"What is this?" Jill's voice rose to compete with the music that was flowing down the streets of Ayacucho.
Most of the previous stalls and shops she'd seen earlier had been packed up and moved toward the center of the festivities. Some remained open with the hooting voices of the vendors calling out in cheerful tones while they waved to visitors. Excited voices curled just beneath the noise from the many passing forms that had become crammed in the streets leading to what was the Plaza de Armas.
The plaza itself was rich in the architecture that Jill had noted on their entry to the city earlier in the day. Many of the surrounding buildings stood tall and were made in the colonial style of Spain; stone arches and red clay roofs were everywhere she looked.
Houses made of white stone circled the perimeter of the square and consisted of some buildings such as the City Hall, the Cathedral, the Prefecture, the Superior Court, and the facilities of the San Cristóbal de Huamanga University. There was a tasteful outline of the cathedral in small shrubs and flowers. The grass surrounding the statue of Sucre has shrubs shaped into the names and shields that represented the country around her.
In the center of the beautiful square sat a tall equestrian monument. When Jill squinted to make out the sign at the bottom she recognized she was looking at the great marshal of Ayacucho, Antonio José de Sucre.
Moving through the plaza, people streamed to different decorated areas while music drifted up and floated from a far-off band coming from the westside plaza.
"This is Ayacucho's Festival of the Virgin of Candelaria," Carlos answered beside her. "It's held in several different places in the month of February and celebrates Quechua, Aymara, mestizo and quite a few other cultures now."
Jill was taking in the sight of the tall horned masks as a group of people passed by. Colorful tunics and robes with jewels were reflecting the late afternoon sun as it prepared to set.
"The history of the festival traces back to the takeover of the town Puno, Peru by the revolutionary army that continued the struggle of Túpac Amaru II." Carlos continued as he ran a hand through his thick hair and took in the awe in her features.
"The first name of your initial resistance," Jill said as she paused beside him. When Carlos' eyebrows were raised in a question, she threw him a satisfied expression. "I did my own 'reading' about you, Oliveira."
"You're gonna make me blush in front of my own men?" Carlos asked with the delicious tone he only ever seemed to save for her.
"Don't get distracted," Jill was careful to keep her true pleasure from her delicate features. "Tell me more."
"I'm always distracted by you, Supercop," Carlos admitted before he lifted his head and began to point to different decorations and costumes that could be seen. "The battles lasted for three consecutive months. When it appeared that the siege of Puno was imminent, the inhabitants decided to take the Virgin of Candelaria out in procession to ask for her protection. Our tradition tells us that the besiegers, on the night of that procession, abandoned the city and withdrew. To this day it is celebrated as a miracle of the Virgin of Candelaria."
Jill followed his hand to the costumes of dancers wearing masks decorated with gold and silver jewelry, colorful gemstones, coins, and glass mirrors while she listened.
"In the communities bordering Lake Titicaca, our village used to participate with the rhythm of pinquillos, chaqallos, lawak'umus, sicus, drums and zampoñas. As a boy, my family and I would prepare for the Great Contest of Autochthonous Dances that is held on February 2nd." Carlos continued before his tone shifted slightly.
When Jill turned her eyes back up to his profile, Carlos' features had hardened while he stared out forlornly at the celebration before them all. Jill took every infraction that revealed itself on his face when he paused to gather his thoughts.
"We can't do that anymore after the cartels seized our lands for the coca farms," Alonzo supplied as he walked up on Carlos' other side.
When Carlos glanced down at his younger brother, there was a tenderness there that was shared by blood and loss. Carlos' large hand was setting itself on the back of Alonzo's shoulder for a moment.
Alonzo held his brother's stare before he turned back to Jill.
"We'll get it back one day," Carlos said before he glanced back at Jill too. "For now, we won't dwell over what's to come. Would you like to celebrate?"
"Am I allowed to?" Jill asked, swallowing the questions on her tongue.
Carlos had previously mentioned their main village being near Lake Titicaca, and the home they lost. Knowing the pain of sore subjects herself, Jill decided to wait for when he was ready to share more.
