Chapter 5
MILLER
I’m awake before the sun even thinks about hitting the horizon.
Habit, mostly, but also because my body is vibrating with a restless energy I can’t seem to get rid of.
The cot I folded myself into last night in the office nook is small and uncomfortable, yet leagues ahead of some of the places I’ve slept while overseas.
I’ve bedded down in desert caves and muddy ditches, covered in moss and leaves for warmth.
Compared to that, this is a luxury suite.
I pull my phone out and patch into the Aegis main line.
Easton answers after one ring. He’s always up, probably already on his third cup of coffee so strong I can almost taste the bitter liquid nearly thick enough to drink.
The man runs on caffeine, adrenaline, and the driving need to secure justice in an unjust world.
“Status report,” Easton grunts.
“Extraction was clean. We’re locked down at the safe house,” I reply, my voice hushed so as not to wake Rya. I give him the technical update on the perimeter sensors and the encrypted link I’ve established.
In the background, I hear the office door open and the heavy tread of Atlas’s boots. “Is that the love-sick puppy?” Atlas’s voice carries through the speaker, dripping with amusement. “Tell Miller he’s as bad as Kai.”
“You just did,” Easton says, rolling his eyes at Atlas.
I hear a click and then Atlas’ voice booms through my phone. He must have put the call on speaker. “Listen, buddy,” he says, his voice genuine with an edge of amusement. “I get it. You’re all in for this chick.”
“Her name is Rya,” I correct, my voice harsh and annoyed.
“My point exactly,” he retorts. I sigh heavily and scrub a hand down my face. “Just saying, don’t let it cloud your judgment. I’ve seen it happen all too many times.”
“Really?” Easton asks before I get a chance.
“Well, I’ve seen it with my dad and his litany of ex-wives.”
“That says more about your father than any of his wives, don’t you think?” I counter.
“It’s a two-way street, you know,” comes Atlas’ defensive reply. “It’s called feminism and equality. Women can be as messed up as men.”
“I’m not sure that’s what feminism is,” Easton grumbles, making me chuckle.
“Whatever. My point stands. Don’t let a woman change you, Miller.”
“What if I need to change? What if it’s for the better?”
Atlas sighs. “You’re already in too deep, huh? Just be good to her and yourself, okay?”
“Sir, yes, sir!” I deadpan.
Atlas is a good guy, and certainly the most light-hearted one of the bunch.
I suppose the bar is pretty low on that one, however.
Still, he has his rough spots and demons like anyone.
Sometimes I wonder exactly what he’s been through in his life to give him the defenses he has, but I’ve never asked.
Beneath his smiles lies a haunted, hollow darkness I don’t think he’s ready to face yet.
I wonder if the right woman would be able to break through to him.
“This conversation is going nowhere,” Easton finally interrupts.
“Miller, stay focused and report at our next check-in time. Atlas…” Our fearless leader pauses, and I can just see him shaking his head, trying to think of a task to give him to make him leave.
“Go work on the next name on the list. And for Christ’s sake, don’t fall in love with her. ”
I hang up, appreciating the unexpected conversation with Atlas. When this is all over, I need to make a point to get to know him better. Right now, however, I have more important things to focus on, like Rya.
The safe house is small enough that I hear when Rya starts rustling awake. I try not to picture the curvy goddess wrapped in bedsheets with her beautiful hair splayed out over the pillows.
She appears in the doorway a few moments later, looking soft and sleep-muddled.
She’s wearing a gray t-shirt and sweatpants that are clearly from the safe house stock and designed for someone much larger.
They make her look so tiny and adorable, my chest tightens.
Rya could make a potato sack look like a designer gown.
I hop up, intending to make her breakfast, but then I freeze. I can’t cook. My idea of a gourmet meal is an MRE that doesn’t require a heater. I’ve survived on protein shakes and caffeine for years.
Rya breezes past me with a small, knowing smile. “Move over, Miller. I’ve got this.”
I watch, mesmerized, as she takes inventory of the small kitchen. Every movement is precise, efficient. She’s in her element here, just as much as she is behind a keyboard. We eat in a comfortable silence, but I can feel her eyes on me, searching.
“Who are they?” she asks finally, her voice steady.
Rya starts listing off organizations she’s ‘volunteered’ for.
