Kiss of an Angel

SAM

Evie’s sea-green eyes welled, gazing at me in panic as she clung to the arms of my suit.

This was all my fault. She wouldn’t be stuck in this box in near darkness, fighting to breathe, if it weren’t for me.

The elevator had one of those red emergency phones, but I didn’t bother picking it up. This long after work hours, I knew nobody would answer.

“Okay, okay, hang on.” I pried one of my arms out of her grasp to dial 911 on my phone. “I’m gonna fix this.”

I pushed the cell to my ear. Evie adhered to my arm, clearly unaware of how hard her nails were digging into the fabric. I tried not to grimace; if holding onto me was helping Evie, it was worth the pain.

After two brief rings, an operator answered. “911. What’s your emergency?”

“Hi, yes, I’m stuck in the elevator at Vázquez and Associates on Main Street, located in Burlington, Vermont. The power’s out.”

“All right.” The woman’s voice on the other end sounded crisp and calm. “I’ll contact a couple of officers and your local fire department.”

“Please hurry,” I said urgently. “There’s a woman with me who’s claustrophobic, and I think she’s having a panic attack.”

“They’ll be there ASAP,” said the operator without missing a beat. “In the meantime, try to slow her breathing and keep her calm.”

After I hung up and slipped the phone back into my jacket, I pressed my body closer to Evie, who was still gasping as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Evie, I don’t know what to do,” I muttered, alarmed.

She stared at me mutely. It felt like she was begging for help, but I’d never known anyone who was claustrophobic or who suffered from panic attacks. I had no idea what to do here.

Maybe a distraction would help. “Talk to me. Uh…” Our last discussion came to mind. “Tell me more about your family so I know what to expect when I meet them.”

I wasn’t sure if she heard the question. She just kept breathing quickly, anguish written all over her face.

It was like she couldn’t even speak. How the hell was I supposed to slow her breathing when I couldn’t get her calm in the first place?

“Okay, uh, here, try to breathe like me. See? Look.” I made a show of taking two deep breaths, but it wasn’t working.

“No?” I shook my head. “Evie, I feel so useless.”

I couldn’t stand to see her like this. I had to do something. Out of ideas, I tried the one thing that I’d been wanting to do all night.

Cupping her face, I tenderly kissed her anxiety-ridden lips.

My gut swooped so hard that I almost would’ve thought the elevator was dropping. But really, it was just the same excited feeling I’d gotten on the night of our first scandalous interaction in Finnigan’s.

I’d never been able to bring myself to regret that night, not even once I’d realized the predicament it put me in at work. I didn’t regret kissing her now, either.

I didn’t know if it was helping with the panic attack, but at least I could feel her responding, her lips moving against mine in return.

Our lips nearly stuck together as I dragged myself back to take another look at her.

She seemed slightly soothed—enough that she opened her mouth to try and speak. She spluttered, but eventually she choked out a word. “Why?”

“Is it helping?” I asked, waiting with bated breath for her answer.

She gave me a barely perceptible nod.

“Then shut up and kiss me,” I said.

As my lips pressed against hers for the second time, she kissed me back—slightly more lively than before, but still not quite up to par with what I remembered from the night at the tavern.

I didn’t mind. I’d kiss her all night if it would keep her tranquil—or maybe even get her back to her usual snappy self.

We eventually found ourselves on the floor. I couldn’t care less that the knees of my three-hundred-dollar suit were pressed into the dirt because I was thrusting my covered crotch rhythmically between Evie’s thighs.

My boxers clung to the head of my erection. I could tell I was leaking with every grind. By now, Evie was kissing me with the same eagerness she’d shown the night we met, so I felt comfortable enough to slip her some tongue.

She softly moaned, showing she was enjoying it, but I couldn’t shake my yearning to taste a bit more of her.

I tore my mouth away from hers to press it to her earlobe for a peck and a whisper. “Keep your eyes closed.” The last thing I wanted was for her to open them and burst into another panic when she remembered where we were.

I planted a few open-mouth kisses on her neck; she tasted like saltwater taffy. Her head tipped back, granting me better access, and I sucked harder—hard enough to force her to make a little noise for me.

