Chapter 7
MILLER
The early morning light filters through the gaps in the reinforced shutters, casting thin, golden bars across the bed. I don’t move. I can’t. Rya is curled against my side, her head resting on my chest, her steady breaths a rhythmic balm to my restless soul.
Watching her sleep is becoming my favorite pastime. A dangerous one, too, because every minute I spend staring at her soft, relaxed features, the possessive tether around my heart tightens until I can’t breathe without her.
She looks so peaceful, so untouched by the digital wars and physical threats lurking outside these walls. Anxiety, sharp and cold, bites at my gut. How am I supposed to keep this? How do I convince a woman like her that a brute like me is what she needs for the long haul?
I’ve claimed her in my mind, but the fear that she’ll wake up and realize I’m just a temporary shield against the Syndicate nearly paralyzes me. I’m not just her bodyguard; I’m a man who has finally found his North Star, and I’ll be damned if I let the world take her away.
Rya stirs, a soft sigh escaping her lips as she nuzzles closer.
My hand, rough and calloused, finds the silky strands of her strawberry blonde hair.
When her brown eyes flutter open, magnified and beautiful even without her glasses, they find mine instantly.
There’s no fear there, only a warm, sleepy recognition that makes my pulse spike.
Leaning down, I graze my lips on her forehead before moving to her temple. “Morning, baby girl,” I rumble, the vibration of my voice echoing between us. The intimacy of the moment isn’t just about skin on skin, it’s the way she looks at me like I’m her entire world.
I pull her closer, my arms a protective cage as I kiss her with a slow, desperate intensity. It’s a silent promise that she is mine and I am hers.
Rya runs her fingers through my hair, scratching the back of my neck as she pulls me closer and deepens the kiss. Her naked body presses against mine, igniting a fire in both of us that won’t soon be quenched.
I roll Rya on top of me in one swift motion, guiding her legs to straddle me as she steadies herself on my chest. “Need you, baby girl,” I rasp, nearly losing my goddamn mind at the image of her thick thighs wrapped around my torso as she subconsciously rocks her hips against mine.
My sweet girl bites her bottom lip, those brown eyes blown wide with lust. She nods and leans down, but I meet her halfway.
Our lips join in a possessive kiss, conveying all the unspoken promises of forever.
We get lost in each other, breaking and healing at the same time with every touch, every kiss, every soft moan.
Rya leans back and props herself up on her knees, positioning her soaking little pussy over my raging cock. Fuck, the way she’s looking at me right now, her heart on display, her strength and desire shining through, her large, perfect breasts, rounded stomach, and thick, creamy thighs…
I can’t believe this woman is mine, my forever, my precious, sexy as hell, future wife. The mother of my children. I feel it deep in my soul, the rightness settling in my bones and washing away everything that came before her.
Never breaking eye contact, Rya slowly slides down my hard shaft, engulfing me in her perfect, wet heat. I groan at the sight of my dick disappearing into her ripe little cunt, precum leaking out of the tip as I think about being inside of her every damn day from now until forever.
“Fuck, Rya,” I groan, my voice gravelly and laced with need.
When she’s fully seated on me, we both take a moment to catch our breath. “That’s the plan,” she teases. My cock twitches at her sassy little smirk, making Rya roll her hips and wedge me deeper inside of her.
“So perfect for me,” I breathe out before grabbing her hips and helping her find the perfect rhythm for both of us.
“Oh God, ohmygod…”
Rya curls her fingers into my chest, her nails digging into my flesh and making me grunt with pain and pleasure. She bounces up and down my cock, crying out and twisting her hips when the angle is just right to hit her G-spot.
“That’s it, Jesus, that’s so fucking it, beautiful. Use me up, baby, fuck me until you come all over my big dick.”
Rya moans in response, her pussy chokes my cock. “Yes, yes,” comes her jagged reply.
She rocks back and forth in a desperate attempt to find relief.
