The ride home had been an intense time with Elizabeth attempting to unwind from the eventful night.
Her animated and exuberant joy radiated from the woman. They had finally put an end to the monster they stalked. At least women could sleep undisturbed in their beds this night because of Lizzy's actions.
Liz was proud of her part in apprehending the scumbag who once preyed upon such innocent victims.
Upon their arrival back, Antonio summoned Red to discuss security matters, leaving the young woman to her own devices for a spell.
Red disliked leaving her at such a time for he knew the direction her emotions might take having experienced it countless times himself.
The euphoria was so high, eventually... Lizzy's mood would come crashing down to reality.
The truth was, her chosen vocation dealt with the dregs of society. Seeing humans at their worst took its toll.
The gratification felt after winning one battle would eventually lead to the realization that the war inevitably... raged on. More victims, and monsters on the prowl, were out there... always were, and always would be.
Reality sucked, but there were ways around the depression... the hopelessness that would set in.
Red searched the massive house, wandering aimlessly, seeking Lizzy out. It didn't surprise him she was not where he left her, in the suite of their rooms.
Evidence of her presence abounded. She had changed into more casual clothing. The outfit she wore earlier, haphazardly stuffed in a bag to be dry cleaned.
Turning a corner on the lower floor, Red found Silas leaned casually, his back to the wall, arms crossed... the ever present bored look on his ridiculously handsome face.
This was his version of 'waiting mode'. Silas crooked his head to an inner room to his left.
Red nodded his gratitude.
Silas pushed away, sauntering slowly down the corridor. "She's hit a wall." he advised as he passed.
"Who hasn't?" Red muttered to himself. "Get some rest."
"You know it." Silas grunted, kinking his body this way and that. "I need some downtime."
"...Really?" Red's concern was immediate.
"No," Silas moved on.
A smile crept across Red's face. He turned his attention elsewhere; quietly watching the woman for a goodly spell.
Lizzy's brow furrowed deeply as she gazed upward, the lovely profile intent on a painting which graced the façade above the Grecian marble fireplace.
Red came alongside, allowing the woman to sense his presence naturally. He glanced at the work-of-art, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his more comfortable slacks.
He too had taken time to shower and change. Such a simple task but it signified so much after a day like they had just experienced.
A new beginning, cleanse off the moment... move forward.
"What are you doing?" he knew, but it would center her thoughts to verbalize them.
Again, he knew this from watching Lizzy come down from a high.
"I'm not sure?" Liz glanced about aimlessly at the elegant surroundings. "I just wanted to... look around."
"Seeing something beautiful nullifies," he chose his words carefully, "the unsightly."
"What?" Liz wasn't following, too lost in her own musings.
"You know what would make you feel normal again?"
Her shoulders sagged. "Will I?" she wondered. "Ever feel that... again?"
The shit was crawling inside her mind.
She had spent time inside a killer's sphere of influence. She had kept her perspective but...she had seen the end product of that bastard's twisted mind.
…She felt an affinity for the women he brutalized.
The Crescent Trail killer wouldn't hurt anyone ever again but... it didn't negate what he had already done.
"Yes." Red answered her doubts. "The mind possesses remarkable resiliency, Elizabeth. Especially if we work with it and not go against the grain."
Liz processed the words but carefully refused to think too deeply at this moment.
She returned her interest to the painting. There was something about the color pallet which soothed... calmed.
Red drew in an even breath. Stages... he reminded himself. Move in stages.
The cell interrupted.
It was Harold Cooper.
Red grinned as Lizzy put the phone on speaker, holding it aloft for him to hear better.
"It should come as no surprise," Cooper was saying, "you were correct in your assumptions."
"Did you ID him?" Liz asked.
"The Crescent Trail killer, aka Alex Bennett," Cooper began the background, "did in fact have a high-school sweetheart, found murdered seventeen years ago, Lisa Newton."
Liz felt a sudden ease of the agitation inside learning the woman's name. The woman who had started it all... Lisa Newton.
"Before her untimely end, Ms. Newton," Copper confirmed, "would have attended Cornell on a full scholarship."
Sometimes, Liz seriously hated when she was right.
"Bennett was never a suspect?" Red broke in.
There was a slight hesitation on Cooper's end before the man replied. "According to the new Detective on the case," he continued, "Bennett's father provided an alibi."
"And who was Bennett's father for his word to carry so much weight." Red knew better.
"Sitting Judge." Cooper's tone spoke for itself.
Red rubbed Lizzy's arm soothing her tense posture, both saddened by the loss of a young lady who had such a promising future.
Red crossed to the bar in dire need of something to fortify.
Cooper signed off, wishing both a good evening.
"She deserved her shining moment." Red shook his head disgustedly. "She had her entire life laid out before her."
"What's more sad, some that experience that shining moment," Liz sighed, "are woefully unprepared."
"I hope you are not referring to yourself." Red frowned.
"...No." she moved back into Red's arms.
The man directed her to a seat, the most comfortable one to their immediate right. A long chaise lounge beckoned him. He settled, bringing the woman with him.
