A Special Kind of Love (M&L, Adult) (Complete)

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Breathless
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Part 31

Post by Breathless »

A Special Kind of Love
Part 31



Max stood by the jeep staring off into the distance. He closed his eyes, haunted by the sight of Liz lying bloody and broken on the ground. He tried to think of the way she had smiled during dinner. Had it only been an hour ago? An hour in which the only thing he ever wanted had been torn away from him? He tried to remember her smile, her laughter, but all he could see and hear was the squeal of brakes and her unseeing eyes staring into nothing. Isabel walked up to him and gently laid her hand on his shoulder.

“Max, I need to get my things from inside,” Lonnie said in her best Isabel imitation. “It will only take a minute. Tess, come give me a hand.” Max nodded and Lonnie lead Tess back into the UFO Center.

“Well I give you points for that little deception, Tess,” Lonnie said smiling evilly as they made their way back into the center. “It worked like a charm. Max is right where we want him. Actually, so are you.”

“What?” Tess said in confusion.

“You didn’t really think we could trust you, now did you?” Rath said stepping out of the shadows. “Shit, if you were willing to practically destroy Max so you could have him all to yourself, what kind of back stabbing mind games could we expect you to try on us? No, I think playtime is over.”

“What are you talking about?” Tess asked in growing fear. The look in his eyes was scaring her. The look in both of their eyes was scaring her.

“What it means Tess, is that you’re not going,” Lonnie answered with a malicious grin. “You’re going to stay here on this God forsaken planet, and rot with the rest of ‘em.”

“No, we had a deal,” Tess pleaded. “I’d get Max to show you the location of the Granilith, and you’d show us how to use it to go home. All four of us.”

“We’re reneging on the deal,” Rath sent her a withering look.

“Actually, four will be going home,” a voice spoke from behind Tess. She whirled around to see Nicholas leaning against a nearby wall. “Just not the four you thought. I’ll be taking your place. Now that we have Max, we don’t need you. The Royal Seal is in his head, not yours.”

“You can’t do this,” Tess begged.

“Only four can go back, and I’m not staying here.” Nicholas walked around Tess, looking her up and down. “That was quite a number you did on poor Max. But then you always were a devious one, weren’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tess said haltingly.

“Let’s just say that truth and loyalty were never your strong points.” Nicholas glanced at Rath and jerked his head toward the fallout shelter the others were being stored in. Rath grabbed Tess by the arm and pulled her across the room. She was so shocked by the sudden turn of events she wasn’t even able to struggle. He swung the heavy door wide and shoved her into the room beyond it.

“Rath! You can’t do this!” Tess shouted.

“Watch me,” he replied with a smug grin and swung the door closed.

* * * * *

Liz looked around at the small room she was trapped in, and the scared faces of her friends. Isabel, Michael, Maria, Alex, even Kyle. All trapped inside these four walls.

“How long have you been in here?” she asked.

“Since this morning,” Isabel answered. “Rath pretended to be Michael and lured Alex and I here, while Lonnie was pretending to be me and brought Michael and Maria.”

“Tess said she had something to show me, and silly me, I thought it was going to be something a little more exciting than these four walls and you people,” Kyle remarked as he rubbed his hands over his tired eyes.

Just then the door opened and Michael’s double pushed an angry and frightened Tess into the room. She stood staring at the door with her back to the others, shouting at Rath as the door slammed closed in her face.

Liz walked over to Tess and turned her around, gripping her shoulder roughly. “What did you do to Max?” she demanded.

Tess heard the hard edge in Liz’s voice and saw anger flaring in her eyes. “I didn’t do anything to Max. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The others in the room stared wide-eyed at the confrontation between the two. They didn’t know what was happening, or why they were here, but they all thought they were about to find out.

“Oh yes you do,” Liz seethed. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.” Liz stepped menacing toward her and Tess took a step back. “I’m talking about you waiting at the Crashdown to make your move. I’m talking about your mind warping, no, make that mindraping Max into seeing something so horrible he was literally falling apart. I’m talking about you playing cozy with Rath and Lonnie.”

“What?” five voices asked in shock at the same time.

“Have you been working with them all along?” Liz hissed. “Have you been supplying them information ever since you got back from New York?”

“None of this would have been necessary if it hadn’t have been for you,” Tess screamed back at Liz. “Max belonged to me. He was mine before, and he should have been mine again. But you came along and ruined everything. He was stupid enough to let love get in the way of who he is.”

“Who he is?” Liz said incredulously. “You’re the one who doesn’t know who he is! He may have alien blood running through his veins, but everything else about him is human. He looks human. He thinks human. Inside,” Liz pressed her hand over her heart, “he feels human. You’re so blind you can’t even see that.”

“You’re the one who’s blind,” Tess shot back. “Max has responsibilities. He has a life that he’s destined to live. A life that shouldn’t include you.”

“Are you forgetting, Tess?” Liz said harshly. “I walked away from him precisely so that he could make a choice of his own free will. I gave him the freedom to decide his own future. I’m sorry if his decision wasn’t the one that you wanted him to make, but it was his choice.”

“It was the wrong choice, so I helped him change his mind.”

“What did you do to him, Tess,” Liz said in a controlled fury.

“I made him think you were dead,” Tess spat the words at Liz. “He saw your pathetic body sprawled out dead in the street. And you know what? He was eager to return home when I suggested it. I held him in my arms as he sat next to your dead body and I asked him if he wanted to go home and he said yes.”

Liz closed her eyes and tried to control her anger. She wasn’t buying what Tess was saying. Whatever had transpired between Max and Tess since she saw them leave the Crashdown in the jeep, she was sure that Tess was twisting and warping everything.

“So what was the plan Tess?” Liz asked in a tight voice. When she refused to answer, Liz took a deep breath and continued. “Obviously, you’re not in the plan anymore. Rath and Lonnie have no intention of taking you with them. Whatever they intend to do to us,” Liz said waving her hand at the others in the room, “they intend to do to you too.”

Tess closed her eyes, knowing that what Liz said was true. Lonnie and Rath had used her, and now they were throwing her aside. She opened her eyes and focused on Michael and Isabel. Surely they would understand.

“They know how to use the Granilith to get home,” Tess pleaded with them to listen. “Isabel? Michael? I didn’t betray you. I didn’t tell them where the Granilith is. I told them Max is the only one who knows where it’s located and they believed me. They said they have a crystal and when it is inserted into the Granilith, it will program the device to transport us back home.”

“So why didn’t you just go,” Michael said angrily. “Why go through all this? If you wanted to leave so badly, why didn’t you and Lonnie and Rath just go! You know where the Granilith is. You could have taken them right to it.”

“Because . . .” Tess began and then closed her mouth.

“Because why?” Isabel spat out in irritation.

“Because we needed Max,” Tess answered. “The Royal Seal in his brain activates the Granilith. Without him, the crystal is useless. The seal has an imbedded energy signature. It’s unique. It runs in the Royal Family. Max has it, his Father had it, his Grandmother had it, and so on. It’s been passed on from generation to generation, it’s what kept them in power. Max was born with it, but Isabel wasn’t, so when we were recreated, the seal was implanted in Max to indicate he has the energy signature that controls the Granilith.”

“So why all the deceit?” Michael asked coldly. “Why did you make Max think Liz was dead? Why not just ask Max to help you get home?”

“Because Lonnie said Max had to go too,” Tess answered not looking at him. “Kivar wants him home, and I knew he’d never go on his own. I knew he’d never leave Liz. So I made him think she was dead, so he’d have no reason to want to stay here anymore.”

“And what was going to happen to us?” Isabel said pointing at herself and Michael. “When were you going to tell us about the crystal and the Granilith and going home?”

“The crystal was only programmed to transport four.” Tess looked away from Isabel, not wanting to see the understanding dawning in her eyes.

“So Michael and I would be left here, while a devastated Max walks right into Kivar’s hands. Nice going Tess. I can see how much my brother means to you.” Isabel turned away from Tess in disgust.

“They promised me Max wouldn’t be hurt,” Tess said weakly.

“And you think Lonnie and Rath are so honest and upstanding that they’d never lie to you, huh?” Maria said disgustedly.

“What can we do now?” Tess asked. “How can we fix this?”

“First of all, we have to get out of here,” Liz said taking charge. “Then we have to stop Max from turning over the Granilith to Lonnie and Rath.”

“And Nicholas . . .” Tess added, reluctant to admit that he had become involved too.

Michael looked at Tess with disgust. Nicholas had tried to kill them all just a few months ago, and here she was conspiring with him, with them.

Liz looked at Tess shaking her head. The girl might look human, but her mind was totally alien to Liz. She turned away, trying to think of a way out of this. “Michael, we need you to get us out of here. You have to use your power to break down that door.”

“I’ve tried Liz,” Michael said shaking his head. “I can’t get through it.”

“Even if he could break it down, there are Skins everywhere out there,” Tess informed them. “If we did get out of this room, we’d still never get past them.”

“Yes we can, and we will,” Liz said and all eyes turned to her. “Michael, give me your hand.” She took a deep breath and held out her hand to Tess. “Yours too.”

“What do you mean? What are you trying to do?” Tess couldn’t fathom what Liz was thinking.

“It’s simple,” Liz answered. “Michael is going to blast through that door, and you are going to make sure no one out there sees or hears anything.”

“I can’t do that,” Tess shot back incredulously. “There are too many of them out there. I can’t block that many.”

“Liz, I told you I already tried to get through the door and I can’t,” Michael said in frustration.

“Do what she says Michael,” Isabel said from behind them. She was smiling at Liz now and nodding her head in understanding.

Their eyes met and Liz tried not to show how scared she really was. If this didn’t work, she might never see Max again. She didn’t want to think about what Lonnie and Rath and Nicholas had in store for him.

“Time is running out.” Liz said in a tone that left no room for discussion. She took Michael’s hand with her left and Tess’s hand in her right. They faced the imposing door and Michael lifted his left hand out in front of him, concentrating on knocking the door off its hinges. It vibrated in the frame and Tess looked down in wonder at what Liz was doing. Her eyes were closed and both her palms were glowing. Tess could feel the energy surging through her and she closed her eyes to concentrate on blocking the Skins from seeing their escape attempt.

White light shot from Michael’s hand and the door twisted and buckled. It glowed red hot around the hinges and they watched as it literally melted in front of their eyes. Michael slowly lowered his hand, staring in awe at what he had just done. What they had just done. He looked from his palm to the tiny girl beside him. He had felt the power flowing into him from her, making him capable of performing feats he wasn’t strong enough to do on his own. He felt Isabel come up behind him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” she said in wonder.

“How can she do that?” Michael asked. “She’s human.”

“I don’t know,” Isabel said shaking her head. “Whatever Max did to her that day he healed her, he changed her in ways we’re just beginning to learn.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Michael said striding toward the open doorway.

* * * * *

“Here, you drive,” Max said tossing his keys to Isabel. He rubbed his hands over his face, feeling the stress pressing down on him. He just wanted to wake up and still be on the plane headed back to Roswell with Liz sitting by his side. How could things have gone so wrong? Less than 24 hours ago, he’d been holding Liz in his arms, making love to her, planning a future with her, and now she was gone. His eyes burned and he felt himself on the verge of falling apart again.

