“Maria, I love you.”

“Maria, I need you.”

“Maria, I want you.”

She sat up bolt upright in the bed and looked around the room. No one else was there; she was all alone. Was it possible that his voice was just in her head? It had seemed so real . . . so close.

“Gina,” she heard and nearly jumped off the bed. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” he said as he walked in from the bathroom. “Have you seen my keys anywhere?” he asked.

“Um, check the jacket you had on yesterday,” she suggested.

He nodded. “Yeah, that’s probably where they are.” He looked at her again and his brow furrowed. “Are you feeling okay? You look a little pale.”

“I’m fine,” she said quickly, maybe too quickly. He just gave her another look, then nodded.

“Well, okay, I’m leaving for work. Are you working tonight?” he asked.

“Yeah, but I have the midday shift and I’m not working at the market so I’ll see you about 8 o’clock.”

“Okay, see you then,” he replied and walked out of the bedroom. She heard him jingling his keys as he found them in his coat. “Got em,” he called back. “Bye.”

“Bye,” she called back and then she heard him leave. Only once she was sure he was gone did she finally venture out of bed. Her knees felt weak as she moved into the bathroom. She shut the door behind her and quickly turned the water on.

She stepped underneath the steam and closed her eyes. God, that dream had felt so real. It had been him, Michael . . . and he’d been so real. In her dream nothing had stood between them, nothing had existed but their love for each other and their want of each other. And she had wanted him so much.

She sighed as she recalled the way his hands had felt on her skin. Her own hands traveled up over her hips, across her stomach, over her breasts, and finally clutched at her shoulders. She needed to feel him again. She wanted to feel him.

The water cascaded down her body and she imagined his lips were following that stream of hot liquid all over her flesh. She could feel the heat of his body against hers. She could smell his distinct scent all around her. She felt like she was quickly losing her mind.

‘What am I doing?’ she thought ruefully as she opened her eyes. This was ridiculous and not very good for her sanity if she planned to keep living in such close quarters with him. Imagining him doing these things to her and then having to crawl in bed beside him and go to sleep without so much as a kiss might be the finally straw in driving her completely crazy.

“Stop it!” she said to herself. “Stop doing this. It can’t happen. Just get over it already.”

She turned off the water and quickly threw back the shower curtain. She needed to get out of here. She needed to get dressed and get out of this apartment and get some air. Maybe a nice long walk would clear her head. She sure hoped so.

* * * * *

“I can’t believe we just did that,” Maria said as she shook her head. They were sitting in a secluded area of the local bus station waiting for their bus to arrive.

“What?” Michael said. “We had to.”

“But my mother is going to . . . oh, I can’t believe I sold her car,” she moaned.

“We had to get rid of it before they used it to find us,” he reminded her.

“I know, you’re right,” she said with a nod. It’d been over a month since they’d left Roswell and he was finally looking a little better. He wasn’t so weak anymore, he was sleeping, and she was actually starting to think that he might be okay. She could do nothing but thank God for that.

“Okay, so you are Gina Martin,” he told her as he handed her a large envelope. He’d managed to get them some paperwork to change their identities, though she had no clue how he’d done it. The envelope contained a driver’s license, social security card, high school records, and even a short history of the woman she was about to become.

“And you are?” she asked.

“Danny Martin,” he replied.

“My brother?” she inquired.

“No,” he shook his head, then said, “Your husband.”

Her mouth dropped. “My . . . my . . . Michael, that will not work,” she said.

“I’m not Michael. I’m Danny,” he said. “Always, always call me Danny. And yes it will work.”

“I can’t be married to you,” she insisted.

“And why not?” he wanted to know.

“Because . . . because you’re . . . I just can’t okay? Besides, who’s going to believe that anyway.”

“Everyone will because we’re going to tell them. We’ll get an apartment and sleep in the same bed and make up stories about our wedding. It’ll be fun,” he said, but his expression looked anything but fun. He looked as uneasy about this as she felt.

“We’re not sleeping in the same bed,” she told him.

“Fine, I’ll take the couch,” he said.

“You . . .” she started, but then she stopped. What was there to say, really? He was right, they needed to get further from Roswell. They needed to start over. And posing as a married couple did make the most sense. It would keep them from other people, make it seem normal for them to keep to themselves so much. “Okay, fine,” she replied reluctantly.

