"DISGUISED HEAT: LEVEL TWO"
The hallway behind the neon-blue bar was dim, pulsing with red emergency lights that mimicked the beat of the music outside. The drone hovered closer, its lens sweeping for signs of deception.
María's gaze locked onto Archive.
María stepped in close, too close for protocol, and pressed two fingers under his chin to tilt his face up.
María: (low, urgent) Don't think. Just feel.
Archive: Miss María, please what are you doing?
María: Hold still.
She murmured, voice low, husky with the accent of the outer colonies.
María: Security drones just pinged this sector. We need to look like we belong here.
Before he could inhale, she gripped his jaw and pulled him into a kiss that stole his breath.
Archive jolted—
The kiss was not a soft, testing thing. It was a deliberate, hungry collision that shoved him back against the crates with a metallic clank. Her mouth was warm, urgent, tasting faintly of contraband rum and strawberries. One of her hands slid into the short hair at his nape; the other found the seam of his jacket and slipped inside, palm flat against his skin.
Her lips moved deliberately, confidently, commanding his response.
María broke the kiss only long enough to breathe against his lips.
María: Play along, boy. Lovers hiding for a quick act sell better than two spies trying not to look nervous.
Archive: (Voice in a whisper) Stop. I'm underaged.
She pushed his jacket open, fingers tracing the faint glow on the skin at his throat.
Archive: María—
It was half warning, half plea.
She kissed him again, deeper this time, swallowing the small, startled sound he made when she bit his Adam's Apple.
Archive: (Hissed).
María: That's more like it.
The drone drifted nearer.
María slid a hand behind his neck, pulling him deeper into her.
Her lips parted—
—and her tongue brushed his, slow and deliberate.
Archive's breath hitched.
Every nerve in his body lit like a short-circuit.
He steadied himself against her waist, hands trembling as he finally kissed back.
Their tongues met again—heavy pressure, heated, uncontrolled and undeniably intimate.
María pressed closer, bodies flush, the warmth of her breath mixing with his.
Her kiss grew deeper, more intense, just enough to look like two lovers lost in each other.
The drone paused.
Scanned.
Flashed green.
Authentic couple confirmed.
Only then did María break the kiss—slowly, her lips trailing his like she wasn't fully done.
Archive's hands were still at her waist, eyes wide, glasses fogged.
María smirked, thumb brushing the corner of his mouth, wiping a trace of her lipstick from his lower lip.
María: (leaned close, whispering) Relax, cariño. It was just disguise… unless you want it to mean something.
Archive swallowed so hard it echoed.
María chuckled, stepping away and straightening her jacket with lethal confidence.
María: Keep up.
Archive stood there, dazed, heart racing, still tasting her on his tongue.
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