AN: My goodness, thank you guys so much for all of the sweet reviews, follows, and favs! I'm totally bowled over and thrilled by it. If any of you were hoping for some supersweet and tender lovemaking after the feels of that last chapter, then HERE, I'VE GOT YOU. This chapter is ***super smutty*** There's more Secretary goodies scattered around, but the POINT/Lizzie's idea hasn't happened yet. You can expect at least one (but probably two) more chapters. Thank you again for the reviews! Do let me know what you think about this one too. As ridiculous as it sounds, considering how many I've written, I always fret the most over posting the smutty chapters.

I own and profit from none of this

-...-...-...-

although I have waited long

and they have all been wrong

now, I find in the end

with him, I need not pretend

the chariots, they rise

up high in the sky

what grace have I

to fall so in love..

(Chariots Rise - Lizzy West, as featured in Secretary)

-...-...-...-

Like every other situation in which Red had surrendered to Liz, it came without precedent and rendered her speechless. It was just the smallest of nods, his nose brushing over hers, but she knew. He's never touched her accidentally.

She nuzzled him back, from his nose to his cheek, and along his jaw, lifting her hand to cup the opposite side of his face. Red shivered and sighed, so long that he must have been holding his breath. Both the sound and sensation fractured her heart into countless, infinitesimal shards.

As if prompted, she then retraced the same path back up to his nose, where she met his eyes once more, studying them and blinking slowly. All of the answers were there. They had to be, but she couldn't make out a single one.

Did he suffer the same?

With the greatest of care, Liz's thumb grazed inward, from his cheek to the corner of his mouth, causing his lips to instinctively part. As it slipped a little further, she paused, awaiting some kind of signal.

But why?

Not enough self-assurance.

Not sure if he really, really wanted it. Not certain that he wouldn't change his mind.

Her awaited signal came in the form of a light kiss pressed into the thumb over his lips. She added her index finger, and he did it again. With that, she dragged the slightly-moistened digits down his chin and over his adams apple, feeling its rise and fall as he swallowed, and then she snaked her arm around to cup the back of his head, directing him closer.

At first, Red leaned into her palm, but then he shifted forward a little instead, his eyes slipping closed. As she leaned in, they snapped open again, afraid that she wasn't going to meet him half way.

But she did.

Of course she did.

As their lips finally touched, twin waves of relief crashed over them, the intensity springing forth another round of tears. And though it began tentatively, they lingered on that kiss, not breaking contact.

Just as the tears reached their mouths, they started to move again in a quiet but needy exploration. Red's hands slipped down to her waist and then settled there, prompting her lips to part before his tongue could even ask. That Caribbean sea water scent of his turned out to be more of a taste, a taste that her nose got to sample months ahead of her mouth.

Sliding his tongue across Liz's bottom teeth, he whimpered softly, and with the same musical timbre as his earlier laughter.

Precious. Present.

Utterly disbelieving.

Liz pulled back first, panting and studying his eyes. Pupils blown. Lids half-closed. For her. She kissed a path along his jaw, to his ear, where her lips parted and continued downward.

Pushing. Pulling. Tasting.

The hands on her hips suddenly squeezed, thumbs pressed just above the protruding bones. Liz knew it for what it was-a battle against the urge to pull her lower half against his, an effort to allow her to proceed at whatever pace she pleased,

because what pleases her

also pleases him.

Just the same, she also took it as a cue to reposition herself in his lap, swinging one leg over and bracing herself with his shoulders. She rose up on her shins, hovering. Like clay on a potters wheel, Liz worked her palms over his lower belly and with a single stroke, dragged them all the way up his chest and neck, tipping his head to rest on the back of the chair. Her fingers threaded through his hair while her own cascaded down and around him, perfectly framing his face, confining the sums of their worlds to the tiny canopy she'd created.

For exactly five breaths, they stared at each other intently, hearts pressed together and pounding. Both lurched forward simultaneously for a kiss that departed from the soft and gentle nature of all that had preceded it.

Their tongues were at war.

Teeth were their weapons.

Lips, only the first of many casualties.

The firm grip of her nails into his shoulders gave Red the green light to slide his hands up and down the backs of her thighs. With a final swipe of her tongue over his bottom lip, she pushed off of his chest and crawled backwards a bit.

