The longest chapter yet, and I didn't really squeeze everything I wanted to into it either, so Chris and Jill's breakthrough type thing is going to have to happen next chapter instead. Thank you very much to 'jess', 'Jill valentine', 'Guest', and 'Leticia' for their anon reviews.
Notice the rating has gone up? That's because I'd give this chapter an 'M', though I wouldn't consider it overly graphic.
Don't own Resident Evil.
Red
"I've always wanted to do this." Claire told him, tightening her new fur coat around her; it was delightfully warm compared to her previous attire.
"Do what?" Leon asked playfully, "Hang out with me for a couple of weeks in Russia?"
"No," she responded, though she felt her cheeks heat up slightly, "I've always wanted to own a team of sled dogs and journey over a thousand miles."
The Agent snorted, "Interesting. Though technically, we're only using them to travel about seven hundred miles."
"We had them with us on the train, so it counts."
"Fine, fine." he appeased, smiling slightly and looking over at the twelve Siberian huskies resting in the snow.
"They're so cute." The Terra Save member commented, running her fingers over the ears of the husky closest to her. He stirred slightly, but otherwise continued to doze.
Leon hummed in agreement, though his eyes scanned the horizon; he was eager to get going again as soon as possible. They had been able to travel by train from the industrial town of Tura for three hundred miles, but from then on the remaining seven hundred and forty five miles to Verkhoyansk had no tracks, and no roads.
"If we take the innkeepers word for it that we'll average about five miles per hour," he muttered quietly, "that means it will take about a hundred and forty nine hours to get to Verkhoyansk."
"So, realistically," Claire said, resting her chin in her hand, "we're looking at about a seven days journey."
"Yep," he replied, "Maybe we should've gone for snowmobiles after all."
She shook her head fiercely, "The dogs are more reliable, and just look at them Leon, they're gorgeous."
He shook his head amusedly at how attached she had grown to them in such a short period of time, "Still, I wish we could get to Sherry faster."
"Me too," she agreed, her expression growing concerned, "Do you think she's okay?"
Leon nodded slowly, "Jake should have found her by now, surely."
"Albert Wesker's son," Claire murmured thoughtfully, "Are we sure he's completely trustworthy?"
"He's proven he's not like his father." The Agent told her, "I only met him a couple of times in China, but he seemed to have Sherry's back. If he is with her, she's in good hands."
Sherry slipped on her coat as she emerged from her bedroom, heading for the stables as quietly as she could.
"Good morning."
The voice from the couch surprised her; she thought he was still asleep. But when he sat up it was clear he was already fully dressed.
"Going somewhere?" Jake asked curiously, noting her attire.
For a moment she had to catch her breath as she looked at him, unwillingly remembering the feel of his warm lips on hers-
She blinked, "Yeah, just going into town to get some more groceries and stuff."
The mercenary stood resolutely, "I'm going with you."
Sherry rolled her eyes discreetly and continued towards the stables. She'd expected he would want to go with her, which is why she had tried to sneak away. She needed some space for just a few hours; it was almost impossible to think straight while he was near her. Although she had a feeling that not having him close would mess with her head even more.
They readied the horses in silence and set out. It seemed neither of them wished to talk about the kiss they'd shared the night before, though it was on both their minds. Even the horses seemed to understand that they should keep some distance between their owners; Lidiya trotted a few paces behind Viktor without any prompting from Jake. Sherry sighed into the tension, glancing back at him. She hated that this situation was putting such a strain on their friendship; one thing she was sure of was that she didn't want to lose him.
He noticed her staring, "What?"
She smiled at him warmly, deciding to appeal to the childish, immature part of him, "Race you?"
Jake seemed to perk up at the notion, urging Lidiya to go faster. "Prepare to lose, super girl." he called to her as he passed. Sherry grinned, encouraging Viktor into a gallop alongside him.
Maiara was absolutely convinced that the surface was a place she simply could not go.
"It's bad up there." she insisted again, eyes wide.
Chris and Jill could understand her apprehension. The society down here was controlled completely by the Family, and it was supposedly perfect; there were no guns, no crime, no B.O.W.s, no fighting, no wars. The BSAA Agents had been wandering around the city with Maiara as their guide, and none of the citizens had looked at them with anything even akin to suspicion. They had no reason to.
"Not necessarily," Jill countered, "You'll all be under the protection of the BSAA."
Maiara shook her head, "I don't want to go, and no one else will either."
