Chapter 12
January ended and February began. With each passing week, Max and Liz spent more and more time together or at least as much time as their hectic schedules would allow. They’d even started spending time with Michael and Maria doing things as couples. Each of them was content with their developing relationships and friendships.
It was Thursday, Feb 12th…two days before Valentine’s Day. Max, Liz, Michael and Maria were all eating lunch together. Max and Michael were keeping themselves occupied with a conversation about something sports related while Liz and Maria played catch up. It seemed like they’d barely had a chance to talk to each other for weeks.
“Liz…please! Come with Alex and me tonight. We haven’t spent time with you in forever,” Maria whined to her friend.
“I’m really sorry, Maria, but I already have plans,” Liz explained. She did want to spend time with both Alex and Maria but she’d been working up the courage to talk to Max about something important. She wanted to have that talk that night. She had come to the decision that she wanted to move the physical part of their relationship forward. Up to that point they hadn’t done any more than some heavy, over the clothes, petting. She wanted more. Max made her feel things she’d never felt before and she wanted to share everything of herself with him. She knew she was ready. Liz thought that Saturday night, Valentines Day, would be the perfect time for them to take their relationship to the next level.
“Listen, I know that Thursdays are supposed to be ‘Max’ nights but it seems like lately, every night has been a ‘Max’ night. Chica, I’m your best friend…. please don’t say no!” Maria begged.
Liz was about to apologize and tell Maria that she still couldn’t go when Max interrupted.
“Liz, you should go. You haven’t spent very much time with Maria lately. I can maybe call my sister and get this month’s dinner out of the way. Especially since I missed last months.”
“Are you sure?” she asked uncertainly.
He nodded and smiled assuredly. “It’ll be fine. Besides, we’ve got the whole weekend to spend time together right?”
Liz felt her cheeks flush at the thought of what she hoped they would spend the weekend doing. “Will you call me when you get done at your sister’s though?”
Max smiled and fought the urge to kiss her. “Of course.”
Maria rolled her eyes. She’d never seen a couple moon over each other as much as Max and Liz did. It was cute but completely gag worthy. “Good grief you two. It’s just one night apart. Surely you can handle it without keeling over completely.”
******
That night Max braved a tempest by going to Isabel’s house for dinner. He’d barely spoken to his sister since Christmas, not wanting to hear any of her opinions on his new relationship. If Isabel hadn’t been his sister, there was no way in hell that he’d ever be friends with a woman like her. He was going to suck it up and try to get through a whole evening without being affected by Isabel’s ice bitch routine.
As he rang the doorbell though, all he could think was that he missed Liz. It felt odd not being with her. He hoped that she was having a good time with Maria and Alex though.
Max and Isabel managed to have a fairly pleasant conversation as they waited for dinner. Isabel poured them both a glass of wine and started talking about her job. She talked for what seemed like forever on the subject. As an afterthought she did mention that she and Jesse had decided to start planning for children. Max tried valiantly not to roll his eyes. His sister made plans to plan…he couldn’t understand how she even survived the day to day things that life surprised a person with. With as structured as her life was, he doubted she’d even be able to handle any children.
Max said nothing on the subject though. He just tried to keep the conversation focused on Isabel. But it only lasted so long before the tables turned and Isabel began to question him.
“So…are you still seeing Liz?” she asked, wasting no time in getting directly to the point.
“Yes,” he answered without hesitation. He wasn’t going to hide his relationship just because Isabel disapproved.
“When do you think you’ll be out of this phase, Max?”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” He was quickly getting angry and past tired of his sister’s attitude and the way she thought it was her right to stick her nose in his affairs.
“I’m just curious when you’re going to realize that your little relationship isn’t going to work,” she stated calmly.
“Where do you get off saying it isn’t going to work? It’s worked so far. It’s worked very well in fact,” he said defensively.
“Fine, but at some point you’re going to have to open your eyes and see the you two are at very different places in your lives,” she told him.
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re twenty-eight years old Max. You’ll be twenty-nine in March. You are at a point in life where it’s time to settle down and start thinking about a family.”
Max snorted in disbelief. “Not everything works according to your time table, Isabel.”
“Maybe you aren’t ready right this moment, but think about this. Liz is seven years younger than you. She’s got plans for grad school. Do you really think she’s going to want to settle down at any time in the next five years? Probably not. You’ve said yourself that she’s intelligent and has the potential to go far in her career. Do you want to hinder that by confusing her and tying her down?”
Max stared past Isabel, saying nothing. He understood what his sister was saying. He’d thought some of the same things, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to be with Liz for as long as possible. With a big sigh he finally looked at her again. “Isabel, I’m well aware of all of this. Why can’t you just let it be what it is? I like her…I care about her …we spend time together, enjoy each other’s company…”
“I would just let it be, Max, but I know you and you don’t just like her…you’re falling in love with her. If you let this drag out any further, you’re only going to fall more deeply and in the end you’re both going to have to make a decision about what’s more important. A career or a relationship. Liz deserves the chance to make something of herself Max. She’s so blinded by her infatuation with you that she’ll give that up. You have to think of her now…break it off now before the decision is out of both your hands and you end up resenting each other.”
Max didn’t know what to say. His mind was so full now…he hadn’t thought this deeply about that…he hadn’t wanted to. He’d only wanted to live in the now. He didn’t want to think about the possibility that he and Liz might not be together. Without another word to Isabel, Max grabbed his coat and left her house. He didn’t need to hear any more from her. He had enough to think about on his own.
******
Liz was getting worried. Thursday night she’d stayed up until midnight, waiting for Max to call like he’d promised. He never did. She hadn’t seen him at all on Friday and when she’d called his house, the answering machine had picked up. She knew she must have left at least a half dozen messages and she refused to leave any more.
She was quickly beginning to worry. Was something wrong? Was he sick…did something happen to someone in his family?
The thoughts became overwhelming and soon her fears got the better of her. Liz found herself driving almost blindly through town to get to Max’s house on Friday night. His car was there in the driveway. The curtains were drawn and the house looked dark. With a shaky hand she rang the doorbell.
Moments later the front door opened to reveal a somewhat haggard looking Max. He was surprised to see her for some reason. He hadn’t expected her to come over to his house. Part of him was glad to see her…he’d been listening to her messages and wanting to see her. He knew that she was worried, she’d said as much in the last message she’d left and now he could see it clearly written all over her face.
“Max are you okay? I’ve been calling all day…worried sick about you? Did something happen? Is everything all right?”
Max had to force himself to look away from her. Everything wasn’t all right. He hadn’t slept at all the night before and he hadn’t been able to focus in any of his classes. He’d come home early to try and relax but it had been to no avail.
“Why don’t you come inside and we can talk,” he finally told her. He let her pass through and ushered her to the living room couch.
Liz sat down and immediately turned to face him. She looked curious and nervous and completely unsure of what to think. He wished that he could reassure her but he didn’t know how.
“I’ve been thinking, Liz…all night in fact and…” Max couldn’t even look at her. He didn’t know why he was doing this. “…I’ve been wondering where our relationship is going and I don’t have an answer for that. I keep going over it in my mind and the truth is I don’t know if it can go anywhere. What we have now is great…but if you think about it, after May, our lives are going to lead in different directions. You’re going off to grad school…I’m staying here to teach. I want something permanent Liz. I don’t think that you’re in a position to offer me that. You have too much ahead of you to be tied down and I can’t stand in the way.” Max had practiced this speech a hundred times in his head…but he couldn’t believe how detached his own voice sounded. It was a struggle to get the words out. It hurt…so much to even say this.
“What are you saying, Max?” Liz asked. Max could see the unshed tears in her confusion clouded eyes and quickly looked away, starring at a spot on the carpet to keep his own emotions in check.
“I’m saying I don’t think it would be a good idea for us to keep seeing each other and get even more involved. Right now…I have no regrets about this relationship. We’ve enjoyed spending time together…but we aren’t so attached that we can’t move forward with our lives…s-separately.” He almost choked on the last word.
“I don’t think you mean it,” Liz stated, the quivering in her voice betrayed her uncertainty.
“I do.”
“Then look at me and say it,” she demanded.
Slowly he turned his face to look at her. She looked so pale and vulnerable. A stray tear had escaped and was falling silently down her cheek. He wanted to take her in his arms and tell her he didn’t care about anything but her. But he knew that he couldn’t be selfish. He was trying to make sure she had the life she deserved.
“Liz…I…” he couldn’t do it. He had to look away. “We both want different things out of life, Liz. Our lives aren’t compatible.”
Tears were now streaming down Liz’s face. She hadn’t seen this coming. There hadn’t been any signs. Up to this point, everything had been fine. God…she’d never felt pain like this before…she couldn’t believe how badly hearing him say those things hurt.
Not able to stand it any more she got up quickly, running out of the house as fast as her legs would carry her. Not caring where she was going she just put one foot in front of the other, only aware of one thing. Max Evans had broken her heart.
*****
An hour later, Liz was sitting outside a gas station, waiting numbly for the opportunity to use the pay phone. Her fingers shakily dialed the phone number and she waited, biting her lip to keep from crying any more.
“Hello?” a bright voice answered on the other end.
“M-Maria? It's…It’s me, Liz. I…I need you to come pick me u-up.”
“Liz? Liz where are you at? Are you okay? You don’t sound okay. What happened?”
“I-I j-just really need you right now. I can’t explain…just p-please…” her voice trailed off as she was unable to keep the tears back any longer. Maria spent a few moments trying to calm Liz down enough to get the information on where she was.
Ten minutes later, Maria’s red Jetta sped into the gas station’s parking lot. With the car still running she jumped out of the car and ran toward Liz, enveloping her in a hug. She helped her to the car and it was then that Liz really broke down. As she sobbed she brokenly told Maria everything that Max had said.
“I-I don’t know w-what to do…I love him…so much and …why is he doing this?” Liz asked trying to make some sense out of any of it.
“I don’t know, Liz…I’m just really sorry I ever encourage you to pursue things with him,” Maria told her honestly. She felt partially to blame after the way she and Michael had deviously worked to push Max and Liz together. To see Liz hurt like this…well, she felt like it was all her fault.
Maria took Liz back to the dorm and settled her in her room. She called Grandma Claudia then and explained the situation. The older woman had immediately gotten in her car to come get Liz. She knew Liz needed a shoulder to cry on and she had every intention of being there for her granddaughter.
It was a very angry Maria that watched her despondent best friend ride off in Grandma Claudia’s car later on. As soon as they were out of sight, Maria called Michael.
******
Max found himself starring outside. He couldn’t help it. After Liz had run off, he hadn’t been able to stop the emotion that had over whelmed. His eyes were bloodshot and had dark circles under them. When he’d finally got himself under control he’d walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water. That’s when he’d noticed Liz’s car in the driveway. She was nowhere to be seen. He had immediately started to worry. It was dark now and the car was still sitting there. He was beginning to panic. What if something had happened to her? He’d never forgive himself.
The ringing of the doorbell jolted him from his half coherent state and he quickly went to answer it, hoping that it would be Liz. Knowing that if it was…he’d fall to his knees and beg for forgiveness. He was an idiot. He needed her and…
The door opened revealing a very pissed off Michael. A pissed off Michael who promptly punched Max in the face.
“Sorry man…that’s from Maria,” he told Max as he helped him through the door.
Max groaned loudly. He was going to have a really good black eye now. He deserved it though. He deserved everything bad that happened to him after what he’d done.
