Romance The Debugging of Desire

[vickyxon]

The hum of the empty office seemed to amplify the sound of Bavi’s ragged breathing. Shri’s hand was a heavy, searing brand on her upper thigh, his thumb tracing slow, deliberate circles that made her vision swim. The "Agile Bonding" session downstairs felt like it was happening in another dimension; here, in the dim light of the Dev bay, the only reality was the magnetic pull between them.

He didn't wait for her to give a command. He spun her ergonomic chair around to face him and leaned in, his mouth crashing onto hers in a deep, desperate smooch. It wasn't the tentative kiss from the morning; it was a high-bandwidth collision. Bavi’s hands flew to his neck, her fingers tangling in the hair at the nape of his neck, pulling him closer until their chests were fused.

Shri groaned, a low, primal vibration that she felt in her own throat. He shifted, sliding off his chair to kneel between her legs, his hands moving from her waist to the tops of her thighs.

"Bavi," he rasped against her lips.

He pressed his palm flat against her crotch, over the thin fabric of her leggings. He didn't move it at first; he just held it there, feeling the intense, radiating heat of her body. Bavi’s back arched, a sharp gasp escaping her as his hand registered the undeniable truth.

She was completely drenched. The dampness had soaked through her lace and was pressing against the inner lining of her pants, creating a slick, heavy friction that made her entire system shudder.

"You're burning up," Shri whispered, his eyes dark with a mix of triumph and raw hunger. He moved his hand, his fingers applying a firm, rhythmic pressure through the fabric, catching the wet heat. "The silk wasn't enough to contain this, was it?"

Bavi couldn't speak. She could only cling to his shoulders, her head tossing back as the sensation of his palm against her wetness sent waves of electricity through her. She was a Senior Lead, a master of logic, but right now she was just a collection of nerve endings screaming for a total system crash.

Shri leaned up, kissing her jaw, his hand continuing that agonizingly perfect pressure. "I can feel your heart beating through your clothes, Lead. You're hitting the limit."

Clack-clack-clack.

The sharp sound of the main glass doors at the end of the hall swinging open echoed through the silent office.

"I’m telling you, the catering was better last year!" Karthik’s booming voice drifted toward them, followed by the muffled laughter of the team.

The spell shattered instantly.

Shri moved with the lightning reflexes of an athlete, pushing himself back and sliding into his own chair just as Bavi scrambled to turn back toward her monitors. Her hands flew to her keyboard, her fingers hitting random keys in a desperate attempt to look busy. Her face was a deep, burning crimson, and her body was still vibrating with the aftershocks of his touch.

The dampness between her legs felt like a heavy, secret weight, the cool air of the office now making her feel exposed.

"Everything okay here?" Karthik asked, walking past their row with a tray of leftover samosas. He stopped, looking from Bavi’s flushed face to Shri’s suspiciously focused expression.

"Just... a complex migration," Bavi managed to say, her voice sounding like it was coming from underwater. "We just finished the final push."

"Good, good," Karthik said, oblivious to the high-voltage debris in the air. "Don't overwork yourselves. See you tomorrow."

As Karthik walked away, Shri didn't look at her, but he reached out one hand and gripped the edge of her desk. His knuckles were white.

"The migration isn't finished, Bavi," he said, his voice a low, dangerous promise that only she could hear. "We just hit a temporary timeout."