"Everyone is allowed to," Alex said on her left and he held out something to her. "Virgen de la Candelaria in Puno is a fusion between Catholic and Indigenous cultural traditions of the region. The festival has morphed into a celebration of life and Pachamama. Many people come to visit and watch the celebrations. This one here in the city is much smaller than in Puno, but it's a good start."
Alex's hand went up in the air to summon a vendor with a tray hanging from straps around his neck. Soon, a drink was placed into Jill's other hand when she noticed that what Alex had handed her was a colorful blue bowler hat that held clips on the inside to position into her hair.
Her wide eyes went up toward Carlos', and the look she was greeted with was true joy while he pointed to the top of his head, signaling for her to put the hat on.
"The bowler's hat," Carlos said. "And the way the hat is worn is also important for the women in our culture. It was introduced to us by the British. The placement, where the hat is on the head, is a clear sign of the marital status of the woman or even where she is from."
"You got me a blue one," Jill said with her appreciation in her tone.
"Signature color and all that," Carlos purred.
"He'll never admit it," Alonzo piped up with his lighter colored eyes sparkling in mischief. "But he loves that beret you wore in those pictures he kept."
"Dude," Carlos said, glancing back at him. "That's cold. You're supposed to be on my side."
"Her side has proved to be more fun." Alonzo shrugged before he began to explain the positions on the head Jill could do to indicate certain things.
Jill listened for a moment before she flipped the hat up and placed it on the center of her head. She held Carlos' eyes and took a sip of the alcohol now in hand. The men around him were even watching his reaction from her bold declaration.
Carlos opened his mouth to say something, but Jill was giving a sly smile and decided to ramp him up a little more first.
"What about the bed, driving back tonight, and our looming threat?" Jill asked before her eyes strayed to the group of dancers coming their way from a procession.
"David's already calling for backup along our borders. I think we can wait a night," Carlos cleared his throat when he was stepping closer. "Besides, I'm pretty sure we're not gonna be able to buy a bed with this going on."
"Are we spending the night?" she asked, moving her eyes back to his.
"You said you liked to dance," Carlos answered instead, his eyes regaining the spirited hunger he had given her so many times before. "Do I need to get you more alcohol to put your moves where your mouth is, Supercop?"
Jill glanced back down at her cup and raised her brows. She hadn't had alcohol in a great many years and truthfully, she didn't even know what she was holding. Still, fear was working its way through her gut. It didn't seem like a good idea for her to let her guard down after everything they had just learned.
Warm fingers were curling around the back of her neck when Carlos stepped closer. His other hand was tipping her hat up before he lifted her chin.
"I've got you, Jill," he said, leaning down a little to look into her eyes. "Nothing will happen tonight. Not even the cartel dares to mess with festivities here. No advantage. I'll make sure you're safe."
"Now would be a good time to admit you can't dance," Alonzo called, still behind Carlos. When Jill slid her narrowed eyes over to the younger brother, he gave her a teasing wink. "Americans can shoot a gun, sure but their dancing skills?" He grimaced for effect.
"Alright," Jill said, raising her voice a bit to be heard. "I didn't survive the god damn apocalypse to be outclassed by someone who winks like a cyclops in the rain."
Pedro was the first person to get the joke and when Jill handed over her now empty cup of alcohol to Carlos, he was grinning when he started to pull the cup away.
Jill held her grip on the cup and Carlos paused, his eyes honing on the playful look on her face. Jill leaned forward to kiss his cheek before she moved her lips to his ear and murmured loud enough for him to hear, "Find us a place tonight that has a bed, Carlos."
His dark eyes seemed to become impossibly darker when she pulled back. He reached forward to grab her, but Jill was smirking before she stepped from his reach and turned for the procession that was currently making its way past them.
The people in horned mask costumes were performing a dance she would later learn was called the Danza de los Diablos, or rather, the Dance of the Devils. The dance seemed to consist of seven moves which were a shuffle step of feet, twisting hips, and a flourish of the arms.
