Urban Plundering: I Corrupted The System!-Chapter 417: The Precipice of Seventeen Years

Yesterday Night...

New York's skyline glittered beyond the penthouse windows, a constellation of human ambition frozen in glass and steel. Parker stood at the edge of the balcony, the night air cool against his face as he surveyed the city that remained blissfully unaware of the cosmic forces now residing within its boundaries.

They'd arrived and settled in.

Behind him, the door to the penthouse slid open. He didn't need to turn to know who approached—her presence had always resonated within him like a perfectly matched frequency.

"The others have retired for the evening," Maya said, her voice carrying through the night air. "Seraphina claimed exhaustion from 'excessive family bonding.' Nyxavere is reading in her room."

Parker smiled despite himself. "And Bella?"

"Ensuring the penthouse systems are operational. This is her family Hotel remember? She doesn't want a mistake while you're here. Ere though, is with Atalanta, her another favorite after Naomi." Maya stepped beside him at the railing, close enough that he could sense the warmth radiating from her skin without actually touching.

They stood in silence, watching the city lights. Seventeen years of unspoken feelings stretched between them like an uncrossable chasm—until now.

"You've been avoiding being alone with me," Maya finally said, not accusation but fact. Her fingers gripped the railing tightly. "Since you you awakened."

Parker exhaled slowly. "Not avoiding. Preparing."

She turned to face him fully then, eyes reflecting the city lights. "Seventeen years, Parker. You pushed me away for seventeen years. I always made up same excuses—'it wasn't safe', 'the timing wasn't right', 'there were greater concerns' 'he doesn't remember me yet'."

"They weren't excuses," he responded, finally meeting her gaze. The power within him stirred in response to her proximity, like tides answering the moon. "They were reasons. Valid reasons." He didn't want to tell her about the promise he'd made to his mother, it wasn't necessary anymore.

"And now?" Maya stepped closer, eliminating the careful distance he had maintained. "What reason will you give tonight?"

The air between them charged with potential—both emotional and something more primal. Parker felt his carefully constructed control wavering.

"I have no more reasons," he admitted, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Only fear."

Maya's eyebrow arched. "The man who bent reality to his will, who walked between dimensions and harnessed cosmic and Omni energy as his own... is afraid in this life?"

"Terrified," Parker confirmed without shame. His hand lifted, hovering just above her cheek without touching—the same distance he had kept for seventeen years. "Not of external threats. Of this. Of wanting something so desperately that I can feel it in the atomic structure of my being."

Maya closed her eyes, leaning into his hovering hand until skin finally met skin. The contact was electric, sending ripples of energy cascading through the penthouse. Somewhere inside, a light bulb shattered.

"Seventeen years," she whispered against his palm. "Do you know what it's like to wait that long? To know exactly what you want but be denied at every turn?"

"I denied us both," Parker acknowledged. His other hand found her waist, trembling slightly as it settled there. The power beneath his skin responded to her proximity, creating a subtle aurora around them both. "But I'm done waiting."

Maya's eyes opened, meeting his with seventeen years of pent-up desire. "Prove it."

The challenge hung between them for one suspended moment. Then Parker did what he had refused to do for nearly two decades—he surrendered control.

This was his wife. The one who had stood by him since the beginning—since his very first breath in that very first life.

Through lifetimes, deaths, and rebirths, she had loved him the same, no, more, with every version of him she met. In his Ninth Life, she was still here—unchanged in devotion, unshaken in love. His constant.

His echo. His everything. And Parker?

He'd raze empires, split timelines, and burn the stars if that's what it took to keep her. Because she wasn't just someone. She was his. And he'd do anything—anything—for her.

His lips found hers with the intensity of stars colliding. Seventeen years of restraint evaporated in an instant as he pulled her against him, feeling every curve pressed against his body. The kiss deepened, grew desperate, each second attempting to recover a thousand lost moments.

