Phoenix:
12:
Burn
2005
Massachusetts
They sent her out on training exercises with Nero for the rest of the morning. The two played well off each other. Nero was forthright and encouraging. She made sure Ashley understood that all the muscles in the world wouldn't make her a warrior.
But the brains would.
"Wits," Nero instructed as they circled each other in a field one day, "Wits will make the difference between predator and prey."
Ashley cocked her head, "Which are you?"
Nero grinned, "Whatever the job calls for."
"You don't look like anyone's prey."
She didn't. She was gorgeous, majestic, and statuesque. She radiated confidence and charisma and oozed skill. Nero shook her head and stated, "You think I was when I started?"
Ashley shrugged, and Nero told her, "We all start somewhere, Graham. For me, it was Raccoon City."
Surprised, Ashley froze as the agent laughed, "Yeah. Thought Kennedy was the only one, did you? Not even close. Most of us that made it out, we didn't tell a soul, but the government knew. For about three years after Raccoon, they hunted down anyone who survived. They turned us to the cause or silenced us. How?"
Nero shrugged and finished, "However they want, I assume. Bribery. Blackmail. We all turned for various reasons."
Blackmail. It was what had brought Leon to the fight. Had it brought Nero?
She didn't say. It was her story and hers alone to keep or tell. But Ashley got the point - most of the agents were birthed out of trauma brought on by bioterror. Some chose to fight with it, some chose to hide, and some chose to let it kill them.
But whatever they chose, it was clear the government knew most of those who'd survived. It didn't appear to know about Claire Redfield. Which was curious in itself. How had a rookie cop from a dying city been able to cover up Claire Redfield's part in the escape?
Curious.
Nero eyed her quietly, "We all fight for whatever we left behind, Ashley. We fight for memories or ghosts or guilt. But it's the how that defines you."
Ashley and Nero held eyes as the bigger woman encouraged, "Whatever you decide to do here, do it wisely. Do it carefully. And don't, no matter what, compromise what you came here to do for anyone else."
She knew.
Ashley wasn't sure how, but Nero knew. She knew about Leon. She had to. The look on her face wasn't judging, it was shrewd. Ashley had a sneaking suspicioun that Gertrude Nero had been tasked by her father to act as another set of eyes.
Which meant someone had told him she was too close to Leon. Someone else knew.
It shouldn't have been a surprise, but it was.
Careful now, Ashley avoided the look with a calm return of her own. She nodded, "Thanks. I'll remember that."
"Good," Nero bobbed her head, "Now come and kill me...and let me show you how to fight Leon Kennedy."
Ashley's eyes sparkled, "You saying you have?"
"Oh, honey," Nero gave her a pitying look, "I know what he did for you in Spain. I heard stories. And don't get me wrong, he's a machine...but his method is volatile. It's bloody. Kennedy gets wrapped up in the feelings of the fight and forgets the mechanics sometimes. Don't let him fool you - he's not perfect."
Ashley licked her lips twice before she answered, "I didn't think he was."
Nero smiled at her a little, "Of course you do. You basically fart gooey eyed love for him, honey."
Annoyed, Ashley hit the dummie as hard as she could. She beat it up until Nero murmured, "Hmm. Hit a nerve, I see."
"I don't love him." Ashley said it and meant it. She did. She didn't love him. She couldn't love him anyway. She didn't even know him. Loving him would be stupid.
Nero whistled, "Ok. Let's try this again - I know you don't love him."
Surprised, Ashley glanced at her as Nero circled her and beckoned, "But it's really easy to confuse lust with love, Ashley. A girl like you - you've got the hots for the hottie who saved you. Who wouldn't? He looks good naked, so I can relate."
Ashley gave her narrow eyes as Nero laughed, "Yeah. See? That jealousy? That's not gonna help you here. It's emotional. It's a crush with fangs. It will get you killed if you don't put it away. Because I promise you...he will if he has to. And if he's breaking protocol to sniff around you, you'll think he'll keep doing it."
Ashley gave her a cool look as Nero added, "He won't. He is the job, Ashley. He's the job. And you're the job. When you're not anymore? He won't be sniffing around you. He will move on."
Ashley shook her head, "It's not like that. He's my friend."
