WHEN WE'RE ALONE [blake]

[artemis cadence russell]

she could not for the life of her figure out his angle. she kept trying. trying to figure out what he had to gain by pulling her close and then pushing her away and pulling her close again. most of the time it was easy - there was another woman or they were married or hell they were another woman and just weren't satisfied with the idea that they might be gay. shit, it happened, and it seemed to happen to her more often than it happened to anyone else she knew in the world. but with blake, she knew it was none of that. she knew he didn't have another woman and she knew he wasn't married no matter how much caleb wanted to play wife and she knew he wasn't afraid of his sexuality. she didn't know what it was that made him act the way that he did but it fucking unnerved her. it made her tense and scared and nervous because she didn't know what to expect and though the excitement was enough to keep her interest, it didn't mean she was necessarily a fan. she liked when she was able to predict how moves would affect the game. when people like blake joined in, it just got uncomfortable.

and to make it worse she really could feel something that could hold some resemblance to emotion building in the pit of her stomach. and not something that she fabricated or that was assisted by any drug or intoxicant but something burning and real and raw. it made her feel sick in a way she'd never felt before but spread a warmth throughout her body that told her that it was just there to stay and she better get used to it because it wasn't moving. and she didn't know how to feel about it; any of it. she thought she had it all figured out and then blake turned the tables on her and now he was doing it again and she didn't know if she should feel one emotion or another and all she wanted - all she wanted was to fix herself a cup of goddamn tea and take her leave and go to bed. leave him to his stupid game and his stupid unpredictable actions and his stupid caleb-pleasing ways. see if she fucking cared.

but she couldn't walk away. atty just couldn't find it in her to walk away when blake was looking at her with that expression, with something real, and talking to her with so much tenderness that it made her stop and think for a moment about whether or not this game, this long con was really worth it. of course even she couldn't say how long it would last; that...well, that was up to him. but it made her wonder if maybe he shouldn't find someone better. someone whole. someone who could love him the way he deserved. he said he fucked up and her bottom lip trembled for a second before she grabbed hold of herself, told herself to man up because she'd already let him see her cry and that was all she was giving up to him this time. and he was going off on some sob story about his relationships and okay, maybe she could feel a twist in her gut at the thought that he might be afraid of her leaving him for something as stupid as a soldier or cia agent, especially when they were government employees and the government had done nothing but fuck her over her entire life with how it treated its street rats. but it was still a sob story. it was still unnecessary guilt and she could feel the need to turn and run just devour her.

then he stepped toward her. and he wrapped an arm around her waist and he leaned down and he kissed her. and that was it. that was victory. that was fireworks and explosions and light and rainbows and getting high and kittens and sugar and spice and everything nice and wonderful with the world because at last she could feel him on her lips. it wasn't a big deal. just a press of the lips, something soft, almost delicate, but she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. she slung one arm up behind his neck, the other resting on the curve where his shoulder met his neck as she pressed her lips back against his, heart pounding with yet another victory when she thought she had lost it all. she pulled away ever so slightly, keeping herself lifted on her toes to meet his height as she said quietly, "you think i'm just going to forgive you that easily?" she could feel her lips brush his with each word, could feel the desire to take back the feeling again growing with each passing second. "you're lucky you're cute," she continued with a smirk pulling on the edges of her lips. "and fyi - i don't want a cia agent." and with that she captured his lips with hers again.

[/justify]