Page 42 of A Corruption Dark & Deadly

Annie shot him a look of disbelief. How the heck did Bruce know anything about Jericho? Besides the fact that he worked for the guy, Bruce and Jericho didn’t actually talk, did they?

“Look, maybe I don’t know him the way you do,” Bruce told Annie, immediately recognizing the look on her face. He shot a smile at Jericho. “I’m sorry. We’re talking about you like you’re not here. That’s rude.”

Jericho waved away his concern. “It just makes me happy to see the two of you talking,” he said, and Annie could hear the sincerity in his voice. She thought she fell even more in love with him right there.

“How’s the cabin?” she said, turning to see the Chinese food set out with three plates. Bruce, of course, had chopsticks next to his plate while Annie had a plastic fork. He had tried so often to teach her how to use chopsticks but to no avail. It never worked. Next to Jericho’s plate there was a set of chopsticks and a plastic fork, leaving it up to his new brother-in-law to decide.

“It’s great,” Bruce said, plopping down in his seat. “You should really see it, Annie. You’d love it. Actually, both of you would. You should stay there sometime in the future. Completely free, of course. Maybe you could review me on TripMaster or something.”

“So,” Annie said, reaching across the table and grabbing the carton with kung pao chicken. She poured a generous amount on her plate before grabbing the fried rice and then the chow mein noodles. “You actually got the fireplace installed?”

“Oh, yeah,” he said, running his fingers through his hair and taking some of Annie’s kung pao chicken before she could smack him out of the way with her plastic fork. “It’s perfect, Annie. I’m serious.”

“Perfect doesn’t tell me how it looks,” Annie drawled before she quirked her brow.

“It’s one of those things you have to experience in person,” he told her. “So.” He shifted his eyes between the couple and smirked. “How was the wedding?”

Annie didn’t need an excuse to start talking about the wedding. She grinned and launched into a detailed explanation. Every now and then, Jericho would add a piece of information but was happy just to let Annie take over. She hadn’t even called her friends and told them. They didn’t even know she was married.

After another couple of hours of talking, catching up, and reading canned fortunes from the fortune cookies, Bruce excused himself so he could give the newlyweds the privacy they deserved on their wedding night. Annie pulled Jericho into a tight hug after he shut the door.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “You have no idea what that meant to me.”

“I have an idea,” he murmured with a smile before pulling her into a long, passionate kiss. She truly believed she had kissed his lips a thousand times and somehow, he still sent shockwaves to the tips of her toes and awoke butterflies from cocoons in her stomach. “Let’s really take advantage of the fact that right now, there’s just you and me in the world. We have all the time we want to do whatever it is you want. And right now, I want nothing more than to explore your body with my mouth.”

Annie swallowed but she felt her lips curl up. She threw her arms around his neck and brought him in closer for a deep kiss. His tongue immediately demanded entrance, like this was their first kiss and he was exploring her for the first time. His fingers buried themselves in her hair so he could completely control the positioning of her head. His grip, while gentle, was firm, as though he wanted her to know that he was the one that was in control, not her, and it would be beneficial if she understood and respected this.

He swooped her up in his arms and slowly headed up the stairs. He was familiar with the layout of the house now and didn’t have to look to see where he was going, whether he was getting a midnight snack in the dark or he was walking the stairs. His eyes were on her and not his feet. The stairs were even and he could place his foot on each one without having to worry about under or overstepping.

Annie’s heart thudded against her chest so loud she was certain Jericho could hear it. She wondered what he thought that she still had a nervousness around him, that she still got butterflies and that every hair on her body stood erect whenever he touched her, whether it was with purpose or on accident.

When they got to his room, he gently placed her on the top of the mattress so she was on her stomach. Very slowly, he proceeded to undo each and every button before sliding the sleeves off her shoulders and tugging the gown off of her body. A blue garter wrapped around one thigh, a white matching bra-and-panties set, covered her just barely. She felt so vulnerable that her thighs moistened even more. He could do whatever he wanted to her and she would never know. She would never be able to stop him and didn’t want to.

He sat back down on her right side and undid her bra. Gently, he slid the straps down her shoulders and pushed her back down so he could take hold of the cups and remove them from her breasts. When he did this, he guided her back to the bed and kept her in the same position.

Jericho did the same thing with her underwear.

When she was completely naked, he crawled in next to her and made eye contact with her.

“Sit on my face,” he commanded in a gentle tone.

“What?” she asked.

“Don’t question me,” he said. “Just do it.”

Annie’s breathing hitched in her throat and she took a moment to figure out the best way to do this. She had never sat on somebody’s face before and she wanted to attempt to figure out the mechanics and why someone would want to do that. Facing him, she put both knees on either side of his face and slowly slid down until the back of her thighs hit her calves. There was still some space between her and Jericho’s face so she wasn’t smothering him. Her arms crossed her chest – she wasn’t sure what else to do with them.

“Don’t do that,” he said, reaching up and gently tugging on her arms. “I want to see you.”

Annie let her hands drop to the side. She felt Jericho place his hands on the inside of her thighs and spread her lips so he had better access to her clit.

At that moment, he licked her clit, from her entrance all the way to her front. She squirmed underneath him, her body reacting to how sensitive her body reacted to his ministrations, but his hands tightened on her and prevented her from moving. He gave her a gentle squeeze, indicating that just because she was on top of him did not mean she was in charge.

Stay, he was staying.

So she listened. Because that was what she did.

He started licking her mound back and forth slowly, ensuring that she get used to the sensation of his tongue against her clit. It felt odd, different, but he was patient and continued licking her in a steady, consistent manner until she relaxed on top of him. Her legs spread apart even further as the tension and uncertainty disappeared, and suddenly, she could feel the sensation of him licking her and she began to moan. This compelled him to speed up his licking and she cried out in shock and in pleasure. His grip tightened once more, expecting her to move away, to squirm out from his grasp, but she did not do that. She stayed on top of him, wanting to orgasm against his face.