"All right. We're going to watch this whole movie and keep our hands completely to ourselves," Liv said with determination.

"Right. Absolutely. No hands." Without thinking, Major reached out and took Liv's hand in his, their fingers weaving together. Absently he stroked the back of her hand with his thumb, smiling when she shivered. He loved making her shiver.

"Hey! No hands." She yanked hers back, leaning against the back of the couch and crossing her arms over her chest.

Major picked up the remote to start the movie. What movie? Who knew. "Of course. No hands." It was impossible not to touch her. She was so beautiful, and she smelled so good, and he ached for her. He was hard just sitting here next to her, her leg so close to his. He moved a little closer, sliding his thigh against hers.

Liv shivered again. "Major."

"What? I got the message. No hands." He shifted a little closer, so that he could lean over and kiss her neck. "See, no hands needed."

"Stop that." But her voice was breathless and soft, and her head was tilting to the side, her eyes closing.

"You sure that's what you want?"

"We have to wait for Ravi to finish his testing."

"It'll be fine." Not using his hands was difficult; he settled for trying to undo the top button of Liv's shirt with his teeth.

"You're too much of an optimist." But even as she said it, she was moving, straddling his lap, breaking her own no hands rule by reaching for the bottom of his shirt and tugging it off over his head.

"It's irresistible, right? My cheery whistle and constantly positive outlook?"

"It's annoying. Shut up."

Easily done, when she was kissing him like this, like it was the only thing on her to-do list, her hands restless on his bare shoulders.

Since the no-fingers rule had been lifted, Major started in on the buttons of her shirt, making better progress this time.

"We shouldn't do this," Liv protested.

"No." But he kept at the buttons.

"Well, maybe just a little." She kissed him again, her body moving against his, warm and soft and perfect. Breaking the kiss, she said breathlessly, "Did you know condoms have a 98% success rate?"

Major pushed the shirt off her shoulders. "I have heard that stat somewhere."

Another kiss, the urgency rising. "You gotta like those odds."

Somewhere in the fog of his brain, he realized what she was saying, what she was suggesting—and what it could mean for him. Was he willing to risk becoming a zombie just to relieve the ache he felt here in her arms? Take the risk that a condom would be enough to stop the virus, potentially wake up tied to a diet of human brains the rest of his life?

Liv must have sensed the hesitation in him. "No pressure."

"Let's … stick to the safe stuff for now. Let Ravi finish his tests."

"Absolutely." She got off his lap, reaching for his hand. "Let's go do some wickedly safe stuff."

"You know I love it when you talk dirty."

On the way to the bedroom, they resumed the kissing, pieces of clothing falling to the floor—all but the final two. They fell to the bed, hands moving, very carefully, stroking and touching even as their kisses became more feverish.

They were lying together, not entirely satiated, but certainly happy, when they heard Ravi's frantic voice outside the door. "Stop what you're doing! I'm coming in!"

Hastily they arranged the covers over their bodies, shouting out "Wait" "What" and "Whoa" even as the door opened.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, knocking!" Major called as Ravi entered the room, one hand clasped firmly over his eyes. "In this house we use knocking."

Still with his hand over his eyes, Ravi asked, "Are you decent?"

"Decent enough."

At Liv's words, Ravi shifted his fingers so he could peek at them. Then he took his hand down. "Tell me you haven't had sex yet."

"Seems like a question you could have asked outside the door!"

"Have you?"

"No!" Liv shouted.

"Oh." Ravi's relief was palpable. "That is very, very good news."

Liv sighed, her disappointment as sharp as Ravi's relief.

"Zombie virus is a hundredth the size of a typical virus," Ravi explained. "I tested every brand of condom, every material. One hundred and two samples. Zombie virus went through all of them. If you have sex, Major will become a zombie."

It was what he had expected, Major realized. Somehow he had known that damned boat party was going to keep coming between them, that it wasn't going to be just like before only without the chance of having babies until Liv was cured. No, it couldn't have been that easy.

"That is not a risk," Ravi finished, putting the final nail in the coffin. "That's a certainty."

Neither Major nor Liv said anything, neither one of them sure what to say.

Ravi went on, "Look, someday I'll cure it. I will. But until then … I'm sorry." He genuinely was, you could hear it in his voice. Major would have liked to be angry with Ravi for being the bearer of bad tidings, but how could you be mad at a man who worked that hard trying to get you laid?

"Thanks, Ravi," Liv said softly. "Really."

Major looked down at her, so beautiful, even pale and zombified as she was. He wanted a normal life with her—but the question was, could he live with having her and knowing that 'normal' was out of their reach for an indeterminate amount of time?

Ravi left the room, closing the door softly behind him, and Major and Liv looked at each other.

She was worth it, Major told himself. "There's other stuff," he offered. "The other night was fun." He reached for her hand, holding it reassuringly, glad to see her smile, even a little.

"It was."

"So we get creative."

"We're creative people. We'll figure it out."

"Yeah. This isn't it for us."

"It's not." Liv rubbed her thumb across the back of his knuckles. "So … what are you doing later? Want to catch a G-rated movie?"

Major didn't bother to point out that was what they had been trying to do before they ended up mostly naked in bed. And he had plans for later tonight anyway—trying out his new scheme to get around Vaughn du Clark. He wished he could tell Liv what was going on, but the less she knew, the safer it was for her. "I've got work. Late-night training sessions. But tomorrow."

"Tomorrow. Great." She looked up at him hopefully. "Foot rub?"

"Yes! Wait—was that an offer or a request?"

Liv shrugged, grinning. "Both?"

"Great. Me first."

"Of course."