They walked and her gaze went to the end of the hallway as soon as she heard steps. Those guards weren't supposed to be back. Natalia crinkled her mouth and her gaze turned to James. "Kiss me, now!" she ordered, pulling him with her. So she was standing with her back to the wall and him in front of her. "Public affection makes people nervous."
There was no time for real explanation and she placed her hand on his neck as she pulled him down. Then, without thinking much of it, she wrapped her other arm around his lower back and pressed her lips gently against his.
There was no time for real explanation and she placed her hand on his neck as she pulled him down. Then, without thinking much of it, she wrapped her other arm around his lower back and pressed her lips gently against his.
The steps of the guards sounded near now. Natalia hoped that James simply didn't look too tense. Not that it really mattered after all the gazes of the would neatly sweep over them before awkwardly looking away. No-one looked at a snogging couple especially as they could do god knows what in a dark hallway. They would be dismissed and both of them could leave just as ordered.
Dammit, this was not a favorable turn. He cursed in a growl under his breath and leaned back to listen to their proximity. He could catch them off guard quickly and...
A calculated smile pulled at his lips and he looked at Natalia pleased. She was brilliant. She'd found their way out. The mission could be fully completed to all guidelines. But could they be sure it would work? All they had to do was not see Natalia's face and live...
Natalia tugged him towards the wall with her and he reached up to pull his hair down to his face, so it wasn't slicked back. It could hang in their faces and hide them further. That should do it. She positioned them and told him it made people uncomfortable. He didn't have time to nod before she pulled on his neck and pressed her lips to his.
He heard the distant sound of boots and moved his metal hand to grab her hip (so he could use it easier if it came to it) and the other to the back of her neck. He tilted her head to the side and angled his head down so he would block any view of her from the angle they'd approach the hallway in. His hair did the trick and hung in her face a little.
That was all they could do, though, and suddenly James realized how her soft lips brushed against his. It sparked a heat in the pit of his stomach that he'd never felt before. He was cold, always cold, and yet it licked at his sides like a flame and clouded his head. It wasn't as much a thought as a reaction, and James' lips pressed against hers more insistently. His fingers slid distractedly from the hold on her neck and into the tangle of hair at the base of Natalia's neck.
James seemed to have some concerns, but Natalia knew it would work. It was her field, after all, and it gave them the perfect excuse to be in a semi-lit hallway. A young couple just sneaking some privacy or seeking the thrill of being able to be caught. So instead of worrying about it and urging him to do it. She had simply gone for it.
Her subconsciousness seemed to register that he seemed to relax. But she was still listening to the steps instead of concentrating on him and what was happening. That was until she felt his lips more insistently on her lips. The kiss seemed to heat her cheeks and slowly cloud her mind. Then, instead of pulling away to look at him, she unconsciously pulled him closer and her hand slid into his hair. Probably making his hairdo look even more unruffled.
The steps came near and faltered a bit before the two guards dismissed her and James while one muttered under his breath "Fucking lovebirds."
So, her plan had worked, but Natalia didn't seem to be able to break their kiss. In fact, she seemed to deepen it instead. The smartest thing to do would be to get away from here before the guards knew something was off. But something about James's lips on hers made her falter and postpone the moment of breaking apart as far as possible.
Eventually, she broke their kiss to be able to breathe. Her cheeks were flushed and her gaze clouded with something she had never felt before. Natalia didn't know why but suddenly this man made her weak in the knees and… she felt something she didn't have before. This kiss made her feel warm and light-headed within seconds and the feeling seemed to linger as she stood breathless so close to him. Her green eyes looked at his lips as she felt his warm breath on her skin. It felt so tempting to just dive in for a second kiss.
He was almost drawn out of the daze at the thought he might be being inappropriate, that she may be angered at his sudden forcefulness. James didn't want to be forceful... but the idea slid away with all the others as she pulled him closer. James' hand tightened reflexively as she pushed closer, his thumb grazing the bone.
A noise vibrated in his throat as she slid her hand into his hair. His metal hand slid up to the small of her back to pull her warm body closer to him. The guards, or their words, or even the mission, didn't register in his mind for these single moments.
Her lips didn't leave him and he responded with this newfound heat. James seemed to drown in this beautiful heat struck up between the two of them. James had never felt this strongly, had never been taken over by emotion as he was now.
He realized he was out of breath, but his mind still buzzed with energy. Natalia's cheeks were stained a pretty pink and it stood out against her red hair. She was so very close he could feel her hot breath on his face. But it was the way she looked at him. It made him need to fight the sudden urge to pull her against him again. The thought was enough to jar him and he swallowed to push the overwhelming feelings away from what should have been a simple cover.
