Coming back to work after Thanksgiving was crazy. I showed up Monday morning to find that a gaming system we'd released for Black Friday sales was glitching – though fortunately not from any mistakes on my part – and a security system we were designing for some government contractor had suffered a couple of set-backs. Well, not so much set-backs but a pair of morons who'd taken advantage of Rylan's good nature. No one was entirely sure exactly what had happened, only that several spilled beverages' had a couple days to soak into everything in Derek and Harrison's office, ruining everything they'd been working on.

Everyone worked overtime, though no one as much as Rylan. And as much as I wanted to spend the late nights working with him, I knew it wasn't a good idea. After having been away from him all weekend, with just a few texts between us, I wasn't entirely sure I could keep my hands off of him. Since I didn't see him all day Monday or Tuesday, I could only hope he felt the same way.

On Wednesday, I got my answer.

I picked up my phone without missing a stroke on my keyboard. I'd almost finished fixing one of the many problems with our government contractor system and I wanted to get it done before lunch.

“Jenna.”

Heat flooded through me. That wasn't the way a boss said an employee's name.

“I need you.”

I closed my eyes. Fuck. There could be something completely innocent about what he was saying, but I definitely wasn't thinking innocently. My grip tightened around the phone.

His next words told me he wasn't thinking that way either.

“All weekend, I kept thinking about how I couldn't wait to get back to work so I could see you, but this is just making it worse.” His voice was low. “Knowing you're here, just a floor away, and I can't touch you... it's excruciating.”

My stomach tightened. Men talked during sex and I let them, but I never listened to anything they said. I'd spent too many years having to listen to the filth that spilled out of men's mouths, talking about what they wanted to do to me or have me do to them. I'd always given what was needed, but this was the first time I'd felt anything other than disgusted or indifferent.

“Did you miss me?”

The question made me catch my breath. Of course I'd missed him. I'd spent most of the weekend reading and working on code just so I wasn't thinking about how much I missed him.

“Jenna.” There was a hint of authority in his voice now.

“Yes,” I answered quickly. I wasn't sure where this was going, but I knew I wanted him to lead.

“Did you think about me?”

“Yes,” I answered again.

“Tell me.”

I felt a few icy tendrils of panic threatening to claw their way up and I pushed them down. “I thought about you.”

“More.”

The push was gentle but firm. He wanted me to do this, but I knew all I had to do was say a single word and he would let it go.

“I thought about you touching me.” I could feel my heart beating hard against my chest. “Your hands on my breasts, fingers on my nipples.”

“Sliding my hand down your stomach to slip between your legs.”

I swallowed hard and nodded, forgetting he couldn't see me. “Yes.”

“Is that what you want?” he asked. “My fingers inside you, stretching you? Preparing you?”

I made a sound that I didn't recognize.

“I think you need to get an ink refill for your printer.”

I blinked. The sudden change in direction threw me.

“Supply closet down the hall.”

I stared at the phone, my stomach twisting as I thought of the implications. We'd said we'd keep our relationship out of work, but that sounded a lot like he was asking me to meet him for some sort of tryst. I wasn't about to question it though. I'd been wanting him all weekend, craving his touch, his body, and I wasn't going to turn down the chance to have him.

Hoping that my face wasn't as flushed as it felt, I hurried down the hallway toward the supply closet. I opened the door, glancing behind me to make sure no one was watching, and then stepped inside. I held the door open as I reached for the light. It turned on a split second before I got to the switch and I quickly shut the door behind me.

His arms were around me before I could even register that he was here. His mouth was hot and hard on mine, a near-desperate edge to the kiss. His desire fueled mine and I slid my hands under his shirt. His muscles were firm beneath my fingers and he gasped as my nails raked over his nipples. His hands slid down my back to cup my ass, and then he lifted me.

My teeth scraped over his bottom lip as he broke the kiss long enough to settle me onto a box of something. I didn't care what was beneath me, as long as he was going to be inside me. I reached for his pants even as he dug into his pocket and produced a condom.

“Damn,” he swore as my fingers closed around his cock. He cupped the side of my face, lowering his mouth to my throat. Teeth and tongue ran down the length of my neck, never leaving a mark, only the slight sting behind.

