Author's Notes:

School will be starting back up for me soon and I have a rigorous course this year, so I am not yet sure how this will effect my updates in terms of promptness, but I shall do my best to get the chapters to you when I can.

Not much more to say then that, so thanks for all the reviews, alerts, and favorites. Enjoy chapter seven. :D


Just a little longer, please?

Every second was precious. There was no way to know when they would be together like this again. With so much to do and learn about in the rainforest resistance, there was no telling when Blair and himself would have a chance to talk, and hopefully he would find a way to admit his feelings towards her if he did find a minute, let alone be in each others' presence long enough to do so.

The main problem for Marcus was manning up enough to admit to his desires to be more intimate with her. Rejection was a daunting possibility. Daunting may not have even been the correct word. Paralyzing or suicidal were terms he would more agreeably affiliate with the ideology of telling Blair the truth about the reasons behind some of the decisions he made, out of what he now thought were misguided attempts to show affection.

Admitting his feelings could produce a wrath and or sickening scorn from her. Would she be disgusted that a machine wanted a relationship? Would Blair run from him? If she did, could he bring himself to stop her? He wanted her, but he also wanted her happiness. Perhaps the thought that Blair and himself could hold a future together as something beyond the scope of friends or colleagues was too ambitious of him? He had to acknowledge the idea that Blair would be happy with him was a long shot.

Sighing, he shook the thoughts from his head, focusing on driving the four wheeler. He was just short of putting all of his brain power into concentrating on the present, and not on her.

Marcus knew that they would be reaching their destination soon, giving him all the more reason to cling to the moment. Blair had her lean arms wrapped around his mid-section, tantalizing body pressed to his back, with her warm moist breath blowing on the back of his neck – saturating a few of the bristle hairs that resided there.

The entire scenario was euphoric, for him at least. He couldn't be sure the feeling was mutual. Marcus had no way to see her face to gage her response to him, and Blair's body language was limited due to her having to hold onto him as they sped down a large metallic tunnel – behind a black Jeep that had five of the surviving members from the California branch of the resistance.

The vehicle ahead of them had not slowed yet, but seemed to occasionally speed up. Maybe they weren't as close as he initially thought they were. Then again, this Volker character seemed like a bit of a wild card. Trying to guess his thoughts and actions was like staring at a brick wall and guessing when it would finally fall or crumble away, only the wall didn't flirt with the object of his interest, therefore the brick wall was more likeable… and preferred. Marcus could plausibly apply the same sentiment to Volker's driving, random and consistently inconsistent.

For cripes sake! Has this guy ever heard of cruise control? Judging by the way he drove, the answer was an obvious no.

A long drawn-out breath blowing against the back of his neck snapped Marcus out of his cryptic thoughts of Volker, and returned them to Blair. She had just rested her chin on his shoulder, causing a tingling sensation to form where she touched him. He let his head reflexively twitch in her direction, his eyes darting to her face for a brief moment.

In that flash of four seconds he saw of Blair's face, he caught her subtly winking at him. Stiffening for a moment in her arms, he let the scene run over in his head. He almost thought he imagined it, until he caught her smirking out of the corner of his eye. That little tease!

Loosening his tense muscles, he let his shoulders slacken and a small smile linger on his lips. Two could play at that game, and he had every intention of winning it.

Normally he would have dealt out his retaliation swiftly, but the malicious idea of dragging it out was appealing. Besides, the moment was too nice to ruin with a wicked comeback. So Marcus settled on letting the gesture slide for now.

When he let his thoughts run their usual course – always leading back to Blair – he found himself questioning his self-doubt. Past events didn't add up to the conclusion that Blair saw him as a machine or anything shy of human.

She had risked her life to free him from his second death sentence, even after the discovery of his hybrid status. Blair was bold enough to trade coats – it being her idea – so he could escape from the wrath of Connor and the resistance – before he was given a chance to prove his loyalties lied with the humans. She could have been killed acting as his double, and then there was running through the entire cross fire as they tried to make the prison break along with the bomb Barnes dropped on them before they even made it out of the building.

Blair had willingly kissed him when he went to donate his heart to Connor. She almost kissed him again, about two and a half hours ago when they waited for the rescue to arrive. Just now she winked at him and was resting her chin on his shoulder; the motions could easily be taken in a more intimate way. Blair had also asked about his well being on more the one rare occasion.

