Corrupt Desires

by Jennifer Bene

  “Fuck, I love you,” he growled, shifting to lay down on his stomach as she parted her knees and he placed the first kiss on the tender skin just inside her knee. “Talk to me, Phee.”

  “You’re cold.”

  “What?” he asked, inching his next kiss higher.

  “Getting warmer.” She laughed when he rolled his eyes, trailing his tongue along the inside of her thigh before placing a kiss just above her slit. “Very warm.”

  “Give me your hand,” he commanded and she held it out, only to have him weave her fingers into his hair. “You’re in control tonight, baby.”

  Her chest tightened, and she nodded. Fortunately, he didn’t make her speak when she was quite sure trying to talk would make her cry, but with the next dip of his head the thought of tears evaporated from her mind. One long, delirious lick through her folds and she tightened her fist in his hair. He froze until she lifted her hips, and there was a self-satisfied groan from below her waist as he returned. Alternating between long strokes of his tongue, and then teasing flicks against her clit, only capturing it occasionally to suck, pulling her off the bed just from the surge of pleasure. “You said I’m in control,” she whined.

  “Tell me what you want,” he whispered, the little pulse of breath over her clit making her shiver.

  “Make me come, please, sir?” Fingers tight in his hair she tilted her hips up and he met her halfway, focusing on her clit with a sudden intensity that had her gasping. He only paused a second when she bucked. “Don’t stop!”

  A low laugh from between her thighs, and then he was sucking, licking, flicking his tongue until her thighs were shivering. So close, so close.

  “Touch me? Inside me, please!” Half-delirious commands, but he knew what she liked, easing one finger in gently as he teased her clit. “Please!” she begged again, and he finally thrust it in, her moan answer enough on how it felt.

  Rocking her hips, she was panting, desperate for—

  “More!” Not even asking, demanding, as she tugged him against her and he slid another finger deep, adjusting his angle between her thighs so that he could stroke her g-spot, matching his tongue against her clit until everything inside her started to hum. Vibrating, nerve-endings sparking with a desperate need for the attention only he could give her. “Yes, please, please! Bryant!”

  Moaning louder, there was zero doubt that this was exactly where she wanted him to be, and it felt absolutely perfect. Almost. Closing her eyes, she arched, losing the grip on his hair as her muscles tightened and he had to press her hips back to the bed. Trembling, she nodded, lifting her hips to the rhythm he’d set.

  “Yes, fuck, Bryant!” A sharp cry and all of the heat that had been building suddenly consolidated between her thighs and then exploded outward. She shouted his name, coming so hard that she was blinded by bliss, lost for a moment in the delirious shivering after-effects of an orgasm weeks in the making.

  But he wasn’t done, teasing her back to the edge with the confidence of experience in knowing another person’s body so well. Still shaking, she panted, holding onto the sheets like they could make a single difference to the uncontrollable waves washing over her, threatening to drown her in a second orgasm before she’d even recovered from the first.

  You’re in control.

  “Stop!” she shouted, and Bryant was up in a flash, mouth and chin wet with her, confusion painted across his face until he saw her reaching for him. “I need you, please. Please don’t say no.”

  “Baby…” It didn’t even take a full heartbeat for him to push his pants down, filling the space between her thighs as he leaned over her to give her a taste of her own pleasure. “You are fucking delicious,” he growled, rocking his hips against her.

  “So are you, I get to taste tomorrow.”

  “Enjoying this control thing?” he asked, grinning when she reached between them to stroke his cock, but his grin turned into a groan when she squeezed and ran her thumb over his head. “Fuck…”

  “I actually am at the moment, but please. I want you inside me.” Guiding him to her entrance, she wanted him now, but he braced one arm beside her so he could cup her cheek.

  “You’re in control, but we’re still taking this slow. Understand?” Bryant eased the intense tone with a brush of his lips against hers, and she kissed him back for a moment before nodding.

  “Okay, now?” Lifting her hips, she felt him dip inside and he groaned.

