MICHAEL: Meet the reason I haven't been returning your phone calls.

MARIA: My God. What is it?

MICHAEL: I don't know...but eventually I'm hoping we can find out.

MARIA: "We?" You didn't even choke on that.

MICHAEL: Well, today I had a little history lesson, and here's the thing...I owe more to you than I can imagine. To Liz, Alex, Valenti, to some old guy named Hal who lives in Tampa and plays shuffleboard. I never realized it...so here it is.

(Michael holds out both hands to Maria)

MICHAEL: Thank you.

(Maria places her hands in Michael's)

MARIA: You're welcome. What's wrong?

MICHAEL: You know those pods that housed Max, Isabel, Tess, and me?

MARIA: Yeah, before you were born?

MICHAEL: Well, there's another set of them, and they're somewhere out there.

-------------------------

Michael had just blew my mind. Four more... Czechoslavakians? But... where? And...

"Michael, if there are four more of you, then how can we be for sure that Isabel is your...your destiny?" I asked him. I almost choked on the last word. "I mean, if there are four more of you...one of them could truly be your destiny."

Of course, I was grasping at straws, for hope.

Michael turned to face the Granilith and mumbled something that I couldn't make out. I just knew it couldn't be what I thought he'd said...

"What?"

"I said, I don't give a damn about destiny."

"No? But..." I said, confused.

"I meant that I didn't care because...well...because. I want you."

I could feel my face flushing red; why, I wasn't sure. I was almost ready to turn around and leap out of the Granilith chamber. 'Get ahold of yourself, DeLuca! You want him too!' I told myself.

"Do you really?" I had to ask.

"You know I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it."

"That one isn't true, Michael. You've said a lot of things you didn't turn out to really mean."

"Point taken." He turned to look at me. "What can I say to you to make you believe, make you understand that I was wrong, that I really do want to be with you?"

Obviously I wasn't used to seeing the sweet, gentle side of Michael Guerin too often. I sank to the floor of the chamber and curled myself up, head resting on legs.

Michael came behind me and kneeled down. He placed his hands on my shoulders and began massaging them, and it felt like heaven. I leaned back into him.

Suddenly I felt his lips on my neck, kissing hungrily, nibbling softly. I moaned softly and turned around to face him, immediately pulling his mouth to mine.

Oh, it felt like heaven, his soft lips touching mine... our mouths parting... tongues touching madly. I ran my hands underneath Michael's shirt, up his back, running my fingernails down his spine. He moaned into my mouth and ran a hand through my hair.

As suddenly as it had started, it ended. Michael lept up and left the chamber. "What did I do wrong?" I muttered to myself. I stood up, began to straighten my clothes out and headed for the exit when Michael came back in.

In his hands he had one of the alien quilts that was in my car, one my mother had purchased during one of her conventions. It had been in my car since the last time that Liz, Alex and I had been stargazing in the desert. It seemed like a long time ago, when it had only been just before she left for Florida.

"What's that for?" I asked as he spread it out on the Granilith chamber floor, although I already had a pretty good idea.

"I don't want you laying on the floor."

"I'm gonna be laying!" I giggled to myself, and my pulse quickened.

"How'd you know that it was in my car?" I asked him as he layed down on the blanket, pulling me with him.

"Lucky guess."

Michael pulled me into his arms and we began kissing again, this time more tenderly. He ran his fingers under my shirt, over my ribcage, which made me moan softly. I loved his touch.

Our kiss changed, into something more passionate, something more demanding. He raised up slightly, pulling me with him again, and whisked my shirt off, then my bra, all in quick time. He rolled me onto my back and began running his fingertips over my nipples as he kissed my throat hungrily.

I moaned louder and Michael moved his mouth down, taking one of my nipples into his mouth, massaging the other roughly with his fingertips. I was pretty sure I was going to die of pleasure on the chamber floor.

His mouth moved to pay attention to my other breast, pulling at it softly with his teeth, moving one hand down to circle my bellybutton with a fingertip. I moved my hands up to remove his shirt, my eyes gazing at his beautiful body. God, was he beautiful.

We reached for each others' pants simultaneously. He chuckled huskily and I smiled, my hands shaking, undoing his pants. I slid them down and he shook them off, revealing more of his body. He gently removed my pants from my own body, leaving me feel bare in just my panties.

Michael continued kissing me and I returned the favor, nibbling on his shoulders and neck. His hands and mouth kept wandering lower and lower... down my chest and over my belly, his tongue darting in and out of my bellybutton. I pulled his hair lightly in desire. I wanted him so much right then.

Suddenly he looked up, his finger underneath the wasteband of my panties. "Maria?" he asked, his voice full of wanting. "Can I.... ?"

I nodded my consent, already growing wetter at the mere thought of his touch. In an instant, my panties were off and his index finger was running over my clit, back and forth and up and down and driving me crazier by the movement. Then he slid that finger inside me, and I closed my eyes.

His thumb moving over my clit, he slid a second finger inside me and began rubbing that small, raised spot inside me. I began to whimper and to call his name, and with every noise he moved faster and faster. I didn't think I was going to last much longer... I could feel one hell of an orgasm building.

He began to speak in a quiet, husky voice. "Maria... please... come for me... let me feel you come... let it go..." and with that, I let go and came with his fingers working their magic. When he pleads for you to come in that quiet, seductive voice, you can't help but obey.

My body shuddered, wrapped around his fingers, my cunt causing an extreme grip that made him moan and call my name. I was flying so high...

I closed my eyes, breathing deeply. I felt him move and as I opened my eyes, Michael's manhood came into full view. I had seen 'well-endowed' in some videos that Liz and I had sneaked out of Alex's room when we were younger, but this... this was the biggest I'd ever seen. I wondered to myself how that would ever fit into me. Then I grinned as I realized that I had actually been thinking that it would definetly be inside me.

I'm sure there was a look of extreme surprise on my face, because Michael dropped back down to the floor, now completely naked, and back on top of me. He looked deeply into my eyes and kissed my mouth the same way. When he pulled away, he asked, "Maria... are you positive that this is the right thing to do?"

I once again nodded my consent, wrapping my arms and legs around his body.

And then I felt the head of his cock poking into me. He slid in a bit further and I felt my virginity give way. The pain was not all that bad, just a dull ache, but I must have had a look on my face. "Did I hurt you?" Michael whispered, looking panicked.

"No, no," I reassured him, "it doesn't hurt, it's just a bit uncomfortable. Just...give me a moment to adjust."

I marveled for a moment at the new feel of fullness, of completion, and then I pushed my hips up to meet his. Michael then pushed all the way into me and began sliding back and forth into my cunt. I was in absolute heaven...so perfect a moment.

He was speeding up, and I was pretty sure I was about to have another one of those mind-bending orgasms he was handing out. I wrapped my legs around him tighter and let go once more, wave after wave of pleasure.

At the very same instant, Michael reached his peak and pressed against me tight, moaning loudly and rolling his eyes into his head.