Listening: "L" Word Series [3/9] (Colby/OFC-Callie, R)
Posted for the savecolby Free for All Challenge, October...
Title: Listening ("L" Word Series, Part 3)
Pairing/Characters: Colby/OFC-Callie
Rating: R (imagery)
Word Count: 2609
Summary: He had wanted to make things better and all he did was make it worse.
Spoilers: none.
Notes/Warnings: I started with the desire to make a one shot, PWP. I ended up with a series. *head desk* Please see Author's Comments for more information. :)
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, regrettably - it's not mine.
He had wanted to make things better and all he did was make it worse. Callie had not just left the room that morning. She left the office - leaving Don a note to say she was too sick to finish her shift.
The bad part was that Colby knew she wasn’t lying. She’d been pale and nearly green when he tried to catch up to her to talk to her about what happened. But, when he saw her - there were no words to make it right. There was nothing he could do, except watch her go and give her a little time.
He’d let her have the day but that night, he would go to her house and he would make her talk to him. There were things she needed to know… words she needed to hear and he would talk until she listened to him.
He sat in his Jeep for a long moment, wondering if he had the right house and if so, wondering if he should actually knock on the door. That was what he came here to do after all. His intention was simple. Get her to open the door and get her to talk to him. Even if he had no idea how he would accomplish either goal, he knew he had to try.
He looked at the directions for another long moment, double checking the number on a post of the front porch with the address in his hand. When he confirmed that this was in fact the address of one Callie Walker, he had to smile and shake his head as he slipped out of the Jeep. He didn’t know much, but he knew she was always full of surprises. She’d not given him a chance to learn anything about her in the short time he’d been with the FBI, but even if she had - he somehow doubted he ever would have pegged her for a beach girl.
He breathed in the fresh sea air that surrounded him and relaxed his shoulders. Being from Idaho, LA was a world apart… but he felt from day 1 that the ocean was the best part of living here - well, Callie and the ocean, he smiled just before he knocked. He waited several moments, listening for any movement from inside before he knocked again… and then once more. His shoulders fell as did his smile, hoping that she was simply not home instead of completely ignoring him. He raised his fist to knock one last time on the door when the thought occurred to him - if he were angry or needed to think, he would spend time by the ocean. After all, that is why he had chosen his ocean side apartment despite the undeniably excessive rent. Maybe he had more in common with Agent Walker than he thought, and again he smiled as he took cautious steps to his right… following the porch as it wrapped around to the back of the house.
The view before him was absolutely breathtaking. Callie’s house was ideally situated in a small cove off the Pacific. To his left and to his right, there were high rocks and cliffs that sheltered her home and the stretch of beach behind from any unwanted intrusion. And from where he stood on her back deck, he could see the setting sun… all of the colors being reflected by the set of waves now rolling to shore. He stood there staring, disbelieving that this was the same view that Callie came home to every night and understanding now why she always smiled when she left the office. He would smile too if this had been his refuge from all the death and destruction they saw on a daily basis.
He didn’t have time to think further on the subject as his eyes caught the figure of a body slowly making its way out of the water. He blinked several times, sure that he had to be imagining every man’s wildest dream coming true but when he focused his gaze and she was still there - he couldn’t help but lean forward to catch himself on the rail as the breath he had in his lungs escaped him.
Callie was making her way onto the beach, taking her time as she splashed her feet in the evening tide that was rolling to shore. Colby absolutely adored the carefree expression across her face even though he couldn’t stop his gaze from traveling lower. Her body was scantily clad in a black string bikini - looking to have been made just for her. Her supple breasts filled out the top of the suit while the bottom left her long delicious legs exposed from waist to toe. Colby felt his mouth go dry remembering how that perfect body had been pressed against him just that morning… those long legs wrapped around him, pulling him in for more and suddenly he felt dizzy. This… this was the reason he had come here. They needed to talk about this, whatever this was between them.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, and then another, he took heavy footed steps down the stairs leading off the back deck and onto the beach. He kept his gaze focused on her eyes, and the carefree expression on her face as she continued to enjoy the way the ocean obviously calmed her. He was surprised that she’d not yet noticed him and for a brief moment, he hoped that maybe she had noticed him and that smile on her face was for him. He knew it was a foolish hope, but that didn’t stop the smile across his face as he looked at her. The smile lasted only a moment before he realized she’d stopped walking. She was now looking back at him… the carefree expression gone from her face, leaving only a shade of green in her eyes like he had never seen.
