in that cage of strength and security he loved so much.
He barely had a chance to sink his teeth into Gabriel’s jaw when he was swept up off the counter and carried into their bedroom. He hid his smile at the crook of Gabriel’s neck as he held on, thankful Gabriel understood exactly what he wanted without the need for a single word.
= ♥ =
“Are you listening to me?” Anthony asked.
“Yes.”
“Bullshit.”
He scoffed. That joke got old fast. He really needed more creative friends. He raked his fingers through his hair, pushing away the memories of last night.
Ben.
Writhing under him.
Digging his fingers into his chest.
Shit. Just thinking about how feral he had been—they had been—had his entire body hard in one second flat. Their lovemaking was still frenzied, as if neither could release all the pent-up horniness that had built up over the last few months. But something had been different. Last night, he had needed the release almost as badly as he had needed the reminder of his humanity. And Ben had completely surrendered himself, encouraging him to take what he needed, and showing him how much he wanted him in return.
“We can resume this later when you’re paying attention.” Anthony’s voice through the video call jolted him back to the moment.
Bull narrowed his eyes at his coworker. “You were telling me what IT found with their audit of the events logs. Essentially, data was viewed, but not altered, so everyone is resisting your plan for change. Especially since you want to go all balls-to-the-wall and have IT implement a two-factor authentication with physical access controls restricting each user to their local office. And for executive-level employees, you want to add a third, biometric login requirement. You want a mandatory password expiration every thirty days but you and IT are discussing the ramifications of forcing a reset every seven. And…you want my help convincing Rachel this is all a great idea. Did I miss something?”
Anthony smirked. “Smart-ass. How was I supposed to know that glazed-over look meant you were listening?”
“It’s called multitasking.”
“Whatever,” Anthony said, rolling his eyes. “Are you going to help me?”
“Scale of one to ten, how hard is she fighting you?”
“Twelve.”
“Give up.” He raised a finger when Anthony was ready to protest. “For now. She needs a little time. It’s important and she’ll eventually see that. The breach is a violation and we don’t have a full picture of its impact yet, but in her mind, it’s only a breach of her access. If nothing was altered, she thinks it’s not a problem and won’t want to inconvenience everyone. This much change is going to cause an uprising and it will make her feel as if she’s losing control.”
“And that always scares the shit out of her,” Anthony absently added, almost in a whisper when he finally connected the dots in the logic.
“Lock it down as much as you can. Her account is the one compromised. She’s got teams of people to do things for her, so it shouldn’t be an issue.”
“I’ve already removed her admin account access in sensitive areas just in case there’s an attempt to make a system change. That should keep things under control for now.”
“Did you tell her you did that?”
“No. She’ll get pissed off—”
“At first, but she’ll see it as a compromise. If you don’t tell her and she finds out, she’ll see it as a betrayal. And you know she always finds out.”
Anthony blew out an exasperated breath. “If there’s another breach, I’m putting my foot down and demanding she let me do my damn job.”
“And I’ll be right there, by your side, pushing to make that happen.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” Anthony sat back in his chair, narrowing his stare. “So…I heard your boyfriend moved in last week.”
“You know…” Bull shook his head and rested his crossed arms on the desk, nearing the screen. “If you found a way to control office gossip, you’d be branded a security genius.”
“Stop being so nice to everyone. That’ll get them to shut up about you.”
Bull scoffed. “No one is immune to office gossip.”
“Bullshit.”
He was going to trademark that word and start charging people every damn time they used it in a conversation. “You think you’re spared from watercooler talk if you walk around with your super serious attitude?”
Anthony shrugged and pursed his lips. “I keep things close to the vest. No one knows my personal stuff.”
“Really?” He smiled into the screen. “So I guess this long-distance thing between you and Marissa is supposed