Chapter 9: Eyes of the MorningStar

Claire walked out of the bathroom to find Sebastian sitting at the tiny table near the barricaded window. Small tools were in his hands while he was twisting at something on the trigger mechanism of the powerful rifle that lay across the circular table.

"Break your rifle?" She asked as she toweled her hair off behind him.

Sebastian turned his head slightly and took in her scantily clad form.

Not wanting to wear the jeans to bed, Claire had shrugged as she walked out in only the new camisole and underwear; if he saw something he hadn't seen before in the cathedral, he could shoot it.

"Dropped it actually." He responded as he turned back to it.

"Didn't take you for being clumsy. It's relieving to hear you're human, Hunk."

"Dropped it before I jumped off a roof." He provided further, a glint of humor creeping into his voice.

"And you're reckless. I'm starting to get excited. Do you have a weakness too?" She asked, sitting on the bed, crossing one leg over the other.

"I'd surely say I do." He said as he gave her a pointed look before he stood up from the table. He walked over to his bag and pulled out a familiar looking gun.

"The Desert Eagle!" Claire exclaimed. His words and expression not escaping her notice. "You found it."

He walked over and squatted in front of her, his face was contemplative as he held the gun from the barrel.

"I wanted to return it to you earlier, but I felt responsible for at least returning it in decent condition; it was a little scuffed." He handed her the gun.

"If this is your version of flowers, I love it." She said with a wink. She was looking down at him as she pulled the unloaded weapon to her chest.

"Besides, I think I match that description." She said as she took in the similarities of the gun metal color and the bruises on her limbs.

He glanced down at the forming bruises before looking up into her eyes. His gaze trailed the wet strands of her hair that were resting below her collarbones. He reached out and touched the strands lightly.

"No one is ever impressed by just a blank canvas, Claire. Including me." He said quietly as he moved his hand down to trace the scar under her collarbone pointedly.

His eyes suddenly narrowed before he looked down at himself then back at her. "Did you leave any hot water?"

"…Yes?" Her response was like a question itself.

Sebastian flicked her nose lightly before he stood, turned, and grabbed some tightly folded clothes out of his bag. He walked into the bathroom and gently closed the door. Claire was chuckling as she stared after him and her hand reached up to grab the lock of hair he had touched. Her heart was beating fast around the flush of pleasure at his attention. Her hormones felt so out of control these days; she went from despair to hot in moments with him around.

This couldn't end well for either of them she realized with a jolt. He was a well-known mercenary and a previous Umbrella agent with a craving and her mind seemed to deduce it down to the lowest factor with just that. Her smile froze on her face.

When this was all over, she realized that she half expected him to disappear. This should have been a comfort given who he really was...but Claire found her confused thoughts flinching from how she really felt. Aside from her visits with Leon and Sherry in the past, she was always alone.

"You're just a scared lonely girl imposing herself on others." Leon's voice whispered in her mind.

Claire dropped her hand from her hair and bit the inside of her cheek to keep from making a sound while the usual tears pressed against her eyes. Setting the returned gun on her nightstand, she turned and crawled into the bed, pulling the blankets around her legs. With the water running from Sebastian's shower, Claire allowed her thoughts to roam as the sound lulled her eyes closed. After a while, she fell into a fitful dream with Death on her lips.

Claire jerked awake as the nightmare ceased in her head and returned her to the nightmare of the present. She was laying on her side in the dark hotel room, facing the furniture stacked door. The blankets fell from her chest when she sat up and reached her hand out to right, her palm met a smooth warm chest.

"Claire?" Sebastian's groggy voice called beside her, awoken by her touch.

"Sorry, it's nothing. Go back to sleep." She answered in a whisper. Her hand lingered on his skin for a moment more before she pulled it away and rolled back over to her side.

The bed shifted, and she glanced over to see the face of a watch light up; Sebastian's squinting face was dimly illuminated.

"Still a few hours left to rest, Red. You all right?"

"Yes." She exhaled the lie and tried to push out her swirling thoughts.

His arm came around to wrap around her waist and Claire clamped her mouth shut as a sob worked itself up her throat. Crying, always crying. She was beginning to understand how not normal that was.

