, wide eyes racing between you and the giant german shepherd snarling at him.

The floor fell out from beneath you, dropping your stomach with it. The world around you disappeared, a buzzing filled your ears. All you saw was Sam’s hackles raised in front of you. Struggling to get oxygen to your lungs, you gasped. When did an elephant take up residence on your chest? Your stomach lurched as the buzzing in your ears spiked. 

Sara happened to be walking by when she heard your scream. Dropping the file she had been carrying, she sprinted into the lab. 

Quickly reading the situation, she calmly approached Henry, cautiously moving towards the terrified toxicologist. 

“Show him your hands are empty.” She whispered to him before cooing towards Sam, “En sécurité” (safe).

Shaking something fierce, Henry showed his empty hands to the snarling german shepherd. 

Sam suspiciously approached his outstretched hands, sniffing wildly. 

“Facile” (easy), Sara softly commanded, still keeping her hands in front of her. 

The clock ticked the tense seconds. 

Neither Henry nor Sara dared to breathe until the former police dog had calmed. 

With one last soft snarl, Sam determined that Henry wasn’t a threat. His posture and demeanor shifted, the hackles along his back slowly receded and the growling stopped. Satisfied that you weren’t in mortal danger, the german shepherd turned and ran to your side, nuzzling his nose against your leg. 

A slobbery lick to your hands snapped you back to the present. Wildly scanning the scene in front of you, your mind still raced with the adrenaline pumping through your veins. You saw Sara trying to console a petrified Henry. A group of people had gathered in the hallway outside your lab, staring and pointing at you. 

Your hands fisted the german shepherd’s course fur as you struggled to bring yourself back to reality. One, two, three deep breaths helped bring much needed air into your lungs. The fog in your mind started to clear and with horror you realized what had happened. 

“Y/N?” Sara’s soft voice broke through the last of your paralysis. 

Your now-clear eyes snapped to hers, “Ye-yeah.” Sam laid his large head across your arms with a soft huff. 

“Je vais bien…. Bon garçon.” (I’m fine, good boy), You stuttered in a raspy whisper. The german shepherd fully relaxed against you. 

“Y/N,” Sara called again, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” you shook your head, clearing the remainder of the panic. “Yeah, I’m fi- oh my god, Henry, I’m so sorry,” you gushed, “I am so, so sorry.” 

You slid out of Sam’s hold and moved shakily towards the frightened lab tech. Tentatively you reached out to touch his shoulder. “I’m so, so sorry,” you whispered apprehensively.  

“It's okay.” He answered haltingly, still eying Sam with wide eyes, “I should’ve kno-known b-better than to sneak up on you li-like that.”

“Still, I’m sorry.” Giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze, you added looking at Sara “And thank you, I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t stepped in. Thank you.” 

The seasoned criminalist smiled kindly, squeezing your arm, “It's all good, I get it. I’ve been jumpy after shit happened too.” She gave a one shoulder shrug, “We’ve got your back. You’re safe.” She gave your arm one last comforting squeeze before turning to face the still shaken Henry. 

“C’mon Henry, let’s get you something to drink from the breakroom.”

“Ye-yeah, okay.” 

As they moved towards the door of your lab, you suddenly called out to them, “Wait!” They both turned back to face you. “Henry, did you need me for something?”

Realization dawning on his face, Henry remembered the file he was clinging to. Gesturing it towards you, he replied “Oh yeah, I just wanted to tell you that those swabs you took from the suppressor that Morgan collected were positive for epithelials. I’m running it through the database now.” 

“Oh, good.” 

You wrung your hands, the embarrassment fully setting in now, “Well, thanks!” 

With matching nods towards you, Sara and Henry headed towards the breakroom. Sara called to the gathering of people to get back to work. 

You collapsed into your desk chair, dropping your head to your arms, letting out an ashamed groan at yourself. Sensing your distress, Sam trotted up and laid his massive head on your lap. 

“Thanks buddy.” 

*****

That night (well it was technically daytime, but it was after your shift), you were laying in bed with Nick, trying to sleep. You just couldn’t get your brain to shut off. Everything seemed to be running on overdrive. Scenes from your earlier panic attacks flooded your senses. 

You rolled to one side, hoping to block out the unwanted memories. A dog barked somewhere in the distance, instantly reminding you of how protective Sam had become in your lab. Henry’s terrified face popped up, eyes wide with fear.

Ugh…

Shifting to your back, you tried to picture waves crashing on a beach in a gentle rhythm. The waves rolled along the beach, gently colliding with the sand, white foam bubbles spilled on to the tan sand. Another wave rolled on to the breach - the sound of Brass’s voice boomed in your memory followed quickly by images of sobbing in the front seat as Greg drove you back to the lab a few days ago. 

Shit…

Flopping to your stomach, you balled up your pillow, praying for some reprieve. All you could hear was your rapid heartbeat in your ears and feel the pulse through your stomach. You tried to slow your heart rate through deepening your breathing. In, one, two, three, four. Hold, one, two, three, four. Out, one, two - images of the threatening letters and pictures flooded your mind. A scream echoed through your brain, debris falling around you. 

Come on…

You kicked at the covers, fumblingly rolling to your other side. The frustration of not being able to sleep made you careless in your actions. Nick’s soft snoring stopped beside you. 

Shit.

You cringed. In all of your twisting and turning, you should have been more conscientious of not disturbing your bedmate. 

He rolled closer to you, reaching out in the dark to place a large hand on your waist. 

“Y/N?….y’ okay?” His voice deep with sleepy disuse. 

You grimaced, whispering back apologetically. “I’m sorry Nick, I didn’t mean to wake you.” Trying to shift into a comfortable position.

“It’s okay, ’m here for you,” sleep made his voice slurred and gravelly. “What’s goin’ on?”

“Nothing, I’m fine,” you lied, hoping that he was too sleepy to catch it. 

His grunt told you that he had definitely caught the lie. “Uh huh, that why you’re spinnin’ like a top?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Stop,” he demanded gently, “talk to me.” 

He wasn’t going to let you suffer in silence, it’d just be better to talk to him. 

“Ugh, okay.” You relented.

You sat up and leaned back against the headboard. Letting out a rough sigh, you looked up to the ceiling. 

Nearby, you heard Sam shift on the floor beside the bed, before flopping down again with a sharp huff. 

Mirroring you, Nick also sat up. The sheet fell to expose his bare chest. He dragged a hand lazily over his face and head, scratching at a spot on the crown of his head. Half asleep, the man was still ridiculously attractive. It shouldn’t be legal. 

“What’s goin’ on sweetheart? I can tell somethin’s going on in that brain of yours,” he turned his head to the side to look at your still-upturned face. When you didn’t respond, he placed a comforting hand on your upper thigh. 

He watched a tear roll down the side of your cheek. 

Moving immediately, he pulled you into his arms. Being mindful of your bandages, he cradled you in his lap, wrapping his arms around you.

You dropped your head to his shoulder, as more tears escaped.  

“Oh sweetheart. Talk to me,” Nick slid one hand up to caress your cheek.

Mumbling an apology, you started “I don’t know...I just feel overwhelmed, useless. I don’t know...I’m used to being strong, tough, and right now I don’t feel like any of those things. I freaked out on Henry today, gettin’ Sam all worked up over nothing.” You scoffed at the humiliating memory. “I can only concentrate on my work for like 30 minutes before my mind is racing back to the explosion. Replaying it over and over again.” 

You took a ragged breath; the tears continued to flow, “I just want to get this figured out so that life can go back to normal.” 

“I know sweetheart,” Nick consoled you, “And we will, we will.” His hand dropping from your cheek to grasp your thigh.

Moments passed as you continued to cry silently into the warmth of his embrace. The dark bedroom silent, except for Nick’s whispered words of praise and comfort. 

Scoffing again, you continued, “I don’t understand what I’ve done to piss someone off so royally in just the few months I’ve been here.” The fear now turned to anger, “Like seriously, what the fuck?” 

Your arms gestured awkwardly in the embrace. 

Nick let you get your emotions out, continuing to softly rub your thigh. 

Your voice was quieter, hesitant, as you whispered, “I’m scared of losing you, of losing this, us. This thing has just brought up a lot of my old insecurities.” 

“I’m right here for you,” Nick whispered. 

Leaning further into his chest, you continued, “I just want to have sex with my boyfriend, worry that Morgan doesn’t drink too much on girls nights and text Greg, and be able to go the grocery store without a freakin’ militia behind me!” You let out a huff of air, clenching your fists angrily before unfurling your hands again. 

Nick pulled you closer, placing a kiss to the top of your head. “I know sweetheart, I know. This whole thing sucks. You are still strong and tough and brave. You know we’ll figure this out, the whole team is workin’ on it nonstop. This will end. And as for your insecurities,” he paused exhaling loudly, “well, battling those demons is never easy. But you don’t have to do it alone.” 

Resting his cheek against your head, he continued, “You know I’ve battled my own demons and been through a lot of therapy over the years. If you want to go talk to someone, you know I’d support that one hundred percent.” 

He reflected on his own healing journey - childhood trauma, the stalker, being buried alive, the loss of close friends, to name a few - before placing a kiss to your head, “But please, more than anything else, please know and trust this… I am not goin’ anywhere. You ain’t gonna lose me.” 

He placed more kisses on your head before chuckling, “And I’m always up for sex with my smokin’ hot girlfriend.” Nick slid his hand down your backside, roughly grabbing your ass.

You giggled and sniffled into his shoulder, “How do you always know what to say?” 

“It just comes naturally when I’m around you, I guess,” he answered with a smirk, brushing away the remaining tears from your cheek. “Now let me love you, will ya? 

Nick maneuvered you so that you were straddling him. You let yourself be pulled down into his lap, pressing his forehead against yours and just holding you against his body. 

“Do you really mean all that?” you whispered, hesitantly. “About us? About therapy?”

Nick opened his eyes, gazing into your uncertain expression. He placed a chaste kiss to your lips before answering, “Absolutely, sweetheart. Every word.” 

More unspoken communication passed between the two of you as you gazed into each other’s eyes. Your heart rates synced, you swore you felt your very soul connecting to his. The tension and fear that had been coursing your veins nonstop for days actually started melting away the longer you were wrapped in his strong arms. In the back of your mind you knew that there were still challenging days to come, but in that moment you had never felt safer. 

Without saying a word, he understood. You needed to feel that he was real, he was here. You needed to feel grounded. 

Slowly, he tugged your tank top up and over your head. Dragging you closer so that you were chest to chest, skin to skin. The two of you sat like that, relishing in the feel of each other’s skin. 

After a few minutes, he rolled you over, sat up and slowly pulled down the black boyshorts you were wearing, before reaching and pulling down his own black boxers. 

Tossing the discarded items to the floor, he moved so that he was wrapped behind you, draping his arms completely around you, enveloping you completely in his strength and safety. 

You let out a deep, contented sigh as you felt every inch of skin of his body pressed against yours. 

All at once flashes of the night before flooded your mind. 

Strong fingers tightly gripped your thighs as the man above you gave a deep growl, snapping his hips to yours. 

Chocolate brown eyes dripping with adoration winked as he kissed his way through the valley of your breasts. 

The delightful burn of two-day stubble ground the inside of your thighs as your eyes squeezed shut, crying out his name. 

Whispered confessions in the dark of the night.

“G’mornin’,” Nick rumbled huskily, breaking you out of your revere. His husky, gravelly voice, thick with sleep, igniting that heat in your stomach once again. He smoothed a large hand over your back and down the curve of your naked backside. Gently squeezing one cheek. 

“Morning,” you answered, turning in his arms to face him, landing with your head resting on his chest. He brushed a stray hair out of your face, sliding down to cup your chin, his thumb softly caressing your jaw. You hummed with a grin.

“I was afraid that I would wake up and be heartbroken to find that last night was just a dream,” he confessed. His eyes flashed with fear and insecurity, even as he continued to lovingly caress your cheek. 

“Not a dream,” you assured him with a soft smile, sliding up his body to rest your head on his shoulder, placing kisses on his bare chest on the way up. 

He hummed an acknowledgment, “And for that, I’m glad,” placing a kiss to the top of your head. 

A comfortable quiet settled over the two of you, each lost in silent reflection. Through the window, the sounds of Nick’s neighborhood sounded lightyears away, cars passing by, a dog barking, a distant radio. All of it faded to the background, the only thing that mattered was the constant beat of his heart below you. 

“I wonder what time it is,” he mused curiously. 

“Oh crap!” You exclaimed, moving to sit up, “If I’ve missed yoga, they’re going to kill me for sure.” Groaning, your eyes darted to the nightstand in search of your phone, finding it absent. You swore, “Shit, I think I left my phone in my bag.” 

Not really wanting to leave the contentment and warmth of Nick’s embrace and weighing the wrath of Sara and Morgan, you dramatically flopped yourself back on to Nick’s chest, nuzzling into his side. Decidedly refusing to get out of bed.

“Fuck it.”

He chuckled endearingly at your dramatics, kissing your forehead. 

Trying not to jostle you, he leaned over to his nightstand and grabbed his phone, “It's 3:13, Sunday afternoon. What time is your yoga class with Sara and Morgan?” 

“6 o’clock,” your muffled voice answered, lips brushing his bare chest. 

“Good, we have some more time together then.” 

