Applied Electromagnetism

by Susannah Nix

  She couldn’t believe they were doing this. Her heart was thumping against the walls of her chest, her pulse thrumming with arousal. Their hands were everywhere, like they couldn’t get enough of touching each other, but their clothes were sopping wet, sticking to their skin with shiver-inducing clamminess. They were dripping on the floor, leaving a damp puddle on the rug, and Olivia’s drenched hair was plastered to her face, sending rivulets of water into her eyes and down her neck.

  Adam broke free long enough to wrestle off his soaked T-shirt and slick his wet hair back out of his eyes. She reached for the broad expanse of beautiful bronze muscles, pressing her palm against his chest. He winced as her cold hand touched him, and covered it with his own.

  “You’re freezing.” His other hand cupped her jaw as his lips grazed hers in a gentle kiss. “We need to dry off.”

  “We need to get out of these clothes.” She was starting to feel claustrophobic, like her wet clothes were shrinking onto her body, and if she didn’t get out of them soon she was going to explode out of them like the Hulk.

  “Yes,” he said. “God, yes.”

  He took her hand and led her into the bathroom, grabbing a towel off the hook and handing it to her. She dried her face and arms, then wrapped the towel around her wet hair, tying it into a turban before she became distracted by the sight of Adam rubbing another towel over his chest.

  He noticed her staring and stopped, a hint of uncertainty flitting across his expression. “What?”

  “You’re just so gorgeous. Your body is unreal.”

  She watched a flush creep up his throat to color his face as he glanced away in embarrassment.

  “What’s wrong? I thought you liked it when I look at you.”

  “I do.” He dropped his towel to the floor and stepped closer, cupping her jaw again as he bent toward her.

  She turned her head and his kiss landed on the corner of her mouth. “Why so bashful, then?” It was hard to imagine someone who looked like him being shy about his body. If she looked like a model from a Bowflex commercial, she’d be posting underwear selfies on Instagram every goddamn day.

  He kissed her cheek before moving on to her earlobe. “I guess I’m not used to being complimented on my body.”

  “Come on. I can’t be the first woman to notice you’ve got a slamming bod.” She stroked her hands over his upper arms and shoulders.

  “I didn’t used to look like this.” His lips found a sensitive spot beneath her ear, and she shivered as his breath tickled her neck. “It was only after the breakup that I started going to the gym.”

  “Lucky me.” It explained so much about him. How he’d never acted like someone who knew he was hot, and how oblivious he seemed to the interest of the women around him.

  He reached up and loosened the towel around her head, letting it tumble to the floor in a spill of damp hair as his mouth closed over hers again. His tongue touched hers, tasting and teasing as his fingers tugged at the bottom of her sodden shirt. “Let’s get you out of these clothes.”

  “Yes, please.” She helped him pull her shirt over her head, shivering as the air hit her wet skin.

  His big, rough hands roamed over her torso, leaving trails of tingling warmth everywhere they touched her. Then his fingers found the button of her jeans, and he peeled the wet denim off her legs. She stepped out of her pants and kicked them away, feeling like she’d just been freed from a straitjacket. Her hands grasped the waistband of his jeans, and he helped her unbutton them and shove them down.

  It was too dark in the bathroom to see well, so they explored each other with their hands. Olivia squeezed Adam’s shoulders, wrapped her fingers around his biceps, and slid her palms over his flat stomach. He was built like a brick wall, if a brick wall could be smooth and warm.

  It was almost better, finding her way by feel in the dark. It gave her a freedom to touch that she might not have had if she’d been able to see him looking at her.

  “Bed?” he suggested.

  It was still afternoon. They had hours ahead of them to kill, just the two of them alone in this room. A whole night. The thought of everything they could do to each other sent tremors of excitement shooting down her spine.

  “Bed,” she agreed heartily. But one step out of the bathroom had her clutching at his arm. “The blinds are open.”

  It was their only source of light, but it exposed them to the view of anyone who happened to be passing by. And the things she planned to do to him were not fit for public consumption.

  “On it.” Adam went to the window and drew the blinds, plunging them into near-total darkness.

  Olivia fumbled her way to the bed and heard him engage the security latch on the door with a finality that made her blood spark.

  “Where are you?” he asked as she slipped between the sheets.

  “Over here.” She patted the mattress beside her.

  “Keep talking to me so I can find you.”

  “Marco.”

  There was a scuffing sound followed by a soft thump. “Ow, fuck. Polo.”

  “Be careful,” she warned him. The way the rest of this trip had gone, he’d probably break his leg or give himself a concussion and fall into a coma. She didn’t even know where the nearest hospital was from here, or if the ambulance would be able to get to them through the flooding.

  “You’re supposed to say Marco.”

  “And you’re not supposed to kill yourself in the dark.” Her heart was buzzing in her chest, so hard that if there’d been any light, she was certain she’d be able to see it vibrating.

  “Polo,” he said as a shape loomed over her, a darker blot in the darkness, and she felt his knees depress the mattress on either side of hers. His hands landed next, caging her in, and the weight of his body pressed down on her as his mouth found her neck.