Sebastian shifted fully to his side behind her, he pulled his arm in and dragged her back into his chest. A stubbled chin rested on her shoulder as the mercenary breathed in her scent.

"You're safe." He murmured next to her ear.

"I know, I know," She answered in a wobble, craving the comfort he gave, but wanting to stop it before it destroyed her at the end of this. "I just—"

"Tell me." He said softly.

So, in the comfort of the dark, Claire did.

She spoke to the nights spent over books and empty chairs in her empty home. She explained the relationships that never seemed to work out and the shadow of Leon and Sherry in her life. She admitted to the emotional distance of her only surviving family member, Chris. She cried softly as she detailed the chaos she continuously dove straight into because she had nothing else. Finally, she expressed her growing attachment to him and her fear for what it would all really lead to: Another empty chair in her life. Her words ended on her thoughts of surviving this only to continue to march into oblivion, repeating the pattern of loneliness like a haunting refrain.

When she finally ceased her words, Sebastian let go of her and pulled away. Claire closed her eyes as her stomach began tightening in fear. Wishing then she had just kept her mouth shut.

Light flickered in front of her eyelids, and she opened her eyes with a snap. She was lifting her head to see Sebastian turning back toward her from the nightstand; his piercing eyes connecting with hers. Claire sat up with her heart in her throat.

"I'm sorry—" She began.

"No," Sebastian interrupted her. He was reaching out and scooping up under her leg that was on the edge of the bed, effectively flipping her onto his legs with ease.

Claire let out a yelp and looked up at him from her new position, her hands gripping around his thighs for stability. His eyes were bright with something that looked like a cross between frustration and need.

Sebastian reached up toward her face and paused as Claire flinched defensively. He looked over at the door for a moment and his features softened slightly before he met her eyes again.

"I will never hurt you like that." He toned softly, referring to the abuse that Leon had inflicted on her.

Sebastian cupped her cheek slowly then, his eyes trailing down at the bruising around her neck. Claire found herself leaning into his hand and nodding her head in understanding. Ruthless mercenary or not, she believed his words.

He seemed to be collecting himself for a harsh truth, and Claire realized she didn't want to hear it as he proceeded to reach into her hair. He was studying the red strands between his fingers in front of them. He was always looking at her hair when it was down. His posture remained rigid when he opened his mouth and paused before speaking.

"I am not a man that goes home at the end of the day and manages a normal life. I've never had a 'home'. I was raised by Umbrella training facilities from ten years old and on. I spent the core years of my youth and into adulthood at Rockfort." He said as he looked back and forth between her eyes then.

"I don't fail my missions, Claire, because my life was—is nothing but that."

Claire felt her face deflate slightly as she nodded and made a move to swing off him. It was not the harsh blow she expected, but she took it as a dismissal nonetheless. He didn't have time for a broken woman with a crossing path.

He was fisting her hair beneath the base of her skull then, stopping her from sliding off his legs. Claire's uncertain eyes went to his to ask a silent question as she froze. The anger had disappeared from his features, but in its place was a searching look. A frantic pace beneath the surface; a hunger with no end.

His other hand was reaching up and gripping her chin before he said, "I failed my first mission today when I heard you scream." His voice was tight while his face was leaning closer to hers.

"After, when I walked into your cell and you saw it was me, you bowed to me in relief. You were relieved to see me. You clung to me like I was a savior. They call me the Grim Reaper and Death, Claire. Everything that I am is meant for the opposite to happen when I walk into a room. Most of all, I was so pleased to see you look at me that way." His voice deepened further as he punctuated certain words.

Sebastian gripped her hair tighter, released her chin, and wrapped the free hand behind her back before he was sliding her directly on his lap. Using her clutched hair, he pulled her head backwards slowly. Claire made a soft sound as she found herself with her throat fully bared to him. His grip was firm, but Claire found herself trusting him at his previous words. She truly believed the mercenary wouldn't harm her.

"I—" Claire tried, feeling too many things at once to be forceful.

"Your hair taunts me every time I look at you." He said as he began to kiss her throat softly. "The lenses in my mask made your hair seem like a halo of fire when I first saw you. A crown of fire, like the Hebrew Archangel, Ariel; the lioness with a red mane who protects the weak."

