Chapter 6 – Right Behind Her
1529 Words
The voices outside finally shifted.
Not closer.
Away.
Jack didn’t move immediately.
He stayed where he was for a moment longer, listening, his hand still firm at her waist as if waiting for something more. For confirmation, silence, and for control.
Then, slowly, his grip eased.
“Stay close,” he said quietly.
The door opened just enough for him to check the corridor. His body angled in front of hers, blocking her view, blocking her exposure.
Clear.
For now.
He stepped out first, pulling her with him before she could hesitate.
The hallway felt different now. It’s emptier, but still not safe. The noise from the riot had shifted further down, but it hadn’t disappeared.
Jack didn’t slow.
His hand remained at her waist, guiding, directing, not giving her the chance to stop or look back.
“Keep moving.”
Liv followed, her steps quick, uneven, her awareness still caught somewhere behind her, still caught on what had just happened.
They turned a corner. And then another one.
He then stopped. Not abruptly this time, but intentionally.
His gaze lifted to the ceiling panel above them sitting slightly out of place.
“A maintenance crawl space,” he said.
And before she could process it, his hands were already on her waist.
“Up.”
The word came without hesitation.
Liv barely had time to react before he lifted her, her feet leaving the ground in one smooth motion. A soft gasp escaped her as her body rose, her hands instinctively reaching for his shoulders to steady herself.
“Grab the edge.”
She looked up, her fingers stretching toward the opening. They caught the metal frame, slipped once from the angle, then tightened as she adjusted her grip.
“Pull.”
She tried.
Her arms strained immediately, her body awkwardly suspended without proper leverage. The angle made it harder than she expected, her muscles shaking as she struggled to lift herself.
“I—”
Jack adjusted without a word.
His hands slid from her waist to her hips, then pushed upward with controlled force. The added lift shifted her just enough. Her upper body cleared the edge, her stomach pressing against the metal frame as she scrambled for balance.
She pulled again, harder this time, dragging herself forward. Her elbows found purchase, then her knees, and she pushed further inside until she was fully in the narrow space.
She paused there for a second, breathing harder than she expected.
“Move forward,” he said from below.
Liv nodded quickly, even though he couldn’t see it, and shifted onto her hands and knees. The space was tighter than she anticipated, forcing her into a low crawl as she moved ahead to make room.
A second later, Jack followed.
He pulled himself up with a kind of efficiency that made it look easier than it should have been, then reached back to slide the panel into place beneath them.
Darkness settled around them.
The air was warm and still, thicker than it should have been. The crawl space pressed close on all sides, low enough that Liv couldn’t straighten her back, forcing her to stay hunched forward as she moved.
She crawled carefully, placing each hand deliberately, her breathing still uneven from the climb.
Her loose top shifted with every movement. The buttons she had undone earlier no longer held the fabric in place the same way, and she could feel it loosening more with each step forward.
And her skirt—
She felt it immediately.
It had ridden up higher than it should have, the fabric bunching against her thighs in a way that made her stomach tighten.
There was no space to fix it.
No room to reach back without stopping completely.
She swallowed and kept moving.
Behind her, Jack followed.
Close.
Not touching, but close enough that she could feel exactly where he was without needing to look. Every movement she made, he matched it. The confined space was forcing them into the same rhythm whether she wanted it or not.
The awareness settled in slowly, unavoidably. There was nowhere to hide, nowhere to adjust, and nowhere for her to forget how exposed she was beneath his gaze. The thought alone sent a quiet tension through her body, a subtle heat gathering low in her stomach and between her legs as she forced herself to keep moving.
Below them, voices echoed faintly at first.
Then closer.
Liv slowed, her body reacting instinctively to the sound. Then she froze.
Jack reacted instantly. His hand caught her at the waist, pulling her back just slightly, pressing her lower into the narrow space.
“Still.”
His voice was low, right behind her.
She held her breath.
Footsteps passed beneath them. Voices followed, clearer now, directly below their position. Too close.
Jack’s hand remained at her waist, steady and unmoving, holding her exactly where she needed to be.
Behind her, he stayed low, aligned with her position, close enough that she could feel the presence of him without direct contact.
The moment stretched.
Every second longer than the last.
Then the voices shifted. Moved further away.
Jack didn’t release her immediately.
He waited, listening, making sure. Only when the sound faded enough did his grip ease.
“Go.”
Liv moved again, faster this time, her body trying to create distance even when there was none to take. The crawl space didn’t allow it. Every inch she gained, he followed, maintaining that same controlled proximity, closer now than before.
Then the voices returned, closer this time, carrying through the narrow space.
She froze—but not fast enough.
Jack closed the distance immediately, his hand returning to her waist, firmer now as he pulled her back into position.
The space narrowed further where they were, forcing her slightly backward until his chest pressed against the small of her back, his body aligned fully behind hers. His crotch hovered just above the curve of her butt, close enough that she could feel the presence of him even before she moved.
And when she did, her hips pressed into him.
Not a brush. Not accidental like before.
Full contact.
Her body reacted instantly, a flicker of alarm rising even as something else followed close behind it. She felt it now—the hardness at his crotch, unmistakable, pressing against her butt in a way that made her breath catch, sharp and unsteady.
Liv stilled.
Behind her, Jack didn’t move.
For a second, he let it remain. He didn’t pull away, didn’t react, just held there, his body still aligned with hers in the confined space.
Then she shifted again, a smaller movement this time, but enough to drag against him.
A quiet hiss escaped him before he could stop it.
Only then did he adjust, slow and controlled, not breaking the contact immediately but easing it just enough to keep them silent, to keep the moment contained.
“Don’t move.” His voice dropped lower.
Liv didn’t. She just couldn’t.
The contact didn’t disappear—it lingered, reduced but still there, enough to make it impossible to ignore. Even as she tried to focus on anything else, her body stayed aware of him, of the firmness behind her, of the pressure that hadn’t fully gone away.
It caught her off guard.
Her breath faltered, and a soft, involuntary sound slipped from her lips before she could stop it.
The voices lingered beneath them for a few seconds longer before finally beginning to fade.
Jack eased back first. “Go.”
This time, Liv moved more slowly, more carefully, aware of every shift in her body as she crawled forward.
At the end of the space, a narrow opening came into view, a faint strip of light slipping through. She slowed as she reached it—not because she had to, but because she felt him again, closer now, right behind her.
His hand returned to her waist, guiding her forward, but he didn’t push her through right away. Instead, he held her there for a moment, the space tightening just enough to force her slightly back.
And once more, their bodies met.
This time, it didn’t feel accidental.
Her breath caught, sharper than before, and she stilled without meaning to.
Behind her, he leaned in slightly. “Wait.”
His voice was low, close enough that she felt it more than she heard it. Something in his control shifted—not gone, but strained. She felt it in the way his body pressed more firmly against her, the solid heat of him aligning with the curve of her butt.
Liv swallowed, her body still but far from settled. The contact lingered, no longer accidental, no longer something she could dismiss. The pressure behind her deepened with the smallest movement, enough to catch her off guard and steal her breath.
His hand remained at her waist, firm and steady, holding her there just a moment longer, guiding her back into him before finally easing away.
“Go.”
She pulled herself forward, slipping through the opening and into the light, her breath uneven and her body not entirely her own.
- Writer
