The week passed by in a blur of catching criminals and unresolved sexual tension for the both of them, even though they barely spoke at all during the week. However, they both had to go undercover to catch the next Blacklister at an exclusive party. Their cover story was that Red was looking to invest in the Blacklister's business and Liz would be his arm candy for the evening. Now, just as Red was due to pick her up, Liz was all nerves. Red had made it clear to her and the team that they would need to 'act the part' of wealthy criminal and his mistress, especially as the host had chosen a rather exotic venue, seemingly to be interested in sexual freedom and so the party was being held in a nightclub-esque environment. She couldn't deny she was nervous, especially because of how she'd been feeling towards Red lately. He had sent her an outfit to wear earlier because she didn't own anything remotely appropriate enough for the event they were going to, but unfortunately the outfit he had sent was way beyond her comfort zone. Had he chosen it? She wondered. If he had then he was obviously looking forward to teasing her tonight,as the dress was more like underwear with a few straps holding it all together. She swallowed, she couldn't deny that even as a trained FBI agent she was nervous about appearing in a room full of powerful criminals in this outfit. Before she could panic any further though, Red arrived and knocked on her door. As she walked over to answer it she briefly remembered the events that occurred the last time he had visited and she blushed. Red smirked knowingly when he saw her, suggesting that he shared her thoughts as well. However, after she'd turned round to grab her purse and was making her way to his car, Red's face was impassive, and he looked so disinterested in her that it was strange. Usually he would be half way through one of his stories by now, she thought. But instead he got in the car, poured himself a scotch, and turned away from her to look out of the window. Luckily they had gone over their cover stories earlier at work that day and so they didn't officially need to speak until they arrived, but his distance still put her off. Was he mad about what she had done the other day? He had teased her much worse than she had done to him. What if the woman he was seeing became his girlfriend? Maybe he had someone else in his life now and he had no use for her? But surely he would have told her, wouldn't he?
'Stop over-analysing everything Lizzie. I can hear you from here.' Red said, without turning round to her.
'Oh. Are we going to go over our roles for the night one more time or not?' Liz was starting to get irritated by his sudden change in behaviour.
'There's no need. It's a well practiced game Lizzie. We have a great time, I'm happy, happiness makes me spend, he'll find a way to introduce himself to us, then take me away to share his business plan, I'll invest, we'll arrange a transaction and finalisation meeting, and at that meeting he will be taken into federal custody. We've played this game enough times now, we really don't need to go over it.' Red delivered his speech in a bored and irritated tone, making Liz partly embarrassed that he'd talked down to her, but also fed up with the situation. She should be at home, she thought. But then she remembered the dreams she'd had and would be having if she were at home, which then led her down the line of thinking how attractive Red looked tonight. He really was an imposing figure, with broad shoulders and a good-looking face, which his expensive suits really brought out. Whilst checking him out, Liz subconsciously licked her lips and saw Red draw in a sharp breath. She couldn't help but smile, so he wasn't completely ignorant to her after all.
Eventually they arrived at the venue and as soon as they got out of the car, Red placed his hand on her lower back whilst they walked in and Liz had to try hard not to shiver at the feel of his hand on her bare skin. The venue itself was effectively lots of dark passages leading to small, intimate rooms where glass cubes were set up for couples to go into. Here they were free to do as they liked and entertain the audience around them. Liz had to grudgingly admit that this was the perfect place to do illegal business, as most people's attentions were on the glass boxes or on their partners. Red ordered her a drink, as well as one for himself, and they found a booth to sit in in the corner of the room. Liz could tell that they were being watched even though they were sat in the dark room, surrounded by many people. Therefore she was quite happy to play along when Red sat with his thigh pressed up against hers and started to nuzzle and kiss her neck. 'Lizzie...' He breathed, quietly so that only she could hear. Even if they were undercover, did he have to say her name like that? It was turning her on-much to her dislike. Red's other hand rested on her knee and as she drank she could feel his fingers slowly inching higher up, until he was playing with the hem of her dress. 'Raymond' she squealed, just loud enough to play along, 'you're a naughty boy!'. She turned her face towards his and inched her mouth to his, preparing to kiss his smirk away, but she was interrupted by a tall, sixty-something year old man booming,
'Raymond! So good to see you old friend!'. Even though the man was addressing Red, his eyes were lecherously looking Liz up and down.