Claire closed her eyes and shivered, swallowing the words she had been about to say.

"The Archangel of Earth who stops at nothing for the pursuit of justice to those who need her protection, love, and vengeance. The more I'm near you, the more I think about the likeness. You continue to put yourself in harm's way for, or vow justice for—your brother, Sherry, Leon, the merchant—" he chuckled darkly. "Ada, the soldiers at the camp, the citizens of Lugo, and me." His hand tightened in her hair.

Sebastian lifted his head and looked into her eyes again. "The wrath of an Archangel is what I thought of when I first saw you." He took a deep, almost angry breath. "I crave what you give to those who don't deserve it or appreciate it. I don't know what comes after this, Claire, but I want whatever you will give me."

Claire's chest was heaving, tears spilling forth as she kept her eyes closed. Sebastian reached up to thumb away one that had slipped through and leaned to gently kiss the bruising at her throat.

"Don't confuse me for the honorable man, Claire. You know what I am." He had said earlier.

Claire knew in her heart that he was being honest; he was not entirely a good man. He had been a large part of the reason why the G-Virus had the opportunity to be leaked in Raccoon city. He was indirectly responsible for why Sherry would never live a normal life. He was more than likely responsible for many different aspects of Umbrella's previous protection. Even as she sat there, she knew this mission was not his only one, and given his history, it was more than likely similar to what he needed to do for Umbrella. The question was always for who and why?

Claire had been surrounded by good men her entire life. Her father, her brother, Leon. All of them would be the better representation for the qualities to look for in a man... But that truth rang hollow as she looked down into the loneliness of her soul. Honorable men were bound by duty and sacrifices.

Honorable men ended up falling absent.

Sebastian—Hunk had made her feel safer in the last few days than she had felt in the last six years.

Claire was tired of honorable men. Umbrella was gone and try as she might, she couldn't change the past.

"Yes." She breathed out as she surrendered.

"Yes, what, Claire?" The Grim Reaper asked against the skin of her throat.

"Yes, sir." She declared as she opened her eyes. A choice was falling into place.

Sebastian laughed, the timbre of his voice was dark and inviting when he pulled back to look at her.

Claire lifted her hand, threading it through his dark hair slowly as her mind circled her decision.

Sebastian was watching her closely before he grabbed her wrist and turned his face to the side, laying his mouth against her pulse point. He began to gently suck against her skin while he watched her eyes.

Claire's eyes fluttered as her body reacted to a stimulation she had never experienced before. Her breath hitched and she softly ground her hips into his without thinking, leaning closer to him to breathe out a soft sound.

Sebastian removed his lips after watching her writhe for a little while longer and tugged her gently toward him. Her chest was pressing against his as he set her wrist over his shoulder. She lifted her other hand to follow the same across the other shoulder.

He leaned further and kissed her lips with a practiced, maddening pace. Experienced hands were sliding down her hips and pulling her down onto him fully, locking her into place against him. His mouth was devouring hers and Claire had the brief thought of a snare laid in the grass. His fingers gripped her hips possessively and he pressed himself harshly into her heat. Claire broke the kiss to catch her breath and Sebastian laughed quietly against her lips.

"You taste so sweet." Sebastian said softly as he kissed at the corner of her mouth. "I've been thinking about what you would taste like ever since I heard you speak in Raccoon."

"I wish you would have stuck around." Claire replied as she rose slightly on her knees, bringing herself back down against his straining arousal. "You might have gotten more than a 'thank you' in the end."

"Promises, promises." Sebastian groaned as he looked into her eyes.

"I'm yours now though." Claire leaned forward and cupped his face, her mouth finding his again. She barely had time to recognize the shudder that rolled through him when she gasped out at his hand that rethreaded into her hair and pulled her head to the side.

"Is that so?"

He was trailing his lips to the corner of her mouth before moving slowly down to her jaw. He came to rest down at the area beneath her ear. Repeating the act as he had on her wrist, and gently began sucking the sensitive area.

Claire was melting against him, her hands were digging into his shoulders, and her legs that were cradling his hips had begun to shake with a need she wouldn't even know how to describe.

