Chapter Eleven

Mila

My mom and Saylor stay a few more days, much to Reed's dismay. His space has been taken over, yet he handles it well. Matt, Silas and Ciaran head back to Minnesota with some of the intel Reed has been looking at on another possible case. This one is just about as seedy as the one I'm keeping my eye on. When the girls do finally leave, my mom hugs me close and gives me her blessing, telling me to find my wings and soar. Only once the commotion dies down does it finally hit me that we did it. I made it here; Reed is with me, and together, we're going to keep Rogue safe.

The autumn night in Arizona cools off when the sun goes down and for the first time today I reach for a sweatshirt to pull on. Reed is working in his shop when I slide on my shoes and make my way out there. The sky is still shades of blue and purple and dotted with stars. The beacon light to where Reed is hiding out calls to me, and with a smile on my lips, I enter his building. The hand scanner reads my palm and the door pops open. No one would ever guess the fortress he has out here. Anyone driving up the driveway would think it looks like an old, abandoned barn next to the house. I take the steel staircase down to the underground space and go through one more door. It seals behind me with a hissing noise.

"Are you ready for me to make the steaks?" Reed calmly asks from where he's watching footage on a large screen, his hand on the joystick controlling the drone.

I shrug. "It can wait if you're close."

He glances away from the screen and right at me. I can feel his gaze travel over my entire body from my feet to my hair. Heat follows in its wake, and I shiver from the sensation. "Are you hungry?"

My lips tilt up in a smile. He wants to take care of me even though he's working on something huge. "I can wait until you're done."

Reed doesn't answer and focuses back on the screen. With a little laugh, I turn to leave the shop and make my way upstairs. The sky is finally pitch black once I head back to the house. I don't make it more than a few steps though before Reed's strong arms band around my waist, startling me.

"What are you doing? Don't you have more work to do?"

He shrugs and places a kiss on the back of my head. "It can wait until tonight. You're hungry and I have to eat too."

My cheeks ache from smiling so wide. I can feel happiness squeeze my heart in my chest. "I'll finish up the salad while you grill. We can eat quickly so you can get back out there."

Reed takes my hand the rest of the way to the house and holds the door for me to head inside. Our routine for dinner makes me feel domestic and normal. This is what I've always wanted with him. We eat and he tells me about what he's working on. I help him strategize his next move. I love watching the flush that creeps up his neck and to his cheeks whenever I talk about electronics or surprise him with some new information on a case he's working on. It's like he finds my geek mind sexy and it does it for him.

Once the food is gone, Reed stands like he's ready to leave, but instead, I'm hauled up over his shoulder and brought upstairs to our room. Reed kicks the door shut behind him then sets me on my feet. My head spins when the blood rushes back up and I clutch him close to me. Reed's lips are on mine in the next second, feasting on my mouth like it's the dessert we skipped out on.

Air slips between my lips, only when he breaks away to lift my t-shirt off over my head. Our hands are frantic to see who can get the other's skin bared first. I need to feel him pressed against me. I moan out loud when his chest touches mine as he scoops me in his arms before we fall to the bed.

Reed kisses my lips once more before sliding his way down my body, strategically placing kisses on all the places he knows are sensitive. He sits up and our eyes meet.

"I'll never get over how perfect you are."

My body shudders and my cheeks ting pink. I can't help the small snort that escapes my lips. "Hardly. Did you forget about the bullet-shaped scars on my skin?"

Reed's hand curls around my calf and he raises my leg in the air, placing a kiss close to his fingers on the inside of my knee, before reaching my inner thigh. He ever takes his eyes off mine. I feel my own gaze turning heavy, my body feeding off of his attention and the way he devours me. "I'll never forget, Mila. They're part of what make you even more beautiful than you already were."

My words get stuck in my throat, bogged down by the emotions this man brings out in me. He places a kiss on my hip bone and my head falls back when he strokes my skin with his tongue until he reaches the top of my slit. I gasp at the teasing little flick he gives it, my hand instantly moving to his head, my fingers desperate to hold onto the short strands. He chuckles to himself softly before his tongue slips inside and strokes firmly against my clit. I arch my body into his tongue as he licks me, flicking and sucking my clit. A moan spills from my lips when Reed pushes the tip of one finger into my core, and then another.

My inner walls squeeze his fingers and I feel him hum in approval. "My doll is so good and responsive."

