“Tit for tat.”
He leaned in and whispered, his breath against my neck sending shivers down my spine. He really needed to stop doing that.
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
Yes, things had definitely shifted between us.
I rolled my eyes at him and shook my head. “You know, you’re not as slick as you think you are.”
A groan left him. “Maybe, but I bet you’re slick enough right now to take all of my generous endowment.”
I leaned back to meet his eyes. “Keep dreaming that you’re more than a Popsicle stick. The biggest assholes are always compensating for something.”
“If I am, I guarantee it is not due to my size.”
I bit down on my bottom lip as I felt the heat rising in my face.
We were on our way down to the lobby, having only passed a couple or so floors when the elevator jostled and shuddered to a stop. Looking up, I found we were stopped between the twelfth and fourteenth floors.
Fitting. We were in the void of level thirteen. Neither of us moved as we waited for it to pick back up and resume our descent.
A shiver rolled through me as I remembered a horror movie Pete made me watch where the elevator stuck in the same place, then shortly after plummeted to the bottom. It was déjà vu, and a loud screech of metal on metal from somewhere outside the cab did me in, igniting my fear. After a minute of nothing, the pressure that had settled in my chest blossomed, exploding into full-blown panic. I reached out and pressed the buttons, but nothing happened.
“Come on,” I hissed under my breath as I took in shallow breaths, my jaw locked down as my heart hammered.
Oh, God, this thing needs to move!
My breath sped up and I closed my eyes for a moment as I leaned against the wall to steady myself.
Thane stepped forward and hit the Door Open button, and still nothing. He gripped the edge of the doors and pulled with all his strength, but they didn’t budge.
“Fucking open!” he screamed before slamming his hand against them.
His jaw was tight, and he stepped back to stand next to me against the wall.
The heat of his body was comforting, and I inched closer until our arms touched.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice sounding strained.
I swallowed and shook my head. “I’m okay with elevators as long as they are moving, but we’re not moving anymore.”
My breath sped up even more, and I could feel the panic taking over.
The air that seemed to crackle with sexual tension just mere minutes before was amping up into a Molotov cocktail of anxiety and panic.
My throat constricted and as hard as I attempted to settle myself, I was barely holding on. Weakness wasn’t something I wanted to show anyone, but especially not Roe. Her fear was palpable and feeding my own, growing it at an exponential rate.
Flashes of lights, my mom passed out in the corner of a stalled elevator in a shady part of town, a needle in her arm.
Fuck.
I hated that memory and I was trying to tamp it down when I heard Roe whimper next to me.
“Hey, it’s okay,” I said as I stepped in front of her. I needed an anchor, and so did she.
The warmth of her body inches from mine was both calming and alarming at the same time. I cupped her face to get her to look at me, and her wide eyes met mine. She reached up and gripped my arms, momentarily distracting me with the fire that shot through me. It was gone as quickly as it had come, but the effects lingered.
It was enough to turn her attention to me, our eyes meeting before everything went dark.
“Shit!” I hissed, bracing for another wave of panic to pulse between us when the emergency lights flashed on.
Roe cried out. “Fucking horror movies!”
It was random, and almost made me laugh until I noticed she was drawing in quick, shallow breaths.
“Hey, hey. It’s okay. I’m here,” I soothed. “Open your eyes.”
Our eyes met, and for a moment I forgot about my own tense muscles. My focus was solely on her and settling her down before she hyperventilated. The last thing we needed was two fucking passed-out adults when the elevator finally started moving again, because once she was gone, I wouldn’t be able to calm myself.
The pucker of her lips and the crease that had settled between her brows drew my focus away from the phantom shift of the cab that wasn’t really happening. I concentrated on the dusting of freckles across her cheeks and her nose. On the splashes of green and brown of her hazel eyes.
I reached up and smoothed the space between her brows with my thumb, but it didn’t take the look away. Instead, her panic laced with confusion. I trailed my fingers down the side of her face, lightly cupping it as I dragged my thumb across her bottom lip.
Leaning down, I closed the inches that separated us and pressed my lips to hers. She gasped at the contact, her lips parting.
When the moment of shock subsided, I was graced with a moan that traveled from her mouth to mine. Her arms wrapped around my neck, pulling me even closer. Our battle of wills transferred from words to lips and tongues.
My whole body lit up as I pulled her tightly to me. We pulled apart for a breath, and a shiver ran through me at her heavy lids and clouded eyes. I was sure mine were the same, lust completely overtaking thought and driving my need for more.
I attacked her neck with my teeth, tongue, and lips, spurred on by her high-pitched moans of pleasure. The energy coursing through me needed an outlet, and I was desperate to pin her to the wall or the floor. Anywhere I could sink my hard cock between her thighs.
I roamed my hands around her body, taking in as much as I could, memorizing each sweet curve. Around her ass and up her sides, skimming her breasts.
My thumbs brushed across her nipples, hitting something hard as they moved. Again, two bumps, one on either side of her nipple. A groan left me, and my cock stiffened even more when I realized what it was—Roe had pierced nipples.
Digging deeper, pulling closer, I still couldn’t get enough of her. Couldn’t feel enough of her to satisfy the insatiable hunger that was driving me.
I’d craved women before, but never on the same level as I craved Roe. By her fervor, the way she clawed onto me, bit down on my neck, I knew it was the same for her.
We both needed a break in the tension that constantly swirled around us.
The elevator shook, and the power coming back to life was the reality check that had Roe pulling away. Her eyes were wide, lips swollen and pink, and her skin was flushed. The loose bun she always wore had strands flying everywhere.
She was absolutely stunning.
Before I could protest, she stepped back and out of my arms, resting against the opposite wall. We were both breathing hard, and it took everything in me to not close the distance between us and continue.
She looked away, her concentration on the screen over the door as she pulled her hair down, watching the numbers until the cab slowed before coming to a stop at the first floor.
As soon as the doors opened, she rushed out ahead of me.
Oh my God, what did you just do? I asked myself as I sped away from him. I was in the middle of the lobby before I even remembered why we were in the elevator in the first place, then continued my path across the marble floors to the coffee shop on the far side of the lobby.
I was trembling from the waning adrenaline and happy as hell to be out of that elevator, but that didn’t change what happened inside that space.