PART SEVEN

Liz lay in the darkened bedroom, the only sounds her own soft breathing and the muffled moans she heard from the next room, gentle soulful cries that had left her shivering on top of the thin sheets.

Max was taking another lover, binding himself to another, and she felt slightly ambivalent about that fact. But she loved him enough to give this thing to him—and something about it was driving her body nearly insane. Her own breathing came in soft erratic pants, as the muffled sounds grew more intense…Max was inside someone else. He was taking another to the sacred place the two of them had been just earlier.

He belonged to Michael now, not just her. But they were beautiful together, she’d meant what she’d said earlier tonight, and she also remembered how breathless they’d both been, how flushed their faces, how swollen their lips.

And that’s what they looked like now—because she could see them vividly in her mind-- only now their bodies were cresting slickly together, and one thing she was certain of, they were literally making love just those few feet away from her, separated only by the door of the bedroom.

Her skin was burning up with what was happening to Max—his arousal was mirroring in her own body, as she grew incredibly wet right between her legs. She stared at the dark ceiling, fisting the covers around her tightly. How was it she was feeling this so intensely? As if she were right there in the middle of it?

And then the sensations changed and Liz could only gasp rapidly, couldn’t breathe with the way her chest suddenly constricted, with how she felt something transform within her…like earlier, when Max had made love to her.

When they’d bound themselves to one another.

And then she understood—Michael and Max had just crossed that same threshold together, parting that powerful veil permanently.

They were mated now, just as she and Max were. Completely one, as they were, which only left one final union, one final frontier for this threesome to cross.  

****

Max lay on his side, facing Michael, their eyes never leaving one another. They were transfixed by the intimacy they’d just shared, and all they could do was stroke one another slowly. There was no part of Michael that Max didn’t want to caress--he needed to transmit his love for him that strongly. So they just lay that way, facing one another and Max trailed his fingers slowly across Michael’s chest, down along his abdomen. His palm journeyed across his hip, around to his lower back, and all the while they could only gaze into one another’s eyes.

Michael’s warm brown depths flickered with something wholly new, as he blinked slowly under Max’s gentle attentions, and then his own fingers began wandering lower on Max. He’d been stroking his shoulders and upper back, but now his hand moved low on Max’s abdomen, which was wet from where Michael had spilled on him, had orgasmed right along with Max. Now, he drew the wetness in a slow trail across Max’s hot skin, tantalizing him all over again.

Max stilled his hand beneath his own. "Michael," he whispered throatily. "If you do that, I’ll…" He already felt a gentle tightening within his cock at the seductive touching, and they couldn’t start again. Not when he burned for Liz already, not when she so needed them to come to her.

"Or you’ll what?" Michael questioned playfully. "Make love to me like you just did? Oh, please, Maxwell…don’t tempt me."

Max laughed huskily, cupping Michael’s face within his hands, and drew his lips in for a tender kiss. Their mouths lingered together like that, just barely grazing with the lightest of kisses—yet they transmitted so much about what had just happened.

"You’ve changed me forever," Michael breathed. "What you just did to me."

Max shook his head vigorously, trailing his kisses along Michael’s jaw line. "No, we’ve both changed. Nothing can ever be the same for any of us now."

"Or for Liz," Michael prompted, and Max didn’t miss the dark note to his voice. He pulled back sharply and stared into his eyes. "What?" Max questioned softly. "What are you worried about?"

Michael’s eyes drifted shut and Max saw pain shadow his features, even in the darkness. Yet he didn’t answer, just remained quiet like that until his eyes fluttered open again.

"That Liz won’t…" He hesitated, rubbing a hand over his eyes. "Love me." Michael looked away quickly at his whispered confession, averting his eyes from Max’s gaze. "I need her to love me, too…because somehow I already love her. Maybe because of what just happened between us, I’m feeling your heart, Max."

"Which means Liz already feels mine, Michael—including how much I love you," Max explained gently stroking Michael’s hair. Michael shook his head softly, glancing at Max again.

"I hadn’t thought it would matter, but now…after—" Michael groped for the right words, his voice thick with emotion. "I want this for all three of us."

"Yes," Max breathed, leaning in for a final kiss, and this one he deepened. He wanted to begin arousing Michael again—before they went to Liz. He slipped his hands around his waist, drawing his hips flat up against his own. Michael whimpered softly and Max felt him harden against his leg.