Nero paused. She waited. Ashley stopped hitting the dummie to look at her. "...what?"
"He's not your friend."
Why was everyone intent on telling her who was and who wasn't her friend? Annoyed, Ashley snapped, "He is. He's my friend. He's my trainer. Like you. But he's my friend. And that's all it is."
Nero held her look and finally returned, "Alright. Let's leave it at that."
"Thank you...can we just...can we do this, please?"
Looking sympathetic, Nero offered, "Sure. Let's tussle. I promise not to fight you like a friend."
Nero threw her around and taught her all about speed over strength. They swung. They rolled. She taught Ashley to use her environment when her body tried to fail her. She taught her to hide effectively to ambush her opponents.
And there was no worry about hurting Nero like there was with Leon. Ashley didn't care if she hurt Gertie. She just kept on swinging.
Ashley returned home that night stinky, tired, and exhilarated. It had been a good day. She'd learned. She'd listened. She'd done everything commanded after embarrassing herself. She'd fought Kevin and lost, sure, but the big guy was all power.
When he'd turned his back, she'd leaped on him like a monkey and fake-stabbed him thrice in the throat. Kevin laughed, "Damn you, woman! I'm the one who does the stabbing!"
And everyone had laughed.
A good day.
Even if she was aware Leon thought she was too green to survive doing it.
She was showered and fixing a drink when a knock sounded at her door. She picked up her knife and carried it with her as she went to the door. On the other side, Leon commanded, "Open it."
Annoyed, she did.
He showed her his bloody hand, "This? This is amateur hour."
She gave him a droll look. "It worked."
"Not even close," he passed by her into the apartment, "I checked my greater impulses to avoid hurting you too much. That won't happen again."
"Hmm," Ashley gestured to her table, "You wanna have a seat?"
He shook his head. He tugged the knife from his vest and flipped it in his hand, offering it hilt first. She looked down at the blade and back at his face. He told her, "It was Krauser's."
She looked at the knife like it was a nasty snake trying to bite her.
"Why?"
"You wanted a weapon. I'm giving you one."
Ashley stared at him like he'd grown a second ugly head. Leon held her eyes. He commanded, "Take it. Use it. Earn it."
She shook her head, "Fuck you. And fuck that. No. Never."
She turned away to go into the kitchen. He watched her, head tilted, and she spat, "Luis died from that knife. You think I want anything, ever, with his fucking blood on it?"
Leon arched a brow, "It has Luis' blood on it. It has Krauser's too. And mine."
Ashley snapped, "And Micah's. And mine. And every other goddamn person he killed. You think I want to wield that cursed thing?"
"I think it's how you honor those who died by it."
She held his eyes. He didn't look away. Her heart hammered as she admitted, "I want to burn it. I want to destroy it and never see it again."
He nodded. Leon kept holding it out to her. "You can do that. You can do whatever you want with it. But what you do with it, Ashley, it matters just as much as why you wield it. Krauser used it to kill...you can choose to use it to protect."
Her eyes trembled as he added, "Use it to save lives, Ashley. And honor those who lost theirs because of it."
Heart torn, she murmured, "...you bastard."
He nodded. "I am. I'm a bastard. But I'm also right. You came here to do this. So do it. For Luis. For Micah. For yourself. Take this fucking knife and make it count...and stop it from happening to anyone else."
She came forward. She took the hilt. It didn't burn her, but she wanted it to. She wanted it to burn and hurt. It was heavy and well-balanced. It was almost delicate and had a curved blade.
She palmed it and eyed him, "Have you used it this whole time?"
He nodded. He said gruffly, "First to put him out of his misery. Then to bring you home."
Ashley cleared her throat. "...shit." She held it, looking at her eyes in the blade. They reflected, tired but determined. From one former rookie to another, the torch was passed. What she chose to do with it was up to her.
She held the knife and commanded, "...sit down. Let me look at your hand."
She turned away.
He watched her go with a small tilt of his mouth. She didn't think she was strong. But she was. She was tough. If she kept at it, she'd make it. And he'd keep on being there for her until she did.
Leon moved into the kitchen and held out his palm. Ashley laid the knife on the counter as if it were a poisoned blade and had him twitching his lips again as she turned toward him and started unwinding the bandage.
