She insisted they did at least some cleaning – "It's disgusting, Sergio, really! – so they spent the last two hours of the afternoon in the control room, laughing and joking and generally getting very little cleaning done but a lot of kissing. Still, at least the puddles on the floor were gone by the time they left to go home, so Raquel was reasonably satisfied. Sergio eyed her critically as they stepped outside into the sunlight.

"How did you manage to get that much water on yourself?"

"I'm an enthusiastic cleaner", she shrugged.

He pulled her close and nuzzled her neck. "You're enthusiastic at a lot of things."

"Are you complaining?" she smiled.

"Not in the least", he murmured, then leaned in for a long, deep kiss.

When they got into the car, however, she grimaced and shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Oh, wet jeans are the worst."

He turned the key in the ignition and started to pull out of the parking spot, but he stopped abruptly as she started unbuttoning her pants.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking them off."

"You're… you're going to sit there… for the entire drive home… in your underwear?"

"We're in a car, nobody will see."

"I'll see."

She flashed him a grin. "Do you mind?"

He considered this. "You know what, I don't think I do."

"Good", she said, then wriggled out of her pants.

Driving back to the house in the state they were in was just plain irresponsible, Sergio thought to himself, but they had to get back somehow. They were both light-headed and giddy, and he kept missing turns because he was looking at her rather than the road. When it happened for the third time, she couldn't stop laughing.

"You are adorable", she smiled, leaning in to kiss his cheek.

He frowned as he turned the car around. "Don't distract me even more. It's going to take us a week to get home if we keep going like this."

"I expected more mental fortitude from you, Professor", she teased. "I didn't think you'd be this easily distracted."

"I was allowing myself to be distracted", he said with dignity. "If I choose to focus, nothing can break my concentration."

She grinned. "Nothing?"

"Absolutely nothing."

"Well…", she said, "Why don't you focus on the traffic then?"

"I will", he said, and firmly fixed his eyes on the road ahead, determined not to so much as glance in her direction again.

After only a few minutes, though, he suddenly felt her hand on his knee. He swallowed hard as she started to move it up his thigh.

"Stop that", he warned her sternly.

"Stop what?" she asked in her most innocent tone.

"What you're doing is very dangerous."

"What am I doing?"

"You're distracting your driver."

She grinned. "I thought my driver couldn't be distracted?"

"True", he said quickly, squaring his shoulders. "I am a fortress."

"I'm sure you are", she murmured, then leaned in to kiss his neck.

He steeled himself. "You're not going to break me."

"Of course not", she said, running her fingers through his hair.

He had to close his eyes for just a second at the feeling of it. Damn it, why did she affect him so much? He'd never been susceptible to this kind of thing, but now he could feel his brain cloud over at her merest touch. Her hand was sneaking higher up his thigh and, to his embarrassment, he felt his body react to her automatically. He quickly pushed her hand away.

"If you can't behave yourself, I'm going to pull over and put you in the back seat", he threatened.

"I'm sorry", she teased. "I thought you were a fortress?"

He took a deep breath and, as she kissed his neck again, he tightened his hands on the wheel until his knuckles whitened. He could resist her. He was stronger than this. This was a battle of wills, and he wasn't about to lose. He could control himself. He could… But when she bit his earlobe and he nearly crashed into a tree, he had to admit defeat. She was a force of nature – he might as well try to resist gravity.

He pulled the car over to the side of the road and immediately turned to kiss her, and she threw her arms around his neck and returned his kiss with enthusiasm.

"That was easier than I thought it would be", she smiled.

"It's not my fault", he grumbled. "You're objectively irresistible, it's not fair. I can't keep my hands off you."

"Well, that makes two of us", she murmured, pressing her lips against his again. "Oh, this stupid seatbelt!"

He heard her seatbelt click, and the next moment she was astride his lap, kissing him fiercely. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight as he kissed her back, feeling like it had been an eternity since he'd last held her rather than an hour. Her hands were in his hair, on his shoulders, on his chest, and then her fingers were unbuttoning his pants.

He stopped her hand, alarmed. "What are you doing?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

"This is a publicroad!"

"Correction", she said, her eyes sparkling. "It's a deserted road."

"People could drive past at any time!"

"Unlikely", she said, kissing him again. "And honestly, I don't care if they do."

