Epilogue
Kieran prepared to leave work. He had an important meeting in an hour, and he was never late for his appointments.
A co-worker snagged him just outside his office, one of the newer hires and very eager with his ideas as he shook Kieran’s hand and initiated a most unwelcome and irritating conversation. Kieran still had to find Sera.
“North, sorry to bother you, but do you have a second?” The co-worker in question, Jeremiah Fulton, was currently blocking Kieran’s path to his office, where he had been intending to look for Sera next, but now would be buttonholed into whatever Fulton felt was so urgent it involved seeking Kieran out directly.
“Merely a second, I was just on my way out,” Kieran said, movement catching his eye over Fulton’s considerably shorter shoulder.
The door to Kieran’s office was ajar and light flickered inside.
He always left his office locked, so either someone had broken in or Sera had made her way there as suspected.
He checked Sera’s former secretary’s desk for Seth, but he wasn’t there.
“Oh, I won’t keep you long then, but I wanted to discuss your proposal for city-wide use of luminore.”
Kieran nodded, his focus on his office. He caught a flash of skirts and then Sera was in the doorway, locking eyes as she noted his predicament and grinned at his discomfort. His expression remained neutral, though distracted.
“Anyway, Levity sent out a round of S-18 forms, which I’m sure you know is only used when trying to update city ordinances pertaining to safety and welfare of Unity’s citizens.”
Kieran was about to attempt a response, despite his not following a word of Fulton’s rambling, when he caught an evil glint in Sera’s eyes.
He tensed. She only looked at him like that when she intended to initiate a round of their Game.
They were in the rare position wherein he was quite literally trapped and observed while she could remain hidden. It was hardly a fair playing field.
“Which I found rather convenient timing, given your call to a vote is to take place next week,” Fulton paused, seeming to note the intensity of Kieran’s stare and started to turn. “Is something the—”
“Convenient.” Kieran drew Fulton’s attention back to himself.
“I quite agree. You raise a very good point about…” He searched his memory, for some clue about Fulton’s purpose.
“The convenience of the… timing.” He fought to keep the question out of his voice.
He had no idea what the hell he was saying.
Sera tapped her chin, playfully considering her attack while her free hand absently teased at the low dip in her bodice.
“Oh, yes, about that,” Fulton continued, seamlessly returning to his ramblings as Kieran’s gaze slipped past him.
Sera had adjusted the angle of the door so that she was visible as she wiggled onto the edge of his desk, making a great show of scattering his organized supplies.
His jaw locked. That was underhanded.
She scooted herself fully amidst her mess, meeting his not quite glare with a playful bat of her eyes. She maintained an innocent air as she started to draw up her skirts.
Kieran let out a careful breath. Internally, his body was beginning to react. Heat and tension started to simmer.
“So, as I said, I asked around to some of the other officials, who found it just as odd,” Fulton continued and Kieran offered a brief nod of understanding before returning his gaze to Sera. Her skirt was now hiked to her waist, her knees demurely touching, until she began to slowly ease them apart.
Kieran hid his growl in a cough, earning a hearty clap on the back from Fulton. Was she insane? This was too far, even for her, anyone might walk by and—
She drew her fingers up her thigh, stopped, then down again, then up—higher this time—and down.
Slow breath. Sixty-five. Sixty-four.
“Are you alright, sir?”
Kieran could only nod silently. Any attempt at words would have been embarrassing. She was cheating. This was a flagrant violation of the limitations of the Game.
But then, Sera had lost their last two rounds, and she was desperate for a win.
Desperate and ready to play. Her hands drew up the glistening heat between her thighs, slow sweeping motions holding his rapt and undivided attention. He was incredibly aroused. Fully hard and seconds from admitting defeat.
“North? You don’t look well.”
Kieran, in fact, was not well. His eyes followed Sera’s hands with predatory focus. His mind reduced to the barest imitation of thought.
Kieran was only dimly aware of Fulton’s presence now, the man’s attempts at conversation evaporating into the blazing heat generated by his rampant pulse.
Sera removed her hand to draw her tongue up two of her fingers before taking them deep into her mouth, and even at this distance, he could hear her moan.
Fulton frowned, like he had heard but not understood what to make of the sound. The intimacy of it at war with the public and professional location.
