She faced him unsure what to say.

"I don't think it's a good idea either." He was quick to look away.

"Can I trust you then?" Tai asked, peeking at him slightly tempted, slightly wary.

Her heart fluttered when she saw his expression. It was as if he was looking right into her soul.

Was this playing with fire? Did the wine make her bolder than usual?

"I can't be trusted." He gave her a devilish grin. "But I'd never hurt you. So I can only promise I won't do anything you would hate."

She chuckled and covered her face. That sounded like a promise she could agree with. "Alright then. I'm freezing. Let's just go."

He turned on his phone's flashlight and they headed down the field towards the parking lot, taking a blanket with them.

The silence between them was the most intense thing she ever experienced. She wanted to break it desperately but she feared whatever she'd say he'd reply with something witty and then she'd get herself into more dangerous water.

 He looked like a guy who could never fall in love. It was written all over his style, his clothes, his vibe... She didn't want to judge by appearance, but when it's obvious like this if she said anything else to herself it would sound like an excuse.

He glanced at her and she immediately averted her eyes. Maybe it was all the walking, but she started getting hot in her jacket. She should avoid thinking about sins in his company.

They had almost reached the car so he pulled out his keys unlocking it. Tai reached for the backdoor but she was suddenly pressed into the car and turned around.

She was face to face with him, feeling his warmth over her skin and his weight over her jacket. His eyes landed on her lips and then focused on her eyes.

She couldn't utter a single word. She couldn't push him away either.

Unlike the last time when she was caught off guard, this time she could feel his intentions from the moment he offered to keep her company in the car.

"I'm only going to say this once." He whispered over her lips.

His voice sounded slightly raspy causing the most thrilling sensations down her back. "Once we get in the car you will turn with your back towards me and won't look at me until you fall asleep. If you break this..."

She turned her head away. "Well if you're going to be dramatic..."

He grabbed her chin turning her head back and he pressed his lips over hers. Every inch of her body raised in temperature as his lips slid over her lower one, sucking on it. Then he pulled away.

There was a sharp jolt at the side of her stomach.

"Well then...I'm sorry." He apologized before she could even utter a single word or do anything. She was too stunned to speak, her body slightly shaking from the nervous jitters. He didn't look sorry at all.

"It's..okay." Her hands behind her back found the door handle and opened the door getting inside.

Aleksei made a full circle to the other side trying to calm down his panicked heart.

"Can you lower the seats a little bit?" Tai asked, avoiding looking him in the eyes.

"Yeah..yes.just um..second." He sounded as nervous as her. His change of reaction surprised her.

He lowered the seats and she laid down placing a hand under her head. The car was way warmer, maybe because it baked in the sun during the day, but she could also give credit to the adrenaline rushing all over her body after that kiss.

She snuggled into the blanket he covered her with. The urge to kiss someone after she was warned like that was never present..until now.

"Aleksei.." She said his name softly.

She still avoided looking at him, but Aleksei thought this was for the best. If she had looked him in the eye when she said his name, he'd toss all common sense out the car window.

 He was already barely holding it in, not reaching out and pulling her under him. But he betrayed himself with that kiss. His own body had done something he shouldn't have. He couldn't even do this properly.

Get some courage, ask her out..take her on a date. Do things the normal way.

What an asshole she must have thought he was. Just kissing her like that, like she was someone random. Like she didn't mean anything to mean when he liked her this much.

He was dedicated to chasing guys away from her, and then when she'd reject a few of them of her own, his heart filled with pride. That's right, little one. Just keep your heart empty for me. Keep that space for me. They don't deserve you.

Now, he had compromised the very thing he held so dear. She was so precious, so sweet and so damn stunning and he was very undeserving.

When he didn't answer her, Tai gathered the courage to speak up again.

"Aleksei.."

"Mm?" He placed his hands under his head looking at the roof of the car.

"Can you promise me something?" She said.

He already fucked up everything, the least he could do was promise her something. "I can."

"Promise me you'll forget about this tomorrow. I'm just curious."

Before he knew it she rolled over to his side and leaned over him, her lips touching his.

Somehow the warm flutter of her breath caused his lips to part and his concentration to waver. His heart squeezed in desire and fought against the short leash he held it on.

She felt his fingers slide beneath her hair to cup the base of her neck. Then his mouth crushed hers, ravaging while he held her gently.

Her curiosity was definitely satisfied, Tai thought. Power and desire gripped over her whole body with one kiss.

