Perfect Chemistry

by Jodi Redford

  Finally Leo bracketed her waist with his hands. “Have you learned your lesson, Sidney? Or do you require further demonstration of why it’s dangerous to play with things you don’t understand?”

  Oh hell no. She’d gotten the message loud and clear. No more sneaking around labs for her. Unable to voice her assent with Devlin’s cock still in her mouth, she frantically bobbed her head.

  “Good girl.” Leo eased inside her and gripped her hips. He alternated between deep and shallow thrusts, hitting her G spot with each lingering pass of his cockhead. The suction cups sent out tingling spirals of bliss along her synapses, making her gasp and moan around Devlin’s swollen shaft. He didn’t seem to mind in the least.

  “We’re going to make you come now, Sid. Hard. You ready for it?”

  Was he fucking kidding? She’d been ready for the last ten minutes. Not that she’d been counting. Much.

  Her surliness fled as Leo swiveled his hips, grinding the suction cup firmly against her clit. The pressure built there, slowly expanding outward in a shimmering promise. Her toes curled and she strained against the unrelenting hold of the straps. Leo hammered one last stroke home and held deep and hard inside her, detonating the fuse on her elusive orgasm. She broke on a muffled wail, ceaseless shudders racking her.

  Sidney snapped to awareness, the echo of her scream ringing in her ears. It took a moment to realize the tremors quaking through her weren’t merely residual phantoms of her fantasy orgasm. She’d experienced the real thing. Shaking off her befuddlement, she lowered her gaze to her lap. At some point she’d hiked her skirt up and shoved her hand down her panties. Even now she could detect the lingering pulse drumming in her clit.

  Holy. Shit. Quickly snatching her hand free, she scrambled to her feet and stared at the mess surrounding her.

  What in the world just happened? And even more importantly than that, how the hell was she going to explain to her bosses than she’d just accidentally destroyed several months of research in one fell swoop?

  Maybe they would punish her. As if it were in full accord with that plan, her clit tingled. Uh uh. No freakin’ way. She’d indeed learned her lesson about encouraging these ridiculous fantasies of her bosses. From now on, her mind was going to be pure as a driven snow.

  Okay, that was probably physically impossible for her. But she’d no longer picture Leo and Devlin naked. That she could manage. Maybe. If she fell into a coma. And if said coma didn’t come with sneaky fantasy side effects.

  Crap. She was so screwed.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Cracking a yawn, Devlin hit the brew button on the coffee maker and waited for the machine to deliver forth its nectar of the gods. It was beyond him how Leo could function without caffeine every morning. Just as well though. Left more for the mere mortals who didn’t possess unnatural alertness at five a.m.

  After a few minutes the coffee finished percolating and he poured a cup. Groaning in appreciation at the first sip, he headed down the hall.

  Leo was already holed up in his office with the readouts from batch 39. He glanced up as Devlin strode into the room. “We need to set up trial runs ASAP. The second Sidney gets in I’ll have her get the ball rolling with some phone calls.”

  “At least let the poor girl have her morning java fix, Mr. Early Morning Freakshow.”

  Leo grunted. “She drinks tea.”

  “Ah, so you have been paying attention.” Devlin chuckled at his partner’s dark scowl. Yeah, he was an asshole to keep ribbing Leo, but it was damn fun. Besides, he was just as much a sucker when it came to Sidney. Misery loved company, as they say. He placed his coffee mug on the corner of the desk and stroked his jaw. “For shit and giggles, let’s pretend for a moment that we wouldn’t scare her off. Would it be so wrong to invite her to bed?” He and Leo had butted heads over this subject enough times the outcome was pretty much inevitable. But it didn’t stop Devlin from hoping for something different.

  “What do you think?” Leo leaned back in his seat and offered up a droll look. “Assuming she didn’t immediately slap us with a sexual harassment lawsuit, what are the odds she wouldn’t run screaming for the hills? You know damn well most women aren’t into being shared by two men, and sure not with men who have a kinky dominance streak.”

