Catherine sat in the empty break room, trying to level her system off before she went home to her daughter. She didn’t like going home when she was still reeling from a bad case, and there was no one around to take her out, so she decided to have a cup of tea and read a magazine she brought in with her a week ago—but never had time to read. She was flipping through it idly, not really paying much attention, until she uncovered an article called: Kissing 101. It peaked her attention, even though she didn’t have anyone to kiss, because she wanted to see if her technique was on par with that of the experts.
As she skimmed over the text, she found herself falling into her thoughts, as she mulled over fantasies and pulled the one man she kept in all of them into her mental interpretation of the text.
Gil’s lips...
She sighed and kept reading, squirming a little to find a comfortable position.
Gil’s lips on her lips...
“Oh, knock it off!”
“Ahhh... Cath,” she heard Gil’s voice from the doorway. “Who are you talking to?”
Her cheeks started to burn, so much so that she could even feel heat on her ears. She squirmed again, and when she saw his eyes search for the page’s title, she yanked the magazine off of the table and behind her back. “Myself. I was reading. I got distracted. Brain,” she smiled, trying to play it cool, but she feared that she sounded like a spaz. “Always thinking.”
Gil walked closer, watching her. She knew that she was heating up throughout her body, with every step he took towards her. To protect herself and her feelings, she pressed her back firmly against the chair, in attempts to hide the magazine.
“Why are you hiding that?”
She smiled. “A lady’s entitled to her secrets, Gil.”
He rolled his eyes. “Please. Since when did you start keeping secrets from me?”
He walked behind her and put his hands on the back of the chair. She could feel his fingertips brushing her back briefly, which didn’t help her body temperature.
Without looking at him, she blurted out: “Since you started keeping secrets from me.”
He leaned in close, seemingly not shocked by what she said, and whispered in her ear. With every word, she felt the knot of desire in her stomach tighten. “What if I told you I was done keeping secrets?”
She gasped. And in that gasping moment, she forgot about the magazine. Gil snatched it before she had a chance.
~*~
Gil glanced at the title of the article, Kissing 101, and looked back down at her. She was still twisted away from him, but now her legs were drawn up into the chair and her face pressed into them, while her arms hugged them.
He read the first couple of lines and felt his face—as well as other areas—warming.
“Cath?”
“Yes, you big, fat cheater?”
“Why were you so embarrassed about getting caught reading this?” He sat down next to her. “It’s just about kissing.”
He watched her eyes grow large, and then shrink a bit, while she sorted out her words. Before she spoke, she took in two breaths. “I was daydreaming.”
“About?”
“Trying some of them.”
He nodded, eyeing her to see where she was taking this conversation. Talking about kissing with Catherine wouldn’t exactly be an unpleasant experience, but that didn’t mean he would be in agony throughout the entire conversation.
“With anyone in particular, Catherine?”
He couldn’t help but smile a little when her cheeks got darker and when she glanced away. He took those to be positive signs. He thought he heard her mutter something under her breath, but he didn’t hear it.
“Catherine?”
Her eyes snapped to his. “Would you stop saying my name like that?”
“Like what?”
She shrugged. “You wouldn’t get it.”
“Maybe I would. Why don’t you explain it to me?”
She sighed. “Look, I was daydreaming about kissing you, Gil, does that explain it all?” He sensed hostility in her voice so he leaned back a bit. “Happy now? You know it all. Why don’t you just run off and—”
“I am happy,” he said, taking her hand in his, surprising both of them at the same time.
“Ahh... Gil?”
He smiled. “Why don’t we try some of these out?”
~*~
He had to be kidding. Catherine looked at him again, trying to be sure, and then back at the magazine to make sure he was talking about the article. He nodded and held the paper out to her.
“This is only because it seems scientific, right?”
Gil shook his head and winked: “Only partially.” He glanced down at the paper, and then back at her. She was completely shocked and completely aroused. “It says that we should begin with an Eskimo Kiss.”
Catherine managed to open her mouth to talk but it was dry, so she waited a moment and tried again, with much more success. “You remember what those are?”
He smiled and nodded. “How do you... want to do this?”
She laughed shakily and put her hands on his knees, moving to lean forward. He met her halfway—an action that gave her hope. “Ready?”
He chuckled nervously. She almost thought she felt him shaking, but she wasn’t entirely sure. “Yeah. Close your eyes.”
