Liz felt like liquid heat was running through her veins, her encounter with Brandon quickly forgotten in the light of being plastered to every inch of Max’s hard body. His heart was thundering against her ear and he was running his hand through her hair almost absently. ‘I want him.’ The thought came unbidden and unplanned. ‘I want him as I have never wanted anything in my life.’ Liz had to fight against the impulse to rub her body against his in an attempt to find relief for the intense ache low in her stomach. Instead she removed her arms from around his middle and slid them up over his shoulders to encircle his neck. Max instinctively moved to bring her between his legs, the arm around her dipping lower to rest on the swell of her buttocks, pressing her body into his. Liz couldn’t stop the sound escaping from her throat at the intimate contact.

Two emotions were rapidly overpowering all the others in the connection they were sharing: desire and need. Max was stunned. ‘Alex was right, she does want me!’ But the extent of Liz’s desire for him still amazed him. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that anybody could ever feel like this about him, and the fact that it was Liz was even more incredible. His body was on fire, ignited by the brush of hers. Kissing her was becoming a necessity, not an option.

He slid the hand that had been caressing her hair to her chin, angling her face up to his. Liz was breathing hard, her lips parted. Max felt like stars were exploding in his head as he slid his mouth over hers. The kiss was instantly hot, deep and passionate. Like they couldn’t get enough of each other. Their tongues were mating frantically, lips grinding together in an ever-increasing need to be closer. Max slid his hand those final few inches to cup her behind. He arched her lower body against his and heard her moan. The sound went straight to his loins. He was dimly aware of the fact that they were in the middle of the Crashdown and that anyone would be able to see them from the street, but the feel of her rubbing against his arousal was his fantasy come to life. He tore his mouth from hers, leaving a trail of moist kisses over her closed eyelids, her cheeks, her jaw-line, finally reaching her neck. He ached to run his hands under her sweater, feeling her bare skin against his fingers.

Liz had her head thrown back, allowing his lips access to her neck. Mindless little sounds were escaping her mouth, urging him on. She felt him swirl his tongue round the hollow in her throat. "Max, please…" she begged. She needed… something.

Max heard the breathless plea and pulled his mouth away from her. They stared at each other, both trying to catch their breath. "Please…" Liz repeated her plea, looking up into his eyes with all the desire she felt for him. The look nearly brought Max to his knees.

"Please what?" he asked, his voice husky with passion.

And beautiful, clever, eloquent Liz Parker couldn’t tell him. She didn’t know how to put into words what she wanted, NEEDED from him. "Just… PLEASE!" she whispered with more urgency, her gaze dropping to his mouth. His perfect mouth that could weave such magic on her skin.

Max was struggling to cope with the rush of feelings that her urgent words had evoked. He violently wanted to carry her up to her room and finish what they started, but the part of his mind that was still functioning rationally was keeping him from doing that. There were so many things he still needed to know about himself, about what would happen to Liz when they… Looking down into her beautiful face still flushed with the passion that he invoked, he experienced an overwhelming urge to bind her to him so tightly that no one could ever take her from his side again.

He watched her glazed eyes roam his face and knew he had to cool this encounter while he still could. He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her mouth, trying not to notice how her lips clung to his when he pulled away. "Liz, you have to open the café." His voice still sounded strangled, even to his own ears. He watched helplessly as she licked her lips with a soft sigh.

Liz was slowly coming back to earth. Her mind struggling to cope with the reality of what he was saying. It took all she had not to fling herself back into his arms…

Max let her out of his embrace slowly, watching carefully to see if she was okay without his body to support her. Her chest was heaving with her labored breathing and Max felt a small kernel of satisfaction forming in his chest with the knowledge that this was because of him.

"I’ll just go and… uhm… get dressed." Liz’s words were slurred and nearly indistinct. She wanted to flee from him and hide herself away from his disturbing presence. Either that or jump him! She shakily decided to go with the first option and took off towards the lockers at the back of the café.

Max grinned at her desperate attempt to get away from him as quickly as possible. Now that he’s experienced her need for him, the frantic fear that he wouldn’t be close to her again has left him. And in its place remained a man with a mission. He was going to tease Liz Parker as mercilessly as she had teased him today in the Biology class or die trying!

Max sauntered to the back of the café when he judged he had given her enough time to get into her uniform. As he reached the door, Liz came out, hopping on one foot while trying to get her sneaker on. She stopped dead when she spied Max right in front of her. Her eyes going helplessly to his mouth and then lower to his chest, encased in a white T-shirt.

Max smiled as he walked up to her. "Here let my help you with that…" Liz squeaked in surprise as his hands spanned her waist and he picked her up easily. Max deposited her on the café’s counter and knelt down by her feet. Liz could hardly breath as he gently tied the laces of her sneakers, his fingers brushing her ankles lightly. When the small task was completed he stayed at her feet and looked up at her. She felt him run his fingers up her calves so softly that she at first thought she imagined it. But the way his eyes darkened told her that this was really happening. She felt goosebumps break out all over her body as his fingers traced patterns closer and closer to the backs of her knees. Liz arched her neck involuntarily. Finally, his hands cupped her calves and he leant closer, placing a soft kiss on each of her knees, causing Liz to whisper his name in ecstasy.

Max got up slowly. He slid his fingertips up her arms causing Liz to shiver. He bent to her ear: "Where are the keys?"

Liz blinked in confusion. ‘Keys? What keys? What was he talking about? WHY was he talking?’ Her arms were creeping up to his neck out of their own volition.

Max caught her hands in his, pulling them down to her lap. "I need the keys to unlock the door to allow paying customers to come in…" he said with a small smile.

Liz blinked again. "Customers… the door…" She was having a hard time concentrating on what he was saying.

Max looked towards the door and saw the keys hanging in the lock. He smiled back at her innocently: "Don’t worry! Found them." He went to the door, finding it already unlocked. He grimaced, remembering that Brandon had been there earlier. When he turned back, Liz was still sitting on the counter in a daze, watching him. He walked back to her, trying to ignore the way her eyes were hungrily running over his body.

He had barely reached her when the door burst open, revealing a harassed looking Maria. "Hi guys!" Maria yelled, running past them to the back.

Max turned back to Liz and saw that she had missed the top fastening of her uniform. Liz nearly fainted when she saw him staring at her chest. Max moved closer and gently dragged the edges of her uniform together, fastening it. His fingers were warm against her skin inside the deep V of her uniform. Liz inhaled sharply. She brought her hands up to his, not sure what she wanted to do with them.

Maria came back and stopped in her tracks. Were Max Evans’ hands where she thought they were? "Hello!" she cried and noted with satisfaction that Max jumped away from Liz with a start, his hands falling to his sides. She folded her arms, looking at the two of them. Apparently the racier version of the Eraser Room rumor was not as farfetched as she thought it was! "Lizzie, time to start working, girl!" She glared at Max: "And get away from her, or we’ll never serve anybody here this afternoon."

Max just grinned at Liz and went to park himself in his favorite booth. He intended to stay there for a long time!

Maria was perplexed. Was this the same Max Evans that hardly ever spoke to anyone or cracked a smile? And Liz was looking even more besotted (if that’s at all possible) than she did after Max had saved her life. Maria was determined to get to the bottom of this. She dragged Liz down from the counter by her arm and into the back room. Liz trailed behind her and kept looking back at Max over her shoulder.

Maria whirled on Liz as soon as the door closed behind them. "What is going on with you two, Liz? And don’t give me that ‘pretend’ crap either, cause there was no one here you had to pretend for just now!"

Liz couldn’t care less what Maria was yelling about, she just needed to get back out there. Back to Max…