Leon? A Word, Please?
Author: Tani2
Genre: Romance
Rating: M for explicit sexual content, mature themes, violence, and language. You have been warned.
Timeline: Six months after the conclusion of the events of RE5 with flashbacks in italics
Synopsis: Leon and Claire help Chris and Jill move into their new home. Bothered by how his sister interacts with her best friend, Chris decides it's time to have a man-to-man. What he learns is more than he bargained for. Pairings are Leon/Claire and Chris/Jill
Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or any of the characters in this story, nor did I profit from their use in this work of fiction. My purpose is one of philosophical fulfillment: I write, therefore, I am.
Author's Notes: Thank you to everyone who is still hanging in there with me. Please enjoy the fourth of my five lemons starring Claire and Leon.
CHAPTER 4: A Nightmare on Claire's Street
Cumberland, Maryland: the master bedroom of a suburban home on the East Side
"OH, GOD! PLEASE, DON'T HURT THEM! PLEEEASE!"
Claire shot up in bed, gun in hand, aiming at the empty darkness in her bedroom. Her hand shook as she pointed the Browning back and forth at the shadows that surrounded her. Senses on high alert, much as most of her fellow outbreak survivors would be, it took her a good few minutes to realize that it had all been a dream.
A horrible, hellish dream.
She was not in an Umbrella research facility. She was not strapped to an operating table. Her legs were still attached to her body, and her arms still looked quite human. But most of all, she was alone. Chris wasn't strapped to the table to her left. Leon wasn't strapped to the table to her right. And Steve . . . Steve wasn't looming over her in mutant form, wearing a tattered white lab coat, carrying the axe he'd had in Antarctica, and telling her not to worry, that they'd all be leaving together. He hadn't told her he loved her before cutting first Chris and then Leon in half with that axe. None of it was real, even though she could still hear how the crunch of the axe through their bodies abbreviated their cries of pain as they were each killed.
And Steve didn't lift the axe above her and bring it down on her head. That definitely didn't happen.
That's when she woke up crying, as she always did when she died in her dreams. Having realized that she wasn't in mortal danger, she put the gun down on her comforter. She was breathless and sweating and her nerves were fractured, but she was so grateful to Fate, the heavens, and the powers that be that it had only been another bad dream.
Claire wiped her tears with the backs of her hands, but every time she did, her eyes would leak all over again. She just couldn't seem to stop sobbing. Seeing Steve like that . . . seeing him hurt Chris and Leon . . . .
Without even realizing that she was doing it, she picked up her cell phone and dialed Christopher's number. It rang for a while, and then went to voicemail.
"Oh . . . right. He and Jill are off on assignment in Iceland. He said there'd be no cell phone signal where they were going."
She stared down at the phone in her hand. She didn't know whether she should make the other call or not. Finally, she sighed and dialed. She was crying again before the person she called picked up.
"I just need to hear his voice."
Washington, D.C. - Georgetown district: the bedroom of a swank luxury condominium
RING!
RING!
RING!
The more masculine of the bedroom's two occupants groaned into his pillow.
RING!
He pushed the sheet off his head and peered at the alarm clock with one squinted eye.
RING!
Twelve forty-seven a.m. He frowned.
RING!
He sighed and picked up the cordless. He yawned into his arm and then grumbled into the receiver.
"Kennedy here. Somebody better be dead." There was no answer. "Hello?" Still nothing. "You have until the count of three to speak, or I'm hanging up. One. . . . Two. . . . Thr- . . ."
"Leon?"
"Yeah?"
"Um. I'm sorry I woke you."
"Who is this, please?"
There was a little sob and then a shaky sigh. "I shouldn't have called. I'm sorry I woke you."
"Claire?"
"Yeah. It's me. I should go."
"NO! I mean . . . wait a minute, Claire. Um . . . why are you crying?"
She chuckled, but it was underscored by sniffling. "Don't worry about it. It's stupid."
"If it was important enough for you to call me in the middle of the night, then it's not stupid. Now, what's the matter?"
She couldn't stop crying now. "I didn't mean to wake you. I'm so sorry. Tell Angela I'm sorry if I woke her." She didn't sound at all bitter. She sounded contrite.
"What?"
"Good night, Leon. Tell Angela good night for me, too."
"Claire, wait! Claire? Claire!" Dial tone was the only reply. He quickly dialed her cell number, but it went straight to voicemail. "Godammit, Claire!" he growled in frustration. Clearly, she had shut off her phone.
Leon threw off his covers and jumped out of his bed. He turned to the female he was sharing his bed with, caressed her head, and told her, "Go back to sleep, Honey. I have to go take care of something. Don't wait up." His bedmate just closed her eyes and snuggled deeper under the covers. He went into the kitchen, made certain there was something avalable for her to eat just in case he didn't get back for a while, then rushed into the bathroom to take a quick shower.
He was in his clothes and out the door in under ten minutes. Before he hit the door, he grabbed his car keys, house keys, and government I.D. He was gonna need the latter, because he was planning on doing some serious speeding. His Secret Service identification was a must to keep from getting arrested every time he got pulled over.
'And I'm definitely gonna be pulled over,' he thought. He got behind the wheel of his new 2007 Mazerati Gran Tourismo and gunned the engine.
He tore out of the parking garage of his building at over eighty miles per hour. He hit the highway at about a hundred and twenty miles per hour and raced towards the Maryland state line.
At normal hours and with normal daytime traffic patterns, Claire's house would be almost three hours away from his Georgetown condo by car. But at the speeds Leon pushed his Italian roadster, with the lack of nearly any cars on the road, and after getting pulled over four times for less than two minutes each time (thanks to his government I.D.), he reached her neighborhood in just over an hour. He slowed from his one hundred seventy-five mile per hour speed to a respectable fifty as he exited the off ramp.
Leon parked in Claire's driveway right behind her 1965 Shelby Cobra convertible. Her Harley's characteristic shape could be made out under a tarp where it sat in front of the Shelby. He smiled. They both loved speed. It was no surprise they both owned European grand touring roadsters.
He got out of his Mazerati and walked up the side path to the back of her house. He didn't bother to ring her doorbell this time, knowing she wouldn't answer anyway, in the mood she was in. Plus, it was possible she'd cried herself to sleep, so he wouldn't want to wake her if she was sleeping. Claire was the strongest woman Leon had ever met, but on the rare occasions when she fell apart, she became the most fragile woman he knew. He sighed. 'What am I gonna do with you, Red?' he mused.
Leon pulled out his lock-picks and let himself in the back door, entering her spacious kitchen. He smiled. Claire had been the first person he'd ever seen pick a lock. He'd thought back then that a criminal had taught her. But Leon had learned the skill, along with several others like picking pockets and hotwiring cars, from the same person as Claire . . . BSAA Agent and former S.T.A.R.S. member Jill Valentine.