  Thunder rumbled outside, or maybe it was inside her head. Maybe it was actually her pulse making that noise in her ears as their bodies slid together in the dark.

  He murmured words against her skin, and they were all about her. How amazing she was, how beautiful, and how good she made him feel. She let herself sink into him, carried away by the sound of his voice and the feel of him wrapped all around her.

  It wasn’t at all how she’d imagined it would be. Not when she’d first noticed him and felt that initial spark of attraction, or even later, after she’d gotten to know him better and understand him. She’d imagined he’d be assertive and straightforward in bed. Maybe even a little rough, but in the best kind of way.

  Never in a million years had she expected this tender intensity. He was so gentle, and patient, and sensual. When he touched her she felt it everywhere, shimmering through every pore all over her body, every nerve ending and every cell of brain matter. He turned her inside out, driving her to places she never even knew existed.

  It made her wonder what she’d been doing all these years, wasting her time with men who couldn’t affect her this way. How had she ever done without this feeling?

  And now that she’d experienced it, how would she ever live without it?

  Chapter Seventeen

  For the second morning in a row, Olivia woke in Adam’s arms. Only this time, his hand was cupping her breast instead of her waist.

  There was a moment of disorientation, followed by realization. Memories of the night before flooded back, and she felt a moment of uncertainty as she wondered what this would mean for them.

  How were they meant to go forward from here? Was last night a one-time thing or something more?

  She wanted more, but she had no idea if Adam would. If he didn’t, she’d have to find a way to navigate that with dignity. They still had to work together.

  Oh god, the job.

  Her eyes flew open, and the digital clock on the nightstand flashed at her in the pre-dawn light. The power was back on.

  That was when she realized the rain had stopped. That dull roar she could hear wasn’t rain, it was traffic on the highway. The roads were ope
n again.

  Adam stirred behind her and she froze, waiting to see what he would do. She’d take her cue from him. If he shrank away from her and leapt out of bed, it was probably safe to assume he wasn’t interested in a repeat performance.

  He didn’t shrink away or leap out of bed. Instead, he pulled her even closer, nuzzling kisses into her hair. “Morning,” he murmured as his hand roamed over her stomach and down between her thighs.

  Her limbs melted into a quivering puddle, and she felt him press against her, hard and eager. She pressed back, wanting it just as much as he did. She could stay here forever in this bed with him, just the two of them in their little bubble, completely separate from the world outside.

  But that wasn’t practical. The power was back on, and they had a job to do. A job with a deadline of midnight tonight.

  “Adam.” Her voice came out in a breathy moan, and he increased his attentions, taking it as encouragement.

  If only they could spare the time. She’d give almost anything for him not to stop.

  Except her job. She couldn’t afford to give that up.

  “Adam,” she tried again. “The power’s back on.”

  “I guess that means I’d better stop.” He didn’t stop though, and it was making it very difficult for her to remember what their priorities were supposed to be.

  “Probably,” she managed in a shaky voice, even as she pressed back against him for more.

  He withdrew his hand—much to her disappointment—and propped himself up, rolling her onto her back. “Too bad,” he said, smiling as he bent to brush a light kiss across her lips.

  His hair was ruffled and sticking up, and his lips had a bruised, raw look to them. He looked like someone who’d been ravished. Kissed and fondled and thoroughly fucked for hours. She probably looked the same.

  When he kicked off the sheets and climbed out of bed, she couldn’t help feeling like she’d lost something. Their happy little bubble had popped, and now they would have to reenter normal time and space. A nagging worry tugged at her that they’d never recapture this moment again. Once the pressures of the real world intruded, they’d lose this fragile thing they’d built.

  Adam offered her the first shower, and Olivia took him up on it. When she came out, toweling off her freshly washed hair, he said he’d been down to the office to talk to Linda, who’d told him the roads to the plant were all open again. They were back in business—and another day behind.

  “She said she’d have a new room for me tonight,” Adam said as he dug his electric razor out of his suitcase.

  “Too bad you’re not gonna need it,” Olivia replied as she ran a comb through her clean, wet hair.

  “Yeah, there’s a pretty good chance we’ll have to work through the night,” he agreed as he disappeared into the bathroom.

  Which wasn’t what Olivia had meant at all, but he was probably right.

  They stopped off at the motel lobby to grab coffee and breakfast—which was fresh this morning, thanks to the miracle of restored electricity—and drove straight to the plant.

  In the car, Olivia checked her phone and found no less than five panicked emails from Gavin since yesterday afternoon.

  “I think Gavin’s having an extended panic attack,” she told Adam.

  “Tell him we’re on the job and everything’s going to be fine.” His knuckles whitened on the steering wheel, making a liar out of him.

  “Maybe we should ask for an extension,” Olivia suggested. They had two days of testing left to do, and only one day to do it. She couldn’t imagine a scenario in which they’d be able to meet their deadline tonight.

  Adam shook his head. “I still think we can make it.”

  “How can you say that?”

  “We just have to accelerate the process.”

  “What does that mean?” she asked. “How do we do that?”

  “It means we work smart and prioritize.”

