Between Floors

Close Quarters

Minutes passed.

The elevator remained suspended, stuck between floors. The hum of the emergency lights was low, almost hypnotic, filling the small space with a strange intimacy. Ava pressed her hand lightly against the cool wall, her pulse thundering in her ears. Every second that Dominic remained near her made her skin feel alive in a way she hadn’t felt in years.

Dominic’s eyes were fixed on her. Calm. Measured. But there was an intensity there that made her tremble, a subtle heat that he didn’t hide.

“You okay?” he asked, voice low.

“Yes,” she lied softly, though her body betrayed her. Her stomach twisted at the proximity of him.

Another jolt shook the car. Instinctively, he shifted closer. One hand pressed against the wall beside her, barely an inch from her shoulder. The heat radiating from him was almost unbearable.

“I’ve wanted to talk to you for months,” he admitted quietly.

She swallowed, words catching in her throat. “Then why didn’t you?”

“Because I don’t start something unless I intend to finish it.”

Her pulse accelerated. “And what exactly would you be starting?”

He let his gaze drift down to her lips for a long, deliberate moment.

“Trouble.”

A shiver ran through her. The confined space amplified the tension, their breaths shallow and uneven. Ava realized, almost against her own judgment, that she wasn’t moving away. She couldn’t.

Dominic’s presence was magnetic, pulling her closer without touch. She could smell the faint scent of his cologne — something clean, sharp, intoxicating — and it made her ache in ways she didn’t want to acknowledge. Her hands flexed at her sides, fidgeting slightly, betraying her desire to reach out, to close the distance.

He noticed the movement. “You’re trembling.”

“I… I’m fine,” she whispered, though her voice sounded fragile even to her own ears.

His gaze softened just enough to make her chest tighten. He shifted slightly closer. “You don’t have to pretend you’re in control. Not with me.”

Something inside her gave a small, terrified thrill. Not fear, exactly — desire. Hunger. A dangerous craving that she hadn’t allowed herself to feel in years.

The elevator groaned again, a metallic protest that echoed in the small space. Dominic didn’t move away. Not yet.

“I can’t… stop thinking about you,” he admitted, voice low, almost a growl.

Ava’s breath caught. The words weren’t aggressive, but they hit her with precision, like he had stripped her defenses without touching her. Her fingers twitched at her sides, craving the contact that her mind knew would be forbidden — yet impossible to resist.

“I…” she started, but words failed her.

Dominic tilted his head slightly, his gaze never leaving hers. The air between them was almost unbearable. And in that moment, Ava realized one simple truth: whatever was building between them, it was inevitable, unstoppable, and dangerously consuming.