Maybe the idea of a relationship with Blair was not as farfetched as he thought. She had hinted enough… publicly and privately. He had no trouble with the private moments between them, but it was the public ones that bothered him.

Blair could so easily get shunned for her affiliation with him or worse, put her in danger and under more scrutiny from fellow resistance members. The idea was to keep her happy and safe in his company, not other way around.

She is a big girl and can handle herself. The thought hit a note of truth. Blair could hold her own and she wasn't dimwitted or stupid. She would know what she would be getting into. Still, a public relationship could be tricky between them.

Marcus reflected on her actions towards him – made in the past twenty-four hours. He had caught Blair staring at him a little earlier – prior to their current thrill ride. She seemed lost in thought for some time before realizing that he was starting at her too. When she did notice, Blair immediately averted her eyes, like a child caught reaching their hand into a cookie jar; her face had looked guilty. Before that, she had openly asked him if he was alright in front of a number of strangers, her body far too close to be considered a display of friendly concern.

Blair didn't seem to have a problem with public displays of affection – PDA's was what everyone abbreviated it as back when he was in high school. When he thought about it like that, it made the whole thing feel like some dumb crush or high school sweetheart thing.

His very being cringed at the idea of his emotions being noting more than a crush; it was more, much more. What he felt for Blair was not some summer romance or spring fling. He felt a connection to her that went beyond the cliché of finishing the other's sentence, but finishing the other as a person. She made him feel… complete.

As complete as a cyborg can be, he thought darkly.

She certainly was not afraid to wear her heart on her sleeve either. Marcus was more cautious with his approach to things; Blair followed what her heart said. Granted, that didn't mean she was hotheaded or impulsive, but that she knew what she wanted. This brought them to the impasse they were at.

Neither of them was going to budge on how to go about their beliefs. Marcus was adamant that if he did ever find the chance to own up to his feelings to her that they would keep the relationship on the down low. Blair would probably want to screw it and just go about their lives, not caring what the hell the other resistance members thought. The idea was appealing, but held more possible cons then it did pros.

Don't jump the gun. You still aren't one hundred percent sure she feels the same, yet.

He could be misreading the signs or reading too much into them. That was always a possibility, unfortunately.

Marcus was mauling over the idea of making time to talk to Blair about all of this when a flash of red alerted him that the Jeep about nine feet in front of him was slowing to a stop.

Hitting the breaks, they came to a smooth stop on the right side of the vehicle. The other two groups in the four-wheelers mimicking Marcus' tactic of pulling over to the right shoulder.

Killing the engine he turned to look at Blair who had a puzzled look on her face. She knew no more then he did. Her chin lifted off of his shoulder and she returned his stare with a level one of her own.

"Think we finally arrived at… wherever we're going?" he asked conversationally.

Shrugging she smirked at him. "Maybe. Let's hope for Connor and Kate's sake that we are."

Murmuring his agreement he flicked his eyes to the black Jeep besides them, hoping to be given a signal or something that would indicate what was going on. The only thing he could catch was Volker turning the Jeep off and jumping out of the driver's side, disappearing from his line of sight.

Connor, still stationed in the backseat, looked over to them. "He's going to get some medical help and more escorts."

"Why?" Blair asked.

"I started bleeding on the drive here. Kate thinks I over did it," he explained with a detached tone. His mask of indifference was almost perfect. Marcus was fooled for a moment, thinking that John actually wasn't irritated by these turn of events until he caught the annoyance that flashed briefly in his brown eyes before dissipating as well.

The ginger head of Kate Connor could be seeing bobbing up and down as she fervently worked to try and help clot the blood flow that was coming from John's chest.

Marcus grimaced as he recalled what Kate had told him about John's procedure he had done – something to do with the rejuvenating of his body's skin cells and skin graph's use on to save Connor's life.

Had the operation failed?

No, Kate wouldn't be sitting there so calmly, he concluded. The wound probably just opened slightly from all the activities… he did live through a plane crash.

Blair must have been thinking along the same lines has him, for she relaxed her strangled hold around his stomach, allowing him to more deeply breath again. Marcus had not noticed the death lock Blair's arms had made around his adman until it was gone and oxygen was freely flowing back into his system.

"He'll be fine. Kate won't let him leave us just yet," he offered, trying to use the most soothing voice he had.

Kate must have heard him, because her voice rang out clear with conviction, "Damn straight!"

Kyle chuckled and demounted from his seat with Star – both had been riding shotgun. Barnes also exited the vehicle when help came.

