Maggie grinned too, but she hesitated. He didn’t look like he was going to run any time soon.
“Go on, I’m giving you a head start. Balin are not good climbers, I think you have a good chance,” he said, still grinning, looking relaxed. “I’ll start when you’re on the first landing.”
“Okay,” she said, going up the next couple of steps backwards, slowly, watching him. He was totally focussed on her. His body language looked at ease, but his eyes gave him away. He was waiting.
“Oh, and Maggie?” he said conversationally. “When I catch you, you know what’s going to happen, don’t you?”
She nodded, biting her lip in anticipation.
“Your cunt is mine,” he said with a smile.
She nodded again, laughing even as a surge of heat went through her. Geez, did she even want to run? What she wanted was to be caught.
“But I want you to run anyway. Don’t go easy on me,” he said, as if reading her thoughts.
She continued creeping up the stairs backwards, slowly, taking herself further and further out of his reach. She saw his hands clench and release as he seemed to realise the same thing, but otherwise he didn’t move.
She reached the last step before the landing. “Dangerous Balin, out of his mind with lust, you said?” She bent down and reached up her skirt, snagging her underwear and shimmying them down, stepping out of them carefully. “I hope so.”
She tossed her underwear at him, just seeing him fumble to catch them as she spun, and ran up the stairs. She heard his snarl and the scratch of his claws on the steps as he chased after her. Maggie laughed as she hauled herself up the bannister as fast as she could, frustrated that she couldn’t go faster because of the stairs, desperately trying to hear where he was over her own gasping breath.
After two or three flights, she was exhausted, her thighs burned, but then she caught sight of him turning the corner just after her and she squealed, running faster. She was lighter and could turn the corners faster where his claws skid, but his legs were longer and he was taking the steps two at a time and gaining too much ground. She managed two more flights before she felt like her lungs were going to explode, and his arms snagged her waist, sweeping her up against his chest. She screamed and kicked, laughing, even as he slammed through the door to one of the landing bathrooms.
He put her front to the door and pulled up her skirt, and she eagerly pressed her bare ass against the front of his pants.
“No one came to save you, little human,” he rasped, his voice like thunder between his harsh breaths. “Guess you’re mine now.” His hands swept over her body, grabbing her breasts before one of them dropped between her legs, strumming her clit with the velvet on his thumb.
“Oh no,” she moaned, her voice shaking as he made her wetter.
“Oh yes,” he growled in her ear, his other hand fighting under her clothes to pinch her nipple between his fingers. She cried out, aching for him. “Now, I didn’t lock this door, so you’re going to have to hold it closed while I fuck you,” he said, and she obligingly pressed her palms to the door. “Unless of course, you want someone to see.”
He cupped her sex with one hand, the claw points just palpable, and whispered “Now?”
Maggie moaned and nodded, pushing her hips back for him. She felt him shift, heard his foot slide on the tiles, then he was pushing into her. She couldn’t take all of him at once, so he rocked into her bit by bit, going deeper with every thrust while she pressed her lips together and hummed her pleasure. Finally she felt him force his way up to her cervix, that bunching of flesh at his base tight against her entrance, and she knew he was in. He gave her a few tender thrusts, his hands sliding over her waist under her clothes, then up to gently play with her breasts. His thumb returned to her clit, and his breath was hot against her neck.
Then he slammed into her for real, fucking her hard. She tried not to rattle the door but it was unavoidable, so she just hoped there really was no one around and Security weren’t coming. The thought of someone on the other side of the door made her flood for him, and she could feel how tight she was when he pulled out. When he hammered her so deep like that, she whimpered, wanting to scream but knowing she couldn’t.
She didn’t last. She wanted to come. She pressed her mouth against the back of her hand and threw her hips back into him, forcing him deeper until it almost hurt. She came quickly, gripping him and making him snarl until he came too.
