Liz looks to Michael with his arm around Maria and can tell that the beauty of the night and the fireworks display in the background has the couple vying for a romantic interlude.

"To late, already taken," she smiles and shrugs her shoulder.

"Come on Liz, you and Max can find somewhere else to go." Maria gives her best-injured friend performance.

"No Maria, Max and I are staying here and watching the rest of the fireworks display," Liz leans over to where Max is lying back on the blanket and gives him a swift kiss.

Maria looks around the area and finds Kyle and Teresa but can't find Alex and Isabel.

"Alex and Isabel, right?" Maria throws the remark at Liz who feigns ignorance. "They always do this to us Michael - it's a conspiracy."

"Now you sound like me," Michael smiles down at her.

"That's a scary thought," Max counters.

"Come on Maria, we'll just walk for a while." Michael leads the pouting Maria towards the boathouse.

They walk the short distance to the boathouse, the sky an array of stars mixed with the assorted colors of exploding rockets.

Maria has a long flowing floral dress with slits up both sides, which expose her long legs, and covers her bikini.

The boathouse is a small building built over the water and generally used to shelter boats but currently only stores fishing tackle and water skis.

There are several framed pictures of fly fishing competitions, regattas and other water sports.

Michael clears an area of a sturdy table near a window, lays his jacket down for padding, before lifting Maria onto the table as he swoops in to taste her luscious lips. "I've been wanting to do that all day," He breathes the words into her open mouth.

His mouth takes possession of hers and she is sucked into a vortex of irresistible sensation from which there is no escape, nor any wish to.

Maria wraps her legs around Michael's waist as he lifts her to gain access to the hem of the dress before he steps away long enough to pull the dress over her head discarding it in a heap across the table.

Her bikini-clad body is exposed and illuminated by the soft lights reflected off the water and appreciated by the lust in his eyes.

"You are so beautiful." He sighs and runs his eyes the length of her body.

"I don't think you've ever said that to me before," her voice cracks as she vies to make eye contact.

"I must have, because I think it every day." His gaze never wavers as he reveals this secret part of him.

The slow loving kiss that follows gives way to a more urgent one because both sets of hand begin to roam and flesh upon flesh combust into a need searching for assuage.

Maria lavishes in how he tastes so good, his tongue tangling with hers in an erotic dance arousing explosive tingles of excitement across her palate, stirring sensations that stream through her body which instantly clamors for a bigger share of what is happening, a more intense share.

Clothing is a frustrating separation so they unceremoniously get rid of them.

Everything feels so much more delicious now, incredibly sensual.

Body hair tickling, hard flesh sliding against soft, mouths meshing, moving to taste everything, loving it, relishing it, feeding on each other in a frenzy of wanting, licking, sucking, hands shaping pathways, beating rhythms, wildly pushing for the ultimate feast of co-mingling.

Exquisite anticipation, pulse racing, an urgent scream shrieking along nerve endings, craving... and then he lifts her to bring her to the edge of the table to make the most intimate connection possible.

"Maria, we can't - no protection," he murmurs breathless.

"Always be prepared, the pocket of my dress," she says calmly as she nods to where her dress lays in a heap across the table.

Michael reaches for and hands the dress to her where she fumbles for the evasive pocket and the foil packet which will secure her the release she craves.

She hands foiled packet to Michael which he duly opens and covers his throbbing member.

"Maria, are you sure?" Michael takes a deep breath before bracing his arms on either side of her.

Her arms go up to encircle his neck and she pulls him in close and as their eyes meet and hold, "Yes, Michael I'm sure."

Their lips meet and fuse as Michael's hand finds the gentle folds that hide the treasure that he seeks and his fingers become drenched with warm moisture.

Maria's hand comes up to her mouth and her head turns from side to side ecstatic with the pleasure Michael's fingers evoke.

In her body's enthusiasm and Michael's eager preparation the table is jarred and a framed picture falls near her head.

Michael picks the picture up to move it when he suddenly freezes.

He scrabbles closer to the window where a small stream of light reveals a familiar face in a group picture of four.

The cool air that now covers her body, which was previously covered by Michael, strikes Maria.