Chapter 25 New Friends

In the small hours of the morning, the sun just peeking over the horizon, Wesker had set aside his computer, unable to fight the drag of sleep on his eyelids any longer. He had slowly removed his shirt so as not to wake Claire, then slouched down into the bed, drawing her into his hot embrace. One arm pillowed her head, the other wrapped around her waist, hand splayed across her bare back, holding her to him. His lips were pressed to her forehead, legs tangled with her smooth, naked ones. She had sighed happily, snuggling closer to his heat, her own lips pressed against his collarbone.

Wesker had fallen asleep with a smile on his face.

When Claire had woken, she smiled when she felt herself confined within Wesker's searing grasp. She nuzzled closer to his chest, her lips brushing against his bare skin. Slipping her arm around his waist, she scattered light kisses across his collar bone, her nails lightly scratching at his back. She felt a rumble of a sleepy growl deep in his chest, though he didn't wake. Grinning like the Cheshire Cat, she rolled over onto her back, dragging his sleeping form with her.

His head was pillowed between her breasts, his leg thrown over hers. Slipping her fingers through his hair, she marveled at how soft his hair really was. He didn't use any sort of hair product to confine his hair; it had been combed back like that for so long that it did it naturally now. It was like rough silk through her fingers. The hand that wasn't stroking his hair was idly tracing designs on his shoulder blade. His breath was hot against her skin as he breathed shallowly with sleep. Lulled by his steady breathing and the hot, heaviness of his body pressed against her, she soon fell asleep again, her hand still tangled in his golden hair.

When she awoke again, she was distinctly cold. Wesker's hot skin was no longer pressed against her. Frowning, she rolled over and focused her sleep-heavy ears. Instantly, she heard the water for the shower running. Stretching with a squeak, she rolled out of bed, tangling herself with the sheet as she tripped through the bathroom door, landing heavily against the wall.

A curious expression on his face, Wesker poked his head out of the shower. He frowned when he saw Claire leaning against the wall, ripping at the sheet swathed around her lower limbs. "What exactly are you doing?" he questioned her, amusement coloring his voice. He leaned against the shower door, watching her, his arms crossed over his chest.

As he watched, she ripped the sheet from her legs, balled it up and hurled it back at the bed, giving it a baleful glare. "Stupid sheet," she muttered, turning back to face Wesker, her face glowing.

He chuckled, standing back to let her enter the shower with him. "Good morning to you too, my dear."

Claire tried to look angry but failed when she looked up and met golden eyes and a gorgeous smirk. His arms were still crossed over his chest, his muscles bunching and glistening in the falling water. She smiled slowly. Damn, but he was gorgeous. "Good morning," she murmured, her eyes raking over his form unabashedly, biting her lip.

Wesker caught her jaw in his hand, gently turning her to face him, pulling her face up to meet his. "I'm the only one who gets to bite that lip," he whispered, and did just that. His free arm went around her, pulling her flush to him. Claire groaned softly as he gently bit down on her lip, pulling it out slightly. Her hands reached up to tug at his hair, dragging him closer.

"Albert," she whispered when his lips trailed down her neck. "Don't you have a meeting today?" She gasped when his hand skimmed down between them, then slipped between her trembling thighs. His fingers traced through her hot, moist heat, gently flicking the nub buried there. Claire's knees shook as a finger slipped into her hot depths. Her eyes flew wide, unseeing, as his thumb pressed against that delicious bundle of nerves.

"I have time, never fear," he purred between kisses, working his thumb against her in languid, slow circles. He could feel her heart racing against his chest as leaned against him. He grinned down at her wickedly when he saw the lost and confused look on her face. Pressing her against the cold wall of the shower, he quickened his thumb, adding another finger within her heart. She moaned his name, her hands clutching frantically in his hair. Closer and closer, higher and higher she went beneath the onslaught of his clever fingers and teasing lips. Gently, he bit down on one of her nipples, a wicked gleam in his eye.

