Boundless Abyss

V.

Warm Bodies


Outside of the room, Jill had a moment to gather herself. She'd almost banged him on the floor with his kid ten feet away. Lord. What did it say about her? That she wanted him, clearly -that she wanted him badly.

And not even his adorable daughter had been able to quell it. Hell, the little girl was so cute; Jill had a momentary thought of knocking again and spending time with them both. After she went back to sleep, they could just finish what they'd started. Easy peasy. It worked for couples with kids, right? Why not with them?

Amused, she dropped her face in her hands, laughed, and started down the hallway.

She must be a little nuts for him even to consider it.

As she passed by the other woman in the cool expanse, Jill smiled at her politely and kept walking. Five seconds later, the woman let herself into Leon's room. Jill blinked, considered, and felt - what? Something.

Not only was he here with his daughter, but he was also here with another woman. Michelle Pfeiffer had just walked into his room. Lord. She was something else. She'd been spontaneous and all but walked in on him in bed with a woman and his kid.

Did she assume she was the only woman he was courting?

Jesus. She let the jealousy wiggle in her guts and didn't dismiss it. But it changed things. She wasn't sure why, but she wasn't ok with being one of a harem. She was just glad she'd found out before they'd really dived into something.

As Jill climbed onto the elevator, the other woman in Leon's life remarked, "A little late for visitors, isn't it, my love?"

Leon helped himself to coffee while Nat lay on the couch and watched cartoons with Lottie. He glanced at his mother and chuckled, "Saw Jill, did you?"

"Hmm," Maggie Kennedy answered, elbows leaning on the counter as she studied her son, "Not like you to have girls over with Natalia with you."

He arched a brow, "Putting aside the fact that I'm almost thirty-"

"Twenty-seven," Maggie corrected cheekily, "No reason to make me older than I am, darling."

"Sorry. Twenty-seven, "Leon chuckled, "but I wasn't aware I needed to run business associates past you."

"Hmm," Maggie mused again in that teasing tone, "Business...at...eleven thirty at night?"

Leon gave her a droll expression until his mother lifted her hands to shove herself unarmed and laughed, "Wow. Hit a nerve. She's not your usual type."

When he snorted, Maggie stated, "Well, she isn't. We both know that."

You date a couple of Asian girls, and your mother never forgot either. Did the whole world think he only liked one type of woman?

Leon quipped to amuse himself and her, "...her mother is Japanese."

Maggie laughed with delight, "Well, there ya go. I rest my case."

Leon grinned, "Where ya been all night?"

"Where else? At the party cruising for men."

Leon rolled his eyes and encouraged, "I wish you would, you know that."

"Please," Maggie waved that away, "Your father was it for me, you know that."

"Jesus, Ma, that was twenty years ago. You're still young. Find somebody to make you happy."

"I have someone, " Maggie moved to the couch and sat down, tugging Natalia into her lap to hold her, "This one right here."

Natalia shouted, "And Lottie!"

"And Lottie." Maggie kissed her temple, "But you should go after that streaky blonde, Leon. She was pink-faced and mooning in the hallway. I think you're wrong about the business thing."

Leon blew out a breath, "I've kinda been...but we work together. That's messy, right?"

"Oh, baby," Maggie gave him a pointed look, "the best shit usually is."

And it made him laugh. He dropped a kiss on her forehead. "You've got the mouth of a sailor, Margaret Kennedy."

"No, my greatest love, I have the mouth of a cop."

She'd been one herself once. After his older sister had been born, she'd hung up her badge for homemaker but never left the mouth behind. Or the mind. She shrewdly watched him as he sipped his coffee and instructed, "Go after the streaky blonde. We're good here."

"I'm not gonna chase girls while my two best are right here."

Maggie arched a brow, "I didn't say chase girls. I said that one. Because if I'm right, that's the one in the picture you've always got with you."

Nat looked over, "Don't touch Daddy's picture, Nat!" She quoted in Maggie's voice, "That's special!"

Leon quirked his mouth, "It's too new for that."

"And you're a bad liar," Maggie answered with a snort, "I didn't raise a coward. Go get the girl."

