Chapter 104 The Tension Beneath the Calm
Jolie pov
"As long as it takes." Ryder kisses my forehead. "And I'll be here every step of the way, reminding you when you forget."
"Promise?" My voice is small.
"Promise." He pulls me back against his chest. "Now rest. Actual rest, not just lying here worrying about everything."
"I don't know if I can." The anxiety is still humming under my skin. "My brain won't shut off."
"Then let me help." Ryder starts running his fingers through my hair, the gentle repetitive motion soothing. "Close your eyes. Focus on breathing and let everything else go."
I try to follow his instructions, focusing on the rhythm of his heartbeat, the warmth of his body, and the safety of his arms.
Slowly, the anxiety begins to fade. The light around me stabilizes, glowing softly instead of flickering erratically.
"That's it." Ryder's voice is low and soothing. "Just rest, baby. I've got you."
Ryder’s fingers keep combing through my hair, slow and steady, but the calm he’s trying to give me twists into something hotter, heavier. My skin is too tight, my pulse too loud between my legs. I shift against him, thighs brushing the hard line of his cock through his jeans, and a small, needy sound escapes me before I can stop it.
His hand stills. “Jolie…”
“I don’t want to sleep yet,” I whisper against his throat. My lips graze the stubble there, tasting him. “I need you. Need to feel you inside me. Need to know I’m still yours even when I’m falling apart.”
He pulls back just far enough to search my face. His amber eyes are almost black with want, but there’s worry there too. “You’re exhausted baby. You’ve been carrying the whole damn world on your shoulders. I don’t want to take anything you’re not ready to give.”
I slide my palms up under his shirt, nails dragging over the ridges of his stomach. He sucks in a sharp breath.
“You’re not taking,” I say, voice shaking but sure. “I’m asking. Please, Ryder.”
The last word breaks on a gasp because he’s already moving, rolling us so I’m under him, his big body caging mine without crushing me. His mouth crashes into mine, hungry and reverent all at once. He kisses me like he’s starving, tongue stroking deep, teeth nipping my lower lip until I’m writhing.
Clothes disappear in frantic pulls—his hits the floor, my hoodie and tank top gone in one motion, bra yanked away. He groans when my breasts spill free, palms cupping them roughly, thumbs rolling my nipples until they’re tight aching peaks. I arch into his hands, legs spreading on instinct so he can settle between them.
He drags his mouth down my throat, teeth scraping over the claiming mark he gave me months ago. The scar sings under his tongue, sending sparks straight to my clit. Lower—he sucks one nipple into his mouth, hard, then the other, until I’m panting his name.
“Ryder… please…”
He keeps going, kissing a hot path down my stomach, hands hooking in my leggings and panties, peeling them off together. Cool air hits my soaked folds and I whimper. He spreads my thighs wide, thumbs parting me, and just looks—like he’s memorizing me.
“So fucking beautiful,” he mutters,“My perfect Luna.”
Then his mouth is on me.
One long, slow lick from entrance to clit and my hips jerk off the bed. He pins me down with a forearm across my hips and does it again, tongue flat and relentless. He circles my clit, flicks, then sucks my clit gently, perfectly, until I’m sobbing his name, fingers twisted in his hair.
Two thick fingers push inside me without warning, curling, stroking that spot that makes my vision white out. He pumps them slow and deep while his tongue keeps working my clit, steady, merciless. My thighs tremble around his head. I’m close—so close. He pulls off just as I’m tipping over the edge, and I cry out in frustration.
“Not yet,” he growls, crawling back up my body. His jeans are gone—I didn’t even notice him shoving them down. His cock is heavy against my thigh, hot and hard and already leaking. He rubs the head through my folds, coating himself, teasing my clit until I’m begging.
“Please, Ryder… need you inside me… please…”
He lines up and pushes in with one long, slow thrust.
We both groan. He’s big—always so big—but I’m so wet he slides home in one stroke, stretching me perfectly, filling me completely.
He stills, buried to the hilt, forehead pressed to mine, breathing hard. “Fuck, Jolie… you feel like heaven.”
I wrap my legs around his waist, heels digging into his ass. “Move.”
He does—pulling out slow, slamming back in hard. The bedframe slams against the wall with every thrust. His hand slides between us, thumb finding my clit, rubbing tight circles in time with his hips.
I come undone fast and hard, clenching around him, crying out into his mouth as he swallows every sound. The pleasure is blinding, endless.
He keeps moving through it, drawing it out until I’m shaking, oversensitive, clinging to him.
He flips us without pulling out so I’m on top, hands gripping my hips hard enough to bruise. I brace my palms on his chest and ride him deep, grinding slow. His head falls back, throat working, a low growl rumbling through him. “That’s it, baby. Take what you need. Use me.”
I do—rolling my hips, riding him hard, chasing that second peak. He thrusts up to meet me, hitting so deep I see stars. His thumb finds my clit again and I’m gone—coming a second time, harder than the first, my inner walls pulsing around his cock.
He follows right after, flipping us again, driving into me once, twice, then burying himself deep and spilling hot inside me with a broken groan of my name. I feel every pulse, every jet, as he fills me up.
We collapse together, sweaty and breathless. He stays inside me, softening slowly, arms wrapped tight around my back like he’ll never let go. I’m trembling—not from fear this time, but from being utterly, completely claimed.
He presses soft kisses to my temple, my cheek, my lips.
“I love you,” he whispers against my skin. “Not because you ended a war. Not because you’re divine or powerful or anything else. I love you because you’re Jolie. My Jolie. And you are always, always enough.”
The words settle into every cracked, scared place inside me, as sleep pulls me under.