Chapter 18
MATTHEW
February and winter clung to each other like they never wanted to be separated.
Troye had come to my house wearing nothing but pajamas and a thin jacket, but overnight the temperature had dipped, and it had yet to climb back out of the deep freeze.
We arrived at my office, me in my coat, because he patently refused to deprive me, and him in one of my sweaters.
Turning up at the office with him wearing my clothes felt like I was showing him off. And maybe I was. The people at Gemstone were more like family to me than employees. Okay, some were just employees, but only because they hadn’t been there long.
I dragged Troye with me, hand in hand, through reception, where he dropped the visitor badge around his neck and then did his best to look like he wasn’t going to climb out of his skin.
His giddiness was contagious because by the time we rode the elevator up to the third floor where Gemstone was located, we were both grinning.
“This doesn’t feel real,” Troye said as the doors opened. His gaze slid over the office, taking everything in. To me, it looked like just another office, but to him it must have looked like heaven.
“Do you want a tour?”
Troye shook his head. “I don’t want to get in the way. Jett made it sound like it was an emergency.”
I let my hand rest on the small of Troye’s back and steered him to the right.
Jett’s office was located at the other end of the long hallway.
A series of offices and conference rooms lined the hall.
Most people had their doors open, but it was the action in one of the conference rooms that got Troye’s attention.
“They’re storyboarding right now,” I supplied, letting him linger at the window. They were an energetic bunch, and even through the closed door I could hear Trudy interrupting Xena, as usual. “We should go before they demand a tiebreaker or a blood sacrifice.”
I guided Troye away from the room before the sharks got the scent of fresh blood.
I loved my creative team, but their intensity was overpowering sometimes.
“We can stop back in later if you want to see what they’re working on.”
“Aren’t you worried about me stealing company secrets or anything?” Troye whispered his question like it might possibly be a concern for me.
“I’m not worried about that,” I told him as I led us ever closer to Jett’s office.
Now, Jett was something I worried about because Jett liked things to be a certain way.
His attention to detail was part of the reason I hired him.
His ability to be consistent was another, but he could be a bit of an alarmist sometimes.
Unlike the boy who cried wolf, Jett was the man who screamed about impending doom.
Unavoidable crises. They were mostly always avoidable, though.
But I’d learned to never take his foresight for granted.
The man’s brain worked in a different way than mine, making him able to be five steps ahead at all times.
“If he offers you gum, don’t accept,” I warned Troye before knocking on the door to Jett’s office.
“Unless it’s Matt, go away.”
I looked at Troye and offered him a reassuring smile. “He’s friendly, I promise.”
“That’s the kind of thing dog owners say right before Cujo tries to eat your face.”
“Think less Cujo and more Lady and the Tramp.” I opened the door and ushered Troye inside.
Jett was the human embodiment of a stray dog who’d landed on their feet. His dark hair was wild and made him look like he’d just rolled out of bed. But it always looked like that. The unruly strands were thin like spun sugar, but there was an abundance of them.
“You said there was an emergency, and that I had to come in even though I had the day off.”
Jett didn’t even look up, he just waved me over. “Come look at this.”
Jett’s gaze barely flicked up to look at Troye. “Is he safe?”
“I’m not here to steal state secrets if that’s what you were wondering,” Troye said at the same time that I said it was fine. Troye tried to step away, but I pulled him closer, letting it be known to him, and to Jett, that he wasn’t going anywhere.
“Where’s the fire, Jett?”
“Astro just dropped a new game teaser. And it’s good. It’s really fucking good.” Jett tapped a few buttons on his keyboard. “And it’s our game.”
He pressed play on the video and while the graphics and the name of the game was different from ours, the concept clearly was the same.
It wasn’t like we owned or invented the concept of dungeon crawlers, but this particular idea had been innovative.
Part dungeon crawler, part escape room, it had combined elements of both types of games to create something fresh and new.
At least it had been fresh and new.
“Is this a coincidence, or do we have a spy in the company?” My stomach clenched, feeling sour. I hated the idea that someone I hired might be stealing from me.
“Uh, it could be neither. Or it could be the other way around.” Troye spoke up, earning him Jett’s undivided attention.
“Explain,” he barked, spinning his chair to face Troye. Jett had the kind of hard stare that could make a walnut crack itself, but Troye didn’t even flinch.
“Well, just because the concept hasn’t been made into reality yet, it doesn’t mean that Gemstone invented it and someone took the idea.
It’s possible that the idea originated in game forums and developers from different companies saw an opportunity.
Especially if the idea was getting traction online. ”
Jett leaned back in his chair and eyed Troye. “And who are you?”
“I’m—”
“He’s mine,” I told Jett. “I’m trying to convince him to formally consult on the foster project.”
Jett’s features softened, as much as they ever did. The man was a bear in every sense of the word, from body to attitude. And I might have gushed about Troye to him because Jett was not only my right-hand man at Gemstone, he was also my best friend.
“Is there a way to verify this?” Jett’s scowl returned, but still Troye remained unfazed.