Climbing over his legs, Liz situated herself between the high back of the lounge and Red's large frame. Snuggling into his side, she rested against Red's stocky chest. The deep rumble of his voice soothed her.
Red cuddled Lizzy closer. "You did a good job, baby." he gave praise where it was due.
"I wish I could have done more." she murmured, snuggling into his warmth. "If they gave me access sooner maybe I–"
"Don't blame yourself for the FBI's shortcomings." Red sighed. "It's their fault they won't get with the times."
"The times?" she questioned.
"They were bound and determined to follow that chain of command, no matter who it killed... obviously." Red felt a flare of anger.
"Oh...you mean the antiquated bullshit," Liz grimaced her distaste, "about letting the most senior agents have a crack at any case first before handing it to off to a thirty-year-old newbie."
"And a woman, at that." Red smirked. "One who, in less than a week, upstaged their old, tired asses." his pride showed. "I'm so proud of you, Lizzy."
Liz felt a calmness center her soul, hearing those words. She knew she did a good job and had the record to prove it. She didn't need the accolades.
Though, she appreciated having a partner in life who understood how hard she worked, but also recognized and celebrated her achievements.
And celebrate it, Red did. How the hell he had time to have flowers and chocolate delivered before their return... she didn't know.
She didn't want to know. The mysteriousness intrigued her.
She reached for a piece of chocolate, the long sleeve of Red's shirt falling over the intended path. Red captured her arm, rolling the sleeves up over her hands.
He enjoyed watching her traipse around in his shirts. Tonight, she had paired it with fluffy white socks and the cutest little boxers he had ever seen... and her recently stolen robe.
She smiled happily, handing him a chocolate mint from the decorative box he gifted her, leaning back against him once more.
Red took the offered treat, tossing a throw over her legs once situated. He glanced at the box of candies, sitting them in his lap for easy access.
"You know what makes you feel the most normal?" Red addressed the issue which plagued him still.
Lizzy seemed to be relaxing, but the man knew, her mind was still assimilating all the havoc wreaked upon her this evening.
He knew he was...
Regardless of the status of their relationship, it always trouble him... seeing Lizzy in danger.
That feeling had not changed one iota.
Once she was safe, and the fireworks subsided, it took him time to wind down. Tonight was no different. Though, he found his balance far more quickly these days with her by his side.
"Am I abnormal?" she quipped.
The imbalance in her system was a deep nagging doubt she deliberately suppressed when this man came on scene minutes before, so intent on not letting it cast a pall over their evening.
"We all are, thank the Lord but..." Red shrugged, "bringing down a serial killer in most people's vernacular would be an activity out of the ordinary... yes."
"Red, there was thirty people involved in taking down that... asshole. I wasn't the–"
"Scapegoat?" Red supplied. "The one left tethered to a dangling rope? All alone, having to look into the eyes of a–"
"Stop." she scowled, whispering an urgency, struggling to arise.
"All right..." Red held tightly, his tone reassuring, "but, I can help now."
Liz halted her efforts, heeding his advice. She shook the vision of Bennett's hollow, excited eyes from her memory.
"The way to feel normal again," the grey-blue eyes caressed her gently, "is to do something normal again."
Liz laughed softly, "You want to have sex?" she surmised.
"Always," he didn't deny the desire to burn off adrenaline in such a way, "but that isn't what I was talking about in this particular instance."
Liz was intrigued. "...Then what?"
Red reached, securing the remote to the television which graced the South wall of the room.
Clicking it to life, he ran through the channels quickly before, "...Ah!"
Liz watched the process, smiling wistfully. She could not fault his choice.
"I saw this first when I was about," Liz remembered back, "...eight years old."
She watched the images flash across the large screen taking comfort in the familiar... the mundane.
"It's an allegory, you know?"
"So I hear tell." Liz cast him a look. "Don't you spoil it for me. It's one of my favorite movies."
"It's a good allegory." Red assured.
Liz settled back. The space ship drifted down to the base-ball diamond, the droning hum still muted as yet for Red had not turned up the volume.
The Capitol building loomed large in the foreground. It looked newer in the old black and white film... not so tarnished by age... or political scandals that sullied its once shiny exterior.
"It represents the return of the Messiah, giving humans one last warning of what was to come," Red stated, his eyes on the screen as well.
The guarded young soldiers' faces were anxious, suspicious… expectant.
"He could come a hundred times," Red's cynicism came and went, "but humans don't have the good sense God gave them... not any longer anyway."
His mood brightened, "Gort! Klaatu barada nikto..." he grinned, lifting the volume.
Liz settled down, snuggling in. "Such a small sentence," she had attempted to decipher it a thousand times, "but one that saved our collective asses."
"Did it?" Red wondered. "One day, very soon now I think, we're going to see Gort again."
"And he'll be bringing his contemporaries..." Liz nodded.
On screen, a tense moment unfolded. The alien visitor was slowly making his way down the ramp of the spaceship which had miraculously appeared from the side of the sleek surface.
"...And reduce this earth to a hollow, burned out cinder." Red finished.
"Are you sure this is the way to feel normal again?" Liz chuckled.