“Oh yeah?” Intrigue caused you to roll your head, shifting to face the handsome criminalist. “And what should we do with this extra time?” Your lashes fluttered.   

“Well,” Nick started, fixing you with a mischievous grin, “I can think of a few things,” his voice dropped seductively. 

Soon the two of you found yourselves tangled up in each other, clothing lost to the floor, making out like a couple of teenagers. Hands eagerly gripping and pulling at one another, until he had completely rolled you under him.

Relationships have never felt like this before, so easy. You were comfortable with Nick, willing to just be yourself and let your guard down. He knew things about you that some of your longtime friends didn’t even know. There wasn’t any tension or nerves anymore, just comfort and safety. Thinking back to that moment last night, you realized that this really was something different. 

Lost in the feel of each other, your shared desire grew. You felt his hips and erection beginning to grind into you. 

Pulling back breathlessly, “Hey,” you pressed your hands to his strong shoulders, wincing. “Slow down.”

Immediately halting his movement, he took in your faint grimace. Concern etching it’s away across his handsome features. “Baby? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” One hand moved to cradle your cheek.

Huffing a soft, embarrassed laugh, “Yeah, yeah. Just, um. Just a little sore.” Your eyes darted from his, your chin dropping.

Above you, you felt the muscles in his abdomen tighten as he breathed out a hum of understanding. With his forefinger and thumb, he gently turned your head to look at him again. The smirk on his face was an adorable combination of cocky and bashful. 

“Do you want to stop?”

Nibbling on your bottom lip, you shook your head slowly. “No,” you whispered, peering at him through your lashes.

“Okay,” he dipped to kiss your lips, “I’ll have to get creative then.” Placing a kiss to your collarbone, he started working his way down your body, placing chaste kisses along his path. Eventually coming to rest between your legs. 

Glancing up to meet your eyes, he paused, “That is, if you’re okay with it?”

“Yeah, yes!” You gasped.

Slowly, devotedly the handsome criminalist brought you to a rolling crescendo of a release with his skilled tongue, mouth, and fingers. Simultaneously igniting and draining every nerve, every muscle in your body. 

As he crawled back up your body to capture your lips in a slow, heated kiss, you rolled Nick to his back before languidly inching down his body. Taking your time to worship every line and dip.

Upon realizing your motive, Nick stopped you with his hands on your shoulders, his voice ragged. “Sweetheart, you don’t have to…”

“I want to,” you purred. 

With a consenting sigh and a nod, he dropped his hands from your shoulders. You wasted no time licking and stroking his hardened length.

Matching his sensual pace, you licked, teased, and sucked until he came with a soft grunt of your name, fingers dug firmly in your hair. His head thrown back against the pillows, riding out his high. 

After crawling back to curl into Nick’s side, he pulled you into his chest in a snug embrace. Both of you sighing into the warmth and afterglow. His fingers grazing along your soft skin. 

“D’you mind taking me to yoga?” You asked, definitely not wanting to leave his embrace until you absolutely had to.

“Of course, sweetheart, anything for you,” he replied, gently squeezing your ass, “but you should probably be prepared for Sara and Morgan to give you a world of hell if they see my truck anywhere near that studio.” He laughed, “Not to mention that little mark you got there.” He ran his fingers over the hickey on your neck. 

“Yeah, I noticed that. Thanks,” you playfully chided him. 

He shrugged a shoulder, a playful quirk of his brow. You thought he even looked rather proud of himself. You swatted his shoulder with a roll of your eyes.

A while later you had both somehow managed to shower, even amid the playfully heated touches and kisses. Now that Nick could touch you, he never wanted to stop touching you. Not that you had any complaints. 

As the two of you drove to the studio, you looked out the window, watching the houses give way to little shops and restaurants. As always, soft country music floated in the air.

Breaking the comfortable ambiance with a soft clearing of his throat, Nick spoke up, “Hey, so...” he squeezed your hand affectionately, “is work gonna be weird between us? Do we want to talk about anything?”

“I don’t think so.” Softly shaking your head, “I think we can be professionals.” You paused, casting your eyes towards the brunette man beside you, “Why? You worried?”

“Nope, not at all.” A smile pulled at his handsome features, as he shook his head, “Just wanted to put it out there, in case you were feelin’ uneasy,” he said, bringing your hand up to kiss your knuckles. 

“And that is one of the reasons why I adore you,” you murmured, smiling affectionately. 

Minutes later, the truck pulled into the parking lot of a nondescript beige business park. Housed beside a chiropractor’s office, the studio occupied the large corner suite of the building; it’s logo emblazoned on the large window panes. 

As Nick parked the truck, you leaned over and kissed him softly on the cheek, before whispering, “Thanks again for a great weekend.” You kissed him again, then added, “I’ll call you later?” 

“Yes ma’am,” he grinned, “Have fun sweetheart!”

Hopping out of the truck, you slung your bag over your shoulder and walked towards the studio. Pulling open the door, you were immediately met with a chorus of your name and the blurred images of blonde and brown hair rushing at you. 

You should have known that they would get there early, you really should have seen that one coming. They were trained investigators after all. Before you could gather your composure, the questions started.

“Was that Nick’s truck?”

“How was your weekend?”

“Were you with him all weekend?”

“Have you even been home yet?”

“Tell us everything.”

Laughing at the onslaught of questions, you held out your hands, trying to calm Morgan and Sara, “Okay, okay! One at a-”

You were cut off by a loud gasp from Morgan, “IS THAT A HICKEY?” Her hands grabbed your cheeks, turning your head to the side.

Peeling her hands from your neck, you nervously glanced around the studio seeing the dirty looks from many of the other members. You tried to pull your sweater up higher.

“Shh, shush,” you whisper-yelled at Morgan, flashing an apologetic look to the rest of the studio. “Do not get us kicked out of here, I like this studio.” You peered at Sara, hoping for some backup. 

She smirked and gently pulled Morgan back by the elbow. “C’mon Morgan, at least let the woman set her bag down first.” She laughed before turning her gaze back to you, “And then, I’m sure she’ll tell us all about it.”

With a grateful smile towards Sara, you set your bag in a cubby and started pulling off your shoes. Quickly, and quietly, you filled them in on your date. Obviously leaving out many of the more intimate details out of the story. 

“...and then he dropped me off here,” you finished with a slight shrug and lopsided grin. Glancing at your girlfriends, you were met with beaming smiles.

“That actually... sounds sweet,” Sara surmised, leaning a hip against the cubby-boxes, “Who knew Nick had it in him?” Chuckling, she cocked her brow in a playful manner towards Morgan.

“Yeah, who knew?” She good-naturedly shrugged one shoulder, before pulling out her phone.

You were quickly able to read the message she typed out and the immediate response she received.

Morgan: hey there Casanova, heard your date went *really* well. I’m happy for you guys! But my threat still stands. you are my friend, but if you hurt her, I will end you. 

Nick: 10-4 message received loud and clear

Morgan smiled and tossed her phone in her bag.

Giggling, you playfully rolled your eyes at her protectiveness. Deep down, you actually felt very appreciative to have such good friends in your life. 

“Now that my weekend has been thoroughly discussed, shall we?” You gestured towards the main part of the studio where other members were already beginning to congregate for class. 

With nods all around, the three of you found your mats and spots near each other in the large studio. 

Settling down on your mat, Sara noticed a slight wince cross your features. 

“You okay?”

Shifting your weight, you fidgeted with the edge of your mat, unable to meet her eyes. “Oh,” you paused, trying to hide another wince, “yeah, totally. Just, um. Just sore.”

From the corner of your eye, you saw Morgan’s head pop up from her stretch. “From what?” 

Hesitatingly, you glanced at the petite blonde. If it hadn’t been at your expense, it would have been comical how easily the thoughts flitted across her face. Melding from confusion, to sudden realization, to panic. 

“Actually. Don’t answer that.” She brought her hand out, palm facing you, stopping you from saying more.

Beside you, realization dawned on Sara as she coughed, “Ugh, yeah, we don’t need any more details.” Her hands also gestured for you to stop.

You didn’t miss the pointed look your instructor gave the three of you. 

*****

After class, the three of you walked out to enjoy the cooling air of the early evening. Even in early autumn, the temperatures had been high for the past week. Fortunately, the sun was starting to dip in the sky, offering much needed relief to the scorching heat of the day. 

Pulling up your Uber app, you quickly scheduled a ride home. 

“...anyways, that’s what Hodges said.” Morgan shrugged, “but with him, you never know.” 

You and Sara laughed, both rolling your eyes, before being interrupted by her cell vibrating in her hand. 

After looking at the caller, she looked up apologetically, “Ooh, sorry. I gotta take this.” She paused before gesturing with her phone. 

You and Morgan just smiled and nodded understandingly, saying you would see her tomorrow at the lab; you watched her answer the call as she walked to her vehicle. 

Turning to the blonde beside you, you couldn't help but return some of her teasing. “So, I know I’m new here and all. But... What’s between you and Greg?” You twirled your fingers teasingly. 

Her reaction was immediate, and adorable. Bless her heart, she was a brilliant criminalist, but Morgan Brody had a terrible poker face. 

“Uh, Oh. I, uh,” she stuttered painfully, deep crimson overtaking her delicate features. 

You laughed, throwing your head. “Morgan!”

“What? We’re just friends.” She defended, crossing her arms.

You hummed, “Uh huh, okay.” You tried to stifle your giggles.

Soon the conversation shifted to work related gossip and lab rumors. Apparently someone from the day shift had caught a case with connections to Florida and was now working pretty closely with someone from the Miami lab. And supposedly he was very hot. Then one of the weekend guys had received a subpoena from an ex-wife. According to Morgan, it hadn’t been pretty. 

You rolled your eyes. Workplace drama was workplace drama where you went.  

After a while, your ride pulled up. You gave Morgan a hug, promising to text her later and climbed into the car. 

Before long, you were walking up to your front porch, bobbing happily along to an old All American Rejects song. Softly singing the words and dancing. When you reached your door, you noticed a folded piece of paper taped to it. 

Without a second thought, you tugged it off and unfolded it. 

It felt as if a bucket of ice had been dropped over you. Your blood ran cold. 

Scrawled across the paper were the words: WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?? I’M WATCHING YOU BITCH! I’M WARNING YOU! DON’T TEST ME!

You haphazardly ripped your earbuds from your ears, as you dropped the paper. Spinning around, you scanned the residential street behind you. Heart pounding in your ears, you struggled to catch your breath. Your eyes raced over every car, tree, house; as though you expected someone to jump out at you at any moment. 

Nothing looked amiss or suspect. 

Turning back to your door, you fumbled with your keys, trembling. Desperately, you tried to push your door open. Frantic to get inside and safe.

You breathed out a ragged sigh of relief as the door swung open finally. Pushing through the door, you slammed it shut behind you, sliding to the floor. Your thoughts swam uncontrollably, jumbling unhelpfully. 

With trembling fingers, you were barely able to pull out your phone and call for help.

*****

The usual din of the bustling lab faded into a dull buzz as you sat in DB’s office. Morgan and Nick sat on either side of you, as you finished describing what you’d found to your supervisor.

“And you didn’t see anybody?” DB was asking you again, leaning forward on his desk. His eyes alight with concern.

Shifting in your seat, you looked to the floor, shaking your head, “No, but to be honest I wasn’t really paying attention when I walked up to the door.” You groaned, god, how many times had you heard witnesses say that. You rolled your head back, letting out a dejected sigh. “And supposedly I work for the crime lab,” you mumbled to the ceiling. 

Morgan squeezed your arm trying to comfort you as Nick ran a hand soothingly along your thigh. 

“Hey, don’t say stuff like that,” Nick whispered, leaning towards you.  

“Y/N, don’t beat yourself up over this,” DB said, standing up to lean a hip against his desk. 

“We’ll find out who’s behind this, Y/N,” Morgan added. “We’re a family.”

DB moved to crouch in front of you, urging you to meet his eyes. “We’ll figure this out, okay?” You gave a weak nod, before he added, “Well, you haven’t been in Vegas all that long, so that’ll help narrow down the suspects.” 

*****

The team had rallied around you. Even Brass had popped his head in your lab one day to give you a hug and let you know that PD was following up on some possible leads. It was comforting to know that you had people supporting you and that you didn’t have to face this alone. 

Unfortunately, that didn’t prevent you from feeling on edge since finding the letter. You’d been walking into the locker room the next day when Hodges had come up behind you and grabbed your arm, hoping to speak with you about some results. The ear-splitting shriek you’d let out had caused half the lab racing to investigate. 

Thankfully, Sara had pulled you into a hug when she arrived. Once again, you felt immense gratitude for your friends, who were quickly beginning to feel like family. 

Three days after you found the letter, you were walking out to your car in the secure employee lot when your eyes fell to your windshield. You stopped cold in your tracks. There, tucked under your windshield wiper, was another folded piece of paper. 

Your feet felt glued to the asphalt, once again your blood turned cold. Refusing to allow yourself to succumb to panic, you wildly scanned the parking garage, looking for anything out of the norm. Nothing. It all looked the way it always looked. 

Anger, fear, and panic bubbled uncontrollably. Backing away from your car, you shakily pulled out your phone and called Russell. 

A minute later, DB, Nick, and Greg came sprinting out of the lab, kits in hand. From your position, pressed up against a concrete stanchion, you merely raised a shaking finger in the direction of your car, as they came running up to you. 