  “Guess I don’t have to worry then. Think that gives me a shot with her?”

  “Sure.” Leo’s expression turned menacing. “As long as you’re looking forward to my foot up your ass, Amigo.”

  Devlin grinned. Leo only broke out the Spanish when he was either pissed or in an affectionate mood. Odds weighed heavily on it being the former in this case. “Can’t say I am.”

  “Glad we have that settled.” Apparently satisfied that their sacred pact to keep Sidney off limits remained firmly intact, Leo passed yesterday’s reports to Devlin. “I’m still on the fence that a month is adequate for the data we need for Scentual.”

  “So we reschedule our presentation.”

  Leo exhaled resignedly. “Yeah, I don’t think we have any other choice.”

  Gaining the interest of the number one fragrance manufacturer in their market had been a huge boon. Losing their global backing would be a devastating loss, but it wouldn’t be the first time he and Leo faced monumental setbacks. Just like on those occasions, they’d ultimately come out on top.

  Devlin grabbed his coffee mug and crossed over to his office. He powered on his tablet and scrolled through his emails. Nothing much exciting beyond a few tech newsletters he subscribed to and an ad for penis enlargement. He deleted that one and settled in to peruse the article on 3-D printing. Halfway through his read he was hit with the odd certainty that something was off about the placement of his paperclip dispenser. Frowning, he leaned back in his chair. “Hey, were you messing with my stuff?”

  A grunt came from the other side of the wall. “Yes, because clearly I have nothing better to do than drive your OCD ass crazy.”

  “Well, you are a maniacal motherfucker.” Devlin made a point of loudly plopping the dispenser back into its proper position. “And it’s not OCD. I use the stapler more often, so it should be front and center, not the paperclips.”

  “Admitting you have a problem is the first step in recovery.”

  “Asshole.” Chuckling, Devlin finished up his coffee and returned to the kitchenette for a refill. He was waylaid on the round trip to his office with Leo’s request to fetch his reading glasses from the lab. After tossing out a few teasing digs about his partner becoming an old man, Devlin made tracks down the hall and fished his badge from his pants pocket.

  The moment he stepped into the lab he was struck once again with the peculiar sensation that something wasn’t quite right. As much time as he spent in the space, it was practically his second home. So with that said, if his Spidey-sense was telling him that a detail wasn’t as it should be, he was damn well going to listen up.

  Rubbing his chin, he surveyed the room, mentally checking off boxes as he cataloged each detail individually. Trash can in corner—normal. Lab coats on their proper hooks? Yep. Workstations prepped and ready for—

  His mental inspection skidding to a halt, he stared at the empty test tube holder resting on the station across from him. The vial had most definitely been there when he and Leo locked up yesterday.

  So where the hell did it go?

  Determined to get to the bottom of that mystery, he retraced his steps to Leo’s office. “Did you do something with one of the vials from batch 39?”

  Leo tore his focus from his monitor, his brow furrowed. “No. Why?”

  “It’s missing.”

  “What?”

  Well aware of where Leo’s thoughts were jumping, Devlin shot up his hand. “Don’t burst your coronary. We don’t know that this is a repeat of Texon.” But after having one of their prized formula’s ripped off by a competitor several years ago, the fear was there of it happening again. Even with all the precautions they’d taken to prevent a reoccurrence, the threat was alwa
ys present. There was only so much they could do.

  Leo vaulted from his chair and rushed from his office. Devlin stayed hot on his heels. Once inside the lab, Leo confirmed Devlin’s suspicions with a string of colorful obscenities. Raking his fingers through his hair, he shot a narrow squint at the panel obscuring the security camera in the corner. “Let’s pray they were too sloppy to cover their ass.”

  What were the chances someone would be foolish enough to stroll in here and steal Xtacy without disguising their identity? Wisely deciding to keep that woeful dose of reality to himself, he followed Leo back to his office. With a quick click of his mouse Leo pulled up the link to the security system and located the time stamp for last night. He fast-forwarded through an hour or so of uneventful footage before a blip of motion flashed across the screen.