Three men in white lab coats arrived, helping Connor onto a stretcher. Kate and Barnes both stayed on either side of him as he was wheeled away. Phil was also taken away for more proper medical assistance as well, leaving Blair, Kyle, Lilly, Marcus, and Star left.

Volker reappeared to guide them in after the others were gone. A cheerful smile was dancing across his dark lips. Marcus wondered how anyone could find anything remotely uplifting about such a morbid circumstance as they were in. Why the hell is he smiling?

Blair once again must have been following his thought process because she grumbled something about Volker being obsessively happy for the moment, then added another tidbit about him being intentionally antagonistic. He agreed. Their guide seemed to find the most awkward and inappropriate times to smile and shrug things off. If Volker wasn't being jolly at a socially gauche time then he was being spiteful and indistinct when supplying information that could prove useful.

"Think we'll get lucky enough that we won't run into him again after they relieve him of babysitting duty?" Blair muttered in his ear conspiratorially.

Marcus couldn't help the smirk that twitched a corner of his lip up at the thought. Hey, a guy could dream. Probability said that because Volker was getting to know the new resistance members first, he would logically be given work to do with them again… which was rather unfortunate. Marcus was sure that if the blonde kept up his irksome charade then he couldn't be held accountable for when Volker finally got his comeuppance.

The idea of the guide receiving retribution was a pleasing one. The thought didn't last long due to them being herded into the mini tunnel off to the side of the larger one they were in – it was more like a grand hallway – which Connor and the others had disappeared down moments before. His attention was riveted on the large white doors they were approaching.

The hallway was cylinder-like, with horizontal steel blue and black stripes coloring the arching walls and silver metal railings on either side. Walking through it made him feel a little dizzy, nauseated almost. Whether it was the paint job or how the strip of walls and ceiling were fashioned he didn't know. Might very well have been a combination of the two.

He glanced at Blair, noting that she looked aberrantly pale. Kyle wasn't looking much better then he felt either, appearing quite extremely queasy.

The sensation causing him to be woozy was what he would have thought as motion sickness or the feeling he use to get – when he was all human – when he stood up to fast; vertigo. Neither of those conditions should apply to him here; he had already been walking and standing up right.

What the hell is wrong with me? He flicked his eyes to Volker, who appeared unfazed by the hallway.

Blair suddenly lurched by his side to grapple for the railing. She threw herself at it, wrapping her arms around the metal, resting her elbows on top with her forehead pressed to some of the shiny material. She crouched, wobbling a little as she did so, to rest.

"Bl-air?" His voice sounded strange, even to him.

"…Ugh!" was her only reply.

Volker seemed to finally take notice that the five people he was to be escorting were lagging behind severely. He turned to look over his shoulder at them and stared in blunt confusion for a few moments at the scene before him.

Kyle was wobbling a few baby steps at a time with Star clinging to his leg for support. Lilly was about two feet in front of Kyle, one hand on the railing with the other on her stomach, her body slanting at an awkward sideways angle that suggested she was struggling to right herself once more. Blair had a death grip on the railing and was crouching down, hunched over with her head pressed against the cool metal – she was about parallel to Lilly across the hallway. Marcus was besides Blair, the only one standing up straight and not wobbling or struggling for support.

Marcus could guess what Volker was thinking, but made no attempt to speak unless it was necessary. Volker stared at all of them for a few immeasurable moments, dumbstruck, and clearly he was not sure what to make of the turn of events until a light flicked on and he slowly approached them.

"My apologies, I forgot that newcomers often times take a while to adjust to the new surroundings. No worries though; the gestation period is no more then two weeks." His voice was sugary and innocent.

Bastard! He's getting a kick out of this.

Blair stuttered out, "T- t- two… w- wee… weeks?"

Her head snapped up to properly glare at Volker but the motion proved to be too much and she dropped her head quickly, shuttering and rocking from side to side a little.

Marcus caught him chuckling at her and the sudden urge to beat that sneer off his face pulled at his resolve to disregard Volker as much as possible. What he wouldn't give for a more proper reason to have to throw the autocrat against the nearest wall and punch a few teeth out.

"Ignore him. Close your eyes, it might help," he instructed Blair.

She grumbled unintelligibly before nodding subtly in agreement. Closing her beautiful hazel eyes she gripped the railing like her life depended on it, her knuckles turning white from the force she used to hold the metal. Pulling herself up onto her feet, she stood, lacking her usual grace, but she managed to stand. That had to be a good sign.