“Max…what were you thinking?” Michael asked quietly as he handed Max a bag of ice that he’d retrieved from the kitchen.
“I …I was thinking that I’m in love with her and that I only want her to be happy. I guess I got afraid that the more time we spent together the harder it would be when she had to leave for grad school. I got scared.”
“I still don’t get it, Maxwell. I saw you two together just yesterday. You pulled her behind a tree just so you could kiss her goodbye. And you told me all of this stuff about how wonderful everything was because of Liz. Now…you’ve done this complete 180 and I’m confused. What the hell happened to bring this on?” Michael demanded.
“I had dinner at Isabel’s last night and she just kept going on and on about how it would never work and …”
“Holy Shit! I can’t believe this. You let Isabel talk you into this? You know…I really thought you were a hell of a lot smarter than that, Max.”
They sat there in silence for a while and Michael contemplated the way his friend’s entire demeanor spoke of devastation.
“Get up!” he said suddenly, pulling Max off the couch.
“What…?”
“Look, I’ve got to get Liz’s car back to the dorm. You’re going to follow me in my car and then…I’m taking you to go fix this little mess you’ve gotten yourself into.
******
Claudia watched Liz as she lay motionless on the couch. The TV was on but she could tell that Liz wasn’t watching. She was just laying there, a blank look on her face. She hadn’t eaten anything all night and she’d thrown up whatever food she’d had earlier in the day. It hurt Claudia to see Liz in so much pain. She wasn’t sure what to do for her.
Liz didn’t know what to do with herself. She felt sick. It was like her entire body hurt. But she knew it wasn’t physical pain. Her mind was racing as she went over things in her mind, trying to recall anything that could have suggested this would happen. But there was nothing…she couldn’t even think of what might have gone wrong. It had all been so wonderful. Maybe that’s why it was so hard. Because it had been so perfect…maybe too perfect.
Liz wandered off to her room at some point during the night. She wanted to try and sleep. She thought that maybe if she slept she wouldn’t have to think about any of this. But she couldn’t sleep, so she was instantly aware of something happening downstairs when she heard voices some time after midnight. Getting up from her bed, she wiped her wet cheeks and went to see what was going on.
What she found shocked her. Max was there, arguing with her grandmother.
“No…I certainly don’t think that you should be allowed to see her. Especially not after what you did to her. Max…go home,” Claudia told the haggard looking young man. A small part of her sympathized with his plight but an even larger part of her was intent on protecting Liz. She wasn’t about to allow Max to hurt her more, no matter how much he claimed to have been wrong.
“Sorry, Mrs. Parker…but that’s not going to be possible. You see I’m under strict orders not to let Max leave until he tells Liz everything. She needs to know where this all came from,” Michael’s voice explained.
“And who, pray tell, are these ‘strict orders’ from?” Claudia asked curiously.
“Uhm…Maria Deluca. My girlfriend…Liz’s best friend.”
“Oh well…I still don’t think…” Claudia’s words were cut off when Liz entered the room.
Max’s heart broke when he saw her. Her eyes were puffy and the tear tracks were still visible on her face. Her skin was still so pale and he could see her hands trembling.
“What do you want?” her voice came out surprisingly calm. Liz was grateful for that one thing. She didn’t want any pity from Max.
“I want to explain,” Max told her taking a step toward her.
Liz automatically stepped back, unable to handle any physical closeness.
She could see the hurt the clouded Max’s eyes at the gesture. It was hard to experience this…knowing that Liz had closed herself off to him when just the day before he’d been able to touch her and kiss her and…now he had ruined everything.
“I think you already did,” Liz replied.
“No…I made a mistake. I…I listened to some bad advice…when I should have…I should have been listening to my heart,” Max voice said brokenly.
He could see Liz falter at that. She was fighting with herself. She wanted to get as far away from him as possible because it hurt to see him and remember everything that he’d said earlier. At the same time, she wanted him to give her a reason to forgive him, for them to be together.
“I think that we’ll leave you two alone,” Claudia said softly, pulling Michael after her into the kitchen.
The room was silent as they stood there looking at each other.
Liz waited patiently for Max to speak.
He opened his mouth but suddenly…he couldn’t find the words.
“If you aren’t going to say anything I can’t stand here with you anymore,” Liz told him and started to leave, not wanting him to see her crying any more.
“No…wait,” he said, moving after her, grabbing her arm to keep her from leaving.
Liz wanted to pull free but she didn’t have the strength. Instead, she turned to face him.
“ I was wrong. I…I’ve made a huge mistake, Liz. I don’t care about what happens in the future. I want to be with you now. I can’t stand the thought of not being able to see you every day and touch you and…” Max took a deep breath, tears welling up in his own eyes. “ I love you. I want to make us work. I know that I’ve hurt you and I can’t make up for that…but please…. I need you and I’m so sorry, Liz. I thought I was doing the right thing. But the second I saw your face after I said all of those untruthful things…I knew that I was wrong.”
Liz found the courage to pull away from Max then. Her heart was beating wildly at his words. He loved her.
“It doesn’t change the fact that you said what you said, Max,” she told him softly. “I’ve been thinking too. Maybe you’re right. Maybe we shouldn’t be together. It’s true that our lives have been on different paths. I recognized that from the start. I just didn’t want to think about it. I know it’s a concern. But you know what really bothers me?” she asked, looking directly into amber eyes full of pain. “ You didn’t even try to work it out with me. You took it all on yourself. You didn’t ask how I felt or even what I wanted.”
“I’m sorry…so very sorry,” he whispered.
“Me too. Because if you had asked, I would have told you what I’d been thinking lately. I would have told you that I’ve been making some decisions in my life. Decisions that would eventually affect our future together. You didn’t give me the chance to tell you that I’d changed my mind about grad school…that along with that I’m ready for things like a family…a permanent place for me to belong. If you would have just talked to me, Max, we could have figured all of this out together. Instead…you hurt me. Now I don’t know what to do,” she finished softly.
Max quickly wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his jacket.
“I just want a chance Liz. I want to make this up to you. I’ll do anything,” he pleaded.
“ How can I be sure that this won’t happen again,” she asked him.
Max hung his head. “Because doing this was like ripping out my own heart. I was blinded by what I thought would be best for you. You’re right, if I would have just asked you I would have realized that you’re capable of deciding these things on your own. I don’t want to be without you, Liz. But I will understand if you can’t be with me after what I did.”
Liz saw the anguish in his eyes and knew that she couldn’t stay apart from him any more. Startling him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried his face in his chest. Max held her tightly, thanking god that he’d been given this second chance.
“I have to trust you again,” Liz whispered.
“You will,” he promised. He’d do everything in his power to make sure of it.
They stood there then, holding each other, afraid to let go.
It was Liz who broke the silence, her words easing some of the pain that had been a shroud in Max’s heart.
“I love you, Max.”
Right Kind of Wrong (AU,M/L,ADULT) Pt 20 - 01/15/04 [WIP]
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carenicoleIQ
- Enthusiastic Roswellian
- Posts: 36
- Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2001 4:58 pm
- Location: Nebraska
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carenicoleIQ
- Enthusiastic Roswellian
- Posts: 36
- Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2001 4:58 pm
- Location: Nebraska
Chapter 13
Saturday dawned all too early for everyone in the Parker household. Max and Michael had spent the night in the guest bedroom with Max delegated to the floor. Michael had claimed he needed to do a little bit more penance for his earlier actions. Max had not protested, his thoughts were still with the petite brunette only two doors away.
When Liz came down the stairs that morning she was greeted by the sight of two tired men hungrily eating the pancakes that grandma Claudia had generously put before them. They were so focused on their eating that they didn’t notice her at first. Michael looked tired but none the worse for the wear. Liz had just gotten off the phone with Maria who had apparently already been filled in on everything through an early morning call to Michael via his cell phone.
Max was a different picture entirely. His hair was boyishly disheveled and his clothes were rumpled. It was his facial expression that caught Liz’s attention. Aside from the tired lines etched in his features there was an uncertainty about him. Like he didn’t know what to do next.
After another moment of watching, Liz fully entered the kitchen, greeting everyone with a soft good morning. Max’s attention immediately shifted from the food in front of him to Liz. His eyes seemed to devour the sight of her hungrily.
“Did you sleep okay?” Liz asked, directing the question to both Max and Michael.
“Oh, yeah! That guest room bed is great!” came Michael’s immediate response.
Max didn’t say anything. Liz wondered if he’d spent the whole night awake like she had. Her brain had been so full of crazy thoughts. Over and over she kept thinking about how close they’d actually come to losing each other. It was scary and painful to even contemplate. Twelve hours had been hell enough; the thought of spending the rest of her life with out Max in it was just unacceptable in Liz’s mind.
Halfway through breakfast, Claudia asked Michael if he wouldn’t mind looking at something for her. He’d agreed and followed her out of the kitchen leaving Max and Liz alone.
For the first time ever…things seemed awkward between them.
“We need to talk this through,” Liz said, breaking the stilted silence.
“You’re right,” Max agreed. “ I just don’t know what to say. Sorry doesn’t seem like enough. There’s no excuse for what I did. I was trying to do what I thought was best for you but …
Liz cut off Max’s words by placing her finger against his lips.
“I don’t think that we should talk about this here. I need some time yet, to sort through what happened and I think that it would be best if you and Michael went home. It would probably be good for both of us to spend a little bit of time apart…so that we can gain some perspective.” Liz explained.
Max swallowed hard. She wanted time away from him now. Not that he could blame her. He didn’t know how she could stand to be around someone who had hurt her the way he had. But he didn’t want to just give up. He needed her. “What about tonight though. We’re still got reservations for Valentine’s Day…”
“Max…we can celebrate some other night. I really think it’s best. I’m going to stay here with grandma tonight and then Maria already offered to come pick me up tomorrow morning. I promise that I’ll come to see you tomorrow…so that we can talk everything out. This will give us both time to figure out what we want to say.”
Max wasn’t sure how to respond. He knew that she was right. A lot had happened in the last twenty-four hours and they both needed time to get their heads together. He could also sense that Liz wanted a little bit of space and he’d do whatever she needed if it meant that they could get their relationship back together after the damage that he had caused.
A short while later, Liz stood outside with Max, as he and Michael were getting ready to leave. It was killing her that things with Max were so awkward. It was almost as if he were afraid to come close to her…to touch her. Taking the initiative she closed the distance between them, pulling him into a hug, inhaling his scent as they held onto each other tightly. They finally pulled apart slightly and Liz leaned up, kissing Max gently on the lips. Max sighed as he returned the kiss. He’d wanted to feel her lips against his for the past 48 hours. It had been too long since he’d felt their softness pressed so temptingly against his. This kiss wasn’t necessarily passion igniting, though. It was a promise of good things to come. They reluctantly pulled apart, but not before one last hug. Liz was quick to pull away after that, she was already regretting her decision for them to be apart for the day. She went inside quickly so that she wouldn’t watch Max go and change her mind.
Liz spent the rest of the day trying to relax. She was emotionally exhausted but she knew she still had to settle everything that she wanted to say to Max. But she wasn’t able to focus. She could only think about how if she’d gone with him, they’d be at his house and maybe they’d have already worked through everything.
Sensing that Liz needed a distraction, grandma Claudia talked her into making cookies. They made enough for Liz to take some to Max, Michael, Maria and Alex. They were just putting the last batch into the oven when the doorbell rang.
