Hey guys. Sorry for taking so long with this chapter – and the length, too. Thought I could chill out for a moment after my exam, but no… x)

Still going T with the story, so the adult themes will be short and implied – but lots of fluff ;D

Chapter 20 – Our secret

The thunderstorm eventually died out, but they stayed in the shelter, cuddled up in each other's embrace on the straw covered floor. Apart from the drumming rain, the night was quiet and none of them felt the need to break the silence.

He was holding her close. When Ellie turned her head a little and settled her cheek against his chest, she could catch the merging rhythm of his soft breathing and his heartbeat slowing down. She had always loved that sound – to her it was the sound of comfort and safety in its simplest form. It made her smile for no reason. Or perhaps for all the right reasons…

They were kissing each other to the edge of senselessness; heady and electrifying like the thunderstorm ravaging above the shelter, blistering and passionate as the hunger inside each of them. He pushed her up against the wall of bales and she was clinging to his shoulders, literally standing on her toes not to give him a crick in the neck.

"Wait…" he mumbled against her lips and without breaking the kiss, he bended his knees slightly, before he with one arm around her hips, lifted her up on the bale behind her. With the height different gone, they were chest to chest and she could feel his heart pounding against her ribs, when she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Her head was spinning. Her entire body tingled like a glass of champagne and he left her breathless, when his lips moved from her mouth to her collarbone, touching her skin with lingering kisses.

She closed her eyes at his caress. Her own heart was beating just as fast as his now; she could feel her pulse under his lips and warm breath – and when she noticed him smirk against the soft skin underneath her jawbone, she knew that he sensed it too…

Oh, how she wanted him! And she didn't care one damned bit if it sounded unwomanly or vulgar – it was the truth. Something in here already knew that this wasn't going to be the last time. There would be time to caresses and gentle touching, which she loved so much. But for now, it was all about shutting up the loud, demanding hunger, so she could just be with him.

She pulled him closer and he let out a soft, hoarse groan of yearning and willingness, when she was pressed up against him, his mouth now buried in the notch of her throat. The sound rolled up from the bottom of his chest, deep and wonderfully arousing and the tingling feeling in her stomach spread downwards, so fast it took her breath away…

She looked out into the night. The clouds were still dark like slate, periodically with sharp, luminous edges from silent lightning. It was strangely beautiful and she found herself wishing this night could be as endless as the sound of the rain falling. She had Brutus and that was all she needed…

They somehow ended up on the floor and in a moment of soft silence, when they both had to catch up with the lack of air again, she couldn't help but admire his huge, broad-shouldered figure that towered above her. He looked down at her, eyes flickering from her mouth to her eyes, when she gently stroke the back of his neck and let her fingers run through his shortcut hair.

"Just tell me, if you want to stop," he said huskily, his naked chest heaving just inches away from hers. "The last thing I wanna do, is to push you into something you don't…"

"Brutus," she interrupted softly. "I swear if you stop now, I'm going to lock you up in the restrain room and throw away the key."

He looked utterly surprised for a moment, but then the corner of his mouth turned upwards into his lop-sided smile.

"I'd hoped you'd say something like that," he said quietly and she smiled and kissed him, tenderly at first, then longer and deeper. And he returned it, tightening his grip around the small of her back, until it was no longer a secret how much he actually wanted her…

There was only one thing that kept nagging in her mind: She had told her landlady that she would have been home hours ago and she knew how worried Mrs. Potter could be; she could already hear the search warrant on the radio.

"Brutus?" she whispered, brushing her hand down his firm chest.

"Mmm?"

She had half expected him to have dozed off, but he sound surprisingly awake.

"I really should be going home…"

Brutus was silent for a second, before softly responding: "That didn't sound very convincing?"

She smiled, when he made as little effort to release his embrace, as she did. She craned her neck to look at him. "No…"

He returned her smile, reached out and stroked a wavy lock of hair behind her ear, his thumb brushing over her cheekbone delicately as he did so. Then he cupped her jaw and kissed her. Compared to the ones they had shared during the thunderstorm, the kiss was slow and tender, but somehow it still manage to stir the embers of desire and cravings, that was still very much alive inside them, just waiting for the slightest of nourishment to awake again like a wildfire. His hand slid behind her neck.

Gently, he pushed her over and settled one knee between her legs, so she came to lie halfway underneath him without carrying any of his weight. She smirked when he leaned down to kiss her again. Even during the most heated moment, he had been so careful not to put any weight on her or harm her in any way.

