Page 8 of C is For Corruption (Horsemen #3)

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. I need to feel something good. You offered to do whatever I needed, and that is what 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 said sit , 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.

I bit my lip, trying to hold back my moans as he growled against me with each pass of his tongue.

I couldn’t help but cry out as his tongue swirled around my clit.

He grunted as he shifted my hips, and I moved to help him, groaning deeply as his tongue slipped inside me.

My back arched as he worked me with the same masterful skill he used in the kitchen.

His tongue flicked in and out of me, and it was everything I could do not to give into the instinct to bounce on his tongue like I was riding his dick.

“Fuck… Craig…” I pleaded as he ate me out with a fervor that was driving me mad.

My legs instinctively tried to close against his head as my impending release barreled toward me.

I was on the precipice when Craig suddenly stopped, and I felt myself lifted from his face.

A whimper of protest left my lips, and I looked down at him, pleading with my eyes for him to continue.

He stared at my pussy, fully bared to him, with a smug grin. “Look at you, soaked and needy.”

“Craig,” my voice came out on a whine. “Please.”

His fingers gripped my hips tighter, and he shifted me down his body. “Get on my cock, Bunny. I wanna be so deep inside you when you cum that you can’t ever get me out.”

My hand wrapped around his base, and I positioned him at my entrance, letting his hold keep me steady. In a single motion, I impaled myself, taking him fully as we both groaned in relief.

“Ride me like your life depends on it, Bunny, because right now, mine does.” Craig bit out through gritted teeth.

I paused at his expression, uncertain if it was ecstasy or agony. “Craig..”

“Bunny… I’m fine. Now, move.” He punctuated his command with a light swat across my ass while his other hand forced me into motion.

My hands fell against his chest as I ground into him in response. Realizing what I’d done, I shifted to pull away, only for Craig to quickly cover my hands with his, a warning written on his face. I didn’t protest on his behalf this time, shifting slightly so that I could give him what he needed.

I moaned as I lifted my hips before sinking back down onto him.

I set a slow, languid pace as I rode him, feeling every inch of him filling and stretching me, sending sparks of pleasure through my body.

My pace picked up as I chased my release, each movement driving me closer to the edge.

The knowledge of where we were flashed through my mind, and I bit my bottom lip to hold back my moans.

“None of that,” Craig groaned, “I want to hear you.” He gripped my hips, encouraging me to gather speed, his head rolled back against the pillows.

I rotated my hips and took the hint about what he needed, rocking harder and faster, letting moans fall from my lips.

“That’s it, Bunny. Fucking hell, you’re perfect. Don’t you fucking stop.”

He tilted my hips with a push on my lower back, and the friction against my clit was all I needed to push me over the edge as I rode him.

My climax slammed into me, stealing my breath and made all the more intense by his earlier teasing.

It made my head spin and whited out my vision.

My back bowed, and I clapped my hand over my mouth to stop the scream that tore up my throat, attempting to muffle it so that we didn’t wake the entire house.

Craig thrust into me as he ripped my hand away from my mouth, chasing his own release.

“I told you… I wanna hear you.” He growled out, his hips stuttering as my scream filled the room.

“Fuuuuck…” He groaned out as he shattered beneath me.

His back bowed, and his eyes rolled back, and god damn if it weren’t the hottest thing I’d ever seen.

I didn’t stop moving, riding out his orgasm as he writhed beneath me, riding the powerful high of watching my man lose his mind.

After a few moments, Craig shifted his hips to roll us over. I let out a yelp as gravity helped pull me under him before sense caught up with me.

“Craig! Your–”

“I know, Bunny,” he huffed with a little laugh before shifting to collapse beside me. “I’ll take something later if I’m hurting. Right now, I’m not feeling anything but good.”

He stretched out his arm in my direction, and I took the unspoken cue to curl into him, placing my head on his shoulder and carefully avoiding any bandages. I'd barely gotten situated when I felt him trembling.

“Craig?” I asked, shifting to look at him.

A loud sob tore from his mouth, and his entire body shuddered.

“Fuck. I hit him, Bunny. He’s grieving and I slugged him right in the face while he sat there and took it.

I swore–” his voice cracked as tears streamed down his face.

“I swore I wouldn’t ever be like my old man.

But here I am, sucker punching someone I consider my brother. ”

I leaned up on instinct, shifting around him so that I was cradling his head against my chest, his arms tightening around my middle.

“Craig! Baby, you’re not anything like your father.

You’re grieving too, and you’ve been pushed too far.

You’re only human, and it’s okay to be reactive sometimes.

” I hushed him and rocked him against me, stroking down his back.

He swiped the tears from his face with the back of his hand, sniffling, and I could tell he was trying to get them to stop. “I’m sorry, Bunny. Fuck. It’s not fair for me to dump my shit on you. I know you’re grieving too and I—”

“Craig Dougherty. You don’t do that.” I snapped, harsher than I’d intended.

I tilted his face up to look at me. “We’re in this together .

I’m sure I’m going to fall apart any time now and you’ll be right there to pick me up and piece me back together.

But right now, it's my turn to pick you up. Don’t take that from me. Let me be strong for you. ”

His arms tightened around me again, and he buried his face into my shoulder. I made soothing shush noises as I held him, feeling his shoulders shake as he permitted himself to grieve. I rocked and rubbed my hand across the back of his head, shoulders, and back.

“It’s okay, let it all out. I’ve got you.” I murmured.

“We don’t deserve you, Bunny.” His words were soft, muffled against my skin as he cried.

“I decide who deserves me.” I replied. “And I say you do.”

I held him as he cried, letting him release everything he'd kept bottled inside for far too long.

Eventually, he stopped trembling, his breathing evened out, and he fell asleep against me.

I carefully shifted us so he was more comfortable against me, but I was still holding him.

I watched him, the peace on his face making him look younger and softer despite his tattoos and piercings.

It struck me that he'd been through so much, just as much as the rest of us, and he'd never complained or asked us to hold space for him the entire time.

He was always the rock for us. I kissed his forehead and snuggled closer, latching onto the moment's peace while I could.