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DOCUMENT N. 01
DATE: October 2nd 1998
PLACE: [somewhere near Raccoon City]
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As the helicopter landed on the rooftop of a building in a nearby city, both Carlos and Jill sighed.
Even though it was finally over, Raccoon City was already a pile of ashes and ruins. Her home a distant memory.
Thankfully she wasn't alone and she was very grateful for that. Especially because she didn't go through that hell entirely by herself. She wouldn't make it out alive.
Carlos had been a literal lifesaver. If it weren't for him she would have been turned into one of those things by now.
And now, there they were. In a foreign city, with nothing more than loaded weapons and some medical spray. She desperately needed a shower and a bed. All the tiredness of those past few days was hitting her body, as the effects of the adrenaline ran out.
"We should be fine here." Carlos spoke, pulling Jill from her thoughts.
"Yeah, I too think so." she paused. "Do you think we'll be able to find a motel room around here? I'm in desperate need for a shower." as she spoke her stomach grumbled. "And apparently also for something edible that doesn't involve energy bars." she chuckled.
"Yeah Supercop, ya're right. I'm sure I could find us some nice, clean rooms. Tomorrow we'll get in touch with your superiors, but for now let's just take a well deserved break."
They left the helicopter behind them and descended the emergency stairs on the building's side. Their legs hurt more and more at each step they took. By now they were running on fumes.
Jill walked behind Carlos, like that she could admire his massive back and then, out of the blue, a naughty thought crossed her mind. It was not the moment to think about those sort of things... Well, of course she wouldn't refuse if Carlos made the first move. She had found herself trapped in the thought of running her fingers through his soft, dark, curly hair.
Jill! For fucks sake... Yet again, it was no time to think about that.
But her mind didn't give a shit about timing. Now the only thing she could think about, while they were going down the stairs, was his ass. She couldn't keep her eyes off that perfectly round butt. Damn!
"Supercop? Are you listening? Hey? Earth to Jill?!"
Her subconscious reacted to her name by pulling out the gun from the belt.
"Woah woah easy Supercop." Carlos shouted placing one of his hands on the top of the gun, lowering it down. "It's me, Carlos. Everything's fine. Put that thing away."
With trembling hands, Jill put her gun back in the holster. What the hell was she doing? Pointing a weapon at Carlos out of the blue? She must have gone completely insane.
A lonely, warm tear ran down her cheek. She had to stop. Carlos was watching her, she couldn't show how weak she actually was to him. But other lonely tears fell from her blue eyes. She couldn't stop.
And than a calloused, big, warm hand tapped her on the shoulder and dragged her into a hug. Her ear pressed against his firm chest. Her arms squeezed between his biceps. Her hands on his abdomen, where she could feel his abs under the thin and worn-out fabric of the t-shirt. All around her started to become fuzzy and dark. She was about to pass out. And in the exact moment she admitted that thought to herself, she fell unconscious into Carlos arms. The man sustained her like she weighed nothing. He took her in his arms and carried her on the way.
"Don't worry Supercop, I got you. Rest for now, you earned it."
ஐ ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ ஐ
When she regained consciousness, all around her was illuminated by a warm, yellow light coming from a small lamp on a nightstand. Carlos must have found a room while she was unconscious. The place was neither small nor big. It held two twin beds separated by a nightstand, which cast light from a cheap pink lamp. On Jill's right there was the bathroom door, from where she could hear the sound of the running water. She knew she shouldn't, but she pictured in her mind a naked Carlos taking a shower. She felt her cheeks burning up. Then she brought her mind back to the room, on her left, near the bed where she was resting, was a small fridge. She opened and grabbed a bottle of water, she drank taking small sips. She hadn't realise how thirsty she was until the water touched her lips. In front of her there was a desk covered in medical supplies and food. In fact, she was all patched up, every inch of naked skin was covered with -not so white anymore- bandage.
From behind her, she heard the bathroom door opening and the soft, deep voice of the latino reached her ears.
"Hey Supercop. You're finally awake."
"What, were you worried about me?" she was still facing the wall, like she couldn't allow herself to turn and watch him. She made it seem like the supplies were really interesting.
