Chapter 26 Atlas
Chapter twenty-six
Atlas
Isighed, leaning back in my chair while I pinched the bridge of my nose.
It had been a long week, most of it filled with work so the grief of missing Miles didn’t overwhelm me—at least not during the day—and there were still a few hours left.
I’d just put the finishing touches on my latest client proposal, and with a few quick clicks, it was sent off to Shelly to send over to them with next steps. I was more than ready to crash.
I loved my job, but lately, usually as I lay in bed before I fell asleep, I wondered if moving here had really been worth it.
Would this ache in my chest ever go away?
Should I just quit and move back to Gomillion to be with Miles?
If anything, I loved him more now than when I’d left, if that was possible.
I knew Chase would be okay with me starting my weekend before five.
I’d certainly been putting in the hours.
I could even take a quick trip back to Gomillion, start packing up my house a little earlier than I’d planned, and see the man I loved in person.
It had been way too long, and this waiting was torture.
No, if I went back, I couldn’t see him. That would be violating Miles’s boundaries, and I would never do that intentionally. Maybe going back wasn’t the best idea.
Fuck, this was hard.
“Knock, knock.”
I looked up at the sound of my friend’s voice and flashed him a smile.
One glance at the clock said it was nearly four—later than I thought—so even if I left now, I’d barely be taking off early.
“Chase, hi. I was just going to come find you, actually. Do you have any issue with me heading out now? The Bryant proposal is in Shelly’s inbox, ready to go. ”
Chase stayed leaning against the doorway instead of coming in and dropping into one of the comfortable visitor chairs on the other side of my desk, like he usually did.
I raised my eyebrow as he waved me off. “You know you don’t have to ask.
But I was going to suggest that anyway.” He gave me a shit-eating grin. “You have a visitor.”
I blinked. “A client?”
He pushed off the doorframe and tapped it before taking a step back, winking at someone in the hallway I couldn’t see. “Not at all.” He was nearly out of sight when he called, “Enjoy your weekend, Atlas!”
I stood up from behind my mahogany desk, about to chase him down and ask him what that was about when someone else came into view.
And my heart stopped.
Miles was here.
My hand flew to my wobbling lip as tears welled in my eyes. “Miles?” I asked, my voice a whisper and just as shaky as my lip. “What are you doing here?”
He stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him with all the confidence of a man who knew what he wanted. Please let it be me, I sent out to the Universe as I circled my desk to meet him.
Miles didn’t stop until he crashed into me, curling both hands around my jaw and pulling me into a searing kiss. The moment his lips met mine, my entire soul exhaled, and I knew I was home. I knew this was forever. I would never give this man up again.
He took charge of the kiss, and I let him, loving this new side of him. I opened for him, letting his tongue explore my mouth as the kiss deepened, our bodies melting together until there wasn’t an inch of space between us.
When we had to break apart to catch our breath, Miles kept his hands on me, his thumbs caressing my tear-stained cheeks. His own eyes were red and glistening, but his wide smile healed something in me only he could’ve mended. He was here. He was here. And given that kiss, he wanted to stay.
But I’d gotten into trouble with assumptions before, so as much as I hated the distance, I took a step back. His hands didn’t leave my head, though—he just moved with me.
“I love you, Daddy.”
I melted, swearing those were the best four words in the English language. “I love you, too, my sweet baby boy.”
Fresh tears leaked from his eyes at the endearment, but his smile never faltered. And I knew then that everything was going to be okay.
“What are you doing here?”
He did drop his hands then, but he wrapped them around my waist like I knew he liked to do and pulled me a little closer.
“I was trying to come up with some big, romantic speech the whole way here, but I could only come up with this: I love you, Daddy, and I want to move here to be with you for the rest of our lives. If you’ll have me. ”
I laughed through a sob as I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him into a hug, my head resting against his chest. “I would love that, my sweet boy, more than anything.” I leaned back to catch his gaze. “But are you sure?”
He nodded down at me, that gorgeous smile still on his handsome face, and his beauty hit me square in the chest. This man was so incredible, and he was mine.
Wholly. Completely. Finally. “Yes, Daddy. Because I get it now. All my life, I thought I wanted someone to choose me, that I needed someone else’s love to heal my broken pieces.
That’s why when you left, I thought you weren’t choosing me, that I wasn’t good enough for you to stay. ”
My eyes welled with tears as he kept going.
“But I wasn’t broken; I never have been. I’m amazing just as I am. It turns out, I didn’t need someone to save me, to fix me, to convince me I was worthy of love. I just needed to choose myself—to love myself—all along.”
A choked sob flew out of my throat, and Miles pressed a kiss to my forehead before he stepped back to catch my gaze again.
“I did everything I stayed in Gomillion to do, and now I’m ready to move on with my life. Move forward. With you.” He grinned. “I want to build a life with you, Atlas. I mean, I got on a plane for the first time in my life just to come see you. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.”
I laughed again. “You’ve got me there.” He chuckled at that, the adoration in his eyes palpable. “I love you, Miles. I can’t believe you’re here.”
“I am, Daddy. And I’m not leaving. You know, except to pack up both of our homes and move everything out here.”
Love flowed between us as we simply stared into each other’s eyes for a few long moments, the world around us falling away. My boy, my Miles, was in my arms again, and the time was finally right.
God, I felt like I was soaring.
When Miles leaned in once more, the kiss was softer, sweeter, and it spoke of forever promises and hopes and dreams of a beautiful life with this man.
