Corrupt

by Penelope Douglas

  Growing up, every time she walked into a room and looked at me, wanting me to look back so badly, I felt powerful when I refused to indulge her. When I left the room as if she hadn’t been there at all.

  I loved that I dominated her pretty little head more than my brother ever could.

  And indulging in a little self-torture, like picturing her in here with him, kept me hot and on edge. I liked that, because I liked who I was. It made me strong. Would giving in to her change me?

  “I like to hurt myself,” I told her. “I need this. Now take off your clothes and get in his bed.”

  “Michael,” she breathed out, trying to argue.

  But I just stood there like a wall, unbending.

  Her chest rose and fell hard, but she calmed her features and squared her shoulders, looking back up at me.

  Her mouth twisted in anger, but her eyes turned bold as she tore off her clothes and pulled down her panties, stepping out of them and walking to the bed.

  My heart started to beat faster, and I folded my arms over my chest, trying to stay hard.

  She pulled back the covers, her long, blonde hair flowing down her back, and climbed in. She laid down, pulling the forest green sheet up to her waist and leaving her breasts uncovered.

  Resting a hand behind her head, she looked at me, her big eyes taunting me as her other hand rested on her bare stomach. She looked so fucking soft and warm and perfect.

  He’d seen her like this. He’d laid next to her like this, and regret wracked though me, not because of the picture before me, but because it should never have been him. I could’ve had her—her first time, everything—and I let her go three years ago.

  If it weren’t for me, she would never have turned to him.

  What the hell was the matter with me? Was all the power I felt pretending like she didn’t exist greater than how fucking good she felt when I had her in my arms?

  No. Not even close.

  She cocked her head, her eyes pooling with tears. “I’m in his bed,” she pointed out. “You’re not going to do anything about it this time? I can moan his name or….maybe tell you about the four times in our months together that I let him have me, and how I tried so hard not to picture it being you.”

  The blue of her eyes glistened and shook as tears started to spill down her temples into her hair.

  “Maybe you’d like more of a visual instead?” she asked.

  She sat up, pulling the pillow down, and swinging her leg over it, straddling it.

  Rolling her hips, she began to ride the pillow like it was Trevor underneath her, tilting her head back and moaning.

  Her beautiful, round ass grinded into the fabric, her back arching as she picked up pace, while her hair swayed against her back.

  Pain shot through my chest, and my fists clenched.

  “Rika,” I murmured, feeling like I’d lost her.

  But then she groaned and whispered, “Michael.”

  And I narrowed my eyes, inching up the bed to see her face.

  Her eyes were closed, and she let out a hard breath, a small smile crossing her face as she rode the pillow. “Michael.”

  She picked up the pace, grinding harder and faster, her tight stomach waving in and out, and her full breasts swaying with her movements.

  She grunted as her dry-fucking grew more rigorous, and her face tightened in pain as she rode harder and harder. “Oh, God. Oh, fuck.”

  And Trevor was gone. He wasn’t in the room anymore.

  She was mine.

  I unfastened my belt and dropped my jeans to the floor, kneeling behind her on the bed.

  I lost track of what the score was, whose move it was, or what game we were even

  playing anymore.

  We want what we want.

  I wrapped a hand around the front of her neck and pulled her against me. Her head fell back on my shoulder, and my cock stood straight up, brushing against her ass.

  “What are you doing to me?” I asked, not really expecting an answer.

  She was tearing me up, and I wasn’t sure I cared. I just wanted to burn.

  Dipping a hand down to her pussy, I slid two fingers inside her and pumped them in and out, bringing out her wetness and rubbing it over her clit.

  She moaned, turning her head toward me as she reached around with her hand and held the back of my neck.

  “I’m not tough, Michael,” she whispered. “Not really. I can play, and I can let you fuck me in your brother’s bed or on your father’s desk and use me as an object to get back at them, but in the end—” She paused and then continued, “In the end I’m still here, Michael. I’m still here. It’s still just you and me.”

