He rejects the destiny proclaimed by the orbs with every new minute. We had hoped for… but this, it is so different from what we were expecting. It affects the plan.

The camp was quiet and Liz could hear Maria’s deep breathing in the dark tent next to her. Maria had returned from seeing Michael earlier and reported what she knew of the training. It had gone well and Nick seemed pleased, she said. Liz could sense there was something she didn’t want to say, but didn’t ask. She was afraid of what it would be. She preferred to remember the way she and Max had parted this afternoon. She hadn’t seen him again. He didn’t come to dinner. Neither did Tess and Liz tried not to think what that could mean.

She was lying on her bed, fully clothed. She wore the same red button-down sweater she wore that night long ago when she and Max went to the desert and found the orb. The sweater held some good memories. But she was starting to feel like an idiot. It was really late and he wasn’t coming. She had imagined hearing him think about tonight.

Sighing wearily, she stood up and started unbuttoning her sweater when two arms circled her from behind unexpectedly. One hand caught her hands, stopping them from completing their task with the buttons, the other hand cupped her mouth to stifle her startled yelp. Her body told her it was Max immediately.

Max practically carried her from the tent and only stopped outside to put her down and enfold her in one of his jackets. Thrusting her arms through the sleeves, he buttoned it quickly and took her hand. They stared at each other for a few moments, both panting for air. Then Max turned around and dragged her behind him into the desert. Liz had to run to keep up and after a while she pulled on his hand, trying to make him go slower. She only succeeded in making him pick her up. He hugged her tight against his chest and continued his urgent flight into the night.

Liz was mesmerized by the play of his muscles she could feel underneath his shirt with each stride he took. Yes, she had touched that chest once, but never had the chance again and her hands were itching to rediscover that smooth, hot skin. "Max." The word was slurred with passion and it had an immediate effect on Max.

He came to halt near some rocks so suddenly that they nearly toppled to the ground. He let her legs drop to the ground and they both groaned as she slid down against his body. He ran his finger over her cheek and down her jaw and watched as it finally came to rest on her mouth. That beautiful, lush mouth that drove him crazy. "Too long…" his voice was gravelly. He fused his mouth to hers hungrily while his arms crushed her to him.

They kissed as if they were starving for each other. Liz clutched at his shoulders, trying to remain upright. Their connection came to life again, causing a momentary lapse in the intensity of the kiss. Max saw some of what she had been doing the past few days, but most of all he saw her waking up in a sweat after dreaming of him. And he saw the dreams. The same dreams he had been having. Of them together, their naked limbs tangled in passion.

Liz saw Max training with Michael and Isabel and she saw… Tess… naked in the moonlight. She tore herself from Max with a cry of such pain that it shocked Max out of his passionate haze. He caught her as she tried to stumble away from him. "Liz, what…?"

Liz had her face turned away from him, trying to twist out of his arms. She was saying ‘no’ over and over again.

Max forced her head towards him with his hand on her chin. "What?" he cried, scared to see her like this.

Liz finally quieted down, but tears were squeezing from below her closed lids. Max was getting frantic. "Liz! Please tell me!" And for the second time in his life, her words threatened to bring his world crashing down around him.

"I saw Tess. In the desert. Naked. With you." Liz forced the words through clenched teeth, hoping to get through this moment without crumbling completely.

"Oh god, Liz! That’s not what happened! I mean, yes… she tried, but I…" Max was shaking so badly he had trouble forming a sentence. "Just… please kiss me again. You’ll see. Trust me! Please!"

The desperate note in his voice got her attention and she slowly opened her eyes. Max was wiping the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs and his eyes were pleading with her. Pleading with her not to believe the lie.

He leant closer, carefully watching her for any sign of distress until their lips touched. "I love you." His breath whispered over her lips with his declaration. He kissed her softly at first, seemingly afraid that she would bolt, but when she didn’t, he deepened the kiss. His tongue traced her lips, begging for her to open up to him.

Liz couldn’t fight him, not when he was kissing her like this. Like she was the air he needed to breath. Her mouth opened with a sigh and this time, the flashes were not painful at all. She saw him walk away from Tess, unmoved by her nudity. And she saw him wake up trembling from a dream later that night, the same dream she had been having over and over again. The one in which he finally completed his possession of her: heart, mind, soul and… body.

This time when they broke apart, it was to stare at each other in amazement. They were having the same dreams!

