The Fourth Time He Left
Author's Note: The series continues with some short snippets…let me know what you think!
OOOOOOOOOOO
Liz was just starting to drift off in his arms when she thought of the thing she had meant to tell him since he showed up at her door, but he had been wonderfully distracting and she kept forgetting.
"Agnes is at a sleepover," Liz said as she turned her head and looked up at him.
He raised an eyebrow.
"I meant to tell you as soon as you arrived, but you did that thing and…well, my brain went to mush," Liz giggled.
"You mean I didn't have to be this quiet?" Ressler chuckled.
"No, sorry," Liz said embarrassed. "But you are welcome to be as loud as you want the rest of the night."
"Night? It's almost 4 am Liz," Ressler chuckled.
"We've been…it's…no," Liz scoffed as she rotated her body to look at her phone on the nightstand and, true to his word, it was 3:48 am. "Wow, time seemed to disappear, I swear you've only been here for like an hour."
He pulled her against him and yawned. "That's because I'm amazing."
She laughed and smacked at his bare chest.
"Brag much?" Liz snickered.
"I don't need to," he said confidently.
She tilted her head from side to side. She had to agree with him; he was very, very, good in bed.
"Well, there is something to be said about humility," Liz said as she snuggled back into his chest.
His laugh was deep within his chest and rumbled against her ear. "It's over-rated."
She smiled and drew circles on his skin and felt her body start to relax into that wonderful place of warmth and satisfaction as she felt him playing with her hair.
"It's been over a month," Liz said quietly.
He didn't answer at first and after almost a minute she turned and looked up at him. He was just looking at her and continuing to play with her hair.
"Did you hear me?" Liz asked.
"I did," he said quietly.
She furrowed her brow, she was expecting some kind of response from him; she wasn't sure what, but something.
"Nothing?" Liz asked him.
He smiled. "I'm not sure what you want me to say…it's been a great five weeks?"
She looked at him slightly annoyed.
"Liz…"
"No, that's fine," she said as she turned and placed her head back on his chest.
"Liz?" he asked again, and she didn't respond.
She felt his sigh more than heard it and thought they weren't going to talk anymore as the minutes stretched on.
Then she felt him shift and she was forced to lift her head off him as he moved. At first, she was worried he was getting out of bed, that she had complicated an uncomplicated situation with talk. That Ressler maybe saw this as a friends with benefits situation and was now worried she saw it as something else.
But then she felt him slide down, so he was laying next to her facing her in bed. His face was only inches from hers and his one hand grasped her lower back and forcefully slid her toward him so she was flush against him. She could feel all of naked Ressler from shoulder to toe against her body and see his eyes penetrating her soul as he looked at her.
"I saw something that said when couples argue they should be naked," he said as she smiled at her. "It's harder to be angry when we're both vulnerable."
His use of the word 'couple' piqued her curiosity.
"So, this is good for couples?" Liz asked him with a smirk.
He nodded.
"And are we a couple?" Liz asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I think we are," he said honestly. "I don't know what you think."
Liz swallowed hard. The first night he had stayed she had told him how much she wanted him, how long she had wanted him. He had told her that he thought about her all of the time and fantasized about her. But they hadn't spoken about 'them' since that night, possibly purposefully. She had introduced this, and she needed to follow it through. And he was naked and vulnerable…
"Don't couples usually date before they do this?" Liz asked with a smirk as she ran a hand over his tight ass.
"Some, not all," he conceded. "Do you want to go out for dinner?"
She smiled and shook her head in the negative.
"Because that makes us a couple or because you don't want to go for dinner?" He asked.
"Because I like take out," Liz chuckled. "You can eat it on your sofa and watch a movie in your sweats. I like that better than a restaurant."
"Good to know," Ressler smirked. She felt him tapping her lower back with a couple of fingers and knew that meant he was thinking; he always did that when he was thinking.
Liz placed her hand on his chest and took a deep breath.
"I'm going to tell you something that may scare you or…or maybe it won't…but it scares the hell out of me," Liz said nervously.
He nodded and she felt his hand on her lower back grip her slightly.
"I'm pretty sure I love you," Liz said with a nervous smile. "But I'm not sure that loving you helps me figure out a relationship with you. You're my best friend, my person who I rely on, and I know that it sounds ridiculous to say that I am worried about losing that when we are literally lying in bed naked right now but that doesn't…"
Her rambling was interrupted by him kissing her passionately. She returned his kiss and he rolled on top of her, and she parted her legs, and they made slow, quiet love punctuated by tender kisses, soft caresses, and sweet moans. When they parted again, she was laying on her back and he on his side with his arm thrown across her middle. She could tell that neither of them would be awake for long with the level of fatigue that had set in and the hour that it was, but she needed to know.
"Ressler…?" Liz asked.
She watched his head lift up slightly and look right at her.
"I love you too, Liz," he said with a smile before he leaned over and kissed her lips softly. "We'll figure out the relationship part, okay?"
She smiled and nodded and inched toward him a little more before she fell asleep.
And, in the late morning, after a lot of time spent sleeping and cuddling and some time spent together in the shower, Ressler kissed her at her front door, told her he loved her, and left before Agnes got dropped off from her sleepover.
To be continued…