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Elizabeth stood by the fireplace, staring into the flames as they crackled and flickered. The moment that brought her here flashed in the white heat that burned her eyes. The bullet floating closer, the time and space around it slowing, as she accepted the quiet sentence it brought. Her life had shimmered like a film reel, showing her the faces of those she loved before it would inevitably spin out into darkness.
“Lizzy!” his fretful voice called out.
His arm lurched in front of her, into the bullet’s path, as he tackled her to the ground. They landed in an entwined heap. It all happened so fast that Liz took no mind for herself.
“Reddington?” she panicked. He didn’t answer. He didn’t move. “Reddington?!”
“I’m alright. Are you hurt?” he asked, attentively.
As they unfurled under the hammering of gunfire, Liz searched for a wound, blood, anything. She found and felt nothing. His anxious eyes never left hers.
“No. You?”
He pulled his gaze away from her to look down at his chest and arms. There was no sign. Until Liz lifted his wrist. The face of his expensive watch was shattered and broken. Warped lines of sharp glass splintered around the bullet still lodged in the shining steel.
“They say a roaring fire does wonders for high blood pressure.” Reddington’s soothing drawl lured her from her trance.
The threshold of the fireplace came back into focus. Warmth emanated from the jigsaw stones, soaking the log cabin in an amber glow. Since the shootout, Reddington had retreated north to Vermont. With no cell service, she had driven all this way feigning the need for intel on his next move. She had made it just in time before the snow hit. Now, they were each waiting out their own storm. It was Christmas time after all.
“I could sure use it.” Liz answered as he took the other side of the hearth. “For this job.” She eyed him behind folded arms looking into the pit, the light glistened the whites of his eyes.
A torturous silence passed until he broke it. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For so long, I’ve tried…to keep you out of harm's way.” Reddington uttered into the dancing flames. “And I’ve failed.”
Liz suddenly felt the weight of his anguish on her furrowing brow. She pivoted towards him. “You saved my life.” The cold wind whistled against the windows, carrying the battering snow in its icy grip. “It’s not the first time.”
He was still, a language telling that he didn’t need a reminder. “I wish I didn’t have to.”
She almost felt offended. “And I’ve never thanked you for that.” Liz confessed, the thread of lament weaving through her words.
That lifted him out of the fire. He faced her with that strained look of surprise and confusion. “You don’t. Ever.” Reddington scolded.
“Then, let’s make this the first and only time.” Liz reached up to the mantel and brought down an emerald-green box. “Here.” She paced forward, closing the space between them.
“What’s this?”
“Open it.”
Reddington took the box in his hands and cranked open the lid, turning its content into the light. Inside the pristine case, the bright steel shimmered around a velvet cushion. The bold blue and crimson bezel polarised its face as its hands ticked under clear glass.
“I had it fixed.” Liz leaned into the words, as if passing a secret, letting a proud smirk curl her lips.
Reddington was speechless.
“I know how fond you are of it…and I couldn’t help feel guilty about what happened.”
“Elizabeth-” he began to protest.
“But.” she stopped him, raising a finger excitedly. “There is one difference.” Elizabeth tilted the watch into the firelight and pointed to help him see. The consistency of its face was flawed and veined. Two different metals rippled through the timepiece. “See? It was so broken that it couldn’t be bonded back together.” she told him, softly. “So, I had them melt down the bullet…to fill in the cracks.”
Reddington mused over the scar. His light-hearted eyes lifted in interest, unable to hide his admiration for ingenuity.
“Now, every day, you’ll have a reminder…of how much I owe you.” she finished.
Reddington’s fascination faded. His brow hardened into a frown. “Thank you.” he pushed out.
“You're welcome.” Her pride sobered when she realised how troubled he looked. “It was the least I could do. I owed you that much.”
“You don’t owe me.”
“I do.”
“Elizabeth.” he began, setting down the box.
“Don’t do that.” she scorned him.
Reddington arched a brow at her. “Do what?”
“Don’t-” Liz swallowed her argument, pursing her lip to stop it from quivering. In that breath, the fire sparked as if licking at the tension in the air. “Just once…put yourself over me.” she pleaded with a sigh.
He stood there with his arms by his sides, defenceless. The corners of his mouth fell agape until he blinked the expression away. “I can’t do that.” Reddington forced what sounded like a vow from a tightness in his throat as if each word caused him pain.
“Why?”
“Because keeping you-” he paused. “Keeping you alive…is all I could ever want.”
His grey eyes were stoic, defiant, and Liz could not contest him. Whether she gave it or he took it for himself, her life was in his hands. She knew that.
They stared at one another for the longest time, entranced like to the fire that simmered beside them, and Liz couldn’t wait any longer. The rising heat flushed her skin. Her lips were drawn to his and, with one final downward glance, she floated toward him like that bullet. This time, Reddington did nothing to stop it. She kissed him gently, slowly, and Liz felt his own receive her. He was chivalrous, obliging, letting her lead.