He wanted to go to her, but that look in her eyes stopped him. He was almost mesmerized by the way she looked back at him. He realized he didn’t know her well enough to read her, but instinct told him that shade of green wasn’t from anger. There was something else working against him here and while he tried to figure it out, he waited patiently for her at the bottom of the steps.
He watched her for several moments before she finally started walking toward him again, now with determination in her eyes.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she huffed, no longer meeting his gaze as she walked past him and under the porch.
That intoxicating scent of salt water and coconut once more carried through to his senses, forcing him to close his eyes. He breathed another deep breath when she was already inside the basement, trying to calm himself before he turned on his heels and followed her.
“Maybe you don’t want to talk about it, but I … think … we should… ” he trailed off as he walked into the mudroom only to find Callie’s toned and supple body already standing under the spray of a warm shower. “Jesus Christ,” he muttered to himself, feeling his knees quaking as he willed himself to turn away; yet, not moving as he watched her rinse the water through her long red hair.
The heat of the water as it met her body, cold from a long day in the ocean, steamed as it ran down her face… trailing down her neck and slipping over her breasts before sliding over her abdomen and then winding its way down her long, luxurious legs. She didn’t even seem to notice as she closed her eyes and continued to move her hands through her hair - pushing the hot water through her curls to rinse out the sand she accumulated from her long day of surfing. He couldn’t help but notice that each arch of her neck, each movement of her hands only served to thrust her chest forward… reminding him of his dreams of her - her chest heaving as he came to her, again and again.
He knew he had to turn away. This wasn’t why he came here. He couldn’t keep watching her, feeling the familiar tingles of arousal coursing through his veins. He clenched his hands into fists as he gritted his teeth, fighting against every male instinct in his body just to move one foot and then the other until he was finally facing the wall behind him. A rush of air filled his lungs, allowing him to breathe again… closing his eyes for another moment before he spoke again.
“We can’t just pretend it didn’t happen,” he sighed, bracing himself with his hands against a nearby table while he waited patiently for her to finish washing the sand off of her. I don’t want to pretend it didn’t happen, he thought to himself - remembering now the way she had kissed him back with every thing he gave her. He remembered the way she looked at him. Those eyes seemed to search his very soul in that one perfect moment when he could actually get her to meet his gaze and then just like that, she was gone again.
There was still silence from her as he heard her turn off the shower, padding her way across the room. He wasn’t surprised. After all, she spent the last two weeks avoiding him. Why did he think tonight would be any different?
“Callie… look,” he began as he turned around, instantly wishing he hadn’t.
He was looking at her back, every delicious feminine curve in his sight after she haphazardly twisted and clipped her hair away from her neck and then effortlessly removed her bikini top. Her toned arms were reaching toward the ceiling, leaving him a teasing glance of her breasts, before a long green dress slowly slipped down her body. He wondered for a moment if she was intentionally trying to drive him crazy as he watched her adjust the strapless sundress over herself - aligning the form fitting top to perfectly house her breasts while the rest of the dress fell freely to her ankles. He watched then as she bent slightly forward, gracefully and tactfully reaching up under the front of the dress until she had untied her bikini bottom, removing it before she once again straightened.
“Isn’t looking what got us into this mess?” she asked, finally turning around to face him as she tossed her bikini into the washer.
As soon as his eyes met hers, those emeralds behind long lashes revealed to him exactly what he was up against. She wasn’t angry. He was fighting something much worse. She was ashamed and somehow he knew that was not anything Callie Walker was accustomed to feeling.
“Callie… I… I don’t know what kind of guy you think I am, but what happened today - that’s not me.”
“Well, I guess it’s all my fault then. Glad we worked that out. Door’s that way,” she quipped, once more averting her gaze as she pointed behind her and made her way to the stairs leading out of the basement.
“That’s not what I said,” he sighed, stretching his thumb and index finger across his brow - massaging his temples as he tried to reason out what he needed to say to make this right… to make her understand.
“Maybe that’s not what you said, but it’s what you meant,” she answered, turning to look down at him from where she stood half way up the stairs. “And you know… you’re right. I should have had more control. I should have been the one to say no. It’s not like you could have.”
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” he fired back, shocked into action as he also made his way to the stairs.
“Come on, Granger. You’re a guy. I’m sure you’re familiar with the concept,” she scoffed, turning again to quickly make her way into the house.
“You know Callie. I don’t know what kind of asshole guys you’ve had to deal with in the past, but I gauran-damn-tee you… I’m not one of them,” he retaliated, nearly bursting through the door behind her.
“Oh really?” she questioned, turning to lean against the counter as she crossed her arms and met his gaze. “Then why didn’t you stop? Why didn’t you pushme away?”