Damn it, Sera. Fulton could turn around any second. And while Kieran found their little Game exciting and just as stimulating as her, he drew the line at allowing his co-worker so much as a single glance.
But he had resisted so far. He was still in play.
He had given no obvious reaction, and he had not ended his conversation with Fulton—they had agreed, if desire grew strong enough that they removed themselves from the situation, that counted as a loss—she had played an excellent round, but Kieran was still more practiced, still better at—
She pulled her fingers from her lips, a gentle popping sound following the motion, and locked eyes with him as she boldly plunged into her own waiting heat.
He would take the loss.
“North?” Fulton asked again. His tone betrayed his confusion, but Kieran was already rushing past him.
“Forgive me, my attention is demanded elsewhere.”
“But—”
Kieran slammed the door behind him before Fulton could turn around. He lost this round and he intended to make sure his wife reaped the full rewards of her victory, however unfairly earned.
—
Jeremiah Fulton blinked, gaze focused on North’s closed office door. He scratched his head. “What the Infernal just happened?”
Willa Shen stopped in her walk, having caught the tail end of the interaction. She sighed. “Oh, it’s not you, don’t worry.”
“But what was that?”
“Kieran and his wife have this weird sex thing. We all just pretend we don’t notice.”
Fulton’s cheeks burned red. “Excuse me, what?”
Willa shrugged. “Sera Blair, our lead city planner? She’s his wife and they do this weird thing where they get off trying to turn each other on while the other has to resist it.
I think it’s bonus points if they’re observed, like you having a conversation with Kieran just now.
” She said this so casually, without an air of disturbance at the depravity of such an insinuation.
Of course, he had heard of the pair. The first mixed race union in the upper class, but this many years later it was hardly unprecedented anymore.
“And no one questions this? At work?”
“Look, North is the most productive person here, no one can fault his work ethic, and, honestly, he could use the break.”
Willa leaned toward the office, nodding. “Oh, yeah, there is some very kinky shit going on in there.”
All the color drained from Fulton’s face. “My word…”
Willa patted his back. “Don’t worry, Jere, perhaps one day you’ll be lucky enough to get off in your office. Don’t lose hope.”
“I would never—”
She looked him up and down, as if assessing if he met her standards. Her nails dragged along his shoulder as she returned to her walk. “We’ll see.”
Fulton was left quite off balance.
He would have to be more careful about choosing his conversations going forward.
—
Inside Kieran’s office, Sera’s blood thrilled as Kieran shut the door. She did it! She’d won!
“Ha! You have lost, sir," she bragged.
His gaze was dark, intense. Chills raced up Sera’s spine as he stalked closer.
“Yes, I have.” He braced an arm on either side of her, caging her with his desk at her back.
Her body shivered in anticipation. “I concede and to the victor go the spoils.” His eyes were dark, so much black consuming the light gray and reigniting all the passion she’d stirred up trying to defeat his blasted control a few minutes ago.
Sera loved their Game, loved that it kept the years of their relationship fresh and new, but this was her favorite part. It didn’t matter who won, because in their Game of resistance, winner or loser, no one left unsatisfied.
Kieran captured her mouth, using his tongue like he was attempting to taste any lingering traces of her fingers. Sera clung to his strong shoulders, laying flat on his desk and basking in her husband’s practiced hands on her body.
Gods, yes. She kept her skirts at her waist, eager for him to taste everywhere she’d been touching herself earlier.
“The desk was a low move,” he said, his hand finding her heated skin and adopting a more assertive pace than usual.
Sera bucked her hips. Blinding pleasure shot through her.
“I’ll help you clean it,” she gasped through the words.
His fingers skipped right through foreplay to sink deep inside her.
Fuck. She loved when he was aggressive, though never beyond her limits, and it had taken years to find the line that he was comfortable with meeting while also attending to her more vigorous preferences.
“You will do no such thing.” He pulled his mouth from her skin, still pumping hard and fast into her with his hand.
“You don’t know where anything goes. I will have to take care of it personally.
” He punctuated his words by curling his fingers into her, his thumb settling on the sweet bundle of nerves begging for attention.
She writhed on the desk, sucking on her bottom lip.