Liz went to answer it, a small part of her was hoping that maybe Max had decided that he didn’t want them to be apart and he was going to sweep her away. At the same time she was aware that she really did need to sort things out still. The only problem was that all she could think about was how much she just wanted to be with him…in his presence so that she could feel close to him.
As she opened the door she was surprised and slightly disappointed to see, not Max, but a deliveryman holding a large bouquet of the most beautiful white roses she’d ever seen. Shakily, Liz took the flowers and thanked the deliveryman. She walked sort of dazedly, staring at the beautiful roses. She breathed in the fragrant scent of them, absorbing them, soaking them in. She barely noticed Claudia’s exclamation at the sight of the vase in Liz’s hands.
Her grandmother’s voice was finally able to bring Liz back to reality. “Well…did you look at the card? Who are they from?” she asked, as if she didn’t already have a fairly good idea.
Liz’s heart thumped a little bit wildly as she reached for the card. Her hands shook with her excitement, knowing it was from Max…
Tears formed in her eyes as she read the words written in Max’s neat print.
My Dearest Liz,
There are twenty-four roses because I know now that twenty-four hours is too long to be without you. I also know that when I’m with you…twenty-four hours just isn’t enough. I love you.
Max
Liz knew without a doubt that she and Max would be able to work through this. As long as they could talk to each other and get everything between them out in the open they would be fine. There wouldn’t be any more heartbreak because of miscommunication or uncertainty. Liz knew that she need to reassure Max that her future was going to include him no matter what.
*****
That next morning Liz was very anxious to leave with Maria. She wanted to see Max and to explain what she’d realized and tell him that she was sorry for not being more up front about what she wanted from him. Which turned out to be a lot. She lain awake for a good portion of the night, trying to plan what she was going to say, but she knew in the end that things would work best if she let her heart do the talking.
As Maria drove, Liz got caught up quickly in the fantasy of how her reunion with Max would play out. She wasn’t even paying attention to what Maria was saying. She wasn’t in the mood to rehash everything with Maria. All she knew was that in a few short hours, she would be kissing Max.
The scene played out vividly in her head. She would ring the doorbell and he would answer, flinging the door wide open. She could imagine his gaze sweeping over her lustfully before he picked her up and carried her quickly into the house. Then he’d kiss her until she was breathless and while he did that, he’d be carrying her right into his bedroom. They would both pull apart reluctantly from the kiss, only to catch their breath before kissing again. Max would undress her slowly, peeling her clothes off and touching her everywhere before kissing her in the same places. They’d make love then and it would be tender and sweet and then they’d talk and she’d tell him everything that she’d thought of. Then they could make love again.
Liz felt her cheeks flush at her thoughts. She wondered what it would feel like to have Max inside of her…just the thought made her ache to be with him.
If she were smart…she’d wait. They needed to be sure of each other first before they took a big step like that. But Liz knew she was ready. And she was sure of only one thing. That she wanted to be with Max for as long as she possibly could, no matter what lay ahead for them.
Her thoughts were interrupted as Maria’s babbling words suddenly caught her attention.
“When I called Michael…he couldn’t believe what Max had done. He just kept telling me that Max had never been happier. Then I started thinking about what could have possibly happened to change all of that. And I remembered that the night you came with me and Alex, Max went and had dinner with his sister, right?”
Liz nodded, wondering where Maria was going with all of this.
“Well…Isabel hasn’t exactly made it a big secret that she disapproves of yours and Max’s relationship. So it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think that she might try to break you two up,” Maria continued.
“What exactly are you getting at Maria? Do you think Isabel might have started this?”
“I’m saying that Isabel decided to butt her upturned nose into your business. Michael confirmed the whole thing when I asked him about it. Max told him how Isabel totally ambushed him at dinner. I guess she played the whole ‘You have to do what’s best for Liz…she has too much life to live to be tied down’ shit. Of course, Michael explained that Max always tries to do what’s best for the people he loves and he really loves you…”
Liz didn’t catch the rest of Maria’s thoughts. It was all coming together in her mind. She was realizing the reason behind her and Max’s entire misunderstanding. Suddenly…she didn’t blame Max for any of it. In fact, aside from a little need for reassurance for Max that she wasn’t going anywhere that didn’t include him, Liz was now certain that their relationship was fine. She’d already forgiven him, but it was now obvious that, however misguided his actions, they’d resulted from how strongly he felt about her and how much he wanted to be happy. Even if that happiness came at his expense.
Interrupting Maria, Liz asked Maria for her cell phone. With a questioning glance, Maria handed it over. Liz dialed Michael’s phone number then. She had a plan. As soon as she reached Las Cruces, she was going to settle things with Isabel Ramirez, once and for all.
*****
When Maria pulled up in front of the Ramirez house, she took it all in with wide eyes. This was the swanky part of town. The neighborhood was high class. The houses looked big enough to be apartment buildings you probably needed to own your own BMW just to be allowed to visit.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked, turning to Liz who looked more than a little bit nervous. Liz hesitated a moment before gathering her nerve. She nodded to Maria and before anything more could be said; she bounded out of the car and up the front walk to the front door. She rang the doorbell quickly, not wanting to chicken out at the last minute.
When the door opened, a completely polished Isabel Evans-Ramirez stood in front of her. She looked more than a little surprised to see Liz on her doorstep. “Liz…what a …surprise. Is there something I can do for you?” she asked coolly.
Liz stuck out her chin, refusing to be intimidated by Isabel’s frosty attitude. “ I’m here to talk to you about something. Can I come in?”
It was Isabel who appeared hesitant this time before giving in and showing Liz inside the house. Liz noticed that the house seemed sort of cold…just like it’s occupant. Everything was pristine and looked somehow untouched. Liz was almost afraid that her mere presence would spoil the perfection of it all.
She noticed Isabel looking at her expectantly. Liz decided to just cut to the chase. No point in wasting either of their time. She had somewhere to be as soon as she was through here. Somewhere infinitely more appealing.
Liz cleared her throat and then met Isabel’s gaze head on. “ I want to know what you said to Max that would make him think he needed to call things off between us.”
“I merely gave him my honest opinion,” Isabel stated.
“Which is?”
Before Isabel answered, she casually sat her self down on the leather sofa. Even after gesturing for her to sit as well, Liz remained standing. “That you have a school girl crush on him. That’s what this is and that’s not what he needs. What he’s looking for is someone to settle down with, to raise a family with. You aren’t that person, Liz.”
Liz became furious at Isabel’s words. Keeping her anger under control she spoke. “How do you know that? You don’t know anything about me…how could you know if that’s the type of person I am?”
“Liz, you’re young and smart and you’re future is still undetermined. Max has already picked his path…it’s just not one that includes a college student girlfriend.”
Liz studied Isabel closely. There was something else there. It seemed so odd that Isabel should be so against this. “What do you have the bigger problem with Isabel? Is it the fact that I’m younger than him? Or is it that I make him happy?”
Isabel looked startled by the last question. Before she could respond, Liz went on.
“I think that even though you care for Max, that doesn’t give you permission to interfere with his life. You need to let him make his own decisions. Maybe Max and I aren’t meant to be … but what harm would there have been in letting us figure that out on our own? Max and I are adults; we’re both aware of the risks involved in this relationship. I love him…. I’m going to do whatever I can to make him happy. And if you really loved him, you’d let him be happy. Because he is Isabel…he’s happy with me.”
With that said, Liz got up and let herself out of the cold house, leaving a speechless Isabel behind.
*****
It was nearly eight o’clock. Max was starting to get worried. First he’d wondered if maybe she wasn’t going to come after all. Maybe all of that time she’d taken had made her realize that she couldn’t forgive him and that she didn’t want to be with him after all. Of course then he’d wondered if maybe she and Maria had gotten stranded somewhere or worse…what if they’d gotten into an accident. Max was just about to call Michael for the seventh or eighth time to see if he’d heard from Maria at all, when he heard the doorbell. He practically ran to the front door and when he saw Liz standing there, he didn’t even hesitate; he just pulled her into his arms and dragged her into the house.
Once he got her inside and he saw that she was okay, her relaxed his hold on her a little. Liz smiled up at Max, seeing the relief on his face made her want to laugh. Max could see the sparkle in her eye and felt hope fill his heart.
“What took you so long?” he asked, curious about why she hadn’t come sooner.
“I had something to take care of. I’m sorry I didn’t get here earlier. I know that we have a lot to talk about.”
Max nodded and they both went to sit down. Not willing to be separated from each other too much, they sat side by side on the couch. The awkwardness that had been between them the day before had dissipated.
Simultaneously, they both started speaking. Chuckling, Max told Liz to go ahead and go first. She agreed and looked away from his face. She wasn’t sure if she could look at him while she spoke.
“Yesterday…I was going to tell you that I was ready to make love,” she told him quietly. “But we didn’t get to have Valentine’s Day, so that didn’t exactly work out. After everything that happened on Friday…I’m still ready, Max. I love you and I want to be with you in every way possible for however long we have together. I know that you thought you were doing what was best for me…but what’s best for me right now, is to be with you.”
Max didn’t know what to say. He wanted to be with her the same way. He’d almost been certain that it would take a long to time to reach that point, where she could trust him again.
“You’ve told me repeatedly that you’re sorry for what happened. And I forgive you. I do, because I know that the reason you did it was because you love me. When I think of all the amazing times we’ve shared together, those few hours of hurt just disappear and all I really remember is that I want to be held in your arms and have you kiss me until I’m breathless. I don’t think we should let this get in the way of moving our relationship forward. I want to forget that this ever happened, because being with you is more important to me than dwelling on the past. I love you and I’m going to prove it to you for as long as we’re together,” she ended softly. Some time during her little speech; Max had turned her chin so that she was looking at him.
There was so much love in his eyes that it took her breath away and made her pulse speed up.
“I love you too, Liz,” he told her softly. Unable to resist a moment longer, Max brought his lips to hers and kissed her. It was tender and sweet at first…like a promise he was making to her that he would never hurt her that way again. But the kiss soon took on more urgent nature, desiring welling up within both of them as they made up for several days without each other.
A moment later, Max pulled away, his breathing ragged. “Do we still need to talk?”
Liz gave him small smile, “We can talk more later. I’d rather use our tongues in other ways at the moment.”
*****
Liz yawned and stretched contentedly as she woke the next morning. Trying to shift to a more comfortable position, she became vaguely aware of unfamiliar surroundings. But the warmth that she was enveloped in quickly distracted her. Her legs were somewhat trapped by something and she could feel a heavy weight draped over her side, anchoring her in place for the most part. She’d never felt better in her whole life. Opening her eyes, she realized what was going on when she saw Max’s handsome face; lying on the pillow they were sharing. She held her breath not wanting to wake him. He looked so peaceful, his face relaxed as he slept. His masculine features had softened slightly making him look almost younger, more boyish.
Liz lay there like that for a while, watching him sleep, not wanting to ruin the moment by making the day start. Eventually she drifted back to sleep thinking that she could definitely get used to waking up with Max. It was good way to start her morning.
Moments later, it was an almost frantic Max that woke Liz up.
“Hmmm…what’s wrong?” she asked, groggily.
“My first class is going to start in twenty-five minutes,” he told her. It took her a moment before comprehension dawned on her face.
“Oh god! I’m so sorry. Hurry Go! Take a shower!” she told him as she jumped off the couch away from him.
“Right,” Max got up quickly and practically ran to the bathroom.
