Warning – their is absolutely no greater meaning to be found in this chapter xD Officially it's the answer to those of you who have been wondering what happened the first night in Brutus' house (between chapter 21 and 22) – but honestly I'm actually writing this because I'm awful and I can't let these two go! Every time I get writer's block working with my other stories, I write Brutus/Ellie fluff to get me started again and this turned out to be the outcome.

Some minor sexual themes are implied.

Chapter 21½ - The Missing Chapter

"Oh my," was Ellie's first words, when they drove up the driveway. "Is that your house? It's enormous!"

She took in the big, pale green building and the white porch that went all the way around the house. A wild wine had coiled its thin stems around every pillar and the living cover of leaves made the house look like something out of a fairy tale.

"Well, we southern people don't live in shoe boxes like you do in the big city, y'know," Brutus said and maneuvered the car into the garage.

"Still…" Ellie eyed him mischievously. "If I didn't know you, I would say you were compensating for something."

He merely smirked back, exactly as self-satisfied as she had expected.

"It was a bit neglected when I brought it," he proceeded, as they stepped out of the car, "so I got it pretty cheap. Besides, I sold of most of the land that came along with it, so it turned out to be quite a deal in the end."

"It's wonderful…" Ellie began, before she was cut of short by Brutus' giant dog that came storming around the corner, barking excitedly. Brutus was used to his overwhelming greetings, but Ellie weren't and the canine nearly knocked her over, when he jumped up and tried to lick her face.

"Bear!"

"Good grief!" she laughed, half in surprise, when Brutus grabbed the dog by his collar and held him back. "I suppose this is the infamous Bear."

"Sorry 'bout that. He tends to forget how big he is."

Bear sniffed Ellie's clothes eagerly, when she patted him and then she let him lick her hands, which won Bear's affection in a heartbeat. Ignoring Brutus completely, he trotted right behind her, when they drifted towards the house.

"So," he said, dropping his warm uniform jacket and tie on the nearest chair. "You want dinner first or a tour around the house."

"Dinner," she decided after a second pondering. "I have a feeling we might get… caught up somewhere if we start with the tour."

He smirked, when she threw a significant smile in his direction. "Clever girl."

oOo

After dinner, they moved to the porch swing and watched the sun set behind the tree line. Brutus had his arms folded around her as a shield against the chill wind that sneaked in from the surrounding fields that stood naked after harvest. Ellie couldn't recall a place quieter than this; when they weren't speaking, she could hear the breeze rustle through the leaves of the wild wine, and the house creaking when it started to cool down. Bear was curled up under the swing, whimpering in his sleep.

She closed her eyes and let herself sink into his embrace, relishing the warmth radiating from his body, the lazy way he rocked the swing from side to side with one foot planted on the veranda. When he let out a deep sigh of contentment, his chest rose under her and for some silly reason that made her smile.

"I'm not too heavy, am I?"

"You mean your massive 120 pounds?" he replied. "Yeah, I can hardly breathe."

She chuckled. "It's 130, but thank you."

"Christ, woman, I've had firewood in my house that's bigger than you."

Ellie turned her head to scowl at him in pretended vexation. "It's not nice to make fun of someone's height"

"Since you're both younger, prettier, and higher educated than me," he simpered back, "what else is there to mock about you?"

"Don't forget cuter and smarter and…"

"Yeah, yeah."

She brushed over his arm teasingly, found his hand, and weaved their fingers together. Caressing the back of her hand with his thumb, he leaned down to plant a kiss in her hair.

"How about that tour?" he rumbled, when the night started to fall and cast it dark, shadowy wings across the lane.

Ellie smiled to herself; she would never admit it openly, but she waited at least an hour for him to ask. "Any suggestion of where to start?"

"At least one."

As they climbed the stairs, she turned around and said: "I bet I can guess which one is your bedroom, without you showing me."

He scoffed, his lopsided smile breaking the surface. "I'll see that before I believe it."

When they reached the first floor, Ellie took a good, long look at the five different doors, before appointing the one at the end of the hallway.

"You're an early riser," she responded with a smirk when he looked surprised. "And it's the only one facing east, which means it has morning sun. Besides, I bet it has the best view too." She disappeared down the hallway and seconds later Brutus heard her open the door and exclaim in adorable smugness: "Ha! I knew it."

He followed her with a huff of a chuckle and found her next to his bed, admiring the view from the window.

"The stars have come out," she noted gently.

Brutus walked up to her and brushed away a lock of hair that had come lose from her bun. His finger brushed over the nape of her neck, before he bent down and pressed a kiss to the back of her jawline, inhaling the soft, milky scent of her skin. She cocked her head to one side, almost by reflex, and Brutus continued to lay kisses all over the back of her neck. When he reached her other ear, she turned around abruptly, and the moment their lips collided in the first longing, avid kiss, Brutus knew he could not die happy until he had done this at least a billion times…

He had barely finished the thought though, when something big came storming down the hallway outside the bed room. The door flew open and in came Bear, his tail propelling excitedly from having finally located them. Ellie broke into laughter, when he took their embrace for some kind of group hug and tried to squeeze in between them.

"Get out, will'ya?" Brutus groused, frowning at the dog, who merely wagged his tail at him.

"I think he's jealous," Ellie said, sympathetically rubbing the dog's ears. Bear nudged his big head against her thigh and Brutus realized he had to do something quick, unless he wanted to play second fiddle to his own dog the rest of the evening.

