Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Michelle
Corvus was a wreck. I couldn’t believe he’d let himself get into this kind of state once again instead of just coming to us, but I also knew we had years of trauma to undo and help him heal from.
This would be a long process with a lot of bad habits to break—this being the number one—but Kip and I were in for the long haul, and we were more than ready to put in the work to help Corvus grow past this.
“Tell us the easy part first,” Kip gently coaxed again when Corvus was a bit calmer and no longer shaking between us.
I stroked my hands down his arms as he sat up, sniffling and swiping at his damp cheeks.
My t-shirt was wet from his tears, and though it definitely sent my sensory issues into overdrive, I ignored it.
Corvus needed and deserved all of my attention.
Corvus nodded and blew out a soft breath. He slid his hands beneath his butt and shifted so he was sitting on them. But then, he leaned back against Kip, letting Kip support his weight, like whatever he needed to tell us would somehow be easier to utter if he could feel Kip pressing against him.
I gripped his knees.
“Take your time, bub,” I coaxed.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. Then, he blurted out, in what I was coming to realize was true Corvus fashion, “My parents were arrested today for child pornography.”
What was left unsaid was who was the center of that child pornography.
I didn’t need him to say it for me to understand.
My eyes flicked up to Kip’s. Sadness for our boy and anger on his behalf burned in Kip’s dark eyes.
His arms tightened around Corvus protectively, as if we could somehow protect him from what had already happened to him. What he’d already endured.
“I didn’t know,” Corvus whispered. He sniffled. “I didn’t know they were recording me.”
“I assumed you didn’t, bub,” I gently said. There was no way he could have known when he was drugged and unconscious every single time he was raped and assaulted. “What happened—none of it is your fault. Remember that.”
“What did I do to deserve this, Mommy?” he whispered, his voice breaking. He sounded so lost. So broken. My heart splintered into pieces. He closed his eyes, his breathing hitching when he swallowed a sob. “I’m so fucking tired.”
“You did nothing to deserve any of this, bub,” I swore. “You were, unfortunately, born to sick, twisted, fucked-up parents, but that’s not your fault.”
“Mommy is right,” Kip told him. “You were dealt a shitty hand, but we’re here to make sure nothing else happens to you. To make sure no one else can touch you or violate you. We won’t let anyone else hurt you again, chibi. Do you trust that?”
Corvus immediately nodded, not a beat of hesitation in the action.
“I do, Daddy,” he whispered. “I do.”
Kip kissed his temple. “Good boy. Don’t lose sight of who you belong to, and don’t forget our rules, understand?
Our promises always stand. We will never walk away from you.
I don’t care what comes out about your past, chibi.
We will always stand at your side. You’re our boy, and we don’t take that lightly. ”
Corvus deflated, like the weight of the world had lifted from his shoulders at our words and the reminders of our promises. “Am I in trouble for breaking the rules?”
“Oh, yes,” I said. “But we’ll deal with that at home, bub.”
I leaned in and softly kissed him, and fuck, the way he responded to me was everything. He parted his lips beneath mine, his hands coming to rest on my hips, his fingertips pressing into my flesh. He moaned quietly, letting me lead the kiss.
When we parted, Kip gently pushed Corvus forward so he was no longer slouched back against him. “Go pack some clothes, chibi. You’ll be with us for the next few nights.”
Corvus didn’t even argue. He just said, “Okay, Daddy,” and got up, heading inside.
Kip rose from the lounger then held his hand out to me, helping me up as well.
Once we were standing together, outside alone, he wrapped me up in his arms and cradled the back of my head, knowing what I needed without me ever saying a word.
“Once we get him home, we’ll give him his punishment, and then, I’ll take care of both of you. Understand?”
I nodded. “Okay, baby.” I rested my head against his chest, pressing my ear right above his heart. The steady beat of it always soothed me. “Can we stay like this a moment longer?”
“We can stay like this as long as you need, tsuma.” He kissed the top of my head. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” And then, I kissed his chest right above his heart for good measure.
Corvus was sprawled out on the bed when I walked into the bedroom. I set his water and after-punishment snack on the nightstand, a small smile playing on my lips.
“Comfy?” I teased.
“Mm-hmm,” he mumbled, his voice muffled by the pillow. “Where’s Daddy?”
He was slowly beginning to call us Mommy and Daddy more and more frequently.
He used the terms the most when he was feeling the safest. And it made me so fucking happy to know he felt the safest when he was in our home or wrapped up in our arms, like he’d been after we’d found him and Hudson on the loungers earlier.
“Well, you’re about to get un-comfy,” Kip announced as he walked out of the bathroom. He wore only a pair of low-slung sweatpants, leaving his broad shoulders and tapered waist bare. “Get up, chibi.”
Corvus groaned like the brat he truly was, but he sat up, then scooted to the edge of the bed.
When he lifted his gaze and stood, he licked his lips, his eyes running over Kip’s beautiful body.
Even I could barely break my gaze away. I had no idea how the hell I planned to cope when Kip and Corvus were both naked later.
Kip and I had agreed tonight was the night we needed to give Corvus what he’d wanted from the very beginning—sex.
And now that he knew we were here to stay and we trusted him not to run, I was all too ready to give him whatever he wanted because I wanted it just as badly.
To see my two men together… Fuck, it would be breathtaking.
Kip sat down then patted his lap.
“You remember from last time?” he asked Corvus.
Corvus nodded. “Yes, Daddy.”
Without further prompting, he draped himself over Kip’s lap.
Kip tugged down Corvus’s shorts, exposing the pale skin of his ass. “You’ll get twenty swats, chibi. Do you remember what to do?”
“Yes. I count and thank you after each one.”
I smiled and crouched in front of him. “You’re such a perfect boy,” I praised, running my hand over his hair. “So, so perfect.”
He smiled at me so damn beautifully, I felt my own soul warm in reaction. I had no idea how Kip and I had ever existed without Corvus in our lives, but I was damn glad we’d found him.