“Max . . .” Lonnie said staring at the keys, “I don’t know where we’re going . . .”

“Shit,” Max sighed and grabbed the keys back from her. “We’re going to the Granilith, right? Isn’t that what you said? Let’s get out of here before the FBI shows up and we’re caught.” He climbed into the driver’s seat of the jeep feeling too weary to drive, but not having the energy to argue either.

Lonnie climbed into the back seat of the jeep while Rath took the front seat next to Max. The two of them looked at each other feeling slightly confused. Why would Max want ‘Isabel’ to drive? She didn’t know where the Granilith was. Or had Tess been lying to them all along? Did all four of them know where it was? Did even the humans know? She gave Rath a warning look, they needed to be very careful with what they said.

Max looked around and asked, “Where’s Tess?”

“She said she had some things to finish up,” Lonnie answered and Max turned around to look back at her. “She said she’d meet us out at the site in a couple of hours.”

“The site?” Max frowned.

“Yeah, at the Granilith,” Lonnie added, not knowing how they usually referred to it.

“That’s probably not a very good idea,” Max responded looking closely at Isabel. He didn’t like that they were separated. It wasn’t safe here anymore, not with the FBI bearing down on them.

“She insisted,” Lonnie tried to smooth the tension she could feel in the air. “She said she’d meet us there, and not to worry about her.”

“Okay,” Max said still frowning, but put the jeep in gear and pulled into traffic.

Rath eyed Max closely as they drove out of town, looking for any sign of suspicion on his face. They didn’t want to blow it now, not when they were so close.

* * * * *

Michael carefully peeked around the corner to assess their situation. Their only exit would take them through the main room of the UFO Center, which was currently filled with a mob of agitated looking Skins.

“How are we going to know if it’s working or not?” Kyle asked leaning around Michael to take a look for himself.

“You could run right up the middle like you’re going out for a long pass,” Alex suggested to Kyle, “and if they see you, then just run like hell.”

Kyle looked at the six sets of eyes staring at him. “Hey, how’d I get volunteered to be the guinea pig? I’m the new kid to all this creepy alien shit, remember?”

“You’re the one with the best moves,” Alex quipped. “At least, that’s what you keep bragging about in the locker room.”

“Hey-” Kyle started to grumble and then was cut off.

“Someone has to go out there,” Liz said firmly. “If we don’t hurry, it might be too late.”

“I’ll go,” Maria said and pushed her way to the front.

“Maria, wait-” Michael grabbed at her arm to pull her back to safety but she shook him off.

“Cross your fingers and I hope to God this works cuz I’m not ready to be toast yet.” She nodded to Tess and Liz to indicate she was ready, and then she stepped out into the room full of Skins. Tess squeezed her eyes shut in concentration and Liz followed suit. They stood side by side and their clasped hands began to shimmer with a pale light. Maria made her way quickly through the room and Michael felt his breath catch in his throat when she tripped and almost went crashing into a heavy set man with clumps of skin hanging from his fat jowls. She caught herself just in time and paused to take a deep breath. She glanced back at Michael and buoyed by his encouraging nod she crossed the room to the bottom of the stairs. She ran up them quickly and turned around with a triumphant smile on her face.

“Alex, Kyle, go,” Michael commanded. The boys dashed across the room unheeded by the Skins and joined Maria in at the top of the stairs. They pushed through the doors and stepped outside to safety.

“It’s just us now,” Michael said uneasily knowing this would be the hardest part. They had to somehow get Liz and Tess across the room, without allowing their concentration to falter. “Isabel, you help Liz and I’ll take Tess.”

They started to step forward when Tess pulled away from Michael’s arm, shaking her head. “I can’t do this. I can’t keep the concentration strong enough if I’m moving across the room. I’m sorry. You and Isabel, go. Liz and I can stay here. We’ll block the Skins until the rest of you are safe. Then, after you get Max, come back for us.”

“No,” Liz shook her head. “Nobody gets left behind.” How could they make this work? What could they do? A sudden light dawned in her eyes and her lips curled into a smile.

“What?” Isabel asked seeing the changed come over her.

“There is something else we can try.” A blush crept into her cheeks remembering how this new power had come into being. “Max and I . . . when we were in California, what I’m trying to say is that, we learned to bend light to create a pocket of invisibility around us. I can try to do it, to make us invisible so that we can walk right out of here.”

“Invisibility?” Isabel whispered disbelievingly. “You and Max learned how to become invisible?”

Liz nodded her head, hoping they wouldn’t ask too many questions. Michael was staring at her strangely.

“Just what were you do-” he raised his hands in front of him and shook his head. “Never mind, never mind, I don’t think I want to know.” Liz blushed even harder.

Shaking off her embarrassment, Liz concentrated on bending the light around her, the way Max had shown her in California. After her parents had left the hotel room and she and Max had calmed down from their near catastrophe, they had practiced his new skill. He showed her how to create it, and they had walked the halls unseen by the other hotel guests. They had even taken perverse pleasure in pressing all the floor buttons in the elevator and scaring the other occupants when the lights suddenly lit up seemingly all on their own. They had burst out laughing when a man, thinking he was alone in the elevator, made some rude bodily noises, and then laughed even harder when he fled the elevator looking like he was about to soil his pants.

Liz heard a sudden inhalation of breath from Tess, and knew the shield had formed around her. Tess watched spellbound as first Liz and then Isabel disappeared. A moment later Michael was gone and she felt sudden panic that they were going to leave her behind. They reappeared as the shield expanded to include Tess, and she stared at the shimmering air around her.

“This is so cool . . .” Isabel smiled. “You’re going to have to show me how to do this!”

“Me too,” Michael concurred, and thought briefly about the girls locker room.

Liz took a deep breath and said, “Are you ready?”

Everyone nodded and Liz led them into the lair of the Skins. They made their way slowly with the Skins milling all around them and Michael had to jerk back suddenly to avoid colliding with a middle aged woman that had abruptly stepped in front of him. For a moment he thought their cover had been blown and he raised his hand in a defensive gesture. Isabel stopped him not a moment too soon, realizing the woman couldn’t see him and he successfully skirted around her. They reached the bottom of the stairs and began a torturously slow climb up each step. Isabel was certain they would be spotted at any moment and she could feel the hair rising on the back of her neck.

“Hey!” A voice rang out from below and the four froze near the top of the stairs. This was it. They’d come so close to making a clean escape . . .

“Jimmy, bring another case of water over here.” Isabel looked down the stairs and saw a teenager lift a box from a stack by the far wall and bring it to a man standing by an ice chest. She looked at Liz, both of them breathing a sigh of relief that they hadn’t been seen. They hurriedly reached the top of the stairs and pushed through the doors to the safety of the outdoors.

Isabel hugged Liz, and the shield dissolved, returning them to normal. Liz smiled and then felt her knees getting weak, partly from the strain of using these new gifts Max had given her, and partly from relief that it had been successful. Isabel supported her weight and helped her over to Maria’s car.

“It worked,” Maria shrieked. “Oh my God, it worked!”

“We have to hurry,” Liz said to the happy faces all around her, reminding them that it wasn’t over yet. “We have to get to Max before it’s too late.”

She didn’t say aloud what she was afraid of the most. That it might already be too late.



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Part 32

Post by Breathless »

A Special Kind of Love
Part 32



Max was lost deep in thought as he drove out into the desert. He didn’t notice the sideways glances from Rath or the car that followed behind them at a discreet distance. He was trying to remember all the things that Liz had told him about the Granilith, and how in the future they had used it as a means of traveling into the past.

She said it hadn’t been created for time travel, but they had artificially created a tear in time space. She had mentioned a name. Someone who understood this stuff, quantum mechanics, time displacement, all of it was over his head. If he could just remember the name, maybe he could find her, make her help him get back to Liz. Her. The name was female. S. It started with an S. Sarah? No, that wasn’t it. Celeste? No, that started with a C. Stephanie . . . Sophie . . . Sabrina. Not Sabrina, but that was close. What was the God damn name?

He pictured Liz sitting on his lap that day in his room, crying after Tess had walked in on them and he’d finally learned the truth. He replayed the conversation in his head, everything she’d said about that future version of him coming back to change the past, making Liz do things she didn’t want to do, and say things she didn’t really mean.

“You said if the future and the present version of you came into contact with each other, there would be a reaction. Serina said-”

“Who?”

“Serina, you said she’d be a friend one day. Anyway, you’d be destroyed if you came into contact with your other self.”


Serina! That was the name. He’d need to find Serina. Serina with no last name. Obviously, she sounded like a scientist. Quantum Physics probably. He didn’t have any idea how old she might be. She might be as young as him, younger even, or she could be elderly. Liz hadn’t said. Serina the Quantum Physics Scientist with No Last Name. Dear God, please don’t let it be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

* * * * *

“Isabel, I’m worried,” Liz said turning to look at her friend. They were in the back seat of Maria’s car, headed out to the pod chamber. To the Granilith. Alex sat on Isabel’s right and Liz on her left. Kyle was driving and Tess sat in the front seat next to him. Michael and Maria were on his motorcycle directly behind them.

Tess had been quiet since their escape from the Skins, which was probably just as well, Liz thought. A shouting match in the car wasn’t going to help anything. Kyle kept his eyes straight ahead, not looking over at Tess at all. He thought there could have been something between them once, but after hearing what she had done to Max, that had all changed.

“What’s the matter Liz?” Isabel was almost afraid to ask. Liz had a way of sensing things, especially things associated with Max, and they still had a long way to go before they reached the pod chamber.

“I don’t think we’re going to get there in time.” Liz was afraid that by saying the words aloud, it would make them come true. But she had a perception, a certainty, that time was running out. That Max was slipping between her fingers and she would never see him again.

“I don’t know what else we can do. We can’t get there any faster.”

“There is one thing we can try,” Liz said with her large eyes boring into Isabel’s, “but I’m going to need your help.”

* * * * *

Max pulled up to the base of the Vasquez Rocks and climbed out of the jeep. Rath and Lonnie followed a few steps behind him as he made the climb up the side of the cliffs and placed his hand on the rock surface. An opening appeared and they entered a chamber within the rock walls, illuminated with a soft greenish glow.

Here was their pod chamber, Lonnie realized as she stepped inside and saw the remnants of four pods. So the Granilith must have been hidden here when they set up the pods. All this time, right here, waiting for the taking . . .

Max walked beyond the pods and waved his hand over a section of a wall. The mark of a handprint appeared in glowing green, and when he placed his hand over it, the wall miraculously disappeared. Max stepped over the threshold, and Lonnie and Rath followed him into the Granilith Chamber.

* * * * *

“What do you want me to do?” Isabel asked, feeling Liz’s desperation seeping into her.

“I want to try to reach Max, like we did when he was in New York,” Liz said, holding out her hand for Isabel to take. “Maybe if I can get to him, I can tell him that it’s not you and Michael he’s with, but Lonnie and Rath, and Nicholas can’t be far behind.”