A woman in a devil-like mask was leading the dance of similarly dressed individuals. When Jill stepped out, she watched others like herself also trailing out to dance on the outside. Only later would she realize that the carriage of dancers were the personified seven deadly sins of pride, greed, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth. Jill would later find it amusing to know she had danced alongside Pride.
Backed by brass horns and drum lines, Jill was studying the dance before she began to fall into step. She stumbled at first; clearly no native to the dance of something much older than she could imagine. As the procession began to move and the beat of the drums took up residence in her chest, her variation started to become more fluent; the feline grace she possessed with combat became a passion that served alongside the warmth of alcohol fusing through her blood.
Her laughter was lost among the music and the cheers around her, but she was no longer paying attention while her hips fell into smooth arcs and twists. Adding her own flare to each step, she began to notice the eyes in the crowd.
Many of those she saw at the resistance meeting were either staring back at her, or eventually dancing beside her. Jill even caught Tatiana Rani's face splitting into a grin while in the crowd as the sun began to set over the celebrating town.
With her heart matching the beat of the clamoring music, Jill Valentine danced among the people of Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia. Her thoughts were no longer on their oncoming conflict, the whispers of Albert Wesker, nor were they on who she currently was. Her unnatural blonde hair had fallen from its ponytail and the lightly colored strands didn't seem to bother her as they flared beneath her bowler hat.
She was just a woman dancing. A nameless spirit who was allowed just a few hours of something resembling true peace and a place that would allow her to be as such.
Hands were curling around her waist from behind and her joyful eyes turned back to see a man she didn't recognize dancing alongside her.
Alex and Pedro had disappeared somewhere into the procession sometime after Jill had. Carlos knew it had been years since any of them had the pleasure of returning to the roots of their festival. When they had first arrived in the city, Carlos also knew the sight of the oncoming celebrations would be a pang each of them felt, however, it wasn't the time to mourn their continued losses.
Most of his people had made it away with their lives and that had been enough. One day they may be able to return and with that safety, they may also be able to reclaim traditions that were deeply important to them all.
As Carlos walked slowly beside the procession of dancers, he found that sorrow melting away into something much more sacred.
He had described Jill's smile as pure starlight. If one were to ask him what she looked like when she was fighting, he would have described her as the goddess Nemesis she had been ironically named for. However, when Jill danced, she became something else entirely.
Carlos glanced over to view Alonzo chuckling beside him. They stood side by side as brothers and together they watched the woman they were both starting to lay claim to in different ways. Her dedication and enthusiasm for their culture meant something special to both of them.
Jill's capability to perform multiple different styles of martial arts was shining through in her ability to pick up the rhythm and coordination it took to follow the dancers. She wasn't perfect in replicating it, but she did add a new flair to it that drew different sets of eyes in the crowd. People were stepping out with her and dancing behind as they watched the sure-footed woman lose herself in the most important aspect of the dance—to tell a story.
For generations, these dances had been perfected to convey feelings, emotions, and connect with others and with oneself. Among the tributes it possessed to honor the Virgin of Candelaria, each dancer shared their story with each step they took. In honor of the blessed, the human body was held in the highest honor among the many different cultures present to dance in Peru.
Jill Valentine was telling the story of the woman who had been fighting battles for nearly half of her life. Whether it was in her time as a combat veteran, her years in the S.T.A.R.S., the time spent in the BSAA and her hunt for bioweapons, or being a captive for a madman… All of that fell away like chains freed from around her wrists and instead became a flare of power that allowed a redeemed woman to express herself.
Unshackled from the persecution of herself, Jill was an unbowed spirit beneath it all, and Carlos didn't know if he would ever be able to top such a sight.
Carlos continued to pass through the onlooking crowd while he kept pace beside Jill dancing on the far-left side. Once again, much like in the soccer field in his village, he was helpless to do anything but watch the incredible woman who had professed her love and continued to work beside him as they all prepared for the next stages of the dissension in the South American lands.
"You going to just watch all night?" Alonzo shouted next to him.
Carlos looked away from Jill for the first time since she had started dancing an hour ago and blinked down at his little brother.
"Someone needs to keep watch," he called back while the crowd hummed with movement around them.