"Oh, well... we'll be fine." Red waved a dismissive hand. "We just won't make any threatening moves... like that idiot that just shot Klaatu there."
Liz giggled. "There's always one in the crowd."
"Shoot the alien guy that is smart enough to fly a spaceship to your planet." Red slowly applauded the stupidity. "I'm sure he wasn't sent by a more superior source. One who wouldn't have retaliation enter their far superior minds."
Liz held her amusement. "I'm sure their actions won't trigger the robot's innate programming to seek and destroy anyone who blatantly acts in a hostile or threatening manner, either."
"Did you write this script?" Red scowled down at the shiny crown of Lizzy's head. "No spoilers if so."
"How many times have you seen this?" she wondered.
"It never gets old."
Liz sought him out, "...You're right."
Red nodded, taking a sip from his wine.
"Oh... you know," a thought occurred, "Gort is a lot like Dembe."
Red chuckled, "Dembe's patience is limited."
The statement surprised Liz. "Really? I've never seen him lose his cool."
"Stick him in a room with Silas and the boys during the playoffs..." Red shivered, "and you'll see limited patience."
Tittering under her breath, Liz settled back against Red, enjoying the movie.
"I had seen this numerous times," Red muttered after a long silence. "What child is not drawn to make-believe... the fantasy?" he smiled wistfully, his focus on another place, another time. A simpler time.
"It wasn't until I reached adulthood that its message resonated." he confessed. "A simple movie had the ability to spark hope for peace and goodwill. It stirred ambitions... made you seek change in things around you."
Liz listened intently to not only the words... but Red's heart condition.
"I'm impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it." he quoted. "Only at the precipice we change."
Liz's heart ached, understanding Red's choice of quotes, all too well. How many times had Red alone, faced such stupidity or humans wishing to change... only when their lives depended on it?
She herself, had lost count of the times she encountered such flawed thinking.
"I am fearful when I see people substituting fear for reason." she quoted in kind.
Red's heart strings pulled, a knot forming in his throat.
Lizzy understood.
His kindred spirit... his soul mate, shared the same sense of morality. Her code of ethics paralleled his own.
Some would say he possessed neither morality nor ethics, but they would be wrong. In fact, his sense of morality and ethics were so exalted... it was no wonder those he met often failed to meet expectations.
Squeezing her eyes tight, she was surprised to realize her lashes were wet. Exhaling shakily, she allowed the tears to come. She welcomed the release... a relief.
Today had been a... whirlwind of emotion. Like a child leaving a theme park, who inevitably crashed back to boring reality after the excitement of the day...
Liz experienced the stress and anger associated with the injustice humanity offered... followed by the high of success. It was enough to exhaust anyone.
She deserved this quiet time. She earned it.
Feeling Lizzy exhale shakily at his side, her shuddering breaths alerted him she had found her release.
He supposed he could wipe away the tears and tell her everything was going to be all right.
But just as much as he could do those things, he could allow her this quiet moment to just be...
She needed this time of reflection just as surely as she needed to take Bennett down with her bare hands.
Gathering the woman closer... he silently offered his support and the comfort of his presence and understanding.
It seemed just a mere couple of moments, the tears subsided. A sense of calm permeating her once chaotic thoughts.
She hadn't realized how much she needed that. The quiet, the time to process... the sense of closeness.
She tightened her embrace about the man, hugging him. Thankful he didn't interfere, didn't try to fix it.
He just understood the need for closure.
Liz pulled his lips to hers for a short but satisfying kiss, a sense of serenity settling over her.
Red was right... a simple movie could provoke so many wonderful emotions.
"Thank you." she whispered. "I feel better already." she smiled warmly.
Red's eyes softened, kissing her temple. His doldrums too, vanishing as quickly as they came.
Lizzy reached for his lap, ferreting around in the candy box. Red peeked down the gap in her shirt, his attention caught by the tantalizing peek of her amber nipple.
"Yeah, let's watch porn." he murmured, enjoying Lizzy's airy giggle.
"So you can watch fake boobs bounce around the big screen?" she sighed, watching Red flick through a series of shopping channels.
"I'd rather watch your perfect sized breasts as you... take that shirt off." he told the truth. "Very... slowly."
Liz smiled, "You sound like Francis when he hits on Nora."
"Don't get insulting." Red scoffed. "And when has that boy ever learned patience? Never..."
"Silas doesn't call them boobs." Liz stated. "He calls them melons and–"
"I know," Red interrupted the colorful sentence, "what he calls them."
Moving the remote aside, Red changed the channel just in time to see a digital read out stuck to a block of C-4 countdown to zero before the camera panned back, showing a massive explosion fill the screen.
"Silas loves when they slap a brick of C-4 to a gas tank." Liz giggled.
"They don't make C-4 like they used to." Red sighed watching the chaos unfolding on screen. "I've never gotten it to destroy an entire city block like that."
"You're doing something wrong then, aren't you?" Liz smiled. "Maybe you better hire one of those Hollywood explosive experts."
