Chapter 12

"What?" Maria mouth dropped open. "But I thought all that was over and done."

"Apparently not." Max responded tersely as his gaze shifted back to Tess. "Is it, Tess?"

"I don't know, okay?"

"What do you mean you don't know?" Michael asked as he stepped forward.

Tess' face flushed with anger. "I don't know! How more plain can I make it?"

"Try!" Michael commanded loudly before he felt Maria's hand slip into his.

Tess let out a sigh and leaned back against the pool table. "I noticed him before. At the booth when I was coming back to the table with Ben." An involuntary shiver ran through her. "There was something in his eyes…" She looked around the group. "I don't know if it's him or not, but he really creeped me out."

Max swallowed hard as he looked around the group. "Did anyone else get the idea that message was somehow meant for us? For me?"

Tess stood and stepped up to Max shaking her head. "No. Don't even start thinking that way. Max, don't let some crazy words from some creepy stranger stop you from following your heart."

"I have to if that creepy stranger was Nasedo, Tess!" Max dropped his head and let out a sigh of frustration. "God, don't you get it? I can't take the chance. If it means Liz's life…"

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Wait a sec." Maria's voice broke through Max's self-directed declaration. "What do you mean 'Liz's life'?" Maria shot Michael a glance but received nothing more than confusion in return. She stepped up to Max, pushing Tess to the side. "Max?"

Max stood staring at the ground unable to lift his eyes any higher. He felt like it was happening all over again. Loosing Liz. Having to make a choice. To let go or suffer death. His heart felt dead inside at the thought. But wasn't death what he had been living with for the past 7 years anyway? Maria's voice pulled him back to reality.

"Alright, buddy. You've got exactly 5 seconds to start explaining how my best friend's life is suddenly in danger if Nasedo is, in fact, back in our lives."

Max swallowed hard and looked up at Maria. "It's our destiny."

Everyone's eyes shifted to the door when they heard Liz's voice. "Well, then. Looks like we're right back where we were before…" Her eyes locked with Max's. "…doesn't it?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Having only heard Max's three-word answer to Maria's question, Liz's recently discovered resolve began to waver. Max's voice had sounded so determined. Detached. Resigned. Automatic. As if it were a part of him now. That phrase…'it's our destiny'. That pronoun…'our.' Meant to apply only to two aliens, the word included one more now. A human.

Correction. That human was the original owner of the phrase…

Liz squealed as Max tickled her along her ribcage with his left hand. Squirming in the arms that were holding her several feet above the ground, her laughter echoed around them. "Max! Max, stop it! You're going to drop me!"

Laughter died quickly and Max hoisted Liz higher in his arms then bent his head down to whisper in her ear. "Oh, ye of little faith. Don't you know that now that I've got you, I'm never letting go?"

A bright smile accompanied her question as Liz tightened her grip around Max's neck. "Never? So, does that mean you're never going to put me down?"

She could feel his smile against her cheek and her fingers automatically traced the side of his face. "Only when we reach your surprise and then only if I have to." A soft kiss was delivered to her lips before they both fell into a comfortable silence.

Liz let out a sigh of happiness and snuggled her face into the crook of Max's neck as he turned forward and continued to carry her to their next destination. This was heaven. Breathing in Max's own personal scent. A scent that made her dizzy with desire at times and overcome with peace at others. Being in his strong, solid arms. Arms that made her feel safe in the midst of their power. And sheltered in the warmth that surrounded her. She never wanted this moment to end…

But it did end moments later after she felt Max take a few steps up and stop abruptly. "Well, Princess, we've reached your palace."

"My palace?" Liz's dark eyebrow raised beneath the white cloth Max had used to temporarily blind her to their surroundings. "Does this mean that you’re my Prince Charming?"

Max's chest rose and fell with the deep breath he took as he loving stared down at the only girl in the world that could ever own his heart. "Here…we can be whatever you want us to be, Liz. Your wishes are my command."

"Ohh, I like the sound of that." Liz's giggled filled the space around them and she was suddenly struck with the smallness of the sound. Her lips turned into a befuddled frown. "Max? Where are we?" Hearing his silence, she kicked her feet playfully as a pout found its way to her lips. "Come on. When are you going to let me see?"

Max chuckled as he shifted Liz in his arms till she was parallel to his body, her only support being the arms she tightly clung to him with and the one he had firmly planted around her waist. "Not till I say, Liz."

Taunting her with the knowledge only he held Max then stopped her next question with an urgent, breathless kiss when her feet were firmly planted in front of him. Having allowed her to slide down to the ground slowly…teasingly, the fire that ignited inside of him as her feminine curves met his hard toned body sent his senses reeling. He needed contact. He craved it. Required it to breathe.