Leon took off his shoes and left them by the cellar door, knowing how she was about her carpets the last time he was there. He made his way upstairs and into her bedroom. He found her sleeping, but not so peacefully. She was sobbing into her pillow.
He took off his faded gray jeans and black socks, leaving him only in a dark gray pair of boxer-briefs and a black fitted tee. He carefully lifted the comforter and sheet and slid slowly into bed beside her. He gently pulled her against him, stroked her hair out of her face and kissed her left cheek. Her eyes flew open and she pressed a gun underneath his chin. He had no idea where she'd just pulled that from. He saw her hands when he got into bed, and they were empty. She'd have to teach him that trick.
"Hi, Claire," he said with a smirk. "It's nice to see you, too."
When she blinked the sleep from her eyes, and focused on him, she sighed in relief. "Don't scare me like that, Leon!" she scolded groggily.
"Sorry," he whispered.
She nodded her acceptance of his apology and closed her eyes, snuggling deeper into his embrace. "S'okay," she muttered into his chest.
A moment later, her eyes shot open again. "Leon?"
"Yeah?"
"What're you doing here?"
He shrugged. "You called me in the wee hours and you sounded a wreck. So I came to see if you were okay."
She stared at him, blinking in disbelief. She glanced over his shoulder at her digital alarm clock. It was only about an hour and a quarter from when she'd hung up on him. "How are you here so soon? You live like three hours away!"
"Only if you obey traffic laws," he replied with a chuckle.
She lowered her eyes and stared at his chest. "Leon, I know you don't really want to be here, so you don't need to stay. Please, leave."
"Not until you tell me why you were so upset on the phone."
"It's not a big deal. You should go."
"I don't wanna go."
She chuckled humorlessly. "Sure you don't."
He could hear the sarcasm in her voice. It was cold and empty, like the way she spoke to him after Downing was arrested in Harvardville. He sighed and hugged her. "There isn't anywhere I'd rather be right now than right here with you." She frowned and shook her head. He sighed and caressed her cheek. "Come on, Claire. Don't be like that. I came because I was concerned about you. Don't politely blow me off. I hate that we talk to each other like strangers." His arms were already wrapped around her, so it didn't take much effort for him to rub her back. "You used to let me hold you when you were frightened in the night." Although they never slept in the same bed until the night she left back when they were on the run with Sherry, he had certainly comforted her after many a nightmare . . . and only been punched the once.
She sighed as his fingers worked magic on her lower back. The bumps and bruises from Harvardville were still pretty sore. She shook her head. She couldn't let him get inside her heart again. Not when she knew he belonged to another woman.
"That was before."
"Before what?"
She looked up at him with a frustrated frown. "You know what. We didn't exactly part ways in the friendliest of manners five, six years ago."
He nodded. "I know. But five and a half years is a long time. I'd hoped that maybe you weren't as angry with me anymore."
She shook her head. "You're the one who's angry with me."
He smirked again and kissed her forehead softly. "Do I look mad?"
She smiled a little. " But I thought you were angry . . . in Harvardville, you . . . ."
He interrupted her. "Harvardville is over. The only thing that matters to me about that day is that it re-connected me with you."
Her smile broadened. "You were always so sweet, Leon. I've missed you. I wish I never said the things I did to you."
He shrugged. "It's how you feel. And you were right. You asked me to take care of Sherry and I failed you both."
She shook her head vigorously. "No, that was cruel of me. You tried to protect her. That's more than I did. If the government couldn't hold on to her, how could I blame one injured man, when I'm the one who left in the first place." She swiped fresh tears from her eyes. "I left in a bad way, and I never apologized for that. I hope you know how sorry I am. And especially after what we shared that night, for me to leave before you woke up was so wrong."
He sighed. "Look, Claire. I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that it didn't hurt, both me and Sherry." She lowered her gaze, but he lifted her chin to face him again. "But I also know that what you said in your letter was true. I don't know what it feels like to lose my entire family save for one person. I can't imagine how terrified you must have been to possibly lose Chris, too. To maybe lose the only immediate family you had left."
She shook her head again. "But it wouldn't have been the last of my family. I still had Sherry." She caressed his cheek. "I still had you. And when we lost Sherry . . ." She gripped his hand. "We lost Sherry, Leon. Not just you. When we lost her, I realized that I might have been able to prevent it if only I hadn't been chasing after Chris." She started to cry outright. "I left a child and an injured rookie with one day of real police experience to go try to save a man with military training and biceps the size of my thighs." She chuckled humorlessly as she turned to grab a tissue from the box on her nightstand. "And in the end, all I did was get myself captured." She wiped her eyes and sniffled. "What the hell was I thinking?"
He shrugged. "You were thinking that you needed to find your brother. I don't blame you, Claire. I haven't blamed you for a long time now. And I'm sorry for the things I said that day, too."
"You were just defending yourself against the terrible things I said to you."
He sighed and placed two fingers to her mouth. "Enough. It doesn't matter. It's been forever since I'd seen you before two weeks ago, and at the end of that day, I thought it would be forever until I saw you again. It . . . it hurt to see you and then lose you all over again, Claire. I don't want to argue about who was the most angry in the past. I just want to hold you again . . . like old times. When we were a couple." She licked her lips and shivered a little as he ran his fingertips along her lumbar spine again. "See? I didn't come all this way to argue. I just want to make you feel good." His smile was full of warmth, as was the kiss he bestowed on her lips right after.
She smiled a little sheepishly. "Don't do that."
He smirked at her and then kissed her lips again. "Why not?"
"Because . . ." she started. She didn't finish her thought. She suddenly felt him move his leg under the covers, and when it brushed against her shin, she realized she felt bare skin. "Leon . . . where are your pants?"
"On the chair by the wall." He kissed her lips, throat, chin, and again her lips. He smirked at her as he slid one hand under her t-shirt to massage her braless breasts.
She stared into his eyes then narrowed her own. "Leon, it's really not cool to leave one woman in your bed to go get into the bed of another one. Now, I may not be fond of Angela, but I won't be a party to you treating her like that. So, get your hand out my t-shirt, get your clothes back on, and get right back in your car. Go back to your girlfriend. I'm fine. I told you that on the phone."
Leon rolled his eyes and sighed. "Okay, first of all, I wasn't in bed with Angela, or any other woman, for that matter. The only other soul in my bed when you called me was my cat Honey, and for the record, I've never slept with Angela. I haven't even gone on a date with her."
"No, you just went 'diving' with her, whatever that sexual euphemism means."
He frowned but didn't dignify her comment with a response. "Second of all, you called me crying in the middle of the night, hung up, and then you wouldn't answer the phone when I called you back. Do you honestly think, after all the horrors we've witnessed, I'd just shrug and roll over to go back to sleep after that, not knowing if you were okay?"
She sighed and shook her head. "I guess not. I mean, you're here."
"That's right. I'm here." He kissed her again. "Now tell me what's wrong and then let me make you feel better, so you can get back to sleep."