DB went immediately to your car; Greg gave you a concerned look before sprinting after DB. Nick dropped his kit by your feet and enveloped you in a hug. Pulling you tightly into his body.

Dropping his mouth to your ear, he whispered,  “Y/N, are you okay?” His tone was quiet, but urgent, firmly gripping you as though you might slip through his arms. 

You just nodded into his chest, squeezing your eyes shut, trying to hold back the tears threatening to fall onto his gray button-down shirt. 

This cannot be happening. You were bewildered and frightened. Who is after me? What do they want?

Feeling you shudder against him, Nick kissed your temple. “It's okay. I’m right here. The team is right here. We got you,” he soothed, gently rocking you back and forth. 

The dam you’d been trying to hold back burst, as tears streamed down your cheeks. Clutching at the back of Nick’s shirt, you felt overwhelmed. Your resiliency began to crack in light of the senseless threats. 

He felt his shirt dampen, breaking his heart. “It's okay sweetheart. I’m not going to let anybody hurt you,” he promised softly, continuing to rock you gently.

Sniffling, you turned your head as you heard Greg and DB approach. Reluctantly, you untangled yourself from Nick’s embrace to face the approaching men; Nick maintained a comforting grip on your hip. 

You wiped your tears away ungracefully, smudging your mascara, taking a deep breath to face whatever this was. 

Greg held up an evidence bag containing the now unfolded piece of paper, which read: I’M WARNING YOU! BACK OFF OR I’LL KILL YOU! 

Your stomach twisted with fear and you had to fight the instinct to back away from the offending letter.

“Y/N do you recognize the handwriting?” Greg inquired hesitantly. 

You shook your head, unable to hide the tremor which ran through your body. Nick’s fingers on your hip tightened, pulling you closer to his body. His thumb drew soothing circles on your hip.

“Okay,” DB breathed out, spreading his hands. “Here’s what we’re going to do. Nick,” he pointedly looked at the brunette criminalist, who nodded,  “you’re going to take Y/N home.” 

Nick nodded.

Russell turned towards the other criminalist, “Greg - No wait-” 

He interrupted himself, gears turning behind his steel blue eyes, “Hold that.” He paused, turning again to face Nick, “Nick, you’re going to take Y/N to her house, pack an overnight bag, and then take her to your place.” 

After receiving a nod of understanding from the man beside you, DB turned back to Greg, “Greg, first thing tomorrow, you and Sara are going to pull all of Y/N’s active and recently closed case files. Go through them. What do they want her to back off from? What is she getting too close to?” 

Greg nodded, as Russell continued, “Now, I can’t pull Catherine off that stabbing on the strip. Too much pressure from the Sheriff. And Morgan is in court this week on that robbery case from a couple months ago. So it’s just us for now.” 

Shifting beside you, Nick spoke up, “What do you need me to do?” 

“Nicky, you are going to keep an eye on Y/N. We don’t know who we’re looking for yet.”

Stepping out of Nick’s grasp, you put your hands on your hips defiantly. With a noise of displeasure at being treated like you were invisible, you objected, “Hold up now. I’m not some helpless victim here!” The emotion caused your voice to raise, “yes I’m scared, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t do my job or help figure out whatever the hell is going on!” 

DB reached out and placed his hand on your arm, “I know you aren’t some helpless victim. I know that,” he looked you straight in the eyes, emphasizing his point. 

You gave him a slight nod of acknowledgment. 

“I was going to tell Nick not to leave your side when you’re outside the lab. You can help Greg and Sara go through your recently closed cases as you keep processing your active cases. You still carrying?”

You nodded, “Always,” tapping your hip.

“Good. Let’s keep it that way.” 

You nodded, feeling somewhat relieved that you were being included in the process. 

DB turned back to Nick. “Nick, I want you to keep processing these notes. Grab Hodges if you need help.”

Russell glanced around the group, receiving nods of understanding from each person. 

“Okay,” DB said with a tone of finality, before bending down to pick up his kit. 

You turned to Greg, “Thank you Greg. I’m, I’m-”

“Hey no sweat. When one member of the family is threatened, it's all hands on deck until we find whoever’s behind it,” he promised, leaning in to wrap his arms around you. 

“Thanks Greg,” you muffled into his shoulder. 

Thirty minutes later, Nick was driving you to your house. Once the two of you pulled into your driveway, he insisted that he do a sweep before even letting you out of the truck. It was a little overkill, but you did appreciate his protectiveness. Waiting for Nick to give you the All Clear, your phone vibrated in your pocket, your conversation with Sara and Morgan popped up. 

Morgan: we just heard from DB. How are you?

You: I think I’m ok, I did just bawl my eyes out in front of Russell and Greg though, so thats embarrassing

Morgan: stop, its not embarrassing. We’re a family and they love you. 

Sara: hey, we’ve got your back. You know those guys love you

You: thanks you guys, luv you both

Sara: we love you, please don’t think you have to handle this on your own, ok?

Morgan: we love you too, now you let us know if you need anything, ok? 

You: I promise you guys. DB made Nick my personal bodyguard, and told him that I’m not allowed to go anywhere (outside the lab) by myself until this is over

Morgan: good. I’ve seen Nick when he is protective, he’s fierce

Sara: That’s good! I’ve known Nick a long time, he doesn’t let anything stop him when it comes to the people he cares about

You: yea? wow

Morgan: you’re in good hands. I love you, I’m here for you

Sara: luv you

You: thanks you guys, I’m so grateful for you two

As you were sliding your phone back into your pocket, Nick opened up your door, “Okay, all clear, let’s grab you a bag and get you someplace safe.” 

You leaned out the open door and kissed him, murmuring your thanks against his lips. “I’m glad you’re here. Thank you.” 

Nick stepped closer, laying a calming hand on your thigh and caressing your cheek with the other. “Of course, sweetheart. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” 

*****

The next week seemed to drag by. Every hour felt like it stretched an eternity. Between reviewing your cases with Greg and Sara and processing evidence for incoming cases, you had kept busy, but had come no closer to finding out who was behind the notes. It was beyond frustrating. 

Nick had been true to his word and hadn’t left your side when outside of the lab. His presence had been comforting, reminding you that you weren’t facing this threat alone. 

*****

Exhausted, you slumped on the bench in the locker room, dropping your head to your hands. The stress and constant anxiety was taking its toll on you. Your nerves felt frayed. With a deep exhale, you tried to release the tension which seemed to have taken up permanent residence in your neck. 

“How ya doin’ sweetheart?” The familiar drawl of your boyfriend warmed your heart.

Lifting your head to meet his eyes, you huffed a humorless laugh. “Hanging in there, I guess.”

“Come ‘ere, Y/N,” he invited, opening his arms, beckoning you. 

Dragging your body upright, you crumbled into his embrace. Relishing the warmth and safety you felt in his arms. 

“Let’s get you home, honey.” He ran his hands down your back. 

You nodded, nuzzling further into his chest. 

*****

He could tell you needed a break. The strain from the ongoing anxiety was wearing you down. Nick knew he had to do something to lift your spirits. As he watched you climb into the truck after a particularly grueling shift, he noticed that your skin had lost some of it’s usual glow. It broke his heart. 

And gave him an idea. 

“Sweetheart, I’ve got an idea for breakfast. You up for somethin’ a little different this morning?”

You turned your head, before hesitantly answering, “Uh, sure.” 

Nick grinned, reaching over to squeeze your hand. 

An hour later, you, Nick, and Sam were settled in the lush green grass of Hemenway Park. You gazed at the picturesque view of Lake Mead, grateful to get out of the city. Nick was busy laying out a blanket and picnic basket, while Sam’s attention had been captured by a small gathering of big horned sheep which were known to frequent the park. 

“Thank you,” you reached over to lay your hand on Nick’s shoulder. “I needed this.”

He nodded, giving you a wide smile. “Of course, sweetheart.”

*****

Close to the end of your shift on Thursday, you were hunched over your microscope, comparing bullet characteristics while simultaneously running them through the database on your computer. Greg was working a gang shooting and was relying on your analysis to identify a suspect. 

Without a greeting, Hodges strolled into your lab, carrying evidence bags in his hands, “Look, I am not some kind of courier, so don’t get used to this.” He unceremoniously dropped two brown evidence bags on your workbench. 

Uncurling yourself, you shot an incredulous look at the tall lab tech who had practically invaded your lab. “Hodges! What the hell?” Gesturing from him to the bags, “Where did these come from? Whose case is it?” 

He gave a one shoulder shrug, “Don’t know. “Don’t care. Reception asked me to bring them back to you. They’re marked firearms.” 

Irritated, and a little intrigued, you stood up and moved to inspect the bags, looking for a case number or assigned CSI, anything that would identify where this evidence came from. 

With a sudden shift in his demeanor, Hodges’s tone became conspiratorial, “What I want to know is who is the CSI that’s not following protocol.” He hummed to himself, sliding closer to read over your shoulder, “Hm, I’d bet Ecklie would be interested in knowing…”

You groaned, “Hodges, for once could you not be so…” Gesturing to all of him, “you?” 

Straightening and giving you his best offended bitch face, he opened his mouth to retort. 

“Now, out! Get out of my lab!” You shooed him away. “I’ve clearly got work to do.”

“Hmph, fine.” He huffed, beginning to sulk out of your lab, “But, when you figure out who is slacking, let me know,” he sang.

You rolled your eyes at his retreating figure. God, he could be nosy. 

Curiosity made you inpatient, you hastily packed up and signed new labels for the bullets you were processing and placed them back in the vault. No matter how curious - or irritated - you were, protocol always came first. Which was another reason why this evidence intrigued you so much, who had been so lax with their chain of custody? That really didn’t sound like any member of the team, they were usually so diligent. 

Stepping back to your workbench, you took a closer look at the evidence label, trying to decipher which CSI’s case this was. You didn’t recognize the handwriting - each member of the team had a pretty distinctive scrawl, but this wasn’t familiar. There was something off about the label too, but you couldn’t put your finger on it. Like it was fuzzy or something, out of focus. 

Tilting the bag to get a better angle of the label, you felt the object inside shift and slide along the bottom of the bag. A metallic click echoed through the air.

Before you could react or complete a thought, the top of the bag (where your face would have been if you had gone to open it normally) splintered open with an explosion. 

Heat detonated over your face and arms, as a force swiftly knocked you backwards, slamming you into the wall. Struggling to stand, your breath had been knocked from your lungs. 

A strangled gasp clawed itself from your throat, as your knees buckled below you. You slumped to the floor, another choked sob ripped through you, as your lungs fought to function again.

You had your nose down a scope trying to match a rifling pattern, when your phone buzzed in your lab coat pocket. Leaning away from the scope, you pulled out your phone.

Nick: Hey sweetheart

You: Hey you 😘

Nick: this case is crazy, I miss you

You: I know, i feel like I haven’t slept in weeks. I miss you too

Nick: if we wrap it by this weekend, wanna go to Lake Mead with me and Sam?

You: YES! 😍

Nick: lol ok, sounds like a plan

With a renewed sense of energy, you returned to the microscope, crossing your fingers that this case would be closed soon. 

Two days later, you and Nick got your wish. 

Catherine had collected a piece of torn cloth from the scene of the most recent break-in, which had been kicked to Henry for processing. The DNA hit in the system, and Lt. Brass had been able to track down the suspect, which led to the capture of the entire robbery crew. 

“Great work everybody!” DB’s voice rang through the conference room. “Really. This was a tough one, with a lot of pressure from the public and the Sheriff’s office. But you did your jobs and you got the bad guys. Great work everybody.” 

When word came in that the suspects had been arrested, Russell had sent out a ‘family meeting’ text, which now had the whole team packed around the conference table. 

“The city can sleep easier tonight, because of your work. I’m so proud of you all,” he continued, looking around the room, making purposeful eye contact with each team member. 

“Here’s to no doubles for a while,” cheered Catherine, raising her coffee cup in a toast. 

A chorus of “amen” and “yeah” went around the room. 

“Okay, now all of you go home.” DB good-naturedly ordered. “I don’t want to see any of you until Monday. Go on, get out of here.” He gestured towards the door with the file in his hand. 

You stood up, stretching your back, twisting and arching. Nick caught your eye and strode over. 

“Great work on this one,” he complimented, bumping your shoulder. 

“Thanks, you too. This one really pushed all of us, didn’t it?” You picked up your bag from the table. 

“Yeah, but ultimately a win for the good guys!” he beamed as he slid on his denim jacket.

The two of you quickly fell into step, walking towards the parking garage.

“So, looks like Lake Mead is in our future for this weekend?” Nick inquired, the hope evident in his voice. 

“Absolutely! But tomorrow. I need to get some sleep,” you pantomimed a yawn which then turned into the real thing.

Nick chuckled at you, “Yeah, probably a good idea. I’m thinking we could go out Saturday afternoon? Wake up early, well early for us, and then hit the lake around 4. What do ya think?” 

“Perfect. Just text me what I need to bring and wear,” you answered, another yawn escaping, as you pushed through the door and headed towards your car. 

“Hey there, hold up now,” Nick jokingly protested, reaching for your arm, “Forgetting something?” 

“Huh?” 