  She breathed hard against my skin, and I dropped my head, caving. I wrapped both of my arms around her and held her warm body tight as I buried my face in her neck. I couldn’t ever let her go.

  “Just you and me,” she repeated.

  “Promise me,” I demanded against the silky skin of neck.

  But promise me what? What did I want from her?

  Promise you’ll never leave me? Promise you belong to me? Promise you’re mine?

  I raised my head, turning her lips toward me and kissing her deep and fast, her taste sending a rush of pleasure to my cock.

  I pulled away, breathing against her lips. “Promise you’ll never say no to me. Promise you’ll never keep yourself from me.”

  She grabbed my bottom lip between her teeth, sucking and kissing. “I’ll never say no,” she answered but then added with a smile in her voice, “as long as you keep me screaming yes.”

  I groaned, pushing her down on her hands and knees and grabbing her hips, yanking them back as her legs willingly spread for me.

  “Only as long as you need me then, huh?” I said playfully, taking my cock in my hand and gliding the tip up and down her warm pussy. “Only as long as you need this?”

  Finding her wet heat, I pushed the head inside, forcing it into her tight body, and then pulled it back out, seeing her shake.

  “Michael,” she moaned, looking over her shoulder.

  And I slid the head back in, her pussy wrapping around me so hot that I just wanted to plunge inside of her. “You’ll never say no to me. You know it.”

  And then I pulled back out, hearing her whine in frustration.

  “Michael!” She slammed a fist into the comforter and then shot up, spinning around and pushing me back on to the bed.

  My spine hit the footboard, keeping me halfway upright, and my heart throbbed in my chest, seeing her crawl on top of me like a little an animal, completely out of control.

  She straddled my waist, and I grabbed her hips, smiling and gloating as she dug her nails into my shoulder with one hand and positioned my cock underneath her with the other.

  She sunk her body down on me, and I slid inside of her, squeezing her ass in my hands as I pulled her forward to catch her nipple in my mouth. I darted out my tongue, flicking the pebbled flesh and wanting to take a bite out of her. She tasted so fucking good.

  She rolled her hips, clutching the footboard behind me in one hand and my shoulder in the other as she let her head fall back, moaning and grinding and fucking.

  “That’s it.” I gripped her ass, pulling her into me again and again. “That’s it, baby. This is what you were built for. Me.”

  I grunted, my cock so fucking hard for her. Taking one of her tits in my hand, I held it to my mouth, playing with her nipple again, licking and biting as she ground faster and faster, fucking me so good.

  “Ah, ah,” she cried out.

  And then she dived down, plastering her chest to my body and kissing me, the feel of her breath against my mouth covering my skin with heat.

  God, I was addicted.

  “Don’t look to anyone else to give you this,” I growled in a whisper, kissing her again.

  “Michael,” she panted softly. “I never wanted anyone else. Don’t you see that?”

  She pulled back, sitting upright, and I watched
her close her eyes and her glowing skin move in front of me as her breasts bounced with her movements. Her hair fell over her shoulders and down her back, revealing her scar, and I reached up, running my thumb down its length.

  “So beautiful,” I whispered.

  She gasped, moving faster and faster. “Oh, God,” she whimpered.

  And I felt my cock rush with heat, and I tensed up, squeezing my eyes shut. “Christ,” I groaned. “Baby, you better slow down or be ready to come.”

  “I’m coming,” she breathed out. “I’m coming.”

  And then she pumped harder and faster, a light layer of sweat on her neck, and then she locked up, stilling as she dug her nails into my shoulders.

  “Oh, God!” she cried out, jerking into me again and again.

  And I grunted, pumping my hips up into her and spilling inside of her as my abs tightened and every muscle in my body strained and burned.

  She collapsed on top of me, burying her lips in my neck, and for several seconds it was just us breathing. The rise and fall of my chest with hers, and I never wanted to move from this spot.

  Rika. Little Monster.

