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Suddenly, Alex threw his head back, grabbing tufts of his hair and writhing beneath Julian. “Fuck me, Professor. Make me come.”
The filthy plea sent a jolt of heat through Julian. Gripping Alex’s hips to pound into him, Julian chased his pleasure while angling to hit Alex’s sweet spot.
Alex shuddered beneath him with a broken cry, spilling between their stomachs. The clench of his body tipped Julian into climax. Pleasure crashed over him in waves until he was spent and shaking.
“Damn.” Alex panted when it was over, running a hand through Julian’s sweaty hair.
Julian marveled at the sensation of Alex’s warm body pressed against him, the hardness of his erection deep within Alex. “No regrets?”
“One,” Alex murmured, snuggling into the crook of Julian’s neck. “Next time, let’s try this in an actual bed.”
Utterly content, Julian nuzzled into the embrace with a gentle laugh.
Chapter 9
Alex’seyesflutteredopento the morning light filtering through Julian’s bedroom window. Still half-asleep, he rolled over and pressed his face into the cool linen pillowcase and the lingering scents of his absent lover’s hair: sandalwood, a hint of musk, and something indefinably Julian.
The memories of the previous night put a dreamy smile on Alex’s lips. How Julian’s fingertips had traced gentle patterns around his shoulders, the way their bodies rocked in rhythm, and the morning-after body aches courtesy of their intensive lovemaking.
Stretching languidly, Alex blinked the sleep from his eyes and reached for his glasses on the nightstand. Instead, he found a folded piece of paper bearing Julian’s elegant handwriting.
Alex unfolded the paper, his hands trembling unexpectedly, and read:
“Good morning, handsome. Had to prepare for class and didn’t want to wake you. Help yourself to anything in the fridge. See you in class later—ha-ha. Some day that will be funny. Love, -J.”
Brushing his fingers across the paper, Alex absorbed the bedroom, taking in the books stacked neatly on the nightstand, the reading glasses perched on top of a leather volume of Shakespeare’s sonnets, and the cozy armchair by the window. He imagined lazy Sundays spent here together, sipping coffee and reading poems aloud. Alex wrinkled his nose at poetry, but he would learn to love it if making out between stanzas became part of the experience.
He returned the note to the nightstand and swung his legs over the side of the bed, his feet slapping against the hardwood floor as he stood. Pulling on his jeans and pocketing his phone, Alex padded into the kitchen to find caffeine.
Flipping on the light switch, he saw the infamous zester from the previous night lying on the drying rack. It reminded Alex of his silly fumbling with the contraption, convinced—though briefly—it represented the chasm between his world and Julian’s. However, in the morning’s warmth, Alex recognized he wanted to learn these finer points of life. Julian’s influence could evolve him beyond microwaved dinners and lucky hoodies.
Alex grabbed a mug and confronted the sleek, space-age-looking coffee maker that took up a substantial amount of counter space. With a raised eyebrow, he attempted to decode the various buttons and dials and the intricate water-filtration system. Despite the machine’s beeps in protest, Alex vowed to wrestle it into brewing a basic cup of coffee. He was a computer scientist, for crying out loud.
Celebrating the triumph of whirring the coffee maker to life, Alex barely registered the gentle vibrations coming from the phone tucked in the front pocket of his jeans. His hand reached for it absently, neglecting to glance at the screen before answering, “Hello?”
“Alex Bennett? Loretta Johnson. Promethean Technologies. I’m calling to discuss details of your relocation and onboarding.”
Staring into the blinking lights of the coffee maker, Alex felt his chest tighten. There it was—a very real reminder of his new job in California. Had he really convinced himself he could have it all? A dream job on one coast and a hunky professor on another? Aside from teleportation, how would that work?
Loretta continued, “We need you on-site by May fifteenth. As we work toward that date, I have a list of tasks for you to complete.”
“May fifteenth?” He closed his eyes to help him focus. “That’s… That’s the Monday after my graduation.”
“That’s the first task on my list. Once your degree is awarded, I’ll need an official transcript. Now, let’s move on to your relocation…”
Loretta was likely unaware that the smoothness in her voice was gutting Alex from the inside. As she listed dates and detailed logistics with rapid-fire speed, Alex’s brain lagged, and he struggled to process any of it.
“We’ll arrange for your moving costs to be covered up to two thousand dollars,” Loretta said. “You’re eligible for temporary corporate housing for the first month in the new location…”
Alex continued to stare at the coffee maker, willing the caffeine to drip and contend with the information overload. The machine continued to beep in response to his aimless tapping. “Is there any wiggle room with my start date? Something a few months after May fifteenth?”
“Months?” Loretta chuckled. “I know the timeline is tight, but we’ll get you moved in plenty of time. We do it all the time.”
“Right, of course. It’s just… I was hoping to have more time to get situated. Is there an option for virtual onboarding? Something that might give me more time to wrap things up here?”
Or to say goodbye to Julian.
“Virtual?” Loretta paused. “We do all that on-site, even for our select remote positions.” The paper flicking suggested Loretta was combing through the details of Alex’s offer letter. “However, I’m not reading anything about a remote work agreement.”
