AUTHOR'S NOTE: Oh my holy effing god I can't believe how well received this story has been - THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LEAVING SUCH POSITIVE AND ENCOURAGING REVIEWS! This was actually the first story I have ever written (other than those assigned in elementary school,) and I didn't think anyone would see it on here for weeks. Instead, it has only been 24 hours and I've already gotten so many views and such amazing feedback. I just wanted to say thank you and let you all know that I will try to write more and finish this story (I, too, would like to know how this turns out ;) *THROWS INFINITE GRATITUDE IN YOUR FACE**RUNS AWAY GIGGLING LIKE A MANIAC*

The air buzzed with heat and humidity. As the moon rose, the noise and activity of the city began to diminish. By the time the moon hung at its zenith in the inky sky the only sounds that could be heard were the soft footfalls and hushed whispers of the two people ambling along the empty boardwalk.

"…but it's not like I hate ice cream, I just don't particularly enjoy it." Aaron was hastily explaining his accidentally revealed dislike for ice cream as Marta laughed and shook her head.

"I don't believe I've ever met a single person who doesn't like ice cream," she said, smiling.

"Of all the things you've never encountered in a single person that you have witnessed with me, you're astounded by that fact that I don't eat ice cream?" Aaron retorted playfully, turning his head to look at Marta. She laughed again, and Aaron felt an involuntary rush of joy course through his body, turning the corners of is mouth up.

The two had ventured out for dinner in a quiet corner of the village they had settled in for the week. It had been over a month since Marta and a severely wounded Aaron found refuge on the fisherman's boat. They stayed on the boat for a few days while Aaron healed, and then swam to the shore of a small town in the dead of the night. They had since moved twice, each time stealing away silently either at nighttime or in broad daylight among throngs of locals and tourists. They had settled in this out of the way fishing village only two nights ago.

After having dinner, Marta convinced Aaron to go for a walk – she argued that the sun had already half set by that time and they had not been disturbed since LARX in Manila. Aaron's brow furrowed as he considered the possible threats that could arise if they stayed out too long, but at Marta's insistence he relented.

They had been talking for several hours now, and had had conversations light as the one they were now having and conversations heavy. They spoke of their past and shared their highly limited knowledge of the program. They discussed the events of the last few days and one another's mental and physical health. The rapid speed at which they had to get acquainted with one another and the prolonged amount of time they had spent in each other's company had worn away the boundaries either of them normally put up. They had cared for one another mentally and physically first for the sake of survival and then later for their own peace of mind.

They were now walking side by side, not physically touching but close enough to hear the other's muted words. Every now and then their arms would brush one another, and a jolt of electricity would rush through their limbs. They continued talking as they turned their feet towards home in silent agreement. The conversation diminished and then tapered off as they navigated the narrow streets to their temporary abode.

In the silence and static of the night, the sense of physical tension between Aaron and Marta seemed heightened. Although they had lived in close quarters in the past month, posing for the locals and honeymooning tourists, they had not engaged a physical aspect to their relationship. They conversed easily and comfortably, but both shied away when they're hands or legs would accidentally touch. In spite of the familiarity Marta had with Aaron's body, having examined it multiple times over the past 4 years and dressed it for wounds several times over the past 4 weeks, she hesitated to touch him even in the smallest of ways.

But although the physical side of their relationship had not been explored, the tension that ran between them was at times, as it was now, thicker and more tangible than the humidity in the air. A few nights back Marta had slipped and fallen in the shower and cried out in pain. In the adjacent room Aaron leapt into action, loading his gun as he kicked open the door of the bathroom, assessing the threat. The fierce expression that dominated his visage faltered immediately as he realized what had actually happened. His surprise turned into sheepishness as he saw Marta, lying awkwardly in the bathtub, hastily trying to cover her naked body with the shower curtain that she had torn down in her fall. The unreserved speed with which Aaron had come to Marta's aid now failed him as he looked at her, stunned by the turn of events. Blood rushed to his face as he stood in the doorframe, gun still in hand.

The moment lasted only a second or so, before Aaron was snapped out of his shock by the blood staining the bathtub. Hurriedly he shut off the still running water and grabbed a towel for Marta from the shelf. Marta had scraped the left side of her ribcage along the cracked and sharp edge of the soap holder set into the wall. In her pain Marta had missed Aaron's lapse of control, and barely registered his hesitation as he wrapped her in the towel and carried her into their room. He worked quickly to sanitize her flesh wound, and then wrapped it in a bandage. His fingers worked with a kind of manic and robotic speed, and yet, he could not block out the heat that rose to his face as he touched Marta's wet naked body. Marta in turn was not unaffected by Aaron's touch, she blushed as he worked, and turned her face to the wall. She thanked him when he was done, and he left the room to let her get dressed, only to have to go back in to help her as she was still in a too much pain. The following morning all continued as though nothing had happened.