I reach out and cup her gorgeous tits, pinching her nipples and groaning as her whole body shivers on top of me.
I keep one hand kneading and massaging her breasts while the other reaches between us and rubs her clit, causing her to tense and shout my name.
“I feel you, Rya, I know you want to come for me,” I growl.
Her thighs tighten around my hips, her pussy pulsing wildly as more of her sweet honey pours down over my dick. She takes in a huge breath of air and goes completely still.
And then she shatters all around me.
Rya squeezes my cock so fucking tightly it almost hurts as her orgasm ravages her curvy body. It’s amazing watching her come completely undone for me. She’s so fucking beautiful, shit, I never want to leave her snug little pussy. I want this moment to last forever.
She collapses on my chest and buries her head in my neck, kissing and nipping at me as her hips continue to roll and stutter.
I grab her ass and help her grind down on top of me until she spasms around me again.
I feel her orgasm spread throughout her body as I slide one hand up her back so I can tangle my fingers in her hair and pull her lips up to meet mine.
Rya moans into the kiss, driving me absolutely crazy with the way her tongue slides against mine. I flip us over and pound that pink little pussy with everything I have, swallowing her cries of ecstasy.
Leaning back, I throw one leg over my shoulder, and then the other, grabbing onto the headboard as I slam in and out of her.
“Mine, fucking mine,” I growl, looking into her eyes, branding her with my stare, my cock, and soon, my baby in her belly.
“Fuck!” I roar, feeling my dick swell up inside of her.
"Miller, shit, oh shit, I'm…" Rya whimpers and claws at the sheets, thrashing her head back and forth.
“Come for me, Rya. Come for me like a good girl.”
Rya screams and lets go of every goddamn thing, snapping her pussy around me again and again as she's hit with never-ending waves of bliss. She's shivering and sweating and moaning uncontrollably.
With one last thrust, I burst inside of her, coming in long, powerful ropes, emptying every last drop into her fertile, young pussy.
Goddamn, the vision of her round with our kid, her breasts full and sensitive…
I release another round of hot cum deep inside of her before rolling off to the side and dragging her limp, sated body on top of mine.
Rya snuggles up next to me and kisses my chest, my neck, my jaw, and finally my lips. “What a way to wake up,” she whispers before kissing me deeply.
When we finally break apart, I pull the blankets over us once again and wrap her up in my arms. “I was thinking about making it a morning tradition,” I tease as I rub my nose up and down hers. I see her long lashes flutter and then she closes her eyes, tucking her head under my chin.
In the quiet of the morning, surrounded by the scent of cedar and Rya, I feel the jagged edges of my past start to smooth over. We lie there for a long time, the silence heavy but comfortable.
Rya eventually breaks it, her voice small and reflective.
“My mom… she was always moving,” she whispers, staring at the wall.
“She was like a butterfly, never staying in one place, never really looking back. I spent my whole life being the adult, making sure we always had a place to land and money in the bank. When my mom decided I was old enough to survive on my own, she left for good.” Rya shrugs and takes a deep breath.
“I built my walls, my digital fortress, because it was easier to be alone than to be left behind.”
I squeeze her shoulder, my heart aching for the girl who had to fend for herself. Pulling her closer, I tuck her head firmly beneath my chin. Rya doesn’t fight it; she practically melts into me, her small, curvy frame curling into the hollow of my chest as if she’s trying to disappear into my skin.
Her breathing, which had been ragged and spiked with the remnants of her painful past, begins to even out, matching the steady, grounding rhythm of my own heart.
I wrap my arms around her, a protective cage of muscle and bone, and feel the way she soaks up my strength, leaning into me with a desperate, unspoken need to be held tight.
It’s an intimacy that hits me harder than any physical connection ever could.
We’ve shared sweat and skin, but this—this quiet, trembling surrender—is a different kind of claiming.
She’s not just giving me her body; she’s handing over the frayed edges of her past, the fears she’s kept under lock and key, and the heavy, secret weight of her loneliness.