My legs shake around him and I tilt my hips up, seeking more. Reed wraps my thighs firmly around his shoulder. "That's it, Doll, I want you to come for me so bad."

Fire burns through my veins and I'm shoved into my climax, my body and my heart exploding at the same time when it hits. "Holy shit," I gasp and my nails dig into Reed's hair. He groans in response, kissing my sex until my body relaxes again, sated.

Reed gets on his knees, his lips wet from my orgasm. His hands find my sides and he moves my body until my chest hits the cool sheets and my hips are tilted up for him. I feel his cock start to push inside me and pleasure floods my body once more. The skin on my back feels as if flames are dancing across my skin.

"Mila, you're so hot and tight around me. Your pussy is like heaven, Doll."

Reed's words are thick with lust. He pumps deeper into me over and over, while one of his hands slides around us, his fingers brushing over my clit. I gasp into the sheets, my fingers digging into the soft, familiar fabric.

"You take me so well. I think you're made for me."

"Yes," I answer, knowing in my bones that I was meant for Reed, just as he is meant for me. He grunts, pushing himself deeper and harder with every thrust. I tilt my hips back, meeting him, taking him all the way in.

One of Reed's hands finds my hip and the other squeezes my neck. He pulls my body up, until my back arches against his chest. Both of his arms wrap around me, his fingers squeezing my breasts, my neck, strumming my clit. He's everywhere, overloading my senses.

"Open your eyes, Doll."

I'm not even sure when they closed, but as his command, they flutter open, taking in the pictures on his wall. I never asked Reed to take them down. Part of me likes knowing he had a shrine dedicated to me, his obsession. Only now that I'm looking, I start to notice these pictures are new. The material is glossier than the others, there isn't grain or smudges on them. I recognize the background of Reed's living room, the shop, and even of my sleeping profile as I lie against the door of his car. He hasn't stopped photographing me since I arrived.

"Reed." I manage to gasp his name right as his hips snap forward, hard and deep, stealing my breath and my words.

"You're always everywhere," he growls. "You're in my space, in my head, and under my skin."

"I'm not sorry," I pant, feeling my legs shake from holding up my body while Reed slams into me. The telltale signs of another orgasm building low in my stomach.

"Don't want you to be sorry, Doll." Reed kisses my neck, his teeth sliding along the sensitive skin. "I want you to grip my cock with this tight pussy and promise you're never leaving."

My heart stutters and stops in my chest. There's a ringing in my ears, and words I can't ever unhear. It's all I've wanted. I can hear the underlying worry in his voice though too. "Never. I'm never leaving."

Reed presses his forehead to my shoulder. His hand reaches down again, his fingers rubbing my clit fast then slow while thrusting his cock forcefully and pushing me toward the edge. My body tightens around him, drawing a groan from deep in Reed's chest, as I come faster and harder than the last time, crying out as I do. Spots dance in my vision, my eyes glued to the images in front of me, my skin memorizing the way Reed's feels against mine, the way his arms tighten as he comes as well.

Reed catches my body with one hand and his other presses into the mattress. He lowers us down and pulls me into his side.

"Are you always going to take pictures of me?"

He nods, and I watch while he swallows, his eyes dropping down to meet mine. "You're my favorite subject. Of course I'm going to."

A giggle escapes me. "Let's just take them down before my family visits again. Or just not let them see the room."

Reed huffs. "Why do you think I kept it locked last time."

I laugh and Reed relaxes around me. His words play on repeat in my mind. I can hear the sharpness of them and also the fear. "Are you scared I'll leave you, Reed?"

He stills and I panic thinking maybe I crossed a line that he had drawn. "No one has ever stayed."

My heart breaks silently in my chest and I will the tears that spring to my eyes not to fall. I turn in his arms, and my hands clasp his face. "Your parents would have stayed if they could have. I know it. It's unfair what happened to them. You have us, you have Rogue. We're all here for you, Reed. I'm not leaving. I love you so much."

His lips part and his eyes widen. I wonder if anyone has ever told Reed this before. That he is cared about, that he does matter. He carries the Rogue world on his shoulders and has never asked for anything. He gives his loyalty to the organization that saved him while burying his deepest fear.

"What I feel for you, Mila, is more than love. It's more than an obsession. I can't say the words, I don't know what they mean, but I would die for you."

I nod and place a kiss against his lips. Reed's arms hold me tight and before long, my eyes start to close. Before I slip into sleep, I hear his voice whisper, "I would kill for you too."