Quietly, she admitted, "I'm sorry I bit you."
Surprised, he arched his brows at her bent head, "Hmm. Because I'm so sweet? Did you go into a diabetic coma drinking my blood?"
Ashley lifted her eyes and met his, "...I've had better."
The cheeky response actually made him laugh. It was a short, quick bark of amusement. She liked it. She'd liked it when Luis had made him laugh too. It felt good to hear it. Real, genuine, and unexpected - much like the man himself under the armor he wore.
Ashley held his eyes over that white flash of teeth and lips. She skimmed his features and murmured, "You should laugh more."
He tilted his head a little at her, "Why?"
"Because it looks good on you."
Softly, he teased, "Is it possible to be more handsome than I am?"
Her lips twitched at the arrogance, "Not handsome, you clown...human. You're so human when you laugh."
His blue eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled again, "What am I when I don't?"
She shrugged a little, "The Executioner."
She finished unwrapping his palm as he queried, "What do you expect me to be?"
His palm was clean, with no bite marks, no blood, and no damage. And the answer to her question was staring her in the face - he'd kept the healing that plagas had given them. He'd retained it.
She had too.
Just like that - he became the only person in the world who was like her.
She lifted her eyes to his face as her right thumb swept over his unmarred palm and answered, "...Leon."
The humor on his face softened. It became something gentle and touchable. He didn't look away as he decided, "I don't think anyone cares much for Leon."
Quietly, Ashley returned, "With all due respect to whoever "they" are? It's their fucking loss."
With a low grumble, he inquired, "You like Leon?"
And she simply said, "...yes."
"What about Agent Kennedy?"
Her eyes twinkled as she teased, "That guy's a bit of a douche...but he's got the goods to back it up."
While they held eyes, she lifted his palm to her mouth and pressed a kiss to the place she'd bitten him. He let her with a smile in place, blue gaze still sparkling. And Ashley murmured, "Kissed and made better."
Leon grumbled, "I wasn't hurt anymore."
Without looking away, she told him, "Sure you are. You just can't see it."
Damn. Wise fucking girl that she was, she got him. Just like that, she got him. He tilted his head, "Clever, aren't you?"
Her eyes flickered, "Not like I should be."
"No?"
"No," she decided quietly, "too stupid to know when to run."
"You thinking about running?"
Ashley didn't look away as she answered steadily, "No. Are you?"
Yep. Clever girl. A small roll of something warm started low in his belly.
Without flinching from her flushed cheeks, Leon offered, "Maybe you have something that needs a kiss too."
"Just my pride, I'm afraid. You got a kiss for that?"
"Maybe. Come closer and find out."
The gauntlet was thrown. Hers to decide if she wanted to pick it up. Risky either way.
Ashley felt her heart speed up. Her lower lip rolled under her teeth. She tugged on his hand and hooked her other hand on his shirt. He let her pull him down. He let her pull him in.
She thought - he was such a mystery. He got in close, he panicked, and he backed off. But he wanted her. He'd been the one to come to her room that first night. He'd been the one to panic and take off too - sure- but he was here now. He kept touching her. He kept letting her kiss him. He kept meeting her halfway.
She got the feeling he wasn't a man who engaged in casual appetites with women. So there was something about her he liked enough to keep letting it happen. Hell, there was something he liked enough to have her risk his reputation by protecting her when he could have walked away.
She didn't know what that meant, but she knew how it felt. It felt warm. It felt soft. It felt sweet and almost innocent.
And when she leaned up to kiss his face with her eyes open, that didn't feel like anything but roaring lust. It made her breath catch. He kept those eyes open as she did. She kissed his forehead while they watched each other.
He let her lead the way. She kissed him softly. She rose on tiptoe to kiss the dip in his chin, to kiss the tip of his nose. It made his mouth twitch.
She told him, "...put your hands on me."
His tone was thick with amusement as he returned, "That's a bad idea."
Her eyes twinkled as Ashley demanded, "Then leave. Why are you still here?"
The blue of his answering gaze was bright and hot. "I'm your bodyguard."
With a shiver of humor, Ashley commanded, "Then guard my body, Kennedy. What's stopping you?"
Leon grumbled, "I'm on duty."