Once Liz heard the shower running, she decided that maybe he’d want a cup of coffee or something to take with him. She put the coffee on and went to look for a thermos to put his coffee it. She also found donuts that he’d unsuccessfully tried to hide in the cupboards. She pulled those out, thinking that he could eat that on the drive to campus.
Max took the fastest shower on record. When he stepped out of the shower stall, he quickly secured the towel around his waist. “Liz!” he called out, going to find her. “Do you think that you could make me some coffee?” he asked. He was surprised to find that she was already in the kitchen, the task already almost complete. For a moment he just sort of stood there, watching her move around the kitchen. She looked so natural, like she was at home. He decided that he really liked seeing her tousled hair and rumpled clothes in the morning. Maybe it could become a more regular occurrence.
“What did you say Max?” Liz asked turning towards his voice. That’s when she caught sight of him, his chest still glistening from his shower, only a towel draped haphazardly on his lean hips. Was it just her, or did the room temperature just sky rocket? It was her, she decided as she thought about walking over to him and ripping the towel right from his body and having her wicked way with him.
She couldn’t though…after they’d kissed and made out for a while the night before, they’d gotten back around to talking. They’d mutually decided not to push the bounds of their physical relationship. They would let things happen naturally. So even though she wouldn’t mind making wild, crazy, love with him on the kitchen table, she didn’t want their first time to happen when he only had fifteen more minutes to get to class.
Shaking the sexually explicit thoughts from her mind, she looked questioningly at Max.
“Coffee,” was the only word he managed to say. He’d seen the look of pure lust that had passed over her face. He was really wishing that he could just blow off his morning classes because he’d like nothing more than to slowly move his and Liz’s physical relationship forward. After she’d told him she was ready to make love with him, Max knew he’d be hard pressed to hold off. But he didn’t want to push things so he’d suggested they take it slowly. Let nature take its course. If his erection was any indication, nature was more than half way there. Taking a deep breath, Max tried to think of something to dampen his arousal. The thought of thirty students waiting for him in his classroom was enough to get the blood flowing to his brain again…but it wouldn’t take much for it to switch gears again.
“It’ll be ready after you go get dressed,” Liz managed to tell Max. His towel was doing very little to hide just how much he was affected by her. She needed him to go get dressed before she pounced on him and made all of her fantasies about him, reality.
With a stilted nod, Max reluctantly left the room. He knew it was for the best…another minute and who knew what would have happened. The kitchen table probably would have gotten defiled in some way. Those thoughts still on his mind, Max found himself fumbling as he tried to dress. He wanted to get back to the kitchen where Liz was waiting for him. He wanted to be sure that he had time to give her at least a proper good morning kiss and then maybe a good bye kiss and….
“Max, coffee’s ready!” he heard her call out to him. He finished tying his shoe and went back to the kitchen. He found her sitting there a mug in her own hand with another steamy cup of black coffee and a donut complete with sprinkles at the place next to hers.
“That was fast,” she commented as he sat down.
“Yeah well…” he looked down at the coffee and donut and couldn’t help but smile. The way this whole morning seemed so familiar and perfect more than made up for the fact that he was going to be late.
“So what are we doing tonight?” she asked.
It was amazing how quickly their lives had intertwined. Even after their brief separation she could only think of herself in terms of him now.
“I don’t care as long as we get to spend some time together.” Their gazes met and they both got caught up looking into each other’s eyes, knowing that their relationship was getting deeper with each passing moment.
Liz was the first to look away. She glanced at the clock. “Max, it’s five ‘til eight. You better go or you’ll be really late,” she told him. She didn’t really want him to leave. She wanted to spend the whole day with him. Instead, she walked with him to the door, grabbing her things as they walked out. She needed to go back to the dorm and take a shower and change clothes.
“When does your last class get over?” he asked as they walked out to the driveway.
“Two pm. Will you be in your office then?” Liz asked.
“My office hours are from 3-4pm but for special people, I can be there from 2pm until then.” They were standing in front of their cars by then. Finally, unable to resist the urge, Max reached out and pulled Liz to him, kissing her deeply.
“You’re going to be so late,” Liz replied when they managed to pull apart a few breathless moments later.
Max smiled and leaned in to kiss her again. “It’s worth it,” he said against her smiling lips.
After they finally managed to say good-bye, Max left quickly with Liz not far behind him as they both headed off toward campus.
****
Max was having a great day. He’d been in a good mood since that morning and it had everything to do with a certain brunette that was due to arrive at his office any minute. He tried to wait patiently but he couldn’t sit still. Their six-hour separation had been too long already.
Finally at ten after two pm, there was a knock at his door. Max was quick to answer ‘come in’ and he stood up from his chair as the door opened. Liz walked in and shut the door behind her before launching herself into his arms. He’d barely been able to concentrate in class because she’d been anticipating this little visit.
“So glad you could make it, Miss Parker,” he teased between kisses.
“More than happy to oblige, Dr. Evans,” Liz shot back suggestively before attacking his lips with her own again.
Max was about to move them to a more comfortable position when the phone started to ring. Breaking the kiss, he groaned out loud.
“You better get that,” Liz said somewhat breathlessly.
Max nodded and reached to answer the phone while keeping his hold on Liz. He listened intently for a moment as his hands rested gently on her waist. Finally he responded in the affirmative to whoever was on the line before hanging up.
With a loud sigh he rested his forehead against Liz’s, his expression apologetic. “ As much as I’d really like to continue this…I have to be at the science department’s faculty meeting at two thirty.”
He looked so disappointed that Liz almost wanted to laugh. “It’s okay, as long as you promise I get you all to myself tonight so that we can continue this,” she said, her fingers playing with his tie.
“I think that can be arranged,” he told her before leaning in to steal another kiss. Her lips were too inviting to resist.
It was another ten minutes before Liz finally made her way out of the office. Before she left, Max told her, “Meet me at the house at five thirty. If you get home before I do, the key is under the doormat. Help yourself to anything you want. What’s mine is yours.”
A huge grin broke out on Liz face. Things were definitely starting to move forward quickly. Liz was very glad.
Saturday dawned all too early for everyone in the Parker household. Max and Michael had spent the night in the guest bedroom with Max delegated to the floor. Michael had claimed he needed to do a little bit more penance for his earlier actions. Max had not protested, his thoughts were still with the petite brunette only two doors away.
When Liz came down the stairs that morning she was greeted by the sight of two tired men hungrily eating the pancakes that grandma Claudia had generously put before them. They were so focused on their eating that they didn’t notice her at first. Michael looked tired but none the worse for the wear. Liz had just gotten off the phone with Maria who had apparently already been filled in on everything through an early morning call to Michael via his cell phone.
Max was a different picture entirely. His hair was boyishly disheveled and his clothes were rumpled. It was his facial expression that caught Liz’s attention. Aside from the tired lines etched in his features there was an uncertainty about him. Like he didn’t know what to do next.
After another moment of watching, Liz fully entered the kitchen, greeting everyone with a soft good morning. Max’s attention immediately shifted from the food in front of him to Liz. His eyes seemed to devour the sight of her hungrily.
“Did you sleep okay?” Liz asked, directing the question to both Max and Michael.
“Oh, yeah! That guest room bed is great!” came Michael’s immediate response.
Max didn’t say anything. Liz wondered if he’d spent the whole night awake like she had. Her brain had been so full of crazy thoughts. Over and over she kept thinking about how close they’d actually come to losing each other. It was scary and painful to even contemplate. Twelve hours had been hell enough; the thought of spending the rest of her life with out Max in it was just unacceptable in Liz’s mind.
Halfway through breakfast, Claudia asked Michael if he wouldn’t mind looking at something for her. He’d agreed and followed her out of the kitchen leaving Max and Liz alone.
For the first time ever…things seemed awkward between them.
“We need to talk this through,” Liz said, breaking the stilted silence.
“You’re right,” Max agreed. “ I just don’t know what to say. Sorry doesn’t seem like enough. There’s no excuse for what I did. I was trying to do what I thought was best for you but …
Liz cut off Max’s words by placing her finger against his lips.
“I don’t think that we should talk about this here. I need some time yet, to sort through what happened and I think that it would be best if you and Michael went home. It would probably be good for both of us to spend a little bit of time apart…so that we can gain some perspective.” Liz explained.
Max swallowed hard. She wanted time away from him now. Not that he could blame her. He didn’t know how she could stand to be around someone who had hurt her the way he had. But he didn’t want to just give up. He needed her. “What about tonight though. We’re still got reservations for Valentine’s Day…”
“Max…we can celebrate some other night. I really think it’s best. I’m going to stay here with grandma tonight and then Maria already offered to come pick me up tomorrow morning. I promise that I’ll come to see you tomorrow…so that we can talk everything out. This will give us both time to figure out what we want to say.”
Max wasn’t sure how to respond. He knew that she was right. A lot had happened in the last twenty-four hours and they both needed time to get their heads together. He could also sense that Liz wanted a little bit of space and he’d do whatever she needed if it meant that they could get their relationship back together after the damage that he had caused.
A short while later, Liz stood outside with Max, as he and Michael were getting ready to leave. It was killing her that things with Max were so awkward. It was almost as if he were afraid to come close to her…to touch her. Taking the initiative she closed the distance between them, pulling him into a hug, inhaling his scent as they held onto each other tightly. They finally pulled apart slightly and Liz leaned up, kissing Max gently on the lips. Max sighed as he returned the kiss. He’d wanted to feel her lips against his for the past 48 hours. It had been too long since he’d felt their softness pressed so temptingly against his. This kiss wasn’t necessarily passion igniting, though. It was a promise of good things to come. They reluctantly pulled apart, but not before one last hug. Liz was quick to pull away after that, she was already regretting her decision for them to be apart for the day. She went inside quickly so that she wouldn’t watch Max go and change her mind.
Liz spent the rest of the day trying to relax. She was emotionally exhausted but she knew she still had to settle everything that she wanted to say to Max. But she wasn’t able to focus. She could only think about how if she’d gone with him, they’d be at his house and maybe they’d have already worked through everything.
Sensing that Liz needed a distraction, grandma Claudia talked her into making cookies. They made enough for Liz to take some to Max, Michael, Maria and Alex. They were just putting the last batch into the oven when the doorbell rang.
Liz went to answer it, a small part of her was hoping that maybe Max had decided that he didn’t want them to be apart and he was going to sweep her away. At the same time she was aware that she really did need to sort things out still. The only problem was that all she could think about was how much she just wanted to be with him…in his presence so that she could feel close to him.
As she opened the door she was surprised and slightly disappointed to see, not Max, but a deliveryman holding a large bouquet of the most beautiful white roses she’d ever seen. Shakily, Liz took the flowers and thanked the deliveryman. She walked sort of dazedly, staring at the beautiful roses. She breathed in the fragrant scent of them, absorbing them, soaking them in. She barely noticed Claudia’s exclamation at the sight of the vase in Liz’s hands.
Her grandmother’s voice was finally able to bring Liz back to reality. “Well…did you look at the card? Who are they from?” she asked, as if she didn’t already have a fairly good idea.
Liz’s heart thumped a little bit wildly as she reached for the card. Her hands shook with her excitement, knowing it was from Max…
Tears formed in her eyes as she read the words written in Max’s neat print.
My Dearest Liz,
There are twenty-four roses because I know now that twenty-four hours is too long to be without you. I also know that when I’m with you…twenty-four hours just isn’t enough. I love you.