Nat looked over and blinked big eyes at him, all but cooing, "And maybe you bring back ice cream. Lottie is hungry."

Lord, Leon laughed with amusement; he was surrounded by manipulation. Throwing up his hands, he stated, "...women."

He scooped a ball cap off the counter and plunked it on his head before grabbing the room key. "I surrender. I'll be back in a bit."

Maggie snuggled Natalia as he left the room to hear his daughter ask, "Was that his girlfriend?" She dragged the word girlfriend out in a giggly sing-song way and made his mother laugh in response.

He couldn't even be anything but amused by them.

Leon wore a gray t-shirt and blue swim trunks to the beach.

He followed the smell of Jill's perfume and found her floating in the water off the shore, a good walk down the water. She was standing by the water in her little sundress. Leon shucked off his sandals.

He slipped his feet into the water.

It closed around him like a salty hug. Warm, so warm, still perfect from the sun of the day. The waves rustled as he approached her.

She turned. They stood knee-deep in the water, looking at each other. The moonlight reflected on the frothy crests around the little green bathing suit she wore under that white dress. Neither spoke for a moment before Jill breathed, "Sorry...sorry...I shouldn't have- you came here with a woman and your daughter, and I just- I'm a big whore."

Amused by her rambling, Leon felt his brows fly up as a smile tickled his mouth. "Did I?"

"You did. Your girlfriend is gorgeous, by the way."

"She'd be delighted to know it." He went deeper into the water and tilted his head, "Why are you embarrassed?"

"You kidding? I thought we were doing this thing. And I didn't even consider I wasn't the only one. I broke into your place like a stalker or a pervert or-"

"That's my mother."

Jill stopped talking and blinked, "...what?"

"That's my mom. The gorgeous woman? She's my mom."

Jill blew out a breath with a sharp laugh,"...well...shit."

Leon grinned slightly, "But she'd be tickled to know you thought she bagged a guy half her age."

"I'm an idiot."

He floated closer to her, and they slid between two craggy pieces of rock. It obscured them from the shore. It gave some semblance of privacy if anyone passed by. "You're adorable."

Jill chuckled, "Oh, great. I was going for sexy and mysterious. Now, I'm adorable."

They were so close that her hair curled around his hip like a mermaid tail as he grumbled, "I like adorable."

"Yeah?"

"Oh, yeah," He curled her wet hair around one finger, watching it hug his digit with silken strength.

Quietly, Jill demanded, "How are you feeling, Leon?"

Surprised, he dropped the hand, "...what?"

He held her gaze until she murmured, "Don't try to use that dead spy look on me. I know."

After a moment, Leon quipped, "The lottery numbers? The meaning of life? What?"

Jill gave him a droll look, "You know, I know," she shook her head, "don't be coy."

Shaking his head, Leon inquired, "Then why in the hell didn't you say anything?"

Jill rolled her eyes, "Because I read Rebecca's research too. And I spoke to her myself. You think I didn't know what you were doing?"

Leon glanced around before taking her arm. He led her away from the party and further down the beach. When they were separated by the sounds of civility and surrounded by oceans and wind, he returned, "It's handled."

Jill gave him a piercing look. "I would imagine it is. We both know you wouldn't risk your daughter if it weren't," she eyed him and added, "but who is helping you keep it in check?"

Leon answered quietly, "George Hamilton."

"Ah, Rebecca's George. And Yoko Suzuki?"

Leon nodded. "It's no different than anything else I had in me, Jill." When she gave him a look that said he was stupid or possibly a liar, he added, "It isn't. I already had the shit in me; this is different. It doesn't want to rule me. It just wants...peace."

Jill tilted her head, "Have you tested that theory?"

"Under almost every circumstance that would cause surges of emotion," He glanced out at the horizon and remarked, "It doesn't seem to do anything. Stress. Fear. Fatigue. Adrenaline. It seems dormant."

Jill studied his face, "Does it emphasize anything?"

Leon shrugged a shoulder, "Not that I can tell. Not any more than it did before."

"What about other stimuli?"

He arched a brow, and Jill encroached on his personal space. Surprised, he let her get close enough to slide her hand under his damp t-shirt and over his still-wet stomach. She slid her nails up his chest when he held her eyes and raked him - so, so gently.