"Maybe I'd better. He's mayhem himself." Red frowned at the carnage taking place. "I'd love to just get up and walk away after being shot five, six times."
He lifted the remote, blindly flicking back through to their preferred black and white film.
"Well, you wouldn't walk away from Gort." she settled as Red brought them full circle, back to the movie. "If that shiny suit would bend just a little, I could really go for that... robot guy."
"You like them tall, silent... and deadly?"
Liz laughed fully, "I guess I do." she turned, kissing Red's chin.
"I'm not shiny." he sighed woefully. "Nor am I silent."
"Maybe not," she shrugged, "but the fedora," her fingers danced idly over his thigh, "and the fact you bend in all the right places...more than makes up for lack of other character traits. For the most part."
"You are a difficult woman to please." he rumbled.
"Am I not worth the effort?" a smile tugged at her mouth.
"Hell, yes." he muttered, kissing her neckline. "I may be deeply flawed, but to me, you are perfection."
Liz's eyes softened, hearing the truth in his words.
"Though, upon further evaluation, you have one flaw," Red held his smile when Lizzy went on the defense instantly, "that I have resigned myself to living with."
"What?" she frowned hard.
"You steal the blankets," Red shook his head, "among other comfort items... constantly."
Liz was ready to defend herself until she realized; she was wearing a robe she had stolen from a hotel and wrapped in a throw blanket she had commandeered for her own use.
She sheepishly smoothed the blanket out over his lower half, remaining silent on the matter.
"I was in Kuala Lumpur once when a car bomb went off and," Red remembered, pointing to the screen to prove his point, "...well, suffice it to say, no one walked away... we all hobbled."
Liz stifled a giggle.
"Hobbling is good for authenticity." Red insisted.
"Are you still harping on that?"
"I shouldn't poke fun." Red retraced his steps. "Some of that CGI shit and half-assed ideas have gotten me out of a lot of sticky situations, actually."
Liz's interest was caught.
"You remember back in the eighties when the MIT students tried to replicate MacGyver's contraptions to prove they wouldn't work?"
"I was but a wee baby." she batted her eyes innocently.
He pulled a disgruntled face.
"Did you just make an actual cultural reference?" she just registered the anomaly, astounded.
Red grinned.
"If I heard the story right," she stressed because she couldn't remember, "the MIT geeks didn't get anywhere since the show's writers wisely neglected to include the active ingredient."
"They jogged my memory though." Red continued. "The general viewing audience may not know the correct method of making bombs from laundry soap," he grinned wryly, "... but I do."
"So you're saying," Liz clarified, "if you get in a bind next week, you're going to watch MacGyver episodes for a reference point?"
"Of course not," Red scoffed, "I'll ask Dembe to do it. I can't take the mullet thing."
Liz tsked, smacking Red's thigh gently. "Don't sit there and act like you didn't rock the mullet."
Red chuckled into her dark hair, "I had more of a shaggy, surfer look."
"Red..." she asked after a moments silence, "where did you go to high-school?"
"In..." the man hesitated, narrowing his eyes, "... no, don't even think about it. You are not getting my high-school picture."
"Oh, Red..." she pouted, "I just want to see."
He glanced down at her little forlorn features, his resolve crumbling. "... I'll think about it."
Liz beamed happily. She knew if he went searching for hers and stumbled over her tenth grade picture, she'd die of mortification. So she would respect his wishes and hope he'd share one with her.
They settled back, quietly watching the movie.
Red was admittedly more focused on Lizzy snuggling against him, pressing her breast against his side. He relished these quiet moments alone with her, cuddling on the couch in their stocking feet.
He often had dreams of them doing simple things like this. They had been so real... so vivid, when he awoke, he would reach for her... only to find she had never really been there.
There was a part of him that desperately wished to return to that dream world to be with her.
But there was also a part that couldn't bear the thought, knowing he would wake again to find the same results.
Just a few short weeks ago, the same dream awakened him, followed by the same rush of melancholy... until Lizzy shifted beside him, burrowing into his warmth.
He hadn't had the dream since.
Since that night, the dreams shifted to what the future had in store for them.
Would his future dreams also materialize?
The sensation of Lizzy pulling anxiously on his fingers broke him of his thoughts.
No matter the scene was fictional, Lizzy would remain alert until the hero navigated the impossible maze. Once he did, she would breathe her relief and relax, as she did just now.
"I wasn't aware you knew Moore." a thought occurred as he saw the film's antagonist walk on screen.
"I didn't make the connection until I saw the asshole." Liz admitted.
Red lifted his brows silently waiting for the tale to unfold because he sensed there was one, his interest keen.
"We went through training at the same time. Quantico is a very competitive place." she shifted comfortably, "It seemed he and I were always pitted against one another in some form or another," she rolled her eyes, "Isn't that the way of things. The thing you hate most is always shoved in your face."
"Who won?"
She looked hurt, "I did!"
Red chuckled his amusement, his hypothesis confirmed.
She leaned closer, "I'm surprised he's here," Liz admitted, "on the team, I mean."
"Why? Because he's not worth anything?" he sought her out, "Or you thought he'd be dead by now."
