Between the baritone pitch and the hardness of his dominant body against my back and ass, heat spikes in me. “I don’t think so, no. That’s like… my favorite pastime.”
“You impossible little tease. Should I give you a spanking every time you make me hard and don’t take care of it?”
“Oh, God…” I whimper. “I’ll never be able to sit again.”
He chuckles before giving me the sweetest, most tender kiss on the cheek. Then he moves back, releasing me from his caging hold. “Let’s go see the team,” he decides.
On our way out, I stop by the R&D room to say hi to Tamika. I’ve seen her too, these past three weeks. Oli moved into my old apartment with her, and I had a debt to repay. As much as I hate carrying boxes and climbing up and down stairs, I showed up like a good friend and helped with the move. Admittedly, I brought a pair of muscular arms for extra help, so it went smoothly.
Still, Tammy and I exchange a long and tight hug. “I’m so happy we’re gonna be colleagues again,” she signs with the biggest smile on her face.
“Me too. I missed you so much.”
We kept in touch throughout my adventures, but texts and calls are not the same as live interaction. Since I couldn’t tell her what was really going on, I didn’t call as much as I should have. That much is true for almost everyone. But I’m back, so things are about to change and return to normal.
We talk for a few minutes as Lex waits by the door patiently. She insists I must come to the next girls’ night next Saturday, and I immediately agree. After promising one another we’ll sit together for lunch, I return to Lex, and we make our way downstairs.
Every few seconds, someone from our days here stops us. It takes us a while to get to the Lair, and by the time we do, we don’t have much left of the half hour Kevin gave us.
This changed, too. They reworked the space and made it bigger. Five more people work here, including two women. Good, I won’t be the only vagina in town anymore. Seeing how Kelex blossomed during our leave warms my heart, but tears it a little, too. We’ve missed so much, and we’ll never get that time back. Thankfully, we’ll be here to see the company keep growing.
Mason is the first one to lift his head and see us, and his eyes become huge as he does. “Ah! My babies!” he shouts, overly excited.
The others look up, confused, and Mace leaves everything he’s doing to come our way. Without missing a beat, he opens his arms and pulls us both into his embrace, squeezing us together. Amused, I look up at Lex, who stares ahead, seemingly unfazed.
“How dare you two go away for so long?!” Mason scolds after he’s released us. “Ya’ll know I need a regular dose of my favorite ship.”
“Sorry, we needed some time for ourselves.”
“Girl, if I were either of you, I’d take a whole-ass year to get it out of my system. At this point, I expected you to come back pregnant and make an uncle out of me. Mr. Lex, what have you been doing this whole time?!” he scolds, looking at Lex but pointing at my unpregnant belly.
Lex takes a breath before he says, “Need I remind you I’m your boss again, Mason?”
Mace rolls his eyes before sassily answering, “Sorry, I’ll need a period of adjustment, Mr. Bossman.”
“Adjust faster,” Lex responds with cold seriousness.
Mason sighs and mumbles to me, “Your boyfriend is an ass.”
I shrug. “You know what they say: you are what you eat.”
The moment the words are out, I slap my hand over my mouth and turn to Lex with wide eyes. I don’t even need to look at Mason to know he is gawking.
“I’m so sorry,” I blurt. “I think I’ll need a period of adjustment too.”
“And you need to adjust even faster than Mason,” Lex grumbles, unamused by my oversharing.
Well, it wouldn’t really be a first day for me if I didn’t let out an incredibly embarrassing joke in front of everyone, right? At least this time I didn’t talk about my “beard.”
The others have joined us, and Steven, Joseph, and Brian greet us with an enthusiasm that almost matches Mason’s. Oli waits for histurn, and I give him a long, tight, and intense hug. Lex also takes him in his arms, and they pat each other’s backs.
While Lex speaks with the guys, Oli walks me to a quiet side of the room. “So, I give you the ABCs of hacking, and you then proceed to dismantle a sex trafficking crime ring that involves some of the most influential people in the country?”
I wince. “Lex helped with that one. A lot. And it wasn’t so much hacking, it was more… infiltrating.”
He shakes his head with a chuckle. “You are insane. And so is he. I’m glad you two found each other.”
“Yeah, me too. I’m not completely sure his crazy matches my crazy, but I’ll get him there.”
