Page 19 of Code Mages & Empty Pages (Frostfire #2)

Dawn

L uc spent most of the day poring over his keyboard with that expression on his face that I’d come to associate with him fixing a stubborn bug.

“Hey,” I whispered in his direction after three hours of him sitting, unmoving, at his desk. “I’m gonna go. I just…”

“Yeah, okay,” he told his screen. I rolled my eyes but didn’t say any more.

He didn’t even realise that I’d gone up to Froth I barely made it back to my desk on weak knees.

Morgan would never have said anything like that to me, let alone kissed me at his workplace.

Weird.

I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d thought about him before today. I guessed my brain knew I’d traded up. One day you thought you’d never be happy again, and the next a hot Wolfman proved you wrong with every kiss.

To my surprise and, somehow, utter enjoyment, there was another paper jam in the HR department on the second floor.

I’d begun to support Desmond a bit by doing the easy jobs around the office.

I mean, a five-year-old could deal with a paper jam or a stubborn MFU.

Although, I didn’t say that too loud after Samuel Carson had called quite frantically the other day and begged me to send someone up ASAP because Mia, who’d had an appointment with Desmond, hadn’t been in the office, and he hadn’t got the printer to work the way he wanted.

Because Desmond was out, it had fallen to me or Luc to fix it.

But Luc had more important things to do than dig stuck paper out of a printer.

So, I’d suggested I handle it, and both men had been thrilled at my suggestion.

“I’ll be back in a bit, Code Mage,” I called over.

Usually, I tried not to pull Luc out of his flow too much.

Having ADHD myself, I knew how shitty it was to be yanked out of hyperfocus.

He had assured me he didn’t mind when I did it.

It made me feel very special, but I still tried not to abuse the all-clear he’d given me.

“See you in a bit.” I bit my lip as I looked over at him.

God, I wish I could drag him into the server room and get on my knees for him.

I had no idea why we’d pretty much ignored oral sex at the beginning of our relationship.

Perhaps it had felt too intimate to both of us, but now that we’d indulged in it?

It was difficult not to think about how fucking good he looked with his boxers down around his ankles and his dark red cock standing proud at eye level or the noises he made when I gently squeezed the thick, swollen knot at the base.

Luc stood up suddenly from his desk and stalked over to where I stood, frozen on the spot like a deer in the headlights. He’d got up so forcefully that his chair bumped into the wall, and he sported a dangerous expression. He cupped my chin and tilted my face up.

“If you tell me that you’ve only thought about kissing me just now, I will lose my shit, Roe.”

I exhaled a shaky breath. “No, I didn’t think about kissing you.

I wish I could drag you into the server room with me right now.

I just thought about how delectable you look when I’m kneeling for you, how it turns me on when you tower over me, and how much I love sucking your cock.

” I admitted in barely a whisper, because I knew he could still hear me.

He could probably hear me clench, for God’s sake.

“Fuck, Roe. I will eat you until you scream when we get home tonight,” he said in a low, dangerous snarl. “And then I’ll keep going until you fall apart under my tongue, and even then, I won’t rest until I’ve made you come so often you forget your name.”

“I think I already forgot it,” I said.

Luc didn’t laugh, but a predatory, wolfish grin stretched his muzzle. It wasn’t quite a smile. It was more a leer, as if he was about to eat me for real. “I wish you could see yourself. How good you look on your knees for me. You have no idea. Or how much I want you. I’m at your mercy, Roe.”

Before he could finish, the faint ping of the lift at the far end of the basement forced us apart.

“Shit, Desmond’s coming back. I’ll go deal with that paper jam now, okay?” I said. “See you later, Luc.”

I tried to make my voice sound steady, even though my insides were in turmoil. What had he just been about to say? That he wants me forever? I managed to pull myself together by the time I arrived in the HR department.

“Oh, Miss Kent, hi.” The woman called Jeanette MacLeish, who I knew from having my badge made on the first day, greeted me. She wrung her hands quite frantically.