"So responsive." He whispered near her ear. "I could do this to you all night." He didn't stop his ministrations until Claire began to vibrate in need for more.

"Please, please." She was whispering against his skin, moaning softly into his neck and felt as her nipples scratched against the offensive cloth of her camisole. As if Sebastian sensed her state of overdress, he pulled back and gripped the hem of the garment, lifting it from her waist, and following through as she lifted her arms.

"Let's see," Sebastian whispered near her ear as he pulled her back to him. His lips nipping her lobe as he spoke, a hand was trailing up her abdomen to her chest. He gently circled the tip of his finger around a nipple.

"From my time with you, I've been paying attention to quite a bit." He slid his other hand back in her hair at the base of her skull and tugged with purpose. Claire felt her need flair stronger throughout her entire body and felt her hips pushing against his once more. She all but shouted her need.

"You like your hair pulled." His deep voice was breathing into her ear. "You also like to be praised."

Sebastian thrusted his hips up into hers and Claire felt like she was going to shatter from the building sensation in her sex. She could feel herself soaking her newly acquired panties as she let out a needy sound. The proof of his arousal was becoming more evident, and Claire didn't think she could handle any more teasing without embarrassing herself.

"Yes, God, yes." She confirmed breathlessly when he paused.

"Good girl."

Claire felt the thrill run through as it had the first time he had said that to her. Had she truly been so transparent around him? She looked down at his broad, tanned chest and almost laughed then at what she hadn't been paying attention to previously.

She had been calling him 'grandpa' to tease him for the last few days. In truth, the age gap wasn't that noticeable, but it was present. Looking at the man before her now, he was nothing but lean, hard muscle. Peppered in old and new scars, Claire was reaching out to run her hand down to trace them on his chest and down to his toned stomach. The scars of his skin told a story that was on the other side of his gentle touch.

Her eyes drew back to his face as he made a soft noise from her roaming touch. The muscles in his brow were relaxed and free of the stern way he usually held it. She studied his features as her hands mapped his upper body.

Claire took in the cheek bones that were high, the full mouth that could command or beckon, and the straight nose that led to lashes that were longer than they had any right to be. His jawline was sharp and only accented the piercing way he seemed to assess her at times. His key feature, in Claire's humble opinion, were his eyes. His bright hazel eyes had a pale brown ring around the pupil that shone like gold in the light and was the prominent color in the iris. The outer ring morphed into a pale green with tints of blue and grey.

The man they called the Grim Reaper was as deadly as he was beautiful.

"You're beautiful." She spoke her thoughts to him then.

Sebastian's eyes crinkled as he gave her a true smile, one that caused him to tilt his head slightly at her. She half suspected that no one had ever told him—or dared to—that he was.

She lifted her hips and softly rotated herself down on his lap as she pulled his face in for another kiss.

Sebastian's fingers were slipping down to the thin lacy waistband of her panties on both sides of her hips. Hooking two fingers under each, he tugged sharply and ripped the clothing on both sides. She let out a startled gasp as he reached behind her and yanked it out from beneath her. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the torn garment to the floor; she was now fully naked on top of him.

"Sebastian!"

"I'll buy you more." He said, voice thick when he pushed her back and angled his body up over hers.

Claire felt the cool air hit her and she shivered as she laid back. She looked up at Sebastian as he crawled over her, propping himself up on his elbows as he laid his lower half down. His head stopped at her stomach, and he began to kiss slowly around her belly button.

"What do you want, Claire?" He asked in a husky voice, his eyes flicked up at hers.

Claire shuddered from his gaze.

"Please just touch me, Sebastian."

"Where?" A devilish smile grew.

"Everywhere."

"As you wish." Sebastian said as he ran his hands from her thighs slowly up her hips before he reached to gently cup her breasts. His tongue dipped into her belly button before he crawled up her slowly, his lips leaving a warm trail from her stomach up to her sternum.

When his mouth closed over her nipple, she let out a low moan and arched her back into him. She was looking down into his eyes as she sunk her fingers into his hair and felt the air leave her lungs at the way his eyes were devouring her along with his mouth.