Then she was there with a long, drawn out cry that started as his name and finished in a high pitched keen. Her eyes were wide, wiped blank from the incredible orgasm she'd just experienced. Wesker caught her in his arms as her knees gave out, cradling her to his chest. Feeling very smug, he pressed a loving kiss to her forehead. He could feel the tremors shaking through her body still, stroking his already incredible ego. Lifting her chin so he could look into her dazed eyes, he smirked. "I told you it was a good morning."

Claire could only nod weakly as he pressed a soft, lingering kiss on her parted lips. Her knees somewhat stronger, she pushed at him slightly so she could stand. When she was certain she could, she stepped back into the shower letting the water pour down over her head. Chuckling darkly again, he pressed a kiss to her cheek and stepped out of the shower, his powerful scent lingering behind in the steamy air. She groaned quietly to herself, shaking herself out of her sexual stupor. Why did that man have to be so goddamn good at everything he did? Ugh.

Finishing her shower hastily, she stepped out, wrapping a towel around her body, another around her wet hair. Stepping into the bedroom, she heard his voice coming from the living. She assumed he was on the phone and shrugged mentally. Spying his dress shirt from the night before, she slipped it on, buttoning two of the buttons to keep it closed, then flipped her hair over to towel it dry. Tossing the towels back into the bathroom, she stepped into the living room, combing her fingers through her wet and tangled locks.

Wesker's eyes flared when they landed on her form. He paused for a moment in his speech, then muttered, "Just get it done." He snapped his phone shut and deposited it back into his pocket. Smirking, Claire sauntered up to him, hooking a finger in the buttons of his navy dress shirt. His hands came to her shoulders, staring down at her with golden eyes.

"You do realize I have a meeting soon but I suppose this is why you keep distracting me," he purred, cradling her face in his hands. He pressed a kiss to her lips.

"I need a reason for you to keep coming back," she giggled, wiggling her finger beneath his shirt, the other trailing oh so slowly up his thigh, across the semi-hard bulge in his trousers and pulled his shirt from the waistband, her nails flicking against his skin deliciously. Slipping her hand beneath, she splayed her hand against his skin, running her nails down his side gently.

Wesker groaned quietly, burying his face in her hair. "You will never be rid of me. I'm buried too deep beneath your skin, in your mind, in your heart. Just as you are to me." He caught her hand and pulled it from under his clothing, pressing a kiss to her fingertips, his eyes blazing. "Dear heart, I don't have time for this right now, as much as I would like to."

Claire smirked up at him. "I know. I'm just reminding you," she said, stepping back to let him tuck his shirt in once again. She handed him the little white case that held a new pair of contacts within it, her fingers brushing his. He grasped her wrist and pulled her to him, hard. He slanted his lips over her in a bruising kiss that made her knees weak again. His tongue invaded her mouth, silently promising her his retribution once he returned that evening. Then he was gone, the door clicking shut behind him, his scent lingering in the empty room behind him, silver briefcase in tow.

She sagged to the floor. Somehow he always managed to turn things around. She wanted to tease him, to make him burn for her in the absence of the day, but he managed to reduce her to a puddle on the floor with a kiss. Damn that man.

With a sigh, she dropped to the floor, lying sprawled in the thick white carpet. She had an entire day to do nothing. Wesker had informed her that she was not required to attend this meeting, that she would find it quite dull. She readily agreed. But not that she had neglected to go, she had no idea what to do with herself until the late evening. Rolling over onto her stomach, she kicked her feet in the air. Her eyes caught on her purple backpack that held her computer and notebooks within it.

Getting to her feet, she picked it up and made herself comfortable on the couch, settling the machine on her lap. Opening it slowly, she stared at the blank screen, wondering what she was even going to do on the computer. She didn't have anyone to send an email to, her family gone, and Chris was dead. She was sure he had told Jill about what had happened and was terrified of her reaction, therefore she wasn't emailing her. Not really having any other close friends, she decided to check her email anyway. Maybe someone had sent her one.