She did as he suggested and felt him close the gap, brushing his nose softly against hers. She sighed as the brushing movement became slower and more circular, her breathing eventually become completely erratic.
Before she could control it, her hands were leaving his knees. First, they landed on his forearms, but they soon moved upwards until they were nestled at the base of his neck. Gil kept caressing her, and she started to reciprocate with her fingers, blindly following contours she felt under her skin.
He moaned and whispered: “You’re jumped ahead to the next step.”
She replied softly: “I thought we were ready for the next step... which is face touching?”
He pulled back slightly and opened one eye to read off the page: “Touch your, ah... lover’s face.”
She giggled, understanding his discomfort, but not saying a word. She opened her eyes and studied him, softly running her fingers over the features she hadn’t touched yet, watching him for reactions. She loved that when she brushed over his eyebrows, he shuddered and closed his eyes; she loved it so much, in fact, that she leaned up and started kissing his brows, alternating between left and right.
“You’re skipping ahead, or something,” he muttered between sighs.
She continued to giggle, but added: “I’m still touching your face.”
“At least let me.... return the favour.”
Her eyes popped open at his suggestion. She reached to her arm and pinched herself, wincing at the slight bit of pain. He eyed her; she explained: “Just checking to make sure I’m still here.”
Gil leaned forward and kissed the bridge of her nose. His lips felt so soft on her skin. She shivered and closed her eyes, giving in to the sensations she didn’t completely believe were happening. The tension in her stomach was incredible; she knew that eventually she would have to find a way to relieve it. She hoped Gil would be able to help her.
His lips traveled from her nose to her forehead, to her hairline, to her ear—where the nipping and sucking caused her to moan and lurch forward—and then along her jaw.
He hovered over her lips. She growled in frustration. He chuckled, and asked: “Are we ready to lock lips?”
“Gil Grissom—”
She sighed as he cut her off, pressing his lips to hers. Her hands slid from his shoulders to the back of his head, pressing him to her.
Gil’s arms opened up, and Catherine moved smoothly and quickly, straddling his waist so he could hold her closer. She sighed, but before she demanded for a deeper kiss, she pulled back and said: “We’re in the break room, Gil.”
“I know,” he said, pressing scattered kisses along her throat.
“Ahhh... shouldn’t we move?”
“We still have one more lesson.”
She glanced at the page. “Actually, two.”
He smiled after kissing her jaw. “Well, I figured we could bypass the last one, seeing how neither of us drool.” She giggled and nodded. “So... ready?”
Catherine’s nervousness bubbled up inside of her until her giggles changed into full-blown laughter. “Yes,” she nodded after regaining control of herself. “I’m ready to get tongue-tied, with you.”
They returned to kissing. Catherine felt Gil’s tongue gently moving against her lips, seducing her mouth open, which did nothing for the heat rushing her system. She sighed, until it turned into a gasp when his tongue circled the tip of hers, once, then twice. She could barely put enough brainpower together to tell her body to start returning the favour; slowly, she managed to move with him.
She was in heaven.
A loud noise at the door made her jump, ruining the warmth she had built up around her.
~*~
Greg had been trying to find Gil for what seemed like forever. He had his latest test results in, and he always enjoyed dropping them off personally when he could.
He stopped to go into the break room, thinking some of his coffee would be a good excuse for a pause.
However, once he noticed what was going on inside the break room, he realized that he wasn’t the only one looking for a good reason to pause from work. He started to grin, watching the two of them kiss.
“Love,” he muttered to himself happily, shaking his head. As he shook his spiky-’do, he saw Warrick and Nick approaching from the other end of the hall. “Oh, boy.”
He did the only think he could think of. He reached out and shook the doors loudly. Catherine reacted first; he expected that—she was always quicker. Gil frowned when he saw Greg standing there, but when he was told about Warrick and Nick, from Catherine who saw them through some of the windows, he smiled at Greg.
He watched them adjust their positions into safer, less-suspicious ones, chuckling under his breath.
“Yo, Greg, what’s up?”
He looked at Warrick and shrugged. “Nothing much. I got your results back.”
“Really?” Nick interjected, swiping them from Greg’s hands as he entered into the break room. “Thanks, man.”
“Yeah, sure, no problem.”
He waved to Gil and Catherine, before heading back to his lab.
“Crisis averted,” he grinned, settling back down behind his microscope.
The End!