Claudia leant over Jack's sleeping form and woke him a kiss. Jack was at first surprised and then immediately concerned. By mutual agreement they kept away from each other when Ramon and Hector were at home and today was definitely not a good day to try anything new.

'Claudia. Why are you here? He asked, pain from his hand making him wince as he spoke.

'It's dangerous for you' he added more softly, feeling that his question had sounded like a rebuke; his injuries giving his voice a harshness that he hadn't intended

Claudia looked at him. She looked into his eyes and she could see concern, but she knew he thought she was foolish to come to him. Her hands still rested lightly on his naked chest. She didn't care what he thought. She wanted to be there.

'I was worried about you Jack,' she said quietly and then, with more urgency, 'you shouldn't stay with them Jack. They're getting worse. You know they are. Each time their punishments are getting worse. You're too good at what you do and they don't trust you.'

'And I don't think they ever will,' she added, sadly.

Jack couldn't keep eye contact. He looked away. Of course she was right. But she didn't know that he couldn't just walk away. There was more at stake than that. And he couldn't tell her because, frankly, he couldn't trust her.

'I think I've eared their trust today' Jack said quietly, sitting up on the bed now and looking down at his bandaged hand. He swung his legs off the bed so that he was sitting facing Claudia.

'Oh yes, you've earned it Jack' she said bitterly, looking at his hand and his torso – 'and right now you might even have it – but for how long do you think?'

Jack took a deep breath, 'Claudia. I'll do what it takes to prove myself to Hector and his brother. They pay me well and I'll serve them well - for now.'

He wondered whether he should have added that – 'for now'. He felt uncomfortable when he got closer to revealing the truth. He worried that he might not be able to stop himself telling her everything.

'For now?' She asked

'Well nothing's forever, is it?' he said, obliquely, looking down, 'But this is the right thing for me to do now. They need me and I need them. It's a mutual arrangement.'

'You need the drug you don't need them,' Claudia corrected him.

'It's one and the same for me'. Jack said

'But it doesn't have to be Jack, get off the drug and then you can leave...with me'

Jack looked into her eyes and then looked away again. He didn't know what to say. He wanted to be free of the drug and he wanted to take her away from Hector but he couldn't explain his position. What could he say – that he liked her a lot - that he needed the sex ...Ultimately, he was ashamed to admit that he was using her. Professionally, having an affair with Claudia was a dangerous strategy but he had legitimised it in his mind because it got him closer to privileged information. Personally, he knew the affair helped keep him sane. It kept him in touch with his real feelings; gave him something he could genuinely look forward to and enjoy. And somehow he felt that she could see the goodness in him despite the evidence of so many of his actions. But he couldn't say any of these things to her so he did what he had done the first time she ever suggested that he could take her away from Hector. He kissed her.

And the kiss, as ever, was passionate and real. He didn't think he loved her. He doubted if she loved him. Perhaps she saw him as someone who could protect her, who could help her escape. But they were attracted to each other, and had been from the very first day. He had walked past her and then looked back immediately- and he saw that she was watching him too, her eyes smouldering. Nevertheless, he had assumed that he would never get to touch her and he had been surprised when she had approached him the first time Hector and Ramon had left the ranch together.

Claudia returned the kiss and then broke away from him and pulled her t-shirt over her head.

'Claudia. We can't. Not now.' Jack couldn't disguise the fear in his voice. The consequences of being caught were too huge to contemplate. They would both be killed. And everything he'd done in Mexico, everything he had suffered would be for nothing. He put his hands gently on her waist and appealed to her again.

'Claudia. Please – not now'

'Don't talk about them, Jack' she replied 'I just want to forget them. Just for a minute or two Just touch me Jack' she said breathlessly.

He looked at her breasts and then at her face again. She wanted to lose herself in a moment of passion and he knew that he wanted that too; and at that moment he felt his need for her as powerfully as he sometimes needed a fix. And he drew her to him and kissed her again, this time more urgently, pressing his mouth against hers and tasting her desire. Remembering the camera, he ran his hands down her body and lifted her up. He pulled her body tightly against his and carried her across the room, pressing her powerfully against the wall. He knew what she wanted. And right now it was what he wanted too.