She bowed her head in shame. "It was just a nightmare, Leon. A stupid nightmare, and you've driven almost a hundred and fifty miles in the middle of the night over it. I'm sorry, Sweetheart. I really am fine. You don't need to stay. I don't want you to be late for work tomorrow."
He smiled. "It's okay, Claire. I'm still on leave for another couple of days. Hunnigan asked the President to give me a break since I seemed to be so burned out after Harvardville and the mission in Shanghai that followed it. And truth be told, even if you had talked to me on the phone tonight, I would still have come to check on you." He slid a hand down her torso this time and teased her through her pajama pants. "Although . . . I won't deny ulterior motives," he said with a playful smirk.
She smiled. "I suppose I know you would have come no matter what." She sighed as he found her clit and rubbed it to a stiff little peak. She caressed his hair off his face where it was blocking her view of his right eye. "How was that other mission? Was it the one you got the text about right before we parted ways in Harvardville?"
"Yeah." He shrugged. "Mission's a mission, I guess."
"I suppose. Chris said he saw you."
He nodded. "That's right. We've crossed paths quite a bit over the years."
She smiled. "It's so funny that you've become so close with my brother and yet it's only been one time that I've even been in the same room as both of you at the same time."
"You both visited the training facility and wrote me often when I was being morphed from a cop into an agent."
"Yeah, but we almost never even got to see you when we visited. Just that one time." She giggled. "And I was so flabbergasted at seeing you again, I didn't say a word! Chris teased me for weeks!"
He smiled. "Doesn't matter. I knew you both came to try to see me, even when we didn't actually see each other in person. It got me through the bad days."
"I'm glad. It's just weird, ya know? I mean we all talk on three-way sometimes, but it's still so odd. And Chris knows you and I barely ever see each other, and yet he always asks me about you. I think that of all the guys that have ever been prospects for me, he likes you the best."
Leon was surprised by that. "Yeah? How so?" He pushed his hand down her pants and rubbed her naked sex.
She exhaled loudly and returned the favor, sliding her own hand into his boxer-briefs. "Well, he teases me about you instead of trying to shoot you on sight."
Leon laughed. "I don't know. The first time we spoke, when you were held prisoner on Rockfort Island, he had a few choice words for me."
She laughed as she stroked him a little faster. "You were some stranger calling him on what should have been a secure line, telling him his sister was being held prisoner by Umbrella when he didn't even know I'd been in an outbreak. He thought you were an Umbrella operative and that I'd been kidnapped from my school. It sounded like a threat to him."
He laughed along with her. "Yeah. I know how it sounded. I would have probably reacted the same way if some random dude called me about my baby sister."
"How is Emily? And your parents for that matter . . . how are they?"
"They're fine. I'll tell them I saw you."
She shook her head and stopped stroking his cock. "Uh, you'll tell them you saw me in Harvardville. You will not tell them you crept into my bed in the middle of the night to put your hand down my pants. I know how inappropriate your sense of humor is."
"Ha! You've got some fucking nerve saying my sense of humor is off color!" He smirked and rubbed her faster as a hint for her to continue to do the same for him. "So anyway, I can't tell my mother and father about this?"
She gasped then giggled. "No!" She immediately went back to stroking him.
He slowed his hand and kissed her cheek. "Oh. Well, I guess I can keep it a secret . . . but it depends on what you plan to give me to buy my silence." He smirked wickedly.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "You play dirty, Agent Kennedy."
He chuckled. "Hey, I deserve a little fun after the way your older brother traumatized me when I called him that first time."
She giggled. "Why? What did he say?"
"Well, when I started telling him things you'd said only the two of you would know, he said I'd tortured it out of you to gain credibility with him so he would go to Rockfort and fall into my nefarious trap. He actually used the word 'nefarious'. Then he threatened to remove my means of procreation."
She laughed even harder. "Good lord, Chris! Paranoid, much?"
Leon shrugged. Claire giggled a little, but stopped when she saw the intensity in his gaze. He leaned in and kissed her again, pushing his tongue between her lips, and his finger between her lower ones. She returned the kiss with equal fervor, wrapping her free arm around him. They stroked each other harder, panting against each other's lips.
They made out for several minutes, tentatively at first, but after a while they were as comfortable with each other as the last time they'd made love.
He pulled his hand out of her pants, extricated hers from his underwear, and pulled it up to his face to kiss her palm. "That was nice," he said.
"Yeah. Unexpected, too. I thought you didn't like me anymore." She looked down at his chest, unable to face him. She'd been pretty cruel the last time they parted ways after his training ended and he surprised her. And just two weeks before in Harvardville, they'd been treating each other like they weren't even ex-lovers, not even old friends. And he seemed far more interested in Angela than her. She'd cried about it to Chris a few days before, when Chris visited her and mentioned seeing Leon in Asia. She had been so upset about how they spoke to each other. They talked to one another like . . . former work associates or something. Maybe not like total strangers, as Leon had suggested, but definitely not like people who'd shared their most intimate moments. Not like people who'd shared the loss of her virginity. Not like people who had been in love. And she knew that was her fault. She just didn't even know how to begin to make it right.
Leon placed his hand under her chin and tilted her head up to face him. "Of course, I still like you Claire. You're the most important woman in the world to me except my Mom and Emily."
She smiled, a little embarrassed. "Thanks, Leon."
"You don't need to thank me, Claire. I've seen you naked. You kinda grow on a guy when he's seen you naked."
She chuckled. "Perv."
He smiled. "Besides, you're kind of irresistible, ya know?" He tickled her left nipple.
She giggled. "Yeah? Well you're pretty irresistible, yourself."
They kissed again. He caressed her face. "I should tell you that no other woman I've ever made love to meant as much to me as you do."
She smiled and pulled him on top of her. "Will you make love to me tonight, Leon?"
He nodded and smiled. "I'll make love to you anytime you want as long as we're both single, Claire. I want you to always remember that if you need me, you only have to ask. But I will never encroach upon your happiness if you find it with someone else."
She smiled back at him. "That goes double for me, Leon."
He nodded and kissed her, thinking there was no one else but Claire, and there never would be. "Okay. Now that's all settled, give me a minute. I'll be right back." He got out of bed and strode out the bedroom door.
She stared after him in shock. "Hey! Where the hell are you going?"
"Bathroom! I stopped at an all-night drive-thru Dunkin Donuts on the way here! Fucking large iced tea is about to explode out of me!"
She giggled and shook her head. 'Oh, well,' she thought. 'At least it gives me a chance to have a little surprise waiting for him when he comes back.'
Leon finished emptying his bladder and washing his hands. He walked back to Claire's bedroom feeling pretty damn good about himself. He hadn't made love to Claire in over five years. The last time, four months without her had almost killed him. But five and a half years of no Claire . . . how had he survived?