“Of course,” Isabel said taking the proffered hand. “Anything to help save my brother.”

The two girls clasped hands and Liz gave Isabel a hopeful smile. Tess turned to look at them for the first time since she entered the car. Liz closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to feel for Max. He needed her, more than he ever had before, even if he didn’t know it . . .

* * * * *

Lonnie and Rath circled around the Granilith, marveling at its beauty and raw power. They could feel the energy in the air. The power fairly crackled from it. A low hum filled the chamber, rising in pitch the closer Max got to it. Controlling the Granilith was the key. He who controlled the Granilith, controlled the stars. Lonnie was salivating with excitement. The Granilith was finally within her grasp.

Max slowly circled the monstrosity. He had wondered its purpose ever since the first time he saw it. After learning it had been used for time travel, it had made him even more curious as to its original purpose. They had speculated that it might be used for transportation, but after Lonnie had told him of its religious significance, he wasn’t sure anymore.

Max stepped back and watched Isabel and Michael as they walked in a circle around the Granilith. There was something unusual about the way they were looking at it, almost like they had never seen it before. Why were they acting so strange? He leaned against the wall, just studying their reactions and trying to fill in the answers to the questions in his mind.

* * * * *

Liz concentrated harder than she ever had before in her life. She pictured the Granilith Chamber in her mind, felt her spirit drawn there, circling above the room, watching for that which she was seeking.

A presence entered her sphere, a familiar presence, the one she was seeking, followed by another and another. Only one was familiar, the first, and the others left her soul quaking in fear. Death hung in the air. Death waited for the one she loved.

“Max . . .” she sighed as she felt herself pulled into the Granilith . . .

* * * * *

A flicker from within the Granilith caught his eye and a familiar shape began to take form before him. His breath caught in his throat and he stood up straight. Was he hallucinating now? Had Liz’s death affected him so strongly that he would see her image everywhere he went now? The shadow inside the Granilith solidified, coalescing into the embodiment of Liz. She stood within the bowels of the Granilith, wearing the same clothes he had seen her in earlier, but this time they were clean and dry, with no evidence of the blood that had saturated her khaki pants and her white t-shirt, turning them red. Her eyes searched the room until they locked on his and then he felt her penetrating gaze.

Liz saw him stand taller as her image took shape and form. She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he could see her and she could see him. The air around her shimmered with a thousand lights, a million, a universe of stars, floating all around her. He took a step toward her and she motioned him back. Careful. Careful. Don’t give the enemy the upper hand. She knew the others couldn’t see her, that this projection of her image could only be seen by Max.

“If you can hear me, nod your head just once, ever so slightly . . .”

Max swallowed hard, not knowing what to make of his sudden visual acumen. Was it all just something his feverish mind had made up because he couldn’t bear the loss? Would she haunt him until he found a way to bring her back, or until he died trying? He was drawn to the Granilith, to Liz, and he placed his hand against the cool surface.

“Don’t let them know you can see me.”

His hand could feel her energy on the other side of the glass. She had substance, and form, and a part of him was certain she must be real. But she couldn’t be. She was dead. He had seen her die, right in front of his own eyes. He’d seen her body tumble to the ground, broken beyond salvation.

“It’s me, Max. I’m real. I’m alive. We’ll be there soon. Listen to me. It’s not Michael and Isabel with you now. It’s Rath and Lonnie. They want the Granilith, and they need you to get it.”

“Li-” Max began to say and she cut him off with a gesture.

She raised a finger to her lips, silencing him. “What you saw in the street wasn’t real.” Her fingers left her lips and reached for him, their hands separated only by the transparent material of the Granilith. He felt her energy from the other side, flowing from her hand to his. Her smile was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. A smile full of life, full of promise, full of love. His eyes filled with tears born from relief. Relief that he hadn’t lost her. Relief that they still had a future. She lifted her hand and spoke again. “Hold on, Max. Hold on until we can get there.”

He lowered his hand and Liz sighed as he took a step back, and then another. The beatific look on his face told her that he understood. He continued to stare at her until Lonnie and Rath came into his field of vision again, and then he looked away.

My God, Liz was alive! The realization made Max giddy. He still didn’t understand what had happened, but all that mattered was that she was alive. Jesus, God, who had caused him to see such horrible sights? Who hated him so much that they would take such pleasure in seeing him suffer?

“What is that sound?” Lonnie asked and her tone reflected both awe and fear. The Granilith had been humming softly when they entered the chamber. She had noticed the tone increase in pitch when Max stood near it. An indicator that the Granilith recognized him? He was leaning against the far wall, gazing away from her and Rath, and she got an uneasy feeling. Was something in his bearing, his posture, different?

“It hums,” Max responded to Lonnie’s question. “Sometimes it changes pitch, most of the time it’s just that low level hum. So Isabel, what did you and Tess learn from that book? How is this thing going to get us home?” He watched Lonnie closely, thinking that drawing her out, asking her questions might actually give him some answers while at the same time delaying things, giving Liz and the rest of them time to get here.

“We found a passage in the book that led us to this . . .” Lonnie reached her hand into her shirt in a very unIsabel like fashion and removed from between her breasts a crystal, in the shape of a carrot. Full at the top, tapering off to a pointy tip. Lonnie didn’t know what this book was that Tess had referred to several times, but it was a good cover story, so she ran with it.

“Where did you find that?” Max nodded his head toward the crystal.

“Same place as the book.” Lonnie was getting very uncomfortable now with all his questions. Questions she was just winging the answers to.

“So you found that crystal out in the cave in Frazier Woods, huh? Was it hidden in the floor, just like the book?”

“Yeah, it’s amazing we didn’t find it when we found the book. They were almost on top of each other.”

Max’s heart was racing. She was good. The lies floated off her tongue with ease. How could this creature before him, who looked exactly like his sister, be so utterly and completely . . . alien? He needed more time. He needed more answers. “How did you learn to decipher the book? Last I knew, none of us had a clue how to read it, or what the symbols meant.”

“Tess said she’s been remembering things from the past, you know, like the old language.” Lonnie hoped her story was sounding plausible. Most of what Max was asking she didn’t know what he was talking about. What book?

“So Tess was able to read it?”

“Not all of it, but some parts, yeah.” Lonnie looked over at Rath, who had so far kept his mouth shut. That was a good thing. He had his good points, but for the most part, thinking wasn’t one of them. He was better when it came to combat. Anything physical for that matter, Lonnie thought with a smirk.

“What is this? Twenty questions?” a voice said from the entrance to the chamber. All eyes turned in that direction, and Max felt his whole body tense. Nicholas.

* * * * *

Isabel kept a close eye on Liz, holding the younger girls hand tightly in her own. She’d been in a trance like state for the last fifteen minutes or so, and Isabel didn’t know if this was a good sign or a bad one. She felt Liz’s hand tighten on hers, and then the dark haired girl spoke one word.

“Hurry.”

* * * * *

Rath quickly moved to Max’s side as Nicholas sauntered into the room. This wasn’t good, Max thought to himself. Rath was bigger than him, and stronger. Rath also appeared on edge, so the element of surprise was probably gone too. He was outnumbered, outweighed, probably outsmarted. Would he be able to hold out until the others arrived?

“So, here we are,” Nicholas said as he strolled around the Granilith. “Finally.”

“How’d you get out here Nick?” Max asked, trying to get a rise out of him. “Your Mama drive ya?”

“Very funny,” Nicholas answered and glared at the smirks on Lonnie and Rath’s faces. God, how he hated this place. Finally, with the Granilith in his possession, he could leave, return home with his trophy, His Royal Highness, in tow. Poor Max, he had no idea what was in store for him. He brushed past Lonnie, taking the crystal from her hand.

“So what are you doing here, Nick?” Max asked trying to stall.

“I’ll be joining your little group here, headed for a nice happy reunion back home.” He stepped up to the Granilith and held the crystal over a slot in the otherwise smooth surface. “This crystal programs the Granilith, your brain waves activate the device, and in minutes, we’ll be home.”

Max felt his heart racing even faster. How could he take on all three of them? How much longer ‘til the others arrived? He watched Nicholas’ hand arc down, plunging the crystal toward the opening, while at the same time he felt Rath’s hands grab his arms. Max struggled, but Rath was stronger and bigger. He looked up to see Liz’s frightened face. Her eyes were huge, scared, and her hand was reaching toward him.

The crystal slid into place and the room filled with an array of colors. Blues, oranges, reds, purples. They twisted and turned around each other, filling the internal chamber of the Granilith and arcing out into the room like bolts of lightning. Nicholas stepped back in awe of the power they could feel surging in the air.

“Why is it doing that?” Lonnie asked and she could hear the fear in her voice.

“It’s activated,” Nicholas answered, mystified. He looked over at Max, struggling to get out of Rath’s grasp. To activate the Granilith, Max needed to be in direct contact with it. It would read his energy signature through his skin, yet Max was on the other side of the room, several feet away from it.

Nicholas looked up into the Granilith, his eyes drawn to a shape that was taking form . . .

* * * * *

The air crackled around them, filled with static electricity. Isabel could feel Liz’s hand trembling and the air around her was growing warmer.

“What the hell?” Alex blurted out as blue and orange light began to twirl around Liz. A hum filled the car, rising in pitch until it hurt their ears. Kyle struggled to keep the car on the road while at the same time watching the spectacle that was happening in the seat behind him.

The air around Liz became a riot of swirling colors, the hum rose to a feverish pitch, and then Liz disappeared.

* * * * *

The room was awash with blue and orange hues flashing over their heads. All eyes were on the Granilith as the form inside solidified. Liz stood tall, with her eyes closed and her hands at her sides. Max stopped struggling as he gasped at her. She wasn’t just an image in his mind now, but a solid form, a physical presence. Liz was here, inside the Granilith. The others were staring at her with wide eyes. He could see the shock on their faces. Fear too.

“What the hell?” The words tumbled out of Nicholas’ mouth. This should not be happening. Where had this girl come from?

Max felt Rath’s grip on him loosen and he broke free. He ran around the Granilith, feeling a blot of energy slam into the wall next to him. Rath had gone in to warrior mode, and just like Michael, it was what he did best.

Liz watched from inside the Granilith as Max raised his hand in front of him, forming the protective shield. Rath closed in on him, raising his own hand aggressively. Energy flowed from him, striking the shield and causing an array of sparks. Liz could see the strain on Max’s face as he struggled to maintain the shield under Rath’s vicious onslaught. Lonnie moved to Rath’s side and smiled wickedly as she slowly raised her hand. Their combined force assaulted the shield and Liz could see Max weakening. He needed help, and she was the only one close enough to give it. She closed her eyes and willed her self to his side, and suddenly she was there.

Max was startled as Liz appeared next to him. Her hand was on his shoulder, her body leaned against his. Solid. Warm. Real. The shield began to buckle as his concentration wavered. He shook off his desire to take her in his arms, to smother her with kisses, and he tore his eyes away from her to renew his defensive efforts. The shield was deteriorating as Rath and Lonnie bombarded it, sapping his strength. He felt Liz take his hand and the shield snapped back to full power. Her energy flowed into him, revitalizing him, invigorating him, the shield now easily deflecting the attack.