"Max," Michael gasped, breaking the kiss. "I-I thought…you’d want Liz to…" Max ran his thumb tenderly across his lips. "I’m just getting you ready for her."

Liz’s very words to him only a short while earlier—and they’d emboldened him so strongly. He watched the same pleasure stain Michael’s cheeks a deep crimson.

"That I definitely am, Maxwell," he laughed throatily, pressing his hips sharply against Max’s, leaving now doubt just how very aroused he’d become. "Definitely ready for her."

****

Liz’s ragged breathing had stilled now, but not the way Max’s union with Michael had affected her whole body. Gentle tremors shook her hands and she was blazing hot—in a way Max’s own lovemaking hadn’t affected her. The scientist in her wondered if somehow their respective alien energies had banked a bit, grown stronger at their joining, and that was why she was shaking so dramatically.

Because she was so connected to Max.

Whatever the cause, desire shot through her every extremity and she felt more than vulnerable at how they’d managed to arouse her-- from the other room. It was as if they’d been doing something to her purposefully, seducing her along with one another, drawing her into their union. She clawed again at the cool sheets beneath her and wished she could calm down before they entered. The thought of Max seeing her like this felt safe—but Michael was another matter. That left her feeling terribly vulnerable.

But as it turned out, she didn’t have time to recover, because the bedroom door opened quietly, and Max entered, his fingers entwined with Michael’s as they stepped toward her.

"Hey," he breathed and Liz couldn’t believe the expression on his face. On Michael’s. They were both simply radiant, the love they’d just shared shining in their faces—and they looked exactly as she felt inside, simply glowing with alien heat.

"Hey," she answered raggedly, her voice hitching in her throat. "You look…satisfied." She laughed gazing at Max, but her eyes wandered to Michael’s tentatively. Michael stepped behind Max, slipping his hands low around his waist, so that his arms circled his abdomen possessively. And she didn’t miss how Max quickly hardened at his simplest contact—and from staring at her just as he was right now. She stood, stepping toward them both, so that she faced Max—and now he was right between Michael and herself, as she closed in to kiss him. She placed her hands on top of Michael’s where they rested on Max’s stomach, electrified by their mutual proximity to Max’s most intimate place. Max cupped her face gently within his hands, drawing her lips up to meet his, and she slipped her arms around him, feeling his erection brush against her belly as she did so.

And she felt Michael’s hands tentatively graze her hips, and pure fire roiled through her extremities as his palms met her very bare skin. He’d reached around Max like that, just so he might feel her.

Where had this desire for Michael come from? How had it flamed instantly to life like this, aching through her every joint, her every muscle.

She wanted him desperately, and yet it was Max who stood just in front of her, kissing her. But right now, her desire was spiraling for the man just behind him, the one who shadowed their closeness. In a sense, they both held her in their arms, and it suddenly struck her how very much they’d joined, how very one they were—that now they seemed to have blended, and both were showering her with their loving attentions.

Suddenly Michael’s hands slid down her hips around behind her, cupping her bottom, pulling her closer to the two of them, so that she felt Max’s hardness press sharply against her stomach. He deepened their kiss, crushing his lips against her own hungrily, yet somehow she felt it was Michael kissing her…the lines had blurred dramatically and she no longer understood where her heart was leading her.

But her body was definitely certain, as she shivered there in Michael’s bedroom, yet raged with fever at the same time. Max’s hands slipped down her lower back, and she felt his hands entwine with Michael just in the small of her back, their fingers twist together, as she stood looped in their arms like that.

And she began trembling then, as their energy seemed to wrap all around her, warm and lovely…letting her know what she meant to both of them. To Michael already. Michael slipped from behind Max and stepped around behind her, as Max’s kisses became more urgent and hungry. There was nothing gentle about how he took her mouth now, plundering it desperately with his tongue and her body was on fire with it.

Michael stroked his hand down the length of her backbone, and then slipped it between her thighs, exploring her wetness with his fingers. She heard him moan very low in his throat and she whimpered loudly in reply, breaking her kiss with Max.

Max smiled softly at her, stroking the hair away from her face. "You’re liking this?" he breathed against her cheek.

"Ver-ry…funny," she managed to gasp, as Michael’s finger slipped further up inside of her.

"Want him to stop?" Max teased, nipping at her neck. "I can just ask and he will."