Suddenly, he was spinning you back around to face him and leaning in to kiss you. A whiff of his cologne mixed with something uniquely Nick hit you, the intoxicating masculinity of it making your insides flip with desire. 

“Hmm, I knew I was forgetting something,” you hummed against his lips, your hands landing on his chest. As the kiss quickly deepened, you were thankful the rest of the team missed this very public display of affection. Otherwise the teasing would never have ended. They enjoyed ribbing the two of you about your casual affections, but a kiss like this? Oh, you never would have heard the end of it. 

“Get some sleep sweetheart,” he urged as he released you and watched you start to walk towards your car.

Calling over your shoulder, “You too, see you soon.”

*****

How Nick had ever found this spot was a mystery to you. Chalk it up to living in Vegas for over a decade now. He had somehow managed to find the perfect spot along the Lake Mead shore. It was secluded from the marinas that dotted the edge, with a few trees, plenty of desert grass, and small gravel leading up to the water. In a word, it was paradise. 

As you played with Sam, watching him run up and down the shore, down to the water, and back to you, Nick pulled out a couple of blankets from his truck. He laid them out a few yards from the water, but still on the desert grass. 

The giant german shepherd took an immediate interest and went to investigate. 

“Laisse le (leave it)” Nick commanded, gesturing away from the blankets.

Sam abruptly looked up at his owner and trotted towards the water. 

Impressed, you pulled your eyes from the retreating hound and glanced over at the charming analyst, just in time to see him stretch into the back of the truck and pull out a small cooler. You let your eyes wander the lines of his back, the muscles clear even through his white t-shirt. Your gaze continued down over the dark blue swim trunks he wore, and over the tanned, toned curves of his legs. 

Taking a deep breath, you tried to stifle the shot of arousal that spread through your entire body. Although you weren’t sure that you were successful, when a soft moan escaped your lips. 

Nick’s eyes flitted to you. He grinned when you locked eyes, he definitely heard you. Sending you a wink, he closed the tailgate and joined you by the blankets. Setting down the cooler, he gazed out over the lake. 

Following his gaze, you looked out over the beautiful blue-green water, the tan colors of the hills, and the robin egg blue sky. You breathed deeply, pulling in the calming aroma of the water, the trees, and fresh air. 

He turned back to face you, “So, frisbee, swimming, or beers first?” 

“Hmm….” you pretended to think for a second, lighting biting your nail. “Tough choice, but I think we should swim first.” You paused for dramatic effect, eying him with a playful expression before rushing out, “Last one in the water has to go with Hodges to that horror movie marathon!” 

As soon as you finished, you raced to pull off your swimsuit coverup, leaving you in a black bikini. Once you were free, you took off running towards the water, giggling. 

Chancing a glance back, you saw Nick frantically trying to pull his shirt over his head. 

With a splash, you dove into the cool water, feeling instant relief from the hot afternoon. Just as your head broke the surface to pull in a breath, you heard a second splash followed quickly by a bark and a series of splashes. 

You peered over to see Nick surfacing and Sam gleefully swimming his way over to you. 

“Ha! Beat you!” You yelped triumphantly, pumping your fist in the air, as you gracefully treaded water. 

“Yeah, well you had an unfair advantage. I was….distracted,” Nick’s eyes flitted across your exposed skin, “I mean, have you seen your ass in that thing? So not fair, sweetheart.” He softly groaned.

“Have fun with Hodges!” You playfully quipped, splashing your new boyfriend with water.

“Oh! That’s how it’s gonna be?” He jokingly threatened, before taking off after you. 

With a shriek you tried to swim away from him.  

*****

As the sun hovered just over the hills, Nick swam over to you, pulling you close to his body. You could feel the warmth of his skin against yours. Mere inches apart now, you stared into each other’s eyes, before you leaned in and gently brought your lips to his. 

His grip on your hip tightened as his tongue swiped across your lips, softly asking for entrance. Sighing, you opened yourself to him, softly moaning as the kiss deepened. He answered with a shuddered growl. 

Each kiss with Nick had been like this, an electric pleasure that your body wasn’t quite sure how to cope with. 

Goosebumps erupted across your skin, even under the heat of the Nevada sun. You wrapped your fingers around the nape of his neck, gently scratching, treading water with the other. 

With a soft groan, he shifted his hold on you, pressing you tighter against his chest, one hand coming to press firmly between your shoulder blades. Blindly, he guided the two of you to shallower water where you could stand

Now free to use both hands, he dropped one to grip your ass while the other twisted the strings of your bikini top. You slid your hands along his chest to grip his shoulders, needing him even closer.

A helicopter, no doubt one of the tourist outfits, suddenly buzzed over you, abruptly reminding you where you were - the very public Lake Mead. 

Panting, you broke away from the kiss, reluctantly untangling your limbs from the handsome criminalist.  

You didn’t miss the disappointed whimper that escaped his lips as you pulled back to look him in the eyes, the gorgeous brown all but gone, overtaken by lust-blown pupils. 

“We should probably go back to the shore.” 

“Yeah, okay….” Nick croaked out, nodding slightly, unable to hide the way his eyes continued to trace your lips.  

Unwillingly, you separated from each other and you started wading towards the shore. Nick hung back a moment. 

Over your shoulder, you heard Nick call out to Sam, “Venez ici (come here).” The german shepherd gracefully paddled to the shore, and, after vigorously shaking himself off, settled down beside the blanket. 

Clambering up the shore, you turned to peek back at Nick; you were not prepared for the sight that met you. He was just standing up, his upper body rising out of the water, as he started to trek towards you. Rivulets of water snaked down his well-defined chest and over his soft stomach, sliding into the band of his dark shorts. Shorts that were riding temptingly low, accentuating that tantalizing vee. 

Sliding your gaze up his body, you noticed how the sun glistened across his shoulders, calling attention to the strength in the muscles. He shook the water from his head and peered over at you, a growing smirk evident in the upturn of his lips. Those adorable dimples melting you once again. The man really did have a dazzling smile. 

Little did you know that as you were struggling to process the sight of him emerging from the water, Nick was equally paralyzed, his brain frozen as he took in your dripping form. You had just turned back towards the shore and started walking out of the water. His eyes had naturally been drawn to your backside, chasing water droplets as they followed the curve of your ass, sliding down your legs. 

Your curves were barely concealed by your bikini bottom, which had ridden up during your swim back to the shore. It made him want to run his hands along those curves and sink his teeth into the ample flesh. Nick stopped breathing as you turned towards him. You gently shook the water from your hair, momentarily distracting him with the way the droplets were trickling down your collarbone and sliding between your breasts. The black fabric of your bikini top stretched over your chest in a way that made Nick lightheaded. 

Looking down, he chided himself and attempted to regain control of his thoughts. 

Once he reached the shore, you handed him a towel, “Here you go.” 

You were captivated as he ran it over his head, causing his short hair to spike adorably in different directions, before running the towel along his chest. “I think I’ll take you up on that beer now,” you gulped, swallowing thickly; your heart pounding.

“Yeah, good idea,” Nick tossed the towel on to the tailgate of his truck. He was covertly ogling your appetizing curves as you slipped on your sunglasses and coverup, settling down on the blanket. 

He picked up his shirt, sliding it and his aviators on as he walked over to the cooler.

“Hmm, thanks,” you hummed, reaching for the beer he offered. You watched as Nick twisted the top off of his bottle and sat down beside you. Twisting the top off your own beer, you held it out towards him, in a toast. “Here’s to closing cases, beautiful days, and wonderful company.” 

Nick laughed as he clinked his beer bottle against yours and took a swig. “To gorgeous company and new beginnings,” he toasted, shooting you a wink. You toasted before taking a long drink, studying the charismatic CSI across from you. 

The two of you sat talking and drinking beer for the next few hours. Eventually you found yourself laying on your back with your head on Nick’s waist, laying perpendicular to him. Both of you staring up at the evening sky, sharing secrets, laughing, and deepening the obvious bond that was growing between you.

As the sun began to dip towards the horizon, the sky was splashed with incandescent pinks and purples. You felt your phone vibrate on the blanket beside your leg. 

Sara: hey you, Morgan said I shouldn’t bug you but I couldn’t help it...how was the lake? 😉

You: lol you two! Its amazing...he’s amazing - and so freaking hot!

Sara: gross, he’s like a brother...come on now lol

You: you asked 😆😘

Sara: yea yea, well Morgan has been blowing up my phone all day, so you better make it to yoga tomorrow and fill us in

You: deal 

Sara: oh and Morgan says ‘make good choices’ lol

You: OMG! Bye, talk to you tomorrow

Sara: LOL luv ya

You: 😘

Nick must have noticed the look on your face as you tossed your phone back to the blanket. “What’s up?”

“Oh nothing,” you laughed, rolling your eyes, “Just Sara and Morgan being, well...Sara and Morgan. Being nosy investigators and waay too interested in my sex life.” 

“Oh yeah,” Nick sat up, his interest piqued, “and just who are you having all this sex with?” He fixed you with one of his signature quizzical grins, brows raised in interest. One dimple tempting you.  

“Oh….no….I didn’t mean….no, no one….” you stuttered, fidgeting with the hem of your coverup. Heat licked up your body, you dropped your chin. 

Nick raised his eyebrows, “Oh? Well damn, that’s a shame.” 

You bashfully turned to meet his eyes, peeking at him through your lashes. 

He winked and reached for your hand, intertwining your fingers. 

Drawn to that infectious grin, you felt yourself lean towards him, lips crashing, heat erupting. As though you’d been doing this for years, the kiss deepened instinctively, both of you hungry for more. 

Nick moved to pull you under him, when Sam growled an alert. 

Quickly pulling away from you, Nick looked over at the german shepherd, and followed his gaze up the embankment to where a jeep full of people had pulled up. 

“Bon garçon (good boy),” Nick commanded towards Sam, before leaning into you and whispering against your ear, “I’m starving, wanna grab dinner?”

“Sounds amazing.” You shivered. 

Driving through the outskirts of Henderson the sun had finally dropped behind the hills. Nick hadn’t let go of your hand throughout the entire drive, occasionally bringing it to his lips to leave a soft kiss along your knuckles. As you were enjoying the gentle country music playing on the radio, the feel of Nick’s hand in yours, and the overall comfort of the moment you suddenly remembered that you were only wearing a bikini and a coverup. 

“Wait!” You gasped, sitting up and looking at Nick, “I can’t go to dinner dressed like this!”  

Nick threw his head back, barking out a laugh, struggling to keep his eyes on the road. Once he was able to calm himself, he breathed out, “Easy there sweetheart, we’re not goin’ to any restaurant. I was thinking I could cook dinner for you...at my place.” His eyes tentatively darting to meet yours, “That is, if you’re okay with that?” 

It was your turn to laugh, “Yea! Yes, I am so okay with that.” With a smile and gentle squeeze of his hand, you soothed his concern. “Drive on.” 

Sam let out a whine as you swung into the driveway. Nick’s eyes flicking into the backseat to the giant german shepherd, “Home sweet home, huh boy?” Before turning to you, “Hold on a sec.” He hopped out of the truck and opened the back door to let Sam out, who took off jogging into the yard, before walking around to open your door. 

“Such a gentleman,” you cooed, grinning as Nick helped you hop down. You grabbed your bag, the towels, and the blankets, as Nick grabbed the cooler and closed up the truck. He led the way up the walkway to the front door. 

Unlocking it, he whistled over his shoulder and hollered “Maison! (house).” Sure enough, Sam came jogging up, following you into the house. 

The front door led into an open floorplan living room, kitchen, dining room. You saw a hallway leading from the dining room, and two doors off the kitchen. Curtains were drawn closed across large windows that dominated the living room and kitchen. The living room looked comfortable and inviting with a large dark beige couch, coffee table, and giant TV. On a nearby shelf, you could see a collection of video games and gaming systems. The walls were decorated with pictures, bookshelves packed with books, and shadowboxed autographed jerseys and footballs. The kitchen was large with a standing island/bar separating it from the dining room area. Overall, it felt very comfortable, it felt very ‘Nick.’ It suited him. 

He set the cooler down on the island and started pulling the remaining beers out to put in the fridge. Glancing over at you, his heart melted as he watched you wander around the living room. You were in his home, taking in all the pieces of his life, and you just….fit. So perfectly, like you were always supposed to be there. He noticed a shiver run through your body suddenly, as you leaned in to get a better look at a picture of him, Warrick, and Grissom. 

“You must be gettin’ cold. That bikini isn’t exactly built for warmth,” The handsome criminalist sent you a wink, “The desert is hot as hell during the day, but man, when that sun goes down, whew, it can get frigid. There’s a bathroom down the hall, first door on the left. If you want to go change.” He gestured down the hallway. 

“Yes please,” you shivered, “Thank you.” Picking up your bag, you made a b-line down the hall. 

A few minutes later you came out, dressed in black leggings and a light blue sheer sweater. Nick was just emerging from a room down the hall, you guessed to be his bedroom. He had also changed and was now wearing grey sweats with a faded Texas A&M logo along one leg and a faded dark blue LVPD t-shirt. It was that perfect combination of domestic and sexy which caused your heart to flutter. 

He let out a wolf whistle as he moved in to pull you into a strong embrace. “Damn, sweetheart. How is it possible that you look so damn hot in everythin’ you put on?” The rhetorical question went unanswered as he leaned in to kiss you. 