The page loaded displaying one new email. From a website she had bought her motorcycle parts from. They really don't care, she thought. Fighting back bitter tears, she closed the lid on the computer, throwing it on the couch beside her. She slumped down, arms crossed and glared across the room out over the city.

Whatever. I'll go find something to do. There's a pool, right? Making up her mind, she got up and went back to the bedroom, dumping out their duffle bag onto the bed. Wesker's neat stack of black clothes got tossed onto the bed, hers yanked out to join them. She found her bikini stashed in the bottom, rolled up in a corner. When she'd found out they were staying in a hotel, she hoped she could go swimming. She went swimming every day and it was something she could do mindlessly and still stay in shape to compete with Wesker.

Shrugging out of his shirt, she tossed it on the bed and shimmied into the scarlet bikini, adjusting the strings to be comfortable. She braided her hair down her back, then slipped Wesker's shirt back on. Having only black combat boots and the gold strappy heels from the night before to choose from, she chose the heels, as Natalia Orlevsky would have done. Claire Redfield would have gone with the boots. Obviously.

After poking new contacts into her eyes, she grabbed a towel from the bathroom and the fancy new tablet phone Wesker had given her from the front pocket of her backpack. Buckling the strappy heels to her feet, she slipped the room key into the pocket of her shirt and stepped out the doors and into the lobby.

When she reached the lobby, she found the pool by the front desk, through a glass door. It was an outdoor pool and it was surrounded by fancy square hedges tall than Claire. There were lounge chairs lining the sides of the stone pool, few of which were occupied. She did however see a very petite and Indian looking woman wearing a gorgeous fuchsia sarong lying in one of them. It was Nisha, the wife of the Chairman from Gilead Engineering.

She spotted Claire and waved her over, smiling. "Hello, Natalia. I did not know we were staying in the same hotel as you and Erik. How wonderful to see you again!" She stood up and clasped Claire's hand in both of hers.

Suddenly embarrassed to be wearing Wesker's shirt, she flushed and muttered, "Er, nice to see you too, Nisha."

Nisha smiled broadly, indicating that Claire should join her. She sank down in the open chair next to her and smiled hesitantly. Nisha motioned a server over towards them and then asked Claire what she would like to drink.

"Uh, how about a bloody mary, please?" she said, not quite sure what she should order. It was relatively early and a bloody mary sounded like a good way to start a day of self-imposed boredom. Nisha told the man to make that two of them and to please charge it to her room. The man bowed and hurried away.

"Now relax. Enjoy the sunshine," she said, slipping a pair of designer sunglasses over her eyes and leaning back to soak up the sun. Smiling faintly, Claire spread her towel down on the chair and then slipped out of her shoes and shirt and lay back in the sun. Nisha was right, this was relaxing.

Once more in the black Bentley, Wesker stared idly out the window as they stopped at a traffic signal, his fingertips tapping on his briefcase. It was interesting what meeting people in a laid back setting revealed about themselves. Through emails, he had initially thought that GSB and Ferdinand Ambragino were going to be his choice, but after having Fraser Fahd, head of Gilead Engineering, he found to like Fahd better. So maybe they weren't staying in Austria. They were going to India, land of opulent palaces, mysterious tigers, and misty mountain jungles.

When the car pulled up outside a tall, modern glass tower, he stepped out, blinking sunglasses-less in the sunlight. Quickly he crossed into a small courtyard complete with potted trees and into the automatic glass doors. As he approached the front desk, the receptionist look up, and started visibly. "Mister Orlevsky? The meeting is being held on the twelfth floor. The elevators are to you right." Wesker nodded, adjusting his course to step towards the lifts.

As he was stepping through the door, a voice rang out behind him. "Hold the door please!" Turning, Wesker found that he was being rapidly approached by Fraser Fahd himself. Upon recognizing Wesker, Fahd smiled. "Mister Orlevsky! How wonderful to see you again. I'm glad that you could make it to the meeting today." He stepped in beside Wesker, adjusting his tie. "I was wondering if we might have a word in private." The doors slid shut and the elevator ascended.

