Author's Note: The first section contains the discussion between Ric, Sonny and Mayor Floyd the night of mayoral event. That belongs to GH, everything that follows I blame on Loke. It was her ideas that led to this. Lastly, breaks are going to look like this – !BREAK!
"I just – I want to just say that I'm very proud of my brother for the way he stepped up and took control. Now we can all concentrate on making Port Charles a better and safer place."
He could feel his blood boiling. It wasn't bad enough that his brother had dismissed him from his life as if he were worthless. No worse then that, Ric raged, as if he were nothing. The blood tie between them made no difference Sonny, not when had his precious lapdog at his side. Even though bulbs continued flash his jaw tightened at the thought of Jason Morgan. If there was one person he hated more then his brother it was his enforcer.
Though he denied it to both Sam and Sonny, he had gotten a thrill out of tainting Jason's love with Sam. By sleeping with her he taken something from Jason. Still it did not compared to what Jason had robbed him of; one day he'd even the scales, but at the moment Ric had more on his plate then revenge. Under different circumstances his brother standing so cheerily near him and claiming him has family would have sent a trickle of joyous pride through him. Even if his motives were suspect as they were now.
No, he knew why Sonny was playing chummy with him. It was because the press was there with Mayor Floyd in the background. It was a power play. Sonny wanted him to know that he held all the cards – that he always had and would. The fact that Sonny believed that grated on Ric's nerves. Sonny thought he could manipulate him into behaving around Sam, into being the kind of husband he thought Alexis needed, and into turning a blind eye to his activities now that was DA again.
That was not going to happen. Not again. He'd backed down from Sonny before in the past out of affection, but if his brother could so effortlessly cut him out of his life, he could do the same. He'd treat Sam any damn way he wanted. Though he prefer not to deal with her at all. He already gotten what he needed from her – a night of comfort sex and more importantly paining Jason. Her continued presence in Port Charles, in his life with Alexis was a complication he did not need. He wanted Sam gone and Alexis … he wanted his wife better. Better, however, meant more then her physical health but also her pathological need to put Kristina first when they had their own daughter with whom to be concerned.
He felt the Mayor at his side before he heard him say, "Excuse us, please, just for a moment." Floyd pulled him away from the press, who continued to snap pictures of Port Charles' Crime Lord. "No more photos of glad-handing that mobster you call a brother," he hissed. "End this now before Corinthos buries us both." With the order given Floyd walked off leaving Ric to stew in resentment. He was tired of being given orders and of people expecting him to follow them. Still he knew he had to endure Floyd if he wanted to keep his current title. And it was a title he desperately needed if he was going to rid himself of Sonny and Jason once and for all.
Checking his emotions Ric turned back to press. Smiling he came to stand next to Sonny again, "Excuse me. I just would like to say that I agree with Mr. Corinthos – for a vision of a better and safer Port Charles. But I'm afraid that's where we part company. See, this city has been plagued by a criminal element that needs to be eradicated. I intend to make that happen," he informed the press in way of damage control before extricating himself from the situation.
It was obvious that his brother wanted to play hard ball with him and Ric relished the idea of going head-to-head with Sonny. History, however, had taught him that direct confrontation with Sonny never ended well for him. What he needed was a way to blind side his brother. To come at him sideways in a way he'd never expect … in way that would not only distract and anguish him, but Jason as well.
It was only a short time later, after he questioned Alexis about some cookies she'd eaten, that his wife gifted him the exact ammunition he needed by telling him that: "Emily brought them."
!BREAK!
This is wrong. That was the last coherent thought Emily had before dark passion ripped her over the edge. She had fought against it desperately for weeks but Ric had been relentless. He kept chipping away at her defenses. Pushing her, no matter how unwilling, towards this moment.
Her blood was pounding and there was so much heat. So much need. It was sharp and twisted, a pleasure tinted with pain. The urgency behind it made her breath catch, but Emily didn't care if she ever breathed again. She just wanted to feel. To spin out of control. It was dangerous she knew, but that was apart of the appeal.
Even as sensations built and crested in endless, greedy waves Emily knew she was being used. This moment wasn't about her. It was about her brother and Sonny. Somewhere along the line that stopped mattering. The fact that her brother would hate this –might even hate her – hadn't been able to protect her from the edge. It didn't matter that she disliked Ric or that he was married to Alexis. Nothing mattered but the frantic need he erected inside.
She wanted to be used. She had craved it since his first unwanted kiss. The poisonous desired had grown inside her until it became hypnotic and impossible to resist.
Emily reveled in the feel of flesh against flesh as he moved against her, inside of her. He touched her like one else had. There was no softness. No reverence. No regard. Just swift movements. Hard and determined. Demanding all of her.
When at last he had taken everything she was left panting. Branded. His words echoed in her mind, "You're mine." There was no sentimentality behind them. It had been a statement of ownership. Part of her wanted to rebel against it, but only because she knew he was right.