You hummed into the kiss, wrapping your arms around his shoulders. Determined hands slid along your back. Breaking the kiss, he leaned back with you still in his arms, to look into your eyes. 

You whimpered, “No...don’t let go, I’m still cold.” You chased his warmth, trying to burrow back into his chest. 

Nick chuckled, “Well that’s no good. I’m sure I can find somethin’ for you to wear.” With that, he led you back into his bedroom, gesturing for you to sit on the edge of his bed. 

As he rifled through a drawer in the dresser, you glanced around the room. 

Again, it felt very - Nick. A queen-sized bed dominated the space, with solid navy blue sheets and a dark blue comforter. One wall was lined with the dresser that he was currently searching through. Two doors led to, what you assumed to be, a bathroom and a closet. The walls were less adorned in this room, simply painted a soothing shade of dark tan. 

Two lone pictures sat on top of the dresser. Both were pictures of the night team. One looked to be taken at Franks and the other from the Baker to Vegas Law Enforcement Desert Relay, the team all dressed in their race gear. Glimpsing the night stands, you saw matching lamps and a stack of books piled next to his phone cord. 

“Ah ha, found it!” Nick announced triumphantly, pulling out a faded maroon Texas A&M crewneck sweatshirt to you. 

“Hmm, thank you!” You quickly slid it on, breathing in the combination of his detergent and his soap/cologne. It was the perfect level of worn, the fabric buttery soft against your skin. “Perfect, much warmer. Thank you.” You leaned in and kissed him. 

Standing up, Nick asked “Now, how about some dinner?” His hand extended in invitation. 

An hour later, you were pleasantly full, curled into Nick’s side on the couch. He had once again impressed you, cooking a delicious dinner of burgers and a salad. After the two of you had cleaned up and done the dishes (amid his constant comments about how you were his guest and you shouldn’t be cleaning up), you were now curled up together on the couch watching an old episode of Seinfeld. 

Nick was struggling to stay focused on the episode with you coiled in so tightly next to him. Your head rested on his chest with one arm draped over his stomach. 

He had nearly buckled earlier, as you had donned his old college sweatshirt. His heart had not been prepared for how you would look wearing his clothes. All he knew was that he wanted to see you wear his clothes more often...or he wanted to see you in less clothes...maybe just one of his shirts? Yeah, that’s it, wearing nothing but one of his shirts. 

Oh man, he was a goner. 

You chuckled at something on the show. Oh shit, he thought, I am so not paying attention. He leaned down to kiss the top of your head, pulling you closer with his right arm, which was slung over your waist, his fingers tracing shapes on your outer thigh. You hummed in response and nuzzled your head further into his chest. 

Yep, Nick was a goner, he was falling for you. Fast. 

With the hand that had been laying across his stomach, you slowly started drawing circles, catching the rippled fabric of his shirt. He released a deep contented sigh in response. Your focus was hardly on the show anymore, as you breathed him in. Your thoughts turning less and less innocent the longer you breathed in his cologne. An intoxicating mix of subtle spice and something uniquely masculine, something...Nick. 

Your insecurities battled causing you to hesitate. Feeling his hand squeeze your waist gave you the boost of confidence you needed. Shutting down your fears and anxieties, you decided to make your move. 

You sat up, twisting to face him, which left the two of you chest to chest with his right hand sliding to the top of your ass. Slowly, you dragged your hand up his stomach to his pec. He met your eyes, a slight rise to his brow, brown eyes twinkling with intrigue. 

In response you leaned in and pressed your lips to his. 

While there had been heat behind every kiss you had shared, this one was in a league of its own. He swiped his tongue across your lips, silently asking for permission. With no hesitation you eagerly opened yourself to him; both of you groaning as the kiss deepened. Lust exploded between your entangled lips.

He shifted, dragging you to his lap, as he pressed a warm hand across your lower back, gripping the back of your neck with the other. Craving more, you moved to completely straddle him, bringing your hands to rest on the back of his neck. He groaned as you lowered yourself to the top of his thighs; he could feel the heat from your core against his groin. 

Both of your tongues continued to explore the other; mapping out the intimate taste and feel. There was a heated urgency behind his movements, a growing hunger in the way his lips and tongue danced.   

Soon enough, the need to breathe became overpowering.You leaned back, resting your forehead against his, panting as you tried to catch your breath. His eyes remained closed, the faintest hint of a smirk graced his swollen lips. 

He softly cleared his throat, “Damn.” The warmth of his breath brushed across your lips, beckoning you back. 

“Yeah,” you breathed out, running your fingers along the stubble that peppered his strong jawline. 

His eyes opened to reveal lust-blown pupils. One hand fidgeted blindly on the couch near you until he found the remote and switched off the TV, never breaking eye contact. The other holding you securely against him.  

Nick’s hands slid up under your sweater and sweatshirt. You both gasped at the skin-to-skin contact. He pulled you down against him, as he captured your lips again in a fiery kiss, his fingers digging into your ribcage, blunt nails raking across your skin. 

His tongue quickly asserted dominance as he caressed every inch of your mouth. Determinedly, his hands also left no inch unexplored, his hands danced around your ribcage, gripping your hips, lingering under the rise of your breasts.  

You leaned back, removing both of your hands from him and lifting off your (his) sweatshirt and sweater, tossing them behind you. Nick’s eyes widened as he took in your still-covered breasts, his tongue sneaking out to wet his kiss-swollen lips. You tugged at his shirt until he finally reached back and pulled it off in one movement, also tossing it behind you, barely landing on the coffee table. 

Pausing, you watched his eyes rake across your partially exposed body. Your combined panting filled the room. Hesitating until you saw his eyes hone in on your hands slowly skimming up your sides, you reached up and pulled off your bra and tossed it to the side. 

His lips instantly met yours in a bruising kiss, hands digging into you newly exposed back. 

“You.” kiss “Are.” kiss “So.” kiss. “Beautiful.” kiss. He whispered against your lips, turning into a soft groan as you started to slowly grind against his lap. Your hands anchored on his broad, tanned shoulders, nails beginning to cause crescent-shaped dents.

His lips moved across your jaw and down your neck, nipping gently at a spot behind your ear, causing an involuntary shudder to wrack your body. 

“Nick….” you moaned, bringing one hand to the back of his head and the other squeezing his shoulder. You felt, more than heard, him growl as you moaned his name. You maintained your languid rhythm of rolling your hips. 

He continued to place kisses down your neck, across your collarbone, and to the tops of your breasts, trying to memorize every inch of exposed skin with his lips. You threw your head back, as his lips traced the curve of your breast to your nipple, delicately taking it in his mouth. 

You cried out as he ran his tongue across your hardening peak, causing his fingers to press into your back as you arched. Needing to ground yourself from the onslaught of pleasure, your hands flew to his hair, tugging him closer to your breasts. A rumbled moan rewarded you. 

Releasing your hold on his hair, you pulled his head back to meet his eyes, panting, “I want you,” before running your nails down his chest, watching the shiver which followed. “I’m clean, tested before I left LA and I haven’t been with anyone since. And I’ve got an implant.” 

He swallowed harshly, his Adam's apple bobbing before stammering a response. “Yeah… ‘m clean too, tested about 4 months ago...last physical, no, no one since.” His voice had dropped an octave and the gravelly timbre washed over you, confirming that he was just as affected as you were. 

Your lips lifted into a teasing smile, as you moved to stand between his thighs. A mischievous glint to your smirk. Tantalizingly, you hooked your thumbs into the waistband of your leggings and started sliding them down your legs. Once you reached your knees, you turned around, exposing your backside to Nick, as you continued to slide the fabric off your body, bending at the waist, giving him a perfect view of your ass. 

You heard him groan your name as he took in the red lacy panties you were wearing. 

Stepping out of your leggings, you stood up and turned back to face him, seeing the adoration and lust on his face. He reached out towards you grabbing your wrist, but instead of allowing him to pull you back down to the couch, you shifted your weight and pulled him up. 

“Follow me,” your voice seductively low and wrecked.

Holding his hand, you turned and led him down the hallway to the bedroom. His eyes firmly on the sway of your hips the entire time.

Upon reaching the threshold to the bedroom, Nick reached out and grabbed your hips, spinning you around to face him. In one swift motion he picked you up, your legs wrapping around his trim waist. With a quiet grunt he pressed you up against the wall, lips eagerly finding yours. Tongues danced with an urgent longing. 

You broke the kiss with a startled yelp, as he carried you across the threshold into the bedroom.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he loosened his grip on your ass, allowing you to fully sink onto his thighs. A shared moan filled the room as you felt his arousal through his sweatpants. His hands continued to massage your backside, as you licked up the column of his neck. 

Breathing raggedly, the brunette investigator’s eyes squeezed shut before gripping your hips, holding you still. “Sweetheart, sweetheart” he cooed, his eyes opening to meet yours, “I want you. I want this.” Your skin tingled along the path that his heated gaze followed. “But I gotta make sure it’s what you want.”

“Yes,” a whimper tumbled from your lips, as your heart swelled for this man even more. Even this far in, he was still checking in with you, still making sure you were with him. If that wasn’t the sexiest thing you’d ever heard, you didn’t know what was. 

Yearning for more, you ground your core into his groin, drinking in the deep satisfying groan that rumbled from his chest. You wanted to do whatever it took for him to make that noise again, as it shot straight to your core. 

With a growl of an expletive, Nick picked you up and spun, gently tossing you onto the bed. Your head landed on the pillows with a bounce. 

Crawling up your body, he caged your body under his. Sweat beaded along his hairline and his eyes burned with lust. 

 Bowing down to nip at your lips, his gravelly voice sounded wrecked as he brokenly pleaded “Sweetheart, please, I gotta taste you.” 

You moaned lewdly, eyes slamming shut as his words caused your core to clench. “Yes, fuck yes,” your breathless response turned into a moan.

Nick began crawling back down your body, tracing the curves and lines of your body with his tongue as he went. Leaving trails of goosebumps and gentle bite marks along the way. Once he reached the band of your panties, he nipped at them with his teeth, before using his fingers to inch them down your legs. 

Now bare to him you watched, through lidded eyes, as he stood at the end of the bed drinking in every inch of your body. His worn sweatpants doing little to hide the effect you were having on him.

“Damn, sweetheart.” He breathed out with awe. “You have any idea how gorgeous you are?” That irresistible accent became even stronger in the heat of the moment. Quickly pulling off his sweatpants, he was soon left only in a pair of tight black boxers. 

A moan escaped your lips as you unabashedly took in the man before you, eyes landing on the sizable evidence of his arousal. 

After taking a moment to fully appreciate your now naked form, he reached up and tugged you down the bed by your hips, until he was face to face with your dripping core. 

The room seemed to crackle with anticipation, you exhaled deeply trying to cope with the want which raced through your veins. 

As you felt his tongue circle your clit, you yelped, hand flying to the crown of his head. He chuckled, dipping lower to lathe at your luscious cunt, his tongue eager in his exploration of your most intimate knowledge.  

He gathered up your dripping arousal on his tongue, savoring your taste, before emitting a shuddered growl. “Fuck,” his voice low, gravelly, sinful. 

His palpable appreciation for your body, your taste, turned you on more than you ever could have imagined. Lust coursed through your nerves, igniting every molecule in your body. You released a string of groaned expletives, which turned into a lewd moan, as the investigator between your legs flicked his tongue across your swollen clit. 

In any other situation you would have been mortified by the obscene sound which escaped you or how unbelievably wet you were from just making out on the couch. But you couldn’t find it in you to care, as Nick continued to lick, suck, and explore your cunt with the same measured determination you’d witnessed in him while processing evidence. Observing how your body responded to each of his actions, ever the scientist. He listened to your vocalizations as he eased a finger into you and took his time learning your body, as he took you apart. 

Shifting your calves to rest on his back, he brought his shoulders flush with your thighs. His continued groans of enjoyment sent intoxicating vibrations through your core. Tangling one hand in his short brown hair, the other hand slid up to grip and squeeze your breast. 

The movement caught the perceptive criminalist’s attention. Seeing your face twisted in such ecstasy was almost his undoing, growling into your core as his eyes slammed shut to ground himself, rutting his hips into the mattress. He eagerly lapped up your honeyed essence, working another finger into you. Curving and grinding it, building an intoxicating rhythm. 

Quickly your moans grew louder, becoming unintelligible sounds of pleasure, mixed in with the occasional expletive. The skillful combination of his fingers and tongue soon had you racing towards release. 

With little warning, only a whimpered “I’m gon-,” you were crashing over the edge, arching your back up off the bed and shoving your cunt deeper into Nick’s face. After working you through your release, the handsome CSI gently removed his fingers from you, but continued softly licking your core until you wiggled your hips away. 

You missed the look on his face as he sucked your release from his fingers. 

Laying down beside you, Nick traced his hand along your stomach and up across your breasts. “Wow….” You stammered, “that was…..I don’t think...” you were barely able to complete a thought. 

With a soft chuckle, he smiled before beginning to suckle on your pulse point. Fingers drawing aimless pictures across your stomach. 

After a few moments, your synapses began to fire again, you rolled to your side, facing the man who had starred in so many of your late-night fantasies, drawing him into a deep kiss. Tongues, lips, and teeth tangling. Your hand glided down the planes of his chiseled chest, towards the sizable bulge pressing against your thigh. 

