Author's Note: All previous disclaimers still apply. Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing. THIS CHAPTER! I don't even know what to say. There's a lot of steam, but the feels are really thrown into overdrive. I'll just go ahead and tell you that YES they are gonna get it on, but I bypassed the really smutty details. If you need some serious smut, check out one of my other stories, "Winter in Summer" because there's no shortage of the sexytimes in that fic. (;

Chapter Twelve

I had a dream last night

And when I opened my eyes

Your shoulderblade, your spine

Were shorelines in the moonlight

New worlds for the weary

New lands for the living

I could make it if I tried

I closed my eyes, I kept on swimming

(Change of Time - Josh Ritter)

When they got back to the James Island safe house, Liz put her cheesecake in the refrigerator while Red went down to the wine cellar to pick out a couple bottles. He came back upstairs to find Liz perched on a barstool at the granite and mahogany island in the center of the kitchen. She jumped up and ran over to take the bottles from his hands.

Red grinned and ribbed her. "Somebody's thirsty."

Liz set the bottles on the island behind her, and put her palms on Red's chest, shaking her head. "Nope! Somebody is going to uncork one of these while somebody else goes upstairs to get his glasses."

Red's hands circled her waist, gently pushing her backwards a few steps, until her back was against the island. He took off her hat and set it on the barstool, and leaned forward to kiss her.

Deepening the kiss, Liz dropped one hand to squeeze his ass, and then turned her face away, to speak directly into his ear, "If you're trying to distract me again, it won't work." Then she yelped in surprise when he quickly picked her up and set her on the counter.

Red pulled her knees apart and stepped between them to kiss her again. Without pausing, he pushed up her dress and ran his fingers up and down her thighs, and spoke into her mouth, "I would argue... that you're the one distracting me."

Liz nimbly worked at the knot in his tie while Red's tongue became better acquainted with every part of her mouth. Once the tie was off, without warning, she rocked back onto the heels of her hands, and lifted one foot, placing the sole just over his belt buckle, and gently pushed him back. Ignoring his groans of protest, she lifted her chin and smiled coquettishly

"Glasses! Now!"

He stuck out his bottom lip, pouting like a child placed in time-out. "Fine, Lizzie, but come with me."

She quirked her lips, considering his request.

Red pointed to the bottles behind her, "And bring those." Without waiting for a response, he walked around her, to a rack holding a selection of different types of wine glasses upside-down by their stems. He chose two wide-brimmed glasses for cabernet sauvignon, a smile on his lips when he turned back to see her standing and holding the bottles. "Hmm... just need to find a corkscrew." He located it easily, from a drawer beneath the rack of glasses.

They headed towards their room, and when they got to the stairs, Red gestured for her to walk in front of him, "Ladies first."

She shook her head, "No."

Red chuckled. "Don't worry, Lizzie. This isn't an act of chivalry. I just want to appreciate the view."

Liz smirked and replied, "Don't worry, Red. That's exactly what I want."

Red pursed his lips but acquiesced. As he walked a few steps ahead of Liz, he thought about how lucky he was, that after everything that happened, he still had her, and there was never a dull moment between them.

When they rounded the corner to their bedroom, Liz said, "It's much cooler here, with the ocean breeze. What do you say we take these out out on the balcony?"

"I'd prefer the bed, but alright."

Liz drew back the curtains and slid the door open, with Red right on her heels. "Aren't you forgetting something?" she said, and slipped through the door, closing it in his face before he could follow.

"My apologies! I was still thinking about the bed." he called to her through the glass. "Just a moment."

She turned her head to investigate their seating options on the spacious balcony, and was pleasantly surprised to find a hammock, a porch swing, and a pair of Adirondack chairs. The hammock certainly looked inviting, but with the wine, it would also be a death sentence for her white dress. She set the glasses and one of the bottles on the cool cement ground, and sat down on the porch swing, peeling the foil from the first bottle. She dropped the foil into an ash tray, and braced the bottle between her thighs while she drove the corkscrew into it, smiling with satisfaction at the "pop" it made when she pulled it out.

Liz began to grow a bit suspicious. What was taking him so long? She poured two glasses, loosely recorked the wine, and set it aside with the full bottle. She tipped her head back and gathered her hair into a loose ponytail, exposing her neck and collar to the balmy lowcountry breeze. With one arm propped on the back of the swing she turned toward the door and waited for Red to come through it.

Seconds later, he did. He was barefoot, and had taken off his vest, rolled up his sleeves, and unbuttoned and untucked his shirt. He normally only unbuttoned the first few, and she had never seen his chest before. If this was another attempt to distract her, well, it worked. She moistened her lips, and took a deep breath, not noticing that he was closely studying her reaction.

It was only after he sat down beside her and took a sip of his wine, humming with pleasure at the taste, that Liz processed the fact that he was wearing his glasses. They had a stylish, black plastic frame, and she absolutely loved them.

But still, she hadn't uttered a word since he stepped outside. To gently bring that to her attention, Red laced his fingers with hers and asked, "So? Should I be worried?" despite knowing very well the effect he had on her.

Liz vigorously shook her head. "Oh no, not at all. In fact, you should never take those off. I love them!"

He laughed, let go of her hand, and trailed his fingers up the length of her forearm. "I think you'll find that there are certain activities that are better performed without them." He smugly brought his eyes to hers, and added, "Though it is nice, being able to make out your features more clearly."