To hold that for her, to be the one place where she can finally stop keeping herself together, is both a terrifying responsibility and the most beautiful thing I’ve ever known.
I realize now that this is what I was actually starving for during all those years in the dark.
It wasn’t just physical release; it was this raw, exposed vulnerability.
I tighten my grip, silently promising her that as long as I have breath in my lungs, she will never have to be alone with her shadows again.
“I get it,” I say, my voice raspy. “The military gave me a purpose, but it also stripped everything else away. When I came home, I was a ghost.” I’ve never told anyone that before.
Hell, I’ve never really articulated that feeling to myself.
“I’ve walked through this life for years feeling like a machine without a mission.
I didn’t realize how bone-deep my loneliness was until I saw you through my screen. ”
Rya stiffens suddenly, her eyes darting to the laptop on the nightstand. “Wait… you saw me? Through the camera?” Panic flickers in her gaze, her breathing turning shallow. “You were watching me?”
I sit up, bringing her with me. “It was the mission, Rya. We found the list, and your name was on it. I had to verify the target, to make sure you were safe. But the second your image hit my screen, the mission changed. It wasn’t about protocol anymore.
It was about you. I fell for you before I even knew the sound of your voice. ”
She looks at me, the panic slowly subsiding as she searches my face for the truth. She sees it there; the obsession, the devotion, the raw honesty. “You fell for me? As in…?”
“As in I’m so obsessed with you, it scares me sometimes,” I tell her, never breaking eye contact. “You’re everything, Rya. Brilliant, radiant, adorable, sexy as hell, brave, and a nerd.”
“Nerd?” she repeats, lifting a playful eyebrow.
“Not as big of a nerd as me, but we’ll work up to that.” There’s an honest to God grin on my lips, and I swear I somehow feel a twinkle in my eye.
“This is all… fast,” she says, a small, shaky smile touching her lips. “It’s crazy fast, Miller.”
“I don’t care about the clock,” I growl, cupping her face. “I’m not going anywhere.”
She leans into my palm, her eyes shimmering. "I… I love you, Miller," she whispers. “I’m sorry if that’s too much…” The words are soft, but they hit me harder than any bullet ever has.
Her confession hangs in the air, thick and terrifyingly real, freezing the very marrow in my bones.
I’m still cupping her face, my thumbs tracing slow, deliberate circles over her cheekbones, and for a heartbeat, the rest of the world—the threat outside, the Syndicate, the mission—simply ceases to exist. There is only the shimmer in her eyes and the truth she just laid at my feet.
"Don't ever apologize for that," I growl, but there’s no malice in it, only a raw, desperate reverence. I need to be sure she knows what she’s doing. I pull her flush against me, my arms winding around her waist until we’re locked together, a single, solid unit.
"I love you, too, Rya. So fucking much. That word? Love? That’s the only thing that makes any of this make sense.
You think I’m protecting you? Rya, you’re the only reason I’m still standing.
You’re my North Star, my sanity, everything. "
I tilt my head and kiss her, pouring every ounce of the obsession I’ve been fighting to contain into the movement.
It’s slow, deep, and utterly possessive, a silent, binding vow etched into her skin.
I guide us to lie down, and I lean over her, my body a heavy, solid weight of comfort shielding her from the cold reality of the night outside.
She snuggles into me, inhaling my scent as she clutches me like a lifeline. The frantic energy that has been clawing at her throat all day begins to dissolve under the steady, rhythmic thrum of my heartbeat against her ear.
"Stay," she murmurs, her voice thick with the weight of exhaustion.
"I’m not going anywhere," I breathe into her hair, my hand splayed firmly across her back, pulling her even closer until there isn't a sliver of space left between us.
I don't close my eyes right away. I lie there, watching the way her breathing evens out as she drifts off. She’s finally safe, and I am exactly where I need to be. For the first time in my life, I don't need a mission to define me; I have her, and that’s more than enough.