They pulled up in front of the Eastern Majestic Restaurant as the city glittered below in its evening best. It sat perched high above the skyline like something out of a dream, all glass and warm light and the quiet authority of a place that had never once needed to announce itself. The kind of establishment that made you straighten your spine simply by existing.
They paid the security and stepped inside.
The glass elevator waited, its walls transparent from floor to ceiling, the entire city laid out beyond it like an offering. Jokull stepped in beside her, close enough that their reflections merged in the glass, the skyline spreading endlessly behind them both.
"Shall we?" he asked, his voice low and inviting, his eyes already on her face rather than the view.
As though she was the more interesting of the two.
Jokull glanced at her as the elevator doors slid closed, a hint of amusement playing at the corners of his mouth. "It's funny, bringing a girl who hasn't accepted you as her boyfriend."
Aine smirked, tilting her head with the ease of someone who had never once been intimidated by him. "It's not easy to win my heart, Jokull."
"I never lose," he replied simply.
"It's not like your presidency position," she shot back, her eyes steady on his. "It's about my heart. And that doesn't come easily."
"Really?" He smiled, slow and unbothered, and threw his head back with a soft laugh that filled the small space between them. Then quieter, more genuine. "Can you contain Aine Mendoza?" she asked, something almost vulnerable flickering beneath the teasing.
He turned to look at her fully. "Do I look like a little cub?" he asked, tilting her chin gently upward.
"No idea," Aine replied, the smirk still playing on her lips. "Maybe you are one in human form."
He said nothing. Instead he brought his palm slowly to her cheek, his thumb brushing her skin with a tenderness so unhurried it felt like a question and an answer at once. Aine held his gaze, something softening in her that she hadn't given him permission to touch.
Then the elevator trembled.The kind of shudder that travels up through the floor and into the chest before the mind has time to make sense of it. Aine moved before she thought, stepping forward and wrapping her arms tightly around Jokull, her face pressed against his chest, her grip firm and immediate.
Then the lights went out.
Complete darkness. The hum of the city beyond the glass replaced by a silence so sudden it felt physical.I'm scared." Her voice was muffled against him, smaller than she would ever allow it to be in daylight. "Hello? Someone come and get us. There is a problem in the lift!",she screamed.
"We are going to be fine." His arms came around her without hesitation, steady and unhurried, his voice low against the top of her head. "It's just a small problem."
Her body pressed him so hard that her warmth radiated through him, stirring an intense heat low in his core. Aine still kept her head buried in his chest, her soft curves molding perfectly to his hard frame.His body responded instantly his arousal pressing firmly against her abdomen. He knew she could feel it. Unable to hold back,his lips found her hair first. Then her temple. Then the curve of her neck, soft and unhurried, trailing warmth against her skin until her breathing changed from frightened to something quieter and far more complicated.. "She began to calm down , her breathing growing lighter than before. Then the lights in the elevator flickered back on."Is it already back?" Aine whispered, blinking slowly into the returning light.
"Yes," he murmured.
"Oh…" She opened her eyes, still nestled against him, the city glittering patiently beyond the glass as though it had simply been waiting.
When she finally tried to step back Jokull held her firmly in place.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Who is responsible for my situation now?" he asked, his voice low and rough, his gaze dropping deliberately downward to where the evidence of his arousal strained against his clothes.
Aine's cheeks burned with heat. "It wasn't my fault," she whispered, though the way her breath quickened betrayed her.
"You are so complicated, Aine," he murmured, sliding both hands onto her shoulders, his touch firm and warm. His eyes locked onto hers with an intensity that made her pulse thunder in her ears and a slow, liquid heat bloom low in her belly.
"What are you trying to do now?" she breathed, barely able to keep her voice steady.
He leaned in closer, his thumbs brushing slowly along the curve of her collarbones. " if you are in this situation calm yourself down,what is the use of your hands ". Aine's lips curved into a teasing smile even as her body trembled under his touch. "Maybe I should show you exactly what your hands are for…"
"Gosh, Aine," he muttered under his breath, his fingers tightening on her shoulders as desire flashed hot across his face. Then, more clearly, with a hint of dark promise in his tone, "Do you need to be disrespectful now?"
"I'm not," Aine replied simply, though her voice had already grown husky.
Before she could protest further, he captured her lips in a deep, hungry kiss. His mouth moved against hers with deliberate intensity, sucking and nibbling until her head tilted back against the cool glass wall of the elevator. A slow, delicious shiver ran through her as his lips trailed lower, pressing hot, open-mouthed kisses along the sensitive curve of her neck. A soft, involuntary moan escaped her, sweet and breathy, echoing faintly in the confined space.
"Take your time… not here," Aine whispered breathlessly, even as her body arched toward him, silently begging for more.
"But you are enjoying it," he murmured against her skin, his voice rough with restraint. His strong arms kept her wrists pinned securely above her head, his body pressing her gently yet firmly against the glass.
"I can keep my pleasure in my pants," she admitted, her words trembling with barely contained desire, her hips shifting restlessly against him.
"I can't," he growled low in his throat, clearly fighting for control. He pulled back just enough to meet her eyes, his gaze dark and smoldering, before diving back in with renewed hunger. She pushed weakly at his chest, but there was no real force behind it only the sweet pretense of resistance that made the heat between them burn hotter.
"I will leave you if you admit that you aren't enjoying this," he challenged, his breath warm against her lips, his thigh pressing teasingly between hers.
"I'm enjoying it," Aine confessed without hesitation, her voice a soft whimper. "But… can someone see us from here?"
A slow, wicked smile curved his lips. "We can see outside," Jokull said, his fingers tracing lazy circles on the delicate skin of her wrists, "but no one can see us from here."