  “I don’t forgive you for what you’ve done to me,” she whispered, her voice still shaking from the orgasm. “But you’re right. I don’t think I can say no to you.”

  I closed my eyes, threading a hand through her hair and holding her close.

  I don’t think I can say no to you, either.

  I RUB MY HANDS UP AND DOWN my face, groaning with the weight on my eyes and the ache in my head.

  “Shit,” I grumble, turning my head slowly and seeing that I’m in the media room.

  “Did we finish that whole bottle?” I hear Kai ask.

  I tilt my head back, spotting him on the other couch with his face buried in his hands. I glance at the table in front of him, seeing an empty bottle of Johnnie Walker.

  Peeling myself off the sofa, I sit up, my stomach rolling and a bitter taste in my mouth.

  “Goddamn,” he says, pulling out his phone. “She must be pretty damn sweet to get you to drink like that.”

  “Fuck you,” I growl under my breath.

  I hear him give a weak laugh as I try to steady myself. The room is spinning, and I blow out a breath, feeling bile rise in my throat as last night comes flooding back.

  The warehouse. Rika.

  I had her in my arms. Finally. Why did I fuck it up?

  But then I hear Kai’s ragged breath, and I look up to see him staring wide-eyed at his phone.

  “Michael,” he says, looking scared. “Get your fuckin’ phone out, man.”

  I reach over to my hoodie that I tore off last night and dig into the pocket, pulling out my cell. Swiping the screen, I see a list of notifications, messages, and tweets a mile long.

  What the hell? My heart starts pounding, and I start clicking, catching words like ‘cop’, ‘statutory rape’, and ‘Horsemen’.

  What?

  My mouth goes dry as I see images of Kai, Will, and Damon, and I don’t know what the fuck is happening. Why are these pictures online?

  “The phone,” Kai breathes out, looking up at me like the wind had been knocked out of him.

  I click on the videos, my stomach dropping when I see Kai and Will with the cop, him hanging on by a thread as they hit him again and again. When I get to Damon’s video, the girl’s face is as clear as day, and I scan the comments, seeing words like ‘rapist’ and ‘jail’, as well as other girls claiming he’d done the same thing to them.

  It’s everywhere. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter…there’s even a news article going on about us as if we’re a gang. A fucking gang?

  “What the fuck happened?” I yell. “How did this shit get online?”

  “I don’t know!” Kai bursts out, breathing a mile a minute. “Will…”

  We both think the same thing. He has the phone, but he wouldn’t do this! To us or himself.

  Ignoring my notifications, I dial him to see where the phone is. He doesn’t answer, but when I glance back at my screen, I see missed texts from Damon.

  We’re so fucked! The first one says.

  And then another one a few minutes later. Rika has the phone! She had Will’s sweatshirt last night!

  I shake my head, meeting Kai’s eyes, knowing he got the same texts. No. She wouldn’t do that. She would never hurt me.

  Throwing down my phone, I charge out of the room, hearing loud knocks on the front door as I rush through the house.

  Excited voices fill the downstairs, and I feel like the walls are getting closer and closer, and I can’t turn anywhere.

  Coming up outside the kitchen, I stop, hearing Trevor’s voice.

  “So those are the guys you want to be around?” he snarls. “Rapists and criminals?”

  I know he’s talking to Rika, but I don’t hear her say anything. The vein in my neck throbs, and I hear feet storming though the house. I don’t have to look to know it’s the cops. They might be looking for me, but they are definitely looking for Kai.

  “Michael’s nothing, and if you want to be around him so much, you’ll end up just like his friends,” Trevor goes on.

  “I have no interest in being around him,” Rika replies, a bite to her voice. “And his friends got what they deserved.”

  My lungs empty, and I step into the doorway, glaring at her back. Trevor looks up at me, and Rika spins around, hurt and sorrow in her blood-shot eyes. She can barely look at me.

  And then my gaze drops to her hand, spotting Will’s black hoodie with the tear in the sleeve from the fight with Miles last night.