Claire writhed with her legs curling around his lower back. Sebastian's mouth was hot as he moved from one breast to the other, eating up the expanse of her skin while his facial hair drew across her overly sensitive skin. Her back spasmed in its arch when he laid a tentative bite to her left areola, her fingers tightened in his hair as she cried out.

"More, Sebastian." She uttered in desperation.

Sebastian released her breast and gave her a slow smile before he was moving down to nip the skin at her right hip.

She felt his hands slide past her thighs and he shifted his body lower as he grasped the back of her knees and spread her further apart. When his mouth sucked the skin of her inner thigh, Claire couldn't stop a breathy cry spilling from her lips; the sensation shooting straight to her core. She lifted her arms and gripped the sheets above her head as her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest.

Sebastian's mouth moved slowly up her inner thigh before his breath fanned across her swollen center. Pressing a soft kiss to her clit, his hand reached up and dragged one finger slowly down the length of the swollen folds in front of him.

Claire gripped the bedsheets harder as she whispered his name like a plea.

Sebastian groaned in response as he gently began to pull at her folds with his mouth and lapped his tongue to follow suit. With a finger pressing inside of her slowly, he alternated between taking long slow licks up and down before he would circle back up to her clit in slow circular motions.

As Claire's head was thrown back, her eyes caught on his mask sitting at the forefront of the table he had been working at earlier. She could see the surface of the lenses reflecting their moving forms on the bed.

That mask meant danger to so many and it should mean the same to her, but in this moment, it only turned her on more.

When Sebastian's tongue dipped into her entrance and plunged forward, Claire let out her first scream. Her body taut as words began to slip from her lips without thought.

Sebastian was chuckling from between her thighs, the hum vibrating against her flesh as closed his lips around her folds and gave languorous pulls. He circled her clit with his mouth again, two fingers replacing the tongue that had just been inside her once more.

Claire felt her orgasm building quickly and her legs began to shake as her breathing became more labored. Her hips were lifting from the bed as she climbed higher. Sebastian kept his steady pace as his hand came up to grab her left hip to keep her still. Just as she was about to reach her climax, Sebastian paused and dragged his mouth back down, running his tongue away from where she needed it most.

Claire let out a high whine, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she twisted the sheets harder in her hands. When she lifted her head, Sebastian's eyes were already on hers, a maddening tilt curling at the corners of his mouth as he dragged the flat of his tongue up toward her clit again.

"Beg me for it, beautiful." His voice was soft from around her flesh but it didn't disguise the command as he whispered it from between her thighs.

The muscles in Claire's stomach were clenching and releasing as she was held at the precipice. Her mouth fell open as she uttered a string of whispered pleas. Sebastian kept his eyes on hers, his expression shuddering around his name pouring from her lips. Claire was still looking into his eyes as he closed his mouth back over her clit and gently sucked and rolled his lips. Claire was still gasping his name with his eyes holding her in place as her climax ripped through her not long after.

Sebastian's husky, soft laughter was punctuated by gentle bites he gave to her right inner thigh as she settled down from her high and dropped her head back against the bed.

Claire felt Sebastian climbing slowly up her body, and she peeled her eyes open to look up at him, her face flushed in pleasure.

His eyes were on her hands twisting above her head in the bedsheets. With an absolute feral look in his eyes, he gave her a wolf-like smile as his lip stuck to the top of one of his canines.

"Do you like your hands bound too?" He asked before he looked to his side of the bed. "Wouldn't want to miss out on a tell."

"Not sure, sir. Will you bind me?" She whispered the question, watching as he paused briefly to look back over at her.

His expression was turning ravenous as he took in her panting and flushed state. When he reached for something on the ground, Claire sucked in a deep breath and was so glad she had made the joke earlier. The previous Alpha Team Leader had dominant tendencies and Claire was all the ready to let him have that control.

Her eyes trailed down his full form and her breath hitched as she took in his erection still trapped within his boxers. She bit the inside of her cheek as her whole body clenched in anticipation. Never had a man ever made her feel so out of control.

Sebastian turned back with his belt in one hand and his combat knife in the other.