'Harry, so good to see you again! Let me introduce you to the stunning Eleanor Jeffries. Eleanor, this is Harry Steel, a dear friend.' Harry took Liz's hand and kissed it, lingering slightly too long until Red continued sharply. 'What a great party this is, you've done magnificently.' Red exclaimed, a beaming smile on his face. Liz started to feel a bit uncomfortable under Harry's gaze, but Red placed his arm around her, which simultaneously calmed her and also sent a message to Harry that Liz was his and he wouldn't be sharing. Usually Liz hated the propriety of such actions, but because she was undercover and between two powerful criminals she didn't mind as much.
Finally Harry moved his gaze over to Red,
'Thank you Raymond. I've always thought it's a great place to do business. Speaking of which, a Mr. lnley has asked to meet with you. He has a proposition which he thinks you'll says to tell you that he'll be at the end of the bar in fifteen if you're interested.' Mr Inley was the name of the Blacklister they were targeting.
Red grinned, 'Ah well, thank you old friend.'
'No problem. But until then, are you and Eleanor going to give us a show? I bet you could entertain us all much more than anyone else could. Remember St. Lucia?' Red threw his head back and laughed heartily,
'Of course! St. Lucia! I almost forgot that most exotic evening! Oh you should have seen us then, Eleanor, the things we got up to, those poor girls!' The two men chuckled. 'But sadly for you, I intend to keep the dear Eleanor's tricks for myself tonight. Selfish I know, but I imagine you'd do the same.' Harry chuckled whilst Liz tried hard not to look outraged at the way she was being spoken about, especially by Red, but she knew she was undercover and had to go along with it. Instead she started to play with the buttons on Red's jacket, smiling flirtatiously at him. Harry smirked,
'No worries Raymond, I'll leave you two to enjoy the party while I go and attend to my other guests. Have a great night and good luck with your new client.' And with that, he prowled off back into the darkness of the room. As soon as Harry left, Red's behaviour cooled slightly, but only enough for Liz to notice. She wondered what was wrong with him, why he didn't want to get too close to her. Maybe he wasn't attracted to her like that? Soon Red got up to meet Mr Inley and Liz was left alone to survey what she could see in the room. People had already started to enter the boxes, but she tried not to concentrate on the lewd displays of sexual intercourse too much- she had enough desire in her life right now thank you very much.
In the end she didn't have to wait long because Red was back within the hour. Although for appearances sake they were required to stay for a bit longer and Red seemed to have loosened up a bit after the meeting, so they went to the bar and ordered another drink. As they stood by the wall at the bar Red placed his hand on her lower back again but this time leaned in to tell her in a husky voice, 'You look ravishing tonight.' She was taken aback but managed to smile at him, until he leaned in towards her and kissed her roughly, then she was too shocked to do anything but kiss him back. Red was really getting into the kiss, and when he ground up against her and she felt his erection against her hip she gasped suddenly. Liz could feel her inhibitions lower as her desperation to feel him inside her almost drove her insane. She wrapped one leg around his waist, pressing herself even further into his groin, which brought a moan out of Red. Suddenly a cough interrupted them and they both jumped apart as a woman reached to collect her drink from the crowded bar. Liz groaned,
'We'd better go, I still have to get to the Post Office and debrief Cooper'. She said quietly, before Red took her elbow and led her to his car.
As soon as he dropped Liz off Red sighed deeply. He had been trying to hide his desire for her because he wanted to eliminate her arousal as a factor for why she had been acting so hungrily towards him, just in case when he stripped the sexual attraction away she actually may have possessed real feelings for him. Feelings that may have made her want a relationship with him. Perhaps even...love. No, he could never expect that from Lizzie, not for himself. She was too good for him, too pure. It was like she said- he was a monster.
But damn, why did that party have to be at an exhibitionist club? Why couldn't it have been at a restaurant, where she could quite easily have passed as his P.A... Or something. Oh god, he couldn't stop replaying the image of her in that outfit (if he could call it that) in his mind. Christ, she was so beautiful. He tried so hard to ignore his desire for her, but when they sat down and he had to be convincing for the cover everything went to pot. Once he started to kiss her he couldn't stop. However in the car, when he was actually managing to succeed in controlling herself, he had glimpsed the hurt and worry on her definitely seemed to him that she had feelings for him. Should he act on his and try to find out for sure? Yes, he decided, tomorrow he would tell her how he felt about her.