  Leo’s features hardened. “Got the son of a bitch.” He rewound a few frames and pressed play.

  On the footage, the lab lights flickered on and a woman stepped into view. Devlin blinked. “Wait a minute. Isn’t that—?”

  “Sidney.” Her name fell from Leo with the same amount of bemusement that plagued Devlin. They both leaned closer to the computer as she sashayed to the workstation and picked up the test tube.

  Devlin shook his head. “I don’t believe it. Not of Sidney. No fucking way.”

  “Then what the hell are we looking at?” Leo demanded, his tone flatter than a desert highway. Despite the lack of inflection in his voice, Devlin knew his friend was hiding a world of hurt while he processed the visual evidence of Sidney’s potentially traitorous activity.

  “I don’t know, but let’s not jump to conclusions yet.” Come on, Sid. What are you doing? His heart knocking, he waited for the moment she’d put the vial back and scurry out of there, completely unaware of the real criminal lurking in the shadows about to abscond with the Xtacy formula. The wish was a desperate shot in the dark on his part, but he refused to give up hope. No matter how thin it was. When the test tube went flying out of Sidney’s grasp and smashed onto the floor, he straightened with a jolt, renewed optimism crashing over him. “She dropped it. That’s why it’s missing.”

  A fraction of the doubt lifted from Leo’s gaze but his shoulders remained tense. “It still doesn’t explain what in the devil she’s doing in the lab.”

  “Who knows? Maybe she was just curious—“ Devlin broke off abruptly when Sidney ripped off her blouse and wrenched down her bra. All coherent thought beating a hasty retreat from his head, he stared at the sheer magnificence of her breasts. She cupped their bountiful weight and tweaked her nipples. The real estate in Devlin’s briefs suddenly became a lot more cramped. Gripping the edge of the desk, he risked a quick peek in Leo’s direction and noticed his friend was equally enamored with the unexpected show.

  Leo swallowed hard, his Adam’s Apple bobbing. “We probably shouldn’t watch any more of this.”

  “Yeah, we shouldn’t.”

  They both kept their attention fused to the screen. Sidney’s hand crept inside her panties. He and Leo adjusted their flies simultaneously. She bit her lip, her head falling back against the side of the workstation as her hips moved in rhythm to the motion of her fingers. Even with that miniscule scrap of fabric concealing the view, the sight playing out in front of them was tantalizing as fuck. She was completely uninhibited in her wild chase to the Big O finish line. The continued reel of her gasps and moans sizzled along Devlin’s nerve endings, but it was his and Leo’s names screamed at the top of her lungs when she ultimately came that sucker punched him like a two by four.

  Holy shit. Jerking his gaze to Leo, Devlin discovered he wasn’t the only one sledge hammered by that startling last part of her self lovin’ session. “Uh, she just came while thinking about us.” There was no denying the obvious. A person didn’t just randomly scream someone’s name at the height of passion.

  Leo scrubbed a hand over his mouth, his wide-eyed stare still glued to his computer. “Fuck me.”

  “Uh, dude? Pretty sure that’s precisely what she’s saying.”

  “We don’t know that.” Leo gestured to the frozen image of Sidney’s blissfully sated sprawl. “She was under the influence of Xtacy. Who knows how much that’s distorting her response?”

  Leo could fool himself all he wanted. No damn way Devlin would do the same. Xtacy was a libido booster. Granted, a highly powerful one. But it didn’t fabricate orgasms or fantasy material out of thin air. It worked with existing factors and enhanced the user’s experience. Leo was damn well aware of that, seeing how they’d painstakingly designed it that way. So his stubborn resistance to the evidence they’d seen was purely his way of trying to maintain the safe wall between them and Sidney.

  Well fuck that shit. If what they’d just witnessed didn’t verify that she was perfect for them, then Devlin would rectify Leo’s oversight pronto. And he knew precisely the means to do it. “Not one of the test subjects matches the level of Sidney’s response to Xtacy.”

  Leo sank back in his seat, his expression equal parts wary and curious. “What difference does it make? She’s not in the program.”