He stopped where he was and just looked back at her. There was no thinking about her question. He already knew the answer. He just needed the courage to say it.
“You want the truth?” he asked and he heard the resignation in his own voice. A simple gesture across her face let him know she was waiting and as he straightened his shoulders to meet her gaze, he breathed. “I didn’t stop… because I didn’t want to… but not because…”
“You’re just like all the others,” she interrupted as her expression darkened and she turned away from him.
“Not like all the others, Callie. I didn’t want to stop… because… dammit, Callie… you drive me crazy.”
He hesitated a moment as he watched her turn to look at him, curiosity and confusion mingling across her face. “I have never met another woman who can make me forget myself the way you do, Walker.” The anger and resentment he’d been feeling slowly dissipated as he took cautious steps closer to her.
Her silence let him know he had her attention and he continued. “I know you don’t know me, Callie… but I’m not that guy. Things like this… like you… they don’t happen to me because I don’t let them happen to me.”
“But… you… you, Agent Walker, are beyond all my defenses. I’ve not been able to stop thinking about you since the first second I met you. And… it’s not just physical, Callie. God dammit… you’re beautiful - but… there’s more. You’ve got… fire… and passion… and I just… I want to know you. But you won’t let me…”
When she turned away from him, he reached out with gentle fingers - tipping her chin to return her gaze to his. “Today... I just wanted you to talk to me. I wanted you to let me in for just a second and when you did - I couldn’t stop. I wanted to give you anything you asked for… to keep you from shutting me out again. I just wanted you to be with me… to see me.”
He watched as she swallowed hard, averting her gaze for a long moment before she turned darkened eyes in his direction. “You got what you wanted,” she spoke and her voice was cold. “Now I want you to leave.”
He saw the shock on his face reflected back at him through her eyes, forcing him to take a step away.
“Please, Colby… just leave,” she sighed and now there were tears in her voice as she turned away.
“All right, Callie. I’ll go… but only if you answer me this?”
She hesitated where she stood, her back still turned to him as he asked. “Tell me, Callie… what scares you the most - the possibility that I really am the asshole you think I am or the thought that I might actually be a nice guy…someone you could really let yourself be with?”
She didn’t have to say anything for him to have his answer. All he could do then was shake his head, running his hands over his hair before he turned to walk away.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Agent Walker,” he sighed in resignation just before he closed the door behind him.
<< Love in an Elevator, Part 2 Lilies, Part 4>>
Title: Listening ("L" Word Series, Part 3)
Pairing/Characters: Colby/OFC-Callie
Rating: R (imagery)
Word Count: 2609
Summary: He had wanted to make things better and all he did was make it worse.
Spoilers: none.
Notes/Warnings: I started with the desire to make a one shot, PWP. I ended up with a series. *head desk* Please see Author's Comments for more information. :)
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, regrettably - it's not mine.
He had wanted to make things better and all he did was make it worse. Callie had not just left the room that morning. She left the office - leaving Don a note to say she was too sick to finish her shift.
The bad part was that Colby knew she wasn’t lying. She’d been pale and nearly green when he tried to catch up to her to talk to her about what happened. But, when he saw her - there were no words to make it right. There was nothing he could do, except watch her go and give her a little time.
He’d let her have the day but that night, he would go to her house and he would make her talk to him. There were things she needed to know… words she needed to hear and he would talk until she listened to him.
He sat in his Jeep for a long moment, wondering if he had the right house and if so, wondering if he should actually knock on the door. That was what he came here to do after all. His intention was simple. Get her to open the door and get her to talk to him. Even if he had no idea how he would accomplish either goal, he knew he had to try.
He looked at the directions for another long moment, double checking the number on a post of the front porch with the address in his hand. When he confirmed that this was in fact the address of one Callie Walker, he had to smile and shake his head as he slipped out of the Jeep. He didn’t know much, but he knew she was always full of surprises. She’d not given him a chance to learn anything about her in the short time he’d been with the FBI, but even if she had - he somehow doubted he ever would have pegged her for a beach girl.
He breathed in the fresh sea air that surrounded him and relaxed his shoulders. Being from Idaho, LA was a world apart… but he felt from day 1 that the ocean was the best part of living here - well, Callie and the ocean, he smiled just before he knocked. He waited several moments, listening for any movement from inside before he knocked again… and then once more. His shoulders fell as did his smile, hoping that she was simply not home instead of completely ignoring him. He raised his fist to knock one last time on the door when the thought occurred to him - if he were angry or needed to think, he would spend time by the ocean. After all, that is why he had chosen his ocean side apartment despite the undeniably excessive rent. Maybe he had more in common with Agent Walker than he thought, and again he smiled as he took cautious steps to his right… following the porch as it wrapped around to the back of the house.