* * * * *

Michael dumped the bike as it came to a stop and he pulled Maria with him. They raced up the steep incline to the pod chamber. When they reached the open entrance, Michael skidded to a stop and grabbed Maria by her shoulders.

“You stay here. I’m going inside to help Max.”

“Oh no, I’m no staying out here while you go in there alone, Spaceboy,” Maria said shaking her head.

“Maria, don’t argue with me. Stay here where it’s safe,” Michael pleaded with her. He couldn’t stand it if she were to get hurt.

“Michael-”

“Maria, I love you.” His eyes stared into hers, showing the depth of his emotions. He leaned toward her, kissing her hard, before pulling away. “Stay here.”

Maria watched him enter the chamber, her heart slamming around in her chest. He loves her! He just said he loves her! Her eyes narrowed and she felt her ire rising. It was just like Michael to say something like that and then go rushing off to get himself killed. He was going to get an earful when this was over, she thought to herself, and then raced after him.

* * * * *

Michael could hear the roar coming from the Granilith Chamber as he drew near. The open doorway was filled with colors. He’d never seen it look this way before and he cautiously stepped forward. He looked carefully into the room and immediately assessed the situation.

Max and Liz backed up slowly as they made their way to the exit. Max concentrated on the shield and Lonnie and Rath, while Liz watched for Nicholas in case he decided to come up behind them. The crystal, glowing with color, caught her attention and as soon as she was close enough, she pulled it free. The roar in the room began to quiet down to the familiar hum they were used to, and the swirling colors diminished. A bolt of energy arced across the room lifting Lonnie off her feet and she flew against the wall. Surprise registered on Max’s face and he turned to see Michael standing in the doorway. His arm was raised and another bolt of energy was released from his palm. It flew across the room, hitting Rath square in the chest. He went down hard, and suddenly the room was silent except for the usual low hum from the Granilith.

Max pulled the shield back in and stepped over to the prone bodies of Rath and Lonnie. They both appeared to be unconscious and Max breathed a sigh of relief.

“You’re getting pretty good at this, Michael,” Max said smiling.

“I aim to please,” Michael smiled back.

Max turned to Liz then, finally allowing himself to react to her presence. She was alive. She was unhurt. She was beautiful. He didn’t understand the things that had happened, who made him think she was dead, how she’d materialized in the Granilith and then at his side. None of it mattered as much as his need to hold her in his arms again. He reached for her when suddenly Nicholas appeared at her side, pulling her roughly against him with his arm around her neck.

“Stay away,” Nicholas warned, “or I’ll snap her neck so fast you won’t see it coming.”



(Back with part 33 in a sec...)
Last edited by Breathless on Wed Feb 23, 2005 2:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Part 33

Post by Breathless »

A Special Kind of Love
Part 33



Max stared at Nicholas, holding Liz around the throat. She looked so small and fragile. He’d just gotten her back; he wouldn’t survive losing her again. Panic was threatening to overwhelm him.

“Don’t hurt her,” Max begged.

“I’ve waited over fifty years to get off this hell hole of a planet and I’m not going to let you stop me now,” Nicholas hissed.

“What ever you want,” Max pleaded. “I’ll do what ever you want. Just let her go.”

“Max-” Liz said and Nicholas tightened his arm around her throat.

Max met her eyes, seeing her fear and knowing his eyes showed the same. He believed Nicholas was capable of anything, and nothing would prevent him from following through with his threat against Liz if Max didn’t do exactly what he was told.

“You and I are going on a little trip, Max.” Nicholas smiled coldly. “A one way trip back home. I’ve got the Granilith, I’ve got you. That’s all I need.”

“I’ll go with you. I won’t try to fight you. Just let Liz go.”

“How touching. True love, and all that. Take a close look Liz. This is the last time you’ll ever see him.”

Michael stood helpless in the doorway. He couldn’t use his skills against Nicholas because Liz was too close. He felt Isabel and the others crowding behind him, watching the drama unfold.

Liz inched closer to the Granilith. She was just out of reach. Only another step or two . . .

Nicholas jerked on her neck painfully and spoke harshly in her ear. “Give him the crystal.”

Liz reached into her pocket and withdrew it. She held it out and Max touched her fingertips as he took it from her. Their eyes met and Max wondered if that was the last time he would ever touch her.

“Put it in the Granilith,” Nicholas commanded. “NOW.”

Max tore his eyes away from Liz and looked at Nicholas. He nodded his head and took a step toward the Granilith. He saw Liz lift her hand, touching the surface, and the Granilith once more sprang into life. Nicholas jumped away from her like he’d just been burned and stared at her in shock.

“What did you do? How?”

“Max isn’t going anywhere, Nicholas. Just you.” Liz stared at him and then reached her hand out to touch him. His skin tingled where her hand rested on his arm, and then his whole body began to tremble. Everyone watched in awe as Nicholas disappeared, and then reappeared inside the Granilith. His eyes were frightened and Liz leaned close to the Granilith, looking up at him. “Goodbye.”

The low hum rose in pitch to a crescendo and the colors came to life. Nicholas’ face reflected the blues and the oranges and just before he disappeared, his face showed his terror. A bright flash shot from the top of the Granilith, and then the colors dissipated and the noise level dropped back down to a hum. Nicholas was gone.

The silence was deafening around them. Max and Michael were staring at the Granilith with their mouths hanging open, and Liz was staring at the floor. Maria looked questioningly at Isabel who in turn looked to Alex.

“Can somebody tell me what just happened?” Kyle asked dumbstruck from the doorway.

* * * * *

Liz could feel Max’s eyes staring at her. She turned to him slowly, feeling her knees turning weak. Would he think her a monster, for what she did to Nicholas? She was afraid to look him in the eye, and then he was suddenly there, with his arms around her, whispering her name, his lips seeking hers.

“Liz . . .” His mouth covered hers, kissing her deeply, crushing her to his body. She melted against him, grabbing at him desperately, feeling his fist clutching the hair at the back of her head.

“Um . . . guys? Max? Liz? I think there’s some things we need to talk about here . . .” Maria stood in the entryway to the chamber with her arms folded over her chest. “Liz? Max?”

“Give it up Maria,” Alex said from behind her. They all knew what Max and Liz were like when they started kissing.

Max broke off the kiss so that they could breathe, and he leaned his forehead against Liz. “I guess maybe we should go talk about what just happened.” Liz nodded and he kissed her again before turning to follow Maria into the outer chamber. He held onto Liz’s hand tightly, afraid that if he let her go, she might disappear again.

They stepped into the pod chamber and all eyes turned to them expectantly. Max held up his hands as if to ward them off.

“If you’re looking to me for answers, I haven’t got ‘em. All I have are questions.” Max looked around at the faces in the room. Kyle and Alex looked shellshocked. Michael looked worried. Isabel looked confused and Maria looked excited. Tess wouldn’t look at him at all, and Rath and Lonnie were still unconscious and tied up in a corner. “All I know is that everything was fine, until I saw . . . or thought I saw, Liz get killed in front of the Crashdown.”

Max noticed how everyone turned to look at Tess. She stared downward, kicking her toe nervously against the dirt floor.

“Did . . . did you do that Tess? Did you make me see that?” He was shocked, and at first he didn’t think she was going to answer, then she slowly nodded her head. She lifted her blue eyes to meet his and she took a step toward him.

“Max, I . . .” she started to say and he shrank away from her. “Max, I wanted to go home. I wanted what we had before.”

“I don’t remember that other life. And I don’t want to. I’m not Zan. I was born here, right in this room, and this is where I belong. Earth is my home. Earth will always be my home.”

“Max, you have responsibilities back there . . .”

“And I’ll try to live up to those responsibilities,” Max said squeezing Liz’s hand tightly. “And I’ll go back there someday, if I have to. But have no doubt about it, I’ll always come back here. Back home.”

Tess stared at him, with understanding finally dawning on her. The memories that she had weren’t of him, but of another man, a man who lived a different life. That man didn’t exist anymore. She felt something stir deep inside her, maybe her humanity finally coming to the surface, and a deep sense of guilt engulfed her for what she had put Max through.

“I’m sorry, Max. I’m so sorry.”

An uncomfortable silence fell over the room. Tess turned away from Max and walked into a corner by herself.

“I have to know what happened in the car,” Kyle said breaking the silence. “I almost got in a wreck with all that noise and those lights and then Liz just disappeared.”

“What?” Max asked. He had no idea what Kyle was talking about.

“Liz knew you were in trouble,” Isabel explained, “so we connected, so she could warn you about Rath and Lonnie, and . . . and let you know she wasn’t . . . dead.”

“When Nicholas put the crystal in the Granilith,” Liz picked up the story, “I felt myself drawn here, sucked right in. I don’t know why.”

“I do.”

All eyes swiftly turned to look at the figure standing in the entrance to the chamber. Ava.

“Where’d you come from?” Michael asked.

“I’ve been near,” Ava replied and walked closer, into the room. “Liz let me know Rath and Lonnie were back, so I’ve been watching. I knew they’d make a move soon. They don’t have a lot of patience. Anyway, to answer your question, the Granilith recognized Liz when she projected her mind here to help Max. When Nicholas inserted the crystal, her mind activated the Granilith, and pulled her physically from the car. For a moment, she was actually in both places, so the air in the car filled with the lights and the sounds from the chamber.

“But I don’t understand why it pulled me in,” Liz said still feeling confused.

“Because you wanted it too. You were afraid for Max, and you wanted to be here to help him.”

“Yes,” Liz looked up into Max’s eyes. “I was scared out of my mind that we wouldn’t get to him in time. That I’d never see him again. All I wanted was to be here, to help him.”

“You effectively told the Granilith what to do, and it followed your instructions as it is programmed to do,” Ava said smiling at Liz’s confusion.

“But Tess said Max controls the Granilith. He has the energy signature in his head that the Granilith recognizes,” Liz reasoned.

“So do you.” Ava watched eight pair of eyes suddenly widen in surprise. “I’ve suspected it ever since you told me that the Granilith seemed to recognize you. It knew your palm print, and it shouldn’t have. The odds of the same energy signature developing naturally is about a hundred billion to one, so I doubt you were born with it. I suspect that Max left a part of himself inside you when he healed you. Now you both have it.”

“Hello!” Kyle said drawing their attention. “I’m another victim of the awesome Evans touch. Did he leave himself in me too? And if so, how do I get rid of him?”

“We’ll have to test you to find out. If so, I’m afraid you’re stuck with him.” Ava smiled at the pained look on Kyle’s face.

“Buddha, give me strength . . .”

“But what about Nicholas?’ Maria asked. “We all saw him disappear.”

“I think I can answer that now,” Liz said quietly and all eyes turned to her. “When Nicholas said he was going to take Max away, I was desperate to stop him. Somehow, I knew that if I could just touch the Granilith, I could get away from him. When I finally got close enough to touch the surface, all I thought about was getting rid of him, getting him out of our lives. I thought if he was in the Granilith, I could make him go away.”

“And you did,” Ava continued. “You wanted him gone, and the Granilith followed your instructions.”