“We’ve been desperate for one of IT to come help us.” She was a bit older and sluggish, which was way too slow for my brain, so I had already tapped in before she finished speaking.

I smiled at her. “Um, is it the MFU in your tea kitchen?” I asked.

“No, it’s, it’s the printer in my office.”

“Let’s go fix it, okay?” I said in what I hoped was a chipper, customer service voice.

It would be easy, I guessed. Much like 95 percent of all the paper jams that came up. Yet somehow they posed a huge obstacle to most people who worked for Frostfire.

“Ah, Miss Kent.” I turned around and saw the Gargoyle Luc and I had shared a lift with a couple of days ago.

“Oh, Mr Dunmere, hello, it’s nice to see you.”

“It’s lovely to see you too.” I hadn’t even known that he knew my name, let alone that he recognised me. He had to be a lot more perceptive than I thought.

Then I remembered that Samuel Carson had sent a newsletter to everyone with Luc’s and my picture about the team building exercise at the shelter for the entire company.

Okay, at least not all of them hate us now.

Alaric Dunmere smiled down at me. He was intimidating as fuck. Tall, with black skin like polished obsidian, golden eyes, and the deepest voice I had ever heard. It was like a rockslide in the mountains.

“I really enjoyed the event at the shelter. As far as I understand, you and Mr Atkins put Perky up to it.”

I admired the man for being able to use Carson’s husband’s name without even cracking a smile. It sounded genuine, too.

“Uh, I don’t know,” I hedged. I’m fully aware of the nosy woman from HR listening in. “Luc and I adopted a Cat-sìth together, and we ran into Mr Carson when we had a check-up appointment for Ruffles to get his shots. And one thing led to another.”

Alaric Dunmere tipped up one corner of his weirdly plush lips. “Oh, I see. Good ole Perky. It was funny though. I fell in love with one of the Fire Worms they had, and I’ve decided to adopt it.”

“Congratulations. Having a pet is so worthwhile, isn’t it?” I said. I’d seen the Fire Worms. They looked like lizards with long, snake-like bodies and squashed snouts. I found them quite intimidating, but they were supposedly very nice pets.

“Yes, I love Roja already. She’s so sweet.” He gave me a benign smile.

“That’s really great.” And I meant it, even though I preferred something fluffy and a little more cuddly, like Ruffles…or Luc, my brain supplied. I tried my hardest not to grin at the thought of cuddling Luc.

“Yes, I’ve been telling all my friends to drop by in person. I couldn’t bear seeing all those animals there with their sad faces. I wish I could adopt them all, but of course, I am on the road quite a lot.”

“Of course.”

Jeannette cleared her throat.

“Oh, right. The paper jam.” I hastened to slip open the top of her printer so I could extract the cartridge and the stuck piece of paper.

“Just a minute, Mr Dunmere,” she said in a sweet voice, and she fluttered her eyelids at the Obsidian Gargoyle. “Mr Dunmere needs a new badge,” she informed me.

I just nodded and cursed when the paper tore in two.

“Oh, it’s been such a pain with all the paperwork,” Jeannie MacLeish said to no one in particular.

She had to print out two pages that you had to sign: one so the company was legally allowed to store your picture for future use, and the other sheet that made you promise you wouldn’t abuse the clearance you had on your card.

I remembered Luc letting me into the server room so we could fuck and decided not to dwell on it longer. We should probably stop. I hated breaking the rules.

“Your printer is ready to go,” I told her as I crumpled the destroyed sheet of paper with ink-stained fingers.

“Thank you ever so much, Ms Kent,” she trilled. Alaric Dunmere gave me a little smirk over her shoulder.

“Goodbye. If we could get on, I have an important appointment to get to,” Dunmere said as I left her office, peering down at a black paper calendar. “It’s gone from my digital calendar again.” Alaric Dunmere rolled his eyes. “What a mess.”