Unrequited: The Story of her Life
A short story starring
Claire Redfield
and
Leon Kennedy
Chapter 2: Speed
The bus raced down the dangerous highway while the rain beat mercilessly on the tin roof. It pinged, sounding like bullets against body armor, and making the patrons on the bus shiver in fear. There was no slowing down. There was no stopping.
The bomb fused to the accelerator was making damn sure that no one, anywhere, was going to get off this one way trip to hell.
It was a nightmare.
Gripping the wheel, Claire felt the tears spill wet and warm down her cheeks. The driver was dead in the back. He was finished. The gunshot to the abdomen had finally finished him off merging onto the I-90 corridor. She'd barely reclaimed the wheel from him in time to keep this two ton death wagon for overturning and taking its thirty patrons with it. If she didn't keep this thing moving, they'd all end up road pizza before they ran out of gas.
That was the big risk here. She had to find some gas - soon - because they were down to an eighteenth of a tank and there was no way to determine if this was the very last time any of them would consider public transit.
The terrorist had attached the bomb to teach someone a lesson. Who? It was hard to say. But the truth was that it also didn't matter. Surviving was all that mattered. She had to keep these people alive. She had to. There was a goddamn baby on the bus weeping wildly behind her.
She had no choice but to drive this cursed chariot like Ben-Hur.
She hitched out a breath as the motorcycle whipped between two cars and raced toward them. Curious, she watched it pass by the bus and slow down rolling close and closer until it was lined up with the door. Claire hit the handle and released the hydraulic doors with a hiss of metal gears.
And Leon Kennedy tugged the helmet off his head and let it fall as he called about the roaring wind and engines, "I'm gonna jump aboard, Claire! Hold her steady ok!?"
No! Was he insane? That would never work!
But he was doing it anyway.
She held the busy straight as he brought the bike as close to the bus as he dared, balanced the handlebars like a circus performer, and leaped off the back in an action movie homage that left her breathless even as the bus full of patrons cheered him on. He caught the door and Claire's outstretched hand and she jerked him forward into the bus with them.
And cried, "ARE YOU INSANE!? What the hell is wrong with you!?"
He patted her arm and soothed, "I'm a hero, Claire. This is what I do. Easy, kid. Breathe."
Patronizing ass.
Who was he kidding!?
And he turned to the bus to inform them, "Another bus is coming. We're going to set a bridge between the two and those of you who can are going to cross it onto the other bus."
Someone called, "What about those of who can't?"
"Wheelchair bound patrons will be carried free. But we're on borrowed time. This highway? It was never completed. In about four miles, the goddamn bridge runs out. And we're all gonna be taking a nose dive to the great beyond."
Jesus Christ. They were screwed.
...and why was this familiar? Why was she having deja vu? Something was off here.
No one questioned him. He was in a tactical vest and boots. He had guns on him. He had great hair. He looked like a guy who knew what he was about. He looked like a hero. He sounded like a cop.
They all believed him.
His presence on the bus put everyone at ease but her. Why? Because her belly always felt funny when he was around. Claire whispered, "What about me? If I let off the gas, the damn bus will explode."
"I know." He touched her shoulder, "Trust me."
She did. But she was terrified.
One by one, the patrons were all lined up and led to the new bus. One by one they were carried or walked to safety with the aid of the agents on the adjacent bus. It was well done. It was a nice rescue.
And then it was her and Leon alone on that bus.
She said, "...ok, hero, what now?"
He grabbed a piece of the rack for bags above her head and snapped it clear. He pressed it down on the pedal where her foot was resting. He wedged it there as the bus gained speed.
"Let go of the wheel and take my hand, Claire. Trust me."
She did. No questions asked. Their rescue bus was gone. Their only hope was hatch in the back where you could open the bus to get to the underneath for repairs. They were going to what...use it like a sled and just...SLIDE OUT!?
WAS HE KIDDING!?
Again - deja vu rolled in her head.
Ignoring it, Claire said, "No. No no no. You can't be serious. We'll fucking die Kennedy. Splat. Smoosh. Crunch. Wedged between pavement and twisted metal...sandwiched. No."
He kicked the metal release. The door hit the pavement and sparked. It screamed. And he said, "Times up for doubt, kid. Let's roll."
Jesus.
She slid down the metal door with him, gripping his vest in both hands. He tucked her against his side, one hand on the small of her back, the other hooked at her hip. Into her ear, he murmured, "Hold on, sweetheart, it's gonna be a bumpy ride."
And the door screamed as it split from the bus. The metal threw fire in a long jagged line along the pavement. The bus kept going, they skidded in circles like a sled gone wrong. The door whipped and spun, Claire put her face in his neck and closed her eyes.
The wind rushed.
The world roared.
The rain was wet on their faces as the door skipped to a stop and thunked against the retaining wall of the highway...eight feet from the end of the road. They watched the bus go over. She heard it roar as it was airborne. She heard it hit beneath in the great beyond. It ticked. It tocked. It tumbled.