Red's barely-open eyes widened as she crossed her arms and grabbed the hem of her shirt, pulling it up, over her head, and casting it aside. He licked his lips and gave her a self-satisfied little smirk of approval. 'Red lace? Really?' it seemed to say.

In reply, she took his hands and placed them on her waist, encouraging him to touch as she finally sank down on him, rocking forward slightly. She revisited his neck with her mouth, savoring the resonant vibrato of his moans as they shot straight through her.

Red's fingertips raised goosebumps and shivers as he scraped them up and down her ribcage, as if she needed a reminder that his shirt definitely had to go too. She worsened the problem that strained against his zipper, leaning back slightly to settle more of her weight on him, and then stilling herself, offering no friction whatsoever as she worked the buttons of his dress shirt. At least he wasn't also wearing a vest.

But she held his eyes,

thrilling at his labored breathing.

Taking her time.

Ever in character, Red slyly took advantage of her focus on the task at hand. In one single, smooth motion, he reached behind her to unclasp her bra. She rose up on her knees, tossed it aside, and leaned forward to pull his shirt down and off, her breasts only inches from his face.

Naturally, Red wasn't content to merely sit back and watch. He leaned in to nuzzle her chest, tipping his head to the side, making use of his stubble. He sucked one nipple into his mouth and showed it the same pleasure that he'd already given her lips. He then slipped his hands into her back pockets and pulled her closer, switching sides.

Liz pulled back to feast both her eyes and hands upon his chest, but Red quickly pulled her in again. His arms circled around her back and tightened, keeping the hot skin-on-skin contact between them. He loved the contrasting textures- soft and smooth against rough and hard.

Couldn't get enough, in fact.

When she began to roll her hips against him, Red slipped his tongue back into her mouth and gripped her waist, bucking upwards and moaning into her mouth. He soon set a slow and tantalyzing rhythm, his tongue mimicking the motion of their hips.

Liz found herself TOO CLOSE and TOO SOON, so she pulled back and went to work on unbuttoning their pants. Red, on the other hand, was glad. He desperately wanted to be inside of her the first time he made her come. He had to know how it would feel, and how her face would look in the throes of ecstacy. As she freed his belt of its loops, she met his hooded eyes and found a brand new expression on his face.

Serene.

Awestruck.

Relieved.

He scooted himself as far forward as he could, right on the edge of the chair, and lightly tapped her ankles- a signal to wrap her legs around his waist. Eyebrows waggling, he stood up and carried her across the room towards the couch, nuzzling the crook of her neck every step of the way.

This was a moment that he'd long dreaded.

Through the damaged nerves and thick scar tissue, he felt her hands' movement where she clutched at his back, trying to make sense of the texture. Would she make the connection now? He'd hoped that she would have done so sooner, with the memory extraction. It suddenly occured to him that they hadn't spoken much at all yet, since her arrival. He hadn't said more than half of her name. She'd only said that she wanted to know him. (Though 'only' was certainly the wrong word). Would she want to talk about it all now? He would try, for her, if she did.

But he would much rather gratify her in other ways.

As he lowered her down and onto the couch, he eased himself into a kneeling position beside her. Intending to help her out of her jeans, he started to pull back, but Liz wouldn't relinquish her hold on him. She pulled his mouth down to hers.

Rapturous.

Ravenous.

Heady with greed.

That was a good sign. No question.

But oh, Red still had the use of his hands, and use them he did, tracing patterns all over her torso, gradually lower and lower, thrilled by her writhing and trembling.

When her lips and arms relaxed, he immediately took the chance to help her out of her jeans, and then stood up to shimmy out of his trousers.

Liz's eyes darted to the bulge in his briefs, whimpering at the very thought of what he was about to do with it. He dropped back down to his knees once more, skimming his fingers under the elastic waistband of her panties, lowering his mouth to nip at her breasts.

Just when it seemed that she was about to beg, his hand abandoned its expected trajectory to seek out the smooth, sensitive flesh of her inner thighs. Such a tease! She squeezed her legs together, and he shot her a look that said, 'don't even think about it.'

Suddenly, Liz remembered that it had been months since she'd last had sex, and that it was awful sex too, almost entirely non-consensual. A disgusting lie. She fretted over the possibility of disappointing him, but those thoughts needed to GO, so she disposed of them in the most obvious and effective manner-by focusing on bigger, better things.