Liz held him there. Her blood was warm but flowing steady and she waited for him to stop her. He didn’t.
She finally pulled back and opened her eyes. His were already waiting.
“What was that?”
“That was for me.” Liz said, righteously. “I don’t think I’m on any lists, this year.”
His pale eyes turned dark. “Maybe he’s still deciding which one to put you on.”
“Well, he’s taking too long.”
Her eyelids were heavy and sure but, inside, Liz was trembling. She wasn’t alone. She could see it in the subtle rise and fall of his shoulders. It gave him away.
The air was thick, unbearable, and like the moth and the flame, there was no telling who met first. All she knew, before her eyes closed, was his hand shooting toward her face.
He held her as he pressed a heated kiss against her own. Taking his time, Reddington opened his mouth against hers as she clutched the side stitching of his vest and wound an arm around his neck. His other hand wrapped around her waist and pulled her close. Reddington deepened, angling himself into her, and she fought back. The clashing sound of heightened breath and grasping limbs was making her head spin until Liz realised she was actually spinning. Reddington had whisked her around and she stumbled backwards. The backs of her legs met the edge of the sofa and they fell together onto the cushions.
Reddington braced and curled an arm under the small of her back, supporting her as she lifted herself further onto the settee. Her pelvis met his stomach and that’s when he sunk.
His weight nestled between her legs and a pulsing sensation rippled through her abdomen. Liz scrambled to lock herself around him, to hold onto that feeling, unable to contain the amorous moan from deep within. He heard it. Breaking from her lips, Reddington peppered kisses down the soft skin of her cheek before pressing into the corner of her jaw. Needles tingled through every nerve in her body and crashed against the heat in her core. The sharp intake and breathy gasp that followed filled his ear and Reddington hummed against the nape of her neck. He knew exactly what he was doing. She knew exactly what she wanted.
Liz pushed his shoulders up. Kneeling upright, he unbuttoned his vest as she fumbled and unclasped his leather belt. The sound of his zipper harmonised with the whip of his patterned tie and Liz didn’t let him finish. He had only loosened two collar buttons before she was bunching his pants down and unzipping her own. Reddington was there, hooking his fingers into both waistbands and tugging them down as she lifted up. She kicked off her light blue jeans and wrapped her legs around him, again, pulling him by the length of his tie and taking back his mouth. Reddington was already hard. She could feel him as his hip brushed the inside of her leg.
“Lizzy.” he shivered, seeking permission as they settled flesh-to-flesh. His dexterous fingers were combed into her hair.
“Just shut up and kiss me.” Liz exhaled.
Reddington obeyed, falling back into her fever and wrestling against her desire. His hand left her hair, caressing over her collar bone and between the valley of her breasts, grasping her hip as he aligned himself and, after another devouring kiss, slipped into her. He was perfect, filling her with one thrust, and Liz broke against his lips. Her breath hitched feeling him inside, waiting.
Despite all of his strength, a powerless sound poured from his throat and melted down hers. It was tender, unveiled. She’d never heard Reddington so vulnerable and Liz took it inside herself, keeping it like a promise. Reaching down, her fingertips pressed into the dimples at the base of his spine, kindling him. Reddington reacted, moving slowly. He swayed like candlelight, back and forth, and Liz met his thrusts like a wave to the shore, sighing breathlessly. Reddington matched her, groaning like the raging storm until Liz couldn’t tell the difference. All she could do was feel.
He rippled through her walls. Liz tugged him closer, inside and out, holding onto the rising ecstasy that burned within her. Her blood boiled, coursing through every vein until they were on fire. Liz breathed quicker, shorter, grasping for air, until she almost stopped. Muscles tensed and her leg seized uncontrollably. It was Reddington. His fingers had curled inside her knee, lifting her higher as he pushing deep. All the air rushed in, choking her, arching her back as Reddington brought her to the highest peak. Her crown dug into the sofa and a hand shot up to the arm rest for purchase. Liz pushed into him when he flinched. A growl somewhere between pleasure and pain rose above her, pushing the air from her lungs. Liz cried out as her blissful climax erupted against his own. A flash of white light illuminated the darkness behind her eyes and she opened them to see the man she loved. It was quiet now.
*
Reddington lay at her back, stroking her bare shoulder with his fingertips. His other hand cradling hers as she watched the reflection of the fire flicker in the white steel of his watch.
“Do you like it?”
“I do.” he professed. His lips were now finishing what his fingers started. “I won’t ever take it off. We never know when I might need it, again.”
Liz’s head spun to face him. He was already looking down at her with a devilish gaze.
“After all, it’s my job to put myself over you.”
Her lips tightened, trying to hide the smile curling at his double-entendre. “Means a lot more roaring fires.”
“Mmm.” Reddington rumbled pleasingly at her perception. “Naughty.”
Liz bit her lip and shook her head. “Mm-mmm. That sounds nice.”