As our lips explored each other, I could see our life unfolding before my eyes, of breakfasts by the light of the sun streaming in through our floor-to-ceiling windows, of evenings spent in each other’s arms, of scenes as Daddy and boy and nights as two people making love and all the perfect, mundane, exciting, and boring moments in between.
I knew Miles thought of me as his sunshine, but in truth, he was the one who brightened my life. His grumpy demeanor had gotten past my defenses, fostering an inescapable, irresistible attraction I couldn’t ignore.
And now, I didn’t have to.
Thank fuck.
He broke the kiss, grinning down at me. “I don’t know about you, Daddy, but I’d like to get out of here. I heard Chase said you could head out—maybe you could show me around my new home?”
Butterflies swarmed in my belly, and I couldn’t help but let out a squeal. “Oh, fuck yes! Let’s get out of here.”
***
We fell into our apartment—our apartment; fuck, that felt amazing to say—tripping over ourselves in our rush to get naked.
Our clothes trailed behind us as we made our way to the largest bedroom, where a luxurious king-sized bed with high-thread-count sheets and a clean and cozy duvet waited for us to get them dirty.
“Atlas,” Miles breathed, his mouth an inch from mine as he unbuttoned his jeans and shoved them over his hips. I unclipped my wrap skirt and let it fall in a half-moon pile behind me, my blouse already somewhere in the massive living room. “Our place is nice.”
I snickered, peeling my lacy briefs off and letting them fall to the floor. I pressed my lips to his before pulling back to talk. “It is, baby. Would you like to stop what we’re doing for a tour?”
“Fuck no.” Miles grabbed my neck again, his hands just under my jaw, and pulled me into yet another fiery kiss that was over much too soon. I would never tire of kissing this man. “Later. After I fuck you senseless.”
I shivered at his words, pulling away only to take his hand and drag him toward the bed. He came willingly, letting me retain my bossy bottom status, giving me control. I was the Daddy, after all. “Yes. Do that.”
I fell back, the duvet fluttering up around me as I landed in the middle of the bed.
“Take me, baby boy. Make me forget we were ever apart.”
“Yes, Daddy. Condoms?”
“No, if you’re okay with that. There’s been no one but you.”
His grin lit up the dreary afternoon. “There’s been no one else for me, either. And there never will be.”
As his words sent a shiver of pleasure down my spine, he reached for the nightstand drawer, fumbled around until he found the lube—a “we’re exploring these more later” leaving his lips when he saw what else was in the drawer—and climbed on top of me.
We didn’t have time for slow and sensual. I needed him inside me now.
Thankfully, he seemed to share my urgency.
He folded me in half, directing me to hold my legs in place as he lubed up his fingers and pressed them against my hole.
With a grunt, I bore down and let him in.
It might have been a month since I’d had sex, but his finger slid in easily.
Fingers two and three weren’t far behind, and soon—though not soon enough—he was slicking his cock and lining up with my hole.
As he breached my rim with the head of his dick, we both moaned into the feeling. This joining was perfection, the bow on the gift he’d given me by coming after me, by moving out here to be with me. And when he sunk in all the way to the hilt, I’d never felt so complete.
These past weeks had sucked in the worst ways, but this moment? This was ours. It was everything I needed and so much more.
“Miles, baby, move,” I begged, gripping his ass and pulling him closer to me. His balls laid hot and heavy against my cheeks, and the coarse hair around the base of his cock lightly scratched the sensitive skin around my hole. It was hot, but it was a tease. I needed more.
“Always, Daddy. Anything for you.” He pulled back then thrust in again, forcing air from my lungs. I reached up, clutching the bedsheets over my head to try to hold on as Miles fucked me into the mattress. God, I loved this man.
Miles didn’t break his rhythm as he pushed to his knees, pulling my hips up and changing the angle. His next thrust hit me directly in the spot that made me see stars, and I shouted as my eyes rolled back in my head. “Yes, baby, shit! Right there!”
My boy maintained his position—thank fuck for those well-trained muscles—and thrust his hips into me again and again, repeatedly nailing my prostate and building the ecstasy within me until it reached heights I’d never known existed.
“Harder, Miles, make me feel it tomorrow.” I moaned as he picked up speed but kept the rhythm. Goddamn, this man fucked like a god. “Shit, I’m so close.”
My eyes rolled back again as my orgasm barreled down on me, and I reached for my dick, only managing a single stroke before I erupted.
My body curled in on itself as I released, my cum shooting between us.
Miles fucked me through it as my mind went blank, as the waves of euphoria sparked through my veins like lightning until they sent calm throughout every inch of my body.
I kept coming as Miles tensed then roared out his own release inside me.
I clenched around him, both from my orgasm and a conscious effort to milk him for all he was worth, as he let go, and when he pushed in as deep as he could and froze, his beautiful face twisted in all-consuming pleasure, I fell in love with him all over again.
I was so utterly gone for this man. I’d loved him before, there was no doubt, but this moment of vulnerability, of intimacy, made me love him even more.
He finally collapsed on top of me, my cum smearing on both of our stomachs as we caught our breath.
I stroked his hair, pulling it off his neck to help him cool down.
It was a little longer than I remembered, and I only allowed a brief moment of sorrow for the time we’d lost before rejoicing that we’d never have to live through that again.
We’d been tested, we’d sorted out our shit, and now, we’d reap the rewards. Miles was here, he wasn’t leaving, and that made me the luckiest person to ever live.
I’d spend the rest of my life thanking him for that.