'I hope she's ready for me,' he thought. But when he opened her bedroom door, he wondered if he was ready for her. "Wow," he muttered as he closed the door behind him, unable to tear his eyes away from her.
She smiled. "You like?"
His eyes traveled her body. She had changed her clothes while he was out of the room. She'd traded in the white T-shirt and brown flannel pajama bottoms she'd been sleeping in for a baby blue see-through teddy with black satin trim and a matching thong. The straps on both the nightgown and panties were a continuation of the black silky outline that ran the edges of each piece of lingerie. She was sitting in the middle of the bed on her haunches, her knees a little far apart while she toyed with the edge of her nightie . . . a sexy pose if ever he'd seen one. And to top off the look her hair was down. It reached all the way to the small of her back. "Oh, yeah. I like, alright."
"I'm glad." She looked him up and down. "God, Leon. I can't get over how big you got since the last time we were together. And to think I thought you were hot before!"
He leaned back against the door and crossed his arms, his muscles flexing to strain at his t-shirt. "Nothing compared to how you've changed, Claire."
"Yeah? How so?"
"You looked so . . . young before. Still incredibly beautiful, mind you, but young. Since we parted ways, you've developed into such a stunning woman."
She chuckled. "I don't know if you're saying I was immature before or that I'm old now."
He smiled in amusement. "How old are you now?"
"Twenty four. I'll be twenty-five in December."
"Damn! You're getting up there! That's a quarter of a century!" He chuckled as he remembered her saying in Atlantic City that she thought he was old like Chris, who was at the time twenty-five.
She laughed. "Oh my God! Don't say that!"
"I'm only teasing. You look fuckin' smokin', Baby."
She pushed her hair back off her forehead. "Thank you, Leon."
"No need to say 'thanks'. You look almost exactly like you did the last time we were together, but you carry yourself with a bit more maturity. You seem . . . I don't know, more confident about having sex with me. Otherwise the only thing that's different is your hair is longer and your naval is pierced." He kept up his smile but inside he thought that the other change was that her leg was scarred from Harvardville. That brought back memories of the pain of thinking she'd died in that explosion. He pushed the thoughts away quickly.
She smiled, oblivious to his painful memories at seeing the surprisingly well-healed faint scar on her leg. "You noticed my belly ring?" she asked seductively.
"Yeah I noticed," he responded with a sexy little smirk. "I'm actually looking at your piercing right now. I can see through that nightie, you know."
She giggled. "That was the general idea." She toyed with her blue topaz and onyx naval piercing through the sheer material of her chemise. "So, why are you standing way over there, anyway?" she purred seductively.
He chuckled. "Just enjoying the view."
"What can I do to get you to come closer?" She unfolded her legs out from under herself to reveal a pair of black stiletto heeled strappy sandals. The lack of scuff marks on the bottoms told him they were brand new.
His eyes widened. "Can you keep those on?"
She toyed with the heel of her left shoe. "Sure."
He walked over to the bed. "See? You know exactly how to make me come closer." He stopped at the foot of her bed. She took off her nightie and tossed it on the floor then laid back and peeled her thong down off her hips. She lifted her legs in the air and slid the tiny scrap of material up their length, giving him full view of her sex. "Mmmm. I remember that," he sighed. She giggled and slingshot her thong at him. He caught it effortlessly, took a whiff, and closed his eyes. He sighed in ecstasy. "God, no woman ever smelled as good to me as you do, Claire."
"Thanks . . . I think."
He smiled and opened his eyes before tossing the thong over his shoulder. "Well? You wanted me closer. I'm over here waiting for you to make the next move."
She giggled and crawled across the mattress toward him, then used his body to pull herself to her knees. She tilted her head up as he bent to kiss her. There was no uncertainty this time. This time, they kissed with a passion and longing that stated clearly how much the nearly six years apart had affected both of them.
He pushed her down onto her back. He caressed her torso from her flat stomach up to her full breasts. "I fucking love your tits, Sweetheart. You know, when we met, before I got a chance to, uh . . . inspect them firsthand, I thought they weren't real?"
She giggled. "You thought I had fake titties?" He nodded. "That's hysterical! If I had that kind of money, I'd have spent it on another motorcycle, not another excuse for men to stare me in the chest when they talk to me."
Leon chuckled. "I hate to admit it, but I've done that from time to time in the past." She gasped and giggled as she slapped his arm. He laughed even harder. "Well, can you blame me? I mean, you really do have a perfect set of breasts, Claire. They're big . . . D cups, right?" She nodded. "Yeah. Big beautiful D's, but they're so firm . . . it's like they defy gravity." He jiggled them a little. "And they bounce extra nice for me when I pound you."
She chuckled. "They love you back. Wanna show them a little love, now?" She wiggled her eyebrows.
He moaned. "Thought you'd never ask." He knelt to the floor and leaned down to take her left nipple into his mouth. He sucked it hard, pulling on it with his lips.
She bit her bottom lip as her eyelids fluttered closed. He suckled, licked, teased, pinched, and nipped at her hardened little nubbin. "That's so good, Leon. You always treat my breasts so nice."
He didn't answer with words, he just moved his head to give the other nipple equal treatment. She stroked his hair and caressed his cheek. She smiled at the feel of late night stubble on his face.
He pressed her breasts together and sucked each nipple alternately. She moaned and gripped his face with both hands. She pulled his head up and kissed him.
He smiled. "Problem?"
"Yeah. You're getting me too excited too fast. I want this to last. You were right . . . it's been far too long. And since neither of us has work tomorrow, I expect nothing less than being pleasured all night."
He nodded. "I think I can handle that."
She smiled and kissed him again. "Want to use a condom?" she muttered against his lips.
"Not particularly," he replied, and then smirked. "Why? What are you trying to say?"
"I'm not trying to say anything, Mr. Sensitive. But if your slutty, diving ass gives me herpes, my brother will murder you."
He chuckled. "I'm clean, but I'm not naïve enough to believe that all my partners have been. That's why I use a condom every time."
"Not with me you haven't."
"You were different . . . a virgin."
"Not the second time."
He thought about Steve Burnside and shrugged. He sighed. 'She's right. I even asked her if she'd had sex with anyone else in the four months we were apart. She lied to me and fucked me without a condom anyway. For all I knew at the time, I could have caught anything indirectly from Burnside. I guess she must have had herself checked out. Or at least I hope she didn't risk giving me something. I'd like to think she'd be a bit more sensitive about viral infections, considering all we've been through with Umbrella.' He looked her in the eyes and tried to smile. "I guess you're right. You certainly were not untouched the second time." She didn't notice but he sounded a little sad. "Well, I don't know about you, but you've always been different to me. You're the only woman I've ever had sex with sans protection."
"Aww, that's sweet. I've never had sex with a woman without a condom, either."
His eyes widened. "You've had sex with a woman?"
She giggled. "God, you're easy. No, I was just joking."