“But where did he go?” Max asked.

“We’ll probably never know,” Ava replied. “It wasn’t programmed for a destination. The crystal was still in Max’s hand. He’s wherever the Granilith sent him. Liz, where you thinking about any particular place when he disappeared?”

“Well,” Liz said looking at all the faces staring at her. “I remember thinking that I wanted him to go straight to hell.”

“Based on the look on his face right before he disappeared,” Maria said, “I think that’s exactly where he went.”

Nervous laughter filled the room, and Liz looked up at Max guiltily.

“It’s okay, Liz,” Max said soothingly. “You did what you had to do. All of us are safe, that’s what matters.”

He held her tightly and Liz rested her head against his chest. It wasn’t over yet. They still had Rath and Lonnie to deal with, and the knowledge that Liz might be in even more danger because of her connection to the Granilith weighed heavily on him.

* * * * *

Max toyed with the crystal in his hand, watching the light reflect off its multifaceted surface. He was startled when Liz spoke from behind him.

“You’re going to send them back, aren’t you?”

Max whirled around, expecting to see her looking as hesitant as he was feeling, but instead she was smiling. They were alone in the Granilith Chamber, and she stepped forward, taking the crystal from his hand.

“It’s the right thing to do,” she said looking up at him with her deep brown eyes.

“How can you be so sure?” Max wondered how she could look so calm. What if he sent Rath and Lonnie back to their home world, and it triggered the downfall of this one?

“Trust me. It’s the right decision.” She placed the crystal in the receptacle on the Granilith and led Max out into the outer room.

“I’ve made a decision,” Max announced. Expectant eyes turned in his direction, Lonnie and Rath looked up at him from their vantage point on the floor. They were still tied together and Michael was standing guard. “I’m sending you home.”

Lonnie and Rath looked at him with disbelief. Max could feel Michael staring at him, and much to his surprise, Michael kept his silence. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to you there, but you don’t belong here.” Max turned to Ava next. “You’ll have to decide what you want to do, Ava. You can stay here with us, or go back. Only you can decide what’s best for you.” She nodded her understanding and then Max turned to look at Tess.

She was standing off to the side, alone. Max glanced at Liz, and then made the slow trek across the room. He stopped in front of her, staring down at his hands. After a moment, he finally looked up at her.

“I think you should go too, Tess,” he spoke quietly.

“You don’t trust me, do you?” Tess said avoiding his eyes.

“No,” Max said after a moments pause.

“I understand.”

“I wish things had been different. If we had grown up together, we might have been friends,” Max said, believing it.

“But never anything more,” Tess added.

“No. That was never going to happen, Tess.” In a way, he felt sorry for her. Being raised by Nasedo, she never had a chance to let her human side emerge.

“Can I ask you something?” She said looking up into his eyes.

“Go ahead.”

“What is it about Liz that . . .” She knew that she really didn’t have any right to ask.

“I’ve known since the first time I laid eyes on her that she was the only one that I could ever love. I can’t explain it. I just feel it, inside. She makes me whole.” His face was radiant as he spoke of Liz, and Tess nodded her head in understanding.

She couldn’t speak around the lump that had formed in her throat, and she realized that it wasn’t the fact that he didn’t have feelings for her that was bothering her, but rather the knowledge that she had betrayed everyone in this room. Isabel, Kyle, Max, Alex, all of them. The people in this room could have been the family she so desperately wanted, if she’d only let go of an obsession for a man she didn’t really love.

“I think you need to go back,” Max said again. “You never were happy here. Maybe the life you’re supposed to live is there, waiting for you.”

“Okay,” Tess finally answered, with only a hint of a quiver in her voice reflecting the sadness she was really feeling.

Max nodded and turned away from her. After he had taken a step, he heard her speak softly.

“I really am sorry, Max. For what I did.”

He stopped in his tracks, with the image of Liz’s broken body filling his mind. He would never be able to forget the devastation he had felt when he thought Liz was dead. Maybe someday he could forgive Tess for doing that to him, but he would never forget.

* * * * *

“I’ve got to ask,” Michael said standing close to Max. “Why are you sending them back? Isn’t that just going to give them the opportunity to work with Kivar, and come back here and make things even worse?”

“Michael, it just feels right to me,” Max answered, knowing Michael wouldn’t understand that.

“I think we’d be better off with Rath and Lonnie dead.” Michael lowered his voice even further to finish his thought. “Maybe Tess, too. She’s a traitor. We can’t trust her at all.”

Max shook his head. He knew murder wasn’t the answer, but he was plagued by doubts. What if Michael was right? What if sending them home aggravated the war? What if it gave them an advantage? They knew the location of the Granilith now. What if they came back in force, and took it away from them? Its power was awesome, and in the wrong hands, it could be devastating.

“Michael, he’s doing the right thing,” Liz said from behind them.

They both turned quickly to look at her. Max could see the calmness in her face. She wasn’t plagued by doubts the way he was. She supported his decision completely and he felt himself relax somewhat.

“You can’t know that, Liz,” Michael said shaking his head. “It could be the worst possible thing we could do.”

“No. Only good will come of this.” She reached for Max’s hand, holding it tightly, close to her heart. “It’s not that I think it’s for the best. I know it. I know this is the right thing to do.”

Max looked down into her eyes, seeing her conviction. He didn’t know why she was so sure, but she was, and it was enough to send his doubts away. He smiled at her then, satisfied with his decision, encouraged by her support, ready to take the final step.

“It’s time,” he said turning to Michael.




(Final part coming right up...)
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Part 34

Post by Breathless »

So we've reached the final chapter of this story. It took me way longer to repost it than I thought it would, but despite the delays, I hope you enjoyed the ride. :D



A Special Kind of Love
Part 34



They assembled in the Granilith Chamber, seven who were staying, four who would soon be gone. Rath and Lonnie were still bound, and they would stay that way until they reached the other side. Ava stood beside them, looking happy with her decision to go.

Tess remained aloof, separated from the others by choice. She looked around at the faces of the people that she had grown to know over the last year. They all avoided looking at her. She couldn’t blame them. Max was right when he said she didn’t belong here. Not now. Not after what she had done. She didn’t know what awaited her where she was going, but maybe she could make amends for the mistakes she made here, by doing something good there.

Max placed his hand over the crystal and pressed down. The Granilith came to life with the colors flashing around them and the ever present hum rising in pitch. One by one, they disappeared, only to reappear inside the Granilith a moment later. First Rath, then Lonnie, followed by Ava.

Tess held her breath, waiting for her turn, inhaling her last breaths of Earth’s air. She was surprised when Liz stepped forward and reached out to touch her on the shoulder.

“I know that things haven’t gone the way you wanted them to.” Liz spoke softly so that only Tess could hear. “It might not seem like it right now, but you’re going to be happy there.”

“What are you talking about?” Tess asked feeling surprised that Liz was even speaking to her.

“You have family there, waiting for you to come home. You won’t be alone.”

“How do you know that?”

“I just do.” Liz squeezed her shoulder and then stepped back. A hopeful smile crossed Tess’ face, not certain what Liz meant, but suddenly feeling a touch of optimism.

Liz returned to Max’s side and he looked at her with curiosity. She squeezed his hand and returned her attention to the four about to leave Earth, some forever, others perhaps not. Tess joined her three companions in the Granilith and moments later they were gone.

They all stood staring at the empty Granilith for a minute and then slowly filtered out of the room. As Liz turned to leave, Max took her arm to hold her back.

“Liz-” he began to say while at the same time she began to speak, “ Max, I-”

They both laughed softly, and then Max said, “You go first.”

“Max, I need to ask you something.”

“Go ahead.” She wasn’t looking at him and it made his stomach clench. He slipped his arms around her, and she nervously fiddled with the buttons on his shirt.

“Tess said something, when we were still back at the UFO Center. I know that she was just trying to get under my skin, but . . .”

“What did she say?” He could tell that whatever it was, it had disturbed Liz.

“She said that when you thought I was dead, and she was holding you in her arms next to what you thought was my dead body, she asked you if you wanted to go home,” and Liz nodded toward the Granilith. “And you said yes. She . . . she made it sound . . .”

“Like I was eager to leave? Like your death didn’t effect me?” Max placed his finger under her chin and lifted her head until she was looking into his eyes. She was biting on her lip and then she nodded slightly.

“Liz, there’s only one reason I agreed to leave. Only one reason why I drove who I thought was Michael and Isabel out here. I wanted to find a way to use the Granilith, to go back in time, and bring you back to life. It was the only thing that kept me from falling apart completely, the idea that I could learn to do the same thing that that future version of me did, to go back in time, so I could make sure that you never crossed that street. So that truck would never hit you. So that you’d be safe.”

“But Max, if it had been real,” Liz said softly. “If I really had died . . . and you had gone back to change it, then you would have been the one that didn’t fit in that timeline anymore. When you changed the future, you might have ceased to exist, just like before . . .”

“I know,” Max answered looking solemnly down into her eyes.

“Then why? Why would you do it, Max?” Liz implored with her eyes filling with tears.

“I would have done it, Liz. I would have done anything to make sure you had a chance to live.”

“Oh Max,” Liz said shakily and buried her face in his chest. His hand curled into her hair, and he thanked God that it hadn’t come to that. They were together again, and that was all that mattered. She rested against him, regaining her composure, and then she looked up at him again. “What were you going to ask me?”

“I was wondering . . . what you said to Tess a minute ago?” he asked in a subdued voice.

Liz wasn’t sure how much she should tell him. She knew covering up the truth could lead to ruin but telling him too much could alter his judgment. After a brief internal struggle, she decided truth must always be at the forefront of their relationship.

“I told Tess she would be happy there,” Liz told Max, smiling at the confused look on his face. “I told her she has family there, waiting for her.”

“Why would you say that?” Max asked frowning.

“Because it’s true.”

“I don’t understand. How do you know it’s true?”

Liz took his hands in hers, holding them near her. “Because I saw it.” His frown deepened and she continued. “When I was in the Granilith, I saw things. The future. Our future.”

“And you saw that Tess will be happy, with family and not alone.”

“Yes, and one day she will regain your trust.”

“How?” Tess’s betrayal was still too fresh, too raw. He couldn’t imagine ever trusting her again.

“One day, in the future, Tess will save our son’s life.”

“Our . . .” and his breath stuck in his throat. Their son? Someday they would have a son?

Liz nodded, smiling beautifully up at him. “We get married just before I turn twenty one. On a beautiful day in May. I’ll give you a son on your twenty fourth birthday, and two years later, you’ll give me a daughter. There will be no war, Max. No end of the world. You will use the Granilith to visit that other world, and many others too. And I’ll be by your side every step of the way. Our children will travel freely among the stars, Max. Can you imagine it? But they’ll always return to us. They’ll always come back home.”

“You saw all this?” Max asked, finally regaining his voice. His heart was racing in his chest. They would have a life together, a home, a family.

“Yes, I saw all that.” There was more, much more, but she didn’t tell him this. That a day at the office for Max would one day involve a trip to the Granilith and a flight across light years. That he would grow into his role as a leader, a role that he would wear well. That her ability to sense the darkness inside their enemies would be instrumental in his quest to find a lasting peace. That together, they would prevent a war, and unite worlds.

