Title: Hearts Aflame
Author: Aggie
Pairing: Sara/Sofia
Fandom: CSI
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: The girls are still not mine. Aiden, however, is.
Note: I just couldn't help it! I saw the challenge and it was stronger than me... This is a response to a Multi-Fandom Challenge 7 at Passion and Perfection, where the criteria was, A woman stands in the snow, wearing nothing but her pajamas, and getting kissed breathless - either at the beginning or end of the story. I decided on Sara and Sofia, as those two ladies are incredibly HOT together, so I'm hoping it worked out alright. That pair has so much potential! Let me know what you think! :-)
Summary: Weather change in Vegas brings an unwanted guest... leading to a heated confrontation in the snow!

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"Wait! Don't go!"

But she'd already gone out of the door, the sound of her quickening steps ceasing with each second, as the ringing noise of the now empty stairwell echoed in my ears. Her heartbroken look was haunting me, and the way she hadn't even managed to say anything broke my heart.

That's not how it was supposed to happen. I turned around to face Aiden, who, not to my surprise, was looking rather bemused. It infuriated me and I felt the blood pressure rising again, this time for all the wrong reasons.

"Who the hell is she?" I heard him say.

I was speechless. My voice died in my throat, as I virtually struggled to find the words that would describe Sara. I desperately wanted that jerk to see the wonderful person that she was, someone who has made my life complete, in every possible way.

Instead, I gave him one of my coldest stares, almost comparable with the raging weather outside. Frost covering my windows hasn't subsided and I struggled to see the street, heavy flakes floating in the sky making that even harder.

I felt my breath quickening, as a wave of panic hit me. She couldn't have gone far, after all, she wasn't even dressed properly. She had to run out of the warm apartment, dressed in nothing else but her pajamas, straight into the middle of the winter! It rarely snowed in Vegas, but when it did, it would come down in all its force, it was as if the sky had been preparing all year to unleash the unbearable cold on unsuspecting citizens of this Nevada city.

For god's sakes, she didn't even have her shoes on!

I walked over to Aiden, cold fury in my eyes.

"Get the hell out."

The bastard laughed. Daring to look me in the eyes, he actually laughed. He was mocking me. After more then two years, he had the nerve of showing up here, claiming his right to what, exactly? I sure could pick them, even though Aiden was never more than a fling. He has never proven himself to be anything else than a waste of space, and the moment he walked out on me, I started to reclaim back my life.

I was not about to let him ruin it this time round.

"Did you hear what I said?"

He still hadn't moved. His hands were in his pockets, as he continued to stare at me defiantly.

"Who's that, your girlfriend?"

I had an answer ready in my head. I was going to tell him who Sara was, accompanied by a few home truths as well, something for him to ponder, once again on his way out of my life . I started to feel the words rolling off my tongue, when something stopped me. That jerk didn't deserve a moment of my time. I didn't owe him an explanation, and neither did I have to tell him about the most important person in my life and how much she's come to mean to me.

"No." My answer surprised even me.

"She's my life."

All of a sudden, I felt like someone else. The whole situation seemed unreal. It was as if I have just had the most unbelievable moment of clarity, diminished only by the presence of a ghost of my past. Because that's all he was. A ghost of the past, never to be seen again.

Yet the person, who was the sole cause of my new found realisation was not here. She'd been chucked out into the cold, and yet, there I was, still here, not doing a damn thing about it!

The last few days flashed briefly before my eyes. Waking up every morning and seeing her beautiful face next to mine. Feeling the warmth of her body, when the snow outside had assumed the reign over Las Vegas' usually sunny sky, and the two of us would stay in bed for hours on end, simply enjoying our closeness and being together.

Sometimes, she had read to me, as I rested my head on her lap, taking in the feeling of total and utter happiness that I had not enjoyed in such a long time. Her melodic voice would lull me to sleep occasionally, but before I'd drifted off into dreamland, she would always stroke my face, placing a gentle kiss upon my lips, a simple gesture, reassuring me that she was there, and always would be.

I wanted to touch her. I wanted to tell her how much I missed her being here. Everything that I had come to believe in has been shattered, but I was going to make sure that it would be put back together again.

Of course, there was something I had to do first, and nothing has given me greater pleasure, than when I threw away the remaining piece of garbage from my apartment and my life.

"Goodbye, Aiden." Closing the door after him, I could only breathe a sigh of relief, before throwing on my coat and running out into the street. There was someone I needed to keep from the cold.

Stepping out into the snowy street, I was nearly blown back into the building, as a strong gust of wind hit me in the face. It was still snowing hard, and looking up, I was momentarily caught in the surreal and almost magical whirl of the white flakes falling on the ground. The beauty of it was so out of place, that in the most bizarre way, it was almost perfect.