"Damn," he replied in mock disappointment. "Too bad. Thanks for the imagery though."
She slapped his arm then kissed him again. "Perv. Now, stop talking and start loving. I'm clean, too . . . and still on the pill. If you want a condom, I leave it up to you. I think there's some in the nightstand."
He quirked a brow. "Why do you have condoms in your nightstand?"
She smirked. "What the fuck, Leon? Do you think I sat around the last few years pining for you or something?"
He smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. This time, she definitely noticed the sadness in his tone. "No. I guess you wouldn't."
She sighed and kissed him. "Sorry. I suppose talking about other men I've had sex with is kind of a mood killer."
"Little bit, yeah."
She couldn't believe it. He looked genuinely hurt! "Leon! Are you mad at me?"
He shrugged. "Not mad. Just . . . disappointed. I mean, don't get me wrong. I know we've been broken up for a long time, but it's a hard pill to swallow knowing you haven't belonged solely to me."
She looked guilty, then a little indignant. "Well . . . are you gonna tell me you weren't with other women while we were apart?"
He shook his head, actually looking a bit ashamed. "No. I've had sex with a lot of girls since you, but . . . ." He shook his head. "Never mind. Forget I mentioned it. You'll probably just call me a hypocrite."
"No, I won't. Please, tell me. I want to know how you feel." She smiled as reassuringly as she could muster. But on the inside, she wasn't feeling so great. Assuming he'd had sex with someone else since they broke up and knowing he had was a big difference. And he said a lot of girls. She didn't like knowing that at all. She realized that she'd hoped he'd been pining away for her. 'Bitter pill, indeed,' she thought.
"Well, I know you don't care about what I do with other girls, Claire," he replied. "But I wasn't a virgin when you met me, so why would you care? But since I was your first, I'm kind of possessive about you. And all the women I've been with since you were one-night stands, and they never were in my home. The fact that you have condoms in your house, by your bed . . . I feel weird about the fact that I know you've had sex with someone else in this very room, this very bed. Someone you might have shared a real relationship with. I just . . . regret that we never had that."
"Leon, how could you say that? We had a relationship!"
He shook his head. "We never got a chance to. Every time we connected, we were broken up before it could go anywhere."
Her face fell. "I've never seen it that way. I thought you felt like I was your girlfriend from the day we met until . . . well, until four months later."
He stared at her for a moment. She couldn't possibly be serious. Then again, maybe she just saw them as not exclusive, or that he was a fall-back boyfriend after the man she truly loved had died. He sighed and smiled at her. "Sure, Claire. I'm glad you feel that way." He kissed her cheek. "And I'm sorry if I'm being moody and unreasonable about your love life. I know, it's just stupid male pride, but I can't help how I feel."
She smiled. "I don't think it's stupid or unreasonable at all, Leon. I think it's sweet." She kissed him with tenderness and affection. "And I'm so happy that you feel that way about me, Sweetheart."
He smiled a little more genuinely. At least she cared that he cared. "Thanks for understanding, Claire."
"Thanks for giving a damn, Leon. You make me feel like a lady when you talk like that." She kissed him tenderly. "Now, drop your drawers, ya hypocrite, so I can swallow your giant cock."
He laughed out loud as he pushed his underwear down his thighs. "Lady, my ass."
Claire moved down to get on all fours on the mattress. She took a delicate hand to his manhood, which was now completely erect, and lifted it towards her lips. She kissed the tip, licked around the circumference of the head, and then sucked the top half of it into her mouth. He moaned quietly.
She started a gentle rhythm of slow suction. He moaned again as she took him a little deeper into her mouth. His eyes traveled her body.
"God, Claire. Look at that ass. I can't wait to be back there fucking you."
She moaned and released him from her mouth. "Mmm. I can't wait either."
"Sure you don't want someone else back there?" he teased her.
She laughed. "Don't be a tool, Leon. I'm with you now. That's all that matters. And if it's any consolation, you're still my biggest lover ever, and the only man to date to make me scream."
He smiled, but he didn't believe her. She'd told him five and a half years ago that Steve made her scream and that Steve made her cry tears of joy. 'Oh, well. It's not the first time she's lied to me about him.' He pushed those thoughts away and focused on her tiny hand as it stroked his rigid length.
Totally unaware yet again of her lover's inner turmoil, Claire went right back to pleasuring him with her tongue. Every time she took him deep in her mouth, he moaned. She would occasionally look up at him, with those beautiful shimmering blue-grey eyes, and his cock would twitch with need from that look. He was a slave to that pretty face, those stunning eyes, and when she looked at him like that, no other man she'd been with mattered anymore.
She suddenly released him with a loud pop. She laid back on the bed and rubbed her sex a little then beckoned him with her finger. He pushed his boxer-briefs the rest of the way off and got onto the bed. He didn't even bother to remove the T-shirt. He stretched out on his back and stroked her hair before guiding her head back towards his cock. He wasn't ready for her to stop giving him head yet. She was very good at it. Better than he remembered in fact. He didn't let himself dwell on why she was so much better at fellatio than the last time she'd done it for him. But before her mouth sank down his length again, erasing all thought, the word 'practice' drifted across his mind.
She sucked him hard and deep, using her hand to take up the slack. She stroked him up and down as she bobbed her head. Suddenly, she took him even deeper, until almost all of his nine inches was in her mouth. His face contorted with desire.
"Holy fucking shit, Claire!"
She smiled around his shaft and sucked him faster as he grabbed her hair, simultaneously pulling it gently to guide her and moving it out of his way so he could watch her take all of him down her throat again and again. She then took him in her mouth to the root, and gagged on his cock. When he shivered with delight and groaned deep in his throat, she felt her sex tighten a little. She continued to suck him all the way up and down, but she did so very slowly.
When she slowed down, he released his death grip on her hair then caressed her free hand where it rested on his thigh. She caressed his hand in return. They shared gentle touching for a few moments, but Claire didn't break rhythm from giving him head.
As she continued to pleasure him, he slid his hand under her torso to massage her breasts. She moaned around his cock, making him groan from the feel of the vibration of her voice.
"Okay, that's enough. I'm ready, Baby," he gritted out from between clenched teeth. "You can stop."
She released his cock again. "Yeah?" she whispered while eyeing him seductively. "How do you want it?"
"I want you on your back first."
Leon moved to his knees and Claire rolled to her back. "Oh! Wait a minute, Leon. Can you close the blinds? My neighbors are nosy. We've been quiet so far, but if memory serves, we can get pretty loud. My neighbors' kid especially has been a little peep . . . and he has a telescope. I caught him watching me get dressed one day when I got out of the shower and didn't close the curtains."
He chuckled. "Little shit."
She smiled. "Not so little. Seventeen years old and almost as tall as you are. Scrawny though."
"Want me to pull the government agent shtick and pretend to arrest him for peeping?"
"Nah. Not at present. If it keeps being a problem though, I'll give you a call."
