Chapter II

Fire of Her Desire

Jake hated this. He lay haphazardly on his couch with only a pair of boxer shorts on and a bowl of Doritos on his flat and muscular stomach. As he lay there - picking the chips one by one and dropping them into his mouth - he felt like the stereotypical girl. She wasn't calling, and he was waiting restlessly.

Three days had passed. Three fucking days and at first he tried to ignore it as nothing more than the fact that perhaps she didn't have time. But Sherry had time, he knew this. It's not like her missions were constant battles against whatever she was facing. If she wasn't calling him he knew it was because she didn't want to call him. To make matters worse, she always left her private cell phone in her locker at the headquarters to where she worked. She carried only her work phone for her bosses to contact her on missions like these.

"Damn it, Sherry," he growled impatiently and grabbed his cell phone and texted her phone, she would see it when she reached the headquarters after she got back. He sent her a simple, Hope you are safe and got back in one peace. Call me, ASAP, and threw the phone on the table beside him.

Jake Muller's apartment was not extravagant. He knew he could afford better than this but he didn't mind. Often he was embarrassed of bringing Sherry here but right now he wouldn't have cared as long as he got to see her and ensure that she wasn't going to remain angry with him. Sherry's new bosses had asked him for more blood and he was forced to raise the price after realizing that they were almost draining him completely. Sherry agreed with him and told him that this was a good idea, that the least they could do was to give him more money and thus they did. He could afford to live better – but he didn't care.

His house was almost empty and demure. The walls were a soft tan color and his rug too. His appliances were all dark and wooden and his couch was black leather. The kitchen looked livelier, it was most white and the floor was tiled, his bathroom was small and empty. Jake's bedroom was simple and messy. A bed, a drawer for his clothes, and a secret box for his weapons.

"Fuck." He growled and stood up, Jake wasn't going to sit around waiting for her call. Angrily he dressed in black pants and a long sleeved black shirt with a leather jacket. He grabbed his knife – just in case – and then his cell phone. He walked out of his apartment .

1 Week Later

Sherry was nervous about calling Jake. She knew that if she did it would probably be to an angry voice exclaiming about how he couldn't believe that she wouldn't message him after a week. She came back to a text message, which saddened her because she knew that he did want to talk to her.

" Sherry!" a voice called to her in the night as she was walking out of the building she called Home. She turned with a gracious smile to see Jeff standing there. He wore glasses and a white lab coat, his dark hair was slicked back away from his face and his eyes were shy and curious as he approached her.

"Hey Jeff, how are you?" She asked him with a hug.

"I've been well. What about you? I heard things got a little rough on the mission," he eye balled the bruise on her perfect face, he hated it, he hated them for constantly putting her on these dangerous situations. The bruise was a reminder that he would have to try to persuade his boss to stop sending her on these missions. The bruise surrounded her right eye and try as he might he found it hard to look like at the black skin there.

"Yeah, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle," she said with her sweet smile, she checked her phone. 8:09 PM. "I have to get going but what's up?" She asked as she turned and started walking towards her car.

"I wanted know if this Tuesday you'd like to go out on that date you promised me." He told her shyly but confidently, "I was thinking to take you to this restaurant that I'm sure you'd like."

"Italian food?" She laughed jokingly.

"Of course," he grinned, knowing it was her favorite.

"Then it's a date, text me when you'd like to meet up okay?" she grinned turning and kissing him on the cheek. "Goodnight Jeff!" She waved as she climbed into her car, he stood there, shivering in the night, "goodnight Sherry," he called back and jogged back into the building with a cheerful grin on his face.

Inside the car Sherry fiddled with all the controls and turned the heat up. October was her favorite time of the year. It was so crispy and cold; it reminded her of when she had met Jake. On cue Sherry's phone vibrated. To her shock it was Jake Muller whose frowning face lit up the screen. She remembered taking that picture, the shock and annoyance that had crossed his features, she laughed at him when that happened and saved it so that whenever he called she could smile. But she wasn't smiling now. Rolling her eyes she pressed ignore and let it go to voicemail.

She turned her Ipod on and plugged it into her car, annoyingly, Jake's favorite song came on which he had gotten her into, immediately she changed it.

It didn't take long for Sherry to get home. But the first thing she noticed, that made her stop for about two minutes was the sleek black motorcycle in the parking lot. Instantly she knew Jake was there, it was his bike. Glaring at the beautiful motorcycle the petite blonde parked beside it and made her way up the stairs towards her apartment. Of course the elevator was an option, but she wanted to delay the inevitable.