When she had warmly ribbed him about it, he had let out a breathless, embarrassed chuckle and mumbled something about not wanting to crush her. The touching gesture both moved and amused her.

She knew he wasn't a violent man, but she had seen what he was capable off. He could do anything to her if he wanted to, but instead he treated her like a delicate, cherished flower – and she loved it, as un-feministic as it might sound. She had almost witness him break Percy's throat with his bare hands and those same hands were now tracing down her skin, with a tenderness she had never experienced before. His towering figure that used to keep prisoners in check was warm and secure; a shelter against the darkness and the chilly night.

Black bear by day, teddy bear by night.

Call me sentimental, but that is adorable… she thought to herself, wrapping her arms around his torso and snuggling up to him.

"God, if you knew how long I've wished for this to happen," he muttered in his deep voice, placing a kiss on top of her head.

Ellie couldn't help herself: "What?" she teased him. "That we would do it in a hay shelter?"

You could almost hear him blush. "Uhm…"

She smiled. "I wouldn't have been here with anyone but you," she told him quietly, sweeping her hand down his shoulder blades. He was still wearing his unbuttoned shirt; she hadn't had the time to slide it off his shoulders. "You know that, right?"

She was expecting some kind of joke from him, but he didn't say a word and it dawned on her, that the following that used to sound rather silly in her head, perhaps weren't.

"I haven't dared… being with anyone since my divorce," she continued softly. "It hurt too much. There were even moments when I truly believed, I would never be with anyone again."

"So why me?" Brutus asked silently.

"Because this time it feels right," Ellie responded and kissed his collarbone. She felt his shoulders drop under her embrace, like a man who had just been freed from a heavy burden and he smiled down her hair.

"It had always felt right with you," he said huskily. "I lost my heart to you on your first day here."

"That was the day you drove me to the bus stop," Ellie recalled warmly.

"Yeah," he admitted bashfully. "The boys looked straight through me after that. Bastards. They've been mocking me ever since."

Ellie chuckled.

"You think we should tell them?" she asked.

"After all they've been through to bring us together?" He smirked. "'Course not."

oOo

They reached News Roads a quarter to midnight and Ellie's street was dark and silent. The rain had almost stopped and a pale moon was peeking its face out from behind the skies from time to time, bathing the street in a feathery silver glow.

Brutus stopped the car across the street from her landlords' house. There was still light burning in the living room and someone was moving behind the curtains.

"God, I hope she hasn't called the police already," Ellie mumbled, picking up her wallet. "I'm two hours late."

"And she'll have to do without you for just a moment more," Brutus said, leaning over and kissing her. Ellie smiled against his lips, her palm cupping his jaw and stroking his chin. He inhaled her pleasant floral sense.

Come home with me, his inner voice pleaded, tangling his fingers in the soft, faintly moist locks of her hair, but the more saner part of him knew, that it was an unattainable wish. If people found out that they were sleeping together, she would become the target of some displeasing glances – not to mention the whispers: In a small town like New Roads the rumours would spread like chicken pox. He could never do that to her.

"You okay?" Ellie asked him gently, sensing his divided thoughts.

"I don't want you to go," he uttered in a low voice. Ellie smiled.

"I'll see you in seven hours."

"You know what I mean."

"I do." She kissed the corner of his mouth cheekily and whispered: "But next time, we will do it properly, so hang in there…"

Brutus felt a swooping sensation in his stomach, noticing several tantalizing words in that sentence, but especially the last one. "'Properly'?"

Ellie caught his mouth again in a passionate, lingering kiss that completely stole his breath away. For a moment, he forgot where they were. Her lips parted slowly, but willingly against his and he kissed her deeply. He could feel her brush the tip of her fingers down his throat, to the notch just above his collarbone. Then she broke apart, her mouth twisted in a significant smile.

"No rush," she said warmly and a slow grin spread across his face, when he realised what she was referring to: You could say a lot about lust, but it wasn't exactly patient… He bowed his head in agreement.

"I better get inside," she said, giving his hand a quick squeeze, before she stepped out of the car. "Before she calls the police. Good night."

"Night."

He watched her cross the street. Before she walked inside and closed the door, she put a finger to her smiling lips – our secret – and waved a silent goodbye. He felt his face crumple into a wide grin, that didn't leave him on the long, lonely drive home.