"Why the hell am I the single one if I can't be the one to hang back and take up that position?" Alonzo countered, gesturing to himself.
"Might have something to do with that mouth of yours," David popped up over Alonzo's shoulder. David hadn't wanted to dance with the rest of them out there.
"You keep talking and you'll find me as your dance partner," Alonzo's face was twisting in mirth when David gave him an odd side eye that shuddered from the younger Oliveira brother to the faces around them.
"Anyway," Alonzo was throwing a glance toward Carlos once more. "If you don't go out there and dance with her, someone else is going to."
David opened his mouth beside Alonzo and was making a pointing gesture over his shoulder when Alonzo waved at him to not interrupt.
"Matter of fact," Alonzo continued while Carlos stared on. "That someone may actually be me and—"
"She is dancing with someone," David finally interjected.
Both Alonzo and Carlos whipped their heads in an identical fashion toward where they had last seen Jill. Sure enough, a man in a mask with a ponytail drooping out the back was dancing in front of her. Both of the Oliveira men seemed to be in coordination as their matching sharp gazes watched the hand that trailed her waist.
"That dirty—" Alonzo began.
"—Dead son of a—" Carlos was adding beside him.
"Do I need to be the one to rescue her, or are one of you chumps going to get it together?" David asked in a more forceful voice that was outside of his normally calm demeanor.
Alonzo recovered before Carlos did, and Carlos grunted when his brother placed a hand at his shoulder and pushed him forward.
"Make me proud, big brother," Carlos heard him say before he found himself naturally parting with the crowd to get to the train of dancers. Focusing more on Jill now, he could see the discomfort on her face, but it wasn't fear.
Carlos knew that physically Jill would most likely be able to best him or really any of his men; one drunken dancing man wouldn't be a match for her. However, as he stepped out into the open, he realized that wasn't the point of his newfound ire.
While he walked up behind Jill, Carlos' eyes were on the dancing man in the mask. Carlos could tell, even with the mask on the man's face, when the stranger noticed him. The man stuttered in his step, and the mask tipped upwards toward Carlos' height. A single hand was coming up almost as if to ward Carlos off before the mask, along with the man, was backing off into the crowd.
Something old seemed to chuff pleasantly in Carlos' chest when he watched the other man retreat. Before him now, Jill was turning her head and he felt his heart give a squeeze at the delighted way she looked up at him. Carlos also noted that alcohol and Jill Valentine wasn't a bad combination.
The music had changed by this point, and it was a ramp of sound with the live symphony that trailed behind the dancers now.
Carlos had danced enough as a younger boy in the days next to his family, but even with his time spent in America, it wasn't strange to find him learning styles of the different cultures he found spread out through the country. After he had mastered English, he mastered a few other things in the process.
Stepping up to Jill and touching her waist was as seamless as breathing. The trust and pleasure she displayed at his nearness and the act was enough to spread a slow grin to his lips before they both began to move to the beat around them.
Jill's body was pliant while she arched into him and the cluster of notes from the band. Carlos found his hand slipping away from her tiny waist to spin her to the rise and fall of the song. When she spun back around, she landed right at the crash of the Lydian and Dorian tempo of the music; her eyes were burning up into his when she rolled her hips against his and continued the dance that only the two of them knew.
The B & E Specialist was seducing Carlos out of his own soul, and she had already laid claim to his entire heart. She, who wore no makeup, bolstered no adornments, and stood before him in nothing more than jeans, a tight black long-sleeved shirt, and one of the hats the women of his country wore; the hat she had purposefully placed to signify a message just for him.
Carlos had never seen a more devastating sight than Jill when she was displaying herself so openly.
She had said she liked to dance. That had been an understatement—Jill came alive when she danced.
When the moon was much higher in the sky, they were still dancing as the festival continued with the normal cultural hails to the Virgin of Candelaria, but neither of them could be stopped when hands were brushing the sensitive spots on the body.
At one point, Jill leaned up with a hand around the back of his neck to place a kiss at his cheek, her legs straddling around one of his own to press her hips in when one song ended.