"Him?" She murmured in confusion as Max planted little kisses across her cheek

"Me…him…either of us," Max teased breathlessly and Liz felt Michael reach around her, caressing Max’s side with his free hand.

"No…no…" she moaned.

"No?" Michael breathed against her neck now, nestling his face against her long hair. "Then I supposed you wouldn’t mind this," he murmured, slipping his hand over her breast, cupping it where she was pressed up against Max’s chest. He rubbed her nipple adeptly between his fingers and she nearly screamed at the dual pleasure his hands was creating.

Max slipped his cock between her legs, but was stopped by Michael’s fingers. She heard him laugh huskily. "Um…Michael," he growled.

"No way," Michael whispered back. They’d put her thoroughly at the middle of this moment, lavishing love and attention on her—making her feel deeply secure and she sensed it was quite calculated on both their parts. She felt Michael reach his free fingers and lightly touch Max’s tip where he’d slipped partially between her legs, and Max leapt slightly at the sudden contact. Something about that subtle moment—Michael caressing them both simultaneously, and Max’s reaction to it-- caused her entire body to tighten suddenly and then shudder, and she cried out loudly, both their names…suddenly driven quite over the edge.

"Sweetheart," Max whispered, pressing soft kisses along her temple.

"I felt that," Michael groaned, withdrawing his fingers and Liz laughed giddily. "Obviously I did, too," she murmured softly.

Michael slipped a hand around her waist, and with his other, stroked her hair off of her neck, kissing her softly…very slowly just on her nape. She felt little goose bumps form in the wake of his kisses.

"I want to make love to you," Michael whispered lightly behind her ear. "I need you, Liz."

She shivered as her eyes met Max’s. He smiled slowly, his face flushing. Somehow, she’d always thought only Max would make love to her, not Michael. She’d known that Michael would be teasing her and kissing and everything else, but she’d never fully allowed the notion of his making love to her.

"If you…want that," Michael added and Liz heard something almost hesitant and vulnerable in his voice. She hadn’t meant to, but she’d remained silent at his initial heartfelt request—and had obviously caused him to feel insecure. She turned slowly to face him, placing her palms flat against his chest. His brown eyes looked suddenly melancholy, even though his face was flushed and his breathing quite uneven. She trailed her palm up his chest, to his neck, until finally she cupped his face. He closed his eyes as she drew up on her toes, pulling his mouth down to her.

"Michael," she urged gently. "How could I not want that?" His eyes flew instantly open and Liz smiled softly at him.

"Then…let’s…." Michael seemed suddenly speechless, so Max decided to help him out.

"Get in bed," Max prompted softly, slipping his hands onto her shoulders. Michael met his eyes gratefully and Max felt his cock throb even more achingly. Watching and feeling them together was unimaginable, beyond anything he’d ever dreamed. He felt surprisingly un-possessive of each of them, only just so painfully aroused by their joining. And now to watch them make love.

Michael was still something of a virgin—far more than he himself was, he thought with a light laugh. He’d never been inside anyone, man or woman, and this would be beautiful to watch his reaction…to feel it arch through his own body as the three of them melded.

Max pressed a quick kiss against Liz’s neck, right where Michael had kissed her only moments before, and then took her hand, leading her to the bed. That seemed the perfect way to begin the next moments—with him leading his two lovers to one another. Liz slid on top of the bed, releasing his hand as she moved to the middle, and then Michael moved in after her, with Max joining last.

Michael eased on top of Liz, propping himself up very cautiously. He seemed suddenly uncertain, as he stared down into her eyes and then Liz smiled broadly at him.

"Here," she offered, spreading her legs around him, moving into just the right position.

"Liz, I want you to know something…that since Max and I…" Michael stammered, his face turning a deep crimson.

"Michael…" Liz pressed her finger to his lips. "It’s okay."

"No, see…it’s just that I feel his heart now because of how we…" Michael’s face reddened even more deeply. "I feel what he feels for you, and I wanted you to know that."

"I know because I feel Max’s heart, too," she murmured, pressing soft kisses against Michael’s lips. "Which means I feel what he feels for you."

Michael smiled so broadly, Max felt his heart flip in his chest. Michael, who of all people needed the kind of sweet love his Liz would give him. Together they would slowly heal his heart.

Liz reached between their two bodies, and Max saw her position Michael at just the right spot. "Okay," she breathed against his neck.