“Good,” he said as he nodded. “Okay, now we need to decide where we’re going,” he told her.

“You don’t know yet?” she asked.

“Well, I have a few ideas but I wanted your opinion.”

“Okay, well let’s hear your ideas then,” she said. He nodded and pulled out a map. Several cities were circled in red.

“Take your pick,” he said.

She looked over the little red circles and finally chose the one in the middle on the right. She pointed to her selection.

He looked at her choice and nodded. “Camden, West Virginia, here we come.”

* * * * *

“Hey Martin, you leaving?” he heard behind him. He turned to see Bob and Dale, two of his co-workers, approaching.

“Yeah, headed home,” he told them.

“We’re gonna go get a beer, why don’t you come,” Bob said. He looked at the man for a moment and tried to think of a good way to get out of this.

But then Dale said, “You ever been to the Roadhouse?”

A thought occurred to him and he smiled. “Sure, I’d love to.”

* * * * *

“Gina, table three!” she heard her boss say.

“Got it Terry,” she called back and headed over to wait on the customers at table three. As she approached, she saw three men around the table. Two were facing her direction and she recognized them as regular patrons. The third man was not one of the usuals at the bar. In fact, he’d never been there before. But, she was as certain of who he was as she was of her own shoe size.

“Hi honey,” she said as she touched the man on the shoulder. He turned and smiled, glad that she knew she needed to play along.

“Hi sweetie,” he replied. He turned back to the other two men, who were looking at him oddly. “Bob, Dale, my wife, Gina.”

“Nice to meet you, Gina,” Bob said.

“Pleasure,” Dale nodded.

“Hi guys,” she smiled. “So, what can I get you all tonight?”

“Coors all around,” Bob said and she nodded, then headed off to get their beers.

“You sure have been holding out on us, Dan,” Dale said when she had left.

“Yeah, no wonder you always head straight home after work,” Bob agreed.

“How’s that?” he asked them.

“Well, if I had a woman like that waiting for me when I got home, I wouldn’t be in here with a couple a bozos like us either,” Dale said.

He turned to look towards the bar and smiled. They were right, she was gorgeous. She’d always been luminous in his eyes. He was both proud and jealous at the realization that other men felt that same way.

She looked up to see him watching her and smiled a little at him. He smiled back and kept his eyes on her as she moved back to the table with their beers. After she’d set them down and started away, he finally turned back to his new friends. But all he could think of the rest of the time he was there was about her.

* * * * *

“Who’s that guy you were talking to? Talk about hot,” Edith, one of the other waitresses, said.

“That’s my husband,” she said nonchalantly.

Edith raised her eyebrows and smiled. That was all, then she walked away.

She turned and looked back at the table where the three men sat and her eyes fixed on his profile as he turned to look up at the basketball game on the TV screen. Edith was right, he was hot. She suddenly wondered how she’d slept beside him for so many months and kept her hands to herself.

She didn’t know what was happening but she wasn’t sure she had the power or the will to stop it. She was beginning to feel for him just like she had before everything had happened, before he’d pushed her away. As much as that scared her, it excited her even more. Maybe there was a chance. Perhaps if they had to be alone in this strange world, at least they could be alone together.

She dismissed the thought, though, knowing that it was still a bad idea. She tore her eyes from him and turned to get back to work.

* * * * *

“Mmm, I love this so much,” she said against his lips.

“Me too,” he replied as he kissed her neck. She moaned and arched up against him as his tongue flicked out to taste her skin.

“God, Michael,” she moaned. They were sitting together on his bed in the middle of the afternoon. They both still had the majority of their clothes on, but the scene playing out wasn’t exactly innocent in nature either.

“You’re so beautiful,” he told her as his hands wandered over her curves and his mouth found hers again. They usually went to her house for their make-out sessions, but her mom was home that afternoon and Hank was still at work so they’d chosen to come here instead.

He slipped his tongue into her mouth and she met him with her own. Their kisses deepened as his hands continued to wander. Just then, she heard a car door.

“What was that?” she asked as she pulled back from his lips.

“Neighbor,” he mumbled as he leaned forward to find her lips again. She heard the sound of the front door opening and closing.

“I think Hank’s home,” she whispered.