"Nah, you had literally beaten a damn virus. A bit of tiredness it's just a scratch for you." he paused. "Hey Jill... What's wrong?" he asked while brushing one hand on Jill's back.
"No... Nothing. I need a shower." she turned around and ran into the bathroom, trying not to look at the man.
She slammed the door behind her, laying her back on it. She was completely breathless. Him caressing her back sent shivers down her spine. She wondered if it was just a physical need -Carlos was indeed a handsome man- or if she was developing feelings for him. Yes, they went through a lot of trauma together, but they didn't know each other. Was it even possible having feelings for him?
Whit her mind still full of thoughts, she got undressed and hit the shower. Letting the boiling water take away all the blood and dirt from the past few days, was healing. She carefully washed her wounds, letting the bloody water ran down the drain. It was a familiar ache, deep and strong. But it felt nice. She needed it. Then a knocking on the door distracted her from her wounds.
"Yeah, what is it?"
"I've brought ya some clean clothes. Hope they're your size. I'll leave them right out the door."
"Thank you, Carlos."
"Don't mention it."
She heard the man stepping away.
"Wait Carlos. I mean it. Thank you. Not for the clothes, but for everything else you've done this past few days." she took a deep breath. "I know it's lame for me telling you some sort of things from behind a door, but I'm no good with people. So thanks again, I owe you a big one."
"Since we're being honest... I'll tell you something. Since you say you owe me, what if I ask you something in return? I saved your life countless times, you do something for me. How's that sound?"
"Ye... Yeah, of course. Let me just get out of here."
"Excellent, I'll wait here."
She agreed to that offer way too quickly, without even thinking about it. Stupid, stupid Jill. What if he asks for some sexual favour. She can't do it, can she? Of course she CAN'T. That would be too embarrassing. And above all, Carlos was not the type to ask something like that, was he?
She opened the door just enough to take a sports bra and a pair of plain black panties, a red tank top and a green cargo pants. She put them on and left the bathroom behind. Now that she could see, the man was sitting on the other bed, torturing his hand, hitting repeatedly his foot on the floor, the head heavy between his shoulders.
"Everything's okay?" she asked, stopping herself in front of him.
"Yeah, don't worry. My head-ache it's giving me a hard time."
"I see, of course."
"So, did the clothes fit?" while asking his eyes looked up and down at her figure.
She crossed her arms, suddenly hyper-aware of the man's eyes looking at her and the thin fabric of her tank top.
"They fit just fine. Thanks. Now, what is this thing you want me to do, Oliveira?"
Carlos' body shifted completely. He stopped tapping his foot on the ground, the shadow of exhaustion hovering on his features shifted into that familiar, infuriatingly charming smirk of his. He leaned forward, putting an elbow on his knee and then resting his chin on the hand. His dark eyes locking onto Jill's with a sudden intensity.
"Glad you asked." his voice an octave lower than usual. "It's a big one. It requires you to drop that tough Supercop agenda of yours for at least ten minutes."
Jill froze for a moment. Her breath hitched. Her muscles stiffened. Her heart, which had finally stop after the shower, started pounding again in her chest. Here it comes. Her mind was racing. What do I do? What do I say?
"I want you..." Carlos stopped for a dramatic pause, while reaching over the nightstand. "...to sit down on this damn bed." He pulled out a fresh roll of gauze and a tube of antiseptic. "Because you completely missed the massive gash on the back of your shoulder."
He waited for her to sit down, but Jill kept looking at him with questioning eyes.
"Jill, I swear to god that if you bleed on the only clean sheets in a five-miles radius, I'm throwing you back out with the zombies."
The tension snapped like a rubber band. Jill blinked and a breathy, soft laugh left her lips before she could stop it.
"You're an idiot." she said still laughing.
"You mean a lifesaver, remember? You said it yourself." Carlos patted the mattress at his side. "Come on, sit. You patched up the front but you definitely couldn't reach you back. Let me do it for you."
Reluctantly, but with a strange warmth in her chest and stomach that had nothing to do with the shower, she walked over. As Jill sat near the man, giving him her back so he could treat her wounds, the playful atmosphere suddenly changed into a comfortable silence.