Michael eased very slowly inside her and Liz giggled lightly against his neck. "I’m not a virgin anymore, Michael."

"Well…I kinda am," he explained. "Guess I’m a little slow, huh?"

"You’re perfect…beautiful," Liz breathed giddily and Michael suddenly thrust right within her in one quick movement.

"Oh, God," he moaned, emitting a soft, stifled cry. "Maxwell…" Michael turned toward Max a moment, and Liz watched as their eyes met, as they communicated absolutely silently such a depth of feeling. With his one muffled cry, Michael had spoken volumes to his other lover—had understood what Max had shared with her…and somewhat differently within himself.

Had thanked him for sharing his soulmate with him so intimately. Max reached up and stroked Michael’s hair very softly in reply.

"I love you both so much," he whispered, kissing each of them on the cheek. With that, he moved away a bit and Michael began rocking gently within her, surprisingly gentle—perhaps more so than Max had been. Liz realized it was because holding her in his arms was still so fragile and precious to Michael, where as she and Max were more accustomed to one another. But it still surprised her that Michael—the abrasive one, the one who was always so blustery—would make love to her as if he were holding a delicate robin’s egg right in his palm.

He planted soft kisses on her neck and began thrusting more quickly, their hips rocking against each other’s. In that moment, she felt them join more deeply—spiritually, just as she had with Max—and she gasped as she saw his eyes widen, watering suddenly. She knew he’d felt it at that precise moment, as they could only stare in wonder at one another. She hitched her legs up around him more fully, that he might penetrate deeply and he moaned loudly in reply.

Suddenly, Liz sensed a shift in Michael’s mind and he whispered Max’s name.

"Yes," Max answered quietly.

"Come closer, Max," he urged. "We need you."

"Yes," Liz agreed breathily, between quick pants. "Cl-closer, Max."

He began to move right up beside them, and suddenly Michael stilled a bit inside her. "No, wait," he whispered, slowly rolling Liz onto her side, so that Max lay just behind her. "Now," he said.

Max eased right behind her, where her legs were wrapped around Michael’s waist, and slipped his knees beneath her thighs. Now, as she began rocking more forcefully against Michael, his every thrust electrifying her, she felt Max right with her—as if they were both making love to Michael. As if they were both making love to her…all three gently rocking as one.

Max wrapped his arm around her small waist, caressing her softly there as she felt him thrust behind her vigorously. She also felt how absolutely hard he’d grown, how desperately he needed his own release.

"I love you, Max," Liz whispered over her shoulder, then turned back to Michael. "And you."

With her simple words, Michael suddenly began thundering within her—the combined affect of Max’s proximity and Liz’s murmured declaration absolutely destroying any last resolve he’d held. He exploded within Liz, felt her tight beautiful body close all around him as he pumped a final few thrusts. He could only gasp rapidly as he leaned his sweaty forehead against her own.

"Oh, God," he groaned. "You two…what am I going to do with you?"

"I think we’ll be able to think of plenty of things in the very near future," Max laughed, breathing very heavily against her back. Michael slipped from within her and she rolled slowly to face Max.

"But, Michael, right now Max has a problem of his own," she giggled, folding his cock right within her palm. "Think I should help him out?" She teased, her eyes never leaving Max’s shimmering golden ones.

"Please," Max nearly begged. "Have mercy, sweet Liz."

"Now if you put it that way," she breathed, wrapping him firmly within her arms. "Then I suppose I’ll just have to ask you to ravish me like your partner in crime just did."

Michael laughed huskily right behind her.

"Partner in crime," he repeated with a breathy groan.

"You know," Liz murmured as Max eased on top of her. "I don’t know what’s worse…that I just had a ménage a trois, or that I had it with two alien hybrids."

"Sounds like the makings of a tabloid cover to me," Max smiled, slipping right between her legs, nipping kisses along her neck.

"Just remember to be good to me, or I might sell the story," Liz threatened playfully.

"You’ll have to split the money three ways," Max teased, pressing gently against her opening.

"We’re still talking ménage a trois, then," Liz said.

"Hush," Max scolded her breathlessly. "I want to make love to you."

"And I want to watch it," Michael chimed in, running his hand down Max’s muscled back until he reached her hand and took it in his own, squeezing it lightly.

As Max slipped right inside of her, Liz thought that on this night, she’d finally found heaven… or another world, planet…whatever.

She was simply delirious, and what she felt was definitely not of this earth.