In the moments before the next song began to play, the bracelet he had bought for her was pressing into his skin. Along with its meaning, the promise in her eyes felt like fire against him that traveled all the way down to his loins. Carlos suspected that her panting breaths that followed were also not due to their activity of dancing any longer.
Eventually, Jill's hand found his and the tiny tug she gave him signaled her desire to leave the never-ending celebration of people around them. Carlos was helpless to deny her anything in that moment and it didn't take much for the small woman to lead him back into the crowd and through it. Although this was her first time in the city, she seemed to have a destination in mind.
Carlos glanced back once, and he caught the lightly colored eyes of his brother staring after them. Carlos gave a silent indicator that they would be back, and he watched his youngest brother give him a knowing grin before he turned away and stepped out to finally dance himself. Carlos let out a laugh that was lost to the music when he watched Alonzo yank David out after him.
The expression on David's face was that of a man who would have rather been put to death than dance.
The music was getting quieter when the pair of them rounded the tall building of the cathedral and toward the darkened shops whose owners had abandoned their sales to join in the festival.
"Jill," Carlos called out as she continued to lead him toward another building. His voice sounded a little hoarse from all the laughing he had done in the last few hours. "Where are we going—"
With a last little tug, Carlos nearly tripped forward before his back was pushed into an alcove that housed a miniaturized El Beso sculpture.
Before he could get the next words out, Jill was pressing her body against his and standing on her tiptoes to capture his mouth with hers while her slender arms were winding around his neck. Carlos groaned and almost wanted to laugh at the irony of the statue at his back when he opened his lips to hers and let the small woman lay a claim against his very being.
Jill's pace was slow, and she took her time with the way she kissed him. The lithe body that could end a man's life or steal one's soul was pressing against his before he found himself wrapping his arms beneath her legs and lifting her to wind them around his waist. When she was seated upon him, he sat back into the ledge of the sculpture and allowed her slide down into his lap.
The evidence of his arousal was no longer a secret, and he opened his eyes when she pulled her head back. The adoring look she gave him was followed by a sweet smile and he returned it while he watched that happiness she deserved consume every line of her face.
"You're the most magnificent thing I've ever seen, do you know that, Jill?" he breathed when his hand lifted to cup her jaw. His eyes were dropping back down to her mouth when he rubbed his thumb along her bottom lip.
Jill lifted a hand, pulled the hat from her head, and gently set it down over the head of the sculpture behind him. Carlos couldn't help the grin he gave when she closed the distance once more and there wasn't any talking while they breathed heavily into the small alcove that hid them from the world for just a little bit longer.
"I need you right now, Carlos," Jill whispered against his mouth before she gave a single nip to his bottom lip. She had been grinding down into his lap for the past few minutes and so it took Carlos a second or two longer to process the words while he sucked in his breath.
"There's a hotel we planned to stay at nearby, we'd need to go get the others before we could go," His words were delivered with an impatience she seemed to share because the smile she gave him in response was the most devious thing he had seen from her yet.
"That's for later," the hand she had at the nape of his neck clutched some of his hair before she pulled his head backwards and kissed him maddeningly slow between her next words, "I mean right now."
"Out here?" Carlos asked stupidly while his brain processed his request. "Supercop, need I remind you, that public indecency is—"
The hand in his hair disappeared and rove down his chest while she chuckled into his mouth. When she gripped the hard-on that was trapped beneath her warm body, Carlos wouldn't have been ashamed to admit he almost came right then.
"You're talking way too much for what I want," she breathed. "Now, Carlos"
Again, he was a simple man, and he did as he was told—
Carlos stood to his feet with her still clutched around him. Jill was kissing the side of his neck while he searched for a suitable place that would at least hide them away from the most prying eyes.
Around the corner of one of the shops, Carlos carried the woman he loved toward the backend that had a tall wall separating a part of the city on the opposing side. In the darkness, only one light source was shining down enough to offer any light and it was the moon. He hesitated as there also seemed to be nowhere to sit other than the ground.
Jill was unwrapping her legs from his waist and allowed her body to slide purposely down his. Carlos barely avoided a hiss when the warmth of her roused a need that was becoming almost violent at this point.