“How? How is that possible? How could you see into the future?”

“I don’t know, Max, but I’ve seen so many strange things over the last couple of years that I’ve given up asking that question.” She took the crystal from the Granilith and led Max toward the exit. As they stepped over the threshold, Max suddenly stopped.

“Wait,” he said turning around and extending his hand. The Granilith shimmered for a moment and then disappeared.

“You made it invisible?” Liz asked with a laugh.

Max nodded. “In case anyone comes wandering around, the room will look empty.”

They left the chamber and as they passed the four withered pods, he cloaked those as well. At the exit, his eyes swept around what now appeared to be just an empty cavern inside a desert cliff.

“There’s only one regret I have,” Liz said as she stepped into the early evening air. She slipped her hand into his, feeling his warmth and his love flow into her.

“What’s that?” Max asked curiously. If it were within his power, he would fix it for her. He’d do anything for her.

“You never do get that freezing time thing to work,” she said with a straight face.

“I don’t?” Max said with a laugh.

“No, and we really could use it when the kids come home early from school and find us naked in the hot tub.”

“What?” Max said laughing harder.

They made their way slowly, hand in hand, down the cliffs to the cars below, and the friends there waiting for them.

“Or the time on our honeymoon when you get out of bed in the middle of the night to use the bathroom but step into the hallway instead.” Her eyes were dancing as she looked up at him.

“Let me guess. I’m naked, right?”

“Oh, naked as a new born baby! And of course the door automatically locks behind you, so you’re out in the hallway, still half asleep, and you don’t realize what’s happened until the elevator door opens and three nuns step out.”

“You’re kidding,” Max said, laughing even harder now.

“Oh, and then there’s the time we get caught in the eraser room,” Liz said unable to stop laughing.

“Naked?” Max knew the answer before she said it.

“Oh yeah!”

“I always knew I’d have my way with you in the eraser room!” he said in triumph.

“Well it took you fifty years to wear me down.”

“Fifty years?” he said laughing again. She had to be pulling his leg.

“Yeah, our fiftieth class reunion.”

“So we get naked in the eraser room when we’re almost seventy years old?”

“You age very well,” Liz said brushing her hand over his cheek.

“So how’d we get caught? In the eraser room. Naked. At nearly seventy years of age.” He saw the blush rising in her cheeks, and he knew the answer. “Moaning too loud, were you?” She nodded her head and he burst out laughing at the idea.

“Oh, oh, and then there’s Michael and Maria’s wedding-”

“Michael and Maria get married?”

“Yes, and Kyle spikes the punch at the reception, but you didn’t know it, and after downing a whole glass, you decide to do a little strip tease.”

“Don’t tell me!” Max was cringing already.

“On the table, swiveling your hips like Elvis.”

“Oh God!”

“You were singing too.”

“I don’t think I want to know this,” Max said pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and his finger. How embarrassing. “Do I strip completely?”

“No, when you get down to your boxers, I take you home. You do a dance on the front lawn for the neighbors though,” Liz said giggling.

“Well if I’m going to make a complete idiot out of myself, I hope I have fun.”

“Oh, it was a night to remember. Especially after I get you inside the house.”

Max stopped short of the cars and their friends. He took both of Liz’s hands in his, holding them tightly as he looked down at her. “We will have a good life, won’t we?” he asked looking deeply into her eyes.

“We’ll have a long, wonderful life Max. We’ll go places together we’ve never dreamed of, and we’ll see things we’ve never imagined. And when I draw my last breath, it will be with the knowledge that I lived an amazing life, with a most extraordinary man.” Her eyes were brimming with tears, overcome with the love that she felt for him.

“A long life, Liz? We’ll have a long life together?”

“Yes, Max,” she smiled. “A very long and happy life.”



The End
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Breathless
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A Special Kind of Love, The Question

Post by Breathless »

Author note: This is a tag to ASKOL, a one parter followup ...

M&L
Adult


A Special Kind of Love
The Question



Max sat in his favorite booth in the Crashdown, feeling right at home even though it had been months since he’d been here. He kept his eyes open for Liz, hoping that he’d see her soon. Each time the doors from the kitchen opened, he look up expectantly, and then feel a measure of disappointment when it wasn’t her.

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t seen her recently, hell, they’d flown home from Phoenix together yesterday, but being back in Roswell, living under their parents roof again, even if it was just for the weekend, reminded him of what it had been like in high school when he practically lived here in the Crashdown, just so that he could be close to her. He chuckled to himself, remembering all the times he’d snuck up the ladder to her rooftop, especially during senior year. It had been almost impossible for him to stay away from her then. It still was.

He was still amazed that her parents never caught him in her bed late at night. At least he didn’t think they had. There was that one time her mother kept giving him the devil eye, though. It was right after that unusual snowfall they got that December, the year before last. She’d made some comment about footprints in the snow, but he thought he covered all his tracks when he’d left early the next morning. Oh well, it didn’t matter now. None of it mattered now. Now that they were away at school together, they didn’t have to sneak around anymore. All he had to do was bribe his roommate to find someplace else to spend the night, and he’d have Liz all to himself for the whole night. Life was certainly good.

The front doors chimed and Max looked up to see Maria striding into the restaurant. He smiled and motioned for her to join him. He noticed she’d cut her hair shorter again, just above the shoulder length and kinda curly. It was really cute. It suited her face.

“Hey, what’s up girlfriend?” Maria asked as she slid into the booth, sitting directly across from him.

“Hi Maria,” Max said with a grin. “I like your hair. When did you get it cut?”

“See,” Maria said, shaking her head. “This is exactly why you were elevated to girlfriend status. Michael didn’t even noticed! When they say ‘men are dogs’, I think you are the only exception to the rule.”

“I thought they said men are pigs,” he said, leaning back in the booth.

“Yeah, well that too,” she said with a smile. “You know, I read somewhere that pigs have 30 minute orgasms. Can you imagine? 30 minutes!”

“Then I’m definitely not a pig,” Max laughed.

“Ah, but I bet you wish you were a pig!” Maria giggled. “So what did you want to ask me? You really got my curiosity up when you wouldn’t tell me on the phone. Why did you want me to leave my afternoon free?”

“I want you to come with me, Maria. I have something I wa-”, and his mouth snapped closed when he saw Liz push though the doors into the Crashdown. She had her long hair pulled back in a ponytail and she was wearing black jeans and a red sweater and, well, he thought she just looked beautiful.

“You what, Max?” Maria asked frowning. “You want me to what?”

“Shhhhhh, she’s coming,” he whispered, barely moving his lips.

“You’re shushing me? I can’t believe you’re shushing me.” She felt him kick her under the table and she stared at him with eyes as big as saucers. “You’re kicking me now? Kicking me?”

“Maria . . .” he said through clenched teeth.

“MARIA!” Liz cried out and leaned into the booth to give her best friend a hug. “You got your hair cut! It’s adorable!”

“Thank you,” Maria said pointing at Max and then pointing at Liz. “Thank you. No wonder I love you guys!”

“So what are you going to do today?” Liz asked her best friend.

“Well that kind of depends on Ma-” and then he kicked her again. “You, Liz. That depends on you.” She glared at Max and then turned back to Liz. “What are you going to do today?”

Liz looked from Maria to Max, and he gave her one of his ‘I didn’t do anything’ looks. “I promised my mom I’d go to Bitterlake with her this afternoon to visit my aunt.” She looked back and forth between Maria and Max. “I haven’t seen her since . . . what’s going on with you two?”

“Nothing,” Max said too fast, making Liz raise her eyebrows.

“Actually,” Maria said watching Max lift his cherry coke to take a drink, “Max and I were thinking about going to the library to check out some stuff about pigs.”

Max choked on his drink and sprayed cherry cola all over Liz. “God, Liz!” he sputtered and grabbed a handful of napkins. “I’m sorry!” He leaned over the table and dabbed at her sweater while he coughed and tried to clear his throat. He glared at Maria who was laughing so hard she was almost crying.

“It’s okay, Max,” Liz said pushing his hands away. “It’ll be easier for me just to go upstairs and change.” He sat back down, looking up at her with apologetic eyes, and she took his face between her hands. “I’ll see you later, after I get back.” She leaned down and kissed him, short and sweet, and touched his lips with her tongue right at the end, just to remind him of what he’d be missing while she was gone. She headed back to the kitchen, smiling as she went. “Maria, I’ll see you tonight, and try to keep him out of trouble while I’m gone!”

“Bye,” Max signed happily and watched her leave.

“You two are just so sappy when you’re together,” Maria teased.

“Yeah,” Max smiled still looking at the door Liz had just gone through. “Isn’t it great?”

Maria rolled her eyes, and then smiled at him. “So what did you want to ask me before you so maliciously started abusing me?”

“Sorry about that,” Max said, looking at her with a twinkle in his eyes. “After Liz is gone, can you come with me? I have something I want to show you.”

“What is it?” she asked curiously, but he just shook his head, refusing to answer. “What is it? What is it? What is it? What is it? What is it?” He shook his head again, laughing now and she resorted to begging. “Please, Max, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me!”

“I’ll tell you this much,” Max said with that twinkle shining brightly in his eyes. “It’s way better than pigs.”

* * * * *

“So where are we going?” Maria asked as they walked along the sidewalk.

“Just up here,” Max answered and Maria thought he was sounding a little bit nervous.

“You’re not up to something kinky, are you?” Maria eyed him suspiciously. “You’re not looking for my help in selecting edible panties, or some weird sex toy, are you?”

“NO!” Max said shockingly and started to blush. They walked in silence for a minute and then he asked, “What kind of toy do you think she would like?” Maria slapped him on the arm and he laughed again.

“Oh, here we are,” Max said, turning serious.

Maria turned to look in the window of the store they were passing and her mouth dropped to the ground. “Oh. My. God!” She turned to look up at him and her face broke out in a huge smile. “You’re gonna do it! You’re gonna ask her! When? When? WHEN!” She was jumping up and down, tugging on his arm, and people were turning around to stare at them.

“Calm down, Maria,” he said grinning from ear to ear. He took her by the shoulders to stop her from bouncing all over the place. “First I need you to help me decide which one to get her.”

“Me? You want me to help? Then what are we standing here for!” She took his arm and pulled him into the jewelry store.

“Hello Mr. Evans,” the salesman said as they stepped up to the counter. “Have you come to make your final selection?”

“Yeah, can I see them again?” he asked and scratched his head just behind his ear. The clerk pulled open a drawer behind the counter and lifted out a black velvet box. He set it on the countertop and snapped it open.

“Oh my God,” Maria sighed. “It’s beautiful.” The diamond ring sparkled brilliantly and Maria thought it must be at least a half carat in size. The clerk set another box on the counter and she shifted her attention to it as he opened it. “Oh Max, this one’s gorgeous.” This ring had small emeralds flanking the sides of the center diamond.

“So is this the lucky lady, Mr. Evans?” the clerk asked, smiling at Maria.

“Oh, no,” Max said in all seriousness. “This is my other girlfriend.”

