Max was smiling broadly, nearly taking Liz’s breath away. "I agree." He hugged Liz, dressed in a flowing skirt and tank-top, against his side and pressed a kiss on her hair. "I need to talk to some people. Will you be okay?"

She nodded at him. Actually, she would rather drag his cute alien butt back to their tent, but she couldn’t very well do that right now, could she?

"Liz!" Max sounded strangled and she realized that he probably knew what she was thinking. He was looking at her with warm eyes and Liz revised her earlier thinking. He was NOT going to be allowed out of her arms for too long…

Max got away from her as fast as his feet could carry him, causing some strange looks from the other people present. Normally he was glued to Liz’s side, but here he was putting as much distance as he possible could between them. The only thing that prevented any alarm about possible problems between their leader and his mate, was Liz’s tinkling laugh following Max’s retreating back.

Maria was at quickly at Liz’s side. "You have to teach me THAT trick, chica. Max ran like the hounds of hell were at his heels!" She flung her arms around Liz. "I was so scared for you, Lizzie. I’m so glad you’re back safely. Max dragged you off to his cave so quickly last night that I didn’t get to see you. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I’m fine now. More than fine." She looked over at Max, who had gone into leader mode on the other side of the brunch gathering with some of the group’s Council. Turning back, some of the shadows of yesterday invaded her eyes. "But it was awful, Maria. The guy was… he was evil." She looked back at Max, who was now staring at her with concern, obviously picking up on her emotions. She gave him a small smile to indicate she was okay. He kept watching her, though, and she decided to mess with his mind a little, purposely remembering her feelings at seeing him in all his naked glory in the shower this morning. She had to bite her lip at her body’s immediate reaction. Max’s eyes widened in shock and he gave one step in her direction before remembering himself. Liz felt quite smug with herself.

"Hello Lizzie!" Maria yelled in her ear, making Liz jump. She had completely forgotten that Maria was with her. She shot a glare at Max. It wasn’t his fault, but she could blame him if it suited her. He wasn’t looking at her, but the small half-grin on his face told her he was laughing at her, the bum.

"You two are sooo bad! I thought you couldn’t get any worse, but… apparently doing the wild thing has done even more damage to your brain cells!" She looked at Liz intensely. "Is it THAT good? I mean, cause… Michael and I… we’ve been, you know, thinking about it."

"Maria!" Liz exclaimed happily. "Yes, it’s THAT good between Max and I, but it is because we were very sure it was right between us." She took Maria’s hands. "So, what I’m trying to say is, make sure everything between you two is as it should be before, you know."

"I know. And don’t worry. I‘m working on the lug and he’s gonna cave soon. Believe me!" They hugged each other again. Great friends to the end.

After Maria went off to bug Michael some more, Liz stood watching Max interact with his people. She could do that all day, just stare at Max. The way he moved, the small gestures he made, his facial expressions, the way he listened to people talking to him as if they were the only ones there. However, all that staring at him always had the same effect on her. A slow throbbing was starting deep in her body and she had to stop herself from running over to Max and dragging him away.

Max was totally aware of Liz’s intense regard as he moved around to various people. It covered him like a cloak and he was too afraid to look at her for fear of losing his tenuous control. She could undo him with her gaze. With her eyes that promised him untold pleasures and her body that promised unimaginable fulfillment. Probably one day, he would be able to look at her and not want her so intensely, but for right now, that was impossible. And he had so much to do that he couldn’t afford to let her distract him for a while. Taking a deep breath, trying to bank the fires in his body, he turned to Nick and waved Isabel over as well. "I need you help…"

Liz was in a daze. She remember speaking to some people and she supposed whatever she had said made some sense, but all her concentration was on the tall, dark man that moved with such ease through the crowd. Her body was heating up slowly but surely, and after a while she realized she was clenching her fists in her skirt in an effort to stop them from trembling. She watched his lips shape words and she remembered how they had felt against her breast. She watched his hands emphasize a point and remembered how they had branded her skin. She watched his body move so gracefully and remembered how knowingly and completely it had invaded hers.

"Are you okay, Ma’am?" Liz came back to the present, realizing she was hyperventilating and her cheeks were burning. A girl standing next to her was looking at her strangely. She was about the same age as Liz. Liz glanced at Max again and touched her cheeks with her fingers. Boy, how does he do this to me? He’s not even looking at me and I’m in this state! What will I do when he DOES look at me? Melt into a puddle? Her answer came as Max turned to her slowly, his eyes finding her slim ankles and travelling up over her body, resting a few seconds in some places before travelling further. By the time he reached her face, she was shaking and her heart was pounding. She so desperately wanted to be with him right now.

"Ma’am?" The voice broke into her haze and she blinked at the girl before blushing again. The girl looked from Liz to Max and back again, sighing enviously. "I wish a hunk like that would look at me that way some day!"

Liz’s gaze was inextricably drawn to Max again. He was still staring at her with hungry eyes. "Maybe one will some day," she answered the girl.

The girl sighed again. "Yeah, but will he be such a hottie!" She gasped as she realized she had just spoken of her leader in such a way to his "wife". "I… I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have--."