His eyes flickered, but a small smile curled at the edges of his mouth. "You talking about getting horny?"

Her mouth twitched, "No. I'm talking about getting off. I wondered why you wouldn't let me touch you in that bathroom. Now...I think I know why."

"...do you?" He grumbled quietly.

"Yeah," Jill rolled her lips to dampen them, "I mean...you came into that water for...what?"

"Maybe I wanted to talk." His tone was teasing and somehow hot at once.

"Mmm," Jill's tone echoed it, tempting them both, "Would it be the first time since Alaska?"

Leon studied her mouth and murmured, "...does it matter?"

Amused, Jill slid her hand over the slick side of his neck, "Not my business unless it affects me," she scooped her palm into the back of his hair, "but I'm gonna bet," she went on tiptoe and touched her mouth against his, "...the answer is no."

Gruffly, he demanded, "Why would you let me touch you...or touch me, Jill? When you knew what was in me?"

Her hand slid through the back of his hair as she breathed, "...because I trust you. Remember?"

And Leon murmured, "Maybe you shouldn't."

Her lips lilted against his as she whispered, "...too late."

Leon put his hands on her biceps and squeezed, "...women."

"Let's test that theory."

Softly, Leon returned, "Could be dangerous."

"Good thing I live for dangerous things."

Jill gripped her fist into the back of his hair hard enough that it drew a grunt from his mouth. She kissed him with their eyes open, watching each other. Tentative, almost delicate.

Softly, she queried, "Anything?"

"Need more tests to confirm, "Leon decided, and he jerked her against him so hard she stumbled in the sand.

Her blood fired and flushed into her cheeks. He saw it. He saw the blood bloom on her tanned skin. He could smell it in her. But that wasn't unusual. He was trained to smell it. He was trained to see it. He was trained to feel the escalation of her pulse and watch her eyes dilate. He was trained to study the human condition.

When Jill pressed herself tighter against him, Leon shifted his hands, snapped the ponytail holder in her hair and let it spill around his palms, and bunched it in his fists to crane her face up to him. His voice almost growled, "I could kill you right now. Here. In the open. Still, trust me?"

His left hand curled around the back of her head as Jill transferred her hands to his back and crushed her breasts against his chest, "You won't," she gasped when he jerked on her hair, and her eyes flickered with excitement, "you trying to scare me?"

Was he? He let that arrow home for a moment. Was he trying to scare her? That wasn't what he'd come out here to do. What was the sudden impulse to make her flee from him?

But he knew that. He did. He was trying to give her a chance to change her mind. He didn't entirely trust himself because she was right. He hadn't tested the surge of blood from sexual release yet. He was being cautious. He hadn't even jerked off since Alaska. He was afraid of what would happen if he did.

He liked her.

And he didn't want to hurt her.

So, he had to give her the chance to run.

Gruff, he demanded, "Is it working?"

Jill slid her hands down his back and gripped his ass, pulling him so tight against her there was no mistaking she was happy he was. Her nipples were sharp little points pressed against his chest as she taunted, "I look scared? We've been calling each other for months. I knew then what was happening with you. I broke into your room, right? I knew what was in you. Here I am, anyway. So, what does that say about me?"

"...that you're an idiot."

Her mouth twitched, "And what are you?"

"Didn't you know? I'm practically a genius."

They kissed hungrily, all sucking lips and swirling tongues. It was easy to feel the roar of want between them. It was intoxicating. He was afraid to touch her because it felt like he was drowning in her. The water, the wind, the taste of salt, the taste of her - it was heady. It was more than the lightning in his blood when he'd met her; it was like surging his entire body into those lasers they'd dodged and letting them electrocute from nerves to brains.

His hands slid down her back and cupped her butt. He dragged her in, feeling the searing heat of her against him as if he stood facing a volcano. The moment his tongue took up the charge and invaded her mouth, something in him clicked - a switch thrown, a lever pulled, and an ascent started.