  “But she could be.”

  “That would be a damn mistake.”

  “Why?” Devlin waved at the stilled footage. “She could be the answer we’ve been looking for. We’d be stupid to overlook the ideal candidate because she happens to work for us.”

  Leo’s eyebrows formed a perfect V toward the bridge of his nose. “But she does work for us. Big fat problem there, don’t you think?”

  “Not if we have her sign a waiver.”

  A flicker of hope flashed in Leo’s eyes before he quickly banked it. “You’re assuming she’d even want to do this.”

  Devlin would bet his entire life savings that she would. Yeah, he was desperately grappling onto any bit of evidence suggesting that their attraction to her was completely mutual. But his instincts never failed him before. Fingers crossed, his luck would continue to hold. “The only way we’ll know is if we ask.”

  Leo remained quiet for a long time. Not averse to playing dirty, Devlin clicked the wireless mouse, rewinding to the exact moment she screamed their names in ecstasy. He paused the image and headed for the door.

  Leo’s cough broke the silence. “I’ll call Miguel and get him to draw up the papers.”

  Miguel was Leo’s brother-in-law and their lawyer. Snuffing his hoot of triumph, Devlin grinned and strode from the room.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Midway to the Carleton Towers’ main elevators, Sidney’s cellphone chirped. The display showed the incoming call was from Jane. Normally Sidney would let it go to voicemail when she was in a rush, but she still felt bad for ducking out on her friends last night. And truthfully, she could use another pep talk to steel her nerves for the admission she was about to make to her bosses. Maybe she should have left a note on their desks about breaking the test tube. Then again, that kinda seemed like the coward’s way out. Better to face the music in person—and fall sobbing at their feet, begging them not to fire her. She clicked the Talk button. “Hey, sorry again about yesterday.”

  “No problemo. I’m glad you were able to find your wallet. You ready to face the music with your bosses?”

  Sidney blinked at her friend’s choice of words. It was absolutely scary how in sync their brains were sometimes. So much so, she was half convinced that neither Jane nor Marissa had believed her story that nothing happened beyond her accidentally dropping the elixir in the lab. “No, but I’m pulling up my big girl panties as we speak.”

  “Don’t stress yourself out too much. Shit happens. You’re a damn good employee. They’d be stupid to get rid of you over one teensy mistake.”

  She appreciated Jane’s faith in her, but the mistake was far from miniscule. She wouldn’t fool herself in that regard. Glancing at her watch, she winced and hastily wrapped up her chat with Jane. The last thing she needed was to get in any hotter water than she already was by being late. Tucking her phone in her purse, sh
e ducked inside the elevator.

  By the time she reached the eighteenth floor she was more tightly strung than a Stradivarius. Knees shaking, she stepped inside the office and deposited her purse in the cubby underneath her desk before making the trek down the hall. She stalled on the other side of Leo’s doorway, her heart pounding.

  Suck it up, you big baby. Squaring her shoulders, she entered the room. Both of her gorgeous bosses were parked at the small conference table. Well, at least this way she killed two birds with one stone.

  She had a second to silently drool to her heart’s content—might as well, since she’d likely get her ass booted out the door in five minutes. Possibly sooner, depending on how long it took her to stammer through the most awkward apology in history. Not wanting to push her luck, she cleared her throat.

  Devlin’s and Leo’s gazes jerked in her direction fast enough to give her whiplash. She took a hesitant step forward. “Are you busy?”

  Both men shook their heads. Clasping her hands behind her back, she took a deep breath and expelled it slowly. “I accidentally destroyed one of the vials of Xtacy.”

  Leo thumbed the outer edge of the papers stacked in front of him. “We know.”

  “I didn’t mean for it to happen. It just sort of slipped from—” Her tongue tangled on the last word as his statement registered. She ping-ponged her stare between him and Devlin. “Y—you know?” How was that remotely possible? Even if they’d noticed one less test tube on the workstation, she wouldn’t have thought they’d automatically assume she was to blame.