[alansplace]

I looked at her, and then deliberately down her, and said, “That’s probably best. I’m finding you very distracting right now.”

She flushed brighter. “No. That’s just you reacting to being in danger. You’re afraid that you’re going to die, and sex is very life affirming.”

“Is that what it is?” I drawled.

“Among other things,” she said.

For a few seconds my hormones did their best to lobby for overcoming distraction by means of indulgence, but I reined them in.