He pulled back for a moment, leaving her panting and breathless against the glass. For a heartbeat she thought he might stop, but then he surged forward again, his strong arms wrapping around her waist and yanking her flush against his hard body. The sudden intensity made her knees buckle — she couldn't have resisted even if she'd wanted to. Heat poured off him in waves, his arousal pressing thick and insistent against her stomach.
With a low growl, he lifted her effortlessly. Her legs wrapped around his waist instinctively as he carried her the short distance and set her down on the narrow waist-high shelf inside the elevator. The cool surface contrasted sharply with the fire burning under her skin. His mouth rained hot, open-mouthed kisses over every inch he could reach — collarbone, the swell of her breasts, down her stomach, and along the sensitive skin of her inner thighs. With deliberate, teasing slowness, he pushed her dress higher up her hips, bunching the fabric around her waist.
He hooked his fingers into the waistband of her panties and slid them down her legs with agonizing care, exposing her completely to his hungry gaze. Cool air kissed her slick, heated flesh, making her shiver.
Aine's eyes widened, her voice a shaky whisper. "What are you doing?"
"I'm taking that pleasure out of your panties today," Jokull replied, his voice dark, rough, and dripping with raw lust.
He raised her legs slightly, draping them over his broad shoulders, and knelt between her spread thighs. His hot breath ghosted over her swollen, aching clit, teasing her mercilessly. Then his mouth covered her entirely hot, wet, and devastating. The sudden, intense pleasure ripped a sharp cry from her throat as her head fell back against the wall. His tongue thrust deep with skillful, relentless strokes, licking, sucking, devouring her like he was starving. She couldn't hold back. Her hips bucked instinctively against his face, chasing every wave of pleasure. Her fingers buried themselves in his hair, gripping tight, pulling him closer as uncontrollable moans spilled from her lips.
Something deep inside her coiled tighter and tighter — a boiling, liquid heat surging stronger with every flick and thrust of his tongue. Her thighs trembled violently around his head. She cried out, pressing harder against his mouth, desperate and shameless. Jokull responded by increasing his pace, licking faster, sucking her swollen clit with perfect pressure, driving her relentlessly toward the edge.
The tension finally shattered. A powerful, blinding orgasm crashed over her, ripping through her body in fierce, pulsing waves. Her back arched sharply, a broken moan tearing from her throat as she came hard against his tongue, trembling and clenching, completely lost in ecstasy.
He stayed with her through every shuddering aftershock, licking her gently until the last ripples faded. Only then did he slowly pull her dress back down, covering her. He rose to his feet and helped her stand on shaky, trembling legs, his strong hands steadying her as she leaned heavily against him, still breathless and dazed.
"Why?" Aine whispered, still catching her breath, her back warm against the glass, the city glittering endlessly behind her.
Jokull looked at her with a satisfied smirk that did absolutely nothing to slow her heartbeat. "See for yourself."
She stared at him, flushed and wide eyed, something between amazement and the quiet realisation that she was losing a battle she had been certain she could win.
"I'm doing this so that you won't have a reason to plead for mercy the next time," he said, his tone light and teasing and full of a promise that landed somewhere beneath her ribs.
Aine held his gaze for one breathless moment.
"Come here," she murmured.
He lowered his head without hesitation, capturing her lips once more in a kiss that was deeper and slower than the last, the kind that asks nothing and takes everything all at once, his hand gentle at her jaw, the hum of the elevator the only sound between them and the rest of the world.
Then the doors slid open.
The warm light and low murmur of the restaurant spilled in around them, unhurried and indifferent, as though it had simply been waiting for them to finish.
Jokull straightened first, composed in the way that came entirely too naturally to him, and glanced out at the restaurant before looking back at her with quiet amusement.
"We are right on time," he said.
Aine exhaled slowly, smoothing her expression back into something resembling composure, and stepped forward into the light beside him.
Jokull's car rolled to a smooth stop at her junction, the engine idling quietly in the late night air. He glanced at her, unhurried as always. "I can just drop you home. Why are you standing here?"
"Oh, I take a few strides mostly to the house," Aine said, already reaching for the door handle. "And I have to deliver something to my neighbour. So there's no real reason for you to drop me all the way."
She said it lightly. Easily. The way people say things they have rehearsed without meaning to.
The actual truth she kept tucked carefully behind her ribs, where it had been living for some time now. She did not want him to find out she was a Mendoza. Did not want him to see the gates, the compound, the life that sat so awkwardly between who she was and who her stepmother was and who she has been faking. That world and this one did not need to meet. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
Jokull studied her for a moment with the quiet attention of someone who noticed more than he let on. Then he leaned across and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, soft and certain.
"I'm still waiting for my answer," he murmured against her mouth. "And I have very high hopes of getting you, my princess."
Aine pulled back with a look that was equal parts amusement and refusal. "Dream big, boy."
She stepped out, gave a gentle wave without looking back, and started down the road at an unhurried pace. She did not speed up. She did not glance over her shoulder. But she listened carefully until she heard his car pull away before she allowed herself to exhale.
She made sure he did not follow.