appeared, he held me and shifted both of our bodies so he leaned against the wall. Once the car started moving, he returned to taunting me.
We were going to look awfully funny stepping into the hotel lobby with our tux pants tented. “God, you taste so good.”
“You feel good.” I ground back against his erection, wondering if it’d be possible to come in the time it took to go from the sixth floor reception center down to the lobby. It’d been a while since I’d had anyone other than my own company, but unless the elevator was slower than molasses, there was no way. Damn, guess I’ll have to make sure he doesn’t lose interest.
My eyes flew open as the elevator lurched to a stop hard enough both of us struggled to stay on our feet. Black as midnight on a new moon. Shit. “What in the hell happened?”
If one of us had bumped the emergency stop button, there would’ve been light. On the flip side, no light meant no one watching us on the security cameras I’d somehow forgotten were in the corners. My heart raced, palms going cold and clammy. I tried to breathe, but I couldn’t draw a breath. Not now, I pleaded with my traitorous body.
“Hey, you okay?” A gentle hand landed between my shoulder blades, pushing my upper body forward. “It’s going to be okay. Let’s get you sitting down.”
I didn’t want anyone seeing me so fucking weak and pathetic. Didn’t want Nate deciding I was too much for him to deal with. But my options were somewhat limited since I knew once the panic fully took over, there was no way I’d keep from curling into a ball and crying like a little bitch.
Once Nate guided me so two walls of the elevator were supporting my body, he stood and pulled a phone out of his pocket. Without thinking, I punched the wall of the elevator, regretting the impulse when pain shot up my arm.
“Hey, settle down,” he soothed me. “I’m sure they’ll get us out of here soon. Just focus more on breathing and less on trying to Hulksmash your way out.”
I chuckled weakly.
“That’s better,” he praised. “Take it you’re not a fan of the dark?”
“I’m not afraid of the dark,” I spat out, although my argument sounded weak and thready. “Don’t like being trapped. There’s something unsettling about the idea of being locked inside a metal box that could send us plummeting to our deaths at any moment.”
Nate laughed at the absurdity of my statement. I didn’t see any humor in the situation. I was being totally serious. The only thing keeping us from crashing to the ground was a cable that could snap at any time. And seeing as there was already some sort of malfunction at play, I wasn’t holding out hope that the worst case scenario wouldn’t happen.
“Tell you what, why don’t you sit there and try to relax while I call down to the front desk and see what’s going on? I’m sure it’s just a minor glitch.”
“A glitch would be the doors not wanting to open or the elevator not stopping on a certain floor even though you pushed the button. This,” I argued, waving my arms around in the dark to make a point, “this is more than a glitch.”
“Easy,” Nate said softly. “Try to think about something else. Maybe surf the internet on your phone. Do something other than think about horrible ways to die.”
He couldn’t see me, but that didn’t stop me from flipping him off as he moved around the elevator, trying to get a signal. The way the elevator car jostled with every step, I’d have thought I was trapped in here with a linebacker, not the geeky brother of a wide receiver.
My stomach churned and I prayed they’d find us before I puked all over myself. “Would you fucking stop moving?”
“Sorry,” he responded, not sounding the least bit sincere. “Aha, finally.”
Nate stopped moving and, after a few taps to his screen, lifted the phone to his ear. “Hi Macie, this is Nate Kendricks from room 924… Yes, well it’s good to be here, but we seem to have a bit of an issue.”
That was putting it mildly. We were trapped in a damn elevator without any power. And if the desk didn’t know about it, that meant it wasn’t a matter of the entire hotel being without power.
“Thank you, ma’am, but I’m sure it’s nothing you or anyone could have anticipated.