Carlos' hands were warm and calloused on her cold skin. They moved with such firmness and kindness, that reminded Jill of the hazy memory she had of Carlos taking care of her back at the hospital while she was infected. As he gently removed the clumsy tape she applied earlier by herself, her heart did another flip. The warm sensation still hovering in her chest. Then the cool sting of the antiseptic made her hiss and she instinctively tensed her muscles.
"Easy." Carlos murmured, his voice a warm hug, right above her shoulder. "I've got you."
That whisper, right into her ear, was more than enough to sent shivers down her spine. Jill forced herself to look at the dusty wallpaper of the room that was slowly peeling off from the left corner. But every nerve in her body was hyper-focused on the feel of his hands. Every touch feeling like an electric shock.
"You're enjoying this way too much." she muttered, but she wasn't able to hide the note of fondness in her voice. A weak attempt to restore the walls she had just demolish.
"You can't even imagine how much." Carlos replied and she just knew he was smirking. "It doesn't happen everyday that a S.T.A.R.S. supercop lets a grunt like me play the doctor. And done. You're okay now."
He gave her uninjured shoulder a gentle, reassuring squeeze before pulling back. The sudden lack of warmth made Jill dizzy. She was craving closeness, warmth. A human touch.
She turned around and put back the strap of her tank top, avoiding for a brief moment Carlos' gaze. When she finally met his eyes, without the adrenaline of surviving to blur her sight, she could really see the toll the nightmare had taken on him: dark circles under his eyes, his usually honey skin now pale and grey, a long cut still bleeding on his cheekbone and scratches and bruises all over his face. He went back to rubbing his temples, a sign of his headache being still there.
"Now it's my turn."
"Your turn to what?" Carlos blinked, confusion creeping up his face. "Perform surgery?" he looked at her through his dark, messy curls.
"To actually return the favor." she stated as she reached up for a bottle of antiseptic and some cotton pads on the desk.
Before her brain could catch up with her body, she was already entering Carlos' personal space. She stood between his parted knees and the man instantly froze. He watched, utterly speechless, as she smoothly swung one leg over him and settled her weight directly across his lap. The mattress bent a little under their weight and the bed frame cracked a bit. For a moment neither of them moved, Jill building up courage, Carlos too stunned to speak or even move a muscle. Jill could feel the solid, intoxicating warmth of his thighs beneath her while Carlos' large hand instinctively found her waist to balance her, his thumb resting just above the waistband of her cargo pants.
"Well..." the low and raw sound of his voice exhilarated Jill. "I don't remember reading about this procedure in the U.B.C.S. field manual."
"Shut up and stay still, Oliveira." she warned him while miserably trying to hide a smile. She opened the bottle and soaked a cotton pad in the liquid. "You lectured me about my wounded back, but you didn't even care to disinfect your pretty face. You still have a bleeding cut, I'm not letting it get infected."
"Pretty face, uh?" Carlos tilted his head and looked up, his dark eyes locking up with hers. Exhaustion momentarily replaced by desire and pure lust. "Careful, Supercop. You're playing with fire. A guy could get the wrong idea with you sitting on him like this."
"Don't flatter yourself. I'm just protecting my investment, you've promised me to look for breakfast tomorrow morning." she replied smoothly. "Hard to do that if you drop dead from sepsis."
She brought the soaked cotton to the cut on his cheekbone, gently tapping the wound. Carlos hissed at the contact between his flesh and the alcohol, tightening the grip on Jill's hips by pure reflex.
"Sorry." she whispered, instantly softening her tone.
Gently, she cupped his face and she could feel the stubble of a week covering his cheeks and chin. But under the rough sensation, she could sense his burning skin. As she leaned closer to brush the cotton pad near a scratch over his eyebrow, the playfulness of the moment was completely gone.
They were dangerously close. So close that Carlos could sniff the minty toothpaste in her breath and the cheap motel shampoo in her hair. So close that Jill could feel the steady rhythm of his chest against her own. So close that Carlos could count every single one of her moles. So close that Jill could smell the sharp scent of smoke still clinging to his hair.
He had gone completely still, tracing every shift of her face with his dark, deep eyes. The air between them felt suddenly charged with electricity, crackling up with a heavy, magnetic tension that made her catch her breath.