Kyle and Lilly followed Blair's example, righting themselves and pressing on with Marcus and Volker acting as visual guides.

Blair occasionally would stumble. Marcus was right at her side, catching her and steadying her before she would be released to make her way once more. It carried on like that for about two minutes until they reached the end of the long hallway and all five of them fumbled into a white rectangular path – it was what a real hallway should have looked like, to Marcus.

Do they do these things for fun or is there some sick, twisted purpose for all of this?


"What is the reason for those kinds of hallways?" she asked, fighting to keep irritation out of her voice.

Volker, who had been sizing up Marcus with mild curiosity, turned his attention onto her. A sweet smile spread across his face as he leered at her or her question she wasn't sure.

"They serve for a few purposes. Some of them you might not yet be able to appreciate, but one of the reasons has to do with where we are in relation to the surface of the earth. Right now, we are about one story underground."

That didn't answer my question, at all!

Blair huffed to herself and glanced to her right to see Marcus glowering at Volker, his jaw line was tense, locked in place, arms crossed over his chest.

She gave pause to her annoyed thoughts as she imagined those muscled arms opening up and creating an affectionate snare around her waist. Blair let her mind wander to thoughts of her head resting against his chest, listening to his heart beat, his breath blowing in her face —

Marcus cut her train of thought short as he reached out and rested a hand on her shoulder, jostling her lightly. "Blair?"

"Hmm…?"

"You alright? We're moving on," he answered, traces of his worry for her etched on his handsome face.

"Yeah, I was just thinking."

He arched a questioning eyebrow but said nothing further. Lifting an arm, he gestured for her to proceed after the fading form of Volker.

The two quickly caught up to the others, striding down the hallway side-by-side, their arms occasionally brushing against the other.

Whenever they did make accidental contact, her heart would nearly leap out of her chest. An electric current seemed to flow through her veins as her fingertips touched Marcus'. The feeling of his skin against hers nearly sent her over the edge, into a blissful stupor.

Marcus acted like he felt nothing, and ignored the unintended contact completely. Blair was growing frustrated with his detachment as they neared the final set of large double doors, leading to what she presumed to be the main control room or wherever the heads of the operation normally resided.

She was just about to give up on glancing at Marcus' face for a reaction when she felt a warm breath on the back of her neck. Turning her head slightly, she looked up to see Marcus looming behind her, his face an inch from her own. The close proximity caused her heart to pick back up again in tempo; she could hear her pulse in her ears — it was so loud.

Volker, Kyle, Lilly, and Star all had their backs to them as they reached the door, none of the four catching the brief moment that stunned Blair into awed silence. Marcus leaned forward a little further and planted a feathery kiss on her temple, his lips tenderly brushing against her skin, and then, all too soon, he pulled away.

Her mouth just about hit the floor when he winked one of his blue eyes at her, his smirk perfectly mimicking the crooked one she had given him on the four-wheeler no more then seven minutes ago. He then gently placed a hand on the small of her back, pushing her towards the door, her breath hitched as he did so.

"Come on Blair, we can't fall behind." His voice was calm, indifferent.

She examined his face as they stepped beyond the threshold, into a large, round room. Marcus had a flawless poker face on, detached like nothing ever transpired between them. He was good — too good.

Turning her attention away from him, she glanced around the room. It was filled with control councils filled with switches and blinking lights, a few desks, which people sat at, and the middle of the room was open area where a large, round, mahogany wood table was set. The trim work was for the office-looking room was also of mahogany, the color of the walls a warm cranberry color.

Blair blinked, surprised by what they just walked into. Judging by the bewildered look on Kyle and Lilly's face, she was not the only one clueless as to where they were.

"This is the main control room, where all the meetings and plans are usually talked over," Volker explained.

He then nodded towards a small man that was approaching them; stiffening his posture and more properly greeting his superior before introducing them. "And this is Cathal Falkland."

Cathal was no more then an inch taller then Blair, probably standing at five-foot-ten or five-foot-eleven. His short, vibrant, ginger hair was styled into a messy disarray, about two inches longer then Marcus' cropped hair. His eyes were a deep mossy green, wide and honest. A gentle smile graced his pale pink lips. Blair guessed he was around the age of thirty, but she couldn't tell for sure.

He held out his hand, shaking each of their own in turn as they introduced themselves.

