The first pink streaks of sunrise were creeping across the desert but Max didn’t see any of it. His eyes were glued to the opening of the tent where Liz was sleeping. His awareness of her and the constant hum in his body told him that she was still in there. He imagined her lying in bed looking all tousled and sexy and had to take a deep breath to still his body’s immediate response. Her parents are here too, he reminded himself.

He was just turning away when the object of his musings came out of the tent looking exactly as he had imagined: tousled and sexy. Max was mesmerized as he watched her walk over to him. She was in her normal sleepwear: drawstring pants and a cropped tank top that allowed him glimpses of her bellybutton.

Liz had woken up knowing that Max was just outside and that he was thinking about her. She had felt his desire to see her like a palpable thing and she instantly got up to make her way to him. When she laid eyes on him, her breath caught in her throat. He was drop-dead gorgeous. His damp hair was clinging to his forehead and his shirt was only buttoned halfway. And the way he looked at her! The heat in his gaze caused a mad fluttering in her belly and she knew, just KNEW, that no other man would ever have this effect on her.

Max stood rooted to the spot until she reached him. He felt momentarily disorientated with all the feelings washing over him. His needs. Her wants. An overwhelming love. All thought went flying out the window when she fell into his arms as if she was born to be there. Maybe because she was… He ran his fingers through her sleep-mussed hair, loving the feel of the silky strands against his skin. "Liz…" he breathed her name against her lips, softly kissing her until she whimpered for more.

Grabbing a handful of his hair, Liz tugged Max’s mouth into closer contact with hers. She needed him to let go of the passion she could sense just underneath the surface of his control. She provocatively ran her tongue over his bottom-lip, nipping at it with her teeth until Max gave in and deepened the kiss. Liz sighed into his mouth as his tongue glided over hers, mimicking a more intimate act. She leaned her upper body away from his without breaking the kiss, her hands frantically opening the buttons of his shirt. They both groaned when she pressed herself against his bare chest after accomplishing her task.

Max curled his right arm around Liz’s waist lifting her up and depositing her on the lowest step of the shower trailer. The action brought her on the same level as Max and her arms instinctively went around his neck as they adjusted to the new angle. Max was drowning in sensations. Her warm curves pressed against his skin, her hands weaving magic all over his body, her tongue dancing with his and driving him insane. He ran his hands up under her tank top, relishing the smoothness of the skin of her back.

Arching involuntarily and shivering from the slam of desire following Max’s caress up her back, Liz slid her hands into the back pockets of his jeans and urged their lower bodies closer. She needed to feel all of him. She needed to feel his body’s reaction to her. She needed--.

"Liz!" Her mother’s voice snapped both her and Max out of their passionate hazes. Her mother was standing a few steps behind Max and her face was filled with shock.

Liz slowly removed her hands from Max’s butt and stepped down to round Max and face her mother. She purposely stood in front of Max, not wanting to increase her mother’s shock. That only helped a little bit since her mom now had a chance to fully take in her attire. "Hey Mom!" Liz heard her voice waver and was grateful when Max slid his hands down her arms to take her hands, lacing his fingers through hers.

Nancy was speechless. Her mind was still grappling with the fact that there were aliens all around her and now she had to contend with this. Her little girl in a passionate embrace with her boyfriend. An embrace that screamed of the fact that a lot more than handholding had been going on between these two for some time. How should she handle this? Apart from the fact that the man Liz was clinging to so trustingly was an ALIEN, Liz was much too young to be so intensely involved with anyone.

"Morning, Mrs. Parker." Max’s quiet voice broke into the silence. He was really angry with himself for letting things get so out of hand between him and Liz, because in the process he had jeopardized his fragile relationship with her mom. He watched her carefully, trying to see what she was going to do now.

Nancy was flustered by the fact that Max was regarding her steadily, not slinking away guiltily as she had expected him to do. "I… Liz why don’t you go shower and dress. I need to talk to you later." She folded her arms and watched as Liz turned to look at Max questioningly. Liz only started leaving after a small nod from Max.

Nancy and Max stared at each other. They both wanted all of Liz, but for very different reasons. Nancy wanted Liz to remain her little girl. The girl that she could protect and love and be the most important person to. But right now, the young man looking at her seriously was threatening all of that. Nancy no longer had the ability to protect Liz because everything that threatened her now was unknown to Nancy. And from what she had just witnessed, Liz was not her "little girl" anymore either. Somewhere along the line, she had become a young woman and Nancy knew it was as a result of Max Evans. She bit her lip. She didn’t want to lose Liz’s love and she was at a loss as to how to handle this situation without endangering her already strained relationship with her daughter further. Everything in her demanded that she drag Liz away from Max as far as possible, so that he could never touch her daughter again. But the rational part of her told her that such an action would just alienate her from Liz.

Watching the various emotions flit over Nancy’s face, Max held his breath. He didn’t know how to show Mrs. Parker that he would never hurt Liz intentionally. Or that he would stop breathing if he ever had to live without her. "Why don’t we go get some coffee? And talk?" Max didn’t have a clue what he was going to say to Liz’s mom, but he had to try.

The dining tent was deserted, but there were flasks with hot water for coffee on one of the tables. Max made the two coffees silently while Nancy sat down at one of the tables. When he finally sat down across from her, he saw that she was staring at the table, apparently deep in thought. "Do you have any more questions, Mrs. Parker?"

"Why Liz? Of all the girls in Roswell, why did you get involved with my daughter?"

Max blinked, thrown by the question. "There’s no one reason I can give you. I just knew she was my other half when I saw her for the first time. It wasn’t a conscious decision."

"When was that?"

"The third grade." He saw her eyes grow round.

"Are you telling me that you have been--." Nancy stopped herself.

"In love with Liz since the third grade? Yeah." Max was still watching her steadily.

"But that’s absurd! She never mentioned you! She couldn’t have known you. She--."

Max interrupted her gently. "This isn’t about her. It’s about me. Me telling you that there never have been, nor will there ever be any other woman in my life but Liz."

Nancy was speechless for the umpteenth time that morning. It didn’t last long. "Did you two sleep together last night?"

Max’s gaze didn’t falter from hers. "No." Max tried unsuccessfully to ban the image of Liz lying underneath him in abandon in the Pod Chamber yesterday afternoon from his mind.

"Why couldn’t you have left her alone? How am I supposed to protect her from all the strange things that threaten her now? As a result of you."

Nancy’s outburst momentarily surprised Max. "Would you rather that she died that day in the Crashdown?" his voice was quiet, but it had a devastating impact on her. She crumpled before his eyes. "I will protect her with my life. I can promise you that. No, I can promise you more than that. All my people will protect her with their lives. They know she’s my… they know how important she is to me." Max caught Nick waving at him from the door of the tent. He turned back to Nancy. "I know I can’t answer all your questions satisfactorily, but… just please trust me when I say that I plan on putting an end to all these threats to Liz."

~*~*~*~*~*~