I know from her file that her ‘volunteering’ is actually high-level cyber-insurgency for the little guy, paying bills for families, saving animal shelters, and making her corner of the world a better place.
She’s brilliant, and she has no idea she’s walked into a den of wolves.
"It’s not the organizations you were helping that put the target on your back, Rya," I say, giving her a stern look. I lean forward and rest my forearms on the table, my eyes locked on hers. "It’s who you were helping them steal from.” Her brow furrows slightly, but I press on.
“The Shadow Syndicate isn’t some street-level gang.
They’re a government splinter group—highly trained, highly funded, and they specialize in moving black money digitally.
They use servers so buried and encrypted, most governments don’t even know they exist.”
“Okay, but what does that have to do with me? Surely they don’t think I stole from them, right?”
“You, my brilliant little hacker, stumbled straight into their digital vault while tracing a money trail for that animal shelter.
" Her cheeks lose some color, and her eyes, magnified behind those glasses, are wide with shock.
"How… how do you know about that? About the, um…
vigilante work?" The last words are almost a whisper, filled with a desperate hope that her secret life is still secret.
I can’t help the slow, possessive smile that stretches across my face.
I reach across the table and gently brush a stray curl of strawberry blonde hair behind her ear.
"Did you really think I wouldn’t do my homework before kidnapping the woman I’m going to spend the rest of my life protecting?
" I wink, a gesture that feels both odd yet natural when aimed at her.
Rya just stares at me, processing the shock of the revelation, the wink, and the casual mention of the rest of her life. She swallows hard, but then her face hardens with a familiar stubbornness.
She stands from the table, grabbing the laptop before making her way to the office nook where I have my computer set up.
Her focus is already shifting from the danger to the challenge.
Just like me. I join her in the cramped space, booting up my machine and entering my password.
We don’t even have to say what we’re doing or who we’re looking for as we log onto the private, encrypted servers of Aegis Security.
Rya and I work seamlessly together, occasionally pointing at something or asking for clarification.
We’re in the zone, our faces buried behind our screens as we speak in technical jargon most people wouldn’t understand.
Rya matches me bit for bit, her knowledge sparking a sense of awe I’ve never felt for another person. She’s a genius. And she’s teasing me.
“What’s wrong with your face?” she asks, a grin spreading across her soft, rosy cheeks.
I realize I’m smiling. Just a little. It feels foreign, but right. “It’s something new I’m trying out,” I tell her. “What do you think?”
We turn toward each other, me with what I’m sure is a silly smirk on my lips while Rya has a curious, playful smile on hers.
“I like it,” she whispers. We’re so close, I can feel her breath tickling my skin, sending a shiver through every part of me. Her eyes drop to my lips, a tinge of dark yet curious hunger. Jesus, what that does to me.
My nose brushes against Rya’s, and my gaze flickers to her pleading brown eyes. She doesn’t know what she’s asking for, but I sure as hell do. She wants to taste my smile? I’m more than willing to oblige.
I lean in, my mouth inches from hers. “Rya,” I groan, the word a prayer and a demand. “I’m going to kiss you now,” I inform her.
She bites her bottom lip before tilting her chin up, offering me the sweetest gift. “Please…”
That’s all I need to hear. I press my lips to hers, the kiss deep and desperate.
She tastes like coffee and sugar, and she’s everything I never knew I needed.
My hands roam over her curves, claiming every inch of her as mine.
I can’t stop. I won’t stop. I need her under me, around me, until the rest of the world disappears.
I easily lift her and carry my sexy-as-hell woman to the kitchen table, stepping between her thighs. Rya wraps her legs around me and rocks her hips against my aching cock. Fuck, I can feel her heat, her need. I need it, too. Need to touch and taste and worship every inch of this goddess.
Breaking the kiss, I trail my lips down her jaw, ear, neck, and shoulder. I can't explain the need to sink my teeth into her soft flesh, to suck, and mark her as my own. My dick grows impossibly harder when I picture her creamy skin red from the way I've loved her.
“Miller… Miller…” She moans my name as I growl into her skin. My hands slip under the hem of her shirt and grip her soft curves before dipping below the waistband of her sweatpants.
“I need something,” she whines so sweetly for me. I fucking love her innocence, her desperate need to feel more. “I-I don’t know what…”
Shit, I know what she needs. “Can I touch you, beautiful? I promise I’m going to make you feel so good.”
Rya nods, but I need more from her.