Snake knew what this all meant. The other woman in his bed while his wife was away. Worse was how he felt. Snake knew hurt was waiting somewhere whether it was walking out to save her or walking out for his wife, worse the things he refused to think but the pain always followed. Too many scars were on him to believe otherwise.
Even with his mind in turmoil he leaned up on his elbow to watch her sleep. He was falling for her, falling like a plane crash, maybe he was already at the bottom. Plissken could never tell until it was too late. As he laid there feeling the fear he knew it was too late for him to have a chance. Snake Plissken had things he couldn't escape but none of them involved bars or cuffs, not usually anyway. He made his own prisons with guilt and loss but even those were not as strong as when he was confined by love.
Bria grabbed his hand from her hips and pulled it up under her cheek. He wondered if she knew what was happening to him. Snake sighed as his mind wandered back to Xena. He missed her. The ache from her being away never stopped. Part of him wondered if she would understand her being here and the other was occupied with how to hide an affair if she returned. The thoughts brought more unsettling ideas that Plissken pushed away.
She shifted again, sleeping restlessly before her head found a place against his chest. Snake smiled down at her. Gently he pushed the hair back from her face. He'd burn for this one way or another. A smile touched his expression. Plissken had always been more of "a burn out" type than one to fade away. He knew it. He risked and he survived. He played with fire on both sides and some days he was the master of those flames and others he got burned. Some of the burns never healed, never would. Even then he kept going and tempting his luck to run out.
In a life like that, Snake knew how temporary everything was. He knew that most acutely about his life and the small amount of pleasure he pulled from the bleakness. There were options on his plate. He could always walk away. He thought he could but deep inside knew that would never happen again. He could go on as a single father and wait for someday that might never come or he could live. The choice had been an easy one. The choice to live did not change his feelings merely the perspective.
Once more Plissken was watching her sleep peacefully. She was a pretty girl, not in the same way as his wife but like her definitely possessed all the things Snake wanted. He'd burn for her. Not many ever got that far under his skin to where he'd risk it all. She was one, his wife was one. This was not an exchange or a substitution. The situation was all about the women he couldn't resist. He'd burn for sure though he prayed it was in hell instead of here.