"You must be loving staring at me like that." she cut the silence that was building around them.
"Tremendously." and the smirk made his comeback on his lips.
She wiped clean his face till the last drop of blood was gone. Once she finished she didn't move. Jill just sat still on his lap, gently brushing her thumb over his lips and that made Carlos' eyes drop to her lips for a fraction of seconds. His hand moved an inch higher pulling, if possible, her even closer. They were walking on a dangerous path, the difference between playful teasing and something more real was starting to blur.
It took every ounce of her self control to step back and break the spell. They both hadn't slept in the last seventy-two hours, adrenaline the only thing keeping them awake. And if she didn't move now, they weren't going to get any sleep at all. Reluctantly, Jill let her hand drop from Carlos' face and slid off of his lap. The sudden loss of contact, made the room extremely cold. She went back to the desk and grabbed a couple of pills and a bottle of water.
"Take this." she opened her palm offering the pills and the water to Carlos. "And try to get some sleep. You look like you're about to pass out."
Carlos seemed a bit disappointed, but his expression changed instantly as he was taking the painkillers. A slow, undeniable smirk appeared at the corner of his lips. He knew damn well the effect he just had on her.
"Yes, ma'am." he swallowed the pills and finally laid down. He didn't even bother to cover himself with the blanket. He only threw a arm over his eyes to block out the dim-light of the lamp.
Jill moved to her own bad, turning off the lamp, casting a dark cloak over the room. From outside, the streetlamp were filtering through the blinds. When she laid back, pulling the blanket over her nose, the stillness of the room was almost scarier than any zombie apocalypse. No alarm. No sirens. No gunfire. No monstrous roar. In the absolute silence the only audible thing was Carlos' breath a few feet away. Steady, calm, rhythmic, reassuring. The most comforting sound she had heard in a while.
"Carlos?" she asked whispering to the darkness, unsure if the man was already asleep.
"Yeah? What's wrong Jill?" his voice soft and thick with sleep. No supercop, no teasing.
"I really meant it before. I wouldn't be here without you." the sound just above a whisper.
"We made it out together, Jill. I wouldn't be here either if it weren't for you." he took a deep breath, letting her the time to take his words in. "Try to get some sleep now. You endured enough."
ஐ ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ ஐ
When finally sleep came, it offered no rest. The burning streets of Raccoon City appeared in Jill's mind. The suffocating smell of burnt flesh and ashes filled her lungs. Fire blocking every path. Lifeless bodies chasing her. Cold hands grabbed her ankles, rising through her body and dragging her down. The bone-deep cold was suffocating her. She tried to focus on the solid, firm, burning heat of Carlos' body. Anything to escape that cold death, but those hands kept dragging her down, swallowing her body entirely...
She jolted awake with a choked, terrified gasp, her upper body shooting up from the mattress. Her heart pounding in her chest, beating so fast that it hurt. She was drenched in cold sweat, heavily breathing, the bed sheets tangled at her feet. Jill's eyes darted through the room expecting the darkness to swallow her once more. Instead, Carlos' strong arms kept her anchored to reality.
"Jill. Hey, look at me."
The woman turned her head and looked the latino man in the eyes. He didn't hesitate. He was by her side in a heartbeat, his big and warm hands grabbing her by the shoulders.
"Everything's okay, Jill. We're out." he caressed her head. " We made it out. It's just you and me. You're safe."
Jill just stared at him for a long moment, as the oxygen slowly returned into her lungs. The panic stepped back, leaving her violently trembling. On her skin still lingered the cold touch of the non-dead which was being slowly replaced by Carlos' warmth. But his hands alone weren't enough. She leaned towards his chest without asking, laying her head just above his beating heart. They were alive. Carlos let out a small chuckle and wrapped Jill in his arms immediately. He pulled her flush against him, one hand cradling the back of her head, the other resting firmly flat against her lower back. It was the exact same heat she had felt sitting across his lap, only this time it was fiercely protective.
"I'm sorry." she whispered against the soft fabric of his shirt. "I woke you up."
"What are you even talking about? I've told you. I'm right here." Carlos' murmured into her hair.