Unlike Volker, Cathal was more direct and to the point, making sure to not leave out important tidbits of information when he explained about how their operations worked. He also seemed more sincere, not stuck up or haughty like Volker.

"I'm one of three heads that leads this resistance. I'm the General that works mostly with the operations involving aircrafts or planes of any form. You could conclude that I'm the one that handled rescue that has brought you here." His perfect English was fluent, but held hints of what she thought was an Irish brogue.

"Now it has come to my attention that your leader, John Connor, and a few others aren't in attendance with you. There is no need to worry; he is being attended to as we speak. According to what he has told me, and from what I can infer, all of you are probably exhausted and would like to rest.

"I had some rooms prepared for you before your arrival. You will all meet back up for breakfast, and then we can continue the explanations, tour, and answer any questions you might have. The other two leaders will meet you in good time — I'm sure you can imagine that we are a little busy."

Cathal glanced to Volker, his green eyes running up and down the other man appraisingly. "You're released of duty for now. I'll see them to their rooms."

Volker stiffened, saluted, and then tore out of the room like the building was on fire. His less than subtle exit was amusing. Whatever had him running would have been the highlight of her day. Marcus' discreet peck from earlier had already stolen the top best thing to happen.

Shaking off those thoughts, Blair then began pondering why Volker took off. When she looked over to Cathal, he was noticeably in a brighter mood. They probably don't see eye to eye.

She liked Cathal more and more. From the looks of it, the new resistance members weren't the only ones that had poor encounters from the man, and Cathal was probably one of the few that could do anything about Volker.

"We aren't imposing on you are we?" Lilly asked politely.

"No. I have to go that way anyways. Might as well be productive," he assured.

Gesturing for them to follow, Cathal led them out and to the left of the room, taking a few rights and lefts from time to time as they made their way through the labyrinth of hallways and tunnels, twisting and turning or dead ending.

Blair thought she felt like a lab rat at one point. Blindly walking through passage after passage, having not a clue where she was going, just that she was supposed to find one thing, and instead of it being an object, (cheese) it was a room… to sleep in.

Kyle was getting impatient. He sighed and grunted every so often, careful to be loud enough so they could all hear his frustration.

Just when she was about ask if Cathal had any clue where the hell they were going, he abruptly stopped, and waved to the door to his left. "This is a room that can hold two people."

Kyle and Star were given the room, seeing as they were both the youngest and should be accommodated to first.

The second room caused them to give pause. Blair wanted to be with Marcus, but he didn't seem to want to give any hints away about anything he might feel towards her, and Lilly was another female, so she could see how it would make sense for them to double up. Still, her entire being was screaming to stay with Marcus.

"I'll take the last room for myself. I can share it with Barnes or Phil when they come back to rest," Lilly offered well naturedly.

Blair threw the other woman a grateful glance. Lilly nodded, a small smile on her dark red lips. Her light brown hair, cut at shoulder length, bounced with her as she flitted to the room across the hall from them.

Marcus opened his mouth to protest but quickly shut it when she glared at him, effectively ending any argument they might get into before it could even start.

He followed her in; shutting the door behind him as he nonchalantly walked over to one of the single beds and flopped down. Blair watched as he stretched then settled into a comfortable position on his back with his head resting on the pillow – propped up at a angle, his hands folded serenely over his stomach with his ankles crossed at the foot of the bed.

How do you tell if he is asleep? she thought absentmindedly. Marcus' breathing was naturally slow and rhythmic. If there was a difference between his breathing when he was conscious or not, then it was too subtle for her eyes.

She had settled into her own bed, lying on her left side, watching Marcus in his slumber, or she thought he was sleeping until he spoke. "Something wrong?"

Blair was shocked for a moment, freezing up and mentally trying to figure out what he just said while attempting to guess if he was sleep-talking or really awake. She couldn't tell; his eyes were still closed, never once fluttering, and he hadn't moved an inch.

"N- no. Why would you ask that?"

He lifted one lazy eyelid to peer at her. "You keep staring at me like you've never seen someone sleep before."

Blair blinked, staring at him for a few moments, and then shrugged it off. "It's just you said you don't always have to sleep. I was wondering how I was supposed to tell when you do need sleep, and how to tell when you are sleeping… no offense, but you're always so calm, it's difficult to know."