As they caught their breath again, and the sweat cooled on her skin, she noticed the little pricks and scratches he had left on her. They stung, but none of them really hurt. Her sex felt swollen as he pulled out of her, and when she twisted her skirt back into place, she could feel twinge of pain he had left in her.
She gasped and ran into the nearest cubicle, unravelling handfuls of toilet paper and wiping off his come before it slid down her thighs. She was resigned to her crotch always being dyed in fading shades of green, but if she wanted to be decent going home, she had to make sure it didn’t have the chance to run.
She heard water flowing and came out to see Ro washing his hands, or rather, just holding his hands under the water. The tap was turned all the way to the furthest cold setting. He ducked his head and drank.
The old worry came back. “Are you okay?” she asked, coming up behind him and putting her hand on his back.
“Fine,” he said with a quick smile. “Aren’t you thirsty?”
She was, but not that much. “I can wait.” It wasn’t a bad idea though, and she washed her hands too, the water feeling good on her fevered skin.
She noticed her underwear sticking out of his pocket and nabbed them back. “I can put these back on now,” she said, turning them to find the right holes.
Ro straightened and looked affronted, grabbing the briefs but Maggie didn’t let go. “I don’t think so. Those are my trophy for winning!” he said.
Maggie laughed but he seemed serious, untangling them from her hands and transferring them to his other hand so he could put them in the pocket on his other side where she wouldn’t be able to reach.
“Alright,” she shrugged, conceding defeat. “I guess I only have myself to blame.”
Ro nodded and gave a grunt of agreement.
“Ro… Are you having trouble at the dorms?”
He tensed. “No,” he said, and there was a note in his voice warning her not to pursue it.
She weighed the good mood they had going against the fight that would come if she pushed him. She knew he was lying, and that broke her heart a little bit, but she had seen a bit of the old playful, caring Ro. She had had him back for a while there.
She kissed him. “Good,” she said, smiling.
Chapter 28
Ro didn’t want her company that night. He said he was tired and just wanted to go home alone. Maggie didn’t know whether that helped or hindered her theory about his mood being to do with his neighbours.
She still kept an eye on him at work, watching for any new injuries, any more clues as to what was going on. She didn’t spot anything the next day. His eye was still swollen. He still looked rough. His mood hadn’t improved. She worried it was starting to affect his work. It was still his job to field calls in Teissian languages, so she couldn’t understand exactly what he was saying, but he had lost his cheery, polite tone of voice that was their bread and butter. Most of the time, she could hear him trying, but it was robotic, dead. At best, he sounded bored, at worst, sarcastic. But they had received no complaints and Incomings had no one else to take over the mother tongue line, and Maggie was still hoping that he would snap out of it.
If it went on for much longer though, she would be forced to do something, or Derek would.
It all came to a head when Maggie noticed Ro’s voice dropping a note during a call. He was speaking quietly, but with a noticeable growl, and his lip was curled. He was angry. And he wasn’t typing or making any notes. Not good signs.
Maggie paused in what she was doing, trying
to surreptitiously monitor him. He wasn’t necessarily to blame. If the caller was pissing him off, but he was replying politely, even in that tone of voice, she had no cause to intervene. The department obviously preferred its agents to use pleasant tones during calls, but if the caller was being an asshole, everyone understood that.
The problem was Maggie had no way of knowing, and with Ro behaving the way he was recently, she couldn’t trust that he was being nice. He had argued with his best friend, he had been hit in the face by one of his neighbours, he had clearly misplaced a few people skills in the last week.
Her hand hovered over her dial pad, deliberating. If she kicked him off the call unjustly, he would be offended. But at the same time, if the caller was being an asshole, putting them on hold for a minute might make them calm down. And she could be seeing a repeat of the incident with the Balor. After the first time, Derek had instigated an investigation, and it had gone through all the right channels with all the right paperwork, but after a couple of weeks it had just been filed as an “incident”. It had only happened once that the mother tongue option had led to racial abuse, so until it happened again and became a pattern, they weren’t going to make any changes. Overall, the response had been very positive, so Derek had just been told to “keep an eye on it” and report back to Legal if it happened again.