Upon reaching your goal, you gripped him firmly through his boxers, feeling his hardened length. The action caused him to buck up into your hand and groan, squeezing his eyes shut in pleasure, his head falling to your shoulder.  

“Can I?”

His eyes flew open, piercing yours with an intensity which took your breath away. He nodded, rolling to his back and ripping off the last piece of fabric separating the two of you. Crawling down the bed, you let your eyes hungrily take in his strained, sweat-slicked muscles. As your eyes traced downward, you involuntarily whimpered at the sight of his painfully erect cock. Long and deliciously wide. Your thighs squeezed at the thought of what he would feel like inside of you.

The action not going unnoticed by the man beneath you, as he flashed you a cocky smile. His smirk quickly morphing to a gasp, as you licked a stripe along one side of his cock. 

“Shit,” Nick moaned. The cords of his neck strained, as he arched his head into the pillow. You continued to lick and suckle his length.

Bringing your lips to the tip of his cock, his eyes snapping to yours. You looked up at him with a mischievous glint in your eye, before allowing his girth to push past your lips, sliding into your warm mouth. 

The growl of your name that was punched from his lips sent a shiver straight to your core, causing you to clench. You continued easing him into your mouth, going slow in an attempt to not choke yourself on his considerable length. You wrapped your hand around the base, squeezing gently; feeling him throb in response.

His moans had dissolved into filthy praises that had you dripping. As he hit the back of your throat, he let out a deep groan and tensed. Hands tightly fisting the sheets. You paused, just holding him there. Nick brought one hand to the back of your head, gripping your hair.

“Fuck!” he swore, staring down at your lips perfectly stretched around him. Your eyes shone brightly with lust, tears, and an innocence which caused his cock to jump.

Nick had always known that he leaned more towards lace rather than leather, innocence over sex kitten. But, shit, seeing your mouth stuffed full of his cock, looking up at him with wide, innocent eyes, he felt like he had just died and gone to heaven. 

Pulling back, you set an enticing rhythm. Nick lost all control of his mouth, muttering praises like a prayer. Before long, he felt the surge of an orgasm tingle in the base of his spine. 

“Shit,” he shuddered, “you gotta stop,” his hand tightly gripped the back of your head, pulling you off of him. His abdomen taught with the strain of holding his body back.

You hummed in appreciation, sitting up and licking your lips. You relished the flavor of him - masculine with a hint of soap, all Nick. Before you could bring your hand up to wipe your mouth, Nick sat up and captured your lips in a hungry, filthy kiss, gripping you and dragging you up his body to drape over him. 

With your tongues still wrestling, he carefully rolled so that he caged you beneath him once more.

Breaking the kiss with a gasp, you dropped your head back to the pillows, locking eyes with him. His elbows were on either side of your head, while he gently ground his hips into yours, the sensation causing you to mewl softly. Your fingers traced the shape of his back and shoulders.

An unconscious communication passed between you, time stopped. Everything else fell away, all that existed were you and Nick. Some esoteric, unspoken conversation occurred in the shared gaze. 

He gently tucked a strand of hair behind your ear, staring into your eyes, before placing a chaste kiss on your lips. 

The soft action threatened to startle you out of the revere and into reality, until you really allowed yourself to look into his eyes. Beyond the lust that shone in his brown-almost-nonexistent irises, beyond the wisdom-beyond-his-years, deeper. Something else was shining back at you...something that looked a lot stronger than lust...something almost like... 

The realization slammed into you. 

While shocking, you found that it wasn’t unpleasant or unwelcome. In fact, it felt... right. You prayed that he saw the same emotion reflected in your eyes. All at once, this wasn’t just about sex. No, what was happening suddenly felt more meaningful than just a quick fuck. It scared the hell out of you to think about it, but at the same time, something deep inside of you knew it to be the truth. 

A slight tilt of his head asked the question. An equally slight nod of your head answered. 

Nick captured your lips again, but this time the kiss felt different. Just as powerful as the previous kisses, but the fire behind this kiss felt deeper, slower? Less frantic, more connection, like each of you were trying to get your very souls to kiss. 

He angled his hips as his cock caught on your entrance. Both of you gasped into the kiss but refused to pull away. Slowly. Slowly he pushed into you, your dripping arousal making the motion easier. The sensation overwhelmed you. Forced to break the kiss, you tilted your head back, moaning as he stretched you more than you had ever experienced before. 

He brought his kiss-swollen lips to your neck, attempting to distract you from any discomfort. While you were more than wet enough, Nick knew his size and knew he had to take it slow.

“You are so beautiful Y/N,” Nick whispered against your skin. “From the moment I saw you, I’ve been drawn to you.” Tentatively he thrust a little more, receiving a moan and fingernails digging into his shoulders. “Shit...Look at how well you’re taking me, just opening to me.” His voice soft in awe.

He alternated whispered praises and kisses to your heated skin, “...so soft…..perfect…..you’re doing so well angel.” With one last gentle thrust, he bottomed out, grunting about how tight you felt around him.

You breathed into the fullness, willing your muscles to relax. You’d never felt so stretched in your life. Your body shuddered with pleasure as you felt his cock twitch within you. A wanton moan left your lips.

You brought your hands to his cheeks, guiding his face to yours, needing him to see how good he was making you feel. Staring into his eyes you brought your lips to his, kissing him fervidly, desperately trying to pour all of your emotions into that kiss. 

After a few moments, you nodded and rasped, “move,” 

“Yes ma’am,” the brunette investigator eagerly responded. Rising up to his palms, he looked down at you, taking in the way your body was responding to him. The way your breasts heaved as you pulled in deep breaths, the way the dim light reflected off the slight sheen across your stomach. 

Nick pulled his hips back, causing both of you to groan. You could feel every inch of him drag along your pulsating walls. He snapped his hips, gradually built a delightful rhythm, responding to your every sound, every whimper.

Losing yourself to the magnificent way he stretched you and focused on your pleasure, your hands couldn’t decide where to land, tenderly gripping his strong shoulders, his hair, his chest. Ultimately the force of his thrusts forced you to cling to his back, nails raking his shoulders. 

A sheen of sweat quickly covered both of you, as the tempo built towards a powerful crescendo; your hips rising to meet his powerful thrusts. 

Nick leaned back onto his heels, sliding one of your legs up to his shoulder, changing the angle. His fingers digging into the flesh of your hips as he continued the dizzying rhythm. You were sure you’d have a mark from the way his ring dug into you.  

You cried out his name at the change in angle; the coil in your stomach tightening.

He was mesmerized by the bounce of your breasts. Needing to see you cum again, he brought his hand up to your clit, and began rubbing in tight circles. 

Your hips bucked in response, taking Nick impossibly deeper, causing both of you to cry out, as your walls tightened around his length. 

He groaned, a filthy combination of your name and incoherent expletives, throwing his head back in bliss. 

Wanting to feel even closer to you, he dropped back to his elbows, draping his body over yours, increasing the friction over your clit as his lower abs ground into it on every thrust. The slide of his chest caused friction over your hardened nipples; you whimpered at the sensation. 

Meeting him thrust for thrust, Nick felt the power in your muscles and the strength in your body. The pace quickened, as each of you could feel yourselves beginning to tumble into ecstasy. 

“Please…” you pleaded. You weren’t sure what you were pleading for, but Nick seemed to understand, beginning to swivel his hips as he ground into you. Your fingernails scratched his shoulders and down his back. 

He crashed his lips into yours, intending on kissing you, but neither of you were able to commit, it became more just shared air as you both raced towards release. Foreheads pressed against together.

With one last twist of his hips, the friction on your bundle of nerves and pebbled nipples, Nick sent you hurdling into your climax. A hedonistic groan erupted from your lips. 

Unable to withstand your vice-like grip, Nick ground his hips flush with your thighs, needing to be deep in you as he came. With a shuddered growl, Nick dropped his head to your shoulder, as his release overtook him, pulsing deep within you. 

That growl was the single hottest thing you’d heard in your entire life. You probably would have come from that noise alone. The added feeling of his extended release coating your walls sent another wave of euphoria through your system. Causing Nick to groan into your neck, as your walls once again constricted around him. 

The two of you continued to lay, intimately interlocked, trying to catch your breaths. Hearts racing. Both of you reeling from the intensity of your climaxes and the unexpected emotions attached. 

Lifting his head, his eyes met yours before placing a soft kiss to your lips. You reached to card your fingers through his short hair, dipping your tongue into his mouth. 

Neither of you wanted this moment to end. 

Gently, and staying inside of you, he rolled the two of you, so you were now draped across his chest.

You moaned as you realized that even growing soft, his cock filled you so entirely he had stayed buried in your cunt. Your walls unconsciously constricted with that knowledge, he responded with a soft warning growl into the kiss. 

The moment stretched, the two of you cocooned in each other’s arms, lazily making out. Minutes, hell, hours could have passed. It didn’t matter, all that mattered was how safe and content you felt wrapped in Nick’s arms. 

Eventually the chill from the bedroom’s AC caused a shiver to ripple down your spine, “We should probably get cleaned up,” you whispered, even as you nuzzled deeper into his embrace.

“Nah,” he hummed, “don’t want to.” His eyes drifted closed as he pulled you tighter into his chest and laid his head back on the lone pillow remaining on the bed.

You huffed a soft laugh, causing him to groan as your walls fluttered around him once again. 

Raising his head to look down at you, he cocked a teasing eyebrow, “You keep that up and this might turn into round two.” The promise behind his words sent a different kind of shiver through your body, causing your walls to flutter again. 

The handsome CSI growled in response, beginning to grind his hips into yours once more. 

You groaned regretfully, lamenting, “God, as tempting as that sounds… We should probably get up though. I need to pee so I don’t get a UTI and,” you paused, giving him a playful smirk, “We should probably check on Sam.” 

He dropped his head back to the pillow with a dramatic sigh, “Ugh, okay fine.” He released you from his embrace.

Moving to sit up, both of you hissed as he was pulled from you, allowing your combined releases to flow freely. You immediately longed for the feeling of him filling you. Already, you could feel a pleasant ache setting between your legs. 

A soft whine from the doorway caught your attention. You and Nick glanced up. 

Sam was sitting in the doorway watching the two of you, head tilted. 

“Well, that’s not awkward,” Nick deadpanned with a grin, as he got up and walked towards the german shepherd. “What do you want? Huh? You gotta go interrupting my time with my girl. Come on buddy…” Reaching down to quickly slide on his discarded sweats, he continued, “Do I need to put a sock on the door or somethin’?…” his voice became muffled as he walked down the hall with Sam trotting beside him. 

Laughing, you got up, wrapped yourself in the sheet, and walked to the bathroom. You quickly took care of business before glancing into the mirror. A satisfied expression was reflected back to you, along with some serious sex hair. Was that a hickey? When did that happen? You normally hated being marked up by a partner, but you found that you kind of liked having a hickey from Nick. That’s new...interesting... 

Running cold water over your face and trying to tame your hair as much as possible, you did your best to feel presentable again. You walked back out into the bedroom, admiring the scattering of bedding strewn throughout the room. The books on his nightstand had been knocked to the floor and only one pillow remained on the bed. 

You marveled at the mess the two of you had created.

Nick came walking back into the bedroom, holding the clothes that had been discarded in the living room. He caught your expression as you were taking in the mess. His eyes traced over your figure, fully covered by the sheet, but unable to hide your irresistible curves. Your eyes glimmered with amusement. 

Meeting each other’s eyes, you both started laughing. 

Relationships, sex - it had never been like this before. It had never been this playful or relaxed. You’d never felt this comfortable with a partner. There was something so different about this, about Nick. 

He moved to hand you your sweater, when you surprised him by reaching for the LVPD t-shirt he had been wearing earlier. You slid it on, missing the look of admiration that crossed Nick’s face. 

“He probably wanted to go outside and get some fresh air,” you laughed, gesturing around the room.

“I guess,” Nick smiled. “He’ll scratch to get back in soon, so keep an ear open.” He pulled open a drawer, swapping his sweats for a pair of fresh boxers.

You and Nick quickly changed the sheets and put the pillows back on the bed. Sure enough, a few minutes later Sam gently scratched to be let back into the house. As Nick went to let him back in, you crawled under the covers and stretched out. A contented moan leaving your lips.

As Nick returned to the bedroom, his heart stopped. There you were, looking every bit the angel he knew you were, tucked into his bed, in his bedroom, after he had just made love to you in that very same bed. His heart swelled as you reached out towards him, calling him to come join you. How could he ever deny you? Never. He would never be able to deny you anything. 

He crawled into bed and quickly pulled you to his chest. You let out a peaceful sigh as you snuggled your head into his chest and wrapped an arm over him. His fingers skimmed under the shirt you were wearing, drawing unknown symbols on your back. The feeling of your warm, soft skin under his slightly calloused hands triggered his mouth to open before he could stop himself. 

“Hey angel,” he whispered softly in the dark, half hoping you wouldn’t answer. Nick wasn’t exactly sure what was going to tumble out of his mouth. The combination of the afterglow, dark, and your calming touch set the stage for a possible confession.

“Yeah?” Your murmured response was heavy with sleep.