“Max!” Maria scolded him and slapped him on the arm again.

“No,” Max said laughing. “Maria’s here to help me decide.”

The clerk brought forth the final ring, and he set it reverently on the counter. He opened it with a flourish and Maria put her hand over her heart as she stared at it. The center diamond was a marquise cut, with small diamonds surrounding it, giving it the appearance of a shining star.

“Oh Max,” Maria said again, for once in her life almost speechless. Almost.

“See,” Max said pointing at the first diamond, “this one is simple but the diamond is so brilliant in color. It just really sparkles. And this one has the emerald accents, which I think she’d like because her birthday is in May and that’s her birthstone and since we’re getting married in May-”

“Wait! How do you know you’re getting married in May? You haven’t even asked her yet! She might say no.”

“Oh, I don’t think she’s going to say no,” Max smiled inwardly. “And this one, well I think you know why this one caught my eye,” Max said looking at the third ring. The star shape of the ring spoke to him. As soon as he’d seen it, he had pictured it on her delicate finger.

“Which one do you like, Max?” Maria asked.

“It doesn’t matter which one I like. The question is, which one will Liz like?”

She looked closely at each ring, picking them up and slipping them onto the tip of her finger. After a few minutes, she put them down and turned to Max with a serious expression. “Like you said, Max, this one is simple,” she said pointing at the first ring. “And we both know how Liz likes simple things. I mean, for God’s sake, her favorite ice cream flavor is vanilla!”

“Hey! That’s my favorite flavor too, remember?”

“You two belong together. Anyway, this ring, with the emeralds around is just so beautiful, and I think she’d just love it, but this one,” she said pointing to the star shaped ring. “This one is so perfect. I mean, if I’ve ever seen anything that symbolizes two people, it would be this ring. It’s got you and Liz written all over it.”

“I thought so too,” Max said beaming at Maria. He turned to the clerk and said, “I’ll take it.”

* * * * *

“It was nice seeing everyone again, wasn’t it?” Liz said as she snuggled next to Max on the plane. They had gone home for the weekend to celebrate his mother’s birthday, and now they were headed back to Phoenix, to school at Arizona State University where they had been enrolled since last fall.

There had been a time where she’d dreamed of attending Harvard, even of finding a career there, but that had changed after Max Evans had come into her life. She was still working toward a degree in Molecular Biology, but where she studied wasn’t nearly as important as who she studied with. Max was still undecided on his major, but he was leaning toward studying international business and trade, thinking it might be useful in his dealing with intergalactic trade in the future. Who knew what skills he would need when he started hopping around the galaxy? Trade was a universal concept. He also was leaning toward a minor in English. He loved Literature, and even though he hated speaking in public, something about teaching appealed to him.

“It was fun to be home,” Max agreed, “but I felt like a little boy again, back in my parents house.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. They say you can never go home again.” She slipped her hand into his and their fingers intertwined.

“Oh, remember how I told you to keep next Saturday open? Not to plan anything?” Max asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Yes, I remember,” Liz answered. “I told Sandy I’d help her with Chemistry on Sunday, but I kept Saturday open, just for you.”

“Good,” Max said. “Good. I want to make you dinner. I thought we could watch a DVD or something.”

“Okay,” Liz said smiling and she squeezed his hand.

He wasn’t sure why he was going through all this secrecy, all this pretense. She knew everything that was going to happen in their lives, or at least a lot of it. She probably knew everything there was to know about the ring he had hidden in his luggage. She probably knew exactly what he was planning on serving for dinner Saturday night. But even knowing that, he still felt a thrill go through him when he thought about how this Saturday, he was going to ask her to be his wife.

* * * * *

Max set the plates on the small table in his dorm room. He’d been lucky enough to get into Cholla, which came furnished with a refrigerator and a stove, so he wasn’t dependent on the school cafeteria to get his meals. He didn’t mind cooking. In fact, he even enjoyed cooking when he knew he’d be sharing his meal with Liz.

He looked at the clock and felt his stomach do a little dance. She’d be here any minute. He’d told her to wear something nice, but when she’d asked why, he didn’t tell her. He didn’t know if she was just humoring him or not. They’d talked about what she’d seen in the Granilith, about the future that had flash before her eyes. Their future. She’d given him glimpses of that future, that night out there in the desert, but then she’d refused to talk about it again, saying she didn’t want to influence the natural order of events. She said she’d seen only bits and pieces of their life together, and most of what transpired between them would be as big a mystery to her as it was to him.

He looked at the clock again, thinking that it was almost time to start the rice. He got the rice cooker out and plugged it into the outlet. It would take about thirty minutes to cook the rice in the rice cooker. Of course, that’s what a rice cooker cooked, it cooked rice, any idiot knew that. He was babbling in his own mind. Who cared what a rice cooker cooked? Maybe someone who wanted rice?

He wiped his hand across his brow thinking he really needed something to steady his nerves. If he was a drinking man, he’d have a nice shot of bourbon or something, but since that would only lead to his swiveling his hips like Elvis, half clad, singing on tabletops, he decided that probably wouldn’t be a good idea.

The doorbell chimed and he felt his heart skip a beat in anticipation. That must be her, right on time. 7:00 p.m. right on the dot. It had cost him a lot to get the room all to himself tonight. His roommate Paul had complained to high heaven, saving that he was tired of finding honeys to spend the night with, and then he shook himself and mumbled something about going insane for a moment. In the end, Paul had found a pleasant spot to crash, and Max had Liz right here with him, right where she belonged.

He nearly ran to the door in anticipation, and then opened it slowly, instead of flinging it open the way he wanted to. She was standing on the other side, looking so beautiful his breath caught in his throat. She wore a deep red form fitting dress with her hair piled high on her head, giving her an air of sophistication. She was a vision. She was the epitome of the word beautiful. She was the woman he loved beyond reason.

“Hi,” she said self-consciously. He was standing before her in a suit and a tie, looking quite elegant. Green really suited him. So did blue. Okay, red wasn’t bad either, not to mention basic black. Was there a color that didn’t look good on him? If there was, she hadn’t found it yet.

“Come in,” Max said in a strangled voice.

She stepped over the threshold and into the dimly lit room. She noticed the table was set with his good china, and he’d even brought out the silverware, instead of the plastic forks and spoons he tended to use. She smiled as she noticed a white rose in a bud vase right in the middle of the table. Candles were burning everywhere, and the light flickered around the room. She sniffed the air and looked up at him with a smile.

“Something smells good.”

“Really? I haven’t started dinner yet,” he said puzzled.

She walked up to him and rested her small hand on his chest, “I meant you, silly. You smell good.”

“Oh,” he said smiling that little boy smile of his. He wrapped his arms around her and leaned down to give her a kiss. She pressed her body in to him and just as their lips touched, the buzzer on the stove went off. “Time to start the chicken,” he said and reluctantly let her go.

“Can I help with anything?” she asked as he headed for the stove, taking off his jacket as he went.

“No, I have everything under control,” he said aloud, except his knees were shaking and his heart was pounding and his stomach was flip flopping, he thought to himself.

Liz walked around the room, smiling to herself as she listened to the sounds he made at the stove. He’d turned his sleeves up while he stir-fried the chicken and the room started to fill with the scent of spicy oriental flavors. She moved to his stereo and pressed the play button and the soft melodies of Sarah McLachlan drifted on the air.

She walked up behind him and slipped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek against the middle of his strong back. “Are you sure I can’t help you with anything?”

“Nope, I’m almost done,” he said adding the last of the ingredients to the stir-fry. He put the lid on the frying pan and turned around, rubbing his hands up and down her bare arms. He wanted to hook his fingers under the spaghetti straps of her dress, pull them down her arms, let the dress fall to the ground, let his mouth taste that sweet skin on her throat and then move lower, and then the buzzer on the rice cooker went off, bringing him back to his senses. There was time for that later, he told himself. “Go get the plates,” he said after giving her a soft kiss.

She did as instructed and set the plates on the small counter next to the stove, Minnie Mouse for her, Mickey Mouse for him. “Thanks. Now, you go sit down,” he said finding it hard not to nuzzle her neck when she was so close to him. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

He watched her walk back to the table, her bare shoulders making him sigh, her tiny waist drawing his attention, her cute little butt swishing back and forth as she moved making him want her. He absently lifted the lid on the frying pan and nearly burned his hand on the steam that erupted because he wasn’t paying attention. The lid clattered as he dropped it on the stove and he swore under his breath, reminding himself to focus. He turned the stove off and moved the pan from the hot burner.

He rolled his sleeves back down and then slipped his jacket on again. He opened the refrigerator, lifting out the two salad bowls and crossed the room to the table. “One salad with ranch dressing for you,” he said setting the bowl in front of her, “and one heavily laced with tabasco sauce for me.”

“Thank you,” she said watching him take the seat across from her. He moved like a cat, a black leopard, strong, graceful, lithe, intriguing, the power in his muscles just waiting to spring into action, his eyes intense and mysterious. He sat down and the chair tilted sideways, almost spilling him to the ground, and he had to grab the table to keep from falling. Okay, so much for the grace of cats.

She stifled a laugh and he stood up with an embarrassed look. “Damn chair,” he said turning it over. “The leg is loose and I’ve just never gotten around to fixing it.” He placed his hand over the back leg where it met the seat and it glowed with a bluish tint. After a minute he set it back down and tested it before cautiously sitting down again.

Liz nibbled at her salad, crunching on croutons, and they talked about how their classes had gone during the week and their upcoming assignments. He cleared away the salad bowls when they were done and prepared their dinner plates, scooping the rice out of the rice cooker and then spooning the chicken stir-fry over the top. He opened the top drawer in the cabinet next to the stove and removed two pairs of chopsticks, and returned to the table.

“Do you want to use chopsticks or silverware?” he asked as he set the plate in front of Liz, holding the chopsticks in his hand.

“Last time I tried to use those,” Liz said pointing at the object in his hand, “I almost poked your eye out, remember?”

“Silverware, then,” he laughed.

“Ummm, this is delicious,” Liz said closing her eyes as she enjoyed the marvelous flavor. “You’re a wonderful cook.”

“I try,” Max said, basking in her compliment. He’d wanted everything to be perfect tonight and he had fretted about just what to serve her. He’d thought about making spaghetti, but then pictured spilling the red sauce down the front of his shirt. He didn’t think it would be very romantic to bend down on one knee in front of her, asking her to marry him, with red spaghetti stains on his shirt.

He toyed with the food on his plate, not really hungry, but glad she seemed to be enjoying her dinner. She cleaned her plate, leaving only Minnie’s smiling face looking up at her, and Max picked up their plates and set them in the sink.

“I’m just going to go wash up,” Liz said pointing toward the bathroom.

Max nodded his head and set about cleaning the stove and putting the leftovers in a plastic container. After he was done, he opened the cupboard where the small black velvet box was hiding and he picked it up. He opened it, admiring the sparkling stones, smiling as he thought about what her reaction would be when she saw it.

“What have you got there, Max?” Liz asked as she stepped back into the room.