"Wishful thinking on my part." she crinkled her nose, "That was tacky... sorry," she sighed under her breath, "but you know he never did make any of the top ten spots."
Red watched the man, his shrewd eyes summing the guy up.
"I overheard one of the instructors talking about him," Liz had, "Mediocre at best, was the verdict." she shrugged, "I always wondered how they classified me?"
"Classy and hot." Red supplied the answer.
She waved a dismissive hand, "Bumbling but game, more like it."
Red chuckled under his breath, taking a drink from his tumbler.
"One of the team back then remarked something to the effect," she continued, "one white supremacist would probably end up taking down one of their own."
"Never say never," Red murmured.
"Another said, Moore would be a victim of an unfortunate case of friendly fire."
A bubble of laughter collected in Red's chest.
"I have a weapon," Liz's narrowed eyes gleamed just a little at the very idea.
Red broke the woman's train of thought, his fingertips under her stubbornly set chin, "Don't kill him... just yet." he cooed lovingly. "Get your badge back and make it legal."
She smiled, leaning to kiss the lips that had given her a glimmer of hope, "You always give the best advice."
"I always give the best everything." Red murmured, kissing the giggling woman's temple.
"I wish we had some popcorn." she grumbled.
She released his fingers, reaching for her wine which allowed him a handful of breast. Red's fingers instinctively curved about the full orb.
"Are you groping me?" Liz managed a lifted brow.
"Purely unintentional." Red assured, even as he gently squeezed the handful. "Would you like me to remove my hand?"
"Oh, that wasn't a complaint." Liz clarified. She stretched, brushing her mouth against his, filling his hand lavishly. "I like kissing you... have I said?"
"Well, good." he inclined his head. "I like you kissing me." he granted.
Wriggling closer, she teasingly rubbed his lip with her tongue. "Would it be gauche, if someone caught us making out?"
"Let's take the chance." he suggested before lovingly caressing her lips with his own. Lizzy responded instantly.
Liz startled when the lead actress screamed her fear when confronted by the robot and the threat of death.
Liz felt the hard imprint of Red's arousal. "You know what?" she breathed her growing passion.
"Maybe if those onscreen starlets had the pleasure of feeling your cock," Liz rubbed her hand along his thigh, "they would give a more compelling performance."
"I can make you produce a compelling performance," he breathed as his shaft plumped and slid along his thigh, "without the use of my cock."
"Well, you aren't Gort..." she mused, "and your cock doesn't vibrate like I bet his does but..." she stroked her finger along his jawline, "...I'd like to see you try."
"That sounded distinctly like a challenge?" Red cocked a brow.
"More like... an invitation." she wrinkled her nose.
"I must say, this couch fetish of yours," Red murmured, "it's growing on me."
Smiling, Liz slipped her fingers beneath Red's shirt, scratching her nails against the crisp hair of his stomach.
Deepening the kiss, Red cupped her breast through his shirt. He groaned as the loose weight formed to his hand.
"Now, these are some melons that grab my attention." he quipped.
Liz sniggered against his mouth. She pushed the fullness further into his hold. Pulling at the tail of her shirt, she grasped his hand, sliding it under the soft fabric.
Accepting the open invitation, Red ran his fingers lightly over her stomach and rib cage, before inching upward, palming the heavy weight.
"You're doing all you can to either get fucked..." he gently kneaded the firm handful, "or get me shot, now which is it?"
He held his grin when the woman startled, remembering their location. More specifically, whose couch they were making out on.
"Antonio is an old-world gentleman, with old-world values, so I'm assuming it's the second option?" Perhaps Lizzy enjoyed a touch of suspense and danger, he thought ruefully.
"Maybe..." she panted against his mouth, "we should move this upstairs."
"Oh, no..." Red shook his head, "one of those aforementioned options will happen right here... right now. Lady's choice obviously."
He stroked a calloused thumb against her distended nipple, teasing her.
"Yes, like that..." she mewled shakily, her decision cast quickly enough.
Capturing the tiny peak, he pinched it tenderly, "Elizabeth..."
"Antonio w-won't shoot if there's a chance he'll hit me." she wriggled closer, urgently kissing his mouth. "Be a man..."
Red eyes lit with delight as he pushed from the couch. He grinned against Lizzy's mouth when she followed his movement until he broke the lock.
"Hold that thought." Red muttered, pushing himself upright. He ran a hand over the bulge in his pants, soothing it.
Keeping his eyes on his tiny bit of trouble, he crossed the room, closing the door with a soft click. Their privacy ensured, Red turned his attention back to the woman.
Liz felt a warm, thick rush wet her panties as Red made a slow trek around the room, extinguishing lights, one after another, the grey-blue eyes never once leaving hers.
Sitting down beside her, he trailed his hand down her spine, massaging the small of her back.
She squirmed restlessly against his form as his large fingers deftly plucked at the buttons on her top.
Running his fingers along the vertical stripe, he parted the light fabric capturing a glimpse of Lizzy's white breast.
Securing her waist, Red dragged her across his lap, maneuvering her to settle against his shaft.