Her eyes flashed as she grumped, "...story of my life."
And his answering laugh made her feel so good it was nearly dizzying.
Ashley slid back to her flat feet and let go of him. He lingered, looking at her like she was something he was starving to eat. It made her flush with pleasure as she told him, "Make some popcorn, bodyguard. And let's watch a movie."
His brows flew up. "Is that what bodyguards do?"
Her lip rolled under her teeth again, "You tell me, you're the one making up the rules here."
Ashley left him in the kitchen. Leon lingered for a handful of moments. He should leave. He didn't need to be with her to protect her. But he liked being with her. He enjoyed her company.
He hadn't enjoyed anyone else in a long time.
So, he turned and made the popcorn.
They watched some action movie that Leon felt the need to pick apart. It wasn't possible for the protag to do this. It wasn't possible to do that. He laughed. He booed. He threw popcorn at the screen.
She asked him questions about what he'd done before. He was forthright. He was friendly. He answered, which surprised her. He talked, which enthralled her. He asked questions in return. Embarrassed, she kept saying, "I was so sheltered. God, I didn't realize."
Leon looked at her in a way that made her feel warm as he answered, "You were safe. I think sometimes we take that kind of thing for granted."
Ashley smiled sadly, "Not safe enough."
He shifted his arm along the back of the couch, and she slid a little closer until she could feel his fingers brush her shoulder. Sweet. Comforting. He promised, "You're safe now."
Ashley watched the television, didn't look at him, and returned, "I know. But you can't be with me all the time, ya know?"
After a moment of silence, she figured he wouldn't answer. He did, quietly, "I know. Which is why you're learning."
Ashley nodded, "Teach me, I'll learn. I promise."
"I know you will," Leon looked back at the screen, "And we'll both learn something."
"What in the world could you possibly need to learn?" She demanded with a laugh.
His answer made her heartache, "Temperance, child."
Jesus.
Her eyes closed. She inhaled sharply and he stated, "You're missing the movie."
She whispered, "It's a stupid movie."
"Maybe, but sometimes stupid is good." When she was so quiet, he remarked, "I ever tell you about the squirrel who stole my nuts when I was a kid?"
And then he just...started talking. She was enraptured by it. He joked. He teased. He glanced at the movie and booed. He chuckled. She laughed.
He was so charming she couldn't stop staring at his profile and missed most of the movie.
Jason Statham had nothing on Leon.
Leon sat on her couch with one ankle crossed over his knee and his arm along the back of the couch. Ashley curled up on the third seat cushion with one empty between them. His holster and gun flashed as he shifted and laughed.
He rolled his eyes, "Look at this shit! Hah! Clown shoes."
Ashley teased, "Almost as stupid as guys doing kick flips off rooftops."
He flicked his gaze to her. "Yeah, but I can also dodge lasers."
She snorted. "Whatever."
He laughed, "I can. Swear to god. I had to in Columbia."
Ashley rolled her eyes. She chuckled. She threw popcorn at him and booed. "Can you sniff your pants for me, Leon?"
His brow furrowed, "Why?"
"Because they're on fire, liar, liar."
His face lit up with such good humor it made her grin back. She hit him in the face with a handful of popcorn. He didn't even flinch. He caught one in his mouth as it landed and made her laugh.
"Did you just attack me, rookie?"
Ashley's whole body shook with amusement. "No?"
"Who's the liar now, Graham?"
He watched her. She waited. He launched himself at her, and she squealed, trying to leap the couch arm to escape. It didn't matter. He caught her. He dragged her back down the couch, and the popcorn spilled all over her as she lost the bowl.
When she was beneath him on the cushions, he warned, "Don't pick fights you can't win, Graham."
Ashley held his eyes and bragged, "Oh, I think I won."
"Yeah?"
"You're on top of me, so yeah."
His eyes twinkled. "...you think you're clever?"
"No," she admitted and had him grinning, "I think you're an idiot. Not that hard to outsmart an idiot."
His laughter felt wonderful. Normal. Simple. Just two people sharing a movie and what almost felt like a date. Just two people with popcorn and laughter. His mouth shifted. It plucked up a piece of popcorn from her shirt where it had fallen between her breasts.
Her breath caught.
Just two people with a whole lot of lust between them.
