Chapter 109: Morning Briefing
Ryan woke and for the first time it wasn’t to the aggressive blare of a digital alarm, but to a slow, consuming heat.
The heavy silk sheets of Zara’s king-sized bed were pushed down to his knees. The penthouse bedroom was bathed in the pale, slate-grey light of early morning filtering through the sheer curtains.
He didn’t open his eyes immediately. He lay flat on his back, his healing ribs protesting the slight shift in his posture, and let his sensory awareness map the room.
A warm, wet friction dragged along the length of his shaft.
Ryan inhaled sharply through his nose, his abdominal muscles locking tight.
The slow, agonizingly slick pull reversed, sliding down to the base before sinking back over the heavy, throbbing ridge.
He opened his eyes.
Zara was kneeling between his spread legs. Her silver hair cascaded over her shoulders in a wild, unbrushed curtain, hiding her face as she worked.
She wasn’t rushing.
She was taking him with a slow, worshipful devotion, her head bobbing in a steady, unbroken rhythm. Her hands rested lightly on his thighs, her thumbs tracing against his skin.
He watched the smooth line of her throat swallow, drinking him down.
The sheer, overwhelming reality of it - sent a violent spike of heat straight to his core.
He reached down, his fingers tangling in the heavy silk of her hair.
Zara let out a soft, muffled hum against his skin, pushing herself deeper, leaning into his grip.
A harsh, sustained vibration rattled against the polished mahogany nightstand.
Ryan’s eyes flicked to the side. His primary phone was vibrating across the wood, the screen lighting up the shadowed corner of the room. He reached over, grabbing the device.
The lock screen was a waterfall of red notifications. Seven missed calls. Four text messages. All from Sophie.
The phone vibrated again in his palm.
Incoming Call: Sophie.
Ryan didn’t hesitate. He swiped his thumb across the glass, accepting the call, and brought the phone to his ear.
"Russo," he answered, his voice a low, gravelly rasp that scraped the sleep from his throat.
Beneath him, Zara’s dark eyes flicked upward. She saw the phone pressed to his ear. A wicked, hungry spark ignited behind her dark lashes.
She didn’t pull away. Instead, she tightened her lips, swirling her tongue around the sensitive frenulum, and picked up her pace.
"Ryan," Sophie’s voice came through the speaker, tight and frayed with a frantic, vibrating stress. "Thank god. I’ve been calling for an hour. Where are you?"
"I’m fine," Ryan said, his hips bucking upward by a fraction of an inch as Zara sucked hard on the upstroke. He forced his breathing to remain entirely level. "What’s the status?"
"The status is that I woke up to an encrypted message telling me to buy a private military contractor," Sophie hissed, the sound of rapid, furious typing echoing in the background. "Ryan. Ex-military? PMCs? We build enterprise software last I checked. We don’t hire armed mercenaries. What the hell is going on? Your request reads like we are under immediate, lethal threat."
"We are managing liabilities," Ryan corrected smoothly.
Zara’s hands slid from his thighs to his hips, her nails dragging lightly against his skin.
She took him all the way to the back of her throat, her nose brushing against his stomach.
The wet, slick sound of her mouth echoed in the quiet bedroom. Ryan bit the inside of his cheek, staring fiercely at the ceiling plaster.
"Managing liabilities?" Sophie repeated, her voice pitching an octave higher. "Ryan, you drained millions of dollars into infrastructure few days ago, and now you want an army. You vanished into the city at night and you aren’t at your apartment. Tell me we aren’t in danger."
"I am insulating the company, Sophie," Ryan said. His free hand tightened in Zara’s hair, holding her steady as a massive, pulsing wave of pleasure rolled through his pelvis. "I need an impenetrable perimeter around the forty-second floor. I need executive protection. I told you I was acquiring leverage. This is the perimeter that protects it."
A heavy silence fell over the line, broken only by the sharp clicks of Sophie’s keyboard.
"Are we safe?" she finally whispered, the fierce, unyielding corporate mask slipping to reveal the very real fear underneath.
"You always will be, I’ll make sure of it," Ryan promised, his voice dropping into absolute, immovable authority. "I handle the threats. You handle the logistics. Just get it done."
Sophie exhaled a long, shaky breath. "I’m already making the preparations. I found a firm operating out of D.C. Tier-one clearance. Mostly former Rangers and JSOC operators. They run corporate security for defense contractors. It’s going to cost a fortune to put them on an indefinite retainer."
"Pay it," Ryan ordered, his toes curling against the mattress as Zara’s tongue lashed aggressively over the tip of his cock. "I want them stationed at the lobby, the elevators, and the server room by tomorrow morning. Anyone who doesn’t have a badge doesn’t breathe our air."
"I’ll wire the escrow," Sophie said, her professional armor snapping back into place. "Be careful, boss."
"I always am. Keep the team focused."
Ryan ended the call. He tossed the phone back onto the nightstand.
He looked down.
Zara pulled off him slowly, a wet pop echoing in the quiet room. Her lips were shiny, her cheeks flushed a deep, beautiful pink.
She wiped the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, looking up at him through the tangled curtain of her hair.
"You conduct business very well under pressure," she murmured, a breathless, teasing edge to her voice.
"You’re a lethal distraction," Ryan replied. He reached down, gripping her under the arms, and hauled her up the length of the bed.
She crawled over his chest, her bare skin hot against his. She straddled his hips, resting her weight against his bruised ribs, but the pain was entirely eclipsed by the raw, buzzing chemistry sparking between them.
"Guns, Ryan?" Zara asked softly, her fingers tracing the heavy muscles of his chest. The playful energy faded, replaced by a deep, searching intensity. "Private military? Who are you fighting?"
Ryan looked up into her eyes. He saw the trust there. The absolute, terrifying surrender. She had opened her home to him when he came knocking at four in the morning smelling like ash and smoke.
"There are predators in the water," Ryan said quietly, his hands sliding down to grip the smooth curve of her hips. "They look for anomalies. Things that grow too fast. They think they can bleed me dry and take what I’ve built."
He pulled her down, pressing his lips to the pulse fluttering at the base of her throat.
"But they miscalculated," he whispered against her skin. "I’m not prey."
Zara shivered, her hands burying into the hair at the nape of his neck. "You’re sure you’ll be fine?"
Ryan pulled back just enough to hold her gaze. "They have to be smarter than me to get to me and no one’s done it successfully. "
His eyes locked with hers "And now, You’re a thousand and one reasons why I can’t lose."
Her breath hitched. The walls she had spent a decade building around her heart crumbled into dust. She didn’t want to be untouchable anymore. She just wanted to be his.
"Then let me take care of you," Zara breathed, her eyes dark and heavy with raw, unfiltered lust.
Ryan’s hands tightened on her hips. A slow, predatory smile curved his mouth.
"I have a better idea," he said.