Max
Liz knew without a doubt that she and Max would be able to work through this. As long as they could talk to each other and get everything between them out in the open they would be fine. There wouldn’t be any more heartbreak because of miscommunication or uncertainty. Liz knew that she need to reassure Max that her future was going to include him no matter what.
*****
That next morning Liz was very anxious to leave with Maria. She wanted to see Max and to explain what she’d realized and tell him that she was sorry for not being more up front about what she wanted from him. Which turned out to be a lot. She lain awake for a good portion of the night, trying to plan what she was going to say, but she knew in the end that things would work best if she let her heart do the talking.
As Maria drove, Liz got caught up quickly in the fantasy of how her reunion with Max would play out. She wasn’t even paying attention to what Maria was saying. She wasn’t in the mood to rehash everything with Maria. All she knew was that in a few short hours, she would be kissing Max.
The scene played out vividly in her head. She would ring the doorbell and he would answer, flinging the door wide open. She could imagine his gaze sweeping over her lustfully before he picked her up and carried her quickly into the house. Then he’d kiss her until she was breathless and while he did that, he’d be carrying her right into his bedroom. They would both pull apart reluctantly from the kiss, only to catch their breath before kissing again. Max would undress her slowly, peeling her clothes off and touching her everywhere before kissing her in the same places. They’d make love then and it would be tender and sweet and then they’d talk and she’d tell him everything that she’d thought of. Then they could make love again.
Liz felt her cheeks flush at her thoughts. She wondered what it would feel like to have Max inside of her…just the thought made her ache to be with him.
If she were smart…she’d wait. They needed to be sure of each other first before they took a big step like that. But Liz knew she was ready. And she was sure of only one thing. That she wanted to be with Max for as long as she possibly could, no matter what lay ahead for them.
Her thoughts were interrupted as Maria’s babbling words suddenly caught her attention.
“When I called Michael…he couldn’t believe what Max had done. He just kept telling me that Max had never been happier. Then I started thinking about what could have possibly happened to change all of that. And I remembered that the night you came with me and Alex, Max went and had dinner with his sister, right?”
Liz nodded, wondering where Maria was going with all of this.
“Well…Isabel hasn’t exactly made it a big secret that she disapproves of yours and Max’s relationship. So it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think that she might try to break you two up,” Maria continued.
“What exactly are you getting at Maria? Do you think Isabel might have started this?”
“I’m saying that Isabel decided to butt her upturned nose into your business. Michael confirmed the whole thing when I asked him about it. Max told him how Isabel totally ambushed him at dinner. I guess she played the whole ‘You have to do what’s best for Liz…she has too much life to live to be tied down’ shit. Of course, Michael explained that Max always tries to do what’s best for the people he loves and he really loves you…”
Liz didn’t catch the rest of Maria’s thoughts. It was all coming together in her mind. She was realizing the reason behind her and Max’s entire misunderstanding. Suddenly…she didn’t blame Max for any of it. In fact, aside from a little need for reassurance for Max that she wasn’t going anywhere that didn’t include him, Liz was now certain that their relationship was fine. She’d already forgiven him, but it was now obvious that, however misguided his actions, they’d resulted from how strongly he felt about her and how much he wanted to be happy. Even if that happiness came at his expense.
Interrupting Maria, Liz asked Maria for her cell phone. With a questioning glance, Maria handed it over. Liz dialed Michael’s phone number then. She had a plan. As soon as she reached Las Cruces, she was going to settle things with Isabel Ramirez, once and for all.
*****
When Maria pulled up in front of the Ramirez house, she took it all in with wide eyes. This was the swanky part of town. The neighborhood was high class. The houses looked big enough to be apartment buildings you probably needed to own your own BMW just to be allowed to visit.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked, turning to Liz who looked more than a little bit nervous. Liz hesitated a moment before gathering her nerve. She nodded to Maria and before anything more could be said; she bounded out of the car and up the front walk to the front door. She rang the doorbell quickly, not wanting to chicken out at the last minute.
When the door opened, a completely polished Isabel Evans-Ramirez stood in front of her. She looked more than a little surprised to see Liz on her doorstep. “Liz…what a …surprise. Is there something I can do for you?” she asked coolly.
Liz stuck out her chin, refusing to be intimidated by Isabel’s frosty attitude. “ I’m here to talk to you about something. Can I come in?”
It was Isabel who appeared hesitant this time before giving in and showing Liz inside the house. Liz noticed that the house seemed sort of cold…just like it’s occupant. Everything was pristine and looked somehow untouched. Liz was almost afraid that her mere presence would spoil the perfection of it all.
She noticed Isabel looking at her expectantly. Liz decided to just cut to the chase. No point in wasting either of their time. She had somewhere to be as soon as she was through here. Somewhere infinitely more appealing.
Liz cleared her throat and then met Isabel’s gaze head on. “ I want to know what you said to Max that would make him think he needed to call things off between us.”
“I merely gave him my honest opinion,” Isabel stated.
“Which is?”
Before Isabel answered, she casually sat her self down on the leather sofa. Even after gesturing for her to sit as well, Liz remained standing. “That you have a school girl crush on him. That’s what this is and that’s not what he needs. What he’s looking for is someone to settle down with, to raise a family with. You aren’t that person, Liz.”
Liz became furious at Isabel’s words. Keeping her anger under control she spoke. “How do you know that? You don’t know anything about me…how could you know if that’s the type of person I am?”
“Liz, you’re young and smart and you’re future is still undetermined. Max has already picked his path…it’s just not one that includes a college student girlfriend.”
Liz studied Isabel closely. There was something else there. It seemed so odd that Isabel should be so against this. “What do you have the bigger problem with Isabel? Is it the fact that I’m younger than him? Or is it that I make him happy?”
Isabel looked startled by the last question. Before she could respond, Liz went on.
“I think that even though you care for Max, that doesn’t give you permission to interfere with his life. You need to let him make his own decisions. Maybe Max and I aren’t meant to be … but what harm would there have been in letting us figure that out on our own? Max and I are adults; we’re both aware of the risks involved in this relationship. I love him…. I’m going to do whatever I can to make him happy. And if you really loved him, you’d let him be happy. Because he is Isabel…he’s happy with me.”
With that said, Liz got up and let herself out of the cold house, leaving a speechless Isabel behind.
*****
It was nearly eight o’clock. Max was starting to get worried. First he’d wondered if maybe she wasn’t going to come after all. Maybe all of that time she’d taken had made her realize that she couldn’t forgive him and that she didn’t want to be with him after all. Of course then he’d wondered if maybe she and Maria had gotten stranded somewhere or worse…what if they’d gotten into an accident. Max was just about to call Michael for the seventh or eighth time to see if he’d heard from Maria at all, when he heard the doorbell. He practically ran to the front door and when he saw Liz standing there, he didn’t even hesitate; he just pulled her into his arms and dragged her into the house.
Once he got her inside and he saw that she was okay, her relaxed his hold on her a little. Liz smiled up at Max, seeing the relief on his face made her want to laugh. Max could see the sparkle in her eye and felt hope fill his heart.
“What took you so long?” he asked, curious about why she hadn’t come sooner.
“I had something to take care of. I’m sorry I didn’t get here earlier. I know that we have a lot to talk about.”
Max nodded and they both went to sit down. Not willing to be separated from each other too much, they sat side by side on the couch. The awkwardness that had been between them the day before had dissipated.
Simultaneously, they both started speaking. Chuckling, Max told Liz to go ahead and go first. She agreed and looked away from his face. She wasn’t sure if she could look at him while she spoke.
“Yesterday…I was going to tell you that I was ready to make love,” she told him quietly. “But we didn’t get to have Valentine’s Day, so that didn’t exactly work out. After everything that happened on Friday…I’m still ready, Max. I love you and I want to be with you in every way possible for however long we have together. I know that you thought you were doing what was best for me…but what’s best for me right now, is to be with you.”
Max didn’t know what to say. He wanted to be with her the same way. He’d almost been certain that it would take a long to time to reach that point, where she could trust him again.
“You’ve told me repeatedly that you’re sorry for what happened. And I forgive you. I do, because I know that the reason you did it was because you love me. When I think of all the amazing times we’ve shared together, those few hours of hurt just disappear and all I really remember is that I want to be held in your arms and have you kiss me until I’m breathless. I don’t think we should let this get in the way of moving our relationship forward. I want to forget that this ever happened, because being with you is more important to me than dwelling on the past. I love you and I’m going to prove it to you for as long as we’re together,” she ended softly. Some time during her little speech; Max had turned her chin so that she was looking at him.
There was so much love in his eyes that it took her breath away and made her pulse speed up.
“I love you too, Liz,” he told her softly. Unable to resist a moment longer, Max brought his lips to hers and kissed her. It was tender and sweet at first…like a promise he was making to her that he would never hurt her that way again. But the kiss soon took on more urgent nature, desiring welling up within both of them as they made up for several days without each other.
A moment later, Max pulled away, his breathing ragged. “Do we still need to talk?”
Liz gave him small smile, “We can talk more later. I’d rather use our tongues in other ways at the moment.”
*****
Liz yawned and stretched contentedly as she woke the next morning. Trying to shift to a more comfortable position, she became vaguely aware of unfamiliar surroundings. But the warmth that she was enveloped in quickly distracted her. Her legs were somewhat trapped by something and she could feel a heavy weight draped over her side, anchoring her in place for the most part. She’d never felt better in her whole life. Opening her eyes, she realized what was going on when she saw Max’s handsome face; lying on the pillow they were sharing. She held her breath not wanting to wake him. He looked so peaceful, his face relaxed as he slept. His masculine features had softened slightly making him look almost younger, more boyish.
Liz lay there like that for a while, watching him sleep, not wanting to ruin the moment by making the day start. Eventually she drifted back to sleep thinking that she could definitely get used to waking up with Max. It was good way to start her morning.
Moments later, it was an almost frantic Max that woke Liz up.
“Hmmm…what’s wrong?” she asked, groggily.
“My first class is going to start in twenty-five minutes,” he told her. It took her a moment before comprehension dawned on her face.
“Oh god! I’m so sorry. Hurry Go! Take a shower!” she told him as she jumped off the couch away from him.
“Right,” Max got up quickly and practically ran to the bathroom.
Once Liz heard the shower running, she decided that maybe he’d want a cup of coffee or something to take with him. She put the coffee on and went to look for a thermos to put his coffee it. She also found donuts that he’d unsuccessfully tried to hide in the cupboards. She pulled those out, thinking that he could eat that on the drive to campus.
Max took the fastest shower on record. When he stepped out of the shower stall, he quickly secured the towel around his waist. “Liz!” he called out, going to find her. “Do you think that you could make me some coffee?” he asked. He was surprised to find that she was already in the kitchen, the task already almost complete. For a moment he just sort of stood there, watching her move around the kitchen. She looked so natural, like she was at home. He decided that he really liked seeing her tousled hair and rumpled clothes in the morning. Maybe it could become a more regular occurrence.
“What did you say Max?” Liz asked turning towards his voice. That’s when she caught sight of him, his chest still glistening from his shower, only a towel draped haphazardly on his lean hips. Was it just her, or did the room temperature just sky rocket? It was her, she decided as she thought about walking over to him and ripping the towel right from his body and having her wicked way with him.