  “As opposed to every other day when we work dumb and fly by the seat of our pants?”

  He threw her a glance. “I mean you might have to skip a few things on your checklist.”

  She felt her hackles rise. “My checklist isn’t just there for fun. Everything on it is important.”

  “I know you like to have all your i’s dotted—”

  “It’s actually the energy commission that likes that. They’re pretty particular about it.”

  “I just think it’s too early to throw in the towel.”

  “And when might you be willing to throw in the towel?” she wondered. “I’d prefer to warn them sooner rather than later if we’re not going to make the deadline.”

  Painting a rosy picture of a probable imminent disaster went against Olivia’s nature. Her preferred strategy was to prepare people for the worst, then hopefully deliver more than they were expecting. Adam’s false bravado in the face of likely failure felt like a bad idea.

  He glanced at the clock on the dashboard. “How about two o’clock? We work our asses off until then and get as much done as we can, and at two p.m. we reevaluate. If we need the extension, that still gives Gavin plenty of time to smooth the waters with the CIO.”

  “Fine,” she said. “I can live with that.” Barely.

  She spent the rest of the drive typing out an email to Gavin explaining their game plan and letting him know they’d give him a status update later that afternoon.

  They pulled up to the gate just as she hit send.

  “Ready for this?” Adam asked after he’d parked the car. She could feel him itching to dive back into work, but she wasn’t quite ready to leave their bubble yet.

  All morning she’d sensed him pulling away, retreating back into his no-nonsense work persona. He hadn’t touched her once since he’d climbed out of her bed. It felt like the Adam from yesterday was disappearing, and she was afraid she’d never get to see him again.

  “Is it going to make things weird?” she asked. “What happened last night?”

  “It doesn’t have to.” There was more of his trademark bravado. Maybe he actually believed what he was saying, but it didn’t do anything to calm the voices hissing in the back of her head.

  She’d felt things yesterday that she’d never felt before. Whatever this was between them, it was visceral and intense, and it scared the shit out of her.

  Mostly because she was afraid of losing it.

  “Come on,” he said, giving her one of his almost-smiles. “We’ve got work to do.”

  They worked their asses off for the next six hours, throwing themselves into testing with grim determination. When two o’clock rolled around, and it was time to make the call on an extension, Olivia was still convinced they needed another day of testing and Adam was convinced they didn’t.

  They went over the tests they had left, arguing over which could be put off and which couldn’t, and how long they’d each take to run. Kurt was off doing one of his regular checks, so they were alone in the office for the first time all day, but there were no fond smiles or affectionate touches as they hashed out their opposing positions.

  Adam was right that it would technically be possible to start generating power from the plant at midnight. But Olivia was afraid of staking their careers on the hope that everything was working as opposed to being really certain. The halls of IT history were littered with the bodies of people who thought something would be fine when it wasn’t, and the stakes were high because it was power. The regulatory fines for making a mistake were steep. Millions of dollars were on the line, not to mention little things like hospitals and airports and grandmothers who needed their air-conditioning.

  “You know they’re not going to bid it out to market until Monday,” Adam pointed out. “They’ll want to do test generation first. And we’d already planned on staying through Sunday in case something barfs. That gives us plenty of time to catch anything we might have missed.”

  “That’s all the more reason not to rush,” Olivia insisted. “We’re killing ourselves for an arbi
trary deadline. Realistically, the board won’t care if it’s done Friday midnight or Saturday midnight, as long as when they walk in the door Monday morning, it’s done.”

  Adam leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “How confident are you that we can go live right now with no failures? Put a number value on it.”

  She tried to rub some of the tension out of her neck while she thought about it. “Eighty percent? Maybe eighty-five.”

  “Eighty-five percent is pretty fucking sure.” He was starting to sound exasperated. “You know how impressed they’ll be if we meet that deadline tonight after all the shit that’s gone wrong this week? We’ll be superheroes. I thought you wanted to make a name for yourself.”

  Olivia dug her heels in. “I want another day of testing. I think it’s worth asking for the extension.”

  “You’re just resisting because you’re allergic to shortcuts. You have to make everything as difficult as possible.”

  Now she was pissed. “I happen to love shortcuts, when they’re actual shortcuts. I’ll have you know, I have all the shortcut paths at Ikea memorized. I can move through that store like a goddamn ninja and be in and out in under ten minutes on a holiday weekend. What I don’t like is leaving half the work undone and calling it a shortcut, which is what you’re proposing. It’s sloppy and I won’t sign my name to it.”

  As she glared at him, she remembered his hand sliding through her hair last night, his mouth moving over her body, and his voice, rough with desire, alternately soothing and begging. But today was a brand-new day, and the closeness of yesterday felt like a dream-fogged memory that faded more with every tick of the clock toward their midnight deadline.

  Why had she thought anything would be different between them? Just because they’d slept together didn’t mean they’d magically start agreeing on everything or even getting along. It was one thing to fall into each other’s arms during a moment of boredom in close quarters, but they weren’t bored or isolated anymore. They were back in the real world now, and in the real world they were the opposite of compatible.