Wesker eyed him curiously. "May I inquire as to why?"

Fahd looked him in the eye. "I want you to work for me," he said without preamble.

Wesker was silent for a moment. "And why is that?"

"I knew a man named James Marcus. I believe he had two young assistants that took over his research when he –ahem- passed away, did he not?" Fahd cleared his throat, then went on. "I believe that one of them, one William Birkin succumbed to a virus, mutated, and was destroyed in Raccoon City. As for the other, I know he wore sunglasses and was a secret agent who also worked in the Raccoon City Police Department, in the Special Tactics and Rescue Services department, correct?" He was silent, staring intently into Wesker's eyes. "I know that's you, Albert Wesker," he said quietly.

Wesker's eyes blazed though he said nothing. Then he smirked, his face characteristically cold. "I see some men's eyes are sharper than others. Even the rumor of my death wasn't enough to deter you. Congratulations," he murmured, his eyes flashing.

Fahd smirked back at him then sobered. "I meant what I said. I want you to come work for me. I believe a man needs a second chance to redeem himself in the world and why not do something you love? When I heard what happened to Umbrella, I kept my eyes and ears open for a rumor of you. I knew you were too crafty to have fallen victim of your own creation."

"Indeed." Wesker crossed his arms, his briefcase on the floor at his feet. He smirked again, eyeing the light flashing on the eleventh floor. "Perhaps I will, but for now, let us attend this afternoon's conference before we negotiate." His smile was dangerous and cold.

"Of course." Fahd's smile was just as dangerous, his eyes flashing in challenge. Perhaps Wesker had found a worthy opponent at last.

As the door slid smoothly open, Wesker indicated for Fahd to proceed him and reached down to pick up his briefcase, then stepped out, following him down the hall and opening a door on the left. The door opened into a large conference room, refreshments like coffee, tea and water were on a small table to one side. He made towards the small table and poured himself a cup of black coffee. As it flowed over his taste buds, he was not surprised to find that it was an expensive brand of coffee from some exotic island.

Finding a chair that was unoccupied was easy as most of the people who were there, were milling about, introducing themselves and carrying on hushed conversations. He raised his eyebrow when Fahd slid into the seat next to him, clutching a cup of tea.

"So our wives seemed to get along well, did they not?" he asked, sipping his tea, his eyes roaming around the room. Wesker said nothing, his own eyes carefully studying the man next to him in his peripheral vision. "If you have no previous engagements this evening, perhaps we may take our beautiful wives to dinner? Say around nine this evening at this little place I know that isn't too far from the hotel, yes?"

Wesker was silent still, churning over the offer in his head. He slipped his phone out of his pocket and tapped a quick message, pressed send, then pocketed the device once again. He turned to meet Fahd's eyes, a small smirk on his face. "Perhaps."

Claire was startled out of her deep state of relaxation by her phone chiming loudly. She wrapped her hand around it, frantically searching for a button to silence it as it kept making noises. Finally she hit something and it fell silent in her hand. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she unlocked the screen to find that she had a text message. The message was from A.W. She knew instantly who it was. Her heart pounding, she opened the message.

Dear heart. Dinner this evening at nine with Fraser Fahd and his wife? A.W.

Claire stared at the phone for a moment. Albert Wesker had just sent her text message and had asked her if she wanted to go to dinner with another couple. Gulping, she tentatively typed back.

Did the Almighty Albert Wesker just send me a text message?!

Smirking, she went through the settings and set the phone to vibrate. No more scaring the crap out of her when she got messages. She had just settled back into a comfortable position, her eyes closed, when the phone vibrated under her fingertips again.

Answer the question. A.W.

God, even demanding in a text message. Jerk. She could almost feel the cold stare that went with it.

Why do you keep asking me to go all these places and I never have anything suitable to wear?! I suppose it's somewhere fancy and nice, isn't it?