When she made it up to her floor, the fifth – she took a deep breath. What am I going to say to you Jake? What are you going to say to me? You disrespected me and humiliated me… an apology is what you had better bring, she thought as she rounded a corner and caught sight of Muller leaning up against the wall with his dirty black boot against the white wall.

He didn't see her at first, he was looking at his phone with a severe frown. When he finally noticed her it was because she had reached the tiled portion of her apartment building and her heels made light tapping noises. Sherry bit her lip nervously

Jake Muller couldn't believe his eyes when he looked at his best friend. There was a huge bruise on her left cheek. Confusion broiled inside of his stomach and he gawked as she stopped in front of him, her blue eyes wide and shining.

"Hi Jake."

"Hey," he sounded confused even to his own ears.

Sherry stared at him.

He hated that she was doing it but knew he deserved it. She was giving him that awkward silence, not completely ignoring him, but forcing him to make an effort to get her to talk, "how was the mission?" He asked her – running a hand awkwardly through his hair but not ripping his eyes from the horrible purple deformity on her perfect face. He wished he was there to slaughter whoever dared to put their hands on her. Jake could remember when that Leon guy had made a move to get near her, Jake was sure he was going to make a move to grab her and that was why he had lashed out and shoved him back. How dare they think to intimidate her in his presence? He had wanted to roundhouse Leon but Sherry had touched his arm and brought him back to a more reasonable level.

"It went well." She answered, taking out her keys and looking for the apartment one. Her door seemed like a haven to her right now. She noticed a dirt stain on the white hallway wall where Jake had put his boot. Jake continued to stare. "How was your week?" She asked. Sherry's voice was small as usual but flatter than ever.

"It was okay, stayed home most of the time."

She nodded, "okay well I have to go inside. I'm tired. Goodnight-

He frowned and stepped in her way, "I'm sorry Chérie, I didn't mean what I said to ya'."

She swallowed.

"I got mad and you know how I get."

"I don't care about 'how you get'. I'm your friend and I didn't deserve the things that you said to me. I've never been spoken to like that in my life. But I forgive you. I'm sorry that I angered you."

Jake let out an odd sound from his throat; she knew this meant relief in Jake's private language. He was relieved to know that this was in the past.

"Do you want to come inside?" She asked him quietly, fidgeting with the key, "I'm in need of wine; I have some beers if you'd like one, I need to lay down or something – I haven't rested in a long time." When he nodded she grinned and let him into her apartment.

Jake had been here before, he found that it was decorated comfortably and darkly – unlike what he had expected. When he first walked in he imagined blue and white furniture with polka dots on the walls and wild carpeting. Instead he had walked into a serene environment where the walls were a deep orange - red. The leather couch was pushed up against the right side of the living room which was past the small hallway entrance. Her flat screen television was pushed to the left in front of the couch. The floor was mahogany and the furniture was black wood. She did have a lot of appliances, a stereo for music, a gaming system, a television, she had things she didn't really need but are fun nonetheless.

"Bud Light, thanks," he threw at her as she made her way to the kitchen and smirked at him. Jake noticed that she had made small changes, for example there was now a deep black rug underneath her black leather couch and it stretched all the way to the coffee table in front of it. The TV was also settled inside of a large stand with a bookcase, there were books all over it. He knew she liked to read – but damn.

"Jake! Shoes off!" She exclaimed as she watched him from the kitchen attempting to walk onto her rug. He frowned and scoffed, taking his boots off and placing them against a wall neatly.

"Happy now?"

"Very."

"When did you get all this stuff?" He asked her, noticing that to the opposite side of the room – meaning on the other side of the couch and the tv stand – the sliding glass doors now had curtains covering them.

"Oh, I got these things one week ago."

"Who installed it in here? I mean, you're strong and all but – a tv stand? This thing covers the entire wall." Jake turned back to look at the blonde female who was coming his way with a glass of wine in one hand and a beer can in the other, he took it graciously and started drinking.

"I got a co-worker to help me out."

He tensed, "Why didn't you call me? I would've brought this up here with one hand."

"Well he wanted to help," she shrugged, "and he was really efficient too Jake. Stop being so mean-

"Are you kidding me? I bet you it took him two hours to bring all this up here, it could have taken me fifteen minutes."