"Well, I'll have to mend his broken heart later," he said, dispelling the dog from the bedroom. He closed the door and Ellie came up to him, wrapping her arms around his waist, when he turned around.

"Did I just outstrip your poor dog?"

"On certain points, yes," Brutus avowed good-heartedly and she chuckled. He put a finger under her chin and raised it up, so he could place a playful peck on her lips, which quickly deepened from both parts. Ellie leaned towards him and he took his time enjoying the soft curves of her breast being pushed against, until he realized that the prominent height difference between them meant he had to stoop awkwardly, when Ellie got tired of standing on tip-toe.

"Your tiny pixie," he growled. "You're gonna break my neck one day."

Ellie huffed in mock offence: "Pixie? I'm average size, your big oaf."

"Pipsqueak."

"Leviathan," she purred impishly against his lips.

Brutus lifted her of the floor so sudden, Ellie gave a yelp of surprise, and throw her down on the bed. She laughed, when he then proceeded to climb the mattress himself, towering above her, one hand and one leg on each side of her small frame. The sensation of his much larger body, pressing her into the bedspread when he lowered himself down to kiss her, was terrifyingly exhilarating.

"You're quite bold for a pixie," Brutus noted banteringly, his soft husky bass sending shivers of delight through her entire body and Ellie closed her eyes inevitably, when his mouth traced her jawbone and finally found rest in the notch between her collarbones.

"Well, that's what happens when you hang around in a prison for too long," she managed to response, a little breathless.

Brutus chuckled. "I knew we would ruin you."

He came up to meet her mouth again and Ellie kissed him fiercely, cupping his face in both hands. Brutus wrapped one arm around her upper back, pushing her as closely against him as it was physically possible; his other hand slid up under her uniform dress, grazing her knee, palming her thigh, and Ellie's breathing rose. She seized the bottom of his shirt and tucked it from his trousers, her hands moving up his naked back and around his broad shoulders, fingers digging into his muscles, when the kisses deepened eagerly.

The rtzzz-sound when he found the zipper to her dress made her quiver in anticipation. She needed so badly to feel him against her; his warmth, his skin, his beating heart.

"You have no idea… how many times… I've been thinking about this moment today," Brutus mumbled between kisses while they both had a struggle getting rid of unnecessary clothing and not letting go of one another at the same time.

"You know, I think I do," Ellie whispered, when the last piece fell to the floor; she leaned against him and the sensation of her skin against his firm, naked upper body made her short of breath. She claimed his mouth in a long kiss and Brutus growled like a satisfied bear, deep in his chest; Ellie could feel the resonance in her own body and the sensation of that, his strong hands curled around her rib cage and her butt, drove her absolutely crazy.

It wasn't a moment too soon when he pushed her back into the mattress and the whole world spun to smithereens in heated kisses and soft, breathless moans.

oOo

"I was gonna say I could get used to this," Brutus muttered softly with his mouth buried in her hair. "But I would be lying. I already am."

"Mmm…" Ellie agreed, tightening her hold around him in an affectionate squeeze. "Me too."

He moved his hand from her hip to her shoulder, pulling her into a full embrace, and kissed her forehead. If he could stop the time and live forever in one moment, this would be it. Or maybe the next one, where Ellie propped herself up on one elbow and caught his mouth in a burning, lingering kiss that had him melting into the mattress like hot wax.

How could such a small woman manage to steal such a huge chunk of his heart away? It was as wonderful a thought, as it was scary. Brutus ran his palm down the curve of her back, marvelling her soft skin; she sighed of bliss against his lips when his thump brushed the sensitive spot on her lower back, just above her tailbone. Teasingly languid, he grazed her spine up and down, until she was shivering.

"That's a dirty trick," she murmured, when he noticed how breathless he had made her and smirked.

"Mmm-hmm."

She placed a soft kiss on his mouth. Then she brought her hand up and traced his lips, the bridge of his nose, and the curve of his brows gently with the tip of her finger.

"You have such adorable puppy-dog eyes, you know that?" she said, her voice dropping into an intimate susurration.

"Thanks. We men know nothing better than to be compared to tiny, helpless creatures."

She chuckled at his slightly disgruntled expression.

"It's cute," she assured him. "Maybe you are cuter than me, after all."

"You're ruining my reputation, woman," he rumbled, sliding his arms around her naked waist and pulling her down so he could kiss her.

"Paul ruined that the day you guys picked me up at the hospital," Ellie told him, folding her arms on his broad chest. "He told me you weren't even half as terrifying as you looked."

"Don't tell that to the inmates."

"That you're just a big teddy bear?" Ellie said, biting her lips with a playful gaze at him. "Sorry, but they already know that."

"Oh, yeah?" Brutus growled. "Maybe it's time I redeemed my respect."

She snorted with mirth, when he rolled over and pinned her underneath him, holding her arms above her head.

"You can try all you want, but I will never not find you adorable."

"Careful now," he said, his voice dropping into the deep rumble he knew touched all the right places in her. "You're playing with fire."

She brushed her lips seductively over his. "I know I am."

When he let go of her, she twined her arms around his neck and kissed him and Brutus felt lightheaded by every inch of her naked body being pressed against him; her torso arching under his palm and her legs folding over his hips turned him on like someone had flipped a switch. This time, he promised, he wasn't going to stop until she was so overwhelmed by raw pleasure that she'd forget how to breathe.