When she made a tiny sound of surrender, he backed her into the rock wall. The smooth stone was cold on her back and made her gasp. With her mouth open, he was free to take control of their battle of tongues. The water surged around their hips, helping them, offering her to him as he pinned her into the eroded wall and thrust his groin into hers in a parody of sex that might have been funny - if it didn't make his goddamn head swirl like the waves lapping at their eager bodies.

She broke the kiss to wheeze in a high and helpless breath. Her hands slid down his chest, headed toward his belly, molding over his pelvis. His hands shifted to turn her face up, her hair snagging around his wrists, cuffing him to her - as if he needed the encouragement or the restraint. His lips feasted down her throat, sucking salty skin as she jerked at the ties on his trunks, and his teeth nipped so lightly at the upper mound of one of her breasts. When the cloth rustled as she finally worked free the knot below his belly button, his hands cupped both of her breasts to push them up, push them high and ready, and he buried his face in the cleavage, sucking, licking, nipping, and tasting.

Her right hand shook as Jill cried out hoarsely, "...fuck..fuck..."

Into her cleavage, he demanded, "Fuck what?"

"Fuck..." Her hand made it into his pants and slid against the slick head of his dick as she mewed, "...me..."

Right.

He sucked one of her nipples into his mouth, dress, suit, and all. He didn't care. The fabric couldn't stop him. He couldn't stop himself. Something in his brain commanded - now. And he was tired of waiting.

It was now. Now. He'd have her now.

Her fingers cupped and tucked through the sticky precum, her left hand venturing further on a quest to cup his balls as she gripped his entire shaft in her eager fist and jerked him forward into her hard enough they both grunted. Leon grabbed her ass in his hands and lifted her like she was weightless. She went up, her legs splayed around his hips to let him closer, and his swim trunks dipped low on his hips as he nearly caught fire from her hands working at his body. Her dress bunched around her hips, her strong thighs and calves locking around him like a vice, and his right hand jerked her panties to the side to claim her with his fingers.

Their mouths broke again as she whined into the crushing sound of waves and water. She let go of his dick to grab his face and hold on as he angled himself at her body, fingers plunging, cock twitching to take their place. He forgot they were in the open. He forgot he'd promised to take this slow. He forgot he'd said he wouldn't use her like some whore. He didn't have a condom. He wanted to touch and love her soft, sweet, and tender the first time.

It didn't matter.

He had to have her. It was all he knew.

Now.

The head of his dick slid against where his fingers fucked her. He freed those thrusting digits from her body as she whimpered and gripped handfuls of his hair to lay siege to his mouth in a desperate cry of need. His blood turned red and painful, and Jill whined, "Oh...oh my god..."

Something in her tone gave him pause as his dick slid over her folds, seeking completion.

Because even in the moonlight, she could see the red eyes.

Their harsh breathing held as he demanded gruffly, "You want me to stop?"

Danger. Danger. Danger. This word kept flashing in her head, behind her eyes, in her common sense - she'd pushed this. She'd done it. She'd put them both in this moment. She'd wondered.

And now she knew - it was him, it was something else in there too, but it was him.

Because a monster wouldn't ask her if she wanted to stop, he might have one in him, but he wasn't one. He was still Leon. He just wasn't alone.

She opened her mouth to answer. To say what? Yes, stop. Stop now. Stop.

But that wasn't what she wanted. It wasn't what her body wanted. So, she let it lead. She it let it decide. She let it trust. And her mouth breathed desperately, "...no. Take me."

Something flashed over his face - something she couldn't name. Something dark and greedy and wild. It echoed in her. It felt like nothing she'd ever known. It was surrender and victory and power and completion - all in one. It was addiction.

He adjusted his body to claim her, and the sound of a throat clearing seemed somehow loud against the waves and their heavy breathing.

Above them, in the craggy rocks, a voice mused, "Is it considered voyeurism if you were invited to the party?"

Jill froze. Leon did, too, before he blew out a breath and stated in a comical tone, "Ada. Pretty risky to show up to a party filled with government agents."

Ada's face shimmered happily in the moonlight, "What's life without a little risk?" She scanned them where they floated and teased, "Of course, I doubt the person who invited me was aware I'd find two agents in quite such a compromising position."

Jesus.