She couldn’t though…after they’d kissed and made out for a while the night before, they’d gotten back around to talking. They’d mutually decided not to push the bounds of their physical relationship. They would let things happen naturally. So even though she wouldn’t mind making wild, crazy, love with him on the kitchen table, she didn’t want their first time to happen when he only had fifteen more minutes to get to class.
Shaking the sexually explicit thoughts from her mind, she looked questioningly at Max.
“Coffee,” was the only word he managed to say. He’d seen the look of pure lust that had passed over her face. He was really wishing that he could just blow off his morning classes because he’d like nothing more than to slowly move his and Liz’s physical relationship forward. After she’d told him she was ready to make love with him, Max knew he’d be hard pressed to hold off. But he didn’t want to push things so he’d suggested they take it slowly. Let nature take its course. If his erection was any indication, nature was more than half way there. Taking a deep breath, Max tried to think of something to dampen his arousal. The thought of thirty students waiting for him in his classroom was enough to get the blood flowing to his brain again…but it wouldn’t take much for it to switch gears again.
“It’ll be ready after you go get dressed,” Liz managed to tell Max. His towel was doing very little to hide just how much he was affected by her. She needed him to go get dressed before she pounced on him and made all of her fantasies about him, reality.
With a stilted nod, Max reluctantly left the room. He knew it was for the best…another minute and who knew what would have happened. The kitchen table probably would have gotten defiled in some way. Those thoughts still on his mind, Max found himself fumbling as he tried to dress. He wanted to get back to the kitchen where Liz was waiting for him. He wanted to be sure that he had time to give her at least a proper good morning kiss and then maybe a good bye kiss and….
“Max, coffee’s ready!” he heard her call out to him. He finished tying his shoe and went back to the kitchen. He found her sitting there a mug in her own hand with another steamy cup of black coffee and a donut complete with sprinkles at the place next to hers.
“That was fast,” she commented as he sat down.
“Yeah well…” he looked down at the coffee and donut and couldn’t help but smile. The way this whole morning seemed so familiar and perfect more than made up for the fact that he was going to be late.
“So what are we doing tonight?” she asked.
It was amazing how quickly their lives had intertwined. Even after their brief separation she could only think of herself in terms of him now.
“I don’t care as long as we get to spend some time together.” Their gazes met and they both got caught up looking into each other’s eyes, knowing that their relationship was getting deeper with each passing moment.
Liz was the first to look away. She glanced at the clock. “Max, it’s five ‘til eight. You better go or you’ll be really late,” she told him. She didn’t really want him to leave. She wanted to spend the whole day with him. Instead, she walked with him to the door, grabbing her things as they walked out. She needed to go back to the dorm and take a shower and change clothes.
“When does your last class get over?” he asked as they walked out to the driveway.
“Two pm. Will you be in your office then?” Liz asked.
“My office hours are from 3-4pm but for special people, I can be there from 2pm until then.” They were standing in front of their cars by then. Finally, unable to resist the urge, Max reached out and pulled Liz to him, kissing her deeply.
“You’re going to be so late,” Liz replied when they managed to pull apart a few breathless moments later.
Max smiled and leaned in to kiss her again. “It’s worth it,” he said against her smiling lips.
After they finally managed to say good-bye, Max left quickly with Liz not far behind him as they both headed off toward campus.
****
Max was having a great day. He’d been in a good mood since that morning and it had everything to do with a certain brunette that was due to arrive at his office any minute. He tried to wait patiently but he couldn’t sit still. Their six-hour separation had been too long already.
Finally at ten after two pm, there was a knock at his door. Max was quick to answer ‘come in’ and he stood up from his chair as the door opened. Liz walked in and shut the door behind her before launching herself into his arms. He’d barely been able to concentrate in class because she’d been anticipating this little visit.
“So glad you could make it, Miss Parker,” he teased between kisses.
“More than happy to oblige, Dr. Evans,” Liz shot back suggestively before attacking his lips with her own again.
Max was about to move them to a more comfortable position when the phone started to ring. Breaking the kiss, he groaned out loud.
“You better get that,” Liz said somewhat breathlessly.
Max nodded and reached to answer the phone while keeping his hold on Liz. He listened intently for a moment as his hands rested gently on her waist. Finally he responded in the affirmative to whoever was on the line before hanging up.
With a loud sigh he rested his forehead against Liz’s, his expression apologetic. “ As much as I’d really like to continue this…I have to be at the science department’s faculty meeting at two thirty.”
He looked so disappointed that Liz almost wanted to laugh. “It’s okay, as long as you promise I get you all to myself tonight so that we can continue this,” she said, her fingers playing with his tie.
“I think that can be arranged,” he told her before leaning in to steal another kiss. Her lips were too inviting to resist.
It was another ten minutes before Liz finally made her way out of the office. Before she left, Max told her, “Meet me at the house at five thirty. If you get home before I do, the key is under the doormat. Help yourself to anything you want. What’s mine is yours.”
A huge grin broke out on Liz face. Things were definitely starting to move forward quickly. Liz was very glad.
"The heart has its reasons it which reason knows nothing" -Blaise Pascal
-
carenicoleIQ
- Enthusiastic Roswellian
- Posts: 36
- Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2001 4:58 pm
- Location: Nebraska
Chapter 14
Their brief separation a thing of the past, both Max and Liz settled into a routine that, without conscious effort, seemed to revolve around each other. It had only been several days but it seemed their relationship was steadily moving forward.
Wednesday night when Max came home from teaching, Liz was already there fixing their dinner. Making his way quietly into the kitchen, he tried to sneak up on Liz who was humming along to the radio as she peeled potatoes. Snaking his hands around her waist, he pulled her against him. “I could get used to this,” he whispered into her ear.
Liz laughed and turned her face towards his, giving him a quick hello kiss. “Don’t get too used to it,” she told him. “I’m not cooking every night. We’ll have to take turns.”
Max smiled. “If you insist,” he told her before leaning in for another kiss.
Max left Liz in the kitchen then while he went to change into more comfortable clothes. Then he went to help her finish dinner. Later while Liz was cleaning up the kitchen, Max got out a stack full of papers that needed to be graded.
“Do you have any homework to do?” he asked as he spread the papers across the table.
“Nope. I finished it all before I came over. Do you have to get those graded tonight?” she asked, coming to sit at the table with him.
“I thought that if I could finish them tonight, you and I could spend some quality time out at the telescope tomorrow night. There’s supposed to be a meteor shower,” he explained.
Giving him a quick kiss, Liz spoke. “I’ll let you off the hook this time. I can probably go find something to do at the dorm.” Liz got up from the table and started to go gather her things. Before she could get very far Max stuck his arm out to stop her.
“You don’t have to leave. I promise not to take very long and as soon as I’m finished I’ll focus all of my attention on you.” Liz couldn’t resist his pleading and the hopeful look in his eyes was her undoing.
“Okay,” she conceded. Max pulled her to him for another kiss. When he finally released her, Liz went out to the living room and decided to watch TV for a little while. Max tried to work as quickly and accurately as possible. But he couldn’t help the small lapses in concentration that kept occurring every time he heard Liz laugh at something. There were several times when he was tempted to just leave the work sit there and go to her.
Finally, a little after eight o’clock, Max finished the last paper. He’d ended up giving the students points for finishing, not bothering to correct anything. He was too anxious to move on to more interesting things. He shoved the finished work into his briefcase and practically ran into the living room.
“Liz, I’m fin…finished,” he started to say, his voice trailing off slightly as his eyes caught a glimpse of her still form curled up on the couch. She was fast asleep. He smiled at the sight she made. She looked so peaceful that he didn’t want to wake her up. Quietly he made his way over to the couch, pulling a blanket off the back to cover her. He stayed crouched down next to her for a moment, just watching her sleep. He couldn’t resist the slightly parted lips in front of him and so gently, he brought his lips to hers. They brushed together softly and he was about to pull away when he felt her lips respond to his, demanding a deeper kiss. “Took you long enough,” Liz whispered, a small smile forming even as she kept her eyes closed.
Max laughed and before either realized what was happening, a tickling match broke out. Liz soon rolled off the couch, landing on top of Max as his fingers moved relentlessly against her rib cage. Liz shrieked with laughter as Max’s hands danced mercilessly along her sensitive flesh. She stopped squirming for a moment, making Max think that she’d surrendered, only to launch a counter attack against him.
Moments later, their teasing began to taper off and they settled against each other, still giggling. It was inevitable that they would notice and take advantage of the positions that they now occupied. Liz was lying on top of Max, her body pressed against his. It was she who began this new assault. Their eyes met and Max smiled that half smile of his. The one that seemed to melt her from the inside out, making her blood heat as her body began to hum. She wondered if he even realized just how sexy that crooked smile of his was.
Aware that she was in control of the situation, Liz deliberately took her time lowering her mouth to touch his. At first it was a gentle brush of their lips, so light that Max could barely feel it. Then she brought her mouth more fully down on his, taking a painstakingly slow amount of time. Max knew that she was teasing him but he couldn’t find it in him to care. Especially not with the way it felt to have her weight pressed on top of him with her body moving unconsciously against his in that slow seductive way.
Liz’s next calculated move involved a delicate sweep of her tongue across his lips. Max responded immediately, opening his mouth in invitation. Liz took the opportunity to fully explore every crevice of the hot cavern with her tongue.
Their mouths began a persistent duel, their hands taking special, separate journeys of bodies that were quickly becoming heated. Liz’s small hands wandered up and down Max’s biceps, charting the well-developed muscles that were barely concealed by his loose t-shirt. Max’s larger hands curved around the small swell of Liz’s bottom, pulling her more fully against him before moving upward to slip underneath her shirt where he encountered a large expanse of silky, smooth skin. They were so caught up in each other that it took both of them a moment to register the sound of the telephone ringing. Even then, both were reluctant to pull apart.
Finally, Liz pulled away. “Get the phone,” she whispered, her breathing labored.
Max continued to kiss her. “I hate phones. They always interrupt us.”
Pushing away from Max, Liz got up from the floor and grabbed the phone, punching the talk button. “Hello?”
Isabel Ramirez was slightly surprised to hear a woman’s out of breath voice answering her brother’s phone. “Hello. Is Max available?” she responded. She knew that it was Liz on the other end but she wasn’t sure what to say.
“Just a minute please,” Liz told her politely. Looking at Max, “It’s your sister,” she said before pushing the phone into his hand.
Max almost told her to just hang up. He really didn’t want to deal with Isabel at the moment. Not when he and Liz had been making such good progress at furthering their relationship. Reluctantly, he took the phone anyway.
“Hello?” he asked, mentally preparing himself for a verbal confrontation.
“Was that Liz?” Isabel asked, trying to sound polite.
“Yes,” came Max’s one word reply.
“I take it that means that you’re still seeing each other.”
“Isabel, if you called to give me another lecture you can save your breath. I really don’t want to hear anything you have to say on the subject,” Max told her before she could say anything else.
“I didn’t call to lecture you, Max. I called to apologize. I was wrong about Liz and I’m sorry about everything that I’ve said. I…it wasn’t any of my business. I realized that the other day after Liz stopped by to talk to me…”
Max was more than a little surprised by the words that were coming out of his sister’s mouth. It didn’t even sound like the same woman.
Ten minutes later after finally hanging up, Max was still a little stunned. “What did you say to my sister?” he asked Liz.
She flushed and looked away momentarily before turning to meet his gaze. She wasn’t embarrassed about what she’d done. It had been necessary and she would never regret it. “I wanted to know why she felt that she had a right to interfere in either of our lives? I was upset that she would even presume to know anything about me when the whole time we’ve been together she’s gone out of her way to be mean.”