He held her like she was the most important thing in the world. He held her close to his heart, letting his steady heartbeat do the talking, till the trembling in her shoulders disappeared. So Carlos tried to pull away. Slowly, reluctantly.
"Try to get some more rest." he gently stroked her cheek. "I'll be right over th..."
But before he could finish the sentence, Jill grabbed the fabric of his shirt to stop him from stepping away.
"Wait."
The nightmare she just had, had stripped her of all her pride. The only thing left to do was to succumb to what she really wanted. Carlos froze hearing her voice. He looked at her in the dim light coming from outside. He read the desperation in her blue eyes, as strong as her grasp on his shirt.
"Don't..." she hesitated. What if looked at her with disgust...? What if took her for a mad woman...? What if...
"Jill." Carlos interrupted her spiral of thoughts. "You can ask me whatever you want and I'll do it. You just have to ask."
"Don't go back there. Don't go back to your bed." she swallowed. "Can you stay here with me? The cold... It won't go away. Stay here with me. Please."
Carlos didn't say a word. He just did as he was asked. His usual smirk replaced by a calm, understanding look. He wasn't judging. He knew how she was feeling. He climbed onto the narrow motel's mattress, practically leaving no room between them. So Jill just pressed flush her back into Carlos' chest, letting his arms wrapping her waist possessively so that there wasn't any space left between them. His warmth embraced her instantly, chasing away the phantom cold of the dead city. Carlos' face was buried in the crook of Jill's neck, the warm heavy breath on her neck felt like an armor.
"I'm right here." he whispered in her ear, his arm tightening around her. "Nobody's gonna touch you tonight. I promise."
ஐ ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ ஐ
For a long time Jill counted the time passing with Carlos' breaths. One minute was thirty breaths. But now she had lost count. Every inch of her tensed body, finally relaxing into the touch of the man wrapped around her. For Jill who usually avoided physical touch, that sensation was anything but unpleasant. She had never felt cozier in her life. She closed her eyes shut and just sank into that warmth. The hand resting flat on her stomach sent weird butterflies through her belly. Every breath he exhaled stirred at the nape of her neck. It was intoxicating.
"Hey, you awake?" the man asked in a whisper that sent shivers down her spine.
Jill shifted slightly her position under his arm, suddenly hyper-aware of the hard, undeniable heat of his arousal pressing firmly against her lower back. But she didn't pull away, she didn't escape. Instead she leaned even closer.
"Hard to sleep when you've got a gun pressed against my spine, Oliveira." she murmured back. Now she was the one wickedly smirking in the dark.
Carlos let out a low, rough moan, his breath broken by the sudden motion was still hovering over the shell of her ear. He didn't pull back, not even an inch; if anything he tightened his grasp on her waist.
"Sorry to break it to you, Supercop," his voice an octave lower than before "but I left my rifle on that desk."
"I know." her voice heavy and breathless.
The implication lingered over their bodies. The air in the room suddenly felt charged and thick. Carlos shifted his hips just slightly against hers, a silent plea, and Jill's heart hammered against her ribs. Before Carlos could press his lips on the curve of Jill's neck, finally giving in to their primordial instincts, an unexpected, loud growl echoed through the room's thin walls. It came from Jill's stomach and the sound unmistakably broke the heavy silence, shattering every tension there might have been.
Jill's first reaction was to hide in her own pillow, red with embarrassment.
"Oh my god! Please ignore that."
Carlos immediately burst into laughter. His crystal clear laugh torned even more apart the sexual tension. Jill realised that since their first encounter, this was the first time she really heard Carlos' laugh. Instead of letting her pull away to hide, as his laugh quieted down, he placed a soft, warm kiss on her shoulder. His thumb began to trace small, lazy circles on bare skin just above the waistband of her pants.
"What are you so embarrassed for?" His voice was a low murmur against her skin. "It's actually cute."
"No, it's not. How can you say something like that." She mumbled in the thin fabric of the pillow, if possible becoming even redder. She refused to turn to face Carlos.
"It is to me." Carlos insisted. "After watching you acting like an unstoppable machine for the past three days and survived a T-virus infection, at the end of the day you're just human. A normal girl who needs to eat something more than a crappy energy bar. There's nothing to be ashamed of, Supercop."