They separated. Jill found her sea legs and let the tremors work from back to toes. He tied his trunks. His hand steadied her arm as she stumbled. She felt the heat of his palm and knew it wasn't just lust; it was him - his skin was feverish.

Jill furrowed her brow as she stepped back from him, and they both floated toward the shore on the other side of the rocks. "Did you-"

"Nope," He studied her face, "You?"

"No."

"Hmm."

Ada waited in a red bikini and a white sheer sarong wrapped around her waist. Her ample bosom was boosted to maximum advantage, giving the viewer a good eyeful of pretty cleavage.

She waited with a hand on her hip as they approached. "Trying to decide who played to the dark side?"

Leon arched a brow at her, "I'm sure you're here to tell us."

"Naturally," Ada sat down in the sand, her long legs stretched before her. For all the world looking casual and relaxed, "Shall we play twenty questions?"

Jill sighed, "I know who it was."

Surprised, Ada tilted her head, "Do you?"

"Yeah. Chris."

Leon's brows flew up. "Are they acquainted?"

Ada laughed lightly. "Directly? No. Indirectly? Yes. He's been making inquiries to the right people about plagas and genetic research. That sniffing around brought out the big dog..." She lifted her hands and grinned, "A.K.A. - me."

Jill studied her on the sand and thought again that Leon's daughter and Ada Wong shared a helluva lot of similarities.

Head tilted, Ada inquired, "Seen a ghost?"

Jill shook her head and determined, "Not sure what I'm seeing."

Curious, Ada studied her. "You're seeing a spy, darling. I am whatever I need to be. But I suspect that's not what you meant. What do you see?"

As if reading Jill's mind, Leon answered, "She's seeing my daughter."

Amused now, Ada laughed musically, "Ah. I can't take credit for that, I'm afraid, as I hadn't yet made your acquaintance. But it does seem as though he has a type, doesn't it?"

Leon sighed and shook his head, "What can we do for you, Ada?"

"Oh, right, business," She pouted but didn't seem the least put out, "the bane of my existence. Redfield wants anything we have on genetic pairing with plagas. He's not being subtle. He's not even pretending it's for prevention. He's just shouting down channels and punching in doors for answers."

Jill frowned and shook her head, "He's become volatile."

Ada arched a brow, "He wasn't before?"

Leon snorted, "What's his end game?"

Ada shrugged a delicate shoulder, "I'm hoping to find out. I have an asset in place I'm hoping will get him to spill his guts. I was hoping you might offer an easy way to get him to talk."

Jill muttered, "Booze. Get him drunk."

Ada laughed lightly. "Does he have a type? Physically?"

Ah. She wanted to make sure her agent could pillow-talk it out of him. Amused now, Jill eyed Ada and remarked, "You'll work."

Ada's laugh seemed genuine and highly amused: "Men are generally easy to manipulate. A pretty face. A nice set of tits. The right attitude. Some prefer the right skin tone and eyes." She rose from the sand, "Almost all of them take one look at me and see a pretty face and ten feet of legs and never once stop to think I have a brain beyond the package."

Leon rolled his eyes, "Don't stereotype us, Ada. It's boring."

She grinned, "And yet they exist for a reason, don't they, handsome?"

"Only if you're looking at the surface."

"Fair enough," Ada glanced at Jill, "I dislike the idea that women are meant to be soft-spoken and malleable. I've spent my entire life battling against that stereotype, from cultural to gender roles. And in cases like this, I'm going to put it to use. Does Redfield prefer demure or brazen?"

Jill sighed, "Demure. Give him big eyes and batting lashes. Touch his hand. Look shy. You'll have him."

"Excellent," Ada glanced at them and mused, "before you go back to rolling in the waves, consider what happens if you do. Neither of you seems the type for casual sex."

When Jill winced, and Leon looked deadpan, Ada shrugged, "If you were Leon, we'd have been in bed together ages ago. As it stands, you're not a man with casual appetites. So, my guess is that whatever is brewing here is something bigger than either of you is ready for."

When they both just looked at her, she finished, "I don't like working with agents mired in personal drama. It hampers what I set out to do. And we both know it's more than just kids and family complications with you two."

