This story includes themes on consensual cuckolding, interracial sex, and eager breeding. If interracial impregnation or any of the other themes would diminish your enjoyment of the story, please click away now.
All the characters in this story are adults.
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"Karen, tell me about the new hires!" Blake said as he walked into her office and turned around the visitor's chair, so he could sit on it and lean on the back.
The striplight reflected off his polished mahogany scalp. Blake took good care of himself. He was whip thin, muscled, and tall enough that he needed to duck his head when going through many doors. His clothing was casual but carefully chosen to show off his lean body.
He was the network architect for Orac, the UK's leading altnet operator. Its Liberator network was cheaper to deploy than any other and delivered faster access to subscribers. That's why he felt confident. It was his design.
Sure, BT was a large incumbent network. But Orac was challenging them with innovation at every level. And as the architect, Blake was guiding the technical innovation, while Karen was innovative in other ways.
Blake was confident enough that he called himself Chief Network Architect on LinkedIn. He regularly boosted his profile there, getting ready for the leap. But Orac couldn't afford to lose him yet. And that was why he wanted to peek at the new hires.
As head of HR, Karen's office was all business. And the privacy needed for some of the work meant the windows had blinds in them, so you couldn't see who was there.
"There are just four. Three men and Ruby Levitt."
"Married?"
"Yes."
"Age?"
"Early 20s, I think."
"So, do you think...?"
"In the interview, she indicated that our company culture was a big draw. I told her about the work couples programme and she was very excited. I'll bring her to your office on Monday afternoon. You'll be the last stop on the tour."
⁂
"They have a formal work couples programme." Ruby told her husband, Adam.
She flushed as she spoke. A pink glow beneath her fair skin showing her excitement.
"What does that mean?"
Adam looked confused. He'd heard the term before but only had a vague idea what it meant. As a freelancer, he occasionally visited offices but never stayed in them for more than two hours.
"It means that I'll be assigned a work husband. I'll be a work wife."
"That could mean anything. Like, maybe he'll just ask you to run to Boots and get him a meal deal for lunch."
He was concerned that Ruby would get a management title but be frustrated by junior tasks. One of the reasons Adam had married her was that she was very intelligent in ways that complemented his own smarts. He could design clever mechanisms to be manufactured by factories all over the world. But he was terrible in a team, which is where Ruby excelled. She was going to be very big, he knew.
"I've heard rumours. I'm not saying anything now but I think it will be good. No running to Boots."
She grinned and Adam's face changed to show his relief. But he had missed the visual and olfactory cues communicating Ruby's excitement.
⁂
Ruby's enthusiasm had been growing all day. It was a good thing. She'd once started a job and quit before lunch because it was so clearly not the right place for her.
That's why she'd looked so hard for a good cultural fit. And why she was so glad when her investigations confirmed what she's overheard about Orac's formal work couples programme.
Her new team looked happy to have her lead them. Their office was open plan but as nice as it could be within the kinds of budget available to a relatively small company. But what she'd been waiting for was the last meeting of the day: the introduction to her work husband.
"Ah, good." Karen said as they walked down the last corridor of the day. "Blake's office door is open. He must be ready for you."
She walked right in with Ruby behind her.
"Blake, meet Ruby. Ruby's the new lead for the business support team. Ruby, Blake's our architect. He designs the network at layers one through nine."
"Nine?" Suddenly, Ruby felt less confident. She'd learned about the old OSI seven layer model when she was preparing for the interview. She knew that fibre optic cable was at layer one, while web traffic was an application, so layer seven. But what were layers eight and nine?
"Karen, you're being mean to Ruby." Blake laughed. "Layers eight and nine are informal. They are the financial layer, which is a practical reality -- and the political layer -- which often just means old men in the IETF getting grumpy with each other."
"You're right." Karen laughed. "We all need to pay attention to the financial layer but we're more interested in what works than politics. And that's my segue to let you know that HR is assigning you together as a work couple. We've found it's a great way to build deeper connections between teams and it helps us become a happy family."
She paused for a few seconds before speaking again.
"Anyway, I have to finish up in my office so I'll leave you two to get to know each other."
She swished away in a blur of designer chiffon.
Blake pointed behind Ruby at the coffee table and arm chairs in a corner of his office.
"Grab a pew."
And as Ruby turned around she saw two framed photos on the coffee table. A redhead and a brunette, each with a little brown baby in their arms. A shiver of excitement shot through Ruby's body. She had a feeling that she knew what was happening but wasn't completely sure. She needed to get answers out of Blake.
"Abigail was my work wife but she started her maternity leave two weeks ago. Fortunately, we're hiring to grow and I'm very glad to meet you, Ruby."
Ruby checked his hands for a wedding band but saw none as she sat down.
"I'm delighted to meet you too, Blake. I suppose you know how this works and it's my first day. How should we start? She we talk about what you and your team do or discuss how the work couples programme works?"