Almost.

Pulling up the collar on my coat, I scanned my surroundings, trying to find Sara. My heartbeat thudded in my chest, as I walked on the sidewalk, ignoring the people around me, kids screaming with excitement, some of them having seen the snow for the first time in their life.

Upon hearing a loud shriek, I immediately turned around, my cop instinct taking over, only to find another one of the little ones tumbling down with delight. I slowly let out a breath, shaking my head at my unusual jumpiness. And that's when I saw her.

She'd been sitting on the stairs, leading up to an apartment across the street. Her knees were huddled up close to her chest, she'd been freezing, wearing nothing else but her pajamas and my heart broke at the sight of Sara in pain.

Once again, ignoring the world around me, I ran up in her direction, as quickly as I could. She'd noticed and stood up, her palms rubbing up her arms, trying to make herself feel warmer.

Her face was red, and though it may well have been from the cold, I knew that she'd been crying. I mentally cursed Aiden and his rotten timing, but the truth was, I could have reacted better. If I did, Sara would never have stormed off like she did, and we wouldn't be standing right here now.

Instead, we'd be cuddled up on the sofa, snatching topping off each others' pizza slices, fighting over the blanket, trying to decide whether we'd be watching that forensics show on CBS, where we'd be nitpicking on many, many inaccuracies, or whether we would watch "Bridget Jones" movies for the hundredth time. We'd be laughing at the eccentricities of the British thirty-something woman, with Sara commenting on how utterly silly and improbable the premise of the film is.

But I knew she secretly enjoyed it as much as I did.

I, in turn, would be teasing her over how cute Colin Firth's ass is, which would have usually led to a pillow fight, ending with Sara pinning me to the bed almost every time. Yet I never had that much fun losing.

We stood facing one another for a few moments, before I managed to speak.

"I'm so sorry, Sara. I didn't know he was coming... how could I? I haven't seen this jerk for so long, I hoped to God, he disappeared off the face off the earth!" For some reason, that earned me a little smile.

"Well, I guess he crawled out of his little hellhole and thought to himself, Well, I'll just go and screw Sofia's life today! Haven't done that in a while! I mean, hell knows, he's done that to me too many times!"

I could have sworn that Sara looked at me with a note of sympathy, but I really wasn't hurt by Aiden this time. I finally managed to get over that bastard. And the person on my mind at the moment couldn't have been more different to him!

Sara involuntarily shivered and I quickly slid off my coat, draping it over her, and drawing her close to me in the process. I rubbed her arms, afterwards moving my hands to her back, once again revelling in the sensation of holding her body, despite the circumstances.

"He's nothing, Sara. He doesn't mean anything to me." I felt Sara's hands travelling across my waist, all the way to my back, encircling me in a hug. I gazed into her hazel eyes, feeling the icy stare beginning to melt, as I recognised the familiar emotions of devotion, appreciation and love.

She was coming back to me.

"And you... you... silly girl!" I muttered disgruntled, although no longer angry. "Running off like that, leaving me to chase after you..." I felt her smile, and couldn't help but snicker back. "When we could have been at home, doing so many other things, a lot more interesting then standing in the snow!"

Sara's response was to tighten her hold on me and I buried myself in her. We stood like this for several minutes, until unwanted sounds coming from the street brought us back to reality. Reluctantly, I pulled away from Sara, who wasn't too happy about it, either.

"I'm sorry I walked out." She was looking at me intently, trying to make me understand. "It was stupid, I guess I... overreacted."

I could have only nodded.

"I want you, and I was just worried that that's not really how you feel..." her voice trailed off, due much to the shocked look on my face.

"You wanna know how I feel?" I replied, incredulously. "I'll show you!"

I had just about managed to squeeze the words out of my mouth, before my lips met Sara's in the most passionate and fierce kiss we've ever had. I wrapped my arms around her tighter, pulling her close to me, wanting her kiss to be the only one I'll ever taste, her touch be the only one I'll always long for, and her scent be the only one that I'll remember in every minute of every day.

She reciprocated, pressing her body further into mine, the kiss now going well beyond simple craving. It was desire, newly-discovered yearning, pushing to meet the unspoken needs of both of us.

I couldn't let go. The snow was coming down even harder now, but I didn't even notice. All I saw was the most exquisite woman in my arms, her face flushed and eyes sparkling with beauty. She was breathless from the kiss, and in the way she had looked at me, there was no mistaking her intentions of pure love and lust for me.

"Hey..." she murmured, leaning into me. "Nice girls don't kiss like that."

"Oh, yes, they fucking do." I hoarsely whispered back, our lips meeting once again, as the snowflakes continued to whirl around us.

The End

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