“Fuck me.” I pressed my lips against his ear. “Please.”

He looked down at me, his eyes dark. “I've been dreaming about this moment since I left work on Wednesday.”

His hands pushed my skirt up around my hips and I was suddenly glad I'd chosen it instead of pants. I moaned as his fingers traced my slit through my now-wet panties, then swore as he pushed the material aside. I grabbed his shoulders as his fingers slid into me.

“Just fuck me,” I said, letting all of my need bleed through into my voice.

“What do you want, Jenna?” he asked.

I gave him a puzzled look. I'd told him what I wanted. My eyes met his and it clicked. He wanted me to be specific. He wanted to hear me say it, and I knew that I needed to say it.

“I want you inside me,” I said. I squeezed his fingers with my pussy. “I need to feel your cock inside me, filling me. I want you to fuck me hard enough that I'll feel it the rest of the day.” I'd said some version of those words before, but I'd never meant them until now.

“Shit,” he breathed as he withdrew his hand.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, my legs around his waist. My heels rested just beneath his muscular ass and I felt it flex as he positioned himself. A full-body shudder went through me as he slowly pushed his way inside. My head fell back and I fought to keep my eyes open. I'd never dreamed that the initial penetration would feel this good every time, that my body would open to him like we were made to fit together. It was every cliché I'd always hated, but it was proving itself to be true.

“Faster,” I gasped. I pressed my face against the side of his neck.

He didn't ask if I was sure or if I was okay. I could feel him holding himself back and knew that he wanted it as much as I did.

“Harder.” I nipped at the soft flesh of his throat and he groaned.

His hands tightened on my waist and he began to slam into me, hard enough to drive the air from my lungs. I worked my body against his, moving so that each time we came together, he was deeper inside me, hitting against all of those spots that made me see stars.

“Fuck,” he growled the word. “So fucking perfect.”

Instead of the revulsion I usually felt at such sentiment, a rush of emotion went through me. I wanted him to feel that way about me, needed to know that he thought we fit together. My fingers curled around the thick hair at the base of his neck, my breath coming in sharp bursts as the pressure inside me reached the boiling point.

“Dreamed about this,” he said. His voice was breathless as he drove us toward our climax. “Buried inside you, feeling you so tight around me. Woke up every morning hard as a rock, aching to be inside you.”

I shivered at the image, the sensation giving me the last bit I needed to tip over the edge. I pressed my face against his neck, letting him muffle the cry of pleasure that escaped as I came. Two more quick thrusts and he followed, whispering my name over and over.

We clung to each other as we came down and I wondered if he was as reluctant to move as I was. I never felt as good as I did when I was in his arms. It didn't matter what was going on around us or whether anyone else approved of our relationship. I knew that, soon, we'd have to talk about things, make declarations, discuss intentions, but for right now, I was content like this. The world could go on existing outside those doors, but at the moment, it was just us.

“I guess I can take that to mean you really did miss me,” Rylan said as he pulled back.

I smiled at him, hoping the emotions on my face weren't as raw as they felt inside me. “Seems like as much as you missed me.”

He grinned, his dimples flashing. That smile twisted those things low inside me that said I wanted more. He fastened his pants as I adjusted my clothes. Then he reached for my hand, his expression serious again.

“I really did miss you,” he said. “And not just the sex. I wanted you there with me, not only in my bed, but by my side.”

I swallowed hard, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. I wasn't ready for this conversation. Not here. Not now.

As if he could sense my tension, he continued, “So I think we should start slow with the family thing.”

“Slow,” I repeated.

“Suzette and Zeke.”

I frowned.

“You've met them, but only as an employee. I want the four of us to go to lunch together. Let them get to know you as my... girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?”

“If you don't like that word, we can think of something else,” he said. His fingers tightened around mine. “As long as it means we're together.”

I smiled, a thrill going through me. “Girlfriend is fine. And lunch sounds great.” I hoped he couldn't hear my doubt in that last statement. I loved that he wanted to make it clear who I was to him, but I didn't think his sister or friend would see it that way.