Work Text:
“Mr. Rowland, Mr. Rowland, report to Mr. Payne’s office immediately.”
The voice coming out of Charles’ honest-to-god pager was, naturally, Mr. Payne’s. There was very little Edwin trusted others to do– he wanted work done properly, and it had taken months of Niko wearing him down in order to hire Charles on as his secretary.
At only thirty, Edwin Payne had made a name for himself in the publishing industry, entirely separate from his family’s legacy around classic literature. Edwin unabashedly hunted for the best in queer literature, and refused to let anyone look down on him, or his employees, for it. His wit was acidic, his dress immaculate, his expressions crisp enough to cut a weaker man to ribbons.
Charles always got a little weak in the knees watching Edwin eviscerate someone. It wasn’t proper, feeling that way about his boss, but Charles wasn’t very proper anyway, was he? Messy outfits, messy eyeliner, messy, loud music that made Edwin scoff and steeple his long, thin fingers together before lecturing him on hearing damage.
Licking his dry lips, Charles wondered how long he could ignore Edwin’s summons. Even the tinny sound of his voice through the pager brought up memories of last night, of feverishly touching himself until his fingers cramped and his dick ached while a voicemail from his boss played on repeat.
It was pathetic. But Charles wasn’t going to stop. His fantasies– his crush– they were his private indulgences, yeah? While he was at work, Charles would be professional. He had to be. He swallowed hard, then tucked Niko’s latest draft under his arm. If Edwin was in a mood, he’d want something light to calm him down. Eventually.
Habit– and far too many annoying interruptions from nosy coworkers– had Charles locking the door behind him once he’d stepped into Edwin’s office. The smell of old books and woody perfume was an odd mix of comforting and arousing, and the hardwood floor surrounding Edwin’s massive desk and the plush rug it sat on announced Charles’ presence before he could speak.
“Charles,” Edwin sighed, his tone a mix of frustrated and relieved. He had his mobile in one hand, a woman’s shrill voice delivering a litany of threats. “Ms. Finch is insisting she has a meeting with me today, and is demanding access into the building.” Charles raised his eyebrows, but kept quiet. Edwin’s other hand was tapping out a sharp rhythm against the surface of his desk, and it was…rather mesmerizing.
“Of course,” Edwin continued, “I informed her that no such meeting exists, and that even if I were free this afternoon, the office is simply…unwelcome to guests today.”
Charles winced. If Edwin had needed multiple layers of excuses, then Esther Finch was more determined than ever to get a meeting with Edwin. She was convinced her son, Monty, an up-and-coming romance author, deserved to be fast-tracked to the top, and was willing to do anything to get it for him. Edwin would never deal with someone so corrupt, leaving Monty– nice enough lad, except for the way he got all starry-eyed around Edwin– caught in the cross-fire.
“Isn’t that right, Charles?” Edwin’s sharp tone jerked Charles’ attention back to the present, finding Edwin’s gorgeous grey-green eyes locked on his, the persuasion in them enough to make Charles’ knees weak.
“Um,” Charles stuttered, “yeah, yeah that’s right.” He gained confidence with each word, the lie taking shape. “Found a, uh, spider infestation this morning. All the floors of the building, it’s…bad. Had to call in pest control, they said it’d be best to just evacuate the building all together till they got things sorted.”
Edwin’s eyebrow was raised disbelievingly, but there was the beginning of a smirk on his handsome face. Through the phone, Charles heard Esther smugly demanding why she’d been able to reach Edwin on his work line if he wasn’t in the office.
“Working from home, isn’t he?” Charles cut in. “Took all his equipment with him.” Charles shrugged, even knowing Esther couldn’t see him.
“I’m sure you understand,” Edwin took over smoothly, “why it is simply impossible for us to meet today. It is unclear when the infestation will be dealt with–” he began raising his voice to be heard over Esther’s protests– “but as soon as the office is habitable and my schedule is clear I shall reach out. Good day.”
Primly, Edwin hung up, clasped his hands together, and bestowed a wide, pleased grin on Charles.
“Well done,” he praised, and Charles felt his face flush. “Esther Finch can be determined to the point of insanity. Thanks to your creativity, we can keep her away for weeks, if not months.” Edwin smiled again, a softer, more private look, and Charles’ heart melted at the sight.
“Cheers, mate,” he replied, fighting to not sound heartsick. “Always happy to keep that witch at bay.”
Edwin hummed in agreement, but didn’t dismiss Charles. Instead, he reached into the top drawer of his desk and withdrew his glasses– round wire-frames that accentuated his beautiful blue-grey-green eyes. They also made him look even more like an authority, but Charles tried not to think about that too hard unless he was alone. Edwin pulled a stack of papers closer and began idly rifling through.
“You do very well for me, don’t you Charles?” he stated, not looking up from his work.