“She invited us both to dinner at her house for tomorrow night.”
Liz’s eyes went wide with astonishment. “You’re serious?”
Max nodded. “I guess whatever you said had an impact on her thinking and she wants us to give her a chance.” Max paused. “How did you find out about what she said?”
“Maria told me and she found out from…”
“Michael,” Max filled in. “Are you okay with this?”
Liz nodded. “I just hope that your sister can cook.”
Max laughed and pulled Liz over to him again. “Now…I think that you and I have a little bit of unfinished business,” he told her as he nuzzled against her ear and kissed his way down her jaw.
“Mmm…and what would that be?”
“Why don’t I show you…it would be much easier than explaining?"
“I like a good hands on demonstration,” Liz responded before their lips were magnetically pulled together again and they proceeded to pick up where they’d left off before his sister’s untimely interruption.
*****
“So, Liz, you and the good professor have obviously patched things up,” Maria commented as she plopped down next to Liz in the Cafeteria. “Every time that I call or stop by, I get your machine, which is full by the way, or no answer. So you’re either avoiding me or you’re with him every spare second you have. Since no one ever avoids me because they love me too much, I know that you’re with Dr. E. That means that it is definitely way past time for some girl talk.”
Liz was about to respond when another tray, piled high with every food imaginable, landed on the table and Alex Whitman appeared. “Don’t everyone get too excited that I’m here now,” he said sarcastically as he was greeted with silence.
“Alex…we’re doing girl talk here,” Maria explained.
“So? I believe that I was granted official girlfriend status Freshman year after you made me go buy you tampons because your cramps were too painful to go yourself.”
“Point taken. Ok…we’re talking about Liz and Dr. E. I was just about to ask her if they’ve done it yet,” Maria stated matter of factly.
Liz turned beet red while Alex took a big bite of chicken sandwich. “Done what yet?” he asked between mouthfuls.
“You know…it. The wild thing. The horizontal polka…” As she continued to explain, her eyebrows raised suggestively.
Alex practically choked when he realized what Maria was implying.
“Whoa… too much info, Deluca. I’m sorry I asked,” he took another bite. After chewing thoughtfully for a moment he turned to Liz. “So are you?”
Liz didn’t think her face would ever go back to its normal color. “We haven’t…yet. But now that we’ve worked through our misunderstandings, we’ve definitely gotten closer,” Liz tried to explain. She was more than a little embarrassed to be discussing her sex life in a cafeteria full of people.
“Just be careful when you decide to let him …score his homerun,” Alex said awkwardly. “Make sure he’s got a …glove on…”
Maria was snickering to herself at Alex’s advice and Liz couldn’t help but crack a smile, knowing that Alex was just as embarrassed as she was.
After a few more seconds, they couldn’t take it any more and they all burst into laughter.
“Alex…you really should learn to use your brain to talk…not your ass,” Maria told him between spurts of laughter. “I mean really…. glove?”
Alex shrugged; they knew what he’d meant…that’s all that mattered.
When their laughter died down, Liz turned to Alex. “You know…she always badgers us, maybe we should see what she’s been up to.” Liz focused her attention on Maria. “So what about you, Maria. Have you and Michael done it yet?”
Maria smiled and stole a french fry off Alex’s plate. “After our second date, he decided that he couldn’t resist me, so I took his innocence,” she told them impishly.
Alex whistled. “You work fast, Deluca.”
Maria shrugged. “What can I say? I was on the prowl and Michael was my prey.”
*****
That night, Liz was trying to think about anything that would get her mind off of her nervousness. She and Max were on their way to his sister’s house for dinner. Liz could feel her palms sweating as they got closer. Max, noticing her nervousness, reached over and grabbed her hand.
“Relax. You’ve already done battle with Isabel once. The worst is already over. And my mother already loves you…so you’ve got nothing to worry about.”
“Wait…you never told me that your parents were going to be here,” Liz said, interrupting his attempt at reassuring her.
Max winced inwardly. He had forgotten that small detail. “It’s not a big deal. I’m sorry I didn’t mention it earlier. When Isabel suggested this she told me that she wanted the family to get to know you better. I was going to tell you but I forgot. But like I said, don’t worry. My mother already adores you and my father will love you too.”
Liz still didn’t look convinced.
“I promise that I won’t leave you alone with any of them. And if they try to ambush you with questions, I’ll immediately side track them with… well, I’ll sidetrack them with something.” Liz laughed at that and leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek for his efforts. She was feeling a little better, knowing that she wouldn’t have to fend for herself.
Despite this, moments later, Liz was gripping Max’s hand tightly as they stood at Isabel’s front door. When the door finally opened, not only Isabel, but also Jesse, Isabel’s husband, and both Max’s mother and father, greeted them. Surprised, Max and Liz were ushered into the house where greetings and introductions were made. After a few minutes of idly mingling in the entrance, Isabel ushered everyone into the sitting room while they waited for dinner to finish.
“Liz, sweetheart, it’s so good to see you again,” Diane Evans gushed as she sat down next to Liz on the sofa. “ How’s your grandmother? I haven’t talked to her since Christmas.”
“Oh…she’s wonderful. In fact, Max and I just paid a visit to her this last weekend. She enjoys having company,” Liz responded.
Max didn’t say anything; instead, he ducked his head slightly, remembering the reason they’d been at Claudia Parkers the last weekend. As if sensing this, Liz reached over and squeezed his hand. He looked up at her and smiled when he saw her reassuring gaze.
They all talked for a while, Liz was able to field their questions like a pro. Phillip Evans was very impressed with the petite girl his son had chosen. She was bright and funny and beautiful and it was obvious that she loved Max. Diane knew that she was looking at her son’s future as she sat there watching Max and Liz interact. She noticed the subtle things. Like the way they always seemed to be touching and how they were each so considerate of each other.
Isabel kept her mouth shut for the most part. Her frostiness was largely absent though and she seemed more relaxed than anyone had seen her for a long time. She played the attentive hostess well and it seemed that everyone was having a good time. After a little while, Isabel glanced at her watch. Dinner should be ready, she decided.
“I need to go check on the food,” she said, excusing herself. As she started to go, Liz stood up.
“I’ll help you, Isabel. If you don’t mind,” she offered.
Surprised, Isabel accepted her offer and led her into the spacious kitchen.
“You have a beautiful home,” Liz commented.
“Thank you. Jesse and I were thrilled when we were finally able to afford this place. I did a lot of the decorating myself,” Isabel told her. She was relieved that Liz wasn’t holding a grudge and instead, seemed to be easing the tension between them.
“Really? It’s absolutely incredible. Maybe you could give Max some advice on decorating his place. It looks like a bachelor pad.”
“It probably won’t stay the way for long,” Isabel said with a small smile. “Liz…I need to tell you that I’m very sorry. You were right. I was wrong to judge you, especially when I didn’t know you it’s just that…well…I was in your position once. I dated my uhm…well he was my English professor. We spent a whole year, sneaking around. Then I graduated and …I broke it off. I didn’t want to be tied down and he wanted more of a commitment from me. I’d known the whole time that I didn’t love him and I was just after the thrill of it all. Because it was something sort of forbidden, ya know? And I guess that I was just scared for Max. I could see how much he cared about you. More than that silly English professor ever did for me. And I just didn’t want him to end up hurt. It’s the people that you care about the most that can really hurt you and…”
“I would never do that,” Liz interrupted. “I want you to know now that I love him. I really do and I want to be with him for however long he’ll have me, no matter what the outcome.”
Isabel nodded. “I guess I should thank you then.”
“Thank me? Why?”
“For making my brother the happiest I’ve ever seen him.”
At that, a tentative relationship began to form between the two women. Both bound by the one thing they had in common; their love for Max Evans.
******
Friday morning Max was just crawling out of bed when the phone rang. Thinking that it might be Liz, he rushed to grab it. It wasn’t her, but rather Dr. Peterson. He had a family emergency and he was wondering if Max would be willing to teach his Physics 112 class. He agreed because he didn’t feel like he had another option.
As he was going about getting ready, it dawned on Max that that was Liz’s physics class. He should probably call and warn her. It could get tricky with him teaching the class. But it shouldn’t be that big of a deal, he reasoned. It wasn’t like he had to grade any of their papers. He just had to teach the lesson for the day. That was it.
Of course…it was the teaching part that might be tricky. He had to make sure that he focused and didn’t let Liz’s presence distract him. That tended to happen quite easily. He could do it though. He was a professional. He’d been teaching for years.
Still not quite believing that when it came to Liz Parker, something wouldn’t give him away entirely; Max left for school. He had a feeling that it was going to be an interesting day.
Their brief separation a thing of the past, both Max and Liz settled into a routine that, without conscious effort, seemed to revolve around each other. It had only been several days but it seemed their relationship was steadily moving forward.
Wednesday night when Max came home from teaching, Liz was already there fixing their dinner. Making his way quietly into the kitchen, he tried to sneak up on Liz who was humming along to the radio as she peeled potatoes. Snaking his hands around her waist, he pulled her against him. “I could get used to this,” he whispered into her ear.
Liz laughed and turned her face towards his, giving him a quick hello kiss. “Don’t get too used to it,” she told him. “I’m not cooking every night. We’ll have to take turns.”
Max smiled. “If you insist,” he told her before leaning in for another kiss.
Max left Liz in the kitchen then while he went to change into more comfortable clothes. Then he went to help her finish dinner. Later while Liz was cleaning up the kitchen, Max got out a stack full of papers that needed to be graded.
“Do you have any homework to do?” he asked as he spread the papers across the table.
“Nope. I finished it all before I came over. Do you have to get those graded tonight?” she asked, coming to sit at the table with him.
“I thought that if I could finish them tonight, you and I could spend some quality time out at the telescope tomorrow night. There’s supposed to be a meteor shower,” he explained.
Giving him a quick kiss, Liz spoke. “I’ll let you off the hook this time. I can probably go find something to do at the dorm.” Liz got up from the table and started to go gather her things. Before she could get very far Max stuck his arm out to stop her.
“You don’t have to leave. I promise not to take very long and as soon as I’m finished I’ll focus all of my attention on you.” Liz couldn’t resist his pleading and the hopeful look in his eyes was her undoing.
“Okay,” she conceded. Max pulled her to him for another kiss. When he finally released her, Liz went out to the living room and decided to watch TV for a little while. Max tried to work as quickly and accurately as possible. But he couldn’t help the small lapses in concentration that kept occurring every time he heard Liz laugh at something. There were several times when he was tempted to just leave the work sit there and go to her.
Finally, a little after eight o’clock, Max finished the last paper. He’d ended up giving the students points for finishing, not bothering to correct anything. He was too anxious to move on to more interesting things. He shoved the finished work into his briefcase and practically ran into the living room.
“Liz, I’m fin…finished,” he started to say, his voice trailing off slightly as his eyes caught a glimpse of her still form curled up on the couch. She was fast asleep. He smiled at the sight she made. She looked so peaceful that he didn’t want to wake her up. Quietly he made his way over to the couch, pulling a blanket off the back to cover her. He stayed crouched down next to her for a moment, just watching her sleep. He couldn’t resist the slightly parted lips in front of him and so gently, he brought his lips to hers. They brushed together softly and he was about to pull away when he felt her lips respond to his, demanding a deeper kiss. “Took you long enough,” Liz whispered, a small smile forming even as she kept her eyes closed.