It burst and burped fire in a red blaze on the bloody sky. Dusk turned the world pink and purple and scarlet. Her eyes blinked into the rain. It slid down the cleft in his chin as he leaned back to see her.
And he grinned, "See? I'm a hero. It's what I do."
Patronizing ass.
She kinda hated him.
Her hands slid down his vest and hooked around his back. She grabbed handfuls of his ass and his brows shot up into his wet hair. "Yeah? Heroes kiss the girl, Kennedy."
"I'm still on duty, ma'am."
"Yeah? Story of my life." But she still tugged his laughing mouth to hers to kiss him in the rain. There was the sound of sirens approaching.
There was the sound of success coupled with the blazing sky of the wreck of the murderous bus. It was a win for the good guys today. The heroes were triumphant.
And Claire popped their mouths apart to gasp, "You ever get the feeling you're having deja vu?"
Confused, he blinked twice, "No. Are you?"
"Vaguely." The rain made the blue of his eyes look like warm ocean waves. She was drowning in them. Droplets gathered on his lashes, leaving reflections of her flushed face staring back at her.
Her breath hitched as she moaned, "Who cares?" Her hands jerked at his belt. It made no sense at all. They could hear the sounds of approaching rescue vehicles. They were in the pouring rain, on a steaming piece of metal in the middle of a broken highway having survived a bomb on a bus by a madman. There was no time for nookie.
The dress she wore under the denim jacket was easily hiked up. He didn't even argue, bless him. Her panties gave a rip of cloth as they tugged free in his eager hands. The metal teeth of his zipper seemed loud even against the sirens blaring signaling they weren't alone.
Claire angled her hips on the steaming metal. She gathered him free of his tactical gear and stroked the heavy length of him in her damp fist. They kissed until her face throbbed with happiness.
The red and blue flashes of the emergency vehicle lights punctuated their coupling. She heard the shouts of the help arriving even as she braced her feet on his calves and took him. Her needy body stretched to swallow the first desperate thrust. His belt clinked on the ground. Her hands curled like claws into his vest to hold on while he hammered her sucking heat.
EMTS moved over them while they fucked madly. Agents circled the wreckage and ignored them.
It all made perfect sense.
It made perfect sense to be fucking Leon Kennedy in the rain with people all around. His hands hooked under her left knee to anchor her body. It looped her leg up and over his arm. The angle sharpened. Her body seized madly around each surge of his co-
The alarm was so loud she thought it was her screaming.
Nope.
It was time to wake up.
Face down in the pillow, Claire made a sound like a frustrated sob. Why? Every damn time. Why? Her stupid dreams were getting more explicit.
The night before last it was Princess Bride. She brought him back from being "mostly dead" with a blowjob and fucked his body back to life in a pretty blue gown. Tonight, apparently, it was Speed. He was the Keanu Reeves to her Sandra Bullock.
A bus full of fear. A flight of fancy. A fuck in the rain. Although they didn't show the fucking in the movie. Apparently, she wasn't going to get the whole show even in her dreams.
Annoyed. Aroused. Unfulfilled.
These were the staples of her existence.
She rose from the bed and lumbered to the shower. The hot water hit her gritty eyes and had her muttering. After, it was two cups of coffee and a trip to the office.
She had a trip to Minnesota this afternoon. The small town of Moose Mountain was waiting for her to arrive and initiate the plans for an all new irrigation system. TerraSave was responsible for cleansing all the T-Virus from the surrounding major cities after a viral outbreak.
To keep the water clear, a new system was being implemented to funnel out residual bacteria and reluctant viral contagions. Even though the population had been vaccinated, the chance of a stray citizens missing out on the public hearing meant eradicating all traces from anything pertaining to populace consumption. Which meant a monumental clean up effort meant to stimulate all potential forms of infection.
Water, air, and waste were the major factors in infection. So they were the first to be monitored and controlled. After that, it was a matter of making sure the population was informed and protected. Inoculation was standard now with most infants. It wouldn't be long before the T-Virus was stopped at birth.
It was a huge concern in third world countries where there was no access to standard healthcare. But America was a leader in vaccination. It was easy to get it federally mandated for infants at birth.
She was standing in the cold gray air of the Minnesota winter, waiting for her UBER, when a black sedan slid to the curb. The tinted windows rolled down. The grinning face poked out.
No dream this time.
The real thing.
And Leon Kennedy mused, "You need a lift, kid?"
Yep. Get me under the backs of my thighs. I'll do the rest.
Claire laughed, shaking her head. "Don't you have better things to do than pick up boring aid workers in remote cities on freezing mornings?" Like me. Do me. That's a good start.
He shrugged, "Save the world; play bodyguard for a friend." His hands did the imitation of scales going up and down, "Six in one hand, half dozen in the other."
You can guard my body anytime, Kennedy. "Well, I'm glad you're here. The last time they sent that guy Spence. He was so boring. I did everything I could to get him to laugh."
