Once Upon A Lie

Thirty:

Thirty:

There were still a few days before Alina had to go back to school. She had healed enough that she could walk without it causing her any pain. During that time, she called Mal and the two of them went on a few motorcycle rides. She kept on wanting to tell him about Aleksander but she couldn't bring herself too. Especially since she knew their history now, telling Mal about him seemed messy.

One afternoon, he took her up to Ryevost. They found a spot on the river that was completely empty of visitors. Mal had packed a picnic, and the two of them sat on a blanket looking at the water. "I brought wine." He took a bottle out of the basket.

Alina smiled at him. "How'd you manage to get that?"

Mal laughed. "I swiped it from my mom's stash. She's had so many rich husbands she's collected a few things over the years. Trouble is, she can't keep them. Usually goes through a lot of money fast. But she's got a nice wine collection."

Alina laughed. "Alright then. What'd you make for the picnic?"

"Got some fancy cheese, grapes, bread...some meats."

"All of the good things, then."

"Exactly. Thought we could take a swim too."

"That was my thought too." She took off her shirt, leaving her only in her bikini top and a pair of jean shorts.

Alina could feel Mal looking up and down her body.

He let out a groan. "Saints, Alina. You are gorgeous, do you know that?"

She tossed him a smile, and blushed. "Did you already start on the wine, Mal?"

Mal shook his head. "No. I did not. I was telling you the truth. You are fucking gorgeous, Linnie. Did you know that? Please tell me that idiot told you that you were gorgeous, because you should be told that every, single day."

"You're sweet," she frowned, "and um...no he didn't. But Aleksander wasn't really talkative. After everything that happened with Vasily, he kind of shut himself off from me."

"Well, you know that I am going to tell you that every chance that I get." He took out two glasses and poured them both a drink. They knocked their glasses together in a cheers. "I'd also like to kiss you every chance I get, amongst other things."

She smiled at him as she took a sip of her drink. "Um....listen....before we do that...."

Mal winced. "Why don't I like the sound of this?"

"Look, it's not what you think. After our first date, I went over to confront Aleksander about him lying to me. And we kind of...did things."

Mal took a deep breath. "Did you fuck him?"

Alina's eyes widened. "No! No. I um. I've never been with anyone. But we...fooled around. And he wants to be with me. Kind of like an open thing, I guess."

He raised an eyebrow. "An open thing, huh?"

"Yeah. And I get it if you don't want that but...Aleksander's been part of my life for a really long time. I don't think that I could ever give him up. Not completely. But he's trying to make it up to me because of how badly everything happened to us, and he said that we could do things my way."

"You really want to be in an open relationship?" Mal asked.

Alina sighed, and took another sip of her drink. Mal had set out the food, and she grabbed a piece of brie cheese and chewed on it a little. Anything to avoid talking. "To be completely honest...I don't have a lot of experience in this area. Aleksander's kind of been my whole life up until this point. All I know is that I don't want to feel trapped ever again. I don't know what my future looks like anymore but I know it's wide open now that the engagements off. My parents are never going to take me seriously enough to have me involved in the family business, which means I can make my own future."

He smirked. "You could run off with a loveable rogue on a motorcycle."

"What are your grand plans after you finish school?"

"Road trip," he said, "thought I'd take the fight thing international. Underground fights happen all over the world. I'd like to try as many of them as I can. Maybe get into some real boxing, even."

Alina raised an eyebrow. "What do you like about it so much? I can't imagine being pummeled being any fun."

He shrugged as he chewed on a piece of salami that he'd brought as part of their little meal. "There's something kind of intense about putting your life in another person's hands for glory. It's hard, but when I'm fighting.... I'm completely free. No one can touch me. People can see how invincible I am."

"I've never felt invincible," Alina admitted, "not once in my life. Everyone's always made me feel small. Like I need to be protected. My life has been so intertwined with Aleksander's but since Aleksander is going to be CEO of our parent's company, I kind of became a footnote."

"Think that's why they were trying to arrange a marriage for you?"

Alina laughed. "That was all a product of Aleksander's twisted imagination. He's not used to being told no about things. I think he didn't like the idea that I was growing up and that someone could take me away from him."

"Someone still could," said Mal, "and that someone could be me."

She glanced at him. He wasn't like anyone else she had met in her world. He didn't have any agenda. Alina wasn't used to that. Could she ever be with someone like him completely? Alina didn't know.

Mal stood up then, and she watched him take off his shirt. Her eyes roamed his chest, and then she caught a glimpse of his back. There was a tattoo of a sun on his back with a long sword, and on the sword was written I am become blade.

"You've got a tattoo," Alina said, as she stood up to shrug off her jean shorts so that she was in her bikini bottoms too.

He grinned. "Yeah. Got it when I won my first fight."

"I like it," she said.

Mal winked at her. "Wanna touch it?"

Alina blushed. Instead of answering, she made her way to the river and she slowly went in. Mal joined her. They both went underwater, and then they came back up.

Mal swam over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Alina wrapped her hands around his neck as the two of them treaded water together. Mal looked at her lips. "I kind of want to kiss you," Mal said, "I want to kiss you badly."

"But what about---"

Mal shook his head. "I don't care about him. I'll take you anyway way that I can. I just want to be with you, Alina." His voice was husky as he spoke, and there was something about it that made Alina feel tingly.

"Okay," she said, "okay. Kiss me."

He kissed her, and he tasted like wine and bad ideas. And Alina found that she didn't mind any of it.