Claire blinked and sat up, resting back on her elbows as she watched him. She opened her mouth but stopped as he turned toward the headboard that sat above their bed. The headboard was a tall oak piece with the carving of a large tree decorated throughout the wood. The headboard extended about four feet above their bed and Claire furrowed her brows in curiosity.

He slammed the knife down at an angle through the wood. The blade completely disappeared into the headboard and into the wall. She looked at it for a moment in wonder before she looked down at the belt in his hands. The hilt of the knife began to suddenly look like a hook.

He placed one knee on the bed and unraveled his belt.

"Come here." He ordered, holding out his hand.

Sebastian's hazel eyes were hooded in the shadow of the lamplight and Claire sat up from the bed with her messy hair tumbling around her. She watched his eyes flick to her strands, and she marked his own tells.

Claire sat up fully before she turned over to crawl over to him slowly. She held his eyes as she moved with intent, making sure her hair tumbled further down her shoulders. She watched his hand grip the belt harder and she smiled like the devil.

Like called to like.

"Look at you." He breathed as she stood up on her knees before him on the bed. "Give me your hands, beautiful."

Sebastian grabbed her wrists and brought them together in front of her as if in prayer. He leaned in and captured her mouth hungerly, a note of impatience in his movements. His hands wound the leather around her wrists with practiced ease, letting the buckle slide all the way down the leather until it met her skin and created the binding loop.

With the belt fully binding her wrists, he took the tail of the binding and created a backwards loop with nimble fingers. With a small tug the bind tightened and held.

"Put your back against the headboard." Sebastian murmured as his eyes roamed her flushed body.

Claire sat down and scooted back against the board without a word of protest. Sebastian was watching her with a pleased tilt to his curling mouth.

She pulled her knees up to her chest as she watched him grip the last article of clothing and dropped it from his hips. With a sharp inhale, Claire found her legs falling open slightly in a silent invitation.

Sebastian released a low laugh that vibrated from deep in his chest; the sound like a hunter who had caught a prize. Unwrapping the foil of the condom in his hand, he applied it quickly and crawled over to join her.

"Hands up." He commanded in a rasp, touching the top of her arms.

When she complied, he lifted her by the arms and pushed them back as he looped the belt over the hilt of his knife.

Claire looked up at her raised and bound hands and tried to slow her excited breathing. The tension on her arms was already starting to feel uncomfortable from her sore muscles as her torso stretched and her back arched. Her bottom half was no longer on the bed as she now hung with her feet pressing into the bed before him.

Sebastian sat himself back on his knees and reached down to grasp the back of her thighs. In one smooth lift, he pulled her up, and wrapped her legs around his waist, he was scooting forward so that her spine was back in alignment. The tension on her arms disappeared from the sudden height gain and she whimpered to feel him pressing near her entrance. He gave her thighs a firm squeeze before he leaned down to ensnare her mouth in a possessive kiss.

"Are you sure about this, Claire?" He asked as he pulled his head back slightly to gaze into her eyes.

"More than anything." She panted in need.

He held her there for a moment after her response. His eyes dipping from hers to slowly trail her body wrapped around his. Claire was shivering at the absolute way he held her in his eyes.

With one hand steadying her, he lifted the other to run his knuckles along her stomach, his hand flipping to trace the scar at her collarbone. Fingers moved slowly across the other patterns of scars against her shoulders and arms, briefly stopping as he reached the fresh bruises at her neck. Claire's head was leaning back against the headboard as she watched him and preened under his soft touches.

"You're breathtaking." He said, meeting her eyes again.

Claire met his stare and found his features transforming into something she hadn't seen from him yet. Beneath the hunger and arousal was something that was calling to the lonely portions of her soul. A soft knock flared at the edges of Claire's senses as she gazed at the man before her. A gentle tapping that tore at the survivor who surrendered to the mercenary; the ghost of chance meeting that had transformed into so much more.

Repositioning himself under her, Sebastian adjusted himself at her entrance. He was leaning back toward her then, his stubbled cheek scraping against hers as his lips moved to her ear.

"And you're mine." He declared before he thrusted his hips up and entered her completely.

Claire's hands gripped around the tail of the belt above her as she cried out. Sebastian locked his demanding gaze on hers again and was using her hips to drive her up and down onto him at a torturously slow place.