Now, the two approached the tiny house they had rented. They were now walking in utter silence and darkness, with only the sound of their footsteps and the light of the pale moon guiding them. Marta had the key, and she fumbled to open the door. The door creaked open, and they went in. Marta turned to lock the door, and when she turned back, she found herself face to face with Aaron.

There was only two feet of space between them, and the electricity in the air was unbearably loud. Marta's eyes drifted from Aaron's face to his chest, which rose and fell under his white t-shirt. As he stepped closer, Marta raised her eyes to look up at him, their eyes met. Now with but a few inches between them, Marta had only to tilt her head for their lips to meet. With his eyes still locked on Marta's, Aaron lifted his hands to put them on the door on either side of Marta's slim frame. Marta's back was leaning lightly against the wall, the cool metal sapping at the heat of her skin.

They gazed into each other's eyes, his stormy blue eyes locked onto her warm brown ones. They had been consciously careful not to physically touch one another over the past few weeks. After having been so exposed to one another's company it would have been natural to carry their emotional connection to physical touches, not overtly sexual but small gestures like a hand on the arm or head on the shoulder. But in reality, the intense moments when they had let down their guard and allowed such physical contact only made the electricity between them in calm moments like this one more blaringly obtrusive. An accidental brushing of the hands was enough to make Aaron stumble and Marta blush. Now, they were so close that Marta could see the sweat glistening on Aaron's brow and hear the raggedness of his breath, and yet not an inch of their bodies made contact.

They prolonged this crucial moment for almost a minute, and then, something switched in their eyes, and the barriers that they had put up between each other were brought down.

Torturously slow, Aaron leaned in, closing the space between their lips. He stopped a moment before their lips met, a hair's breadth apart.

"Do you know how much I care for you," he breathed, brows knit in the physical effort required for him to utter such raw, revealing words.

Instead of through words, Marta pored her soul into her gaze, her impossibly deep eyes expressing more emotion than words ever could. By way of answer Marta gently pressed her lips onto his. Heat rushed through their bodies, urging them to go on. For a second only their lips touched, then, Marta parted her lips to grant Aaron entrance, he leaned in closer so that the entire length of their bodies pressed up against one another. Marta clutched at Aaron's chiseled frame, her hands running up his back and her torso pressed firmly into his. Aaron kissed Marta ferociously, with the sort of pent up passion that he had kept under stringent control until now. He used his own body to trap Marta between him and the door, while his hands moved from their placement on the cool metal to her face, guiding her mouth to his.

Marta moved her hands from Aaron's back up across his shoulder blades to his neck and into his hair. She ran her fingers through Aaron' brown locks, tugging aggressively. Aaron responded to Marta's uncharacteristic ferocity by reaching down to grasp her slim waist. He pushed her further into the door with his mouth and body while bring her hips closer to his with his hands. Marta gasped and pulled back from the kiss for a moment, allowing Aaron to switch his ministrations to her jaw line instead. Aaron's lips and tongue kissed a frenzied trail along her jaw down to her neck. Wherever made Marta pull harder on his hair Aaron stopped to suck and kiss. He continued to pleasure Marta in this fashion all the way to her exposed collarbones, and then he stopped, limited by the neckline of Marta's dress.

At this point Marta was breathing heavily, her soft body rising a falling rapidly against Aaron's hard chest. Aaron smiled as he placed gentler kisses upon Marta's forehead, nose, then lips. As he was about to pull away from Marta's mouth once more, she grasped his hair and pulled him in to her. As their lips collided again, Marta lifted herself up to meet Aaron's mouth, lifting a leg to wrap it around his hips. Aaron glided a hand down to caress her milky thighs, and Marta moaned into his mouth in pleasure. Aaron's fingers walked slowly up Marta's leg tugging gently at the hem of her dress. In response, Marta grasped Aaron's broad shoulders as she wrapped the other leg around Aaron's hips as well. Now, Marta hovered above Aaron, and her waved brown hair brushed his cheek as she leaned in to further deepen their kiss. Aaron moaned in submission, and pushed his hips forward to hold Marta in place between him and the door.

In doing so Aaron inadvertently ground his hardening length against Marta's core, causing her to mewl in surprise. Gasping, she pulled her lips away from Aaron's, and touched her hot forehead to his. They stood for a moment, panting for breath, before Marta brought a hand around to cup Aaron's face, raising his eyes to hers. A silent agreement passed between them and Aaron held Marta closer against him as he lifted her away from the door, supporting her weight with his strength. Marta wrapped her pale arms around his neck and nibbled at his ear as he carried them towards the bed.