He was definitely trouble. A trouble that she was inviting into her life. A trouble that she knew would render her with a total lack of self-control. But he was a trouble that she didn't want to escape from.

"Can we focus on the steps now?", Akira said and carefully removed her heels. This time she was extra cautious. She didn't want to fall or trip over.

"Why are you removing your shoes?", Raymond asked.

"Do you want to save your legs or not?" She said and pointed her finger at his bare feet.

"Since you don't know how to dance, you will take a couple of wrong steps. So I might step on you and yada yada yada", Akira said and then kept her heels to the side.

He looked a bit unhappy with her straightforward insult.

She sighed and said,

"Your arm has already taken a toll because of me. I don't want your legs to be injured now."

"Now let's focus on the rhythm", she said and put on the song again.

"It's like 1-2-2, 1-2-2, 1-2-2 ... you get it? At every 1 we take a step. If I take a forward step you take a backward one", Akira said and showed him how to take the steps along with the rhythm.

She was speaking so many things, instructing him so many things but everything was just bypassing him. His sole concentration was on her. He just couldn't take his eyes off her. Her movements were so swift like she was a flowing river.

"Now follow my lead and focus on Rule Number 1", Akira said and Raymond started following her.

In the beginning, he faltered a lot and took many wrong steps. But after around 10-15 minutes of repetetion of steps, he got the hang of it.

Akira saw that his footwork was becoming better and better. So she thought it was time to dance with him. Her heart, her body, and her mind were all going ecstatic thinking about his touch, his presence, his closeness. She had been waiting precisely for this moment like forever. But she quietly kept all her emotions at bay and didn't let any of the excitement to surface on her face.

"Great your footwork is all set now. So shall we try together?", Akira asked.

"Finally!!!! ", screamed Raymond in his heart. He was dying within to dance with her.

She took her right hand and placed it on his shoulder and asked him to hold her left hand which she had stretched with his right. He held her hand in his own with a grip which was neither too tight nor too loose. It was just perfect. Their hands embraced each other in perfect harmony. She could feel his warmth on the skin of her hand. The warmth slowly reached her heart and made her go weak in her knees.

"Focus focus focus", she was screaming the entire time in her head.

"Take my waist in your right hand", she said softly avoiding looking into his eyes.

Her breath stopped when she felt his fingers brush lightly on the bare skin of her waist. His hands slowly glided from the side of her waist to her back and rested on her mid arch.

She instantly regretted wearing a crop top. His hands were all over her bare skin and every single touch of his was causing a jot of electricity run through her body. She was hypnotized, magnetized all at the same time. She felt like her body was in some sort of trance. She was so afraid to let her sanity go as she was on the verge of losing herself.

His gaze was fixed on her, jotting down every single reaction of her face to his touch. He wanted to explore every curve and every edge of her body, but he could clearly see that her throat was running dry and her eyes had a hint of bewilderment. He could clearly see that it was not easy for her and neither was it for him.

She couldn't lift her head up to look at him. She didn't have the courage to even look into his eyes for one second as she was scared to drown herself. She kept looking down and didn't speak a word.

He looked at her curiously for some time and a smile spread on his face. He grazed his left thumb on her palm slightly and said,

"Rule number 2. Eye contact".

"Aahhh !!! This devil", Akira muttered under her breath and lifted her eyes to look at him.

His dreamy eyes looked like they were ready to trap her. His eyes were clear like sparkling water laced with hundreds of wild emotions.

She let out a deep breath and played the song.

She moved her left foot forward in a smooth and graceful manner and he followed by moving his right one back. They followed each other's movement and complemented each other's steps. After a bit of practice, they looked effortless, like they were gliding on the floor. Slowly his grip around her became tighter and he moved closer.

His nervousness grew as he inched closer.

But after a few steps, they grew comfortable in each other's embrace. All the uneasiness and bewilderment melted along with the beats of the music. Slowly her once cautious eyes gleamed with happiness. She giggled and laughed every time he twirled her. Two happy faces continued to follow the rhythm.

Every time she dropped, he would catch her in his arms in swift moves. Their eyes now beamed with happiness. They comfortably looked deep into each other's eyes. She didn't know how she grew so comfortable in just a few seconds with him.

He knew her inhibitions, so he kept his touch all subtle. He wanted to play around with her body, but he restrained himself. He didn't realize when her happiness counted more than his own. Slowly he saw her transform and move happily. He instantly realized this was her happy place. She had transformed into a ball of joy.

When finally the song was over, she rested both her hands on his shoulder. She could feel his taut muscles. His hands rested on her waist but he didn't dare to move an inch because he knew she won't be able to handle his touch. He looked into her eyes and asked,

"So how was it?"