Page 24 of Code Mages & Empty Pages
Tomorrow, maybe, I’d find my way back and talk to Dawn. But tonight, I’d just hide in my room and escape.
Chapter 9
Dawn
Ifinished washing up after fixing myself a grazing platter and went upstairs to ask Luc if he wanted a cup of tea. His door was mostly closed, but I could hear the faint tap-tap of his keyboard and that low, rumbling laugh I’d started to anticipate.I hesitated, not wanting to interrupt him but also wanting that connection again.
He’d been so distraught in the lift, and yes, I had promised him that it stayed in the lift. But that had been a white lie. I knew he liked me, and I wanted under his shell.
I knocked, but if he heard it, he didn’t answer. I pushed the door open and had barely set foot inside Luc’s room, intending to ask if he wanted tea, when I saw him lean back in his chair with a low groan. Then I caught sight ofhim: bare-chested, with his headset on, and sprawled across his chair wearingnothing.
“Oh my God!” I spun and bolted, heart pounding as I nearly tripped over my own feet in my rush to escape. I made it to the kitchen and busied myself with the kettle, pretending very hard to care about tea and not about the image burned into my retinas.
“Dawn, wait!” Luc called after me.
He tracked me down when I was still hunched over my mug.
“Hey,” he said, his voice suddenly uncertain, softer than usual.
“Hey,” I managed, focusing on the steam rising from my cup.
Look at anything but his eyes. Or his cock.
My cheeks were on fire.
He lingered in the doorway, awkward and too close. “Listen, I’m sorry. It was hot in my room and—”
“Oh God, Luc, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have just walked in.” I chanced a glance at him, then immediately looked away, mortified. “I didn’t want to interrupt you when you were—“ I waved a hand and tried my best not to spiral. What if he kicked me out for overstepping?
He cleared his throat, sounding as embarrassed as I felt. “No, it’s fine. I—”
“No, it’s not.” My face burned. “Crap, I didn’t mean to walk in on you…um…” The thought alone made me want to crawl into the cupboard with the tea bags.
“Dawn?” I forced myself to meet his eyes. It felt like peeling off a plaster in slow motion.
“What do you think I was doing?” His voice was low, rougher than usual.
My face went nuclear. “You were clearly pleasuring yourself,” I forced out.
If the floor could please open up and swallow me whole?
He huffed a laugh. “I wasgaming. Not with myself. Video games. Riddles & Guilt, if you’re curious.”
“Gaming?” I echoed, stunned, my mortification giving way to a weird sort of relief. “Oh my God. I thought—”
“I don’t even want to know.” One corner of his mouth quivered. “Yeah. Hip, Dante, and I were on a mission. I probably blew it now.”
I busied myself with my tea, hands trembling. “Sorry. I just, yeah, sorry.” He leaned back against the counter, arms crossed, looking completely unbothered except for the faint thumping of his tail against the cabinet door. I tried not to look at his shorts and failed. I tore my eyes away quickly and focused on the bergamot-scented steam instead.
“I’ve never really played video games,” I confessed, just to fill the awkward silence.
He raised an eyebrow, as if I’d confessed to never having eaten bread. “Never? I didn’t know people like you existed.”
I finally managed a laugh, soft and a little shaky. The tension eased, just a bit. But I knew I’d never look at those shorts the same way again.
“If you want, I can show you how to play. It’s fun.” I heard the smirk in his voice. “Mm, I think I’d enjoy playing with you.”
Holy fucking shit. My smut writer brain was fine tuned to innuendo and latched onto every single word it might have use for in a book.
