When I worked as a writer and producer for a television station's website, I was great friends with the managing editor. We kept a file of crazy news stories that we called our “re-enactment files,” which we’d break out on slow or sad news days when we needed a good laugh. Nothing soothes the spirit better than bad office theatre. But this story crossed the wire about Boy George being arrested for keeping some guy as a sort of sex slave, and we were torn. On the one hand, it was disturbing to think about Boy George keeping someone cuffed to the bed, but in the end, we added it to the file.
It opened a whole new topic of conversation for us, though, because the craziness was partly discovered because of a hidden camera. We both agreed that while there days when being single sounded fun, ultimately we’d always have to look over our shoulders for the hidden camera in the bookshelf. But for some folks, the thrill of discovery can be quite titillating. Take, for example, sex in an elevator.
Quickies are not a new thing, nor is voyeurism, but there have been a string of steamy romances with couples getting a rise out of their lifts.
Anything He Wants by Sara Fawkes
I was pleasantly surprised by the scintillating story of temp worker Lucy Delacourt’s evolution at Hamilton Industries. Much like the movie Indecent Proposal, Lucy finds herself in an uncompromising, yet very sexy, position with the mystery businessman who rides the elevator with her every morning. She’s always aware of him, but takes precautions lest he notice her staring. One morning, though, the cobra snares her, crowding her against the door when the rest of the elevator clears out.
The mystery guy speaks lowly directly into her hear as he stretches his arm out to stop the car. “I see you on this elevator every morning. Your doing, I take it?” Wow, that’s a loaded question. He proceeds to seduce her right there before their morning coffee. And, when they’re finished and Lucy stumbles out of the elevator two floors early, he has the audacity to wink at her and tell her “I’ll see you again.” And he does. Because he’s billionaire CEO Jeremiah Hamilton…and he’s got a proposal unlike any she’s ever considered.
“Going Down” by Donna Kauffman
Callie Montgomery is re-entering the workforce after a bad divorce as the temporary secretary for a financial whiz. When a meeting with her boss and sexy business magnate Dominic Colbourne runs long, Callie escorts Dominic in the company’s private elevator. But the building is still under construction, and halfway down its journey, power to the building is turned off and the elevator stalls with the strangers inside. Have you ever noticed that the dark is often mysterious and sexy in romances, rather than violent and terrifying like in horror movies? Dominic’s deep, British voice reaches out to Callie in the dark to help calm her, and once they start talking, there’s no holding back their instincts. For shy Callie, whose confidence plummeted at her ex-husband’s hands, the dark makes her bold and daring. For emotionally reserved Dominic, the opportunity to bring Callie out of her shell and focus on listening, the dark helps him to realize the right woman can engage his heart and his mind.
Heat It Up by Elle Kennedy
Jane Harrison is not above using her sister’s recent rescue from a South American jungle by a team of brave Navy SEALs for good journalism. In fact, her magazine editor is interested in Jane’s pitch to interview Elizabeth’s rescuer, Thomas Becker. But, in fine Special Forces fashion, Becker isn’t interested. So when Jane runs into Becker at his physical therapy session, she corners him in the elevator. And wouldn’t you know it, Fate, that fickle bitch, stops the elevator somewhere around the third floor. Jane’s claustrophobia kicks in around minute one, and when the technician tells them that the repairman could take upwards of an hour, Becker doesn’t have many options other than to help her calm down. Right? And it started with a kiss…
Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
At one point during Fifty Shades of Grey, Christian Grey muses, “What is it about elevators?” During a ride he and Ana takes, Ana finds out firsthand just what it is (and she gets her first real kiss): “He lunges at me, pushing against the walls of the elevator. Before I know it, he's got both of my hands in one of his in a vice-like grip above my head, and he's pinning me to the wall using his hips.” Later on, he promises, “One day I will fuck you in this elevator, Anastasia, but right now you're tired—so I think we should stick to a bed.”
While these stories certainly make the heart pound a little faster, I don’t think I could ever work up the nerve to hit the STOP button in the elevator car (even if I could convince my husband for a public quickie).
Does elevator sex steam up your romances, or make them simmer?
Dolly Sickles is a Southerner with a lifelong penchant for storytelling. Her Secret Squirrel identity is Dolly Sickles, but she also writes romance as Becky Moore, and this year her first children’s book will be published as Dolly Dozier. She’s an avid reader of all literature, but she takes refuge in the romance genre, where despite the most grandiose, exhilarating, strange, and unlikely plot that’s out there, every story has a happy ending.
