The Experiment © [Completed]

Chapter 63 - Control

"What's wrong, babe? I thought you were ready to meet them?" Dei asked as she fixed his collar, trying to hide her amusement at the disconcerted expression on his face.

"Well I am," he answered. "I just hope I could meet them in a more relaxed setting. Not when I'm wearing something as constrained as this one. I can barely move, babe."

"It's just the nerves," she said, brushing his hair back from his forehead and kissing him lightly on the lips. "There, you look dashing. Give me five minutes, I'll just put on the dress okay?"

"Wait," RJ said, grabbing her by the elbow. The fingers on his other hand were pressed against his lips and his face bore a slightly stupefied expression. "You kissed me," he whispered, looking stunned .

"Yeah, I did," she said simply, a small smile playing on her lips. She tried to walk away but RJ stopped her again.

"Wait a minute," he said, pulling her back. "That's unfair. How come you can kiss me but I'm not allowed to kiss you?" he asked, looking at her.

"You're on probation, remember?"

"You're teasing me..." he accused, narrowing his eyes at her.

"I am not," she said, raising her eyebrows at him innocently.

"Let me kiss you then, just one kiss," he insisted. Their last real kiss was about a week ago, though it feels longer, and he had been trying to stop himself from kissing her since.

"Fine," she replied, lifting her head up.

RJ bit his lip and leaned in closer, moving his hands to her face. Very slowly he moved his lips to touch hers and he could feel Dei anticipating it. He smiled when their lips were less than a centimeter close and then gave her a quick peck.

Dei stared at him with her mouth slightly opened and it looked like she had stopped breathing. He gazed at her with a smirk and she exhaled sharply.

"That was it?" she asked.

"I'm on probation, remember?" he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well played, Faulkerson," she said, rolling her eyes at him, and walked quickly towards her room.

RJ chuckled and shook his head. "Two can play the game, babe!" he called out as he leaned against the kitchen counter

Dei walked out a few minutes later and she looked even more gorgeous in the gown she had bought, especially now with her face made up to highlight all her beautiful features.

He swallowed hard as he watched her walk slowly to where he was standing. "You look perfect," he whispered.

"Thanks, and so do you," she answered, smiling shyly. "Let's go?" she asked, turning towards the door with her hair flipping gracefully behind her as she moved.

"New perfume," RJ noticed as he walked behind her.

"Uhuh," she answered, smiling but not looking at him.

"Vanilla," he said, his voice low.

"Yep."

"You've been doing your research, Dei," he said, holding her hand and falling a step beside her so he could look at her face -- she was trying to suppress a smile. "But it's a good thing I've gotten some good practice on self control before," he said, and it was his turn to smile.