Page 12 of Code Mages & Empty Pages (Frostfire #2)

Dawn

L uc rotated us so that I rested comfortably on his chest as we waited for his knot to soften. Every now and then my body trembled with aftershocks and sweat cooled on my skin as he ran his hand lazily up and down my spine.

He made it dangerously easy to forget this was just a physical arrangement.

And it’s just been the first night.

We were “colleagues with benefits,” nothing more. Still, in the safety of his arms, I let myself drift, floating on a high I hadn’t felt in years.

Inevitably, morning came and with it aggressive reality. The drive to work was stiff and quiet. Both of us were a little too careful with each other.

At our desks, we fell back into work mode, acting like nothing had changed. Luc was polite and a little distant. It stung more than I wanted to admit. I kept my focus glued to my screen and told myself this was exactly how it should be.

It was just sex. Great sex, but only physical. No feelings allowed, Dawn. You promised.

The morning passed in a blur of awkward small talk and forced normalcy.

We were professional around each other, but I couldn’t help feeling like everyone saw through us.

Every time he brushed past me, my body reacted, and when his voice dropped low in a meeting, I wanted to squirm on my chair.

It reminded me of how he’d sounded when he’d been knot deep inside me.

He watched me, though, like an apex predator stalking his prey.

Just when I thought I was getting a grip on myself, Luc messaged me in a private window on our company chat.

Luc: I have an urgent errand to run in the server room during our lunch break.

Luc: Care to help me finish faster?

I inhaled a sip of my coffee. I had only just remembered about it, and now it was stone cold.

Dawn: omg I almost choked, Luc

I glanced over at him; he fucking smirked at the screen.

Luc: And we didn’t even make it into the server room yet

Dawn: Won’t anyone notice?

Luc: Nope. Des and Mia leave at noon. It’s going to be only the two of us for the rest of the day.

Luc: Besides, we deserve a lunch break

Luc: And nobody has clearance but me and Carson, and a little bird told me he isn’t in today either

Dawn: Lucien Atkins, I am amazed

Luc: And in? ;-)

Dawn: And in…

Luc: I’ll go ahead, okay?

Dawn: Okay. Want anything from Froth?

I needed more caffeine to settle my nerves.

Luc: Can I come with you?

I suppressed a smile.

Dawn: Oh yeah, absolutely, Comte

He snorted, grabbed his wallet, and got up. Desmond motioned at his headset when Luc approached. He was on a call but wrote his order on a sticky note.

“Are you sure you want to take the lift?” I asked when he pressed the button on the wall.

Luc entered ahead of me, waited for the doors to slide shut behind us, and then caged me against the wall.

“Oh yeah, Roe,” he whispered in my ear. “At least this time we’d have something to do if we got stuck again.” He kissed me long and hard right up until we arrived on the fourth floor and the doors opened again. “Come on.”

I followed him on wobbly knees.

A cool breeze greeted us as we stepped out on the rooftop terrace. It cleared my head, at least a bit.

Goodness, Comte, what are you doing to me?

Haldan had the morning shift today. He greeted us in his barely noticeable Scandinavian lilt. I’d looked his kind up on Kraken because he intrigued me and found out he was a Frost Giant. I’d considered making my MMC into one, but in the end, I’d gone back to my original idea with the Dragon.

I’d been able to adjust my spreadsheet by over two thousand words this morning.

My brain had itched with the need to write when I’d woken up, and my fingers hadn’t been able to keep up with the speed of my thoughts again.

I’d resorted to dictating in my bed in a low voice.

The world building and meet-cute had just flown out of me and onto the little screen.

“Hey, Haldan, how are you?” The tall, good-looking man gave me a charming smile.

“Great, thank you, Dawn. What about you?”

“Oh, I’m grand, thanks.” I returned his smile, perhaps a little too teasing. It was so hard to turn off and sometimes, when it made people uncomfortable, I wanted to kick myself for my naturally flirty character.

Luc grumbled something under his breath. I didn’t quite catch exactly what he said but I could have sworn it was something along the lines of “The server room is waiting.”

“Hello. Can I get the Flat Whiteout and a Blizzard Buzz. Are you having the Snow Day Latte, Roe?”

Oh, Comte, look at you pissing on the cafe floor to mark me as your territory.

I tried hard not to let my amusement show.

“Yeah,” I confirmed and bit my lip so I wouldn’t smile like a lovesick teenager.

“What was that about?” I asked him when we stepped back into the lift.

Luc carried his Flat Whiteout and the Blizzard Buzz for Desmond.

They had gone all out on the wintery theme, which was a little odd for a rooftop terrace, especially now that summer was on our doorstep.

It fit the generally weird vibe of Frostfire, though. I found it charming.

“What do you mean?” He asked me with one furry eyebrow raised.

“Luc, you basically pissed on the doormat up there.” I inched my head at the lift ceiling to indicate I meant the café.

“I didn’t piss…Moon Goddess. What?”