The only drawback to this society was that it seemed everyone was brainwashed to believe whatever the 'Aunties' and 'Uncles' of the Family told them.
Chris sighed, realizing there was no reasoning with her, "All right Maiara, we're not going to force you, or anyone else."
Jill sent him a look before he continued, "Can you give us a minute?"
The girl nodded as the BSAA Captain took his partners hand and pulled her out of earshot.
"Chris, how are we supposed to pull a raid with innocent civilians in the way?" Jill questioned quietly, "If we bring an armed team down here it's going to cause a panic."
"I know," he responded, "Which is why we're not calling for backup."
The woman frowned, but waited for him to continue.
"We're going to go into 'the Sanctum' alone." he told her, glancing at the tall, cylindrical tower in the heart of the city that Maiara had told them only the most important Family members were allowed to go.
Jill looked unsure, so he squeezed her hand, "Trust me?"
She nodded without hesitation, "Of course."
He leaned in to steal a quick kiss before they made their way back to Maiara.
"Okay Maiara, we're going into the Sanctum to...talk to your Aunties and Uncles." Chris informed.
She nodded, "Okay. I'm not allowed though-"
"That's okay," Jill assured, "We'll be fine. You should go home."
"Alright then," she responded, "It was nice meeting you." She held out her hand politely, "Bye Chris. Bye Jill."
"Goodbye Maiara." Jill replied, briefly taking her hand.
"Thanks for showing us around." Chris commented, shaking her hand also.
With that, Maiara turned on her heel and left them. They stared after her for a while.
"I can't decide whether I feel sorry for her, or envious of her." Jill murmured.
Sherry tended to the horses, while Jake finished putting the groceries away in the pantry. He walked into the stables holding two green apples.
"I think the winners of the race deserve a treat." The mercenary said, offering an apple to Lidiya. She took it from his hand gratefully, before raising her head in Viktor's direction, obviously taunting him with it. Jake smirked.
Sherry scoffed, "You got lucky. Next time, Viktor and I are going to leave you in the dust."
Viktor snorted in apparent agreement with her statement.
Jake stepped towards her, tossing the apple in the air and catching it, "Luck had nothing to do with it. It was all skill."
"Skill, hm?" she responded, placing her hand on her hip and giving him a sceptical look.
He nodded, leaning in close to her, the smirk still on his face, "I'm good at a lot of things Sherry."
She narrowed her eyes slightly at the mild suggestiveness in the statement, but found her heartbeat picking up. He was an incredible kisser. Her gaze fell from his clear, pale blue eyes to his lips unconsciously. Jake wanted to kiss her again, badly, but was confused over her previous rejection and didn't want to push her. So he settled for taking a bite of the apple in his hand with a smug air, before leaving the stables.
Sherry bit her lip and exhaled a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. Then she shook her head at his nerve, smiling slightly, before following him into the living room. She needed to convince him to leave now, while he seemed to be in a good mood.
"Jake," she called, and the purposefulness in her tone made him pause, "You have to go."
The mercenary clenched his fists, almost crushing the apple. His patience with this topic was seriously wearing thin, "No."
She blinked, not expecting him to flat out deny her, "What?"
"I said no," he repeated, turning to her. His expression was almost angry, and it made her nervous.
"But Jake-"
"Damn it Sherry, would you shut the fuck up about this?" he exclaimed, throwing the apple into the fire, "I'm not leaving you. Deal with it."
Her back stiffened, but she made an effort to be the calm, rational one, "You are not safe if you're with me."
He made a noise of pure frustration, "I don't care! Why don't you get that?"
"Why won't you listen?" she countered, becoming irritated herself, "You know I'm right."
"But it doesn't matter!"
"Of course your safety matters!" she retorted incredulously, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you!"
He recalled her saying the very same thing when they were in Edonia, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you, the world needs you!" The world didn't need him anymore, but she did. And she wouldn't let him help her because he might get hurt. He almost laughed at her selflessness; she'd make a terrible mercenary. Claire and Leon had instilled too much heroism into her. Well, he wasn't so selfless, "Is it because I kissed you?"
She suddenly had to stop looking at him, and he knew this was an opportunity, "I know you want me to stay, and it's not because you need me to protect you from the Family."
Sherry shook her head in denial, and he slowly advanced on her. She wasn't sure what to do to convince him otherwise, and backed away in defiance as she spoke, "I-I'm six years older than you."
He raised an eyebrow, "That's a pathetic excuse."
Her back it the wall, "...After all we've been through, you're like a brother to me, Jake."