"I think Anders was right about you." Liz replied.

"How so?"

She smiled and bit her lip before answering, "You're an animal."

"Indeed, but.." Red turned and kissed her clavicle, and spoke low, against her throat, "I'm your animal." He put his arm around her shoulders, and Liz snuggled against him, absent-mindedly combing her fingers through his chest hair, and occasionally lifting her head to sip from her wine glass.

After they polished off the first bottle, Red uncorked the second, and refilled their glasses, admiring the flush that the cabernet brought to her cheeks. With her tongue sufficiently loosened by the drink, Liz asked a question that had been niggling at the back of her mind all day. "Red, what happens when the night terrors go away?"

"Well... we'll both sleep better, won't we?" he answered.

"That's not what I mean... I mean, will we still be sleeping together? Because this just... it isn't just about the night terrors anymore, is it?"

He tightened his arm around her, "Lizzie, although I was sincere about needing your help, this was never just about the night terrors, for me."

She lifted her head to look at him. "So, when they stop, you aren't going to leave? You aren't going to go back to shutting me out at the end of the day?"

Red kissed her and pulled her back into his arms. "No, I won't. Actually, I was worried that you would."

She smiled against his chest, "No, I won't."

"Episodes of night terrors, I know, are brought on by trauma. Yours are about the fire, but that happened such a long time ago... why did they come back?"

Red sighed a brushed a loose strand of hair from her cheeks. "I'm not sure if you want to hear that."

"Why not? Was it my fault? I do want to know. If you can, tell me."

Red took two large gulps of his wine before he answered, "They came back after I almost lost you again, twice.. when Tom had a gun to your head, and when you came to tell me that you were done.

"Red, I had no idea. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. None of it is. I jumped into your life and laid waste to everything that you thought you knew. And to move forward, after that, was a hail mary. After all of the times that I told you that you were free to go, I can't lie and say that I didn't expect it. But..." he paused to take a deep breath, wary of exposing his vulnerable heart. "Nothing could have prepared me for how much it hurt. You're my last hope, my only hope. I might not be your knight in shining armor, or the love of your life, but I am your only hope for finding the truth, as much as you are mine. I want that, for you."

Liz buried her face in his chest, blinking back tears while she carried and absorbed the weight of his words. After a few minutes, she broke the silence. "There were other close-calls though, like underground with Wujing, and the stewmaker's cabin, and even Garrick had a gun to my head before Tom did, so I don't understand... The terrors didn't come back then. Why now?"

"I can only speculate. The Garrick incident was a game-changer though, a emotional catalyst of sorts, but it took me awhile to process and come to terms with that. I tried, while I was gone, but it didn't crystallize until I came back. My feelings evolved. Your role in my life evolved. And then nothing... nothing could be worse than losing you, and I almost did, twice."

Liz shuddered and lifted her head to softly kiss him. "You even told me that before, in the park. You said that nothing could be worse than losing me. It's not that I didn't believe you. I think I just... I didn't really understand yet."

Red took the glass from her hand and set it aside, next to his, and pulled her up into his lap. He kissed her and pulled her more tightly against him. "Do you understand now?" he asked.

Liz turned and straddled him, and put one hand on the back of his neck, and slipped the other below his collar, grazing her fingertips over the periphery of his scars, and nodded. "I do." She closed her eyes and rested her cheek against Red's, and tentatively reached further beneath his shirt.

Red's hands stilled on her hips, somewhat nervous, but he allowed her to blindly explore what his suits effectively kept hidden.

Liz pulled back to study his eyes, and asked, "Want to go inside?"

"In a minute," he answered, and pulled her forward to kiss him again, deeply. He pushed her dress up to caress her thighs, moaning when she widened them to put more of her weight on him.

Red had no intention of stopping her this time.

When Liz came up for air, she slipped off of his lap, laced her fingers with his, and led him back inside. She sat on the bed, and gestured for Red to stand in front of her. With one hand, she unbuckled his belt, and slipped the other behind him to grope the back of his thighs while she slowly pulled it free of the belt loops. Then she repositioned herself, rising up on her knees, and slowly turned him around, so he was facing away from her.

Liz wrapped her arms around him, and kissed the nape of his neck, holding onto each side of his open shirt, at the buttons, and slowly tugged, signaling her intent. "May I?" she asked, holding her breath.

She let it out when he moved to help her slide the shirt from his shoulders, and tossed it aside. Red reached behind him, for her hands- a request for support that she couldn't deny, and laced their fingers together, softly squeezing. Liz took only a moment to stare at his back, her heart swollen with the burden of seeing the pain that Red silently carried for so long. Still holding his hands, she laid her cheek against his shoulder and sighed. In an effort to soothe, she took her time softly kissing every inch of his scars.

Briefly, Red worried that he may have turned her off, but when Liz was finished, she turned him to face her again, and wasted no time fervently meeting his lips with hers. He reached down for the hem of her dress, and lifted it up and over her shoulders in one smooth motion, discarding it alongside his belt and shirt. She gently lifted his glasses from his face, and set them on the nightstand. "I think you were right. Some things are better without them." she said.

When they were finally undressed, Liz crawled back and laid down in the center of the bed. Red covered her body with his, and showed her how it felt to be truly cherished.