Liz waved her hand dismissing the apology. "That’s okay. He has that effect on girls." And especially on me! Her body continued to hum with awareness of him, the ache low in her belly growing imperceptibly but steadily as the morning progressed.

Max was going under fast. He could feel Liz’s desire flowing over him in waves. If he normally has trouble keeping his hands off her, how was he supposed to do it when she so obviously WANTED them ON her. He had just decided to chuck all this for a while and started towards her when he was interrupted by Izzy’s voice calling everyone to take their places for brunch.

Finding that he and Liz were sitting on opposite sides of a table, Max glared at Isabel. She only batted her eyelids at him innocently, saying: "The way you two have been going on, I decided this was the best way to stop any possibly embarrassing making out scenes from happening at the table…"

Liz tasted nothing of what she ate. She and Max kept staring at each other, the world fading into nothingness around them.

Alex leaned over to Isabel. "Well, I see your plan worked. Now we’re back to the incessant mooning! No, wait. This isn’t mooning, it’s…" He faltered.

"Hunger." Isabel completed his unfinished thought. "I think this is worse than mooning. At least we didn’t know what the mooning could lead to!"

"Aaaaand, let’s talk about something else please! What was Max whispering to you about?" Alex moved his attention away from the other couple.

"He is working on one of his Liz schemes again. And we are going to need your help too…"

~*~*~*~*~*~

It felt like hours before they could get away. Max’s hand was warm as it wrapped around Liz’s pulling her away from everybody and towards the Jeep. Whatever was going to happen now, cannot happen here in the camp. He needed some place where they didn’t have to worry about being interrupted, or even worse…heard.

They didn’t look at each other as they drove away from the camp. It had been torture to wait this long and both of them felt ready to explode. He halted the Jeep close to a small cave they had found one day while training.

Liz was moving to get out, but he caught her arm, stopping her movements. "Wait."

His voice was rough and created millions of goosebumps all over her body. Liz couldn’t catch her breath as he rounded the Jeep, a blanket in his hand. When he reached her side of the car, he looked at her with heated eyes. "I’ve wanted to do this all morning…" He put his one arm around her waist sliding her closer to the edge of the seat, before lifting her against his body, her legs dangling against his. The action brought them flush against each other from shoulder to thighs and they both groaned at the contact. He moved his mouth towards hers, stopping when he was a mere breath away. "Do you have any idea how much I want you right now?"

Liz had trouble speaking, so she only whispered: "Me too," before closing the gap and covering his mouth with hers. She unleashed a storm in the process. He ravaged her lips, invading her mouth with shocking swiftness and Liz felt such an explosion of desire that a wave of dizziness threatened to overwhelm her. Her resulting moan seemed to spur him on and he whirled towards the cave, still carrying her against him and only tearing his mouth from hers for the few seconds it took to get them safely inside.

Flinging the blanket on the ground, he set her on her feet, but didn’t let her go. Instead his hands slid underneath her top, finding her curves and filling his hands with them. Liz was clawing at his shirt, needing him to get it off so she could touch him back. He relented, ripping the shirt off with a swift action before pulling her back against him roughly. Her top was removed without ceremony and she gasped as he bent his head to her breast. Her knees threatened to give out underneath her and only his arms holding her upright were keeping her from sinking to the floor.

She was literally being devoured. There wasn’t an inch of her that he didn’t taste with his mouth and tongue. She clutched her fingers in his hair as he moved over her, not able to do anything than cry out helplessly from each new sensation. Please Max… Please! She raked her nails over his back, trying to communicate her urgency to him without words.

It worked only partially as he slid his hand between her thighs, producing an answering flood of warmth from her. She rubbed herself against his hand, but it wasn’t nearly enough. She needed more. She needed all of him.

Max dragged in a deep breath, fighting for air in the heady passion-filled atmosphere of the cave. He reared away from Liz, staring down at her face that was filled with such ecstasy that it momentarily blinded him. Then the need to be inside her overwhelmed him and he gave in. Entering her in one smooth stroke and binding them together physically. They stilled for a moment before the intense desire that had brought them to this place overtook them both. Moving together, they strove desperately for that mind-numbing bliss only they could bring to each other. And when they reached it, it was a shattering explosion that caused the external world to recede for a few minutes in front of the ecstatic oblivion that they found in each other.

They lay together afterwards, their passionate cries still echoing in their ears and their bodies racked with shuddering breaths. Max lay with his head on Liz’s shoulder, hoping that things could always be like this between them. That they would always be able to find such incredible ecstasy in each other’s arms.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Back at the camp, Izzy was welcoming back her parents and the Parkers with a forced smile. They had phoned the parents this morning, inviting them back on Max’s orders. But now Max was missing. With Liz. Which meant only one thing… She looked at the Parkers, who were talking to Maria, but kept looking around anxiously for their daughter. Where the hell were they? How am I supposed to explain their sudden disappearance to her parents? Izzy resolved to smack her brother if he ever re-appeared. Honestly, the things he got up to because of his obsession with Liz!