His mouth worked to swallow, and Ashley breathed, "You missed some."
"Yeah?" His gruff tone warmed her belly, "Where?"
She licked a piece into her mouth and said around it, "...right here."
He lowered his mouth after a handful of seconds and sent his tongue into hers to share the taste of butter and salt. The popcorn all over her shirt crinkled as they moved. He shifted on the couch. She parted her legs to let him between them.
Her hands fisted in his hair as they kissed again.
And again.
And again.
He went after the popcorn on her shirt. He shared it with her with a tongue-thrusting kiss. He went after popcorn. He shared it with her. Her shirt inched up as his hungry mouth kept searching for more.
More what? Popcorn?
No...more Ashley.
He nibbled over her belly. He swirled a tongue in her belly button. When her sweater bunched just under her breasts, Leon went back down her belly. His mouth was slick with butter as he licked over her hip bone. He inched her yoga pants down enough to slide his tongue along the top of her pelvis from one side to the other.
Jesus, she thought wildly, even here was he thorough - he left no patch of skin unexplored.
Leon leaned up to look at her. Her flushed face, her fragrant skin, her parted and pouty needy lips. He could stop. He should stop. But he didn't want to stop. He wanted to touch her and feel her and taste her. He was tired of stopping.
His hands shifted. He slid her sweater up until the plain white of her bra was exposed. Leon flicked open the front clasped, and it fell apart, showing her needy breasts to his hot gaze. He put his mouth against hers, kissing her until she went limp beneath him, nearly prone with pleasure.
His mouth slid against her nipples - one at a time, oily with butter, hungry for flavor. While he sampled her breasts, his hand-rolled between her legs over her yoga pants. Playing at her body. Plucking at her need. He stroked her over her pants until they damped, and her breasts were rosy and slick in answer.
Pressure built in her belly as he rolled the heel of his hand over her engorged mons. He worked her mercilessly, lazily, smoothly, and slowly. Kiss. Lick. Suck. Stroke. Palm and pressure and teeth and tasting.
Jesus. She felt so lightheaded she was afraid she'd float away until the pleasure made her ache for something more. Her body wanted something else. She knew what it was. It wanted him inside her.
She begged desperately, "Oh, god...please?"
And Leon grumbled hoarsely, "Please, what?"
"More."
More. It had so many meanings. He wanted to touch her. He wanted to taste every part of her. He'd promised himself he wouldn't use her. But maybe using didn't mean sharing.
Surely he could share pleasure with her without using her.
Surely.
Ashley whimpered sweetly as his hand dipped under her yoga pants and slid them down her pelvis. He tugged them to her knees and kept going. She thought - oh, my god...and her pants came off to be thrown on the floor. The little white panties she wore were damp from his rubbing.
When she saw him looking at the wet spot, her face flushed as she breathed, "...sorry."
Sorry, he thought as an arrow of hunger made him dizzy. Sorry she was wet for him. Christ. She was intoxicating. He rubbed those panties with fingers. The simple cotton darkened with creamy excitement. She wiggled and whimpered. He slid them to the side to look at her wet and swollen beneath them.
Her hands covered her face as she blushed so hard it made her perfect breasts pink. "Don't."
Gruffly, Leon returned, "Don't what?"
Ashley squeaked, "Don't look at me like that."
"Why?"
She peaked between her fingers at him, "Because it makes me dizzy."
He got that. He did. That was lust. She was so fucking sweet she didn't know what it felt like to burn alive from it. She would before he was done. She lay there beneath him, sweater bunched up, socks on, panties pulled to the side, otherwise exposed.
Beautiful and giving and waiting.
Eager and flushed.
Leon's hand slid down her pelvis, touching over the patch of springy hair, and skimming over her exposed groin. He told her, "Part your legs...let them fall out to the sides." When she did, sweetly, almost nervously, he soothed, "Good...you're so beautiful."
It was such a sweet thing to say. He almost seemed uncomfortable saying it. She was touched by his nervous energy the same as he was humbled by hers. Her faced flushed red and hot as she whispered, "Like this?"
Her legs fell out to the sides. One bumped the back of the couch with a bent knee, one on the floor with her foot arched to leave her exposed to him. Gruffly, Leon answered, "Perfect. Do you play with yourself, Ashley?"
