Chapter 34

Thomas's pupils double in size instantly, he scoops me up and carries me inside my office, the only private space in the lab, locking the door behind us.

He presses me against the wall and his lips descend on mine in a kiss that's desperate in its urgency.

My body responds eagerly, pressing up against his muscular frame with equal ferocity.

His hands are everywhere, roaming over my back, tangling in my hair, gripping my hips. The heat between us is almost unbearable. I moan into his mouth as he nips at my bottom lip before taking it between his own, sucking on it until I'm panting for breath.

Breaking the kiss, Thomas looks down at me with darkened eyes. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," he breathes against my lips.

"I'm pretty sure I do."

"I've never wanted anyone like this."

I smile, breathless and giddy with desire. My knees go weak as he brushes his hand against the side of my face in the most tender caress. Then he kisses my mouth, feather-like soft, then my cheek, my earlobe. A gentle nip.

I moan again as he trails kisses down my neck and onto my collarbone. I've finally touched the sun and I'm burning and it's the best thing that ever happened to me.

"Tell me what you want," he whispers into my ear.

My entire body is trembling with desire. I want everything, but the only word I can manage to say is his name in a pleading whisper for more. "Thomas."

When he smiles, it's like the flutter of a thousand wings in my chest. His mouth caresses mine with gentle intensity while our kiss deepens again into something richer that awakens me on such a basic level all I can do is surrender to it entirely. My senses are filled with Thomas, from his scintillating touch to the sweet taste of him. The moment feels suspended in time as if neither one of us can take it slow or fast enough.

I'm vaguely aware of him reaching for the back of my pajama top, and then the flimsy fabric swooshes over my head and lands on the tile floor with a soft swish.

I return the favor and free Thomas of his cashmere sweater and the T-shirt underneath.

Now that I'm free to let my eyes roam over him, I take a moment to admire his broad chest, his shoulders, and his sculpted stomach.

I trace a finger down his pecs. "You're so beautiful."

The grin he flashes me in return is devastating. "As if you could talk, baby."

I watch him drink me in, and I've never felt more desirable in my entire life.

Thomas's mouth goes to my neck while his hands caress every inch of me before finding their way under my pajama bottoms.

A gentle push and the shorts are gone, joining the silk top on the floor.

Thomas scoops me up into his arms like I weigh nothing.

We are both breathing heavily as he lifts me up onto my desk. We kiss again and again until Thomas, visibly trembling pulls back.

His smile is soft and gentle, his eyes dark with desire. "Are you sure about this? Because I can't hold myself in check much longer…"

My only response is to unbutton his jeans. "Good, because I don't want you to hold back."

When Thomas is done not holding back, my office is a little worse for wear. A metal clip might be permanently stuck to my butt, and my desk may never be the same.

Still, I can't stop smiling. And even more weirdly, I don't feel awkward, not even when Thomas gets re-dressed and scuttles out of the lab to retrieve my lost sweats while I put my pajamas back on.

Once we're both decent again, I can't help myself. I go to him and hug him. I bury my face in the hard softness of his chest and breathe him in.

He gently strokes my hair. "Everything okay?"

"Never been better," I respond. "Can't say the same for my office."

I relish the low rumble of laughter that bubbles up from his chest. "Yeah, we'd better clean up before someone walks in here tomorrow morning and sounds the alarm."

Reluctantly, I let him go, and, together, we clear the mess. I collect a pen holder that tumbled to the floor, searching for the spilled pens, while Thomas gathers a stack of papers that have flown everywhere. Next, we clean up my photo frames that have miraculously remained intact. The same could not be said of the broken coffee mug Thomas retrieves from under my chair.

From his kneeling position on the floor, he looks at me with a cute frown. "Sorry about this." He puts the pieces together and smiles at the writing on the side of the mug: Yoda the best boss in the galaxy.

"Don't worry," I say. "Maria got me that; she'd be proud of the way it met its end."

Thomas throws the shards into the bin, and just like that, the office is back in shape. Almost. The desk is still slightly crooked, but there's nothing to be done. My desk may not be level ever again, and I'm okay with that. Worth it.

I catch Thomas's eye just as he looks away from the desk. We burst out laughing. Then he drops an arm on my shoulders and steers me out of the office.

K-2P is outside. He wheels past us sputtering. "If you're done sating your base human instincts, I'd like to plug in for the night."

"Good night." I lean in for a kiss to the dome but he wheezes past me, indignantly muttering, "You think you can kiss your droid with that mouth?"

I stare up at Thomas, beaming and blushing. "Fair enough."

He drops a kiss on top of my head. "Come, Campbell, I'm driving you home."

Because of the late hour and all the extracurricular activities, I almost fall asleep in the car. But as we stop in front of my building, I'm suddenly wide awake again.

"Do you want to come up?" I ask.

Thomas turns to me, hands still on the wheel, his expression positively ravenous. "I'd love nothing more, babe…"

"But?"

"But I have to see my dad early tomorrow morning and I'd better show up with at least a few hours of sleep under my belt and in a clean suit."

"Yeah, you're right."

Still, I unbuckle my seatbelt and shave at least another half hour of sleep from under him. That's how long our goodnight kiss takes.

"See you tomorrow," I whisper, biting my swollen lips, and before I can change my mind, I hop out of the car and run the few steps up to my building.

When I get back into bed, many hours later than I'd initially planned, I fall asleep the moment my face hits the pillow.