Chapter 3

Liz was dumbstruck by Red's words and just stared at him. She was speechless for a moment, trying to register exactly what it meant.

"So you…. you're the one who saved me that night"

Red nodded slightly but didn't say anything. He wasn't sure what to say at this point.

The tears that had been pooling in Liz's eyes now fell and it only took seconds before the tears were streaming down her face.

"Why didn't you…. tell me?" she asked between sobs.

Red just wanted to scoop her in his arms to comfort her but wasn't sure that it was the best idea right now. So instead he grabbed both her upper arms and started stroking them with his thumbs.

"Shhh, please don't cry, Lizzie. It's okay now"

Liz's face was screwed up from crying and through her tears she saw a desperate Red looking at her. He clearly didn't know what to do at this point, so Liz decided to do what she'd wanted to for a long time. She took a step closer and wrapped her arms around Red's neck, sobbing against his bare shoulder.

After only a second of hesitation, she felt Red's arms come around her and felt him pressing her closer to his body. Even though they'd hugged before, this embrace was by far the closest and most emotional one to date.

Red could feel the hot tears falling from Liz's chin onto his shoulder and rolling down to his chest. He closed his eyes and started stroking Liz's hair. He felt bad about causing Liz to cry but was relieved that she finally knew and he didn't have to hide it from her any longer.

They stood there like that, in a warm embrace, for minutes until Red felt and heard that Liz had calmed down a little.

"Listen, the reason I didn't tell you was because it didn't matter. What was important was that you got out of that house safely. It didn't matter who got you out of there or how", he said, taking a small step back so he could look at her face.

"But all this time…. " Liz swallowed hard, "You were the one that saved me and I didn't know"

Red took both of Liz's hands in his and brought them to his lips, "That's okay, Lizzie. Yes, I saved you that night, but like I said, it was a long time ago" he kissed her fingers softly before giving her a sweet smile.

Liz looked at him, the man that she loved so dearly. All this time she'd been having these feelings but she was afraid to come clean. Now they both knew how they felt and it was such a relief. Taking in his beautiful smile, a thought came to her. She grabbed one of his shoulders and tugged on it, telling Red to turn around. She needed to see the scars one more time.

Red furrowed his brow but obliged and slowly turned his back to her again.

Liz let her fingers run over his back slowly and she felt another lump form in her throat. She swallowed hard and told herself not to cry again. Her eyes felt a bit puffy already and she knew that Red felt helpless when he saw her in tears.

She traced patterns over his back with her fingertips and felt Red's breath hitch slightly.

She leaned forward and replaced one of her hands with her mouth, placing a soft kiss on his right shoulder blade. The scarring there was quite thick and she realized that Red must not have felt it, seeing that he didn't react. She went a bit to the left, kissing him more on his neck than on his back this time as there was no scarring there.

As she'd expected, Red took in a sharp breath and held it. He wanted to turn but Liz had put her hands on his shoulders to keep him from doing exactly that.

She started peppering his back with kisses, from one shoulder to the other and then a path down until she reached the waistband of his pants.

Red stood still the entire time. He couldn't believe it when he had felt her lips on his neck and he had wanted to turn around to make her stop. But she had stopped him from doing so, before starting to kiss his entire back. He hated it at first, because he hated his scars but the longer it took, the more he started to enjoy it, especially the parts where he could clearly feel her lips. At some point he had closed his eyes and decided to just let it happen.

He had been pleasantly surprised by Liz's reaction to this all. His fear had been that she would walk away from him, not wanting anything to do with him anymore. Her breaking down was something he had expected but her kissing him, definitely not.

Liz had stopped as soon as she had reached his waistband. She walked past Red and sat down on the couch where she patted with her hand next to her as to indicate that Red should take a seat.

He sat down next to Liz and felt the cool cushion of the couch against his bare back and shuddered involuntarily.

Liz noticed and took his hand closest to her in hers and stroked the back of it. "Thank you. For everything" she said, before leaning in and kissing him gently on his right cheek.

Red stilled. "You're welcome, sweetheart" he said before turning his head to face her. She hadn't sat back yet so they were now so close that their noses were almost touching.