She waved to get Ro’s attention, but he ignored her. Or rather, it looked like the conversation was getting so heated that he didn’t even notice her. He pushed away from his desk, his voice getting louder. That was all the justification that she needed. If the caller was being a dick, she would find out. She dialled into the call, kicking Ro out of it. The voice that came through her earpiece was raised as well, but it sounded more defensive than anything.
“I’m sorry,” Maggie trilled happily. “There seems to have been a technical fault on your line. Please hold to be reconnected.” She put the caller on hold and looked at Ro.
Now they had attracted the attention of the rest of the team. Before Ro arrived, they had almost never seen Maggie kick someone off a call. This was the second time in four months. It always felt like a big deal because someone was in trouble, whether it was the caller or the agent.
Ro was glaring at Maggie, huffing harsh breaths through his nose like a snorting bull, practically steaming. She didn’t like that anger directed at her.
“Why did you do that?” he demanded.
“You looked upset! Was it another Balor?” Maggie asked.
Ro growled at her. “I had it, it was under control.”
“What were they saying?”
“They were being stupid, refusing to listen,” he said.
“Okay, but you can’t yell at callers just for being stupid. You can’t ever yell at callers,” Maggie reminded him. The others were all watching. “I’m sorry, I tried to get your attention first but I couldn’t.”
“You shouldn’t have done that.”
“I had to make a judgement call, Ro, I couldn’t understand what you were saying. I’m sorry if I acted unnecessarily. Are you going to tell me what it was about? Do you want to tell me in private?” The little flash hold light stopped blinking. “They’ve hung up now,” she said in frustration. She would have liked to smooth things over with the caller herself.
Ro just cursed in Balin, obviously still mad, marching out of the department. Maggie threw her hands up in frustration. It was like dealing with a child sometimes. Even he couldn’t argue his way out of yelling at a caller, it was a fundamental no-no.
“What’s up with him?” Nina asked.
“I don’t know,” Maggie admitted, shaking her head.
“Are you guys still… okay?” Lucy asked, making a gesture that implied what she meant was “dating”.
Maggie shrugged, hating it, but feeling better for talking about it at last. “I don’t know.”
“Aw no,” Lucy moaned. “You were so lovey-dovey and cute!”
Maggie grimaced. “Yeah, well…”
“Is he cranky because you broke up?” said Nina.
“We haven’t broken up,” Maggie insisted.
“Oh. Because that would be kind of sweet, you know, if his whole life fell apart over a broken heart,” she continued.
“His life isn’t falling apart, as far as I know,” Maggie said, but she realised she couldn’t swear to that. “And his heart’s not broken. He’s just… being weird at the moment.”
“Have you asked Kez?”
“No, but I don’t think he likes me very much.”
“Something must be going on.”
“I know!” Maggie said, a little too loudly. She knew something was going on, she just didn’t know what, because he wouldn’t tell her. Her boyfriend wouldn’t let her into his life. She ran her hands through her hair. “I’m sorry, it’s just frustrating.”
“It’ll be okay,” said Ben, chiming in at last. “He really likes you.”
“Maybe not as much as he thought he did,” Maggie grumped.
“Impossible,” Ben said, giving her a smile that did actually raise her spirits a little. “It’ll be okay.”
“Yeah, I know,” Maggie conceded just to end the conversation. She shouldn’t be talking about him with his colleagues. She shouldn’t be talking about her relationship when they should all have been working.
She wondered where Ro had gone, and as the minutes ticked by, when he was coming back.
About half an hour later, Derek appeared at her side. Maggie was instantly worried. It was too much of a coincidence.
“Hey, where’s Ro?” he said conversationally, noticing the empty chair.
“I don’t know,” Maggie replied. The rest of the team faithfully kept their heads down, and she thanked them for not saying anything.
