Page 32 of C is For Corruption (Horsemen #3)

Victoria

I woke to warmth, a glance at the clock showed it was still the middle of the night.

Craig’s arms were still around me, his breath slow and steady against the back of my neck.

For a moment, I let myself pretend everything was fine—like the afternoon hadn’t happened, like I wasn’t still wearing the weight of Candy’s blood under my skin.

But the second I shifted, just enough to stretch, Craig stirred.

His hold tightened slightly. “You okay, Bunny?” His voice was rough with sleep, and somehow, that made it feel safer to answer honestly.

“I don’t know.”

I felt him press a kiss to my shoulder, the scruff of his jaw grazing my skin. “Talk to me.”

I turned in his arms, facing him. His eyes were already open, watching me in that quiet way of his that always made it feel like nothing I said would ever be too much.

“I don’t think Az is done being mad at me,” I admitted. “He hasn’t even looked at me since we got back.”

Craig’s thumb brushed against my hip under the blanket. “He was pissed, yeah. Scared too. You know how he gets when he’s scared.”

“Yeah,” I whispered. “Loud.”

He gave a small, grim smile. “Very.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. “And Joey... he was just starting to come around again. Just starting to be Joey again, and now he’s furious that I’m gonna start training for real. Like I’ve betrayed him just by trying to belong.”

Craig sighed, pulling me close enough for my forehead to rest against his. “Joey’s working through his own mess. Doesn’t mean you don’t get to take up space in this.”

“What if taking up space means losing him?” My voice cracked a little at the end. I hated that it did.

He kissed me.

It was soft, his lips brushing mine like he was trying to soothe something deeper than my skin. But then he kissed me again—firmer this time, more certain—and I felt his fingers slide up along my spine.

One kiss melted into the next until I wasn’t sure when I’d moved, only that I was suddenly straddling his hips, the blanket slipping low on my back, his hands resting at my waist like he didn’t want to spook me—but wanted me all the same.

His mouth lingered at the corner of mine. “I can’t speak for everyone, but I know you’re not losing me.”

And when he kissed me again, it was anything but soft.

Craig’s hands slid up under the hem of the shirt I was wearing—his shirt, soft and worn thin, the fabric brushing my thighs as I shifted in his lap. His thumbs traced the curve of my waist like he was memorizing the shape of me all over again.

I kissed him harder.

I didn’t want soft, not anymore. Not with the storm still churning inside me. I wanted the way his mouth opened under mine, the way he groaned low in his throat when I rolled my hips, the way he gripped my thighs like he was barely holding himself back.

“Fuck, Bunny,” he breathed, lips against my jaw now, down my neck. “You’re gonna kill me.”

“You started it,” I whispered, tugging at the hem of his shirt. He lifted his arms without hesitation, and I pulled it off, tossing it somewhere I’d pretend to find later. His skin was warm beneath my palms, solid. Familiar.

Craig pulled my shirt off me, slow and deliberate. The air was cool against my bare chest, but his hands were already there, rough palms cupping my breasts like they were his to worship.

He pulled me down to him, his mouth on my collarbone, teeth dragging over my skin, and I felt myself arch into him. My hips rocked again, and this time he groaned into my chest, letting one hand trail down between us, slipping under the band of my underwear.

“God, you’re soaked,” he murmured, voice low and reverent like a prayer. “You want this?”

“I need this,” I said, fingers digging into his shoulders.

His name left my mouth in a gasp as he touched me, fingers slipping through slick heat, teasing me until I was grinding shamelessly against his hand. I could feel him hard beneath me, his cock straining against his boxers, and I wanted all of him—right now .

“Take these off,” I said, tugging at the waistband of his underwear, breathless and hungry.

“You first,” he said with a wicked grin, and I didn’t need telling twice.

I shifted back just enough to peel mine down, and Craig kicked his off in the same motion.

I buried my face in his neck as his hand slid between us, fingers brushing exactly where I was aching, and I couldn’t hold in the whimper that broke from my lips.

“You’re killing me,” I breathed against his throat.

“You’re the one riding me like that, Bunny,” he said with a ragged laugh, voice rough and reverent all at once. “You think I’m gonna stop you?”

Skin to skin now, nothing between us, his hands on my thighs, guiding me back over him like he couldn’t bear the space.

I reached for him, wrapping my fingers around the length of him, and he cursed under his breath, hips jerking slightly.