"Sure thing Macho-Man," she laughed wildly at his attitude and face, he looked at her with a dark frown, "Let's watch a movie," she told him with a smile, "I'm going to go change. Do you want some clothes? I knew it was a good idea to buy you some clothes just in case you needed to crash here."

"I'm not crashing here," he informed her and watched her simply roll her eyes and go down the hallway towards her room. When the light turned on and the bedroom door closed he tried to keep his imagination from running wildly. This is my friend, stop being such a fucking pervert.

When Sherry came out she was wearing black sweats and a long-sleeved black t-shirt. She tossed him long black sweats too. "Change," She demanded and walked to the couch, sitting down and flipping toward the on demand section of the huge tv she had just turned on.

"Sherry-

"you owe me." She grinned wickedly. He rolled his eyes and followed the path to the bathroom.

Outside Sherry bit her lip and sipped on wine. She knew what Jake looked like shirtless. She had seen it. And he looked… fantastic. So… completely domineering and dangerous but it was so alluring. He had this way of staring at her, like if he could just flip her world upside down if he really wanted to. Unlike Jake, Sherry didn't keep her mind from running wild.

She imagined that Jake had muscular thighs, strong and capable. She imagined that they were scarred too, a lot like his upper body. If you looked closely there were little cuts here and there.

"Happy?" Jake Muller growled as he returned shirtless.

Sherry's jaw dropped and she struggled to look away. His ego inflated and he struggled to keep it from his lips. But alas, he couldn't help it.

"Apparently."

"Shut up." She hissed and removed her eyes from the sculpted muscle. Oh my god, why is he shirtless? Can he read my mind too? I can't think about that stuff, he's my friend. We're supposed to be friends. "Why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

"Because you didn't give me one and as you know my body temperature runs hotter than humans. It's fucking burning in here." He informed her and plopped down on the couch, gulping the beer. "So you ever goin' to tell me how you got that bruise?"

Sherry shifted uncomfortably, trying to not look at him, "some guy kicked me in the face. I was caught off guard." Jake frowned. She was so careless sometimes. "I was caught up in thought," Sherry explained, reading his face, "He was coming around the corner and I was so focused that I didn't see him and he clocked me right in the face."

Jake glared. "You have to be more careful-

"I know-

"What if he had killed you Sherry? Jesus – what if he had really hurt you, and I'm not talking about bruising what if he had done more? What then? What if it was a bullet in your face instead of a boot?"

"I'm sorry-

"Its not a matter of apologizing to me! Its about takin' care of yourself, and what the hell was so important that you were too focused on it to think about the fucking guy coming around the corner?" He asked irritated.

She blushed and stared at him wide eyed. "You. I was thinking about you."

It came out of her mouth like if she hadn't realized it before and he should've known. But Jake didn't know, he didn't have the faintest idea that something like that would come out of her mouth. And for that reason he was thrown completely off track in his irritation and his train stopped right there.

He felt conflicted. In one hand he held the more rational side that told him to apologize for speaking to her like that, that he should be happy. But the other side was angry at her for thinking to even spare a moments second with thoughts about him. He wasn't as important as her safety on a mission.

"Why the hell isn't it healed up yet?" he asked in a quieter tone, trying to change the way the conversation had been headed.

"I have to enable it – it doesn't just happen automatically, I've learned to control it and make a conscious effort. I've been using it so much lately – I think I should just let my body cope with injuries in a healthy way. I shouldn't rely on this too much, bad things happen when we rely on our abilities all the time." Sherry stood up and noticed his beer was finished and fetched him some more, taking a sit beside him.

The entire time they watched the movie in silence except for when Jake would get up to get more beer. On his sixth beer he looked at her curiously and dizzily, she was shivering. "Sherry are you cold?"

"Yeah," she chattered out and shoved her hands deeper between her smooth thighs. She looked at him and noticed how he swayed; she herself felt a bit tipsy, "are you drunk?"

"No." He lied.

Laughing she pulled him to the couch, "Yeah you are." Jake rolled her his eyes and splayed himself out, Sherry growled in her throat as he took up all the space with his long body.

"So," he took a sip of his sixth beer, he had a higher tolerance than a lot of people she knew but Sherry could tell it would be soon that he'd collapse. He didn't drink much until he came to the U.S. On one hand he was a lightweight, in another he was not, "this guy that's taking you out, am I gonna' get to meet him?"