He paused for a moment, letting the his sweet words really sink into Jill's head. She suddenly felt her eyes getting watery. Silent tears ran down her cheeks to end up absorbed by the pillow. Reassurance. She hadn't felt that in ages.
"I was actually dreaming of landing on a place with a 24-hour diner. What would you be eating now if that'd happened?"
"A massive, ridiculous slice of pizza. Extra cheese. Extra pepperoni. And a cold beer." She answered with no hesitation, the embarrassment slowly fading away. "What about you?"
"Steak." His voice a welcomed sigh against her skin. He sounded wistful. "Medium rare. Fries so greasy that they ruin the entire plate. Some of my mum's empanadas if I'm dreaming big."
Hearing the man mentioning his mum, lit Jill's curiosity. The image of this bear-like mercenary sitting at a family dinner table felt so distant and inconceivable from the nightmare they had just gone through.
"Your mum?" she asked in a soft tone. "I'm sincerely having a hard time imagining you as a mama's boy, Oliveira. Are you two close?"
A quiet laugh shook Carlos' chest, making Jill's back vibrate at the sound.
"Actually, yeah. She's a tough one. I'd say even tougher than that Nemesis freak. She raised me and my sisters entirely by herself back at home." he shared. "And, as far as it may sound made up, I'm the baby of the house. And also the only boy."
"You? The baby of the house?" this time Jill actually laughed at that. "I would love to meet the woman that scares you more than a B.O.W." she added truly amused.
"Hey don't laugh. We were in a warzone." he teased. "I spent half of my teenage years hiding in the garage, fixing up old cars just to get some peace and quite from all of them."
"No way. The little one, a mercenary and also a mechanic. You're really something." That was her chance to tease him.
"I like to think so. I kept telling myself I'd open my own shop somewhere hot. No guns. No Umbrella. No monsters. Just oil, engines and my family." He chuckled. "But seriously, she'd terrify you. If she knew I spent the last three days fighting zombies and a corrupt pharmaceutical company instead of finding a nice girl to settle down with, she'd kill me herself with her wooden clogs."
Another small laugh left Jill's lips. "She sounds amazing."
"She is. I'm looking forward to introduce you to her some day. And she could feed you some real food instead of those garbage energy bars."
Jill could feel the smile spreading across Carlos' face.
"Actually, I think she would approve of you. Another tough woman addition to the family."
The sentence Carlos just made, felt natural. Jill didn't feel forced or embarrassed. Okay, maybe a bit overwhelmed, but in a positive way. Before she could speak, Carlos talked again.
"Anyway, what did you do before all this S.T.A.R.S. nonsense?"
Jill was thankful for the the change of topic. "I was pretty boring. Read a lot. Wasn't bad at the piano. I was finishing up a degree in Forensic Biology before the Army recruited me."
"No kidding." a whistle left the man's lips. "A bookworm-pianist-scientist Supercop? You really are the perfect woman. At least mine."
Those last three words hung in the quiet motel room, heavy but warm. The lighthearted conversation they were having, suddenly replaced by a thick, dense air that Jill was having a hard time breathing.
Her heart hammered furiously against her ribs, the ghost of his breath over her skin becoming even more intoxicating. She didn't put up a wall. She didn't brush them off with a sarcastic joke. She let those words take over each one of her thoughts. The realisation that this incredible, fiercely protective man was looking at her and wanted her for who she really was, fixed something inside her.
She had enough of staring at the crumbling wallpaper. She wanted to see his face. She needed it.
The narrow mattress forced them flush against each other, her knee naturally finding space between his legs. In the dim, yellow light of the streetlamp coming through the broken blinds, Jill was finally able to look at the man cuddling her. His dark ebony eyes almost merged with his pupils. He was wide awake. The usual cocky attitude that Jill learnt to know over the past few days, completely gone. Instead a raw, burning heat had taken over him making Jill's stomach do a wild flip.
"You're staring again." she whispered few inches away from his lips.