His mission, his mind didn't snap back into focus as it ought to, but he at least had thoughts. He shook himself physically and pulled his hand loose from her hair. He kept his hand on the small of her back, though, to guide her away from the wall.
"We must leave now," He said, his voice still husky despite his meager attempt to focus. But they couldn't be caught... still, he couldn't quite drag his eyes away from her.
Natalia cleared her thoughts as soon as he pulled away. All she wanted to do was pull him back in. To feel his lips against her own. It was the only thing she was able to focus on. His lips on hers... that small noise... James pulled away completely and told her something. She looked at him and it took her rather long to realize what he had said.
She looked at him and needed to shake her head to get a clear thought. Something disappointed her, perhaps even let her down, as he didn't go in for a second kiss. Of course, he wouldn't. After all, it had simply been a cover and nothing could guide his thoughts of the mission. Natalia had no clue where the disappointment was coming from. She merely nodded and first realized that his arm was still around her back as soon as she stepped forward. The sudden loss of body contact felt more than unpleasant and she looked over at him, standing in her tracks.
Her gaze caught his and she merely whispered "James..." Nothing more left her lips, but her voice was softer than usual. She outstretched her hand for him to take so they could leave the opera looking like a couple, only for the cover of course.
Natalia stepped out of his grip and his hand closed around thin air. Like that might draw her back. Natalia turned to look at him and he wished it would make her closer.
She whispered his name, and the way she said it, suddenly it felt right. He knew it was his own, gained small joy at hearing it... but it wasn't like this, like his body responding to it with feeling. Or perhaps it was the feverish wish to lean in and kiss her again.
She held out her hand and he quickly scooped it up with his flesh one. James took another step towards her instead of moving forward... before he heard a very, almost inaudible shout.
That kicked him back into gear. His face cleared of the softness there and he quickly moved the two of them down the hallway towards the back exit they'd planned on initially. They would not only endanger the mission if they stayed a second longer, but they'd also be in danger themselves.
As soon as they reached the public area he forced himself to slow down and let the two of them dwindle out of the opera house as if they were simply a couple retiring earlier. The thought was appealing, and when they reached the air outside his focus was already falling away.
He looked at her now as they continued to walk down the street. A car summoned here would be too easy to trace. James felt the need to say something... but he couldn't find anything.
Natalia still stood in front of him even as he moved closer. She didn't walk to their exit but kept standing in place, all dressed up and with nowhere to go. Natalia seemed unsure if she should say something or just keep on moving. She held his hand once she felt the fabric of his glove on her skin. All she wanted to do was feel his lips on hers again. It was a rather strange thought, but her body yearned for the unusual contact between them.
The scream caught her off guard and her mind tried hard to comprehend that they needed to start moving instead of staring at each other. Thinking about it, things seemed a little awkward between them after the kiss. It had been a simple cover but at least for her it had turned out to be more. Or showed her something that she hadn't felt before. It was only for the mission or at least that's what she tried to tell herself.
She followed him quietly as he moved them out of the opera building into the cold air. She looked around and regretted not bringing a stola or something to keep her arms warm. But she was far from whining because of that. The cold wouldn't kill her. So they strolled quietly for a few minutes and she watched him from the corner of her eyes. He seemed to glance at her from time to time and apparently, he didn't know what to say either.
The silence grew awkward and eventually unbearable. Natalia cleared her throat and joked, "So, was this your first kiss since coming to the Red Room?" Her voice and statement didn't come out naturally and she forced a smile onto her lips trying to hide her insecurity about this.
Considering it, she hadn't seen him around women in the Red Room since they were paired. Except for Kudrin, he didn't seem to like her, so that didn't count. In fact, he didn't seem to have aged or changed much since that day. Natalia had always seen a softer side to him than most people, so she had chosen to become his friend as a girl. So seeing this softer side on the outside didn't count as a change to her. She had just helped him discover it for himself.
The further they got from the opera house, the more his mind left the mission or any need to reach extraction quickly, and the more he paid additional attention to Natalia with small glances. He eventually noticed the goosebumps that ran up her arms and glanced down at himself.
He was shrugging out of his jacket when she asked him that. He looked down at his boots and then at her, not realizing as his face gained a little color at her question. James pulled his metal arm out of the sleeve and paused momentarily, letting go of her hand to swing the jacket over her shoulders. James didn't really feel the cold anymore, not unless he was in Siberia and then it was a different sort of cold. But it seemed as if it always lingered. He looked over his left arm critically but found only the red star could be lightly seen through the white shirt sleeve. Most of his metal arm was still hidden efficiently.