  “Now,” he confirmed and then he lowered his body over hers, warm and safe as he slid inside her slowly. She was slick, soaked from the orgasm, and feeling him stretch her was all she’d wanted whenever they’d been wrapped in each other in bed. This was too important, this intimacy, this perfect give and take as her hips rolled to meet his, and he pushed her back down, only to withdraw so that her body followed on instinct.

  Bryant hadn’t lied, it was soft, gentle, but every full thrust filled her completely, teasing her with the drawn-out friction of him inside her. With the slower pace he was able to kiss her, nibbling her lip before their tongues met and they shared each other’s moans, sips of breath against each other’s lips.

  More intimate, more intense than anything they had ever done. Arms wrapped around his back, she pulled him into her, until their rocking rhythm grew, both of their needs driving them towards completion. His lips ended up against her ear, breath rushing like the sound of waves as he spoke between low moans. “I love you, Phee. So much, so much.”

  Nodding she moved a hand into his hair, feeling his hips snap against hers as he drove deeper and she rose to meet him. “I love you. Bryant, I love you, please?”

  Their pace increased, friction compounding as her body tightened, wrapping around him, pulling him in, and his arms found purchase under her, one of his hands cradling the back of her head as pleasure thrummed along her nerves and beckoned her just a little further. Teasing her to wait just a moment longer, to let the tension stretch, build, and finally he growled her name into her ear and she was lost.

  Muscles tight, back bowing against the heavy strength of his body, she was caught as ecstasy crashed over her like a tidal wave, pleasure rushing through her as she cried out his name and felt his cock kick deep inside her, spilling heat. Filling her and kicking off another wave of trembling bliss.

  As they both came down from the high, she loved the way they were locked together. Holding tight, bodies entangled, as close as possible.

  “Thank you,” she whispered, and he groaned, kissing up the column of her throat to capture her lips again.

  “Thank you for… everything, Phee. I’m not sure if I deserve you, but I’m never giving you up, baby.” He teased her lips as she smiled into the kiss, before nipping his bottom lip sharply. Bryant snapped his head back, giving her a surprised look that turned into an intense stare. “You’re definitely enjoying this control thing too much.”

  “I don’t know, it’s kind of hot telling you what to do.”

  “Oh, I know, it’s why I like telling you what to do.” Rolling them so that she was draped over his chest, he cradled her head to him, running his other hand up her back. “But I’m all yours for now, baby.”

  “Just for now?” she asked, leaning up to grin down at him.

  “Well, I’m yours forever, but I’d be topping you from the bottom in no time.” He snapped his teeth just in front of her nose, that cocky grin tilting his lips. “Plus, you like being over my lap.”

  “Is that an offer?” she asked, snuggling down onto him as she used her foot to drag up the blanket. He chuckled as he caught the blanket and draped it over them.

  “Oh, with your mouth? It’s a promise, baby.”

  Epilogue

  Six Months Later

  “Why the fuck are you guys doing this outside? It’s freezing!” Regan leaned closer to the window. “And we’re parked in the fog. You sure we’re at the right spot?”

  “Yes, Regan.” Rolling her eyes, Phee leaned back against the seat in the limo, tracing her f
ingers over the pale waves of the dress. She’d known it was the one the second she’d seen the skirt sticking out of a rack — it was like someone had captured a calm sea, cast it in ivory, and attached it to a corseted bodice.

  That part of the dress had been less perfect, but when Regan’s eyes had bugged out of her head over the cleavage, she’d given in. Phee may not be able to take a full breath, but the dress was perfect.

  “Seriously, he has the entire Holbrook fortune and we’re down here for your wedding day?” Regan huffed, the navy sheath dress hugging her willowy frame like she was modeling it. It looked elegant even when she propped an elbow on her leg to turn to her bestie.

  “Regan, I love you, but can you just shut up for five minutes? I’m trying to remember my vows.”

  “Sorry, it’s just weird. I would have expected you guys to get married at the Pretnor Hotel, or maybe on one of the big estates above Lakehurst.” Almost pressing her nose to the glass, Regan huffed. “I can’t even see anything outside.”