It was Marcus' turn to stare at her. Blair thought she saw a flash of relief in his eyes, but couldn't figure out why that emotion would be there. What did he think she would be thinking? Before she could contemplate that question, he answered it for her.

"You weren't just trying to tell if I'm asleep because I'm… a machine?"


Blair's brow furrowed in disgust at the word machine, and she pursed her lips.

"No. Why the hell would I be thinking that?" she asked bitingly, like the question somehow offended her.

Well… that's a relief… I think. That confirmed what he thought earlier; Blair saw him as what he still thought as himself – a man, a human being.

"I don't know. I have no way of knowing what you think," he admitted truthfully.

Opening both eyes he turned his head to more properly look at her. As always, her beautiful olive-toned face framed with dark brunette curls never ceased to cheer his somber mood. What was it about her that made him just want to be happy?

She suddenly asked, "Would you like to know what I think?"

Marcus kept a straight face, but nodded his head yes.

"Well then we're even," she smirked at him.

"Huh…? What? How are we even?"

"I want to know what you think too. You're opinion is important to me," she explained, almost like the information should be as obvious as the fact that the sun would rise.

What was he suppose to say to that? Her frankness had caught him off guard, again. It was similar in some ways to the night they shared at the track. Blair had been open, willingly trying to get closer, although that was a more physical maneuver then the one she just laid out now.

"Blair...?"

"Yeah?" Her voice sounded apprehensive.

Why was she anxious? Marcus mauled over the possible answer for a moment until he realized that he had not made a comment on her last statement yet. She was plausibly thinking he was about to say something morbid about that topic. Clarify yourself; don't say something stupid that could have an innuendo you aren't aware of.

"Can I ask you a question?"

She blinked, visibly confused by this turn they had taken in the conversation, but nodded her head and went along with it anyway. Curiosity blazed in her tawny eyes, and her body was tense like she expected a harsh reprisal.

Marcus had been thinking this question over and over again, and he had found his personal answer to it had changed a great deal since the first time he had asked Blair. He had wrestled over her original response many a time as well, and he was both intrigued and terrified of what her answer was now.

Staring her dead in the eye, he asked, "Do you still believe in second chances?"

Blair seemed to lose her anxiety once she understood where his mood had taken him. Whatever she had been thinking was coming must have been a lot worse then what he did ask – which begged the question, what had she been thinking he would say? The question was left unanswered when she supplied another answer to an unasked question as well as the intended one.

She replied without missing a beat, "Of course! If anything, you're the perfect testament to that…. I also still believe you're a good man. Marcus, you've done well, no one should have the right to question your loyalties or motives. You've earned a second chance, and as far as I'm concerned, you've already redeemed yourself five times over."

That was… not what he had expected her to say. He had braced fir something less accepting. Not that he minded, but her answer had literally knocked the breath out of him for a moment. Marcus did a double take, and stared at Blair, his lips parted slightly, frozen how they were when she had replied.

After he got over the initial shock of her answer, he found a strange new feeling bubbling up inside, threatening to over flow. At first, he couldn't put a name to it; it had been so long since he experienced the emotion. Finally, after the name teased the tip of his tongue, he found it; contentment.

He opened his mouth to say something but no words came. After staring at her for a few more inerasable moments of stunned silence, he closed his mouth and turned his attention towards the ivory ceiling once more, his head resting flat on his pillow again.

The silence between them wasn't awkward or uncomfortable, but quite the contrary. Marcus was satisfied with leaving it at that for now. What he had found out from Blair was more then reassuring that her opinion of him was anything but negative or bitter.

Marcus had been worried for a while. He had openly displayed affection towards her – kissing her on the temple earlier. Generally he wouldn't have condoned such openness, and probably wouldn't do such a rash thing for a long time, but Blair had looked so dejected and crestfallen. Her preliminary reaction had been of astonishment, then utter bewilderment when he winked. He had not caught the rest of her reaction due to her putting on a politely disconnected pretense.

If she wanted to raise hell with him or had been disgusted with his actions, she would have called him out on it by now. Blair didn't beat around the bush; she knew what she wanted and obviously what she didn't want. So the kiss was fine, or she was going to let it slide for now. Either way, he would find out in good time.

Neither of them found the time or strength to continue the conversation further. Both were dead beat. Marcus was sure Blair was first to slip into a deep slumber, he could recall hearing her breathing evening out. He had listened to her inhalation rush in and out in time to his slowing heart beat for what he thought was a few seconds before he too slipped away into a light doze.