"Okay." He hopped off the bed and went to do as she'd asked. He closed all the various blinds and curtains on the windows that circled her bedroom. When he closed the blinds on the balcony door, he chuckled.
"What's funny?" she asked.
"You were right. He was watching your windows. And considering the look I just saw on his face, I think I just gave him an eyeful of penis. He looked like he might puke."
Claire burst out laughing. "That'll show him!"
Leon walked back over to the bedside and opened her nightstand drawer. He sifted through the 'Claire junk' in search of a condom. What he found instead made him laugh his ass off.
"Now what's funny?"
"What the hell is this?" he asked while still laughing. He pulled a Y-shaped pink vibrator out of the drawer. One of the shafts that made up the arms of the 'Y' was about six inches long and about two inches thick. Plus, it was molded in the shape of a cock. The second arm of the Y was thinner and shaped like a pyramid of beads that got smaller the higher up the pyramid. The base of the Y seemed to encase the vibration mechanism.
"Mind your goddamn business!" She reached up to grab it from him, but he held his hand far up out of her reach. "Hey! Give it!"
He shook his head in amusement. "Not until you tell me why it's got a second appendage on it that's so close to the first one." Her face went bright pink. She lowered her gaze and muttered something that he couldn't quite make out. "I'm sorry, what? Did you say the little one's for rain?"
She sighed. "No," she said a lot clearer. "I said the little one's for anal. It's a double penetration vibe."
His eyes widened again. He snapped his head up to look at the sex toy, and then whipped his head back down to stare at her face, his arms dropping to his sides dejectedly.
"You've been letting guys fuck you in the ass? And in tag teams?"
She frowned and snatched the vibrator while he was distracted. "No, Asshole! I was curious, so I bought the vibrator! I never did anal with one guy, let alone two! Just with this thing!" She looked at the toy. "The littler part feels like anal beads."
He blinked in shock a few times, but then he smiled seductively. "Did you like it?"
She looked surprised. She thought he'd be disgusted. "Well . . . kind of, yeah."
He smiled and kissed her warmly. "Good to know."
She chuckled. "If you think I'll let you do that tonight with something thicker than the little side of this dildo, you can think again. I wanted to try it with the big side, but I keep chickening out." She eyed his cock suspiciously. It was definitely bigger.
Leon caressed her cheek. "I wasn't asking. Just doing a little reconnaissance." He climbed back onto the bed. "I didn't see any condoms except two with old expiration dates. If you still want to, I don't have a problem with having sex with you without one. I trust you not to endanger me, and you know I'd never risk hurting you."
She smiled and nodded. "I've never had sex without a condom with anyone but you, either. It's fine for us to do it without one. Besides, it's like I said in Raccoon City. I wanna feel you, not latex."
He smiled a little. 'Well, at least that's one more thing I've got on Steve,' he thought. 'She might have liked sex with him more and loved him, but I got bareback sex, and two virginities, oral and vaginal, under my belt. And if I have my way, I'll have the third one too some day.' He looked down at the tiny puckered orifice that still remained untouched. 'But for now, it's Kennedy, three . . . Burnside, two.'
"Earth to Leon."
He startled out of his thoughts. "Uh . . . sorry."
"No problem. It's not exactly an insult to have you lost in thought drooling over my body."
Leon leaned down to kiss her and then knelt between Claire's legs, but he had trouble fitting his long legs in the space she had left for him. She scooted backwards to the foot of the bed so her head was at the edge. He followed and settled back between her legs.
"Much better, thank you," he told her. She nodded and lifted her legs, placing her thighs on top of his. He slid his hands under her hips and pulled her a little closer, then rubbed her slit, making sure that she was wet enough. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her, and friction would probably insure that he did. To his relief, she was soaked.
"You're so wet, Baby."
"I know. That's your fault," she answered with a sultry little smile. "Now, shut up and do me already."
Never one to disobey her when she gave him that look, he immediately positioned himself at her womanhood and pushed his hips forward.
"Ohhhhh, Leon," she whispered, closing her eyes in ecstasy.
"Jesus, Claire. I forgot how tight you are."
She could only moan in reply as he gently penetrated deeper inside her. He grabbed her legs under her knees and began to thrust in and out of her. She moaned over and over as he gradually quickened his movements.
He was driving her crazy. She went from gripping the edge of the bed to rubbing her clit to fisting his t-shirt to kneading her breasts. She didn't know what to do with her hands, she just knew she needed to hold onto something for the ride he was giving her. She finally settled on gripping herself under her calves, holding her own legs apart for him. Since she was supporting her legs, he moved his hands to rest on top of her hips where they met her thighs. He massaged her gently and she sighed and smiled up into his eyes.
"That's so nice, Leon. You always make me feel so good."
He returned her smile. He stopped thrusting and bent to kiss her. "I'm glad, Claire. All I've ever wanted was to make you feel good."
She grinned happily for a moment, but when he leaned forward a little and sank a little deeper inside her, her lips parted in a loud moan. She released her legs and gripped the edge of the bed with one hand and rubbed her clit furiously with the other.
Liking the way the change in position had affected her, he leaned even further forward and rested his fists on the bed on either side of her head.
As he loomed above her, she lifted her hand from her clit to his cheek, caressing his stubble while moaning almost continuously.
"Feels good, Sweetheart?"
"Ohhhhh, God! It feels so good, Leon! Don't stop, Baby! Please don't stop!" He grabbed her left shoulder and her right side for leverage, and then pounded her hard. "Oh my fucking God!" she screamed. "Yes! Yes! YES! YES! OH, GOD!"
Leon felt chills run up his spine as he watched her toss her head back and forth in pure ecstasy. She started to grip him erratically with her inner muscles. She was cumming, he could feel it. He clenched his teeth, trying to stave off the start of his own orgasm.
"You cumming, Baby?" he gritted out.
"OHHHHH . . . GOD! FUCK . . . YES!"
He leaned forward on his fists again, and once she stopped trembling with release, he stroked her hair and leaned down to kiss her. He kept thrusting, but much more slowly.
She caressed his shoulders and his powerful arms. 'He's so muscular,' she thought. 'Does he even know how sexy he is?'
He settled back onto his knees and rubbed her thighs adoringly then gripped them and started to thrust harder and faster again.
She fisted her hands into her hair and tilted her head up to watch him take her, just as she'd done once before in Atlantic City. 'God, I love watching that cock disappear inside me,' she mused as she licked her lips. He suddenly pounded her even harder. Her head collapsed back onto the bed and she stopped thinking so much.
He watched mesmerized as her breasts bounced lightly. He wanted them to bounce harder. He gripped her waist and sped up the movement of his hips. He vaguely noticed her head drop back onto the mattress. He smiled at the sight of her heavy breasts jackknifing back and forth to the rhythm he had set. 'Before this night's over, I'm getting my dick between those things.'