Bracing her thighs alongside Red's, Liz naturally arched her bottom, pushing her clit against his growing erection.
"I have a feeling," he raptly watched the show, "we're going to miss the best part of the movie."
Red had a clear and tantalizing view of her breasts through the gap of her half open shirt. Her soft breasts hung loose, pressing intimately into his chest. He loved the sensation.
Relishing the delicious taste of her parted lips, his tongue gingerly flicked the full mouth, enjoying her moan of arousal.
"As I'm sure you are aware," he dropped his gaze meaningfully, "you are making me very hard."
Curving his fingers to her hips, he urged her forward, pushing his hardness into the humid spot between her legs. Liz moaned, rolling her hips along the thick bulge in his pants.
"Does that feel good?" his husky tone sent her emotions into a tailspin.
Liz concentrated her efforts, eagerly nudging the large protrusion tenting his pants, answering that question in no uncertain terms, at least for the man.
Red only intended to enjoy a bout of foreplay but the more she rocked her pelvis against him... the more his good intentions evaporated.
Damn... If this went on much longer, she really may get more than she bargained for.
"Are you easing the ache in your little clit?"
He grinned when she ignored him completely, situating herself more fully on his hardness, gliding her body heat along the length of his cloth covered shaft.
Lifting her from her pastime, Red chuckled, putting a momentary halt to their activities, planning to even out the playing field.
"You have me at a distinct disadvantage..." he reminded, laying her flat against the cushy surface.
Steadily holding her eyes, his own confident ones filled with infinite patience... a thing Lizzy sorely lacked at present, he knew, which amused him all the more.
He unbuttoned the last of her shirt. Leaning, he flicked the coral pink nipple, which begged for his attention. Sighing his contentment, it crinkled against his tongue and lifted for more.
Liz hummed airily, relaxing into his touch, sighing blissfully.
Her tummy flipped as Red's large fingers trailed a teasing path down her torso and stomach, eliciting an unexpected giggle when he hit a ticklish spot.
"Giggling," he drew in a breath, halting his intended approach. "A signal I've gone down the wrong path." his eyes studied the straining little nipples. "Let's try another... shall we?"
She held her breath as his dexterous fingers slid beneath her boxers subsequently exploring the dark triangle of her sex.
"I enjoy touching you here," he rumbled as he did just that, "it nets such favorable results."
Liz moaned her contentment as Red's large hand curved to her mound, petting her small vulva lovingly.
He grunted low in his throat when her lips plumped under his touch. Slowing his movement, he stroked the soft curls.
Following the sloping flesh, he traced the outline of Lizzy's slit.
His mouth pulled at the corner when she stilled completely, intently focused on the gentle fingers stroking her.
It was so rare they took this time to explore... to tempt... to search out new avenues of delight.
Such was the level of their passion for one another of late.
For instance, in just this short interval, he learned many more of Lizzy's like and dislikes.
Not all of them sexual, of course.
He already knew if he rubbed her fingers, scalp or performed little circular patterns on the small of her back... it eased her into sleep within a couple minutes.
When he came up behind her trapping her in his embrace...she would instantly relax back into his chest.
Her right nipple was far more sensitive than the other, loving any attention paid to it.
He could cause her to damn near purr if he played with her neckline just so. And if he nuzzled, licked or kissed certain places on her back she would writhe happily about.
If he did so after they made love, she trembled uncontrollably, arousing her again within moments... readying her for yet another bout of a lovemaking.
She preferred he massage her clitoris high before working his way downward, gradually increasing the pressure of his touch.
Lizzy was very tactile.
He was learning something new about her every day. He wondered if she was doing the same of him? He imagined it would be an ongoing lesson for them both. One he was very much looking forward to studying.
"I love touching you..." he murmured, caressing the natural curve of her mound, he eased his middle finger between the humid seam.
"Do you like that?" Red tenderly parted the delicate folds, he circled the engorged flesh. "Right there?"
Why did men need to know such things? Because he did not possess a clitoris. He needed to gauge the correct touch... sensation that would arouse and pleasure her most.
He enjoyed a vocal lover.
Liz's eyes closed with relief, her mouth parting sensually when the calloused print of Red's finger rubbed along the line of the throbbing hood of her sex.
Nodding jerkily, Liz grasp the back of Red's nape, pulling him closer, her mouth searching out contact with his.
The furrow of his brow deepened when her angelic face tilted upwards. She basked in the small affectionate kisses peppering her mouth.
"Turn around." he huskily demanded she comply.
Eagerly obeying, she wriggled back against Red. She whimpered brokenly when his fingers circled the center of her heated alcove with more determination.
"Your little panties are wet..." he crooned approvingly, titillated by the sensation of the wet lace against his knuckles. Some things just turned a guy on...
His fingers worked in tandem, fondling her swollen nipples and clit. Her whimpers of enjoyment grew more with his persistent advances.
Rolling her hips against his hand, Liz's fingers eased the ache building behind her nipple. She tenderly pinched the tiny nerve endings.
"I love watching you play..." he rumbled warmly against her sweat dampened temple.