With both Red's hands and mouth occupied, she found it easy to slyly snake one hand down to brush over him. He groaned and leaned into her touch. As he kissed his way back up to her mouth, Liz wrapped her fingers around him and hummed with satisfaction.

A glance into her lust-hooded eyes killed the last of Red's self-control. In mere seconds, both were completely naked, and he'd positioned himself between her thighs. With the weight of his upper body on one arm, he slipped the other between them to 'test the waters', so to speak, and then belted out a resonant groan, floored by how wet she was.

All for him.

He offered an apologetic kiss as he relinquished his hand, preemptively muffling her protests. Aligned to go, he gave her one last questioning glance, and was instantly reassured by an impatient upward thrust of her hips. She cried out when he pushed forward slightly, clenching tightly around tip of him.

Concerned, he pulled back and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Relax, sweetheart."

There was something about the way that he said it though... If asked, Liz couldn't have articulated exactly what it made her feel, or even how,

but with those two little words, she finally believed him.

Believed

that he cared

about her.

And then she somehow found that she wanted him even more.

"It's just.. you're so-" She tried to respond but gave up, suddenly shy.

"Shh... I know."

Of course he did.

Spellbound, Red eased into her just a little further, and then painstakingly stilled once more, working hard to hold himself back. She felt empowered, knowing how much he needed her, and how badly he wanted her.

They continued just like that, gradually stretching and filling, until Red had finally buried himself within her completely. Trembling and overwhelmed, both blinked back tears as their bodies demanded friction. "Are you okay?" Liz softly asked.

Red closed his eyes and nodded, a single tear leaking out.

"No, I mean... Are you really okay?" She cupped his cheeks with both hands.

With a slight smile, he withdrew completely and pressed all the way in again, illiciting a breathy moan. "Right now, I am." For the moment, that had to be enough.

They made love slowly, each overtaken by far more than a biological imperative. At first, Red was highly aware of his weight, wary of putting too much on her, but Liz pulled him down insistently. She wanted all of him. Wanted as much of his skin as she could possibly get. And once he understood, Red was more than happy to oblige.

When he felt her abs beginning to quiver, he grabbed one of her knees and hitched it up and back, around his waist, adding a slight twist of his hips with each downstroke. The quivering sensations sank in lower and deeper, right along with him, until they engulfed him completely, making his cock throb.

And god, she was killing him.

He soon had to still himself again. "Hang on, Lizzie. You're ah-"

As much as she wanted him to last, she couldn't help squeezing around him and thrusting upwards for more. Was this even real? Was this actually happening? The things he was doing to her... god... nothing should ever feel this good.

He kissed and sucked an open-mouthed trail across her clavicle and up the side of her neck. Meeting her eyes, he slammed back into her all at once. With a gasp, her eyes snapped wide open and then rolled back.

SOON.

Liz dug her nails into his back, harder and harder as he quickened his pace. "Oh my god," she cried.

NOW would be perfect.

Red was a precious few seconds from bursting.

"Lizzie, sweetheart... look at me."

Green and grey-blue blended as she readily obliged.

"Are you close?"

She nodded and clenched around him in response.

Breathless, he pleaded, "I need to come with you.

Inside of you.

God, I have to feel it."

He lifted her hips and placed a throw pillow beneath them, sharply changing the angle of his thrusts.

"YES!" she gasped.

Flames spontaneously ignited between their molten eyes as tidal waves of pleasure lifted and carried them away. "Oh my god, Raymond!"

The sound of his name sandwiched between her moans was music to his ears. Sweet, delicious music.

While coming down from such great heights, they fell into a sweet, comfortably introspective silence. Liz rolled over on her side and combed her fingers through Red's chest hair, playing the big spoon.

In one way or another, they both had always suffered. Neither could pinpoint the reason, but they were no longer afraid of suffering. Together, with the passing of time, an entire range of feelings opened up and availed themselves. Finally, they'd found someone to feel with, to play with, and to love in all of the unusual ways that suited them best.

With her face buried between his shoulderblades, Liz whispered, "Red?"

"Hm?"

"I just.. I've been guilty of treating you as though you don't have any feelings, but I won't anymore. I,I want you to know that I do see that you suffer too," She began to pepper his back with kisses. "and I want to love you."

Red laced his fingers with hers and pressed them against his heart. "It's okay. I know."