Claire panted brokenly, eyes glazed over, her face flushed, a fine sheen of sweat on her brow and her breasts. She was so pretty when she was so horny. He didn't think he could take much more of watching her like that. But she fixed that issue for him. She slid backwards until his cock fell out of her body. She moved to face his groin and took him into her mouth again.
"Mmmm," he moaned. He loved how it felt to be in her mouth. He would have to return the favor later.
She gave him head for a few minutes, guiding him down from his pinnacle, and then moved back to lying in front of him. "That better, Baby?" she asked.
"Yeah. You could tell I was close to cumming?"
She nodded. "I could see it in your eyes."
He smiled. "Ready for more?" he asked as he caressed her slit with the head of his cock.
"Always," she whispered.
He sank into her warmth. They both sighed. He went right back to moving hard and fast inside her. She moaned and gripped his left hand. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the ride for a while. Finally she said, "I thought you said you wanted to do it from behind."
He chuckled. "Getting bored with missionary?" She smiled and pretended to snore. He laughed harder. "That was subtle." He pulled out and rolled her onto her stomach. "Here you go, Whiny." He pulled her up to her hands and knees, stroked himself a few times and entered her again.
As he penetrated her at a different angle, he stimulated her G spot in a way that made her shiver. "Ohhh. Thank you. That's so nice."
He smiled. "Harder?" She nodded. He spanked her a little and grabbed her hips. He pulled her forcefully back onto every thrust. The bed began to move back and forth with their movements. "Put your head down, Baby."
She laid her head on her arms and arched her back. "Like that?"
He slapped her ass again. "That's perfect."
He moved his pelvis even more forcefully. Her bed posts slammed into the wall over and over. Claire screamed rhythmically. She started to slam her hips back at him as she gripped her comforter for stability. "Leon! Please!"
He smirked and pulled out. He rolled her back to supine and started fucking her again. "Gonna do you so much harder like this, Baby."
She cried out and spread her legs. She let him stay in control for a while, enjoying another orgasm in the interim. When her body stopped trembling she spoke to him.
"Lay down, Baby. Let me ride you for a while."
He smiled down at her. "Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Okay." He bent forward to kiss her. He kept thrusting for a minute, and then moved away from her to lie back on the bed.
She got up to her feet, teasing him with the view. When he reached up and spanked her for being naughty, she sighed and lowered herself above him, facing away from him. She lifted his cock and slid it up inside herself. She leaned forward and bounced up and down. She reached under her hips and stroked him while she rode him. "Feels good?"
"Yeah. Looks good, too." He squeezed each pons of her backside. "But it also makes me want to fuck your ass, though." She giggled and shook her head. He smiled. "I know. Not tonight. I'm just making an observation." He sucked his thumb and rubbed it in little circles over her anus. "Maybe someday, though?" he asked hopefully.
She smiled over her shoulder at him. "It'll be waiting for you." Claire continued to work her hips and ass for him. Now it was his turn to moan almost constantly. He suddenly grabbed her hips and pushed her off him. He was trembling uncontrollably. She chuckled. "Trying not to cum?" He nodded.
Once he had it together, she turned to face him and rode him again. This time, he gripped her breasts and met her thrust for thrust. He squeezed her breasts until he had her panting. Then he grabbed her and rolled her onto her back. He moved to straddle her chest, squished her breasts together, and forced his cock between them.
"Oh my fucking God, Claire!" he exclaimed.
She crossed her arms under her breasts and lifted, forcing them together and making it easier for him to fuck them. "Mmmm," she muttered. "They're so soft and warm, aren't they, Sweetheart?"
He pulled away from her suddenly, panting. "I can't. You're gonna make me cum too soon." He moved down her body. "I need a break for a few minutes. I'm too stimulated."
He licked her clit in one big lap, then started sucking on it and fingering her wetness. She quickly became the one who was over-stimulated.
When she started to shake, he got up from the bed and opened her nightstand. He took the vibrator out again. He knelt at the foot of the bed, then rubbed her sex with the toy. Once she began to grind against it, he eased it inside her. He moved it back and forth a few times, getting it wet with her juices, and then he turned it on. The thinner extension rubbed back and forth along her clit as the bigger arm vibrated inside her pussy. She sighed his name and shivered. He smiled at her innocently, pulled it out, and turned it clockwise, one-hundred eighty degrees. He then slid it back inside, easing the larger side into her wet heat and the beaded phallic extension into her anus.
"FUCK!"
She thrust her hips up, her two orifices swallowing the toy over and over. Her eyes rolled back, her eyelids closed, and she rubbed her clit hard.
He watched her ride out her orgasm, panting so hard she thought her lungs would explode. She cried out a few four-letter words, stiffened, shook, and then went limp. She opened her eyes lazily and smiled at him. Her smile quickly faded when she saw the almost bestial look in his eyes.
He practically yanked the dildo out of her before throwing it across the room, still vibrating as it flew. He climbed back onto the bed and threw her legs back toward her head. He sank deep inside her and immediately began pounding. He made her hold her legs then placed his hands just under her breasts so they would bounce against his palms.
She spread her legs into a split, wrapped her arms around his neck, and caressed his hair. He moved to lean down onto his forearms and kissed her. He rolled his hips slowly, grinding their pelvic bones together, her battered little clit caught in the crossfire.
"LEON!"
He moaned and increased his thrusting speed again. He was close. So close.
A moment later, his vision blurred and he spilled himself inside her. She screamed and followed close behind.
He slapped her ass and she slapped his in return. He pulled out and then collapsed by her side on his stomach. She stretched out to his right and turned to look at him. The back of his head was so sweaty. His muscles strained at his t-shirt, even when he was this relaxed. When she looked at where his skin was visible right above the shirt, she could just make out the edge of the exit wound scar peaking out from under the collar of his t-shirt. She stretched his shirt collar open and kissed the scar on the back of his left shoulder that matched the one on the front. It was even uglier than the entry wound, as Leon's exit wound had been a mess. She traced the scar tissue with her fingertips, and then kissed it again before releasing her hold on his shirt. She blinked back tears. That scar brought back so many beautiful and painful memories.
He lifted his head like it weighed a ton, turned to kiss her lips, and then plopped it back down, facing her this time. She smiled for his sake, stroking his hair out of his face, and kissing his lids as he let his eyes drift shut again. She sighed and plopped onto her back.
They lay there for a half hour, unable to move, unable to speak. Finally, Leon broke the silence. "That was fucking awesome, Baby."
"Yeah. From this end, too."
He opened his left eye a crack and smirked at her. "My dick's still pretty hard if you want another go."
She laughed. "Is it really?" He rolled onto his back, exposing himself. She smirked. "I guess it is."
"Want some more?"
Her eyes widened in disbelief. Finally, she answered, "Hell, yeah!" He grinned and rolled up onto his knees. "Not so fast. Off with the t-shirt. I wanna see the hot bod."