Lord, these questions. She felt dizzy with embarrassment as she breathed, "...sometimes."
"Show me."
Jesus.
Her face flamed. She squeaked, "I-I can't. I don't think I can."
Her innocence felt like fire in his balls as Leon returned, "Sure you can. Teach me your body. Show me what you like."
She slid her fingers down her pelvis and into her panties. He let her start stroking herself so timidly that his breath sped up. He pulled the panties to the side to watch her do it. She skimmed her fingers through her folds and whispered in a high pitched tone, "Like this?"
"Do you like that?"
Her face was bright red, "I don't know," she confessed, "sometimes."
"What does it feel like?"
"Soft."
"Yeah?"
"Yes...and w-wet." She skimmed her clit and jerked like she'd stuck her finger in an electrical outlet. He watched her face and grumbled, "You like that?"
Shyly, she returned, "...yes."
"Put your fingers in yourself."
She did, gently, slowly. Like she wasn't sure she was doing it right. His balls were so heavy they hurt watching her. When she whimpered, Leon demanded, "Does that feel good? You like it slow like that?"
Nearly too dizzy, Ashley whispered, "...god yes."
"Then this won't hurt so much." He leaned to look at her, and his voice was gruff as he warned, "Grip my hair and my arm. If it hurts, jerk on either, ok?"
Why would it hurt?
It all felt amazing.
His fingers parted her folds. He skimmed one along her slit, and his thumb shifted; it swirled over a place at the apex of her body that had her gasping as shocks went through her body. He cupped his hand along her groin where he knelt between her thighs and watched her face raptly. And then he slid two fingers into her aching body.
Snug, wet, she was swollen with arousal as he penetrated her. He circled that thumb nearly lazily over her swollen clit, watching her face, reading her body. Ashley gasped, eyes wide, and he soothed, "It's ok. Easy. I got you."
Of course, he did. He always did. Didn't he know that?
His fingers pressed into her deeper. His thumb pleasured. When she whimpered, he pulled his hand back and leaned down with just the tips of those fingers in her body. She gathered his hair on one side and angled his face to her.
Ashley begged sweetly, "...more."
"Harder?"
His grumbling bear-like tone made her skin prickle as she keened, "Harder, ok? Harder."
She kissed him, drowning, tongue plunging, and she mewled. He answered that desperate sound by plunging those fingers into her body again.
And again.
And again.
He tested her. He increased his rhythm. His middle and ring finger surged while she keened. Her face was a mask of confusion and excitement, and greed. It was wonderful to see it. She wasn't entirely sure what she was feeling.
But he knew what she wanted. And the answer to the question he'd had was clear on her face: she'd never had an orgasm. He dipped his head to taste her breasts as his fingers fucked pleasure into her body and made her start quivering.
Harder. Faster. Slicker. Deeper.
His digits plunged against the bastion of her virginity. It hit her hymen and made her moan. She jerked. She jumped beneath him. Her hips pumped madly in answer to his thrusting fingers.
Leon demanded, "You want me to stop?"
And she begged, "No. Please. No. More."
They both wanted more.
Ashley scrambled her hands to find something to grab onto and settled on his holster. She fisted it. She creamed around his invading digits. Her back bowed. She pulled him down to feed him her tongue, and her breasts pressed wetly into his chest as he finger fucked her until she lost her rhythm and whined wildly into his mouth.
He tried to break her hymen as he fingered her. But the damn thing held strong. There was no way to get through it that didn't demand he deflower her. He wasn't ready to do that. Not yet.
Not yet.
But goddamn if he didn't want to.
Instead, Leon knelt on the couch until his groin pressed against the back of his hand in her body and dry-humped her while she keened. He fingered her mercilessly until Ashley cried out. It felt like being sixteen again. In a way, it was the hottest thing he'd ever done. Because he wasn't some stupid boy who didn't understand her body. He wasn't racing for his own reward here. He was literally throwing pleasure down at her like he once had his dick to the first poor girl who'd let him.
He hadn't cared then if the girl got off. He cared now. He wanted her to cum all over his hand and felt like a god as she begged and pleaded for more of him. He didn't fuck her.