Max reached out to take the clip from her hair. He did it almost reverently, sliding his fingers through the softness as the strands swung free. He inhaled her scent like a drug, needing it inside his lungs, inside his body. Her eyes caught the light of the millions of stars twinkling over their heads and he thanked the parents he had never known for sending him to this planet. For allowing him to find Liz, his other half. His soulmate.

As his hands lifted to the top button of his jacket still enfolding her body, he saw desire flaring to life in her gaze. She matched his action, her fingers finding his buttons and undoing them as fast as she could. Their hands got tangled in their efforts to remove the clothes, causing Max to drag her hands away from him and finishing his own buttons first. Turning slightly away from her, he spread his jacket on the sand next to them. When he turned back, Liz was opening her jacket and his heart stopped as she slid the garment from her shoulders and laid it next to his on the ground. Her action had caused the half-opened edges of her sweater, left like that in their haste to get away from the camp, to pull apart further. The gaping material revealed more of her soft, bare skin than he had ever seen.

"Liz." Her name was a hungry moan that fired her blood to boiling point.

Max hauled her to him roughly, fastening his mouth to hers, kissing her with almost violent passion. And Liz reveled in it. She pressed closer, rubbing herself against him in an effort to appease the ache in the pit of her stomach. Max picked her up and laid her on their jackets. He knelt over her, his eyes dark with intent.

"Take of your shirt, Max." Liz was staring up at him as he hastily complied, tearing the shirt open in haste. The sight of him stole her breath. He was sleek and muscled and hard. She put up her hand to touch him wonderingly and they both groaned at the contact. He let her caress him for a while, watching with heavy-lidded eyes as her gaze traced the movements of her hands on his body almost helplessly. His skin burned her hand and she became aware of the labored movement of his chest under her hand.

Her touch on his stomach was electric and Max closed his eyes in reaction. Liz let her eyes drift lower, from the ridged muscles of his stomach to the front of his pants. He was very much aroused and she was surprised to find that the thought didn’t scare her. In fact, it elated her that she was doing this to him.

Max came out of his passionate trance when her hands started roaming lower, to the edge of his pants. He caught her hands and brought them to his lips. He kissed each finger before bending over her, placing their linked hands above her head. Leaning closer to her mouth, he growled: "My turn." He pulled her bottom lip into his mouth, nipping at it with his teeth. Liz was making helpless little noises in the back of her throat and each one exited him more. He curled her fingers into the edge of the jacket above her head, silently commanding her to keep them there. Leaning away from her, he did what he had only ever imagined doing. He undid the last few buttons of her sweater and pushed it apart with a shaking hand. She was completely naked underneath and her beauty stole his soul.

His eyes drank in the sight of her thirstily. Memorizing every inch of exposed skin until looking wasn’t enough anymore. Liz arched helplessly as he hesitantly touched her curves. His hand stroked a path from the place on her stomach where he had healed her to the valley between her breasts. She cried his name as he finally moved his hand over her breast, causing a trembling to start deep in her body. She gave up her efforts to keep her hands above her head. Instead, she brought her hands down, digging her nails into his hard back as he kept up the torturous caresses on her flesh.

She pulled him down on her, bringing their bare skin into contact. Max braced himself on his elbows, lost for a moment in the sensation of feeling her breasts against his chest, unhampered by clothes for the first time. He kissed her again, his lips causing a feast of sensations in her body and she opened her thighs, allowing him to settle between them.

The heat blazed between their bodies and drove Max to the brink of control. He rolled them over, so that she was lying on top of him, cradled on his chest. Putting his arms around her, he pressed her to him urgently. He ran one hand down the indentation of her spine until he could cup her rear, arching her against his hardness, but also trying to still her instinctive movements. His restraint was fast becoming a thing of the past.

"Liz." His voiced sounded drugged. "Please stop… Please…" Nothing made much sense to Max right now. The only thing he knew was that this was not the way he wanted their first time to be like. Liz deserved so much more. She deserved not having the uncertainty of his destiny hanging over them. She deserved a real bed in a nice room. She deserved to have his promise to be eternally true to her. None of which he could give her right now.

He cradled her face in his hands and kissed her gently. "Please stop." He repeated softly, pleading with her not to make this impossible for him. Because if she wanted to, she could break his resolve. It would be laughably easy.