She frowned, making a face at her phone as she pressed the send button.

"Everything alright?" Nisha asked, noting the look on Claire's face. She lifted her sunglasses to see her clearer.

Claire rolled her eyes. "Erik keeps bringing me to all these wonderful places but I never have what I need to wear." Nisha eyed her questioningly. Claire sighed. "Apparently our men are taking us out to dinner tonight, but I have nothing to wear! Ugh!" She pursed her lips, leaning back against the lounge chair, closing her eyes. Her phone buzzed again and she glaringly snatched it up.

Did I not say I would take care of you, my lady? Look in the closet again. A.W.

"Oh, never mind," Claire said faintly, remembering what had happened last time he had said those words. She had ended up with a gorgeous new emerald and diamond jewelry set. Nisha smiled knowingly and laid back against the chair, her sunglasses perched perfectly on her nose. Smiling shyly, Claire typed back.

Thank you, Albert. I mean it…

Claire smiled faintly, pressing the phone to her chest. Nisha raised her eyebrow at her. "Did it all work out then?" she asked, absently wiping her sunglasses off on her sarong. Slipping them back on, she rolled over onto her stomach. "What time is dinner tonight?"

"Nine apparently, and yeah, everything worked out," Claire said with a grin, settling back against the chair, feeling slightly smug. Her phone vibrated once more. She was glad that Nisha was easy to get along with. She needed a friend who wasn't a power-thirsty, arrogant, seductive tyrant.

Anything for you, dear heart. A.W.

The meeting wore on for hours, Wesker absently staring out the windows behind the man who was currently speaking. He had made his decision partway through the meeting, regardless of what any of the other companies offered. Gilead Engineering was going to be his new niche.

Finally the man stopped talking and the meeting came to a close. Stretching slightly, he grasped his briefcase and started towards the door, ahead of the thronging masses behind him. The doors for the elevator slid smoothly close, encasing him in metal alone. Moments later, he was exiting the lobby and once more sliding into the backseat of a black Bentley.

When he entered the suite, he frowned to find that Claire was not within the room. Dropping his briefcase next to the couch, he strode through the bedroom, confirming his findings. She had been there earlier judging by the wet swim attire in the bathroom and the fact that his shirt was damp with chlorinated water. The bathroom was still moist from her shower.

Then he spied a note with her looping handwriting on it beneath her gun on the nightstand. As he read it, a dark grin slowly appeared on his face.

My dearest Erik,

My new friend Nisha and I have decided to start without you boys and are currently in the bar downstairs, awaiting our men. Feel free to come collect us once you've returned from your business meeting.

Yours always.

Natalia

Dressed in a short chiffon dress that swept playfully around her knees, her back bare and the neckline plunging, she leaned against the bar with Nisha who was dressed in a peacock blue and silver sari, though this one not quite as fancy as the one she had worn the night before. Claire was wearing black stiletto heels, feeling tippy anyway but they were both sipping on some pink drink that had fruit in it and it was their third one each. Needless to say, they were giggly at the very least.

Claire felt the heat of his hand trail down her back. She shivered, her eyes falling briefly shut. "Al-Erik," she caught herself, her eyes flashing open again. Reaching back, she stroked her hand down the side of his face, her nails scuffing delicately against his skin. One arm snaked around her waist, the other holding her hand so he could press a kiss to her palm.

"Hello, my lady," he murmured against her ear. "Enjoying yourself I see."

Claire nodded, smiling, turning around to look up at him. She was still disappointed that he was wearing contacts, but then again, so was she. Reaching up, she placed a lingering kiss on his lips. His smile was almost dangerous. Holding her possessively in the crook of his arm, he turned towards Nisha to find her in her own lip-lock with her husband.

Staring admiringly down as his wife, Fraser said, "Are we not the two luckiest men in the world with such beautiful women?"

Wesker made no comment, but had to readily agree as he pressed another hot and hungry kiss to Claire's perfectly pouting lips.