"But…"

"Of course", she said slowly as she ran her fingers through his hair, "if you don't want to…"

She pressed her hips against him and he gasped.

"… we don't have to…"

She bent her head to kiss his neck, and he closed his eyes and groaned.

"… please don't feel…" She pressed her hips against him again. "… obligated."

He couldn't believe how much he wanted her. She smelled so good, she felt so good in his arms, her mouth on his so soft, then hungry and insistent – so hot – the way she moved her hips against him driving him crazy. But what made him truly lose all restraint was the realization that she wanted him – she really wanted him. How could he say no to that?

He pulled her head down and kissed her. He kept one hand in her hair, and slid his other hand down her back, over her hips, to run it over her bare thigh. Then he moved it back up to her lower back so he could press her even closer against him. Her shirt hung open, so he bent his head and nipped at her nipples through her top, making her utter little gasps as she twined her fingers into his hair. This time, when she started undoing his pants, he didn't stop her, and he groaned softly as she drew him out. The next moment, she lifted her hips, pushed her underwear to the side and guided him in, letting out a long, quiet 'ohhh' as she sank down on him, and fireworks started going off in his brain. She pressed her lips against his as she started riding him, slowly at first, and he savored the feeling of being inside her, the ecstasy of it as she enveloped him fully. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tight. After a few minutes, she picked up the pace, and soon they were both breathing hard, little moans escaping from her lips every time she took him in. She felt so incredibly good around him, he knew he wouldn't be able to stand it much longer, and as she rode him harder, he closed his eyes and surrendered to the tension building inside him. A few moments later, he buried his face against her shoulder as his arms tightened around her, then he shuddered and groaned as the feeling swept through him in a fiery wave, making him shiver and tingle all over.

She moved up and down a few more times, then she stopped and held him close as he leaned against her in a state of absolute bliss.

"That was amazing", he whispered, and she smiled and kissed him.

"It sure was."

She leaned back for a moment to catch her breath, and accidentally pressed against the car horn, which honked loudly. They both jumped, then started laughing uncontrollably, the tension broken.

"Oh", she said, wiping her eyes. "It feels so good to laugh. It's been so long."

"I love hearing you laugh", he murmured, pulling her in for another kiss.

"I've got a feeling you haven't laughed much in your life", she said, stroking his hair.

"No", he admitted. "I've never had the necessary… lightness of spirit. But you make me laugh. I love that about you. In fact, you make me do a lot of things I never thought I'd do. Like have sex in a car right by the side of the road."

She grinned. "I can't believe we didn't even make it to the house. How are we possibly going to keep our hands off each other for entire days of classes?"

"I don't know", he said earnestly. "I'm not sure I'll be able to bear it. I wanted you so desperately just now."

They kissed again, and he sighed as he leaned his forehead against hers.

"What have you done to me, Raquel? I don't recognize myself anymore. I'm not the man I was mere months ago."

She hesitated. "Do you mind? Would you prefer to go back, if you could?"

"No", he whispered. "Not for the world."

…

When they were almost back to the house, Sergio stopped the car one more time so she could put her pants back on and they could have one last kiss. Then they broke apart reluctantly and he drove around the last bend, to where the others were gathered around the table outside.

"Is anyone preparing dinner?" Sergio asked.

"Rio and Tokyo", Moscow answered. "They said it would be at least half an hour yet."

"Then I'm going to take a shower", Raquel said, and she disappeared inside.

Sergio let himself drop into the chair next to Nairobi, who took one look at him and raised her eyebrows.

"Looks like you had a good time cleaning."

He cleared his throat and said carefully: "It was alright."

"Oh, I think it was more than alright", she teased.

He quickly glanced around the table, but the others were talking among themselves and not paying attention to them. Still, he remained evasive.

"I don't know what you mean."

She grinned broadly. "You're not fooling me, Profe."

He gave her a dignified look. "I don't know what assumptions you're making, but I can assure you that…"

"You missed a button on your shirt", she said drily, then laughed as he turned bright red and hastened to fasten it.

"I… I think I'll go and look for Berlin", he said, getting up hastily.

"You do that", she said, amused.

He hurried inside and went looking for his brother. He found him at the desk in the classroom, reading through some notes. He drew up a chair and sat down on the other side of the desk.

"How did the studying go?"