“Nothing,” Max croaked out as he quickly snapped the lid closed and slipped it into his pocket. Damnit, he knew he was going to blow this. He wanted it to be just right.

“Nothing?” she said smiling suspiciously.

“No, nothing,” he said trying to sound innocent. The CD player switched to the next CD and the sound of Gomez drifted into the room. Max smiled and held out his hand to her. “Can I have this dance?”

Her eyes softened and she crossed over to him. His arm slipped around her waist and she lifted hers to rest on his shoulder. Their fingers entwined and he held her hand close to his heart. They moved slowly together with her head pressed against his chest and his cheek resting on the top of her head.

She closed her eyes as she breathed in the smell of him. Her pulse raced every time he held her in his arms like this. He felt so strong and masculine, yet he was so gentle at the same time. She lifted her face to look at him and their eyes locked on each other. He smiled at her, kind of a nervous, little boy smile, and she saw him swallow like his throat was dry. She felt drawn to his lips, those lips that electrified her, and she brought hers up to meet them.

He kissed her, slowly, as they danced to the soft melody. This song had been playing in the background the first time he ever kissed her. It seemed appropriate that it would be playing now, at the moment he wanted to ask her the most important question he’d ever asked.

His lips slowly parted from hers, and he looked down into the eyes that he adored. His feet stopped moving and his stomach did a somersault. “Liz . . .” he said and then stopped, unable to remember the words he had practiced saying over and over.

“What?” she said breathlessly. He’d been acting nervous all night, and it had finally seeped into her. Her stomach was fluttering and she didn’t even know why.

“Liz . . .” he said again and pulled in a ragged breath. “I’ve loved you since the first moment I saw you, when you were a little girl on the playground at school. I dreamed at night about getting up the nerve to just talk to you, to just have you look at me, and I never, ever, dreamed you could ever fall in love with me.” He paused, looking at how the candlelight danced across her face. “When you did, you made my world come to life. Liz . . . will you . . .”

“What, Max? Will I what?” she asked after he fell silent.

“Will you marry me?” he said and then held his breath.

“Of course I’ll marry you,” Liz said smiling and her eyes were shining. She was going to spend the rest of her life with him. They both knew that. He smiled down on her and she felt his hand reach into his pocket. She pulled away from him, curious as to what he was doing. His hand came out of his pocket holding a small black velvet box.

Her hand flew to her throat, trembling as she finally realized what tonight was all about. Her eyes filled with tears and she felt a lump forming in her throat. She looked up into his eyes, blinking back her tears and said, “Max . . .”

He was surprised by her reaction, as if it was unexpected. With a shaky hand, he snapped the box open and turned it so that she could see the ring. Her eyes popped open wide and her hand covered her mouth as she inhaled sharply. “Oh my God! Max, it’s so beautiful!” She looked from the ring to his face and then threw her arms around him, crying harder than she had in years.

He held her tightly, smiling from ear to ear, his heart beating wildly in his chest as he felt her trembling. “I thought you . . . I’m surprised that . . . you didn’t know I was going to ask you tonight?” He felt her shake her head no, and then she squeezed her arms around him tighter. He relaxed a little, happy that she didn’t know everything after all.

She fought to regain her composure and she let go of him, wiping her hands across her wet face. “I told you . . . I said that . . . I only saw brief glimpses of things. Like little snapshots of certain things in our lives, or little scenes played out. I never saw this.” She looked at the ring again, and he saw her whole face lighting up. “Max, it’s so beautiful.”

He removed the ring from the box, set the box aside, and took her left hand in his. They looked into each other’s eyes and then down at her finger as he slipped the ring into place. It was a perfect fit and the design was the embodiment of the love between them. He had come across the stars to be with her.

They both stared at the ring on her finger as it sparkled in the candlelight. She felt him cup her face with his hands and she looked up into his intense eyes. “I love you Liz. I can’t wait for you to become my wife.”

He leaned down and kissed her, softly at first, and then growing more intense as she kissed him back with yearning. His arms surrounded her, nearly crushing her to him as the kiss deepened. His tongue touched her lips and she opened to him, allowing him the closeness he craved.

She pulled away from him, staring up at his passion filled eyes. He reached for her again and then paused when she lifted her hands to the lapel of his jacket. She eased the jacket off his shoulders and tossed it over the back of the recently fixed chair. He started to loosen his tie but she pushed his hands away. She wanted to do this all on her own. He stood silently, smiling at her, trying to steal kisses from her as she slowly undressed him. The tie came loose and she let it fall to the floor. She unfastened the buttons on his shirt while he nuzzled at her neck. She shivered in delight as his lips caressed her throat and then she peeled off his shirt, letting it join the tie on the floor.

She pushed him gently away from her so she could see him better. She never tired of looking at the smoothness of his skin or the rich color. Even in the dead of winter, he had a rich healthy glow about him. Her hands touched him, gliding over the muscles in his chest, a chest she would never get tired of looking at. Her fingers circled around his nipples and she heard the small catch in his throat. He liked her to touch him. His body sang when she touched him.

She dropped her hands lower, letting her fingers glide over the ridges in his stomach. He went to the gym at least two or three times a week to keep those ridges nice and firm. Considering the amount of donuts he liked to eat, it was good that he liked to work out.

Her hand fell to the buckle on his belt while his fingers stroked over the skin on her shoulders. She unlatched the belt and pulled the zipper of his pants down. She lowered it slowly, pressing her hand against him as she did, enjoying the feel if what lay beneath. He was becoming aroused and she smiled as he swelled against the pressure of her hand. His pants dropped to the floor and he was left standing only in his boxer shorts.

His fingers hooked under the straps of her dress, like he had wanted to do before dinner, and slowly pulled them off her shoulders. He reached for the zipper in the back of her dress, pulling it down, past her waist, lowering it over her curves. It floated to the floor and she stood before him wearing only a pair of pantyhose. His hands returned to her shoulders, feeling her warm and silky skin. It was almost as if his skin recognized hers, and reacted to it with heightened senses. His skin only came alive for her.

He leaned forward again, tasting the sweetness of her neck and the v at the base of her throat. He dropped to his knees as his lips moved lower, down to the valley between her breasts. His hand cupped one, feeling the firm nipple pressing into his palm and making his pulse race a little harder. Another area of his body was getting harder too.

His lips covered her nipple, letting his tongue circle around her before pulling her into his mouth. He heard her sigh in pleasure and it warmed him inside to know she found such delight in the way he touched her.

He slipped his fingers beneath the elastic band of her pantyhose and he stripped them from her in one fluid motion. His lips moved from her breast, down her ribs, kissing her navel. Her fingers stroked through his hair as he made his way lower, wanting to taste all of her. His tongue darted between her parted legs teasing the sensitive tissues at the core of her body.

“Max . . .” she moaned softly. He loved the way she said his name when she was trembling with desire for him. It excited him. He was almost painfully hard now, he wanted her so badly. He stood up and she could feel his manhood pressing into her belly. She tugged his boxers free and they fell to the floor joining the rest of their garments. She closed her hand over his enlarged member and the groan he emitted made her smile. He always reacted strongly every time she touched him, almost like every time was the first time.

He swept her up into his arms, and stepping out of the pile of discarded clothing on the floor, he carried her to his bed. For the first time, she noticed the rose petals that covered the pillow and the bedspread. White and pink and red and yellow, a multitude of rose petals.

“Max . . .” she said smiling up at him. He was so tender and romantic and she fell in love with him more and more every day. He smiled down at her, that smile of his that said she meant the world to him, and that he’d do anything for her. He laid her gently on the bed and then joined her, feeling her delicate body beneath him.

His mouth sought hers, letting his passion for her take hold of him. The soft, sweet kisses of earlier became more insistent, more intense, as he gave in to the hunger that he felt for her. Her desire matched his and she arched up against him feeling her hard nipples press into the heat of his chest. Her tongue darted into his mouth, thrusting in and out, colliding with his. She parted her legs and thrust her hips toward his, wanting him inside her. Now.

He lifted his face from her so that he could look into her eyes, those beautiful eyes, that pulled his essence right into her, forming the connection that they both craved. He watched her face, eager to see the subtle changes that came over her when their bodies joined together. A look of ecstasy, combined with intense satisfaction, wrapped in a layer of passion and love. He knew she could see the same thing in him. He saw it now as her body wrapped around him and he thrust deeply into her. They both sighed in pleasure as their bodies joined, becoming one with their minds.

Their lovemaking was intense, born from the depth of love they shared for each other. His ears rang with the soft sounds of her moans, moans that escaped from her throat with each deep thrust of his body into hers. Her hips rose up to meet him, eager for every inch of his length, every millimeter of his sex to fill her. His hands caressed her skin and she could feel his fingers stroking her nipples. She moaned louder as his expert touch brought her close, so close, tantalizingly close. He could feel it building in her and he teased her with it, bringing her right to the brink, not letting her go over the edge, feeling her entire body trembling with need for him.

Each stroke of his body into her was like heaven to him. She was so tight around him, so hot, so wet with passion and desire. Making love to her was like the sweetest drug, one that he couldn’t get enough of. He felt his own climax nearing, felt her body quivering around him, heard her begging him for that ultimate ecstasy.

He attacked her mouth as he thrust harder, faster into her, grinding his body into her, stimulating every nerve ending. His arms wrapped around her, lifting her hips to him as he plunged into her and he felt her let go. She cried out his name as she shuddered in blissful release.

Her nails raked across his lower back as her climax engulfed her and he exploded into her, his seed bursting from him as he plunged deeply into her. A loud groan tore from his throat as he plunged into her again, his seed still spurting from him. His body spasmed, twitched, and he thrust into her one more time in the final throes of his orgasm. He came to rest pressing his body hard against hers, sighing deeply in satisfaction. He stayed buried deep in side her until he softened and then he slowly pulled out of her.

He kissed her mouth and her cheeks and her eyes and then he rolled off of her, stretching out on the bed next to her. She snuggled close to him and he wrapped his arm around her. She spread her hand out over his chest and the diamonds on her finger sparkled in the candlelight. He lifted her finger, smiling at the way it looked on her.

“Are you happy?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

“Very,” she said with a wide smile.

They lay quietly while their breathing slowed and their bodies cooled. After a few minutes, she looked up to see him staring at the ceiling with an unusual grin on his face.

“A penny for your thoughts,” she said.

He looked into her eyes and gave her a kiss on the nose before replying. “I was thinking about pigs.”

“Pigs?” she said incredulously, lifting off of him. “You were thinking about pigs?”

“Yep,” he answered and gently pushed her onto her back. He rested his head on her chest, listening to the steady beat of her heart, and spread his hand over her stomach, tracing little circles over her skin. He felt her fingers stroking through his hair, brushing it off his forehead in an intimate gesture and he felt so at peace.

“And just what is so interesting about pigs?” she asked.

His hand rose up over her ribs, cupping her breast, watching her nipple harden as his finger touched it. It rose to a high peak and he moved toward it, knowing he just had to feel her on his tongue again.

“I was just thinking I’m glad I’m not a pig,” Max said as he caressed the soft skin of the woman he loved. “Pigs don’t know what they’re missing.”
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