Charles licked his dry lips. “Do as well as I can manage, don’t I? You’re…you deserve the best, Edwin.”
Finally, Edwin’s gaze met his. The windows behind him were letting in warm, late-afternoon light that cast Edwin in an angelic silhouette. He looked Charles up and down, slowly, his fond stare warming Charles everywhere it landed. “You are…the best person I know, Charles Rowland.”
Charles swallowed thickly. His dick was telling him to double-check if the office door was locked, but he shoved that urge down deep. Not the time. It wasn’t Edwin’s fault that his praise made Charles want to worship him.
“‘M gonna remember that,” Charles replied, “means a lot. And…you should know that you’re important to me. The most important.”
Edwin blinked up at him, shocked. “I thought…is this not just a job to you?”
Charles shrugged. “Hasn’t been just a job for a while, mate.” And with Edwin sitting there, being all kind and looking all lovely, Charles felt brave. Before he could reconsider, he let another truth slip free. In for a penny, in for a pound, right?
“If you weren’t my boss,” Charles began, “I’d have probably asked you out by now.”
It didn’t seem possible, but Edwin’s eyes appeared to widen even more. “I would have done the same, were you not my employee.”
Charles grabbed onto the door frame to keep himself upright. “What?”
Edwin flushed, but kept his eyes on Charles. “I realize it is not…professional, but, it is the truth. You’re beautiful, inside and out.”
With each step he took, drawing closer and closer to the desk, Charles felt the weight of Edwin’s gaze. Of his want. Honestly, a sizeable part of him was saying he needed to stop and talk things out, really understand Edwin’s brills, impossible confession. They could shyly agree to go out on a first date, pick somewhere nice but not too posh and hold hands and ask each other about their lives and maybe, maybe, he could kiss Edwin goodnight. That all sounded pretty aces.
But there was something else Charles wanted even more. He didn’t care if it was backwards, if it was impulsive, ‘cause if Edwin Payne really wanted him back after Charles’ years of wanting, then Charles wasn’t going to stop until Edwin told him too.
Charles bumped up against the front of the desk, latched onto Edwin’s lapels, and pulled his boss’ shocked, blushing face closer for a kiss. He didn’t bother holding back. Charles needed Edwin to know the full extent of his desire, to see him as he was and accept it.
The few seconds when Edwin was too surprised to respond were the longest of Charles’ life.
Then–blessedly– a deep groan escaped Edwin’s chest, and Charles was being hauled by the waist up and over the desk, scrabbling for a good position on Edwin’s lap as he was kissed with a hunger and desperation Charles hadn’t known Edwin was capable of.
“Gorgeous,” Edwin gasped, pulling back to kiss and nip at Charles’ ear, slipping the gold earring into his warm mouth.
Charles let himself go boneless in Edwin’s lap, tipped his head to the side to provide better access. He was already well on his way to fully hard with Edwin biting at his ear and jaw, his hands roaming Charles’ back. Charles smoothed his own hands through Edwin’s hair, ruffling the carefully styled locks as he drew Edwin’s mouth back to his.
Long, blissful moments passed where Charles was aware of nothing but Edwin’s soft lips and clever tongue, but when Edwin started yanking up Charles’ polo, Charles remembered that he needed Edwin out of his clothes, too.
“We really should not be doing this here,” Edwin remarked, removing Charles from his lap with an almost mournful expression.
Charles, bent over and struggling with the laces on his boots, looked up and smirked. “Breaks all kinds of rules, doesn’t it? But you’re still gonna fuck me, yeah?”
Edwin full-body shivered. He was naked now, save for his long socks and wire glasses, and Charles had to grip his swollen cock at just the sight of him.
“While I wouldn’t mind trying the other way, perhaps in a proper bed–” Charles snorted, and Edwin rolled his eyes at him– “I must admit to imagining how you would look spread over this desk more than once.”
“Oh god, yeah,” Charles moaned, climbing back onto Edwin’s lap. Edwin’s pale, lean form was deceptively muscled and endlessly enticing, but Charles chose to start at the base of his neck, sucking a bruise that Edwin would need his high-collared shirt and bowtie to hide. Charles liked the idea of Edwin’s outfit putting pressure on the mark all day, reminding him of what Charles had done.
Charles moaned, hips grinding forward, when Edwin’s fingers started carding through his hair. Edwin’s other hand ran down the length of his spine, teasing at the sensitive skin around Charles’ hole and then pulling away. Charles wasn’t above whining in protest.
Edwin pressed a kiss to Charles’ forehead. “Just a tic, love,” he promised, and seconds later Charles heard the click of a bottle opening.
Charles left Edwin’s throat– taking a moment to admire his work– to throw a cheeky look Edwin’s way.
“Edwin Payne,” he crowed, “have you been keeping lube in your office desk? For how long?”