With her hand gripping the center of his black shirt, Jill pulled him against her while her back rested against the wall that faced the back end of the shop. Her pale skin was glowing under the sky's natural light and Carlos could have sworn the moon's illumination had caused her violet eyes to flash up at him when she sealed her mouth back over his.
When she released his shirt, she was moving both hands to the buckle of his belt before Carlos caught her wrists.
He pressed her harder into the wall with his chest while he collected her wrists in his good hand. Lifting her arms, he twisted her body as if he was spinning her in a dance again. When Jill was whirled around, he placed her hands above her head on the wall.
"Don't move these hands, Supercop. Do you understand?" He barely recognized his own lust filled voice when she nodded and let out a breathy sound. Her wrists remained crossed above her when she laid her palms flat against the stone wall she was now facing.
With free reign, he was going to make sure she always had a fondness of that little title he had bestowed upon her years ago. Carlos started from her wrists before his hands began to slowly climb down her skin in a soft frisk. Reaching her shoulders, his hands dipped down and around to her heaving chest. He wanted to devour the sound she made when his mouth found the skin on the back of her neck.
Jill's body wasn't hard for him to cover, she was petite enough to be able to complete a 'search' in only a few moves, but Carlos was in no hurry when his palms ran over the nipples he could feel poking out from her bra and the shirt she wore. When he felt Jill shudder and let out a soft mewl of need, he lightly bit her neck. His dark laugh roused an arch from her spine and resulted in her backend pressing into his front.
Lifting his head to make sure her palms were still on the stone in front of her, he dipped his torso to smooth down the front of her thighs and to her calves. On his sweep upwards, his palms slid along her legs until he was gripping her ass before eventually making his way back up to her hips.
Soon, fingers were lightly skimming the triangle of cloth that covered her center. Carlos was delighted to find her excitement seeping through the dense fabric of her jeans while she remained a shaking mess from his slow inspection.
"Did you like dancing with me, Jill?" he murmured into her ear while he lightly strummed his fingers up and down where she wanted him the most.
"I loved dancing with you," she whispered vulnerably with her voice shaking.
"Enough that you would ask me to fuck you outside?" Teeth pulling at her lobe finally gave him the moan he loved hearing from her.
"I'd ask for that anywhere with you," she admitted while she tried to get more friction from the two fingers he had split in a V to gently run up and down the crease in her pants.
"Did you finally decide to dance with me when that man touched me?" she spoke before he could ask his next question.
"No," he uttered when he pressed his palm on her, his other hand yanked her back into his hips so she could feel how hard he had become. "I wanted to watch for threats while you enjoyed yourself, but I've been wanting to dance with you since the moment you told me you liked to."
"I was waiting for you to join me, Carlos," Jill hissed when she tilted her head further back into his chest, allowing to have more access to her throat. "I wanted you to touch me since we left that first alcove where you gave me that bracelet."
"Is that why you placed the hat on the center of your head? To signify that you're mine?" he nearly growled when his hand at the front of her pants slipped up to dig itself beneath her jeans, and into her damp curls. When he found her soaking, he groaned into her skin. "Fuck, you're so ready."
"I am yours," she answered his question and cried out when his fingers met the skin of her folds gently but never moved toward her bundle of nerves or inside of her. "Please, Carlos."
Yanking his hand back from her clothes, both hands worked at the button of her jeans before he slid them down her thighs. When they were far enough to allow him access, Carlos' hands disappeared from her skin to reach for his own belt.
The tinkling of metal while he slowly pulled the leather from the loop seemed to run through Jill. Carlos chuckled low to watch her shudder at the metallic sound. The palms she still had above her showed her shaking form from the shadow the moon's light was casting on the wall.
"Don't move those hands, Supercop," he breathed when he pushed his own pants down and stepped up behind her. His mouth was back near her ear when he said, "You won't like what I do to you if you move them."