Which proved he was either a hero or a dumb ass. He was betting both. Her face said he was neither. Her face said he was the only thing in the world that mattered at that moment.
And just then? She was the same to him.
She bounced madly, those perfect breasts with their excited nipples ready to cut glass begging for attention, and her thighs snapped together so hard around his hand and hips it almost hurt. Ashley's mouth opened as she announced in a high-pitched gasp, "I'm gonna- I gotta-"
She didn't have the words. But she didn't need them. He felt it. He saw it. He smelled it. She was gonna cum. Leon commanded hoarsely, "Yeah. Breathe. And go."
She answered the command like she'd been waiting for it. He felt her body suck his fingers like a mouth around his cock, and she came. She screamed as he leaned up and swallowed her cry of competition with his mouth.
For Ashley, the pressure built until she was nearly in pain. She felt wild. She felt crazy. She felt her toes and belly, and legs throb. She wanted more, but her body didn't know what it wanted. Because it hadn't bothered to find out before.
Apparently, she'd never had an orgasm. Because what she'd brought on herself felt nothing like this. This felt like flying. And dying. And maybe peeing when you've held it in too long. It was relief. And it was wonder. It was golden and red and glowing.
Her hands clutched him to her. Leon's slid out of her body and looped around her back. He tugged her up and she went bonelessly, sliding over his lap until she straddled him where he knelt. Her legs anchored around his and held him against her. And they were hugging again.
They were hugging after he'd given her her first real orgasm. She hugged him and humped against him and stole some piece of his heart that was still young enough, still sweet enough, to enjoy her first real moment of sheer, selfish, beautiful pleasure.
The waves of orgasm crested and came out of her body, shivering like a seizure. She quaked. Her thighs jerked spastically. She kept moaning weakly into his ear.
His rock-hard dick was lodged against those panties of hers trapped in his damn jeans as he held her. She could feel him throbbing there and wanted to reach into his pants to touch him. But she was just too fucking shy to do it.
Coward, she thought. It wasn't him this time; it was her.
After the shaking subsided, Ashley breathed, "...you can guard my body anytime."
And he laughed.
He just laughed.
He leaned up to see her face. She met his look with flushed cheeks and dilated eyes. His thumb shifted and swept a piece of sweaty hair off her cheek. A tender gesture. A good one.
Ashley smiled at him, and Leon leaned down. They kept their eyes open. They kissed, watching each other. Her sweater slid down between their bellies. His hands slid down to cup her butt where she straddled him. He stroked up her back under the sweater and brought her back to hold her again.
Sweet somehow.
Sweet and hot.
Her body burned.
Her heart burned.
And her head...her head told her not to think too hard about it.
She didn't need to worry about tomorrow. She didn't need to worry about anything but this - this moment- this handful of seconds she had where it was just pleasure. He'd saved her life. He'd given her the power to fight. He'd given her the pleasure she'd never even know was possible.
She couldn't even remember who she'd been before she'd met him.
She didn't know who she became when he was gone.
And he'd go. Eventually, he'd go. He had to. It was the life he'd chosen. She couldn't keep him. He wasn't hers. But he was. Right now, right here - he was hers. And she held onto him while they watched each other.
And that look burned too.
But it was the first time a fire didn't hurt. And what came out of it wasn't destruction. It was her. Whoever she was since she'd met Leon Kennedy. Whoever she would become beside him.
It rose from the ashes of what they'd left behind and what they'd made between them and waited, watching over them with patience, waiting for her to find her way to it.
Whatever it was - she wanted it. Like she wanted him. She wanted to know who she was beside him.
And she wanted to stand beside him as long as she could.
Whatever came next - this moment was hers. It was theirs. And they shared without ever looking away.
They seemed entranced by each other. Her holding him. Him holding on. Her finally letting go and figuring out that he was the only thing worth holding onto about what she'd been. Somehow, he'd become a bridge between who she was and who she would be.
She'd been a girl when he'd found her.
She was a woman beneath him.
She let herself hold him and enjoyed the burn that came with her first real moment of truth - she was falling in love with him. Whatever he was. Whatever she didn't know about him or wouldn't ever know - she was in love with who he was with her. And who she was when she was with him.
And for now? That was all she wanted to be.