Edwin’s blush deepened. “Around the time I realized my new secretary would not appreciate seeing how aroused he made me.”
Charles grinned. “Nah, mate. If I’d have known, I would’ve just gone to my knees and taken care of it, wouldn’t I?”
Edwin’s mouth dropped open. Oops. Probably shouldn’t have said that. Charles tried to muster an excuse– which was bloody difficult with the object of his fantasies nude and hard against him– but then Edwin was kissing him, devouring him, really, before Charles had the chance.
“Let’s save that idea for later, shall we?” Edwin panted.
Charles breathed out an agreeing sigh as he felt two warm, slick fingers begin to circle his entrance. He wiggled his legs further apart as much as he could, heard Edwin moan in appreciation.
Edwin’s touch was careful and sure, his other hand kneading Charles’ thigh.
It probably looked pretty shameless when Charles arched his back as Edwin’s first finger slid inside him, and Charles blushed at the thought, moaning both from the mental image and Edwin’s touch. If someone saw them right now, Charles would be covering most of Edwin’s nudity while he was fully exposed, his hole slowly being stretched open, toes curling from the building pleasure, dark curls stuck to his neck with sweat. The thought of being seen like that– blissed-out, belonging solely to Edwin– was more arousing than Charles wanted to think about.
He focused on Edwin’s slender, lovely fingers, groaning when a second one joined the first. Edwin’s free hand swiped across the heads of their cocks, collecting their precome while providing only the barest hint of friction. The sticky fluid was smeared across his hole, extra preparation for him to be fucked, and Charles dug his hands into Edwin’s shoulders with a needy moan.
“Please,” he begged. “Please, Edwin, I’m ready, just fuck me–” Charles’ cries were broken by a shout of pleasure as Edwin’s fingers brushed across his prostate.
Edwin smirked at him. “Now you’re ready.” Gently, he withdrew his fingers and placed Charles on his back over the desk, uncaring of the paperwork still scattered across it. Charles’ legs were spread as far as they could go, Edwin staring down at him in raw admiration. “Ready, darling?”
Charles gripped the edge of the desk and thrust his hips up. “Get a move on, please,” he whined, and Edwin smiled, nudging his cock against Charles’ wet opening.
He pushed inside in one smooth motion, eyes cataloging every inch of Charles’ face. The stretch was intense, perfect, all-consuming.
Charles never wanted it to end. Edwin possessed him completely, and there was no room in Charles’ head for doubt or worry or loneliness. “Fuck me,” he begged, and Edwin groaned, hands tight around Charles’ hips, and obliged.
It was immediately clear to Charles that he wouldn’t last. He didn’t even bother trying to touch himself. Edwin was angling for his prostate with every thrust, and coming purely from being fucked would be an extra level of ecstasy.
“Charles,” Edwin groaned, brows furrowed in pleasure. “So tight, so good for me, fuck.”
“Edwin!” Charles cried out, locking his heels around Edwin’s hips. Edwin’s rhythm grew more and more desperate until he was barely even pulling out, just grinding his cock against Charles’ prostate. The sound was wet and loud, and Charles couldn’t help thinking again of someone hearing them, poking their head in to see Charles’ cock leaking over his stomach and down onto the desk, lost to the pleasure of being railed by his boss.
It was that reminder that pushed him over the edge, stuffing his fingers in his mouth to muffle his scream as he came, warm pulses of his release soaking into the papers beneath him. Charles could never again use the office printer without blushing.
“God!” Edwin shouted, falling apart above him, sweat-slick and so beautiful.
Charles felt Edwin’s come filling him, and had the rapid, delirious realization that they hadn’t used a condom. Unsafe as it was, knowing he’d be dripping Edwin’s release for the rest of the day nearly made Charles orgasm again.
“My apologies,” Edwin panted, still halfway inside him. “I am clean, but I did not mean to forgo a condom–”
“I’m clean too,” Charles interrupted, charmed by Edwin’s use of ‘forgo’ so soon after mind-blowing sex. “It was stupid of us, but we’ll get tested and know better for next time, promise. Just give me a second to enjoy the afterglow of you fucking my brains out, yeah?”
Edwin snorted. “Of course, Charles.”
Charles luxuriated in the feeling of Edwin’s hands petting his sides and chest for an indeterminable length of time, only wincing slightly when Edwin pulled out.
“I am not certain I can return to work after this,” Edwin confessed, helping Charles to stand and tugging him into a warm, solid embrace.
“Then don’t,” Charles replied. “You work too hard anyway. Why not take the rest of the day off?” He met Edwin’s gaze and beamed. “Get yourself cleaned up. I could pick you up for dinner around seven?”
Edwin smiled slyly. “My shower is big enough for two,” he suggested. “Seems a waste not to share it.”
Charles grinned. “Aces.”