New Blood

Other than playful suggestions that his massaging her would feel better if she'd only take her shirt off, Reno surprised her by being a gentleman.  An extremely affectionate gentleman, as he kept pulling her back against his chest, wrapping his arms around her, and nuzzling her cheek and neck.  It didn't take long before she stopped being nervous about whether or not he was going to try something and leaned against him, her head in the hollow of his shoulder, and simply enjoyed the affection, as well as the delicious sense of arousal.



“Why did you want to be a Turk, Kerri?” he asked suddenly.



“Because it's proof that you're one of the best,” she answered.  “After my mom died, my dad didn't notice me much anymore.  He was a martial artist, and I guess I learned to fight hoping he would pay attention to me again.”  She paused and shrugged.  “But nothing I did impressed him.  Too much of him went with my mom.  Eventually I stopped doing it for him and started doing it for me.”



“I'm sorry, babe,” Reno said.  He kissed her cheek.  “Is he still alive, then?”



She nodded.  “Yeah.  He lives in Kalm.  I haven't seen him in almost two years.  He writes, but more like a it's a duty than because he's interested in me.  He doesn't even know that I finally made it.”



“Poor Kerri,” he said, squeezing her briefly.



“It's not a big deal.  I got used to the way he is a long time ago.  What about you?  Why are you a Turk?”



Reno laughed.  “Because I tried to rob Tseng and he beat the hell out of me.”



“What!”  



“It's true.  I saw him in the Slums, in Wall Market, before the plate came down, you know?  I figured a guy in that area, wearing a suit and looking as classy as he did had to be an easy mark.  I found out different.”  He smiled.  “He was still impressed with me, though.  Asked me if I wanted to be something more than a street gang member.  I told him to go fuck himself.”



Kerri giggled.  “I take it he didn't give up.”



“Nah.  He kept coming back until I finally agreed to give it a shot.  Best thing that ever happened to me, even with all the dirty work that comes with it.”



“Don't you have family, Reno?” she asked.



“The Turks are my family,” he said.  “Only family I ever had.  I just went from one home to another when I was a kid.  I don't even know if any of them were family, or if they just didn't want it on their consciences if I died on the streets.”  He was silent for a moment, stroking her arm.  “I don't even know what my last name should be, but then Turks don't use last names anyway, so it doesn't really matter.



“Anyway,” he continued, “I joined a gang when I was thirteen.  You almost had to down there, strength in numbers and all that.”



Kerri twisted so she could look up at him, raised her hand to trace one of the red marks on his face.  “That's what these are?” she asked.  “Gang tattoos?”



“Yeah,” he replied, a little shaken that her light touch had made his heartbeat speed up.



“They suit you.” she told him, and dropped her eyes before he could see the desire in them.



He snorted.  “I've been told that.  They're just there, yo.”



Kerri turned back around and glanced at her watch.  “Oh, shit, it's midnight!  I have to go home, Reno.”



He pulled her a bit tighter against him and lowered his lips to her ear.  “I wish you'd stay,” he whispered, and felt her shiver.



His words seemed to send electricity through her body.  It took all of her willpower, but she answered, “I can't.”  She felt him softly trace her earlobe with his tongue and gasped.  “Reno, you promised...”



“I never promised I wouldn't try to convince you.” he argued.  “I want you in my bed, Kerri.”



She was dying, that was the only explanation.  That was the only reason she felt like her body was on fire and she was loving it.  “I'm...I'm not ready, Reno,” she managed to say.



He bit her earlobe gently for just a second before answering.  “You will be.”  He dropped his arms to his thighs and Kerri scrambled off the futon.  Reno stood and walked her to the door, his hand on the small of her back.  Before opening it for her, he bent and kissed the corner of her mouth.  “Sweet dreams, Kerri,” he murmured.



“Good-night, Reno,” she said, and was gone.



He shut the door and headed for his bedroom, pausing on the way to shut off the tv.  So much for not needing to jerk off.



*****



“You're flying today, Reno,” Tseng said as soon as the redhead walked into his office the next morning.  “President Rufus needs to visit the old reactor site in Junon.  You and Rude will be accompanying him.”



“Cool,” Reno replied.  He loved flying, loved the feeling of power and freedom it gave him.   “How long is this trip gonna take?”



“Probably overnight.”   Tseng looked up at him, noticing the dark circles under his eyes.  “Late night, Reno?”