"Sebastian," Claire panted as she pulled at the binding above her. "Please."

"Please, what?" He said leaning back into her. His lips hovering over hers as he brought her down at an even slower pace. A devious grin pulling at his mouth.

"I need more."

She gasped as he slammed her the rest of the way down his length. His teeth were pulling at her lower lip and Claire opened her eyes to the Morningstar gaze that was devouring her every move.

Claire was returning his harsh kisses with her own and she flexed her core to grip him tightly. "Harder, Sebastian." She whispered into his mouth.

She watched as his eyes shuttered closed, and his mouth opened slightly as he rested his forehead against hers for a moment. His breathing came faster as he gripped her hips harder and gave her just what she needed in his following thrusts. The dark hair on his head was falling over his eyes and Claire thought she might unravel from the beauty of him alone.

Her head fell back against the headboard as she watched his muscles flex and begin to glisten with sweat. In her haze, she recognized that she loved the feeling of being completely helpless to him in this moment. She had been so tired of having her choices taken from her. The thrill of giving the choice to someone made her feel safe.

Claire was letting out soft cries as he rammed inside fully before almost pulling all the way out. Soon, she felt the coiling of another orgasm coming. The position had his body slamming against her clit in the right way that caused guttural moans to escape her lips with each new thrust. Claire soared higher and higher with the man they called Death and found herself never wanting to leave that grasp.

Sebastian lifted his head and tilted it as he watched her. He continued at a blistering pace as he held a burning gaze.

"Sebastian," She uttered as she maintained his searing eye contact.

"Come for me again, Claire." He said as he leaned in closer to her.

His lips were closing over hers as he stole her breath. Using one hand to control her hips, his other hand ran up her back and up to one of her bound arms. His fingers were feather soft as he drew a portion of her attention to how she was at his mercy. Claire's hand was jerking in the binding, wanting nothing more than to return the touch at the moment.

Sebastian's hand squeezed her bicep once, as if he knew exactly what had crossed her mind. The hand was falling back down to curl up around her shoulder. He pulled her body closer, fingers pressing into her skin. His mouth released hers and he was pressing his nose up her neck, he ghosted his open mouth along her skin before he bit down lightly on the junction of her shoulder and neck.

Claire yanked at her binding and came hard as he began to suck on her neck, her head thrown back into the headboard with a small scream. Her body clenched around him in rhythmic time to her orgasm. Sebastian allowed her orgasm to ride out before he changed pace and slammed her hips down four more times before he too was groaning into her neck and going rigid in his release.

He continued to slowly push and pull her hips over his cock as he whispered into her ear, "You sound divine when you're wrapped around me."

Their shared panting breaths filled the room as he held her sweat soaked body closer to his while Claire clung to him, her hands pulling at the binding in her desire to hold him.

Claire turned her face in towards his and began to kiss softly at his temple while he panted, her voice lost to the serenity her body was experiencing.

Sebastian lifted his head and looked up at her. His face reflected the gentlest look she had ever seen from him. He gave her the true smile as he had before, and Claire wanted to live in it.

She laughed happily and gave him a tender smile right back.

After Sebastian had unhooked her from the wall and cleaned himself up, he yanked out the knife and tossed it on top of his boxers on the ground before laying down beside her on the bed. He lifted an arm, and Claire fell into his side with a satisfied hum, her now free hands roaming his body softly. She opened her eyes as Sebastian reached down and pulled the blanket over them, his eyes catching her sleepy ones. His answering smile at her roaming hands pulled dimples into his cheeks and Claire leaned up to steal another kiss from his mouth.

Sebastian allowed a soft sound to release from his throat as he reached down and cupped her cheek before he returned her attention greedily. His next words were spoken around her mouth. "Get some rest. We have time for a quick nap before they'll call for us."

She nodded as her eyes closed, already falling into what would be the most peaceful sleep she had in years while Death's hands pulled her to his chest.

"How do I keep you, Claire Redfield?" She thought she heard him whisper in her ear before sleep tugged her away.

Although she wouldn't remember it in the morning, at that moment she knew it to be the kindest thing anyone had ever asked her.