With nothing to do, no action to take, Natalia's question rolled around his head again and he studied their feet as they walked. Of course, it was. He remembered nothing else from this life and never worked with other people. Grunts, perhaps, nothing more than hands to hold a gun for him, but no one he actually worked with. Not in the way he'd been partnered with Natalia on missions. Was he so bad at it? That it was obvious to her? He shouldn't be bitter. A spy like Natalia, a kiss was nothing, he was sure. Just another tool effective to the mission, as easy and no more thought required than firing a gun, or as his arm was to him.
He finally spoke into the long silence after she'd asked her question.
"I've never worked with another asset besides you," He grumbled his decided answer. He had to answer, but James didn't exactly want to admit it. Which was stupid; obviously, Natalia had her answer and was simply teasing... He was the only one making a simple cover into something different as she would normally.
It just was so unlike him... but so was that heat. He saw fire in other people, especially in Natalia. But to have felt it in himself... to feel her own. It still hadn't left. Instead, it still seemed to tingle, as if it were numb, in his hands where hers had been not so long ago.
Natalia looked surprised at him as he placed his jacket around her shoulders. It was warm from his body heat and she pulled it a bit closer and moved her arms into the sleeves. The fabric smelled like James and made her smile because she felt like he enveloped her in a hug. Her cheeks heated up a little and she mumbled, "Thank you..."
Why did he suddenly manage to make her feel so self-conscious? It was so unlike her. She always had something to tell people or knew how to act a certain way. But this moment left her a bit confused.
The silence seemed to linger on even longer than the first one. Natalia chewed nervously on her lower lip and stole glances at him. "Listen I..." she started but almost instantly fell quiet as he spoke simultaneously. Stumbling over her own words definitely was unfamiliar for her. Her eyes lingered on him after his answer and she frowned at it. She didn't see what the one thing had to do with the other. But she guessed he meant using a kiss as a cover. It had been a first for her as well.
Yet she saw the way he reacted to her joke. Those words had been poorly chosen, obviously. But again, it had just been her stumbling over her own words... She cleared her throat once again and was glad it was dark, so her flushed cheeks weren't easily spotted. She looked down at the pavement, thinking of what to say next. Another silence seemed to stretch and she glanced up at him again. Just for once, her face didn't seem to be covered in its usual mask, but she nervously chewed on her lower lip.
"The kiss wasn't bad, you know... In fact, it was really good," she found herself saying and almost instantly mentally face palmed herself. Natalia had no idea where the urge had come from. But she guessed that this was only making the moment even more awkward. It had been a simple kiss. So why was she making a mountain out of a molehill because of this?
He avoided looking at her, feeling inadequate in his ability to focus on the mission and to... to whatever those feelings over Natalia had been. Whatever that had been, it didn't seem to be going well in either direction. In fact, it all just confused him more.
James didn't glance at her until she spoke and noticed how nervous she seemed. He was a little distracted by how she had her lip pulled, chewing in on it. It relit that fire in his belly. It was clear... sort of straightforward, that it had just been a cover on her end and yet all he wanted was to push her against the building next to them and do it again, feel her lips on his.
The urge was strong enough. He needed to look away from her completely to simply not do something so stupid. What was wrong with him right now? He barely had a thread of control when he was known for always having absolute control. James really didn't know what to do with himself.
"That is good," He replied simply, but his voice was constrained. He wanted her to think it was good, even if it was good regarding a mission. That seemed very important to him.
Natalia simply nodded as he spoke, not even looking at him. She merely tried to get a clear thought on all this while her body yearned for the slightest touch. It caused her to pull his jacket close to have at least a fake James around her. Natalia glanced at the man next to her again and noted that something was off. But it was like her instincts had decided to take a break. She simply couldn't read him. As much as she wanted to figure out what he was thinking - especially about what had just happened. There was nothing but awkwardness hanging between them.
Eventually, she stopped and tried to pull herself together. "I think we're far enough away from the opera to catch a ride back. They won't link a single vehicle to us..." she spoke, still refusing to look at him. All she wanted to get was some space between him and her. She didn't know where the need to flee came from, but she hoped it would give her the opportunity to make some sense of the prior situation. Just for a moment to get to know her own turmoil of feelings.
Their getaway car arrived shortly after they had called it and Nat got inside. She quickly pulled off his suit jacket and handed it back to him with a mumbled 'Thanks'
Once back at the Red Room, she mumbled a quick "Good night..." and went her own way. That night she wasn't able to fall asleep as well. But because of the kiss instead of her bad consciousness. She turned and turned eventually. Finally, it seemed reasonable enough to get dressed into her ballet gear. No one was there, so she started training basic moves initially and eventually used music to exercise with that. It helped her clear her mind and to quiet the rambling thoughts.