The view before him was absolutely breathtaking. Callie’s house was ideally situated in a small cove off the Pacific. To his left and to his right, there were high rocks and cliffs that sheltered her home and the stretch of beach behind from any unwanted intrusion. And from where he stood on her back deck, he could see the setting sun… all of the colors being reflected by the set of waves now rolling to shore. He stood there staring, disbelieving that this was the same view that Callie came home to every night and understanding now why she always smiled when she left the office. He would smile too if this had been his refuge from all the death and destruction they saw on a daily basis.
He didn’t have time to think further on the subject as his eyes caught the figure of a body slowly making its way out of the water. He blinked several times, sure that he had to be imagining every man’s wildest dream coming true but when he focused his gaze and she was still there - he couldn’t help but lean forward to catch himself on the rail as the breath he had in his lungs escaped him.
Callie was making her way onto the beach, taking her time as she splashed her feet in the evening tide that was rolling to shore. Colby absolutely adored the carefree expression across her face even though he couldn’t stop his gaze from traveling lower. Her body was scantily clad in a black string bikini - looking to have been made just for her. Her supple breasts filled out the top of the suit while the bottom left her long delicious legs exposed from waist to toe. Colby felt his mouth go dry remembering how that perfect body had been pressed against him just that morning… those long legs wrapped around him, pulling him in for more and suddenly he felt dizzy. This… this was the reason he had come here. They needed to talk about this, whatever this was between them.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, and then another, he took heavy footed steps down the stairs leading off the back deck and onto the beach. He kept his gaze focused on her eyes, and the carefree expression on her face as she continued to enjoy the way the ocean obviously calmed her. He was surprised that she’d not yet noticed him and for a brief moment, he hoped that maybe she had noticed him and that smile on her face was for him. He knew it was a foolish hope, but that didn’t stop the smile across his face as he looked at her. The smile lasted only a moment before he realized she’d stopped walking. She was now looking back at him… the carefree expression gone from her face, leaving only a shade of green in her eyes like he had never seen.
He wanted to go to her, but that look in her eyes stopped him. He was almost mesmerized by the way she looked back at him. He realized he didn’t know her well enough to read her, but instinct told him that shade of green wasn’t from anger. There was something else working against him here and while he tried to figure it out, he waited patiently for her at the bottom of the steps.
He watched her for several moments before she finally started walking toward him again, now with determination in her eyes.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she huffed, no longer meeting his gaze as she walked past him and under the porch.
That intoxicating scent of salt water and coconut once more carried through to his senses, forcing him to close his eyes. He breathed another deep breath when she was already inside the basement, trying to calm himself before he turned on his heels and followed her.
“Maybe you don’t want to talk about it, but I … think … we should… ” he trailed off as he walked into the mudroom only to find Callie’s toned and supple body already standing under the spray of a warm shower. “Jesus Christ,” he muttered to himself, feeling his knees quaking as he willed himself to turn away; yet, not moving as he watched her rinse the water through her long red hair.
The heat of the water as it met her body, cold from a long day in the ocean, steamed as it ran down her face… trailing down her neck and slipping over her breasts before sliding over her abdomen and then winding its way down her long, luxurious legs. She didn’t even seem to notice as she closed her eyes and continued to move her hands through her hair - pushing the hot water through her curls to rinse out the sand she accumulated from her long day of surfing. He couldn’t help but notice that each arch of her neck, each movement of her hands only served to thrust her chest forward… reminding him of his dreams of her - her chest heaving as he came to her, again and again.
He knew he had to turn away. This wasn’t why he came here. He couldn’t keep watching her, feeling the familiar tingles of arousal coursing through his veins. He clenched his hands into fists as he gritted his teeth, fighting against every male instinct in his body just to move one foot and then the other until he was finally facing the wall behind him. A rush of air filled his lungs, allowing him to breathe again… closing his eyes for another moment before he spoke again.
“We can’t just pretend it didn’t happen,” he sighed, bracing himself with his hands against a nearby table while he waited patiently for her to finish washing the sand off of her. I don’t want to pretend it didn’t happen, he thought to himself - remembering now the way she had kissed him back with every thing he gave her. He remembered the way she looked at him. Those eyes seemed to search his very soul in that one perfect moment when he could actually get her to meet his gaze and then just like that, she was gone again.
There was still silence from her as he heard her turn off the shower, padding her way across the room. He wasn’t surprised. After all, she spent the last two weeks avoiding him. Why did he think tonight would be any different?
“Callie… look,” he began as he turned around, instantly wishing he hadn’t.
