The Morning

Author's Note: Thank you for following along! I am, generally, not an explicit ff writer so you will note some descriptions here but a lot of nuances and dancing around what we all know happened.

The next two chapters have already been published so I may rework a sentence or two to fit with what I have, but they should seem familiar.

Let me know your thoughts!

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Ressler came to consciousness when he felt her arm shift on top of him and pull out from in-between them.

He opened his eyes to see Liz Keen looking down at him.

"Hey," he smiled up at her.

"Hey," she smiled back.

"Sorry, I imagine your back is killing you," she said as she peeled herself up slightly and, noting the lack of a bra, which she consciously knew about but in the light of day felt like a great deal of exposure, stopped moving.

"Here," he said, as if reading her mind as he reached for the blanket that lay over the back of his sofa.

He gingerly pulled it up on either side of her chest and she slowly pulled back; he wrapped it around her breasts as she did.

"Thanks," she smiled at him as she raised herself back and then sat down at his feet while he bent his legs and got himself into a sitting position as well. He stretched his back and his neck. When they eventually fell asleep in the very early hours of this morning, she was on top of him and had obviously stayed there asleep for the last few hours.

He sat there next to her, hair in all directions, shirtless, jeans undone and belt laying on the floor at her feet next to her aqua bra. She sat next to him, barefoot, in her tights, wrapped in his blanket, with her hair messy and her makeup gone. She blushed and reached over and touched his bare arm.

"I loved last night," she said honestly.

He smiled and nodded his head; heat rising up his chest and neck. Last night was both more and less than he had ever hoped for. More because they finally crossed the invisible barrier that always lay between them. Erected there by work, marriage, pregnancy, addiction, death, revenge, and friendship. Less because she very clearly defined throughout the night what was and was not going to happen between them. And, as much as he was thrilled with everything that had transpired between him and Liz, he still questioned her reasons for holding back. Worried about her reasons for holding back.

"Coffee?" He asked as she stood up from the sofa.

"That'd be great," she nodded as she reached over for her bra and looked around for her shirt. As he passed a chair, he saw it hanging off the arm and grabbed it, walking back to her, and handing it to her.

She held his hand for a moment as she reached for her shirt, and they looked into each other's eyes. Then she took it from him, and he nodded and stepped back walking toward the kitchen and doing up his pants as he did. He'd been erect on and off throughout the night and when they woke this am he had probably been annoying her with his morning hard-on that was resting between them as she used him as her pillow.

Ressler put in a new filter, spooned out the coffee, and filled it up with water, standing there for a moment watching it drip while his mind whirled. Her hands had been everywhere above his waist for a good hour as they made out on his sofa. He felt like a teenager again, thinking of all the places he could and couldn't touch, trying to take cues from her about what she liked, wanting so badly to take her completely but sensing intrinsically that sex was not on the table tonight.

His shirt had been undone and pulled off at some point, and then her mouth started to explore all of the places her hands had already visited. He felt himself straining against his jeans, straining against her mouth, his voice reduced to a series of 'huffs' and 'ahhs' as he reached to undo her bra and let his hands roam into previously uncharted territory. He was no disappointed by his venture and soon they were both naked from the waist up discovering what kissing, sucking, nipping, and licking did to the other person. He discovered how her sounds got deep and guttural when she really liked something. And she discovered how his voice almost disappeared when he was incredibly turned on.

He heard the washroom door close over and turned to see the blanket that had been covering her now laying folded over the arm of the sofa. Had it not been for the stray belt laying on the floor, nothing seemed askew. He'd have to find his shirt through…

Ressler walked back into his living room and looked around for his shirt while putting on his belt. She had undone his belt at some point and said to him 'don't get too excited' as she undid his jeans. And while her hands had roamed, had given him pleasure, and brought him to completion, the pants had stayed on. And then his hand had played with the edge of her tights, asking silent permission to breach that border until she softly grasped his hand and carefully guided it under her tights and her underwear into a warm, wet, forbidden space that he was now privy to. A space that caused her to gasp, and pull at his leg, and throw her head back against his sofa calling out his name.

Ressler discovered his shirt in a heap on the floor behind one of his end tables. Reaching for it, he pulled it out, shook it out, and threw his arms into the sleeves. As he started to button it, Liz came out of the washroom and walked right toward him.

"Here," she said as he pushed his hands aside and started to do up his buttons from top to bottom and, getting to the bottom seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time brushing the back of her hand back and forth across his jean-covered hard-on.

"That's dangerous," he said as he pushed some hair behind one of her ears.

She looked up at him biting her lip.

"After last night, little seems dangerous anymore," Liz admitted to him.

He snickered and her hand pulled back from him.

"Little?" He asked.

"Well, some things are still dangerous territory that I'm not ready for yet," Liz smiled at him softly; asking for understanding and patience with her eyes.

"I know," he smiled down at her and leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips.

She kissed him back and took a deep cleansing breath when they parted.

"Thanks for understanding and just knowing," Liz said as her watery eyes met his.

He nodded and his coffee maker beeped.

"Come on," he said as he gestured with his head for her to come with him.

"I still owe you breakfast," Liz said as she watched him pour them each a cup.

He chuckled softly, only after everything that had happened last night between them would Liz make sure she rounded back to their bet and her debt.

"Sure," he said as he handed her a cup. "We could go to Ellie's at the corner."

He leaned his hips back against the counter and took a sip of his hot black coffee while he watched her open his fridge, pour some milk into hers and then turn to him to ask silently where the sugar was.

He walked toward her and reached behind her, opening a cupboard, and pinning her between his body and the counter as he did. Then, he handed her a small bowl of sugar with a smile.

He stepped back and Liz felt her heart hammering in her chest and her palms getting sweaty.

He smirked; he knew he had thrown her a little.

"I'd need to clean up a little," Liz said as she finger-combed her hair self-consciously after putting in a teaspoon of sugar.

"You look beautiful," he said, unabashedly.

He watched a small smile appear on her lips as she put the lid back on the sugar.

She opened the cupboard and placed his sugar back carefully.

"But, if you want a toothbrush or a comb or deodorant…" he said. "I just visited the dentist last week and Dr. Pan always gives out toothbrushes with his logo on them. You're also welcome to my comb and my deodorant or a clean shirt…"

She nodded and leaned her hips back against his counter and looked at him as she cradled her mug of coffee.

"What's his logo?"

"Uh," Ressler chuckled. "I see numb people."

Liz barked out a laugh and he snickered along with her.

"Okay, that toothbrush is mine!" Liz said.

"All yours," Ressler smiled back at her.

"I haven't done this in a long time," Liz smirked as she put down her coffee and walked toward him. She stopped and placed her hands on his hips. She had yet to explore his hips…

"Drank coffee?" Ressler asked with a quirked eyebrow, making a joke.

Liz looked at him annoyed.

"Made out?" Ressler asked her with a chuckle.

"That went a little beyond what I would have called making out in high school or college," Liz said as she leaned her body against the length of him.

"You didn't go to my high school," Ressler chuckled as he leaned forward and kissed her nose.

She quirked and eyebrow.

"What kinda high school did you go to?" Liz asked with a smirk.

"One that had a different definition of 'making out'" he said mysteriously.

She swallowed hard and slid her arms from his hips around his back and held him tight.

He put his coffee down on his counter and wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her in closely and sighing heavily.

"We'll figure this out, Liz," he said as he kissed the top of her head. "We don't need to define anything or fit any definition, okay?"

He felt her nod against his chest and sigh, content.

To be continued…