"Bullshit," he scoffed, shaking his head as his arm came up to rest above her head against the wall, "You wouldn't have kissed me like you did last night if I was like a brother to you."
She met his eyes as he leaned against her. He could tell she was just stalling; she wanted him to kiss her again.
Their lips met in one, fluid motion. In the next, Sherry was forced to clutch his shoulders as Jake picked her up, gripping the back of her thighs before setting her down on the oak table next to them. Unfortunately, Sherry kept all her kitchen equipment on there; the utensils and dishes were sent crashing to the ground to make room for her body. Neither seemed to care. He unglued his lips from hers for a moment to concentrate on removing her boots hurriedly, tossing them away to join the shattered porcelain the floor.
"Jake wait, we can't." Sherry told him, placing a restraining hand on his chest, though she desperately wanted to pull him closer.
"What?" he questioned disbelievingly.
"We can't," she repeated, "If we do I won't b-"
She was cut off abruptly by his mouth over hers as he reached for the hem of her shirt. Raising her arms, she allowed him to tug it over her head, leaving her in a vest top. He claimed her lips again almost immediately, and it was difficult for her to think rationally when he tasted so damn good.
"No." she breathed into his mouth, "Jake-"
"Ah, screw your fucking logic Sherry." he responded, lifting her up against him again before making his way to her bedroom. Once inside, she stopped clinging to him and stood on her own two feet, and for a bitterly disappointing moment he thought she truly didn't want him. His heart sank, but then her hands were tugging at his jacket and pulling it down his arms to toss it behind him somewhere, and he reacted quickly by easing her back onto the bed and crawling over her.
He met her eyes and paused for a moment, temporarily lost in her soft, hungry gaze. Sherry took the opportunity to slide her soft hands under his shirt, caressing his muscled abdomen and chest. He exhaled shakily at the sensation and allowed her to pull the garment up and over his head. Jake wanted to say something, but didn't know how to say it.
"Sherry, you remember in Edonia when you went out of your way to tell me that you didn't hate me?" he asked quietly. She nodded, running her hands up his back and across his shoulders. He brushed his lips against her cheek, "I don't hate you either."
Sherry smiled slowly in understanding; it was the closest he could get to telling her how he felt about her, and she was fine with that.
They shed the rest of their clothing in due course, until Jake tried to remove Sherry's vest top, and she grabbed his wrist to stop him before he could pull it over her breasts. He suspected that she was perhaps self conscious, though she had no need to be. That was okay for now; he'd convince her she was beautiful in time. Instead he moulded his mouth to hers to swallow her soft moan as he slipped inside her.
Sherry closed her eyes tightly because nothing had ever felt so good. A part of her felt guilty for doing this to him, and herself; they were giving a piece of themselves away to the other that neither of them would ever be able to get back. Just how was she supposed to even think about being without him now? Now that she knew how good he tasted and felt and how he cared for her? But there was no going back; she was losing control of herself, as though her mind and her body were very separate things.
"Jake." she whimpered in need, before biting her lip in an attempt to control her loud breathing.
He groaned at the utterance of his name and drove into her harder, curling his fingers tighter to her hip in the hope his short nails could leave just one mark on her unblemished body that would brand her as his, and his only. She was close, he could tell, and he desperately wanted to see her fall apart in his arms. He got his wish a moment later when she arched her body and cried out his name as she came, hard, dragging her nails down his back. He felt a surge of triumph before he had to bite down on her shoulder to muffle his own cry of satisfaction as white spots exploded behind his eyelids.
Jake let his forehead rest on her shoulder as his body went limp, and he listened to her gasp for breath. Sherry let her arms drop on either side of her head as her muscles seemed to uncoil and relax, leaving her very tired and drained. She was still trembling as he turned his head and slowly licked a trail up her neck, wiping away the sheen of sweat on her skin until his mouth reached her lips. She allowed his tongue to swipe over hers, before summoning the strength to raise her hand and push against his chest.
He took the hint and withdrew, collapsing next to her. Jake brought a hand to his head in an attempt to ground himself from the afterglow.
"Jesus Christ." he muttered.
She almost laughed, but the pressure in her chest stopped her; she was so overwhelmed she wasn't sure if she wanted to push him away and make him sleep on the couch, or pull him closer and make sure he never left this bed again.
Sherry turned her head to look at him, catching his eye. Under the scrutiny of his soft, warm gaze, she rolled towards him to throw an arm and a leg across his body and clutch him closer.
Like? No like? Let me know.
Thanks for reading.