Jill instinctively brought one hand to tangle in his curly hair, while the other rested flat on the firm, warm muscle of Carlos' chest. She could feel his heart racing as fast as hers through the thin fabric of the shirt.
"Can you blame me?" Carlos murmured as his voice dropped to a low growl. His gaze dropped to her lips before snapping back to meet her eyes. His hand moved from her waist to the back of her neck, his thumb resting just above her pulse. "I've been wanting to do this since the first time I saved you from Nemesis. But that wasn't quite the right time and..."
But Jill made him stop talking nonsense by closing the final gap between them. She didn't hesitate, she knew what she wanted.
They were already tangled up in each other's arms that the kiss went straight to teeth and tongue. No innocent pecks, no tasting. Just straight to a desperate need. It was an explosion of the tension they've been building since that first night three days ago. Carlos let out a low moan that vibrated through Jill's throat, his hands tightening at her hair just to pull the woman impossibly closer.
Jill gasped, with welcomed surprise, when Carlos' tongue parted her lips. He tasted like survival, exhaustion and lust. Her hands moved on their own, finally tucking at those curly hair like she always dreamt about. She anchored herself to him, letting the physical heat completely chase away the freezing ghosts of the dead city.
The kiss finally broke when they felt their lungs literally burning for oxygen. Their ragged breaths mingling in the narrow space between them. Jill's hands were impatient, already tugging at the hem of Carlos' shirt, begging him to pull away. The need to erase that last physical barrier between them hurt in a concrete way.
"Take it off." She breathed against his mouth. Her fingers grazed at the hot, firm muscle of the stomach. "I need to feel you. Please."
"What a good girl."
Carlos didn't hesitate. He pulled back just enough to take his shirt off in one fluid move, throwing the unnecessary fabric onto the floor. His dog tags jingling as they rested on his naked chest. Before Jill could even catch her breath, his weight was back on her. His burning skin against hers, a steady reminder that they were alive.
It wasn't gentle nor hesitant, the only thought that coordinated their movements was the urgency to feel each other. When Carlos tugged his hands under Jill's red tank top, they were ravenous but also worshipful, like every inch of her skin was a holy sanctuary. He stripped off of her skin every piece of clothes she had changed into just few hours ago. Everything piled up in an undistinguished pile of fabrics on the motel's floor. Stripped down to nothing more than burning skin and scars, the air in the tiny room felt impossibly thick. The faint memory of her dream piled away together with the clothes.
Carlos shifted his weight, towering over her. But as he studied with adoring eyes her naked body under the dim light, his gaze caught on the jagged, still healing scar on her right shoulder. The exact point where Nemesis' tentacle had pierced her. Carlos' breath hitched for a moment, like he was holding it. He ghostly caressed the scar, a genuine purely protective gesture. Seeing him like this almost shattered her heart.
"When you got infected..." Carlos murmured, his tone thick with a lingering terror. He was finally letting the weight of the past three days crush him. "I thought I lost you when I saw you at the clock tower. There was so much blood and... I swear to god, I thought the virus had already taken you."
Jill reached up and tangled her fingers into his dark curls, pulling the man's face down. She kissed his forehead, his cheek, his nose, his chin and then his lips. She could feel the slightest hint of tremor in his massive frame. It was rare to see his armor cracking.
"But you weren't late." she reassured him. Her voice, though barely above a whisper, was fierce. "You brought me back. And now I'm right here. Feel me. Love me. Right now."
Carlos let out a shaky, desperate breath. He leaned down and his lips pressed a reverent kiss on her healing scar, a silent demand to draw every last drop of trauma out of her skin. Her whole body shook with a feral sensation of safety.
When their lips crushed together again, the sparks became a blaze.
There was nothing delicate about how they moved together. It was the rough and raw collisioni of the bodies of two survivors who refused to feel broken. From her mouth, Carlos moved to her neck, her shoulder, her breast, her stomach leaving behind a trail of wet hickeys. He settled between her legs, pressing soft kisses on her inner thigh while his large hands pinned her hips to the mattress with a possessive, anchoring strength. A broken moan left Jill's lips the exact moment Carlos placed his tongue on her sensitive core. That made Carlos chuckle against her, sending another shiver down Jill's spine. She aggressively grabbed the man's hair, just to push him deeper.