!BREAK!
He was touching her. It wasn't just the fact that Ric had his hands on Emily that bothered Jason. The gestured seemed so intimate. As if Ric had touched her before. As if he had the right to touch her. Rage caused him to see red and he rushed over to where his sister stood. He yanked Ric away from her, forcing his back against the wall as he lifted his arm up under Ric's chin. He pinned him against the hospital wall. "Stay away from my sister."
The bastard actually smiled at him. A sleazy, knowing smile that sent alarms buzzing through his head. He refused to believe them. It was impossible. Hating Ric all the more for this manipulation Jason leaned harder against his larynx.
"Jason stop it," Emily pleaded tugging on his arm.
His gaze shifted towards her. Emily's eyes were wide with shock and concern, but he was unclear if she was worried for him or Ric. If someone had knifed in the stomach and twisted the blade the pain could not have been worse then he felt at moment. Emily was pleading with him FOR Ric.
Murder burned in his eyes when they met Ric's smug face again.. "Don't ever approach her again," he warned before backing off. He heard Ric cough as he took a hold of Emily's arm and began to direct her away from him.
"I think that's her choice," Ric croaked out.
He didn't respond but he felt his sister hesitate. "Emily," he said her name softly trying to coax her along.
"Listen to him," he heard her implored of Ric.
!BREAK!
He heard it from everyone. Jason, Sonny, Alexis, Nikolas, Sam. He was the bad guy. The seducer of poor little Emily. If only they knew it had been her to come to him the night after Jason manhandled him at the hospital. He never breathed a word of that to anyone though. It was another thing he had over her. Making his hold on her that much stronger. But Ric knew if Emily hadn't taken the first step he would have, because he couldn't stay away from her.
Sonny and Jason had both threaten his life. He'd felt the cold steel of a gun against his head and suffered a tremendous beating. Hell, he probably wouldn't be alive now if Emily hadn't found him and saved him from Jason. The physical pain he felt then hadn't held a candle to the triumph he felt at the moment. Emily had chose him over Jason … over Sonny.
The names Sam called him. The power plays Nikolas attempted to get him kicked out his role as DA. Even Alexis threatening to keep him away from Molly couldn't force him to extricate himself from Emily.
She was air. She was passion and pain, triumph and downfall in one heady combination. He would not let that go. He could not let her go. Even as he saw her self-loathing grow, her brown eyes hollowing by the day he refused to give her up.
!BREAK!
There had been a point when she could have walked from Ric. Emily knew that. Weeks ago at the hospital when she told him to listen to Jason – that had been the moment. The problem was that she couldn't stay gone. Something about Ric … about their connection pulled her back.
It was sick. Twisted even but the need she felt for him out weighed it all. Her common sense. Her love for her brother. Her sense of propriety. None that matter when she was in the same room with him. He was all she could see. All she could concentrate on. Ric and the feelings he invoked within her.
"Emily you have to stay away from him," Jason insisted. "He's dangerous and he's using you."
"I don't care," she cried. The pain she saw in her brother eyes slashed at something deep inside her. At the woman she'd been before giving into Ric. She wasn't person anymore. That woman had been washed away. "I don't love him Jason and I know he doesn't love me but that doesn't matter. I want him. I need him." She couldn't stop the next words that came out of her mouth. Even though she would never take them back, she would always regret them. "And if you make me chose I will pick him."
!BREAK!
He only had to touch her to wipe away the discontentment and sadness that surround her. Everything she was and could be was his for the taking when he was inside her. That's what Ric craved the most. That euphoria of total ownership. Emily was his and he was desperate to keep it that way.
Everyday someone tried to talk her away from him. Reminding her of the life she had before him. But he knew their shared truth – they had no lives before each other, only pale imitations of them.
He'd been offered the world to let her go, but no one could see what was plain to them. They were each other's world. It didn't matter that they fed off each in unhealthy ways. That there was as much hate between them as passion. That love wasn't even apart of the equation. It was as simple as it was complicated – there was a thirst between them. One that only the other could quench.
As far as Ric was concerned there was only one thing he could do. "Away?" Emily questioned his suggestion.
"Yes," he answered. "Away from Port Charles, from everyone, for good."
"Is that even possible?"
He smiled at her as he ran a hand through her hair. "If we want it to be," he replied. "Remember you wouldn't be the only one leaving family behind."
Ric could see his own ache reflected in her eyes and magnified. "I don't want you to leave Molly for me."
"They'll never leave us alone Emily," he said pulling her close to him. He knew she wouldn't be able to think as clearly that way. "It can just be us. No interference. Don't you want that?"
"Yes," she sighed easing him into him.
"So we'll leave," he said. When she agreed Ric kissed her forehead, her cheeks, her lips … he took where only he could. He took her under.