I knew it was the deity Lupinians worshipped, but I absolutely loved it and pretended it was him calling me a goddess.

“You wanted to mark me as your territory because I flirted with Haldan a bit, didn’t you?

” I asked slyly. Before Luc could answer, the doors slid open.

I turned around, confused, because the lift always took ages to get from the fourth floor down to the basement and my inner clock—shoddy as it was thanks to my time blindness—noted that it had been too short a ride.

Sure enough, a hulking figure stood outside the lift, waiting on the posh, expensive navy blue carpet of the third floor. Carson wanted only the best for our realtors, and the best meant carpet in the colour of his skin.

“Hello,” rumbled the Gargoyle, his voice like granite grinding on granite. “Room for one more in there?”

I recognised him. Alaric Dunmere, “The Closer,” was legendary for never letting a deal slip through his talons.

I smiled up at him. “Sure.” I couldn’t help but wonder if the three of us would push the poor lift over its weight limit, though.

Guess we’ll find out.

Luc gripped the handrail and leaned his backside against the wall, caging me into a corner.

Is this foreplay, Mr Atkins?

The Gargoyle pressed the button for the ground floor and went back to his phone call.

“I remember putting the event in my calendar. Where did it go? This is the third appointment in three weeks I’m missing.

It cost me the deal!” he barked at whoever was on the other line, then listened to what they had to say.

“I know it’s not your fault. I apologise for lashing out.

This is so frustrating! I was able to reschedule the appointment today; McHale agreed to meet me tomorrow.

” Dunmere heaved a sigh. “I had to break out my old paper calendar. What’s the point of all of us having a shared calendar, then, Megan, if we can’t see the appointments? ”

The lift door opened on the ground floor. Dunmere gave us a curt nod over his shoulder and left.

“Can you hold this for a second?” Luc handed me Desmond’s coffee, pulled out his sleek silver phone, and typed something on it.

“I’ll see you when Desmond’s gone?” he murmured right before the door slid open for us and took the coffee back.

“Okay,” I muttered, then sat down at my desk and tried to pretend I wasn’t sick with nerves.

If anyone caught us fucking in the server room, we’d both lose our jobs.

“Shit,” I whisper-hissed as Luc checked the hallway outside before he carefully locked the server room door behind us. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”

He leaned his forearm against the metal doors, caging me between his body and the warm server racks. Then he smirked down at me.

Luc hummed and dropped his mouth to my ear, like he had done in the lift. “Twenty crowns you will beg for my knot within five minutes?”

“Cunt,” I huffed, less so because I was offended by his words, and more so because I knew he was right.

His knot was addictive .

He licked my neck with his rough tongue, then dragged my dress up.

“Fucking hell, Roe!” Luc whimpered softly under his breath when he realised that I wore nothing under the modest yellow summer dress. I’d taken my knickers off in the bathroom a couple of minutes ago. I didn’t want to ruin them.

His hand headed straight for my core, and he sank two thick fingers inside me. My knees buckled when Luc curled them against the front of my cunt to stroke my g-spot.

“Kiss me!” I demanded. He obeyed without a moment’s hesitation. His tongue invaded my mouth, and he pressed harder into me. Luc fumbled with his trousers and groaned when he freed his cock.

Then he lifted me up so he could slide into my slick, swollen centre.

“Luc!” I gasped, urging my hips down to get him deeper.

“Please, Luc!” I needed him to fill me.

“No need to beg, Roe.” He gave me a slow, teasing kiss, pulled out half an inch and parted my clenching flesh with his thick knot.

A shiver racked my body when gentle fingers dipped between my arse cheeks.

“Okay?” he murmured.

“Yes!”

He nodded and bucked his hips so his knot massaged me from the inside out while his finger circled my hole. He didn’t try to press in, but his touch sent sparks through my body.

“Oh, fuuuck, Roe! You feel so good.” He thrust harder. “I need to be careful not to come. You’re making it so hard!”

“You, too,” I gasped. “I’m so close, baby.”

Luc yipped when I addressed him thus. Then he sped up some more and I fell. I convulsed around him in a silent but mind-numbingly powerful orgasm.

“Oh, shit!” He only just pulled out and came all over my still contracting core. “Fuck, I’m sorry.” Luc panted and sank into my arms. His heart hammered frantically against mine. “Knotting at work isn’t a great idea and I thought—“

“That was so hot, Comte,” I breathed.

“I’m glad you liked it, Roe. Even though I talked you into it.”

We both giggled before we kissed each other again.

“Sorry for being a territorial ass earlier. It’s more difficult to keep my stupid animal at bay when I’m in rut,” he explained and hugged me closer.

For someone who had proposed a no-strings-attached deal, he was very considerate. And a little—maybe a lot?—over the top.

Not complaining, though.

I wasn’t sure I was made for sex without feelings, but I supposed I had to learn how to deal with it if Luc decided one day our deal was off.