Maya matched his intensity, her hands clutching his shoulders with enough force to bruise an ordinary man. When they finally broke apart, gasping, the entire balcony was vibrating with energy that had escaped Parker's usually perfect control.

"Inside," she commanded, eyes dark with determination. "Now."

Parker felt a smile—predatory, possessive—spread across his face. "As you wish."

He swept her into his arms with effortless strength, carrying her toward the bedroom.

This night would be the first payment against seventeen years of denial. Tomorrow would bring its challenges—cosmic threats, dimensional incursions, family dynamics—but tonight belonged to them alone.

As the bedroom door closed behind them, Parker felt something he hadn't experienced in seventeen years—the surrender of power rather than its acquisition. Tonight, he wouldn't be the master of cosmic forces.

Tonight, he was simply hers.

The bedroom door sealed them away from the world, creating a sanctuary where only they existed.

Parker set Maya down with deliberate slowness, his hands lingering at her waist as though afraid she might disappear if he released her completely.

The room's ambient lighting dimmed in response to his emotions, casting everything in intimate shadow. Outside, the city continued its chaotic dance of light and noise, but inside this space, time seemed to hold its breath.

"Seventeen years," Maya whispered, her fingers tracing the line of his jaw with reverent precision. "I've imagined this moment in a thousand different ways."

Parker caught her hand, pressing his lips to her palm. "Tell me," he urged, his voice deeper than usual, resonating with barely contained emotion. "Tell me how you imagined it."

Maya's eyes darkened as she stepped closer, eliminating the space between them.

"I imagined you finally stopping with the excuses. Finally admitting what we both always knew." Her hand slid to his chest, feeling the thunderous heartbeat beneath. "That this was inevitable from the first moment. That for eternity I will always be yours, my entire being and you... you will always be mine too. "

"We're," Parker acknowledged, his hands finding the small of her back, drawing her closer. "I was a fool to fight it for so long." But he wouldn't have done otherwise or things wouldn't be better like they were if he ignored his mother's warning.

"Yes," she agreed without hesitation. "You were."

His laugh was low, surprised by her directness. "No mercy, even now?"

"Seventeen years deserves no mercy." Maya's fingers found the first button of his shirt, unclasping it with deliberate slowness. "Seventeen years deserves..." Her eyes met his, burning with intensity that matched his own power. "Reparations."

The word hung between them, laden with promise and demand. Parker felt the last vestiges of his resistance crumbling away like ancient ruins finally surrendering to time.

"Then take what you're owed," he whispered, the words both surrender and challenge.

Maya's smile was triumphant as she continued with his buttons, each one revealing more of what she had been denied for so long. "I intend to."

Parker remained perfectly still beneath her exploration, allowing her this moment of control after so many years of denial. His powers stirred beneath his skin, responding to his heightening emotions, but he kept them tightly leashed.

This moment would be purely human—no cosmic forces, no reality manipulation—just two people finally claiming what had always been theirs.

When his shirt fell away, Maya's breath caught audibly. Her fingers traced the contours of his chest with reverent attention, learning the map of him as though memorizing sacred text.

"Your turn," Parker murmured, his hands finding the zipper at her back.

The silk of her dress whispered as it slid down, revealing Maya in her entirety. The gentle curve of her shoulders led to elegant collarbones that caught shadows like precious stones.

Her snow clean skin gleamed in the half-light, smooth and flawless despite the centuries her soul had witnessed. Her form was a masterpiece of subtle power—strong shoulders tapering to a narrow waist, then flaring to hips that bore the perfect symmetry of divine mathematics.

The gentle swell of her breasts rose and fell with each measured breath, her heartbeat visible in the subtle pulse at the hollow of her throat.

Parker stood transfixed, his eyes traveling over her with reverence usually reserved for sacred texts or cosmic wonders. The hunger in his gaze was primal, ancient—yet tempered with something softer, warmer.

This wasn't merely desire, but recognition. His eyes held the look of a man who had finally found something precious he'd believed forever lost.

"Beautiful," he managed, the word inadequate but all he could summon.