  Unable to ignore her best friend’s rambling, Phee just grinned to herself, closing her eyes to think about the tiny ceremony that awaited them. Regan was right, with Holbrook’s inheritance they could have reserved any venue, could have left Lakehurst for a destination wedding… but she wanted this. And it was the way Bryant had agreed to her suggestion without hesitation that made him perfect for her.

  Neither of them needed all the trappings the COF had lorded over those in fog. Hell, Bryant had donated Charles Holbrook’s massive estate to the city and now it was the fanciest orphanage in the province. Filling that dismal place with screeching children, who finally felt safe enough to act like kids, was the best revenge they could have wrought on the bastard.

  They had Bryant’s airy apartment in the sky, they had friends, and finally they had a city reaping the fruits of so many labors. Productive. Growing. Citizens held together for the first time with a shaky peace that was becoming more and more stable as each day passed.

  It all made the future seem bright, but as Phee opened her eyes to look at the dreary gray haze out the window she remembered Bryant on the night of the coup. Telling her to focus on today, and just like that day they had woken up in each other’s arms.

  There was nothing more to want.

  The electric sound of the partition sliding down pulled her attention from the windows and the driver leaned into the little window with a smile. “They just called. They’re ready for you.”

  “Ready for what? Us wandering around in the fog?” Regan laughed, and Phee leaned over to pinch her on the arm. “Ow! Fuck!”

  “Do you still want to walk me down the aisle, or are you going to complain about the fog we spent our entire lives walking in?” Smiling, Phee nudged Regan towards the door. “Go on, help me get out of the car in this thing.”

  “This is the weirdest wedding ever, Phee.” Groaning, Regan pushed open the door and climbed out, reaching back in to pull Phee and her dress out in a series of tugs ending in an eventual leap of faith out the door. “Well, for the record, you look gorgeous. Even if no one can…”

  “Just look.” Holding her best friend’s hand, she turned her to face the entrance and watched as Regan’s mouth opened, her eyebrows lifting as realization dawned.

  “This is Montroix Park.” Stepping forward, she dragged Phee behind her until the fog was thin enough to read the archway above the stone pillars.

  “It is,” Phee confirmed, pushing down the swell of emotion as Regan gripped her hand tighter.

  “Your mom would have loved this,” Regan whispered.

  “I know.” Emotion swelled in her chest, too big for the tight-fitting corset, and it made her ribs ache as she fought down the urge to let the tears come. “It was my idea.”

  “Oh, hell… Phee, I’m sorry. This is absolutely perfect.” Just as Regan finished speaking, lights sprung to life. New, bright spotlights from the top of the stone pillars, casting the dark metal of the park’s entrance into stark relief.

  Montroix Park gleamed in the fog, and then the light spread. Trees glowing in an ethereal haze as, one by one, they blinked to life. Filled with tiny bulbs that brought the evening light down to earth.

  This was all Bryant.

  She’d asked for the sign to be lit up, to guide others to the place she and her mother had loved so much, but the rest… that was him giving her the fairytale. The park glowed. A warm, white light that bled out into the fog, dispersed until it seemed like they were surrounded in a pearly haze as she and Regan walked down the path.

  “It’s fucking beautiful…” Regan whispered, and Phee had to be careful to wipe the tears without ruining her makeup.

  “Yeah, it is.” As they followed the curve of the narrow concrete path, Phee looked down to see a swath of white petals guiding them forward in the glittering haze.

  “Okay, I have to admit, Bryant knows how to spend his money on a wedding.”

  Stifling a laugh, Phee was about to agree when from somewhere around them, a violin broke the quiet. The long first note seemed to hang before it changed into a blend of breathtaking music. Rising and falling in a song she’d heard at weddings before, but never like this. Never floating out of the halo of light that flowed from the canopy of gauzy curtains and flowers that arched impossibly high above the center of the park. “How…?”

  “He really loves you, Phee. He really fucking loves you.”