"Good", Berlin said, without looking up. "I just sent them outside ten minutes ago. How was cleaning?"

"Fine. We didn't get everything done though, we'll have to go back."

Berlin looked up at him and immediately narrowed his eyes. "Why are you smiling like that?"

"Like what?" he said, quickly adopting a more neutral expression.

His brother studied him closely. "You look like a cat who got the cream."

Sergio shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Was he that obvious? "It was just nice getting out of the house for a while."

"Yes", his brother said slyly, "Especially in good company, right?"

"Raquel is… pleasant company, yes."

"I thought you were going to stay away from her?"

He cleared his throat. "Well, I… I gave it some serious thought and I changed my mind about that."

"Are you no longer in love with her?"

He felt himself go red. "That's… uhm… not exactly…"

His brother's face suddenly broke into a wide grin. "You slept with her, didn't you?"

"What? I… no!"

"Yes you did!" Berlin grinned appreciatively. "And not a minute too soon. Well done, little brother. I'm glad to see you came to your senses."

"But how could you possibly tell?" Sergio said, exasperated.

"You look much too happy and satisfied for a man who is supposed to be thwarted by love." He chuckled. "Ah, that explains it."

"Explains what?"

"I heard Raquel come in earlier and she was humming." His brother flashed him a grin. "Looks like you did a good job."

Sergio couldn't help but feel pleased, and Berlin laughed.

"By the look on your face, I'm assuming you're going to do it again?"

"As soon as possible", Sergio said without thinking, then blushed as his brother laughed again.

"So you're together now?"

"Yes", he said, feeling a warm, bright sense of joy at hearing his brother say it. "Yes, we are."

Berlin gave him a fond look. "Well, who would have thought it? My baby brother finally found someone he likes."

Sergio just couldn't contain a smile. "I do. I like her so much." It felt so good to be able to talk to someone about this. "Andrés, I can't describe this feeling. She's so amazing."

His brother raised his eyebrows. "And judging from your general air of satisfaction, pretty good in bed."

He felt himself redden slightly, but he couldn't resist mumbling: "That's an understatement."

"Good for you", Berlin grinned.

"Please don't tell any of the others though."

"No", Berlin said, amused. "I don't suppose you'd want them to know that their leader is breaking his own rules."

"I don't know how this happened to me", Sergio said quietly. "I thought I was stronger than this."

"It has nothing to do with strength, Sergio. There are some forces in the universe that we weren't made to resist."

"I tried", he said. "I really tried."

"You don't have to apologize to me. I don't care if you've broken some silly rule."

"It's not silly to me, Andrés", Sergio said seriously. "I worry about this. I don't know how she will affect me during the operation."

"I'm sure she'll be great for a little tension relief", his brother grinned.

"We can't do that during the operation!" he said, alarmed. "One of us will need to man the screens at all times. What if something crucial happens while we're… distracted?"

"I'm sure nobody's going to die just because you're having sex."

"You can't know that."

Berlin gave him a skeptical look. "So you're going to spend ten days with her in one room, and you're not going to sleep with her once?"

Sergio hesitated as he remembered that they hadn't even made it through a two-hour car ride together.

"It's… it's going to get easier, right?"

"What is?"

"Keeping my hands off her."

His brother grinned. "You've really got it bad, haven't you?"

"I know", he sighed. "But is it? Going to get easier?"

"Sure, but not for the first few months."

He groaned, but his brother said: "Don't worry so much about it. You'll have other things on your mind by then, I'm sure you'll be able to focus on the operation."

Sergio sighed. "I can't honestly say that I regret that this happened, but I know it would have been better if it hadn't. If I hadn't recruited her."

Berlin considered him for a moment. "Sergio, tell me something. Has there ever been a point in your life when you could say you were truly happy?"

He hesitated. "No."

"And unless I'm much mistaken, you're happy now?"

"Yes", he whispered. "I am."

"Then I advise you to stop worrying and just enjoy it. Who knows how long it will last? We may all be dead by November. Take this happiness while you can, little brother. Life is short."

Sergio gave his brother a pained look. "I know. Andrés…"

But Berlin shook his head. "We said we wouldn't talk about it. Let's go have dinner."

They both got up, but before they reached the door, Sergio took his brother by the arm and hugged him. Berlin patted him on the back.

"Count your blessings, Sergio. There are worse things in life than to be distracted by love."