He took pride he had broken down the natural reserves of restraint.
The woman's desperate mewing made his sack ache as did the rounded bottom wriggling against his shaft. He had worked hard to get her to this stage, after all.
Struggling against the restrictive shorts, Liz pushed at them irritably to ride low on her bottom.
Red halted her efforts. There was something decidedly erotic seeing them stretched about her pale flesh.
Nuzzling her neck, Red's lips teased and nibbled the fragrant surface sensually.
"Help me, baby..." he whispered encouragingly, "slide those little fingers down here and play with your clit." There was nothing more 'visual' he enjoyed.
Liz eagerly pushed her fingers in alongside his, quickly massaging the slick surface.
"Good girl..." his murmured heatedly, his cock throbbing painfully at the sight afforded him.
There was something singularly arousing feeling her touch alongside his.
Normally, he preferred taking control but the sensation of Lizzy getting herself off... it was so intimate, the trust she exhibited... it was a natural high. One he refused to deny himself.
He slid his fingers downward, easing into the tight sheath of her opening.
Lizzy lifted her ass into his touch, moaning melodiously as Red stroked her rhythmically, following her lead.
His large palm pressed against her fingers, increasing the pressure on the pink pearl he so coveted.
Shifting her legs, Liz fought the resistance of her boxers, desperately trying to move them down her legs.
"Don't stop. Keep going..." Red murmured, fearing she would lose the momentum.
Mewling her discontent, Lizzy's face grimaced. Red hastened, pulling the minuscule fabric free of her legs, dropping them carelessly at her feet.
Wasting no time resuming his former position, he easily slid his fingers into her sodden sheath.
"Open your legs, baby..." Red urged, "spread them for me."
Liz lifted her leg, hooking it over Red's muscled calf. Her toes curved, catching on the corded flesh. Her bottom gyrated as she rode the fingers teasing the nub of her sex.
"You're so wet for me..." he stated his bliss. He was doing something right. A man lived for moments like this.
He wanted to fuck her so badly, the ache inside his balls was coming in tight, excruciating waves.
Refusing to give into his lust, he instead, ever so slowly worked another finger into the minuscule slot, stroking the hardening nub he found inside.
Red realized each woman was different in her sexual needs. He found certain techniques or various forms there of... stimulated, aroused and heightened the spectrum of these needs.
He wasn't above experimenting with a few things he learned along his life path.
He sighed his contentment as one particular pastime seemed to excite Lizzy more so than the other he had just attempted.
Lizzy's busy fingers brushed against his hand as he gradually increased the pressure on the rounded tissue. He grunted deep in his chest when their combined efforts produced a hot, thick torrent of liquid rushing past his pumping and rolling fingers.
Gently turning his hand about, his loose fingers settled against her rounded bottom. The fit was more comfortable for her... and a damned arousing one for him.
His shaft pulsed with an indescribable need to part the woman's swollen cleft and sink inside her snug embrace.
His heart pounded with the memory of how wonderful she felt when her body struggled to accommodate to his intrusion.
"Oh my God..." she exclaimed, her tone one of pure indulgence.
Liz followed her natural inclination to roll her hips which aided the effect she was experiencing.
A tingling warmth spread through her mound, leaving her sex heavy and pulsing. Her muscles contracted spasmodically around the mind-bending spread of Red's thick fingers as she grappled closer still to the exquisite pleasure his touch evoked.
Red was pleased to hear her soft moans shift to sharp, panted cries of distress within seconds.
"Do you have any idea," he pinched her nipple lovingly, his breath smelling of sweet wine and mint, "just how badly I want you right at this moment?"
Liz whimpered despondently.
"...How desperate I am to sink my cock into your warm body." he slid his fingers in deep.
Liz arched her body as Red's hot mouth suckled her breasts, needing him never to stop the lascivious action.
"To experience the exquisite sensation of your body conforming to mine..." he captured her mouth, swallowing her cries of ecstasy, "I need to... warm you with my come."
Her lips tasted of a sweetness he craved. He kissed her wantonly... and because he could.
It was his right.
A hot surge encompassed the woman, sharp jolts shoot through her limbs and toes. Liz's center felt full as it tightened hard around Red's fingers.
"The desire I feel," he raptly watched his hand pleasure her, "is so overwhelming..."
"F-Fuck...oh, God, fuck..." she panted for breath, her voice sounded so foreign and unlike her own.
"This sweet little mouth," Red teased her mouth, "saying those dirty words."
"Oh, shit... shit," Liz whispered urgently.
"I'm having difficulty concentrating." he shook his head to clear it, only just realizing the truth of his words.
"...I can't think straight. The need I feel to be with you is," his tongue flicked his lips as his glistening fingers came into view, "...the need to fuck you, is a thirst I can not seem to quench."
Liz's core clasped around his fingers when the man's thumb rubbed her clit eagerly.
The sensitive flesh was suddenly on fire, the passion rising unchecked between them.
The deep yearning to feel Red's width spread her open and move inside her left a searing ache between Liz's legs.
To allow all he had said... and more, was like an addiction.