“Think he’ll be back soon?” Derek pressed.
“I don’t know,” Maggie said again. At least she didn’t have to lie.
“Hm,” Derek grunted. “Maggie, can I see you for a minute?” he said, his expression and tone brightening cheerily as if he had moved on to something completely unrelated, but Maggie saw through it. Too much of a coincidence.
She stood up and followed him back to his office. He closed the door behind them, then went to lean against the edge of his desk while she stood.
“Maggie, I’ve had a complaint about Ro. A caller said he was very aggressive when taking his call. The caller provided the number for Incomings as the one he had dialled, and confirmed he had selected the mother tongue menu option, and stated that it was a Balin male he spoke to, so there’s no wriggle room there. The caller said he was hung up on. Do you know anything about this?”
Maggie was glad for the chance to make it look a little better. “He wasn’t hung up on, I took over the call and put him on hold after giving him the line about a technical fault. Then he hung up.”
“Okay, and why did you take over the call?” Derek pressed, latching on to the real issue.
Maggie shifted uncomfortably. She hadn’t prepared what she was going to say. She would have liked to speak to Ro first, get their stories straight. “Ro seemed distressed. After the Balor caller, I just thought it was best. I can’t understand what he’s saying after all, I just have to go on how it sounds,” Maggie pleaded.
“And it sounded… bad?”
Sometimes she hated how shrewd Derek was. “Not really, just like… something I should intervene on.” She knew she was being obtuse and unconvincing, and she knew Derek knew it too.
Derek watched her for a moment before speaking again. He flicked his thumbnail against the edge of his desk a few times, taking a breath. “I know about your relationship,” he stated simply.
He watched her for a reaction, but Maggie didn’t know what to say. She just nodded. “Mm-hmm?” she prompted.
“I promoted you anyway, because I had faith in you, Maggie. You’ve always been professional, and frankly, I thought you made each other happy. But I wonder now if it isn’t becoming a problem.”
Maggie
felt cold. “It’s not,” she protested.
“No? Did you know Ro got into a fight at the dorms?” Derek said, as if he was testing her, hoping to throw her off-balance.
“Um, I did. He said it was nothing, just something between him and a neighbour,” she replied meekly.
Derek nodded. “I don’t know what it was about either. Didn’t sound like a big thing, and obviously, since it didn’t happen at work there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Maggie didn’t know what he thought he was supposed to do about it.
“But if he’s getting into fights with callers, well, that’s something different,” Derek continued.
“He’s not,” Maggie insisted. She wasn’t sure why she had been called in to defend him, or why she was doing it, when she didn’t even know what she was defending.
“Good! That’s good. I’m glad to hear it. But you see, because of your personal relationship with him, I can’t really… trust you, can I? I want to! And personally, I do, but on paper, it doesn’t look good. It doesn’t look clear. I can’t really say in good conscience that your word was enough and I had no reason to look any further, not when HR can turn around and say ‘Well, didn’t it occur to you that she might have been lying to protect him?’ And of course, what can I say then but yes? You might be.”
“Derek… Come on, I’m not-”
He threw his hand out. “Oh no! I know you’re not! Like I said, I’ve known you since you started here and you’ve always been loyal, and professional, and I’ve never heard a single bad word about you, not from anyone. You’re good for the job, Maggie, and the job is good for you. But on paper? Your relationship with Ro… doesn’t look so good. It was all fine when he was doing so well, but now, it complicates things.”
“I’m not going to dump him just to-”
“No, no, no! That’s not what I’m saying, not at all! I can’t ask you to do that! But you can see where I’m coming from, can’t you? We need to figure this out.”
“Figure it out how?” Maggie demanded. Derek was right; she had been perfectly loyal and professional, and done more than her fair share for Enquiries since she’d started years ago, and she wasn’t seeing that paid back right then. She deserved better than this.
The New Guy (Office Aliens Book 2) Page 23