I sank down onto him, his head falling back against the pillows, both of us gasping as I rocked slowly onto him.

“Victoria, I—” Az’s voice cut through the haze of breath and heat and moaned half-words. I lifted my head at the sound. His eyes locked on me—bare, flushed, grinding on Craig like I was trying to drown the past in pleasure, and I froze.

Almost.

Craig didn’t. His hands tightened at my hips, pulling me down harder against him. “Don’t stop now,” he murmured loud enough for all three of us to hear.

Az’s expression changed.

That sharp intake of breath, the way his jaw clenched. Anger wasn’t what moved through him now. It was something darker, hungrier.

His gaze roamed over me like a man starved, then cut to Craig, then back to me.

“I came to apologize,” he said, voice low, controlled, but slightly frayed at the edges.

“I shouldn’t have yelled. You didn’t deserve that.

” Az took another step inside. “But I stand by what I said about your training. You need it. What happened can’t happen again.

” His eyes dropped to where Craig’s hands still gripped my hips, the sweat-slick line of my spine.

“Though clearly, you’re... recovering well. ”

There was a bite in his voice but no jealousy.

Just heat. Interest. Something dangerous that made my stomach flip.

His eyes were dark, sharp with restraint, but his expression was all hunger.

That calculated kind that didn’t just want to take—it wanted to own .

His broad shoulders filled the doorway, tension running through every line of him like a thread pulled tight.

He looked like he’d been trying to talk himself out of crossing that threshold ever since he opened the damn door.

“You gonna keep watching, or…?” Craig said, smirking now like he already knew the answer. Az’s gaze dragged up my body again, and I felt it like a touch. He stepped inside and shut the door behind him with a quiet click. The sound made the air in the room shift, heavier with expectation.

“Like hell I’m just gonna watch when she looks like that .”

My breath caught.

Az stepped forward, slow but deliberate, his eyes locked on mine as if daring me to look away. His shirt was already unbuttoned—when had that happened?—his chest bare, inked, all sharp muscle and intent. The way he looked at me wasn’t soft, wasn’t sweet. It was hunger. It was possession.

He stopped at the edge of the bed, staring down at me like he wanted to devour every inch.

His tongue flicked across his bottom lip as his fingers went to his belt—not with care, but with frustration like the leather was in his way.

The metal buckle clinked, rough and fast, and then he shoved his pants down in one impatient motion, not bothering with finesse.

He looked like he was stalking me, every movement calculated but coiled tight with restraint, as if the act of undressing was just a necessary delay before he pounced.

I could see the tension in his jaw and how his hands twitched like he wanted to tear away the rest of the space between us.

His gaze never left mine, and I felt it like a physical touch, dragging down my skin with every breathless second.

He was already hard, cock flushed and heavy as it sprang free.

When he stroked himself once, slowly, and it was almost enough to make me come on the spot.

“Beautiful,” he murmured, not even to me directly—more like to himself, like he was confirming something he’d known all along.

He moved to the bed with slow, deliberate steps, one hand trailing over the back of my thigh, up the curve of my ass.

I shivered beneath his touch. He didn’t kiss me.

He didn’t ask. He just leaned in behind me, palm dragging down my spine until my body arched, offering more without even thinking.

“She’s perfect like this,” Craig said, voice rough, proud. His hands stayed locked on my hips, holding me in place as I rolled against him. “You want her?”

Az’s chuckle was low and wicked as he leaned closer, mouth at my ear. “What do you think?”

Craig grinned and reached behind the nightstand, pulling out a neatly coiled length of soft rope. He held it up without ceremony.

“Knew you had some,” Az said with a smirk.

Craig handed it over. “She loves it. Don’t you, Bunny?”

I nodded, already breathless. Az wasted no time.

His fingers were sure and fast, binding my wrists behind my back with practiced ease.

The tie was simple, tight, and secure but never painful.

His grip was commanding even in something as simple as tying rope.

My shoulders pulled back, chest arching forward, fully exposed between them now, entirely at their mercy.

“Color?” Az asked, low and close.

“Green,” I whispered. No hesitation.

“So good when you surrender,” he murmured, his hand curved around the back of my neck as he pressed his body to mine, hips aligning behind me.

I trembled, already dizzy from Craig still beneath me, his cock still buried inside me, hard and aching with restraint.