"And I truly am sorry for everything I have put you through. I was selfish and I have been stubborn. I think the reason why I have been so distant and cold to you over the years was because I didn't want to admit my feelings for you" Liz said while looking down at her hands that were still clasping one of Red's. She was afraid to look into his eyes because she couldn't handle seeing the pain in them anymore.

Red softened at hearing Liz's words and moved his free hand to lift Liz's chin to make her look at him. He felt that it was his turn to take the next step and could only hope that Liz was okay with it.

"I know why you did what you did, it just wasn't a smart thing to do. But I guess you found that out the hard way" he whispered, his lips almost touching hers.

"I was very hurt and felt betrayed by the people I love most" he continued, "I still am in pain but I guess it will just take some time to get over it"

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Liz said, looking at Red's lips before looking back at him.

Red took this as a sign and slowly nodded before leaning in and softly pressing his lips against Liz's. He held it for long moments before moving away slightly, giving Liz the chance to either continue or stop.

Liz opened her eyes for a moment so she could look at Red. He had a hopeful smile on his face and Liz smiled back before leaning in and kissing back. This kiss had more pressure and want to it.

Red took her head between his hands and tilted his own head to get a better angle. He licked Liz's upper lip and she granted him access immediately and their tongues found each other. They both seemed to fight for control and as the kiss started to deepen and quicken, Liz placed her hands on Red's bare chest.

She started running her fingers through his chest hair and heard a low moan escape Red. The sound of it went straight to Liz's core. Red's fingers went from her face to her head and were now tangled in her hair. After what seemed like forever they broke the kiss, both gasping for air.

They rested their foreheads against each other and waited until they were both breathing normally again.

"Lizzie…." Red started but Liz was quick with putting a finger against his lips, "Shhh, don't" she said, knowing that by giving him just one second to think, it could be enough to make him stop this immediately.

Liz pushed Red with his back against the couch and straddled him before he could do anything.

She started stroking his hair, that was oh so soft, down his sideburns, over his lips and rested her hands on his shoulders, leaning in closer.

"Listen, we should take this slow but I don't want you to question whether this is something I really want or not. Because I do, Red. I love you and I want to be with you", she said, looking at him intently, wanting him to see that she meant every word she said.

She kissed him again to emphasize her words. God, those lips of his. She only wished she'd gotten to those sooner. Much sooner. She deepened the kiss and felt Red's hands roaming her back. She imagined those hands on other parts of her body and groaned into his mouth.

Red couldn't believe this was happening. Not in a million years would he have thought that Dembe locking them in here would have these results. He revelled in the taste of Lizzie's mouth and her lips against his was something he had only dreamt of and even then it hadn't been as good as it was now.

He broke the kiss and took Liz in his arms, cradling her against his body. Liz rested her head on his shoulder and Red started rocking back and forth. Liz could feel Red's erection against her thigh but didn't react to it. Now was not the time or place. But she sure as hell was beaming with pride that she had such an effect on Reddington.

She got up from the couch and took Red's hand and pulled him up as well. They hugged one final time before Red put his clothes back on and they walked towards the door hand in hand. Who would've thought this would happen when only two hours ago they couldn't even so much as look at each other, Liz thought with a big smile on her face. She looked at Red and he had a similar look on his face.

"We should talk about what to get Dembe" Red chuckled, happy that his brother had done this.

Red pounded on the door with his fist, "Dembe, open up please"

It took a moment before they heard him come closer and respond "Why? Are you done talking?"

"Yes, we are" Liz answered, giving Red a quick kiss on his lips. Now that they had kissed, she had a hard time staying away from him.

They smiled at each other as they heard Dembe unlock and open the door.

They both blinked at the sunlight and stepped out of the warehouse. Dembe closed the door behind them and followed them to the car, watching them getting in. He only hoped that they really had had a good talk.

As he drove off he looked in the rear view mirror. What he saw made him smile. Unlike that morning, Liz was now sitting right next to Red, her head resting on his shoulder and Red was holding her hand in his, softly stroking it.

Dembe now knew that everything was going to be okay.