Samantha slowly began to regain consciousness.  Her head hurt like hell, but it was clearer than it had been since they arrived at this strange house.  She felt Christian’s strong arms around her and wondered why she was so aroused.  She resisted the urge to rest her head back on his chest and allow her to carry her to safety.  It was then that she realized that he wasn’t carrying her to safety, but was moving back towards the house.  What was he thinking?  He had been forced to stand guard next to her too many times in the past.  Doing his best to protect her while her mind traveled amongst the dead, fighting to keep her rooted in this reality when unknown forces tried to pull her too far into their world, and helping her fight them back when they would attempt to control her mind and body.  He had saved her life and her sanity more times than she could remember, but in the end the strain was too much for their relationship.  Christian always complained that she withheld information from him, but she honestly didn’t have any idea what was in that house and her attempts to explain the unexplainable normally seemed to frustrate him further.  Why would he even attempt to go back into the house while she was unconscious?  “<em>Christian, what are you doing?  We can’t go back in there yet.  Christian?  Chris, put me down.”  </em>She tried to wiggle her way out of his arms.