"I was kind of hoping we were lost."
The words hung in the air around them for a moment, the span of a couple heartbeats as she leaned across the table staring at him. The faint lines around his deep grayish-blue eyes crinkled slightly as a slow smile quirked at the corner of his lips. He carefully rolled the charts and pushed them aside before turning towards her, fixing her with his gaze. She could feel her pulse fluttering in her throat as he turned his attention completely to her; those large, strong hands that could move so fast, inflict so much damage were gentle now as they crept across the table to envelope her pale fingers.
They sat like that for a long moment, possibilities swirling around them. Fingers entwined, eyes locked together, nervous smiles playing around both of their lips, Marta broke first and the couple shared a laugh as the absurdity of the situation was not lost on either of them. They had known each other for a matter of days, bursting into each other's lives in a hail of bullets, running halfway across the world, killing to save each other, and all she could think about was the feel of his hands on hers and the blush that rose to her pale cheeks when he looked at her like this. For the first time in a long time she felt truly alive, sitting on a leaky fishing boat in the middle of the Pacific in salt-stained clothes that she had been wearing for far too long, holding hands like a smitten teenager with a man who up until recently had existed as little more than blood work and a number in her drab little world of laboratories and top secret research. She felt a pang of regret for the way she had treated him in her former life and some of that must have flickered across her face because he tightened his grip briefly before turning her hands over in his and pulling her a little closer.
Those expressive eyes of his searched hers and she shook her head slightly, pulling her hands away and tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Just thinking," she murmured. "I've known you for less than a week and I feel more connected to you than I ever did with…" Peter. Your fiancé. "Anyone. I hate that I treated you like a lab rat, that all this time slipped by without…"
"Stop, Marta. Stop. You were doing your job, you couldn't have known…" He trailed off, flicking his gaze across the water before turning his eyes back to hers. "I said some things the other day, accusing you. I shouldn't have done that."
"No, you were right," she said quietly, standing and pacing towards the railing. Her hands gripped the worn wood and she dropped her head, sighing softly. "You tried to warn me months ago, Aaron. You tried to reach out to me, to talk to me, to get a human response and I shut you down. I'm so sorry. I was so sure of myself, so blinded by the science, so unwilling to think about anything beyond the numbers, the results…I…"
Aaron was behind her, his rough hands gliding over her bare arms before she even registered that he had risen from the table. He pulled her into him, back into his chest, his lips tickling the curve of her ear and she found herself shivering in the warm afternoon breeze. "Don't," he muttered, "Don't do this to yourself. You think I haven't done things I wish I could erase? The way you look at me now, here; that's what counts. Neither of us is innocent, hell if you knew half the things I've done, the things I've seen, you'd run screaming. Patriotism? Duty? You have no idea, and I hope you never do." He paused and she leaned her head back onto his shoulder, as he drew his arms tight around her waist. He placed a gentle kiss to the side of her neck and smiled against her skin. "Wait. You remember that conversation? I didn't even think you were listening."
She turned, leaning her back against the rail and splaying her fingers across his chest. He was so close, so warm, and she felt another flush rising over her cheeks. Her right hand slid towards the bandage on his shoulder and she bit her lower lip, trying to distract herself from the haze that descended over her normally nimble mind under his intense gaze, the feel of his muscular chest under her fingertips, his protective arms wrapped around her, flexing slightly now to draw their hips closer together. She glanced up at him through her lashes, a nervous smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "I noticed you," she breathed. "You were…different. Difficult." He smirked down at her, remembering. "Other participants would complain sometimes, or question some of the tests, but you? You challenged me. I thought I was brushing you off, staying professional, detached. Your eyes though…I always remembered your eyes, the way you looked at me. Like I was a woman, not a lab coat. I don't think anyone ever looked at me the way you did. Do. God, I'm babbling." She broke away, turning her attention to his bandage again, smoothing the fabric and trying to regain her focus.
What remained of her self-control went out the window when his hands slid up her back, across her shoulders, fingertips whispering over her neck and coming to rest in the loose hairs which had escaped her ponytail. One hand cradled her chin, tilting her face up to his again, and she barely registered his tongue flicking out to wet his lips before his mouth met hers. Her hands shot to his waist, steadying her as he broke the kiss, his grey eyes searching her hazy brown orbs and apparently finding what he sought as he pulled her close, claiming her lips again.
She melted into his chest, her heartbeat thundering in her ears. Her whole world shrank down to the feel of his fingers pressing them close together, his arms holding her upright, her knees trembling beneath her as their tongues danced. Suddenly Aaron stiffened, pulling away and turning slightly to put his body in front of hers defensively as the fisherman's son approached clutching a pair of steaming bowls with a wide grin on his face. Marta blinked twice and touched her lips, trying to gather her reeling mind. "Good lord," she thought, for the thousandth time in two days. "What have I gotten myself into?"