 He was a great kisser. His tongue eased between lips he parted expertly and he pressed her closer to his chest.

She could feel her heart thumping in her chest and her voice begging to come out in a moan under his breath. He was exquisite. Like she would imagine kissing someone dangerous, forbidden, and bad for her heart.

Upon realizing how much of a mistake this would be in the morning, she pulled away.

For a moment when he felt her struggle against his chest, he didn't want to let her go. But he went against himself and released her.

Her lips were swollen as she stared at him unsure what to say or excuse to tell him.

"I'm sorry." She said breathlessly.

"That's okay." He said with a raspy voice and cleared his throat.

She moved away and turned with her back towards him again, pressing her hands together and placing them under her head. "Goodnight then."

"Goodnight." He said unsure how he was going to calm down his beating heart long enough to fall asleep before sunrise.

***

The loud window knocking was too annoying to ignore. Tai opened her eyes and then fluttered her eyelashes to get used to the sunlight. She peeked from one eye, seeing it was Nikita who kept knocking. He had a sheepish grin and waved at her. She crawled to the door and opened it. The weather outside was breezy but warm.

"Good morning." He crouched down, handing her a bottle of water.

"Morning." She took the bottle. Just what she needed.

Then she realized she spent the night with Aleksei next to her. She turned around but he wasn't there.

"Arya and Zakhar are still sleeping but everyone else is up. Aleksei told us you were cold yesterday and decided to sleep in the car so I offered to wake you."

"And he's um..where?" The memories of the kiss flooded back in an instant and she avoided looking at Nikita directly.

"He's back at the tents. Why?"

"I um..don't know how to lift the seats up. Don't tell my dad, he'll lecture me for life." She awkwardly got out of the car and stretched.

"I can do that for you." Nikita expertly brought the seats back to normal.

"Thanks.." She then went pale. "Oh shit. My makeup and wash kit is back at the tent."

Nikita reached into the inside of his jacket and took out the kit from his pocket.

"I'm indebted to you for life." She grabbed the kit.

For some reason, while she thought she might not care how she looked in the morning, after that kiss she wanted to look her best in front of Aleksei even though she told him to forget it.

After getting ready in a rush, she followed Nikita back to the tents. Lev and Aleksei were packing up the other two tents.

"Morning." She smiled at both of them.

Lev just waved a hand at her and continued packing the tent.

"Good morning." Aleksei was a bit more awkward avoiding eye contact after glancing at her once.

She did not like the feeling of being ignored like this but expected nothing else since she asked him to forget about it.

Arya suddenly unzipped the tent and poked her head out. "Tai, we're going to stay here a bit longer. Wanna join us in here."

"I will drive her back so.." Aleksei shooed Arya back inside.

"Then if you don't mind, keep it down. If any of you wake up my boyfriend I will hurt you in the most painful ways you could think of." She glared at him and then went back inside, zipping up her tent.

Tai found it cute to see how much Zakhar and Arya cared for each other.

The ride back to their school was pretty relaxed. Nikita and Tai were singing along to the radio, occasionally starting a topic or two while Lev and Aleksei were pretty quiet upfront. Once they were back, Tai left to go towards her Villa while Lev, Nikita, and Aleksei went inside their house.

Aleksei did his best to remain calm and not act out of the ordinary during the ride. It was his best acting yet.

 He wasn't sure he was going to make it, but he prevailed.

Falling asleep that night after the kiss was hard. He couldn't tell if she was sleeping or not so for the next hour he was frozen in one position.

After she had turned around in her sleep he finally relaxed. She had curled herself into a fetal position probably feeling cold, and before he knew it, he was taking off his jacket and placing it over her on top of the blanket. She relaxed her body and nuzzled into the jacket.

His heart filled with all sorts of warm emotions. He reached to caress her face, his thumb running over her cool skin.

He couldn't believe he kissed her twice in one night and then promised her to forget all about it in the morning. It was exceptionally cruel to ask that of him, but then again she didn't know more about him other than what he had shown her. So he had spent all morning and the ride back home, in denial the kiss ever happened. As impossible as that mission was.

Finally, alone, Lev turned towards Aleksei.

"You seem different. Anything wrong?"

"Don't ask." Aleksei dragged his legs and sat down on the stairs.

"Why? Did something happen?" Lev approached the stairs and leaned over the rail.

Aleksei was holding his head over his head in desperation.

"Alright, I won't ask. But there is one thing we need to do now that we're back."

Aleksei raised his head realizing the meaning behind that. Lev was right. They had work to do now.