“Today was incredible. You are incredible.” He paused, stalling. Was he really going to tell you how he felt? Could he do that? Before he could talk himself in or out of anything, his mouth opened again, “I want to tell you something,” he hesitated. He could hear his blood rush in his ears, threatening to drown out your answer.

You stiffened in his arms, silently guarding yourself against any number of possible finishes to that sentence. Willing yourself to stay calm, you hummed in question, encouraging him to continue.

“I, uh, I think…” He exhaled loudly, “I think I might be falling for you.” The words spilled from his lips into the darkness. His heart pounded out of his chest, waiting for your reaction. 

Your lips curved into an instant smile against his bare chest. All the fear and anxiety immediately drained from your body, leaving only the warmth of his words. 

*****

You raced down the hallway, nose buried in a rifling report, towards the fingerprint lab to catch Sara. The match you had just made was impossible, you had triple-checked it, but still...it couldn’t be- 

SMACK! You crashed right into a brick wall.

“Ohmygosh! I’m so-” You stammered, cutting yourself off as you got lost in the surprising depth of a gorgeous pair of chocolate brown eyes. 

“Easy there, girl!” Nick chuckled, one hand gripping your upper arm, the other flat on your back to ensure you didn’t fall. “Where’s the fire?” 

“I, uh-,” words struggled to form as you felt the heat radiating from his hold on you. 

He seemed equally paralyzed, unable to pull his hands from your body or his eyes from your beautiful features. 

The moment grew, how long, you’ll never know-

A shrill chime broke through the silence, shattering the moment. Immediately you jumped apart, as though you’d been shocked. 

Shaking his head dazed, Nick reached for his phone.

*****

Work related discussion filled the booth at Frankie’s. Sara and Greg were debating the finer points of fingerprint powder on different surfaces. 

“Nick, help me out here.” Greg implored, looking at the criminalist seated to his right. “D’you remember that case a few months back, you know, with the print you lifted from the wood cabinet?” 

You looked across the booth to see Nick already looking at you. A startled expression overtaking some unfamiliar emotion across his face. 

“Uh, sorry, I, uh-” Nick stuttered a flustered half-response, cheeks growing pink. His eyes flitted to Sara, beside you before falling on Greg. “No, uh,” he cleared his throat, “I don’t remember that print, Greg.” 

You missed the knowing look that Sara and Greg exchanged. 

*****

Sitting at the conference table in the breakroom, you poured over the ballistic reports in front of you, determinedly flipping through the giant reference book beside them. Eyes scanning back and forth. There had to be something in this thing to help you explain the strange mark you found on a shell casing. There just had to be. 

Suddenly, a coffee cup began to move towards you in your peripheral vision, pushed by a couple of large fingers. 

Without glancing up from the reference book, “Oh, no thank you. If I have any more coffee today, I’ll never get to sleep.” You gave a humorless laugh. 

“It’s not coffee. It’s tea.” The husky drawl of Nick Stokes broke through your concentration. 

“Oh! Wh-what?” Your head whipped up to see the handsome CSI standing beside the conference table.

“It’s tea, a rose petal and honey blend, I think.” He explained, vaguely gesturing towards the mug beside your lab reports.  

You gave him a puzzled look, while reaching for the tea. Lifting it to your nose, you breathed it in. It smelled heavenly, like warm honey poured over lucious roses. Your eyes drifted closed at the soothing aroma. 

He shifted uncomfortably, “I noticed that you don’t drink coffee this late in the shift, you usually prefer tea. I thought you might need a refill.” He half shrugged, an anxious smile pulling at his lips. 

“Tha-thank you,” you stuttered, “that’s really sweet.” You lifted the mug to your lips, giving a low hum of approval as the warm liquid hit your tongue. 

His shoulders relaxed and the anxious smile shifted to one of relief. He opened his mouth to say something, gesturing towards the cabinet-

“Yo Nick! We gotta roll.” Greg yelled down the hall.

*****

Scanning the list of evidence needing to be processed, your eyes jumped to the assigned CSI’s name on a couple of firearms down the list. Your heart lurched. N. Stokes. That meant he would be coming to get results from you by the end of shift. 

Your lips curled into a grin, well his evidence did look the most interesting. No harm could come from moving it up in the queue...right?

Two hours later you saw Nick stroll past the entrance to your lab.

“Hey Nick!”

He spun and quickly returned to the entrance of your lab. “What’s up?”

“I got those results for you. On those 9mms you dropped off.” You gestured with a report in your hand, offering it to him.

Confusion rippled across his face as he glanced from you to his watch, then back to you. He slowly stepped into the lab, “That was fast. I wasn’t expecting these until the end of the day - at least.” He took the offered lab report from your hands and met your eyes. 

You shrugged, dropping your eyes to the file in his hand. “Yeah, well,” you hesitantly lifted your eyes to his, “your- those 9mms just looked more interesting than the other stuff.” 

His brow lifted in question. 

You inhaled sharply, “No, I mean, I processed - am processing, all of it.” Your hands waved vaguely in the direction of your computer. “I just decided to start with those.” 

Nick smiled warmly and gave a soft chuckle. “Well thank you, Y/N. Appreciate it.” He tapped the report against his other hand, before adding with a playful wink, “Don’t let Greg hear you say that. It’ll break his heart if he thinks he’s not your favorite.” 

You laughed, “Yeah, yeah. I know,” with a small roll of your eyes. “Now out,” you waved him towards the hallway, “I gotta get back to the rest of this evidence.” 

With a grin and tilt of his head, Nick stepped back into the hallway and continued towards the tox lab. 

*****

“...alright, you’ve all got your assignments.” DB’s voice boomed through the large conference room, “Let’s get to it and get this guy off the streets.” 

A cacophony of chairs being pushed back, papers being shuffled, and conversation filled the space. The night team and a handful of Brass’s officers had just been briefed on a high profile case which required all hands on deck. 

As you collected your reports from the table, the room began to empty as the different team members dispersed throughout the lab. Rising from the conference table, your attention was drawn towards a commotion by the door. 

“Ooof,” Greg was semi-bent over, clutching his stomach, an amused smile on his face. 

“...man, shut up,” hissed Nick, his hand still curled into a fist.

“I’m just sayin’-”

“You’re not sayin’ anythin’. Now beat it.” Nick warned in jest, slightly lunging at the younger criminalist who tossed a grin your way and took off jogging towards the other CSIs, his playful laughter ringing through the hallway. 

“What did you do to poor Greg?” You asked, jokingly scandalized at what you’d just witnessed.

“What?” Nick’s eyes widened in panic as they flew to you. 

You gestured towards Greg’s retreating figure, brows raised in question.

“Oh that, he’s fine.” He brushed it off, before muttering lowly, “kid needs to keep his damn mouth shut.” 

“Hmm?” You questioned, not quite sure you heard that last part.

“Oh nothing.” He shook his head, before extending his arm in invitation, “Walk you back to your lab?”

“I’d like that.”

*****

Neither of you had moved beyond flirtatious banter, but you could no longer deny the tension or the attraction. Morgan and Sara had separately told you that he was interested in you, but you had just brushed them off. 

As you, Greg, Catherine, and Morgan were enjoying breakfast at the diner one morning, Greg decided to nudge that tension just a little. The four of you had been discussing Greg’s nightclub assault case (which he was working with Nick). 

“...and then this smokin’ hot blonde waitress just walked up and handed Nick her number! It was insane. That guy...women just fall for him.” He shook his head, “But of course he just politely declined. You know,” Greg cleared his throat before tipping an imaginary cowboy hat and terribly mimicking Nick’s soft southern drawl, “‘no thank you ma’am, I don’t think that would be a good idea.’” 

Morgan started chuckling, eyeing you, as Catherine gave you a sideways smirk. Greg waggled his eyebrows at you, an expectant glint in his eyes. 

“Okay, what?” Your eyes narrowed at the investigators. “I have something on my face or something?” 

“Really Y/N?” Greg coaxed, sincerity warming his playful tone, “Come on, you have to see that he is head over heels for you.” 

“Oh please,” you scoffed, rolling your eyes, “He’s just being polite. I am so not his type. Not to mention there are these two,” gesturing to Catherine and Morgan, “And Sara. I mean…” You shook your head.  

Catherine physically choked, “Whoa! No way!” After clearing her throat, she continued, “Nicky is like my brother. He’s adorable and I love him, but the way you love a sibling...or a dog.” 

Greg snorted, collapsing into laughter, while Morgan turned her attention to you.  

“Do you really not see it?” Morgan inquired, tilting her head. You could feel her eyes analyzing you. “He looks at you like a lovesick puppy, like all the time.” She looked to the others, who nodded their agreement. 

Bowing your head, you shifted in the booth, “Stop, you guys. Come on. He’s just being nice to the new girl. That’s all.” The hashbrowns on your plate suddenly captured your attention. Wishing for a subject change, you hastily straightened, tossing out, “Anyways, what’s up with Hodges recently? I feel like he’s been weirder than usual.” 

Catherine huffed lightly, flashing you a knowing smile. “Yeah, you know, I have noticed that. He’s been more...creepy than usual.” 

Smiling gratefully at her, you tuned out the rest of the conversation, thankful you weren’t in the spotlight anymore. The truth was, you were ridiculous attracted to Nick – you just weren’t sure you believed that he could feel the same about you. 

The day after your uncomfortable breakfast, you were packing up a bag of shell casings that you had finished processing when Nick walked into your lab. Looking up, you noticed that he had a slight bruise starting to form on one cheek and a small cut along his left eye. 

“Oh shit! What happened? Are you alright?” You gasped, rounding your workbench towards him. 

The handsome criminalist ducked his head, grinning, before joking, “Yeah...you should see the other guy.” Leaning against the workbench, his eyes met yours. 

“Well I hope you won.” Mirroring Nick’s posture, you leaned a hip against the table, trying to ignore the way your heart jumped at his proximity. 

“Suspect jumped the table in Interview, luckily Brass and I were quicker.” He ran his hand gently over the bruise. Then scratched at the back of his neck, struggling to meet your eyes.

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay.” you breathed out, shaking your head with relief. You moved back to continue packing up the shell casings. “I don’t think I have any of your cases on deck right now, do I?” 

He shook his head, “No, my case is an assault. No firearms,” spinning the ring he always wore. “I...uh….I….” he started, shuffling his feet slightly. 

You gave him a reassuring smile, closing the evidence in the locker. While you tried to maintain your composure, the tension in the lab skyrocketed. Your thoughts and heart raced. With each breath you took, you could feel the tension escalate. 

“I...um...you got any plans this weekend?” He was finally able to rush out, flashing an uncharacteristically shy smile.

“Oh, um, nothing big.” You stammered, your fingers beginning to fidget with the pocket of your lab coat, “I was kinda thinking about catching an extra yoga class on Sunday. I’m pretty sore this week. And uh...Sara and I had talked about seeing that new movie with Chris Evans. You?” God, the tension was practically palpable now. You tried to stop any tremble from reaching your hands, as you shoved your hands firmly into your pockets.

“Oh cool, that sounds fun,” he breathed out. “Me? I...oh….nothing big. Uh…...say, would you wanna maybe…wanna grab drinks or something sometime?” Nick forced out, his eyes meeting yours hesitantly. 

Heat raced through your body, as your breath caught in your throat. You prayed that he wasn’t able to see the fire beneath your skin. “Sure...sure, yeah,” Taking a deep breath, you looked into his eyes, “I’d love to,” you smiled widely. 

Nick released a breath of relief, shoulders easing as the tension drained from his muscles. “Yeah? Cool, that’s great. Okay, well...I’ll text you then.” He looked down, smiling to himself. Then looked back up at you, giving you one of those trademarked dimpled grins. He opened his mouth to say something -

“Yo, Nicky!” DB’s booming voice rang through the hallway, “Come on loverboy, you got more witnesses in the lobby to interview. Get to it!” 

Jumping towards the door, Nick looked back at you, “I’ll catch you after shift and walk you out?” 

“Sounds wonderful!” 

You grinned at each other, as he took off jogging towards the lobby full of his witnesses. Immediately you pulled out your phone, opening your conversation with Morgan. 

You: So… Nick just asked me out for drinks 😃

Morgan: AH!! It’s about time! 😉 Took him long enough...

You: lol He wants to walk out with me after shift today

Morgan: girl! Ok you better call me tomorrow. I WANT DETAILS

You: Of course. Luv ya

Morgan: 😘 

You were barely able to concentrate for the rest of your shift. You tuned out part way through Henry explaining how the trace you had pulled from a magazine was actually DNA, so it had been kicked to him. And again, when Sara was asking you to run trajectory simulations with her. The end of your shift could not come fast enough. 

Finally, you saved the trajectory simulation you had been working on and emailed it to Sara (with a note apologizing for being so distracted earlier). Standing up, you removed your earbuds, and took off your lab coat. A noise from the door of your lab drew your attention. 

Nick was standing in the doorway, eyes shamelessly tracing your figure. 

“Oh! Uh, hi!” You gasped, “How long have you been there?” Feeling flustered, you tried to hide the tremor that ran through your hands. Distractedly you hung up your lab coat and gathered your phone and headphones. 

“Not long, just came to see if you were finished.” 

“Yep, just wrapped up. You have good timing,” you winked.

The two of you easily fell into step, walking towards the lockers. The earlier tension seemed to have dissipated, now just comfortable conversation flowed, as Nick shared about how the rest of his interviews had gone. Pleased to report no more punches were thrown. Reaching the locker room, you grabbed your sweater and purse from your locker as Nick slid on his black jacket. 

