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Joey spat a glob of blood by my feet before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and shooting me a feral grin. “You’re lucky you’re injured, or else I wouldn’t let that cheap shot slide. All of you are going to be singing a different tune when you realize just how wrong you are.” He slammed his shoulder against mine as he strolled past and left the room.

Chapter Five

Victoria

We hadn’t talked about what happened when he debriefed the others, but I'd noticed Joey's blossoming bruise and split lip and how Craig had nursed the knuckles of his right hand as we sat down for dinner with the Innocenti's. There was a tension in the air that crackled with the threat of violence. Not even the cloud of grief hanging over all of us could suffocate it out. I excused myself as soon as was socially acceptable and made my way to the room Craig had claimed for his own.

Night had fully set in, and moonlight was filtering through the curtains when Craig entered the room. I watched him as he carefully moved around the space, hissing slightly in pain as he peeled off his suit and underwear. My brows furrowed as he paused, standing naked near the dresser, considering a pair of pajama pants he'd dug out of a drawer. He let out another low hiss of pain, his free hand pressing against his abdomen before he tossed the pants aside and turned toward the bed.

“I wondered where you disappeared to, Bunny.” He murmured as he eased himself into the bed next to me. “How are you holding up?”

“Don’t worry about me,” I replied, reaching up to smooth the pained crease above his eyes. “You should be focused on you.You’re injured and I could tell at dinner the debrief or whatever didn’t go well. Tell me how I can help, what do you need? Name anything and I’ll find a way to make it happen.”

“Would it be wrong if I said all I want is to bury myself in you and forget everything else for a while?”

“I–” I started to protest.

Craig propped himself up on his elbow and leaned over me, his voice a whisper. “Bunny, I need to know that there’s still something to feel besides pain. Ineedto feel something good. You offered to do whatever I needed, and thatiswhat I need.”

With speed he shouldn’t have had in his current state, he wrapped an arm around me and rolled us so that I was straddling his thighs. My eyes frantically moved to take him in, searching for any sign he’d hurt himself further.

“Craig, you’re hurt. We shouldn’t, not until you’re healed.”

“Do you trust me, Bunny?” He asked, lifting his hands to sweep my hair behind my shoulders.

“You know I do.” I replied with a frown.

“Then trust me now. I know what I need, and I won’t push past my limits.” He said. “What I need right now is for you to ride me until we’re both too sated and exhausted to move.”

Craig slid his hands up my sides, my shirt lifting slightly with the movement, and I started to open my mouth to protest. To tell him again that he was too injured for what he wanted.

“Now, Bunny.” The tone of his voice sent a shiver up my spine. “You can play my nursemaid tomorrow. Right now, you’re going to strip off those pajamas and impale yourself on my cock before I do it for you.”

His words were punctuated with a thrust of his hips that had need coiling in my core. I carefully moved off of him and gripped the hem of my sleep shirt.

“Promise me you’ll tell me if it’s too much. I don’t want to hurt you anymore than you are.” I said, my hands hesitating.

“If it makes you more comfortable, I promise I will safeword if it gets to be too much.” He smirked, causing me to arch a brow in a scolding manner. “Yellow to slow down, red to stop. Promise. If you’re really worried about my injuries, my face is perfectly fine.”

“Oh yes, because I’m sure being suffocated on top of being injured is just what you need,” I said with a roll of my eyes.

“I'd die a happy man, Bunny. Now strip and sit on my fucking face.” He growled, shifting upright before reaching for my pajama shirt.

I let out a squeak of alarm, swatted his hands away, and then jerked my shirt over my head.

“That’s better,” he smirked again, laying back down with his eyes still pinned on me. “Pants, too.”

I shimmied my soft sleep bottoms down, taking my panties with them before tossing them somewhere on the floor. I settled back on the bed beside Craig, my legs under me as I considered the safest way to give him what he wanted without causing further harm.

As if sensing my thoughts, he forcefully pointed a finger at me and then his face. “I’m not going to ask again, Bunny.”

Something in his tone sent a shudder skittering up my spine, and I couldn't help but respond. I was scrambling up the bed, using the headboard to help me straddle over his head. I hesitated, feeling awkward about how to position myself best so I wasn't cutting off all of his air. The last thing I wanted was to hurt him somehow. I supported most of my weight on my knees and hovered over him.

Craig's hands moved to my hips, his fingers digging into the soft flesh hard enough to bruise. “I saidsit, not hover.” he all but snarled before forcing my full weight onto his face.

The first swipe of his tongue through my folds caused me to lurch forward and grip the headboard. I felt the vibrations of his chuckle against my sex before he set upon me like a man starved. Any concerns I had about suffocation fled in the wake of his skilled tongue working my clit. My eyes rolled back and fluttered closed as he feasted, his tongue curling and rolling around my clit in a way that had sparks streaking through my nerves.

“Oh… Fuck…” I gasped, back arching. I tried to roll my hips against his mouth, grinding against him as he worked me, but his grip holding me in place prevented me from doing anything but taking what he gave me.