"Don't..." another moan left her parting lips. "Don't you dare to stop."
"That ain't on my list, Supercop."
Jill was breathless. Her aching lungs were begging for air, but Carlos was too damn good with that tongue of his. When he heard her gasping out of breath, he pulled back licking his lips. Jill looked at him. Even as pleasure blurred her sight, Jill could see his arousal. Jill took it in her hands and placed it right above her pulsing core.
"Be mine." she whispered through her haze.
And Carlos didn't make her repeat herself. As he finally sank into her, he kissed her vehemently on the lips.
"I already am. And you're mine." Carlos groaned against her collarbone. "We are alive. You're mine and I'm yours."
The rhythm they found wasn't practiced nor smooth. It was frantic, heavy and driven by desire and lust. Every slide of friction, every scrape of Carlos' calloused hands, every ragged breath he tore from her lungs was a direct, physical reminder that they had survived hell on earth.
The burning ruins of Raccoon City and the terrifying cold of her dream, swept away by the cracking sound of a cheap motel bed and the sound of their own moaning voice. In the dark, wrapped in sweat and heat and overwhelming emotion, they didn't just share a physical release. They fused their fractured souls back together, anchoring each other to the living world with every desperate, beautiful movement until the very end.
ஐ ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ ஐ
The first thing Jill registered while waking up, was the absence of gunfire echoes and... the sunlight.
It was passing through the broken slats of the motel blinds, painting the dusty carpet and the ripped off wallpaper golden. Outside the windows, a car drove past. A bird chirped. People were talking. It was so beautifully normal, that it physically hurt.
The second thing that she realised was the steady rise and fall of the chest beneath her cheek. One... two... three...
She counted his breaths again, but this time she wasn't escaping a freezing nightmare. She was savoring the moment in its domesticity, quietly listening to the rhythm of the man tangled up with her. Carlos was still fast asleep, his face buried in her hair. One of his huge arms was wrapped securely around her waist, pushing her flush against his bare chest exactly how they had fallen asleep. The messy sheets were tangled around their limbs, and the silver chain of his dog tags lay cool against her collarbone. The skin around her scar was still burning with the phantom heat of the kisses Carlos had placed there.
In the past, before all this mess, the old Jill would have sprinted out of the room the moment she'd woken up. She would have put her armor back on, like nothing happened. That was her usual modus-operandi after a night of desperate passion. But as she lay there, enveloped in his warm embrace, she waited for the panic to set in. It never came. The cold grip of the dead completely gone. No regret. No voice in her head that tried to make her escape.
Instead, an overwhelming sense of peace settled deep into her bones. This felt like the smartest thing she had done in years. I want to get used to this, she thought as a smile appeared on her lips.
As if Carlos sensed the change in her breath, the man stirred. He let out a low mumbling and tightened the grip on her waist before his dark eyes fluttered open. He blinked a few times, adjusting to the morning light. They locked eyes. For a split second she could hear the gears moving in his head as he put the pieces of the last night together. He didn't smirk, he didn't make an awful joke. He just looked at her and smiled.
"Morning Supercop." He murmured, his voice thick with sleep.
"Morning." She replied snuggling closer to him.
He brought his hand to her face, tracing the sharp line of her jaw. He put a stray lock behind her ear. He searched her eyes, checking for the walls he knew she was so good at building. When he found none, a deep, relieved sigh escaped him.
"Are we okay?" The vulnerability of the question spilling from his voice.
"Totally. You're the best thing that happened to me." She said with absolute certainty. "You?"
"Are you kidding?" Carlos chuckled, the sound vibrating through her palm. "I couldn't be more content. I'm exactly where I want to be."
"Good." She whispered as the warmth of the sun and the man beside her cuddled her. "Because I definitely remembered a conversation about a massive slice of pizza and empanadas. And after that we have a lot of Umbrella executives to hunt down. And I'd be really happy if my favourite mechanic could join me."
Carlos let out a soft, genuine laugh, pulling her completely against him and burying his face in her neck.
"The mechanic would like that." Carlos murmured against her skin. "But for today the Umbrella can wait. Let me first take care of your grumbling stomach."