  More tears that she had to fight back, trying to swallow them down as Regan hooked an arm under hers and led her towards the first archway of flowers. Looking through the bright haze, she could see Bryant standing and waiting as the violin picked up in a brighter tune.

  A wedding march.

  “I think that’s our cue,” Regan whispered, and she gripped her best friend’s hand as they walked up the path. There was no aisle of chairs, no gathered family to smother the simple harmony of the park.

  It was just Bryant waiting under the heavenly glow, with Easton behind him and Mitchell Parks standing under the grandiose canopy.

  When her feet finally carried her forward, leading her to the man she loved, Regan traded her hand for his, and Bryant’s warm fingers held her tight. “Hey, baby,” he said softly, a bright smile spreading across his face as he turned them towards Parks.

  “Hey,” she whispered back, squeezing his hand so that she caught one more glimpse of his turquoise eyes shining in the gleam before she looked up at the one-time leader of the resistance, and now elected leader of the NDF.

  The violin quieted but didn’t disappear. Soft notes rising up to mingle with the unreal glow of the trees, shimmering as if they were alive. Ancient, wooden arms stretched toward the stars to pull them down and light this place just for them. It made her breath shudder just from the awe of it, but Bryant brought her back to reality with a whisper directly against her ear, “You look beautiful.”

  “Are you ready?” Parks asked, and Phee couldn’t suppress the smile that spread so far, her cheeks ached.

  “Absolutely,” she answered at the same time Bryant said, “So ready.”

  “Wonderful.” Nodding, Parks glanced down at a paper in his hands before he took a deep breath. “In another life, on this day I think this special place would have been filled with family and friends. There would have been so many open hearts and minds waiting to hear your oaths to each other… but neither of your lives have been easy.

  “You have both experienced loss, both lost loving parents to a war that neither of you should have had to fight.”

  Bryant gripped her hand tighter, and she felt her lip tremble as the weight of Parks’ words settled inside her with the memories of her mother and grandparents.

  “And yet,” Parks sighed, smiling warmly at them. “Even after tragedy, even in darkness, you found each other. Loved each other. Protected and supported each other.”

  Glancing to her right, she saw Bryant sneaking a glance at her as well, and their hold on each other felt like a promise, an anchor in the limitle
ss glow around them.

  Parks raised his hands a bit, the paper in his hand crinkling as he laughed softly. “I am no one’s father, and I never have been, but I must admit that since the first time I met Bryant I felt a need to watch over this young man. He stumbled into our world already damaged by the darkness that invaded Lakehurst for so many years, and where others just saw a boy from downtown, I saw something else. A strength that has been tested time and again, through years of struggle, and challenge, and strife.

  “Until, finally, he met his match.” With a broad grin, Parks looked at Phee. His pale blue eyes holding her rapt as he continued. “I have never been one to believe in destiny, in the will of any higher power, but I cannot deny that something greater than us had to have pulled the right strings the day the two of you met.

  “You have both suffered separately, and you have suffered together, but your love has made you stronger. Your love has made you capable of things that, it is likely, neither of you could have succeeded in alone. And while there have been many who have tried to describe what you two have, I do not think anyone has truly grasped it. So many are unaware of the risks you’ve taken for each other, the things you have accomplished together to free this city from tyranny. And while I am not a father, I count myself lucky to have viewed Bryant as my son these many years.”

  “Parks…” Bryant whispered, a strain to his voice, and the man smiled at him before turning his gaze squarely on Phee.

  “And I am ever more fortunate to have gained a daughter as well. So, in the presence of this chosen family, I am proud to oversee this marriage, and blessed to be the one to unite two of the strongest people I have ever known.” Reaching forward, Parks laid his hand over theirs and Phee felt the tears slip over her cheeks as Regan hugged her from behind, and she looked up to see Easton’s hand on Bryant’s shoulder. Turquoise eyes shining in the light, Bryant leaned forward to press a kiss to her temple, and for one hallowed moment they were all linked.