She looked at Leon and remarked, "Despite how much we might think, we have things under control."

Leon tilted his head. Ada winked. She glanced at Jill and mused, "...ditch the blonde, darling. It doesn't suit you."

"No?" Jill queried in an amused tone.

"Not at all. Blonde is for boy heroes," She winked again, "and bimbos. You're neither."

She waggled her fingers as she walked up the beach, "We'll meet again before long, I think. Toodles."

Jill stood watching her go until she finally mused, "She knows."

Surprised, Leon glanced down at her profile. Jill turned her head in the moonlight, met his eyes, and reaffirmed, "She knows."

Leon blew out a breath. "There's little she doesn't know."

The silence dragged out for a handful of moments before she breathed, "So..."

"So..."

Awkward now, somehow. Awkward when the world wasn't bleeding need. She wanted to tell him about the red eyes, but the timing felt wrong. He was himself now. The red eyes had faded almost instantly with Ada's interruption. He wasn't governed by the plagas as he had been in Spain. It seemed to...what? Activate when he was giving himself entirely to whatever his body needed. It seemed to respond directly to his dropping those shields he carried like body armor around himself.

Would he have lost complete control if they'd finished?

The bigger question than that, though...would it have mattered?

She couldn't say yes and mean it. That's how much she wanted him. That's how much her body wanted his. It was something to think about.

Jill glanced at him and sighed, "I should probably go spy on what she's doing with Chris."

Leon felt his mouth twitch. "Hmm. I should go get some ice cream."

Hesitating, Jill murmured, "...right. Because you have a little girl waiting for you." She said it out loud to reaffirm what she knew. She felt bad keeping him from his daughter. The little girl likely saw so little of him to begin with.

It seemed selfish now that she wasn't shimmering with hormones. Ada's arrival was a like a bat striking around the head of horny teenagers. Bonk. No more horny.

Jill considered as she moved to follow Ada and finally called, "...are you ok?"

Amused at her flushed face, Leon glanced down at his crotch. "That's a roger. But we'd need to finish to be sure. You wanna confirm?"

Her eyes flickered as she complained, "...yes...damn you."

She hurried down the beach with a small laugh, calling, "I hate this job!"

Leon watched her go with a half tilt of his mouth. He did, too, sometimes. He considered his feelings as he watched her go. He liked her. He wanted to fuck her; that much was painfully obvious. Watching her ass run in that little dress was working wonders on him.

But under that was the unrelenting goddamn urge to take her. It plagued him. It ached. It wanted to own her. And you couldn't own another person. He wanted to screw her standing until she was fat and pregnant and his.

And that wasn't like him at all.

He wasn't sure if it was just male prerogative to lay claim to a woman he wanted or something more sinister. Did the plagas want to own others? It was possible. It was another question for George when he saw him. George and Yoko had continued Rebecca's research as faithfully as possible. They were working with Quint over at the B.S.A.A. as closely as they could.

Whatever was in him was burrowed inside the residual pieces of the existing plagas he'd had eradicated in Spain. It was smart enough that it didn't show on any scans. There was some speculation it was using the old pieces to hibernate, but Leon was just as sure it was either avoiding detection or nestled somewhere that scans weren't able to see it.

Hell, maybe it was so small it was just the size of a pea, and it was content to hang out on the old shit without growing.

Since "Daedalus" was seemingly the first of his kind that had evolved, maybe it knew how to use old pieces and sustain.

There was such limited intel still on plagas; it was hard to tell.

They were learning more daily, with the caves in Alaska being combed on the upper levels by trained agents - but the workable samples they could often obtain "died" or shriveled before they could get them back to labs for further testing. Testing in the caves was dangerous since what was in there didn't like the invasion. They tended to sing and send out tendrils of attack if you hung around too long.

So far, Daedalus had kept his word. Nothing escaped the caves, but it sure as hell didn't allow too much probing inside, either. It was more of a - enter at your own risk kind of truce. That might have been as good as it was going to get.

Some days, as good as it gets, it was almost like a win.

But the back of his mind was still urging him to follow her. It was still urging him to finish inside her.

It was the first time in a long time he almost let himself do it.

And it almost scared him to know it.