Gently, he traced an invisible line from her ear to her breasts, circling each one with light touches of his lips, a kiss, a tickle with his tongue, tasting her as he moved down her abdomen. He moved to the inside of her thigh and felt her hands in his hair.
He tried to speak, but the words never came; only the fragrance of the sea and some unknown magnificent aroma filled his nose and closed his ability to make coherent sounds. He could live the rest of his life on her essence, he thought. He had found his home, his love, the one destined to be with him when he drew his last breath.
Wrapped together they slept, a tropical thunderstorm raging outside, turning small streams into raging rivers and quieting the weeks of confusion of their own lives. Hours passed before she stirred, opening eyes to find two blue ones watching her.
She rolled to face him, finding warm hands wrapping around her. ?Are you really here forever? Not just a few weeks?? She asked.
In the dawn light, against the white sheets, she was beautiful. ?I made a decision. I?ve officially retired. I am with you forever. You will grow tired of me before we are apart again.? He said before kissing her.
?You found me.? She said, simply, as a smile spread across her face, realizing for the first time what he had said and done?for her.
?Yes. I realized you are a part of me I can not live without. We can go back to the park. We will stay until we tire of birds and insects and frogs and turtles. We can find a home or we can travel?anywhere you want to be, I am with you. You are my home.?
She blinked her eyes, rapidly, to prevent tears from falling, and settled against his shoulder. Their hands came together.
?Oh, Grissom, I do love you.?
He kissed the top of her head. ?I know I belong with you, Sara. Some time ago, I realized you are the only woman I will ever love.?
?What if you had not found me??
He chuckled. ?I would have looked for you the rest of my life, dear. I would have been Longfellow?s Evangeline to your Gabriel?until my dying day.?
She smiled and snuggled closer. ?We will live a long time, Gil.? Her hand stroked his chin and in minutes, he felt the soft, relaxed breathing as she fell back to sleep. Finally, breaking his restless sleep pattern of past months, he closed his eyes and slept.
Gil and Sara remained in the small rented house for a week, watching the afternoon rains from their private screened porch sharing a hammock, venturing into the small town for food, a new shirt, a handful of postcards, learning a few words of Spanish, and talking?about their future, the present, and the past. They rediscovered their love and devotion to each other, exploring their desires, enjoying time in a new place unhampered by expectations, time, and others.
After a week, they returned to the national park to researchers who welcomed two fellow scientists who required no training to work for hours in the humid environment without complaints, made careful notes, and took detailed photographs. The couple worked for a week, disappeared to some secret hideaway, and returned, rested, ready for any assignment given to them. To other volunteers, Sara and Gil became teachers as they used skills learned in a previous life, former careers, for research in a living, breathing, vibrant environment. They had found each other, a new life, and a home together.
Eventually, Gil and Sara returned to Las Vegas?not to live, but to visit and retrieve their dog. Hank, after months of separation from his real ?parents?, showed his happiness and relief at their return by jumping into their bed the first night and wiggling his way between the two, sighing deeply as he lay his head across one, then the other, until all three slept.
They did not stay long in this desert city. The place had sapped too much energy from both in the years they had lived there. They found interim positions in a small college which developed into a new-found love of teaching, and since financial concerns did not motivate either, they found a profession?lively, ever-changing, entertaining, and fulfilling. A happy place for the rest of their lives.