“I didn't get much rest,” he answered.  True enough.  After Kerri had left he'd been unable to sleep for thinking of her.  Even jerking off hadn't helped much.  He wanted her, not just release.  It had been everything he could do to let her walk out.  He'd sensed her own arousal, knew that if he pushed it she would have given in.  But for some stupid reason, he'd cared about her feelings.  He'd wanted Kerri to want it to happen as well, to have no reservations about it.  That was why he'd let her leave.  Maybe he was getting soft.



Tseng, who, thanks to Elena, knew about Reno's plans for last night, raised his eyebrows.  “Oh?  So that's why Elena had to wake Kerri up because she overslept?”



Reno grinned.  “You trying to ask if I fucked her, Tseng?  No, I didn't.  She turned me down, yo.  Though I'm pretty sure her panties were wet by the time she left.”



Tseng rolled his eyes.  “You know, Reno, much of what you say should be ended one sentence earlier.”



“You keep saying that.”  Reno laughed.  “I'll go get ready to leave now.  Don't want to keep the boss waiting.”



“A good idea from you.  Wonders never cease, do they?”



“Fuck you, too, Tseng.”  Reno made his escape before Tseng could threaten him with bodily harm.  He met Elena on his way to the elevator.  By the smirk on her face when she looked at him, he figured Kerri had told her that they hadn't slept together.  Dammit.  



“Have any fun last night, Reno?” the pretty blond asked.  



“Actually, Lei Lei, I did.” he told her.  It was true.  He'd enjoyed just having Kerri there, and especially enjoyed having her in his arms for most of her visit.



“That isn't what I heard.”



He stopped, put his hands on her shoulders, and looked into her eyes.  “You know,” he said seriously, “you need to learn that you can have fun with someone without fucking them.  This obsession of yours with sex isn't healthy.”  With that, he fled before Elena could knock the hell out of him.



He needn't have bothered.  Elena was too surprised to do anything.  Never before had he admitted that he had enjoyed just the company of a woman other than her.  To him, dates were only a means to an end.  He never got angry if a woman turned him down, but always before he did complain good-naturedly when it happened and then moved on to a different girl.  “Holy shit, Reno's growing up,” she said to herself.



Reno returned from his apartment with a small overnight bag and entered Rude's office.  He had expected to see Kerri there, given that her mornings were usually spent learning the office routine, and was disappointed to find only his partner.  “Where's Kerri?” he asked.



“Good morning to you, too.” Rude answered.  “Kerri is spending the morning with Tseng, seeing as how I won't be here to train her.”



Damn.  Tseng would probably shoot him if he interrupted, but he'd wanted to tell Kerri bye.  He snatched a piece of paper and a pen off Rude's desk and wrote a quick note.  “I'll be back,” he said.



“We're supposed to go to the boss's office,” Rude protested.  “You know how angry he'll be if we're late.”



“I'll only be a minute.  I'm just going to see Elena for something.”



***



“Don't you knock?” Elena asked when Reno walked in.  “It takes three seconds.”



“Sorry.  Will you give this to Kerri for me?” he asked, dropping the folded paper in front of her.  He actually felt a bit foolish, like a school kid writing notes in class, but since he couldn't see her before he left, he wanted to let her know that he was thinking of her.



“What is it?” she asked.



“A box of materia,” he said.  “What does it look like?  Just give it to her, ok?”



“Aww, a love note.  That's so adorable, Reno,” Elena teased.  She sighed and fluttered her lashes at him.  



“Yeah, I left one for Tseng, too, telling him to meet you in the supply closet for a quickie,” he said.



“Oh, go to hell, Reno!”  she snapped, dropping the silly romantic expression.  



“Just give it to her.  Please.  Don't make a big thing of it.”



“All right, all right, I'll pass your note for you.  You better get going before the boss has you killed for being late,” she said.



“You're the best, yo.”  He grinned and bent down to kiss her forehead before leaving.



Alone once more, Elena shook her head in amusement.  Reno might not know it, but he had it bad for Kerri. All her instincts told her so.  She'd had to beat on Kerri's door this morning when she didn't show up.  The girl had answered still wearing her sleeping clothes, full of apologies.  Kerri had never overslept before, so Elena had been sure that she and Reno had slept together.  But Kerri while getting dressed, she told Elena, who was sitting on her bed, what had happened.  Elena had been amused that Reno hadn't got what he so obviously wanted, and a bit surprised that he hadn't pushed the issue.  She remembered telling him once that he would fall hard for someone someday, and how he had laughed at her.  Looks like she was going to have the last laugh.