Another rolling shudder made its way down her spine and Carlos took his time wrapping a hand around her right hip. He leaned his head back and admired her vulnerable position waiting for his touch while he gripped himself tightly. His breath had already become harsh, but he actively felt it catch to see her in such a submissive role for him. Despite the vulnerable position she allowed herself to be in, Carlos was no fool; he knew who held the power between them.
"Carlos," she begged now, and it was enough for him to press in behind her fully.
His lips played at the back of her neck while he guided himself to her wet slit and allowed the head of his cock to trace her sensitive folds. When she whimpered again, it was like music to his ears.
"Please—" he cut her off by pressing the tip in and gasping along with her.
Since their acknowledgement of the desire and love between them, they had enjoyed one another's bodies multiple times now, however, the quivering, wet heat that was encompassing him now was unlike any of those other times.
When he sunk down to the hilt inside of her, the fluctuating walks surrounding him let him know exactly how bad Jill had wanted this and it was a silent challenge to himself that she always wanted him this way in the future.
With a small bow forward with her back, Jill leaned forward as he took her against the wall with the moon highlighting their moving forms in the shadows of Ayacucho, Peru.
Carlos used a hand around her waist to pull her back into each deep thrust of his hips. With a gasp, he lifted a hand to thread through one of hers on the wall. Their shared, ragged breathing lay atop the sounds of music still floating through the city and Carlos knew there would never be anyone else but her for the rest of his life.
He had been a man enthralled and easily snarled by the fierce gaze and determination of Jill in 1998. For years he had held her in his heart, and no one had ever come close to touching him so deeply. Over the course of the last week, he could have blamed lust when it came to the way he watched and desired her, but it had nothing to do with what her body could give. It was her and it was in everything she was—even when she was fighting to find herself again.
He was absolutely at the mercy of Jill Valentine and while he sped his hips up in time to the tightening of her body in front of his, he hoped she would never forget that.
Jill was whispering his name like a plea while he drove the length of himself all the way out before easing her back into each thrust.
Her moans were turning into throaty cries before his hand lifted from her entwined one and laid itself over her throat. When Jill's hips bucked hard at the small pressure he applied, Carlos knew he wasn't going to last much longer.
Holding his stance steady, Carlos continued to keep his pace when his hand dropped down her still clothed stomach to brush over her clit.
"Please," Jill uttered. "Please, can I move my hands?"
"Yes," Carlos groaned when his fingers brushed down her dripping center to collect the moisture. His fingers were circling her clit when one of her hands clamped over the one he had at her neck.
"Squeeze, Carlos," she cried, "I'm so close, just squeeze."
Carlos only hesitated for a second. Her throat was delicate in his large hand but much like when he first met her, he trusted her very word and did as she asked. His decision found his hand squeezing her throat until her moan cut off abruptly.
Carlos let out a rush of breath while his body shook to wait for hers. When he felt her go absolutely still, he released her neck, and Jill came completely done before him.
Her orgasm shook her legs and in a quick loop of arm, he caught her and used the leverage to absolutely release himself to roughly slam his hips into the back of her. The sound of skin slapping skin was echoing softly in their enclosed space.
Jill finally found her voice again when her sharp intake of air allowed her to whimper out the rolling of her orgasm with his new fervor. She was bracing her palms on the wall again to keep them both up and was still clamping around him when he came with a sharp bark of words against the skin of her neck.
With strength he hadn't known he possessed; Carlos kept himself upright while his hips came to a slow rolling stop behind her. Jill's panting was rivaling his when they both became still.
The laugh Jill released was a musical sound that detailed a woman who was not only satisfied but completely free in her enjoyment. She gave one last push of her hips back into his, and it had him hissing a breath next to her ear.
Jill stepped forward and was careful when she pulled herself away and off of him. She pulled up her clothing before she turned to face him.
Carlos had leaned forward to place his hand on the wall. He couldn't have given a shit if someone caught him standing there with his pants still around his thighs. He hadn't ever orgasmed so hard in his life, and he was slightly regretting not getting a hotel room before they had decided to join the festival. The madness of his desire had been satiated, but it wouldn't be long before he craved to have her beneath him again.