"You're so damn tight around my fingers," he praised her body... her acceptance... her passionate nature.
"You're gonna come hard just for me, aren't you, baby." he whispered encouragingly.
Liz's desire rose to extreme proportions. Her non-existent control vanishing like a puff of smoke.
"Don't stop!" she pleaded unashamedly. "D-Don't..."
"Baby, I'm not stopping..." Red lifted his fingers, the rough texture of his knuckles rubbing along the roof of her opening. "Not until I feel that delectable cream..."
Lizzy opened her legs wider when Red's mouth latched around a convenient nipple, the warm tug of his tongue sending a jolt to her core.
"Give me what I want." his eyes dropped to the pink bud his thumb caressed so boldly. "I don't want to wait any longer, Elizabeth."
The woman's startling sharp cries of abandonment were nearly his undoing, as was the rapid fluttering of her muscles as they finally gave way to release.
"There we go..." he crooned lovingly, "that's the sound I was looking for."
He growled low in his throat as her center gushed with creamy heat, the silky warmth coating his hand up to the knuckles.
"... Yes, baby," he rumbled intimately, "you come so sweetly."
A steady thrumming filled Liz's sex, leaving her both intensely satisfied, yet yearning for the heavy weight of Red's cock.
Red slowed his movement, easing her down naturally from her high. The fluttering waves rolled about his fingers, drawing him deeper into her warmth. He smiled down at the blissful little features.
Basking in the afterglow, Liz's center throbbed deliciously as the warmth of her climax pooled in her abdomen.
"An Oscar worthy performance." Red smiled warmly, reluctantly easing his fingers free from his comfortable, loving home.
Pushing her leg flat, Red maneuvered himself between her legs, dropping his heavy bulge against her still pulsing sex.
She wrapped those beautiful legs around him, dragging him closer until she held Red tight against her body.
The man glanced down to the offering, his body primed and ready. All he had to do slide into heaven.
He should have known better...
"Hey," Silas' sardonic timbre came through the muffled folds of the cushion, "we got some radio chatter out here."
"Shit," Red grimaced, searching haphazardly for the source, which had slipped between the throw pillows.
He had carelessly laid the radio beside his hip when he sat down. The damned thing had become an extension of his hand it seemed at times.
Had they pressed the button and been unaware of their audience?
Liz's blue eyes grimaced, having sensed a change in their present situation.
Red closed his eyes, controlling his anger and frustration for the interruption. "Silas!" he gritted.
"Don't get on your high-horse..." the guard's tone snapped peevishly, "just act normal for a change... and shut the hell up, dammit!"
Red exchanged glances with Elizabeth. The woman's face was flushed red, her small hands coming to her mouth.
He shook his head, sighing his annoyance. "What the hell are you–"
"You're being watched, dipshit." Silas snarked. "You think I'd interrupt your little fuck-fest for anything trivial?"
Red slowly slid his body down, inadvertently covering Elizabeth's with no undue haste or waste of movement.
His expression reassured the woman. He controlled his urge to look to the line of windows opposite where they reposed.
"We've got chatter concerning you and your little playmate." Silas was on the move, Red could tell.
Red's body hid most of her from any would be 'voyeurs', still Liz subtly righted her clothing, pulling the lapel of her shirt closer.
Red's anger spiked, a raging fire burning in his gut. "I want this son-of-a-bitch, and I want him... alive." he managed through gritted teeth. "Do you copy that?" he snapped.
"Just stay low." Silas warned. "It's not just anyone who would dare trespass on this property, so..."
Red got the implications. "I want him."
"Yeah, I got that part." Silas had. "I'll keep you apprised. Give us all the time you can. We'll locate the bastard."
Red forced his breath to even out. The silence in the room calmed him further.
"What do we do, Red?" Liz licked her lips, they were suddenly dry. "It's Tom... watching us, isn't it?"
Red forced a smile for her sake. "It's okay, we'll get him and–"
Liz sighed heavily, "Why can't he just leave me alone?" she sounded exhausted.
It was one thing to stare at the façade of a house... another to watch Lizzy during an intimate moment. Tom had crossed a line... and it needed to stop.
Now.
"I don't know but I'm getting sick and tired of this bullshit." his face hardened. "This will end, one way," he determined, "... or other."
Liz recognized the set of his features, a slight chill traversing her body even though Red's warmth surrounded her.
Red glanced down, having caught the byplay. He caressed her forehead with a loving, lingering kiss.
"It will stop, baby... I give you my word."
"It's not only him though, is it?" she had her doubts. "Can we stop him...them, Red?"
"...Watch me." his eyes turned dark.
Elizabeth cuddled to his warmth, burying her face in his neckline, her fingers tightening on the crisp clean shirt he wore.
She... waited.
Red knew his men were out there, doing their jobs.
He bit the inside of his cheek line, gearing up for the wait himself. He hated inactivity but there was no way he would alert the bastard out there to anything amiss.
So... he waited.
The fucker would pay for that as well... and pay dearly.
Someone would pay... that was the only thing Red Reddington knew for certain at the moment.
Someone would pay.