"No," she laughed, "that would be very awkward."

"Why?" He slurred, "Is he gonna intimidate me?"

"No, I'm not worried about that."

"Then what are ya' worried about."

She said nothing to him for a long time and he started to drift a bit in thought and exhaustion, "I think its just that you are too intense, he may feel put off and then you would pick on him. I know you Jake Muller- Ow!" She hissed as his foot collided slightly with the back of her head. She shoved his leg away from the top of the couch and he simply threw it up again and let the other one rest on the floor.

"Really? So now I have to stare at your crotch?" She asked. He had his legs wide open.

"Mhm hmm," He hummed and shut his eyes, feeling very sleepy.

"Jake, move," she complained when her head collided with his damn foot on the top of the couch again. He wouldn't budge. "Jake!" She whined again and this time he shushed her. "Damn you." She hissed and settled into the couch uncomfortably. They weren't even forty five minutes into the damn movie and he had drunk himself to sleep!

"Jake, please sit up." She complained once more. To her mild surprise Jake Muller did sit up and he just stared drunkenly at her before throwing his head back and snoring away. She rolled her eyes and laughed before deciding it was too cold in the living room.

Sherry got a blanket and sat beside him again. He was interesting when he slept. He didn't look so angry anymore, a little angry, but not so angry.

Sherry rested her head against his shoulder. He smelled like the cold and a bit of cologne. Throwing the blanket over her form and his she nestled to her friend's side and drifted to sleep.

In the night, the two friends seemed to be connected to each other's body temperature. Slowly Sherry would fall over more towards his side, and Jake, compelled by the pressure on her side fell over so he was lying down on his bad on the leather couch. One leg thrown out and the other foot resting on the floor and Sherry's face on his stomach.

Naturally Sherry continued adjusted herself and slowly her face made its way up to his chest in the following hours.

Her arms came around her best friend and his right arm around her as if to protect her from harm despite the fact that she could take care of herself for the most part. She would whisper little mutterings here and there and it would cause her breath to tickle his skin. Jake shivered under her like a leaf in the fall and he would take deep breaths every now and then causing her to move and shift until her face was nestled deeply into the crook of his neck where she breathed in his calming scent like a drug, taking deep breaths and exhaling all over the flesh of his collarbone. Jake shuddered and pulled her closer. Sighing when she was touching him everywhere.

Sherry would whisper every now and then, "Jake…"

He would shiver and stroke her arm in return, then breathe deeply and pressed her closer until there was nowhere else for her to go.

Then the silence would resume.

Her leg intertwined with his, her hands rested on his side, his hands curled around her waist and he remained flat on the couch with her body joined to his.

In the night Jake woke up. It was about 5 am. He drowsily looked around, feeling that something was shaking his side. Upon further inspection he realized it was Sherry was shivering slightly. He was shocked to see their position, he didn't feel it was appropriate for friends, but strangely he felt his heart throbs and the thought to press his lips to hers came to mind but he stopped it instantly. She's my fucking friend… beautiful as she is – she doesn't want me that way and I shouldn't ruin what we have.

Jake turned to face her and pulled her blanket over the two of them. He shut his eyes and to his mild surprise and pleasure he was magnetically attracted to his body heat. She pressed herself against him. His breathing hitched.

"Fuck… please not now," he growled quietly as his body began to respond to her as she shifted a little against his crotch. "Shit, shit, shit." He groaned as she adjusted herself a little more and pressed her face to his chest. Her breathing was light but she was not his body temperature. He felt it so much more. "Please not now."

The entire night Jake struggled to regulate his breath as she would wake him stirring. He was forced to finally place his hands on her hips to keep her from rubbing against him by mistake. Just wrapped her around him and rested her head on his arm beneath her head. His other hand was strong on her hip – keeping her a distance away.

He stilled her long enough to get some sleep and rest – he won this battle but feared he might lose were this to happen again.

He was positive it would happen again.

Did you enjoy it? I'm going to be speeding things up now so review because that's my encouragement to continue :)

I also wanted to address the ChrisxSheva thing - you all do know there is a fandom for those two right? Many people reacted with shock - I didn't really understand it I mean - why not? Sheva and Chris are pretty cute in my mind, oh well, they will remain a thing in my mind forever :0

REVIEW MY DARLINGS, THEY ARE WHAT MAKES ME MORE HAPPY TO WRITE FOR YOU ALL : )