…

That evening after dinner, he was the first to go up to his bedroom. Waiting the agreed upon thirty minutes for her was agony – it seemed like forever ago since he'd last held her. When she finally opened his bedroom door and slipped inside, he immediately opened his arms and she let herself fall onto the bed and cuddled up to him. They spent the evening in each other's arms, talking softly, kissing often. Finally, she checked her watch and sighed regretfully.

"It's past midnight. I suppose I'd better go to my room."

"No, don't go yet", he murmured, hugging her closer.

"But we need to sleep", she reasoned.

"Ten more minutes?"

"We have class in the morning."

"Yes, I know, you're right", he said, letting her go with the utmost reluctance.

She pressed one more kiss to his lips, then slowly got off the bed and walked across the room, looking back at him. God, he hated to see her go.

"Goodnight", she whispered at the door.

"Goodnight", he said, a sinking feeling in his stomach as she opened the door and went out.

He missed her immediately. There was a cold emptiness where she had been, and the next eight hours loomed dark and seemingly endless before him, promising another sleepless night in which he wouldn't be able to think about anything but her. After today, he didn't want to be apart from her anymore – it felt so unnatural, after the closeness they'd shared. But they had to sleep, and… Something suddenly clicked in his brain, and he scrambled out of bed.

He was almost at the door when it opened and she came back in, an apologetic look on her face.

"Sergio…. what if I slept here?" she asked, at the exact same instant that he said:

"Please sleep here."

She gave him a radiant smile and threw her arms around his neck to kiss him.

"Oh thank god", she murmured. "I really didn't want to sleep alone tonight."

"Me neither", he said, hugging her close.

"I wasn't sure if I should ask you. I thought maybe you liked your space when sleeping."

"I'll gladly share my space with you."

She kissed him. "I'll go put on my pajamas."

She walked towards the door, then turned around again. "You know, it's a very warm night."

"It is", he said. "What's your point?"

She smiled. "What if we didn't put on any pajamas?"

He raised his eyebrows. "You want to sleep naked?"

"Wouldn't it be nice?" she murmured, coming close to him. "To sleep without anything between us?"

He honestly couldn't think of anything nicer. He quickly undressed, then got into bed. She remained standing by the side of the bed for a moment, hesitating.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked her.

"It's a very small bed."

"Then we'll have to sleep close together", he smiled.

"Are you sure you don't mind? Will you be able to sleep?"

"I don't know", he admitted. "We'll have to see. But I'd rather lie awake with you next to me than sleep without you."

She smiled and got between the sheets. "Do you remember the last time we shared a bed, in that hotel? You couldn't get far enough away from me then." She grinned. "I hope you won't fall out of bed this time."

"I remember thinking the next morning I would give anything to sleep next to you again", he said softly. "But I didn't think it would ever be possible."

She kissed him tenderly.

"How do you like to sleep?"

"On my side."

"Perfect", she smiled. "Then you can spoon me."

"What?"

She turned onto her side. He followed her example, and she shifted closer to him, fitting her body against his and taking his arm to tuck it around her waist, her fingers intertwining with his. He couldn't believe how lovely it felt to lie so close to her, to have her naked in his arms, his skin lighting up where it touched hers until he felt illuminated from the inside out as their bodies connected full-length. He pressed his lips against her bare shoulder and breathed in the sweet scent of her skin.

"Thank you", he whispered.

"What for?"

"For today. It's been… just amazing, Raquel. You're so wonderful.

She nestled herself even closer against him. "I've had a wonderful day too."

She soon fell asleep in his arms, and the deep, even sound of her breathing was so soothing, making him sleepy too, but every time he started to drift off, he forced himself awake again – he didn't want to sleep just yet. He wanted to savor it all: her warmth, her softness, the wonderful feeling of her body against his – finally, after months of longing, there was nothing separating them anymore. The thought that she would be with him all night, and that she would be the first thing he would see when he opened his eyes in the morning made him indescribably happy. Count your blessings, he heard his brother say, so he thought: her laugh. Her voice. Her kisses. His arm around her waist and her hand in his. Her kindness, and the light in her eyes as she smiled. Her touch. He felt himself slipping into sleep with a warm, fuzzy feeling of utter contentment. Count your blessings. This moment, he thought, hugging her tight. This moment.