  Clenching my teeth so hard my jaw aches, I back away, holding her eyes. Kai is shouting down the hall, the cops having found him, no doubt, and I stare at her, rage wrapping around every inch of my body like steel armor.

  This is my fault.

  I’ll never be able to make this right.

  They’ll suffer, because I trusted her.

  Opening my eyes, I threw the sheets off, sweat covering my chest and neck.

  The memory of that day was like a sickness I couldn’t shake. Seeing Kai in handcuffs, my friends splashed all over the local news, and knowing that none of it would’ve happened if I hadn’t brought her with us the night before.

  That Sunday, they would’ve gone back to school and carried on, building their lives and looking forward to the next time we could all wreak a little havoc together. Nothing would’ve ended.

  If only I hadn’t brought her with us.

  I turned my head, seeing her fast asleep next to me, and my arms hummed with the need to hold her. Her lashes were dark against her alabaster skin, and there was the smallest little space between her lips as she breathed in and out calmly.

  Shifting onto my side and propping myself up on my elbow, I ran a light hand down her face, tracing the scar on her neck, and continuing down her body.

  I leaned in and kissed her hair, breathing her in.

  Nothing was her fault.

  She was one of us—she was ours—and not only did I have a mountain of shit to do to make this right, but I almost feared that nothing would be enough. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted from her, but I knew I didn’t want to lose her.

  And she’d grown very good at having a mind of her own.

  Leaving her to sleep, I showered and dressed in black pants and a white dress shirt, knowing I’d have to take care of some business today.

  The house was a disaster and since my parents were out of town, our housekeepers and cook were on vacation as well. I called in a temp crew, and by the time I got everyone left over from the party the hell out of my house, the workers were already there, getting started on the main rooms first, as well as cooking breakfast.

  I called the facility where Rika’s mother was and informed them that Christiane Fane’s daughter would be in contact with her mother, and then I called a lawyer—not the family lawyer, someone that wasn’t paid by my father—to discuss Rika’s estate. I knew she didn’t trust me with
it—why should she?—but I didn’t want it reverting back to my father, either. We’d have to try to contest the will.

  I got all of her money transferred back into her accounts, which was easy enough, since the guys had bluffed last night at Hunter-Bailey. We hadn’t quite gotten the shares doled out yet, so I still had access to everything and was able to put it all back and reactivate her credit cards with no problem.

  After a couple of hours, I sat at the dining room table, a breakfast spread sitting out, Kai quiet and Will drifting in hungover. He looked a mess and immediately demanded to know what was next.

  He wanted to go after Trevor.

  “I can’t clean up one mess and then jump right into another,” I gritted out. My plate was already too full.

  “Yeah, that was your fault,” he threw back. “And Damon’s, for giving you bad information. We followed like we always do.” He looked to Kai for backup. “But I’m doing it my way now. I would like you with me. If not, I’ll survive.”

  He tossed back some aspirin, chasing it with an entire bottle of water.

  Yeah, it was my fault. We’d hurt Rika when it should’ve been Trevor, but I needed a breath first.

  I pushed my plate away, sitting back in my seat and looking up to find her standing in the doorway.

  I locked eyes with her, my heart skipping a beat. She looked absolutely beautiful. As if she hadn’t been through hell last night.

  She’d showered, put on some make-up and straightened her hair, and she was dressed in some tight jeans, a white shirt, and a little red jacket with black shoes.

  Was she leaving?

  “Rika.” Kai stood up, looking contrite. “Would you like something to eat?”

  I narrowed my eyes on him.

  But she ignored him and met my eyes again. “My mother,” she demanded.

  I nodded, picking up a card off the table and holding it up for her. “Her counselor’s number. You’re on her list of contacts now. Call whenever you like.”

  She walked over and took the card, looking down at it.

  And I could tell that whatever happened between us in Trevor’s room last night was over for now. She was clear-headed and back to business.