“So, let him get his own girlfriend,” Michael replied as he kissed her neck again.

“Michael, wait, we can’t,” she said as she pulled back again. He sat back and gave her a pouting look. “Don’t do that, we can’t and you know it.”

“Damn him,” Michael grumbled.

“It’ll be okay, I’ll see you tomorrow,” she promised and leaned in to kiss him one more time. Then, before things could get out of hand, she got off the bed and went to the mirror. Her hair was messy, her clothes wrinkled, and her lips red and kiss-swollen, but she guessed it would be okay. Besides, if Hank thought anything was going on she doubted he’d get upset about it anyway. He wasn’t exactly the over-protective type.

“Walk me out, okay?” she said and he got up with a nod. They walked out through the living room and Hank raised an eyebrow at the two but didn’t say a word.

“Bye, Maria,” Michael said as they stood on the front stoop and shared another kiss.

“Bye,” she replied and then she was gone.

* * * * *

What had made him think of that day, he wondered. Why was his mind suddenly wandering back to a fumbling make-out session in his tiny little bedroom that had ended up going nowhere in the end? He finished his beer and sighed.

He was home now, having left the bar before her shift ended. He’d been sitting in the living room since he’d arrived back at the apartment. All he could think of was the way it felt to kiss her, to hold her . . . God, he needed more beer.

He was just getting up to go into the kitchen when he heard her key in the front door. His head turned towards the noise. She walked in and smiled at him. “Hi.”

“Hey,” he replied.

She closed and locked the door behind her and took off her coat as she came to sit across from him on the couch. “So, fancy running into you at work tonight,” she said.

“Yeah, the guys from work wanted me to go and I thought they might think it was weird that I always say no so I decided to go this time.”

“Well, that’s good,” she replied.

“So,” he said.

“So,” she repeated. Great, this is enlightening, she thought.

“You tired?” he asked.

“Not really,” she replied. It was only 8 o’clock. “Did you eat dinner yet?”

“No, I’m not hungry,” he said.

“Me either,” she replied.

“You wanna watch a movie?” he asked.

“We don’t have a VCR,” she pointed out.

He laughed. “Oh yeah. So what do you want to do?”

“I dunno,” she shrugged. “What do you want to do?”

He looked at her for a second, then took a deep breath before moving forward to capture her lips with his. She let him kiss her, enjoying the feel of his mouth pressed to hers and his tongue sliding against hers. But then, when she realized what they were doing, she pulled back.

“No, we can’t,” she said breathlessly.

“Why not?” he asked as he pressed his forehead to hers.

“Because . . . because this is . . . wrong. We just can’t.”

“That doesn’t make any sense and you know it,” he told her.

“I just can’t, okay? I just can’t.” She got up from the couch and walked quickly into the bedroom. His eyes followed her, but for the moment he stayed on the couch. He could hear her rattling around in he bedroom and finally decided to follow.

“I love you,” he said as he stood in the opened doorway.

She looked up sharply and whispered, “Don’t say that.”

“Why not? It’s true.”

“I can’t . . . God, I can’t,” she moaned. She sat down on their bed and put her head in her hands. “It’s not supposed to be this way. Our life is not supposed to be like this,” she lamented.

“We don’t have a life,” he told her as he sat down beside her. “You and I, we live in the past. We spend everyday of our miserable existence thinking back to what might have been, to what could have . . . If we wanted to give up on everything we could have just stayed in Roswell and let them arrest me.”

She looked up at him then and he saw the tears in her eyes. “Don’t say that. I never wanted that to happen,” she said.

“I know you didn’t. You saved me,” he told her. He reached down and took her hands in his. Turning one of her palms up, he used his finger to trace the faint lines there. She watched his every movement carefully. His next words came out in a whisper. “You saved me . . . now let me save us.”

When he looked up into her eyes, all she could do was nod. And then his lips were there again, pressing against hers as they fell backwards onto the bed together. His hands moved to her hips and slowly caressed her sides through her T-shirt.

She wanted him, maybe now more than ever. He was right, they’d been through so much. Didn’t they at least deserve one little bit of happiness? And if that happiness could be found only in each other’s arms then that was where she wanted to stay forever.

She moaned as his hands traveled up her body to cup her breasts through the cloth of her shirt. She arched up against him and tried to pull him closer to her.