“Well, you could ask the person who tabled the concept where they acquired it. If you trust your team to be honest with you. Or you could comb through their online activity around the time they brought the concept forward to see where they’d been hanging out.
But that only works if they’re using their work computer. ”
Jett folded his arms over his chest. He looked up at me and raised an eyebrow.
“What do you think? Do we try honesty, or do we search employee activity profiles?”
“Both,” I replied. “Trust but verify.”
Jett nodded and got back to work. He did pause to look up at Troye. “It was nice meeting you. Make sure that one brings you around more often. And you should take him up on his offer to consult. You had great ideas.”
“I—uh, thank you. It was nice meeting you too.”
I told Jett that I’d call him later and led Troye out of Jett’s office and down a few doors to where mine was. Once inside, I shut the door and Troye’s shoulders dropped. An exhale exploded out of him.
“Is he always like that?” Troye asked.
“Like what? So intense you think he might snap you apart and use your bones for toothpicks? No idea what you’re talking about.” I reeled Troye in and buried my face in the curve of his neck. “I wish you’d come work for me.”
“He says as he fraternizes with the potential employee.”
“It’s my company and I’ll fraternize if I want to. But I noticed you didn’t say no that time. Am I wearing you down?”
He shook his head. “Nope. Just not engaging in that conversation anymore hoping it will stop happening.”
Laughter rumbled out of me, and I pressed an open-mouthed kiss to Troye’s neck. “Okay, I’ll stop asking. If you ever change your mind, though…”
“You’ll be the second person to know.”
“Did you want the grand tour now?”
Troye pulled back and looked up at me, concern making his brow furrow. “Are you sure? You just found out you have a potential spy in the ranks.”
“And there’s no way that it’s you. It’s also highly likely that you’re correct in your assessment that it might have been some obscure internet idea that gained traction and was noticed by another company before it was brought to us.
” I wrapped my arms around Troye and let my hands skim down his back to his ass, his hips. I pulled him close to me.
“It’s starting to seem like you might have another idea of what we could do.
” Troye’s voice was husky and tinged with need.
There was a subtle whine that I was starting to connect with how bad he needed me.
The thicker the whine, the greater his need.
Right now it was manageable for him, and I wasn’t sure I liked that very much.
“Whenever I get you alone, it’s like all my plans go out the window because I can’t get enough of you.” I turned and flicked the lock on my office door. Maybe Troye was right in his insistence that he shouldn’t work for me. I’d never get anything done if he were here every day to tempt me.
“I hope that’s not a problem for you.”
He gasped when I sank my hand into his hair and tugged his head to the side, opening up his neck for my mouth to explore. I hated winter, and sweaters, and clothing in general. Anything that kept me from getting as close as possible to Troye.
“Here? Now?” He sounded hesitant, but his body pressed closer to mine. He was pliant, his body poised to be obedient for me.
“If you’re not comfortable, I can stop.” I waited for him to answer before continuing.
“Just… will they hear us?” Troye whispered.
“Not if you’re quiet,” I said, my lips brushing his skin.
The room was so still I heard the gentle rush of air as it left Troye’s lips.
My heart thrummed a steady rhythm in my head, harder and faster and more eager than normal.
But that’s just the effect Troye had on me.
He made me crazy with desire. He made me want to climb out of my skin and under his.
To possess him in ways I’d never thought of.
To own him in ways I’d never entertained before.
Even though restraint was hard won, I managed to hold myself back to give him space to think. Heaven knows my brain could barely function when he was near.
“You can say no,” I told him, but Troye grabbed my hips and pulled me close, lining his cock up with mine.
“No, I can’t,” he groaned quietly as I rocked against him, urged on by the way he clung to my hips, his fingers sharp and biting my flesh hard enough to leave marks. I wanted those bruises. I wanted any proof at all that I was his as much as he was mine.
I turned and backed Troye up against the door and pinned him there with my body and then I set about devouring him. My mouth left a trail of kisses up his neck. I tongued his earlobe, teased my hands under the layers I’d dressed him in.
He was here, in my office, wearing my clothes. There was no way people didn’t know who he was to me. I might have chosen my favorite sweater, one I wore often in the colder weather. I wanted everyone to know he was mine.
“Are you sure we can do this here?” he asked, but it was clear from the breathy tone of his voice that stopping would be exceedingly difficult for him.
He’d do it if I asked him to, though. I knew that much.
He was so eager to please, so willing to obey.
So keen on being good that he’d do anything I asked of him.
“What are they going to do?” I said, smiling against his mouth as I kissed him. “Fire me?”
Troye didn’t have a response to that. He didn’t have a response to anything except for me, sliding down to my knees and reaching for the fly of his pants. He just stared down at me, eyes wide like saucers, lips parted on a gasp of surprise.
“Remember, sweetheart,” I said as I shoved his shirt up out of the way and undid his pants. “You have to be quiet. Can you do that for me?”
I hoped he couldn’t. I hoped everyone heard us and knew what we were doing. Feral didn’t begin to describe the need that clawed at my chest whenever he was near.
“Yes, Daddy.”