“So, breakfast?” Nick asked hopefully. 

“Yes please! I’m starving, I totally spaced lunch today.”

Soon, the two of you were settled into a table at the diner. Breakfast and coffee were quickly ordered and the comfortable conversation continued. As the two of you discussed current cases, departmental politics, and lab gossip you felt your heart flutter as the evident chemistry between you and Nick grew. 

As conversation lulled, Nick tilted his head with a twinkle in his eye. “How about dinner tonight?”

“What about it?” Leaning forward, you teased with a grin, twisting a napkin in your hand.

Nick smiled at your antics. “I know this little place that I think you’d like. How ‘bout it? Dinner with me tonight?”

Your grin morphed from playful to genuine. “I’d love to.”

Nick beamed, a smile bright enough to rival the rising Vegas sun. 

*****

After collapsing into bed after breakfast, your thoughts were filled with anticipation for your dinner date with Nick. Sleep eventually pulled you under, thoughts of warm smiles and hearty laughter filling your dreams. 

*****

Nick: I’m on my way over, should be there in 10

You: perfect! See you soon

Sure enough, 9 minutes later your front doorbell rang. Taking a deep breath, in an attempt to calm your nerves, you opened the door. As soon as you did, your brain stuttered. There was Nick, dressed in dark jeans, a black button down, and aviators holding a bouquet of small sunflowers. 

As he lowered his sunglasses, you could see his eyes take you in. You knew you looked good, but damn, watching his eyes explore your body did things to you. Wearing low ankle boots, black skinny jeans, and a red tank top with a sweetheart neckline, you felt confident. 

Nick cleared his throat, breaking the trance that had fallen over both of you. “Uh, wow. You look incredible.” 

“Thanks, you don’t clean up too bad yourself there handsome,” you answered, as you let your eyes travel up and down his body. You grinned as you met his eyes again. 

“Oh, here. These are for you. Morgan mentioned that sunflowers were your favorite,” he said, holding out the bouquet to you. 

“That’s sweet! Thank you. Let me just run and put these in some water. Do you want to come in for a minute?” You asked, as you took the flowers into the kitchen. 

With a quick nod, Nick followed you, closing the door behind him. 

As you were trimming the stems, you glanced up to see him looking over the pictures you had sitting on a shelf. He seemed particularly enthralled by a photo of you with a couple of college friends at the beach from a few years back. You smiled to yourself. 

After finding a suitable vase, you set the happy flowers on the table.  

“Okay, let me grab my jacket, and I’m ready to go,” you said, picking up your leather biker jacket and purse from the back of the couch. 

The drive to the bar was more comfortable than you thought it would be. Conversation flowed easily between you. Occasionally Nick would point out a good restaurant or a piece of Vegas history, as he drove. And before long, you were pulling up to a tavern that looked more hole-in-the-wall than tourist-destination. 

“Stay put,” Nick gently commanded with a grin, as he hopped out of the driver's seat. He jogged over, opened your door for you, and raised his arm to support you as you hopped out of his lifted truck. 

Caught up in the butterflies in your stomach and distracted by how good he looked in those aviators, your foot missed the running board and you lurched forward. 

Luckily, Nick caught you before your head went through the window. “Whoa, I gotcha!”

Slowly he lowered you to the ground; trapped between his truck, the door, and his body, his hands gripped tightly on your waist. 

For a moment, you just stared into his deep brown eyes. You hoped he couldn’t hear (or feel) your heart pounding against your rib cage. The moment stretched, neither of you finding it in you to break the quiet intimacy. 

A car horn in the distance shattered the trance. 

Clearing his throat and blinking away, Nick gently released his hands and took a half a step back. 

“I guess I fell for you,” you laughed nervously once your feet were back on terra firma. Nick chuckled, rolling his eyes playfully. 

“Come on, let’s get you inside before you take another tumble,” he teased as he held your hand, closing the truck door with the other. Continuing to hold your hand, he led you inside the tavern. 

You were met with a scene that you were not expecting. The inside of the tavern was walled with wood planks that had a warm barnwood feel to them. One whole side was dominated by a beautiful live-edge bar, that looked to be from one solid tree. Black leather booths lined two sides, with a smattering of tables and chairs around the edge of a sawdust-covered dance floor. The walls were decorated with cow skulls and classic pictures of John Wayne. The soft sounds of an old Garth Brooks song floated through the air. Couples swirled on the dance floor and milled around the bar. 

Nick led you over to the corner booth.

After hanging up both of your jackets on a nearby hook, he slid in next to you; thigh to thigh, casually throwing an arm over the back of the booth behind you. Before you could come up with a teasing remark about him being so close, a man walked up to the table. 

“Hiya Nicky, it's good to see you,” he clapped Nick on the back of the shoulder and gestured to you. “And this must be the gal you haven’t stopped talking about.” 

Nick nodded and opened his mouth to reply.

Turning to you, the man continued without letting Nick answer, “Hi darlin’, I’m Mike. Nice to make your acquaintance. I’m the owner of this oasis in the desert, if you need anythin’ just holler.” 

He tipped his cowboy hat as you told him your name, and turned back to Nick, “Well, Stokes you want the usual or…?” 

“Sure Mike, I’ll take a beer.” 

Looking at you, he asked, “And how ‘bout you, ma’am?”

“Whiskey, neat please,” you answered,

“Sure thing darlin’, comin’ right up,” Mike drawled and moved towards the bar. 

Once again, conversation flowed effortlessly. You found yourself opening up to Nick more than you would usually open up to someone on a first date. There was just something about him, something so genuine, so honest. You couldn’t help but feel safe with him. 

You learned that he was born and raised in Dallas, Texas and that his dad was a judge, his mom an attorney. He talked animatedly about his siblings (being the youngest of 7, he had lots of hilarious stories). As you had guessed, he played football growing up. He was surprised to learn that you were somewhat younger than him. He never would have guessed the age gap with how you carried yourself. The two of you talked about how you got into the field of forensics and your college experiences.

After dinner and a few more drinks, he invited you to dance. With a coquettish grin, you eagerly agreed. Confidently, the handsome criminalist led you to the dance floor with one hand firmly on your lower back.

As he spun you into an embrace, your hand and cheek landed on his muscular chest, feeling the strength and heat radiate. His intoxicating scent washed over you, a woodsy, spicy combination.

Song after song, he held you close, until you were completely lost in the earnestness of his embrace. Whether it was a country two-step or a slow and sweet ballad, he easily twirled you around the floor. Apparently Nick’s skills were not limited to the field of forensics. 

The outside world completely melted away. Nothing but Nick and his comforting grasp, dimpled grin, and perceptive brown eyes existed. 

A vibration in your back pocket rudely startled you back into the present. With a softly murmured apology, you excused yourself and moved towards the table. Pulling your phone from your pocket, you noticed a text from Morgan.

Morgan: hey girl, just checking in, how was dinner?

You: Still at dinner 

Morgan: Wow! Must be going well, I’m so happy for you guys

You: Thanks!

Morgan: don’t forget yoga tomorrow!

You: yes mom 😆

A smile lifted your lips, as you slid your phone into your purse to avoid any more interruptions. You felt grateful to have good friends like Morgan and Sara. It was comforting to know that they were looking out for you.

“Everything alright?” Nick asked, dropping into the booth next to you with a contented sigh, he laid his arm across your shoulders.

“Yeah, just Morgan checking up on me.” You leaned into Nick’s warmth.  

“Well, we don’t want Morgan worrying about you bein’ out all night,'' Nick drawled, the hint of his accent coming out stronger with the alcohol. “I should be gettin’ you home. It is gettin’ late.” 

You pouted playfully and turned towards him, shifting in your seat. It was only then you realized just how close you had gotten to the striking investigator. Chest to chest; his lips mere inches from your own. 

The air around you stilled.

Your gaze was drawn away from his eyes as his tongue peeked out to wet his lips. You bit your bottom lip.

A groan rumbled from Nick’s chest in response. He drifted closer, as though drawn by a magnet.

Mere millimeters separated you now. Your eyes fluttered closed. 

With a pained groan, Nick pulled back. 

Slowly opening your eyes, you could see the war of emotions and desires play across his handsome features. 

“I should,” he rasped, before clearing his throat and starting again, “I should settle our tab.” 

With a heavy sigh, he pulled you close and placed a chaste kiss to your temple before sliding out of the booth and heading towards the bar.

You exhaled deeply, feeling the energy of the almost-kiss course through your body.

As you turned your attention to the couples still swaying on the dancefloor, you noticed Nick’s phone light up across the table. You hadn’t meant to invade his privacy, honestly, you just happened to read the message upside-down. 

Morgan: heard your date is going well. I’m so happy for you guys! But in all seriousness, if you break her heart, I will hunt you down. 😉😘

You laughed so unexpectedly that you snorted. Quickly trying to cover, you coughed lightly. 

As Nick returned you were still struggling to stifle your laughter. 

“You good?” He asked with concern in his eyes, he placed a comforting hand on your bare shoulder, his thumb tracing invisible patterns.

“Yeah, totally,” You coughed, gesturing towards his phone, “I think your phone lit up.” 

He picked it up, glanced at the message and chuckled. With a playful roll of his eyes, he slid the phone in his pocket. 

“Morgan,” he explained. 

As he helped you into your jacket, his hand lingered on yours. You turned your head and locked eyes with him. Deep brown, almost black, eyes pulled you in with a wisdom well beyond the years of their owner. You didn’t have the strength (or frankly, the desire) to tear your eyes from his. 

Both of you lost, tumbling once again, in the intimate connection that couldn’t be ignored any longer. 

“Dammit,” he muttered, barely audible. His chin dropped to his chest. “I’m tryin’ to be a gentleman here.” He looked up once more, eyes pleading and pained. 

Unsure of his meaning, you cocked your head, a question on your lips.  

“Can I kiss you?” He whispered. 

His eyes flickered down to your lips. 

“Yes,” you yearned.

Slowly, he leaned in, bringing his lips to yours. Once again, your eyes fluttered shut, feeling his warm breath. His lips brushed against yours, causing your pulse to jump, as he turned his head and placed a soft kiss to your cheek. 

***** 

As he drove you home, the long week caught up with you. You tried to stifle a yawn with the back of your hand, but it was no use, he caught it. 

He laughed and assured you that he would have you home in no time. Reaching his right hand out to capture yours, he turned his attention back to the road. You happily intertwined your fingers with his, eliciting a pleased sigh from him.

Pulling into your driveway, he parked beside your car and killed the engine. Turning towards you in his seat, he pulled off his aviators and grasped both of your hands. 

“I really enjoyed tonight.” Sincerity shone in his eyes, “And, I’d like to do it again. If that’s alright with you?” His shy-yet-hopeful smile warmed your heart.

“Yes!” You answered, probably too quickly. Taking a deep breath, you gave a sheepish smile and continued, “Tonight really was incredible, I would absolutely love to do this again.”

Nick grinned and squeezed your hand, before hopping out of the truck and opening your door. Luckily, this time your foot found the running board and you didn’t fall. You noticed that Nick still placed one hand on your waist, just in case. 

Your fingers were intertwined as he walked you to your front door. 

Standing on your front porch, you were torn. You so didn’t want the date to end but you were about to pass out from exhaustion. 

Nick must have sensed your dilemma, because he pulled you into an embrace, running a hand along your back. 

“We’ve got time, sweetheart,” He whispered sweetly, his warm breath brushing your ear, sending a shiver through your system. He wrapped both arms around you, just as he had on the dancefloor, gently swaying to some unspoken tune. 

“Can I kiss you goodnight?” 

With your head still tucked into his chest, you nodded. 

He brought one hand up to gently tilt up your chin. Looking into his chocolate brown eyes, adoration shone brightly. All the tension, and electricity from the earlier near-kisses crackled in the narrowing space between you. He slowly brought his lips to yours. 

You gasped into the kiss, overwhelmed by the current which shot through your body. You felt him grin against your lips before licking at the seam of your lips. Eagerly, you opened to him, savoring the approving moan that escaped him at your actions. 

Nick lazily caressed every inch of your mouth as his hand slid from your chin to hold the back of your head. No fight for dominance, no awkward bumping; it felt as if you’d always been kissing each other like this. 

You fisted the back of his jacket, trying to pull him impossibly closer. Gladly you would have stayed locked in that kiss all night, but unfortunately the need for air interrupted. 

Pulling back so your noses bumped, both panting in the shared air, Nick tipped your head back, angling to look into your eyes. 

“Sweetheart, can I ask you something?” Breathlessly, he choked out a question, searching your eyes in the yellow of your porch light. 

“Course,” you whispered, enjoying the feel of his hand softly massaging the back of your neck. Your skin tingled with pleasure. 

“Would you,” he swallowed hard before swearing, “shit, I don’t know what the kids call it these days.” Looking you straight in the eyes with an unfamiliar intensity, he started again, “Would you wanna be my girl?”

Rising to your tiptoes, you firmly pressed your lips to his with a whispered “yes,” before kissing him deeply. 

Eventually oxygen was once again required. With a reluctant sigh, he released you, taking a slight step back.

“Goodnight sweetheart,” 

“Goodnight Nick.”