“God, I’ve missed you,” he said as he pulled back to let them both catch their breath.

“Me too,” she smiled. Somehow she’d thought that this would be hard, falling back into his arms. But, on the contrary, it was the easiest thing she’d ever done.

He reached down the take her shirt in his hands and she lifted up a little as he pulled it over her head and tossed it to the floor. His own shirt quickly followed.

“I dreamed about this last night,” she admitted as she looked into his eyes.

He smiled slightly as his dark, desire-filled gaze swept over her face. “I dream about you every night.” He bent down again and kissed her. Their tongues dueled as their moans filled the tiny room. She felt his hands everywhere; on her breasts, in her hair, down her sides and over her hips. She ran her fingers through his short, spiky hair and returned his kisses with as much fervor.

She could have kissed him forever . . . but not tonight. Tonight she wanted to do more than kiss him. She’d just come to realize that every feeling she had repressed, every urge she’d tramped down in these last six months was now surging forth within her. She was overcome by a need for him that was too strong to deny, even if she had wanted to. She moved her hands gingerly between them and reached for the button on his jeans.

“Mmm,” he groaned against her as she undid the jeans and slowly eased down the zipper. He could feel her knuckles brush his erection and his hips jerked forward in response.

“Take them off,” she whispered as she looked up at him. He gave her a smile and quickly kicked the jeans away. His boxers followed.

“Now you,” he answered and he reached down to unfasten her jeans and pull them and her panties down her body. She took the liberty of removing her bra and now they both lay bare before each other for the very first time.

His eyes raked over her body before finally returning to her face. He cupped her cheek in one hand and said, “You’re so beautiful.”

She smiled shyly and didn’t know how to respond. But she didn’t have to. Before she knew it his lips were on hers yet again. She reached between them again to stroke his erection and he groaned.

“I want to feel you,” she said in a husky voice and he replied with a nod. He guided himself inside of her inch by inch, going slowly to allow her to get accustomed to the feel of him. “Ahhhh,” she groaned. He hissed in response.

When he was all the way inside of her, he looked into her eyes and implored her with a glance. “Is this okay? Are you okay?” he asked.

“Nothing has ever felt more perfect,” she replied and he smiled as he kissed her gently.

When he began to move, so did she. She met him thrust for thrust as he drove into her body again and again. His face was clenched in desire and she struggled to keep her eyes open to watch him. He was so beautiful. It made her ache.

She felt full at that moment, complete. It was like nothing in her life had ever been right until that very moment that he entered her, heart, body and soul. She knew then that she would never be able to let him go. But, his next words cast the final deciding vote for her.

“Maria . . . God, I love you Maria,” he moaned as he pumped into her again and again. Her heart swelled at the sound of her name on his lips. It had been so long since she’d heard him say it. It filled her with the most profound happiness that she’d ever felt.

She reached up then and touched his face. “Look at me, Michael. Look at me,” she urged. He opened his eyes and met her gaze. “I love you, too. I love you more everyday,” she told him.

He smiled down at her and she smiled back. Then his pace sped up and she felt herself teetering on the edge. The pressure within her body built up more and more until she felt like she’d burst. Then, she did. His name exploded from her lips as her body clenched around his. She felt him give one last thrust before bursting inside of her and filling her with his warmth.

When it was over, they lay there together on their bed. He was lying half on top of her, his body still resting inside of hers. He started to pull away, but she stopped him.

“I’m too heavy to be sleeping on top of you,” he said.

“You’re fine,” she assured him. “I just want to stay like this a little longer.”

He brought his lips to hers in the sweetest kiss she’d ever received. “You have no idea how long I’ve wished for this,” he told her. “I love you, Maria.”

Once again, the sound of her name on his lips brought a smile. “You said my name,” she whispered.

He nodded. “Maria is the one I love . . . and that will never change,” he replied.

She felt tears well in her eyes at his sweet words. He moved off of her then, but quickly pulled her against his chest and into a snug embrace.

“We may not have the best life here,” he told her. “But we will always have each other. Nothing can take that from us.”

She nodded against his chest. Nothing would ever come between them again. She’d make sure of that. But for now, all she wanted to do was sleep in his arms. The rest of the world would just have to wait.