He smiled and nodded. He pealed his sweaty shirt up and off. She ran her fingertips across his chest, shining with sweat, the slick skin accentuating the bulging of the muscles beneath as he moved her into position under him. She traced the front, smaller shoulder scar. She ran her fingertips down onto his cock, and then down his left thigh. She peered at his leg, then her eyes widened. "Leon! What happened to your leg?"
He looked down at his thigh. He frowned. Claire had finally noticed the scar Ada gave him in Spain when she'd stabbed him to stop him from throttling her while he was under his Plaga's control. "It's nothing."
"But Leon, it looks like it was painful."
He stopped her hand from caressing the healed wound any longer. "It's just a scratch," he assured her, kissing her fingertips.
She smirked and stroked his scarred cheek. She sighed. He kept getting scars. She hated the thought that one day one of those knife or bullet wounds would likely end him. "Okay, Mr. Macho. You don't want me to kiss it and make it feel better. I get it."
He chuckled. "Save the healing powers for yourself. You, my sweet, are gonna be sore as hell in the morning."
"Promise?"
"Oh, yeah. It's a promise."
As the first rays of dawn filtered through the slats of Claire's blinds, she and her lover lay quietly in bed, enjoying the afterglow of their final coupling of the night. He held her from behind in his strong arms, her tiny curvaceous, and as promised, very sore body nestled close to his long frame. He stroked her hair off her face and kissed her crown.
"When did you get a cat?" she muttered against his arm.
"Honey? I found her a year ago in an outbreak in New Jersey. She was just a kitten . . . all alone. The zombies had eaten her mother and the rest of the litter. I killed them before they could eat her too. Then she looked up at me with those sad little kitten eyes, and I had to take her with me."
Claire smiled. "That's so sweet, Baby." She caressed his bicep and kissed his forearm where it rested across her chest. "Why'd you name her Honey?"
"Because her fur is the color of warm honey." Claire kissed his arm again and turned her head to kiss his lips. He sighed into their kiss. Once they parted, he whispered, "God, I missed you, Claire."
She smiled. "I missed you, too." She turned over to face him fully. "I'm sorry for how I left things, Leon. You mean the world to me and you've always been good to me. You deserved better than the things I said to you. And for the record, I know you weren't responsible for Sherry's abduction. I should never have said that. I know you were a prisoner and you gave up your freedom to the government in exchange for her safety. And despite them not keeping her safe, you still kept your word to them because you're an honorable man."
He shook his head. "No, I didn't do it for them. I knew I'd have a better chance of finding her, of stopping Umbrella, from inside the special forces and secret service. And I'll never stop searching for her. Whatever condition I find her in, I promise you answers, Claire. I hope you know that I'll make this as right as I can for you."
"Yeah. I know. I always knew. You're a good man, Leon Kennedy. I'm so sorry I said otherwise." She swiped tears of shame and remorse from her eyes.
He pulled her a little tighter against him. "Don't cry, Baby. And thank you for saying that. I can't tell you the weight you just lifted off my heart knowing you never really blamed me about Sherry's abduction. It's been one of my greatest regrets."
She smiled and kissed him. "No regrets, Officer Kennedy. Remember?"
He smiled in return, as he always did when he was reminded of their first time, her first time. "Not anymore," he replied. His heart skipped a beat as he thought, 'None but Steve Burnside. I'll always regret that he won your heart where I couldn't.'
She snuggled into his embrace again. They were both quiet for a while. Leon knew it was a bad idea, but he was starting to muster up the urge to tell her again how he felt. It had caused an awkward moment for them the last time they were intimate. Still, he needed her to know what she meant to him.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I still love you, Claire. I hope you know that." She didn't answer, just like the last time. He sighed. "I guess you don't feel the same. Still in love with Steve, right?" Again, she didn't answer. "Claire, please say something." Still no answer. He furrowed his brow. "Claire?"
He looked down at her to find her fast asleep.
He smiled and kissed her tenderly. The corners of her mouth twitched, as if she were trying to smile in her sleep. He caressed her hair off her face and kissed her head. He pulled her tighter into his arms, closed his eyes, and joined her in sleep.
Leon was pulled abruptly from his thoughts of Claire when Chris loudly crunched some potato chips.
"Aww. How sweet."
Leon frowned. He'd been really getting into his memories of that night. It was the most amazing sex they'd had to date. And it must have really opened the emotional floodgates too, because they finally leveled with each other about nearly everything that had kept them apart. Everything but Steve, but he wasn't surprised about that.
They had however admitted to each other that night that they had not been exclusive since they'd parted almost six years before. Still at the end of that day and after a lot more sex, he asked her to once again become his girlfriend. She had said 'yes'. They'd been together, although almost completely long distance, ever since. He had fallen more and more in love with her everyday thereafter for giving him another chance, but even that wasn't the greatest part of that evening.
The thing that had freed his heart from its emotional prison . . . the thing she'd told him that mattered more than anything . . . she'd told him she didn't mean what she said to him about being to blame for losing Sherry.
He'd tried to give her equal relief. He told her that the women he'd slept with while they were apart weren't who he was sure she thought they were. They were all one-night-stands with women he met in bars. Not Angela. Not Ashley. Not Ada. He'd told her those three women meant nothing to him. He'd told her the women he'd actually fucked meant less than nothing to him and he'd always worn protection. He just needed to get laid from time to time, scratch an itch so he didn't die of a fatal case of blue balls. He had been afraid to feel too much for any woman after Claire. She said she was sorry. He laughed and said he wasn't. If he'd allowed anyone else into his heart, he might not have been free to be with her now.
Claire said it was the same for her, not letting anyone get too close and only having the occasional interlude to scratch an itch. The only difference was that she met the men while traveling for TerraSave. She also reassured him that although she had condoms in the nightstand, no man had ever shared her bed but him. And she also admitted the men were all one-night stands, too. She pointed out to him that, as he'd commented, the condoms were expired. And there were only six men but him that she was intimate with, and not always penetrated. She said she just needed her pipes blown out once a year or so. He laughed and said he knew all about them because Chris had told him every time she had a one-night stand. He'd hoped her brother had been lying, trying to get Leon to admit that he cared who Claire was sleeping with.
She'd said that Chris had a big fucking mouth.
Leon smirked at the memory of that last statement. Chris had a lot of nerve saying Ark was a blabbermouth. Chris was almost as bad. Leon smiled devilishly at his friend. He was gonna enjoy telling him about the last time they were together . . . or rather, the last time he was willing to tell him about.
"Yeah, so that was the fourth time. I took her to brunch later that morning. Funny thing is, that was our first date." Chris chuckled and said Leon did it all out of order. Leon shrugged. "Wanna hear about the last time? It involves you." Chris looked perplexed. Leon continued, "It was after you and I went on that mission you mentioned. The one from two years ago when I asked for your help after you'd recently lost Jill."