And breathe he did. Of her. Into her. With her. With his lips as they slanted over hers in a well perfected flow. With his hands as they slide through her velvety tresses to trail over her shoulders, down her back to her waist, pressing her closer to him than she'd ever been before. He breathed until he couldn't breathe any more. Until this kind of breathing threatened to take them places they'd never been before as Liz responded with equal fervor…

The sensations that simple contact had created in him made the small, rational part Max's brain wonder how he'd make it to the end of the evening. In fact, if he had his way, they'd jump to the final portion of the evening right here and now. But this night was for his Liz and he was going to make every last dream of hers come true…or die trying. And pulling away from her right now certainly felt like dying, but he did it.

For her. Forcefully lowering his raging desire from boiling to simmer, Max slowly grinned against her lips and leaned his forehead against hers, pulling away after a moment. His eyes were bright with happiness and love that Liz could feel even though she was, for all purposes, blind.

"Wow." Liz breathlessly licked her lips slowly and leaned into him. Her eyes would have been dazed had he been able to see them. Her voice made up for that handicap as slightly slurred speech found it's way from her kiss-swollen lips. "Wow. W-what…what was…that for?"

Urgency was suddenly replaced with leisure as Max nuzzled Liz's neck and pulled her into a hug, breathing her scent in deeply. This is where he belonged. In her arms. Always. In her arms is where he always would be. They had time. Time to experience every good thing life had to offer. Max let out a sigh of contentment. "Just because."

"Just because why?" Liz asked as a dreamy smile lit her face when she wrapped her arms around Max's shoulders and felt his warm breath against her skin. If Max Evans did nothing else in his life but hold her, it would be enough for Liz. This felt right. In a way nothing in her life ever had. It felt…like home.

Her smile deepened when she heard his loving confession blow lightly through her hair and hover just over her ear. "Just because I love you."

She savored the moment a bit longer before, playful Liz took momentary control and shook her head with mock disbelief before pushing Max backwards teasingly. "Wait a minute here…" Liz crossed her arms in front of her. "I'm not buying, Evans. You just did that to distract me."

Max's laughter echoed around her as he released her momentarily to step behind her and once more engulfed her in his warm embrace. Applying a soft kiss to her temple, Max made an apparent observation. "You are so suspicious tonight, Ms. Parker…"

"Imagine that…" Liz noted teasingly before her laughter joined Max's. She leaned back against him and tilted her head upward as her hand snaked up to wrap around his neck, her fingers beginning a lazy riffling through his hair. "You're so funny, you know it? You tease me all night with little hints of things to come and expect me to not be curious or suspicious of your actions. What ever am I going to do with you?" Liz asked suggestively as her fingers threaded through the silky hair at the back of Max's head.

"I have a few ideas…" Max's whisper in her ear was equally suggestive before he planted a quick kiss on her cheek. But before I tell them to you, I think it's finally time for you to see your surprise…"

Liz giggled and clapped her hands like an eager little girl and Max chuckled at her enthusiasm. How he adored her. Mischief danced in his eyes as he shook his head in admiration. "Now, if you're not ready we can always wait…"

"Don't you dare make me wait any longer!" Liz exclaimed as she spun around, her hands coming to rest on her slender hips in protest.

Another chuckle. "Ok. Ok. I get the point." Max slowly removed the blindfold and grinned widely at her. "Ok. Go head. Open your eyes."

Liz blinked her eyes in surprise when she opened them. They were engulfed in darkness. She could barely see Max and he was standing right in front of her. "Max? Why is it so dark in here?"

"Because I have to go do something and I don't want you exploring by yourself before I get a chance to do it, ok?" Max took her hands in his and moved her forward slowly placing her feet on a little glow tab he'd placed on the floor earlier. Taking her gently by the shoulders he turned her away from him and pointed her in a new direction. "Now, stay. I'll be right back…"

Before she knew it, he was gone. A shiver ran through her. In the silence, Liz found that her mind was finally catching up and reacting to the physical contact she'd just experienced in Max's arms. She had literally felt a blazing heat radiating throughout his body and reaching out to scorch her every place their bodies melded together. Even now his lightest touch still seared her skin then froze into a dull ache waiting impatiently for his return.

Liz's face flushed hotly as her mind attached a word to that particular kind of heat that had swept through them. 'Desire'. 'Passion'. Overwhelming. Instantaneous. Almost primal. It had engulfed him. Momentarily ruled him. Ruled both of them. In a way it never had before. The absence of it surrounding her now was like the Antarctic. Sharp, stinging, biting cold.

She heard a click then tiny points of light began to twinkle overhead. Stars. Another click and a spotlight illuminated the space before her. Liz let out a gasp. "Oh wow! Oh my God. Max…" Liz took a few slow steps forward and gazed around, her eyes growing wide with delight. "This is…"