“Tell me where you want my mouth, angel,” I groaned into her skin.

Her thighs tightened around my hips, but she didn’t speak beyond another soft moan.

I squeezed and rubbed at one of her denim-clad legs, offering her a hint of what I was hoping for. “I’ll tell ya what…I’ll just keep distracting you, and you tell me when to stop, okay?”

She nodded.

I sank lower, nudging her shirt up so I could trail the tip of my tongue down the center of her belly before placing a kiss right above the waistband of her jeans.

She held my head between her warm palms as I left tiny, wet pecks along the denim blockade. Listening to her moans and feeling her arching spine, I was transported back to the night in Finnigan’s, Evie’s spread legs waiting breathlessly for me to taste her.

I unbuttoned the tiny silver stud, my mouth already watering at the anticipation of her divine flavor.

But before I could do anything more, a sudden screech resounded from the elevator shaft, and Evie sat up with a fearful expression.

I shot to my feet, yanking her to hers as well. She had the presence of mind to button herself up, and I only had a moment to regret losing that tantalizing peek of her red thong.

Voices echoed from above as another shriek of metal sounded. A firefighter abruptly wrested apart the doors in front of us.

The nearest floor was about four feet above where the elevator was lodged, so the now-open doors faced half onto a solid wall and half onto a normal office hallway. A few men crouched by the opening, holding out their arms to help lift us out.

I swiveled toward Evie, who was still fastened to my sleeve. “Go.”

“What about you?” she muttered.

“I’ll be right behind you,” I said.

True to my word, I was never more than a few feet from her. As we climbed out, as the paramedics checked us both over, as I filled out the required paperwork, and as we were finally cleared to leave… all that while, I felt the warmth of Evie at my elbow.

***

Evie didn’t speak much on the ride home, and neither did I. I suspected the storm of endorphins was making her tired, but in the back of my mind, I wondered if her silence was more about what had taken place between us.

Massive white flakes tumbled heavy from the sky, piling up quickly on the parked automobiles, sidewalks, and homes as I pulled up outside Evie’s residence. The winter view was beautiful—almost as beautiful as the distraught woman in my passenger’s seat.

Her hairstyle was nearly straight, as if the stress of the night had flattened her chestnut curls. Her mascara had left streaks of darkness under her eyes from her tears. Plus, it was the first time I’d seen her sporting jeans.

By any normal standards, she was a mess. But still, I couldn’t look at anything else.

“Vázquez?” she asked softly.

I lifted my brows, seeking to add a bit of humor to our stressful evening. “Beckett?”

“What happened…” She sighed as if she were exhaling the rest of her anxiety. “The kiss…that was only to keep me calm, right?”

~At first, yeah. I kissed you because I wanted to help. I kept kissing you because I couldn’t make myself stop.~

“Of course,” I lied.

“Okay.” She smiled. “I just wanted to make sure because of our arrangement. Can’t go breaking the rules before we’ve even gotten started, right?”

I tried to return the smile. “Yeah, we’re all good. Just let me know when Operation Fake Relation is a go.” As Evie reached for the door handle, though, I offered one last, not-so-joking jest. “Hey…”

She peered at me, waiting for me to finish my thought.

“One more kiss for the road?” I tried.

Evie smirked, leaning toward me, thoroughly catching me off guard. I’d assumed she’d have some snippy comeback, but far be it from me to protest if she was actually willing to kiss me again.

I bent, puckering my lips, but then she veered to my cheek, placing a teasing kiss there instead.

Her lips lingered there for several long seconds before peeling away.

“You wish,” she whispered seductively.

As she pulled back, her grin immediately rubbed off on me. I liked that she was feeling well enough to tease me. Still, I couldn’t help but feel slightly cheated—despite having my lips on her for roughly half an hour earlier.

“Later, Vázquez,” she said.

I chuckled as she whirled open the door and headed into her house, leaving me with my dick half hard from nothing more than a little kiss to the side of my face.

This woman certainly knew how to push my buttons and parry my wise-ass jokes. I wanted to fuck her again, so bad. But hey, maybe a fake relationship would be almost as fun as a real fuck.