He was looking at her back, every delicious feminine curve in his sight after she haphazardly twisted and clipped her hair away from her neck and then effortlessly removed her bikini top. Her toned arms were reaching toward the ceiling, leaving him a teasing glance of her breasts, before a long green dress slowly slipped down her body. He wondered for a moment if she was intentionally trying to drive him crazy as he watched her adjust the strapless sundress over herself - aligning the form fitting top to perfectly house her breasts while the rest of the dress fell freely to her ankles. He watched then as she bent slightly forward, gracefully and tactfully reaching up under the front of the dress until she had untied her bikini bottom, removing it before she once again straightened.
“Isn’t looking what got us into this mess?” she asked, finally turning around to face him as she tossed her bikini into the washer.
As soon as his eyes met hers, those emeralds behind long lashes revealed to him exactly what he was up against. She wasn’t angry. He was fighting something much worse. She was ashamed and somehow he knew that was not anything Callie Walker was accustomed to feeling.
“Callie… I… I don’t know what kind of guy you think I am, but what happened today - that’s not me.”
“Well, I guess it’s all my fault then. Glad we worked that out. Door’s that way,” she quipped, once more averting her gaze as she pointed behind her and made her way to the stairs leading out of the basement.
“That’s not what I said,” he sighed, stretching his thumb and index finger across his brow - massaging his temples as he tried to reason out what he needed to say to make this right… to make her understand.
“Maybe that’s not what you said, but it’s what you meant,” she answered, turning to look down at him from where she stood half way up the stairs. “And you know… you’re right. I should have had more control. I should have been the one to say no. It’s not like you could have.”
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” he fired back, shocked into action as he also made his way to the stairs.
“Come on, Granger. You’re a guy. I’m sure you’re familiar with the concept,” she scoffed, turning again to quickly make her way into the house.
“You know Callie. I don’t know what kind of asshole guys you’ve had to deal with in the past, but I gauran-damn-tee you… I’m not one of them,” he retaliated, nearly bursting through the door behind her.
“Oh really?” she questioned, turning to lean against the counter as she crossed her arms and met his gaze. “Then why didn’t you stop? Why didn’t you pushme away?”
He stopped where he was and just looked back at her. There was no thinking about her question. He already knew the answer. He just needed the courage to say it.
“You want the truth?” he asked and he heard the resignation in his own voice. A simple gesture across her face let him know she was waiting and as he straightened his shoulders to meet her gaze, he breathed. “I didn’t stop… because I didn’t want to… but not because…”
“You’re just like all the others,” she interrupted as her expression darkened and she turned away from him.
“Not like all the others, Callie. I didn’t want to stop… because… dammit, Callie… you drive me crazy.”
He hesitated a moment as he watched her turn to look at him, curiosity and confusion mingling across her face. “I have never met another woman who can make me forget myself the way you do, Walker.” The anger and resentment he’d been feeling slowly dissipated as he took cautious steps closer to her.
Her silence let him know he had her attention and he continued. “I know you don’t know me, Callie… but I’m not that guy. Things like this… like you… they don’t happen to me because I don’t let them happen to me.”
“But… you… you, Agent Walker, are beyond all my defenses. I’ve not been able to stop thinking about you since the first second I met you. And… it’s not just physical, Callie. God dammit… you’re beautiful - but… there’s more. You’ve got… fire… and passion… and I just… I want to know you. But you won’t let me…”
When she turned away from him, he reached out with gentle fingers - tipping her chin to return her gaze to his. “Today... I just wanted you to talk to me. I wanted you to let me in for just a second and when you did - I couldn’t stop. I wanted to give you anything you asked for… to keep you from shutting me out again. I just wanted you to be with me… to see me.”
He watched as she swallowed hard, averting her gaze for a long moment before she turned darkened eyes in his direction. “You got what you wanted,” she spoke and her voice was cold. “Now I want you to leave.”
He saw the shock on his face reflected back at him through her eyes, forcing him to take a step away.
“Please, Colby… just leave,” she sighed and now there were tears in her voice as she turned away.
“All right, Callie. I’ll go… but only if you answer me this?”
She hesitated where she stood, her back still turned to him as he asked. “Tell me, Callie… what scares you the most - the possibility that I really am the asshole you think I am or the thought that I might actually be a nice guy…someone you could really let yourself be with?”
She didn’t have to say anything for him to have his answer. All he could do then was shake his head, running his hands over his hair before he turned to walk away.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Agent Walker,” he sighed in resignation just before he closed the door behind him.
<< Love in an Elevator, Part 2 Lilies, Part 4>>