"You moon him? I tried that in Quebec once to shake him up. He's like one of those guards outside Buckingham Palace. Dead pan. Seriously."
She couldn't help it. She pictured him mooning her. Her belly quivered. "You ready to see how the simple folk live?"
"Honey, I was born ready."
Ready to ride? Ready to roll? Ready to rumble? I'm ready for all three.
She sat beside him as he drove. They laughed. They joked. They talked about Chris and Jill and Barry's granddaughter just born to Polly and her husband Stu. They talked about bikes and bars and which big chested bimbo was currently sleeping with Carlos.
She wondered what he'd do if she just reached over and put her hand in his pants.
The sedan slid down the darkening highway as he mused, "Might see some snow while we're here huh? Haven't seen any since I was in Russia last."
Claire licked her lips twice, trying to focus. "Yeah? What for?"
"What else? Borscht."
She crinkled her nose in disgust. "Don't be gross. Why would you put that shit in your mouth?" I taste better. I promise you.
"Why not? You know I like to try the local cuisine, CB. Speaking of which, I could get my grub on. You want to stop and chow down?"
Lord.
There was a special roasting place in hell for him for being the stupidest man alive. Because she was betting he wouldn't even get it when she blurted out, "Oh, I can think of a few thinks you could definitely eat your fill of."
"Yeah? What's your pleasure, kid?"
You.
Practically a genius, they said. Practically an idiot. That was really being unfair. She'd never even flirted with him. She'd never even stared at him. There was no way he could know what she was thinking.
No way on earth.
And no time like the present.
Her hand slid down the inside of his thigh and she purred, "My pleasure is your pleasure, Mr. Kennedy."
He murmured, thickly, "Tell me what you want, kid."
"I'd rather show you."
The car slid to a stop on the side of the road. Her fingers smoothed against his zipper. His slid around her ponytail to cling to it as she lowered her mouth to warm length of him.
Her lips curled over her teeth to protect the meaty girth as she bobbed up and down, up and down, up and down. His head dropped back on the seat. He surged her hips toward her. She eagerly tongued down the length of his di-
The sound of a horn blaring had her jerking in the seat.
She was staring at the flashing yellow light of a stop light over Flountbast Street. Leon smiled at her a little in the driver's seat. He was parking in front of a cafe called Moose Tracks. Lord.
He laughed a little, "Must have been a good day dream. Want to share?"
Fuck.
She needed a new hobby.
Fantasizing about Leon Kennedy was killing her.
Uncomfortably aroused, she sighed loudly. "Work stuff. What else? Ready?
She watched him head toward the diner. She watched his butt in the cute deconstructed jeans he wore. She sighed in the cold winter air.
Who was she kidding? There was no chance in hell that she'd ever put her hand in his pants and go down on him in the dark on the side of the road. She wasn't that girl.
She was his friend.
It would take a pretty rough set of circumstances to change that. All she had to do was keep her distance and she'd been fine. Seriously.
She could control herself.
Looking a little disgruntled, Leon hung up on the call he was one and headed back toward her. "Well..good news, bad news, kid. Which do you want first?"
Claire shrugged, "Good."
"Good news is the snow looks like it might just pass us by. Bad news is...the cabins they reserved? One flood this morning. They only have one left. How do you feel about bunking up?"
...seriously?
But even still. It was only one night right? She could handle that.
"You get the couch, Kennedy."
He laughed as they went to eat.
It was no big deal. She could handle it. One night with him on the couch. Cake. Easy peasy. No harm no foul.
It should have been simple.
It wasn't even close.
At six a.m. Claire wandered out to find Leon shirtless in sweat pants on the porch of the cabin they were staying in. She might spent too long staring at his muscled back...if it wasn't for the horror waiting beyond his perfect ass. The snow hadn't passed them by.
Nope. It had come with a venegance. Mountains of it. Piles and piles and piles.
He turned, coffee in his hand, and shrugged. He managed to look sheepish as he said, "So much for Minnesota weathermen huh? Looks like were snowed in, baby. Know any good jokes to pass the time?"
Claire blinked at him.
He shifted his shoulder again in a shrug and all ten of his perfect fucking abs shifted with his muscled shoulder. "I saw some board games in the closet. Wanna play Operation?"
Was he kidding?
She was hoping there was Twister.
She was trapped in a cabin in a snowstorm with Leon Kennedy.
It wasn't a bad dream. It was a nightmare. She was being punished for some sins she had committed. This was surely the fight of her life here. She could do it. She could win this battle.
And her greatest battle had a tattoo of a dragon looped around his left shoulder. Apparently, it was breathing fire into her pants. All she knew? Snow or not. It was hot in this frozen wasteland. It was boiling. It was a slow descent into a stifling, soul searing endless inferno. Her hormones were ablaze. Her loins were burning.
She was trapped in a cabin with her best friend. She was trapped in a cabin with her secret obsession. She was trapped in a cabin without a dildo.
She was in hell.