Jill's hands were lifting to his bent neck while he panted. The look she gave him was full of the love she told him of every moment she could now. So, when she dropped to her knees with her hands trailing down his chest, he jerked when she gently grabbed his softening cock.
With her mouth, she carefully began to clean him off.
"Shit," he snarled while his fist pressed against the stone of the wall.
Jill knew enough to be careful; she wasn't moving her mouth to get him aroused again. Instead, she took time to gently seal her lips over the length of him and pulled her head back with her lips collecting his release and hers from him. When she was done, she looked up into his down turned eyes while she proceeded to help him pull his pants up.
Carlos lifted his head to watch her rise to her feet, and he held that fierce look she pinned him with while her skilled hands redid his belt.
"Mr. Oliveira," her voice was quiet and yearning when she dipped her head forward and kissed him gently. "I think I would like to get that hotel room now."
Carlos huffed a breath and pulled her into his arms when he deepened the kiss. The taste of their love making against his lips wasn't something he would ever shy away from. He opened his mouth to lick against her bottom lip and Jill was grinning into his shameless display.
"Can you imagine what we wouldn't have gotten done if we did this in Raccoon?" she whispered.
"Oh," he puffed against her mouth. "I seriously thought about it, Supercop."
"When?" She placed her hands on his chest and took a step back. "I was mean to you almost the entire time."
"Mean or not, I saw that look you gave me when you pulled away on that subway car." Carlos ate up the sudden look of shock on her features. "What? You didn't think I saw that?"
Jill was looping her arm through his while she steered him back toward the street. The music around them was becoming louder while they walked back toward the festival.
"I didn't think I was so transparent," she admitted when they passed by the alcove she had led him to first. With a slight reach, she flipped her previously worn hat into her hand before pressing back into his side.
Carlos was staring down at her when she turned her face to look back up at him. She was waiting for him to respond when he felt an overwhelming need to remind her of something.
"Hey," he finally said, pausing to turn toward her in the dark street. "Delicious sex or not, at the end of the day, it's just you I want, Jill. I love you and you're not escaping that so easily anymore."
Jill was looking back and forth between his eyes when she tilted her head slightly to the side to study him.
"I know, Carlos," she said quietly. "I love you too but the next time you make me wait for a dance, you're gonna learn how mean I really am."
"Hmm," Carlos was smiling around the pleased hum from his throat. "I can't decide which option I'd enjoy the most. They say you should settle for the devil you know, but I am a man that likes punishment."
They had stopped once or twice on their way back to enjoy a stolen moment before they finally returned to the plaza. Jill was staring out at the festivities that were still in full swing.
"You guys really do know how to throw a party," Jill noted.
"And to think this a slightly religious festival," Carlos added and took pleasure in the chuckle she bid beside him.
"Where is everyone?" She was turning her head to see if she could spot one of his men or his brother.
"Dancing with the rest," Was his simple answer.
"Even David?" Her startled eyes were back on his.
"Alonzo wouldn't let him stand on the sidelines," Carlos watched the mirth cross her eyes. "Hell, the last I saw, they were dancing together."
"The men of the Oliveira line never cease to amaze me." They were walking forward when they spotted Pedro waving to them.
"Hey, you know where the others are?" Carlos called when the longhaired man finally made it through the crowd to them.
"Yeah, but you'll have to help me with Alex, he's shit faced." Pedro said with a shrug.
The answer was so normal given everything they had been dealing with, he found himself truly braying his own unique laugh before he looked back at the woman his arm was still wrapped around.
"Lead the way," Carlos called to Pedro while he kept his eyes locked with Jill's.
"What?" she inquired when they still hadn't moved to follow Pedro into the crowd.
Carlos simply shook his head and instead curled her closer into his side before he finally stepped forward. Jill's arm found his waist while they continued back through the crowd, and Carlos didn't know if he could string together the right words for how right it felt to have Jill at his side.
Deciding he'd show her in time, Carlos took the bowler hat from her hand and set it back upon her head. When she gave an answering smile, he led the woman he loved through the old history of celebration.
The squeeze of her hand in his was a future celebration he'd die to protect.