Max laughed and before either realized what was happening, a tickling match broke out. Liz soon rolled off the couch, landing on top of Max as his fingers moved relentlessly against her rib cage. Liz shrieked with laughter as Max’s hands danced mercilessly along her sensitive flesh. She stopped squirming for a moment, making Max think that she’d surrendered, only to launch a counter attack against him.
Moments later, their teasing began to taper off and they settled against each other, still giggling. It was inevitable that they would notice and take advantage of the positions that they now occupied. Liz was lying on top of Max, her body pressed against his. It was she who began this new assault. Their eyes met and Max smiled that half smile of his. The one that seemed to melt her from the inside out, making her blood heat as her body began to hum. She wondered if he even realized just how sexy that crooked smile of his was.
Aware that she was in control of the situation, Liz deliberately took her time lowering her mouth to touch his. At first it was a gentle brush of their lips, so light that Max could barely feel it. Then she brought her mouth more fully down on his, taking a painstakingly slow amount of time. Max knew that she was teasing him but he couldn’t find it in him to care. Especially not with the way it felt to have her weight pressed on top of him with her body moving unconsciously against his in that slow seductive way.
Liz’s next calculated move involved a delicate sweep of her tongue across his lips. Max responded immediately, opening his mouth in invitation. Liz took the opportunity to fully explore every crevice of the hot cavern with her tongue.
Their mouths began a persistent duel, their hands taking special, separate journeys of bodies that were quickly becoming heated. Liz’s small hands wandered up and down Max’s biceps, charting the well-developed muscles that were barely concealed by his loose t-shirt. Max’s larger hands curved around the small swell of Liz’s bottom, pulling her more fully against him before moving upward to slip underneath her shirt where he encountered a large expanse of silky, smooth skin. They were so caught up in each other that it took both of them a moment to register the sound of the telephone ringing. Even then, both were reluctant to pull apart.
Finally, Liz pulled away. “Get the phone,” she whispered, her breathing labored.
Max continued to kiss her. “I hate phones. They always interrupt us.”
Pushing away from Max, Liz got up from the floor and grabbed the phone, punching the talk button. “Hello?”
Isabel Ramirez was slightly surprised to hear a woman’s out of breath voice answering her brother’s phone. “Hello. Is Max available?” she responded. She knew that it was Liz on the other end but she wasn’t sure what to say.
“Just a minute please,” Liz told her politely. Looking at Max, “It’s your sister,” she said before pushing the phone into his hand.
Max almost told her to just hang up. He really didn’t want to deal with Isabel at the moment. Not when he and Liz had been making such good progress at furthering their relationship. Reluctantly, he took the phone anyway.
“Hello?” he asked, mentally preparing himself for a verbal confrontation.
“Was that Liz?” Isabel asked, trying to sound polite.
“Yes,” came Max’s one word reply.
“I take it that means that you’re still seeing each other.”
“Isabel, if you called to give me another lecture you can save your breath. I really don’t want to hear anything you have to say on the subject,” Max told her before she could say anything else.
“I didn’t call to lecture you, Max. I called to apologize. I was wrong about Liz and I’m sorry about everything that I’ve said. I…it wasn’t any of my business. I realized that the other day after Liz stopped by to talk to me…”
Max was more than a little surprised by the words that were coming out of his sister’s mouth. It didn’t even sound like the same woman.
Ten minutes later after finally hanging up, Max was still a little stunned. “What did you say to my sister?” he asked Liz.
She flushed and looked away momentarily before turning to meet his gaze. She wasn’t embarrassed about what she’d done. It had been necessary and she would never regret it. “I wanted to know why she felt that she had a right to interfere in either of our lives? I was upset that she would even presume to know anything about me when the whole time we’ve been together she’s gone out of her way to be mean.”
“She invited us both to dinner at her house for tomorrow night.”
Liz’s eyes went wide with astonishment. “You’re serious?”
Max nodded. “I guess whatever you said had an impact on her thinking and she wants us to give her a chance.” Max paused. “How did you find out about what she said?”
“Maria told me and she found out from…”
“Michael,” Max filled in. “Are you okay with this?”
Liz nodded. “I just hope that your sister can cook.”
Max laughed and pulled Liz over to him again. “Now…I think that you and I have a little bit of unfinished business,” he told her as he nuzzled against her ear and kissed his way down her jaw.
“Mmm…and what would that be?”
“Why don’t I show you…it would be much easier than explaining?"
“I like a good hands on demonstration,” Liz responded before their lips were magnetically pulled together again and they proceeded to pick up where they’d left off before his sister’s untimely interruption.
*****
“So, Liz, you and the good professor have obviously patched things up,” Maria commented as she plopped down next to Liz in the Cafeteria. “Every time that I call or stop by, I get your machine, which is full by the way, or no answer. So you’re either avoiding me or you’re with him every spare second you have. Since no one ever avoids me because they love me too much, I know that you’re with Dr. E. That means that it is definitely way past time for some girl talk.”
Liz was about to respond when another tray, piled high with every food imaginable, landed on the table and Alex Whitman appeared. “Don’t everyone get too excited that I’m here now,” he said sarcastically as he was greeted with silence.
“Alex…we’re doing girl talk here,” Maria explained.
“So? I believe that I was granted official girlfriend status Freshman year after you made me go buy you tampons because your cramps were too painful to go yourself.”
“Point taken. Ok…we’re talking about Liz and Dr. E. I was just about to ask her if they’ve done it yet,” Maria stated matter of factly.
Liz turned beet red while Alex took a big bite of chicken sandwich. “Done what yet?” he asked between mouthfuls.
“You know…it. The wild thing. The horizontal polka…” As she continued to explain, her eyebrows raised suggestively.
Alex practically choked when he realized what Maria was implying.
“Whoa… too much info, Deluca. I’m sorry I asked,” he took another bite. After chewing thoughtfully for a moment he turned to Liz. “So are you?”
Liz didn’t think her face would ever go back to its normal color. “We haven’t…yet. But now that we’ve worked through our misunderstandings, we’ve definitely gotten closer,” Liz tried to explain. She was more than a little embarrassed to be discussing her sex life in a cafeteria full of people.
“Just be careful when you decide to let him …score his homerun,” Alex said awkwardly. “Make sure he’s got a …glove on…”
Maria was snickering to herself at Alex’s advice and Liz couldn’t help but crack a smile, knowing that Alex was just as embarrassed as she was.
After a few more seconds, they couldn’t take it any more and they all burst into laughter.
“Alex…you really should learn to use your brain to talk…not your ass,” Maria told him between spurts of laughter. “I mean really…. glove?”
Alex shrugged; they knew what he’d meant…that’s all that mattered.
When their laughter died down, Liz turned to Alex. “You know…she always badgers us, maybe we should see what she’s been up to.” Liz focused her attention on Maria. “So what about you, Maria. Have you and Michael done it yet?”
Maria smiled and stole a french fry off Alex’s plate. “After our second date, he decided that he couldn’t resist me, so I took his innocence,” she told them impishly.
Alex whistled. “You work fast, Deluca.”
Maria shrugged. “What can I say? I was on the prowl and Michael was my prey.”
*****
That night, Liz was trying to think about anything that would get her mind off of her nervousness. She and Max were on their way to his sister’s house for dinner. Liz could feel her palms sweating as they got closer. Max, noticing her nervousness, reached over and grabbed her hand.
“Relax. You’ve already done battle with Isabel once. The worst is already over. And my mother already loves you…so you’ve got nothing to worry about.”
“Wait…you never told me that your parents were going to be here,” Liz said, interrupting his attempt at reassuring her.
Max winced inwardly. He had forgotten that small detail. “It’s not a big deal. I’m sorry I didn’t mention it earlier. When Isabel suggested this she told me that she wanted the family to get to know you better. I was going to tell you but I forgot. But like I said, don’t worry. My mother already adores you and my father will love you too.”
Liz still didn’t look convinced.
“I promise that I won’t leave you alone with any of them. And if they try to ambush you with questions, I’ll immediately side track them with… well, I’ll sidetrack them with something.” Liz laughed at that and leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek for his efforts. She was feeling a little better, knowing that she wouldn’t have to fend for herself.
Despite this, moments later, Liz was gripping Max’s hand tightly as they stood at Isabel’s front door. When the door finally opened, not only Isabel, but also Jesse, Isabel’s husband, and both Max’s mother and father, greeted them. Surprised, Max and Liz were ushered into the house where greetings and introductions were made. After a few minutes of idly mingling in the entrance, Isabel ushered everyone into the sitting room while they waited for dinner to finish.
“Liz, sweetheart, it’s so good to see you again,” Diane Evans gushed as she sat down next to Liz on the sofa. “ How’s your grandmother? I haven’t talked to her since Christmas.”
“Oh…she’s wonderful. In fact, Max and I just paid a visit to her this last weekend. She enjoys having company,” Liz responded.
Max didn’t say anything; instead, he ducked his head slightly, remembering the reason they’d been at Claudia Parkers the last weekend. As if sensing this, Liz reached over and squeezed his hand. He looked up at her and smiled when he saw her reassuring gaze.
They all talked for a while, Liz was able to field their questions like a pro. Phillip Evans was very impressed with the petite girl his son had chosen. She was bright and funny and beautiful and it was obvious that she loved Max. Diane knew that she was looking at her son’s future as she sat there watching Max and Liz interact. She noticed the subtle things. Like the way they always seemed to be touching and how they were each so considerate of each other.
Isabel kept her mouth shut for the most part. Her frostiness was largely absent though and she seemed more relaxed than anyone had seen her for a long time. She played the attentive hostess well and it seemed that everyone was having a good time. After a little while, Isabel glanced at her watch. Dinner should be ready, she decided.
“I need to go check on the food,” she said, excusing herself. As she started to go, Liz stood up.
“I’ll help you, Isabel. If you don’t mind,” she offered.
Surprised, Isabel accepted her offer and led her into the spacious kitchen.
“You have a beautiful home,” Liz commented.
“Thank you. Jesse and I were thrilled when we were finally able to afford this place. I did a lot of the decorating myself,” Isabel told her. She was relieved that Liz wasn’t holding a grudge and instead, seemed to be easing the tension between them.
“Really? It’s absolutely incredible. Maybe you could give Max some advice on decorating his place. It looks like a bachelor pad.”
“It probably won’t stay the way for long,” Isabel said with a small smile. “Liz…I need to tell you that I’m very sorry. You were right. I was wrong to judge you, especially when I didn’t know you it’s just that…well…I was in your position once. I dated my uhm…well he was my English professor. We spent a whole year, sneaking around. Then I graduated and …I broke it off. I didn’t want to be tied down and he wanted more of a commitment from me. I’d known the whole time that I didn’t love him and I was just after the thrill of it all. Because it was something sort of forbidden, ya know? And I guess that I was just scared for Max. I could see how much he cared about you. More than that silly English professor ever did for me. And I just didn’t want him to end up hurt. It’s the people that you care about the most that can really hurt you and…”
“I would never do that,” Liz interrupted. “I want you to know now that I love him. I really do and I want to be with him for however long he’ll have me, no matter what the outcome.”
Isabel nodded. “I guess I should thank you then.”
“Thank me? Why?”
“For making my brother the happiest I’ve ever seen him.”
At that, a tentative relationship began to form between the two women. Both bound by the one thing they had in common; their love for Max Evans.
******
Friday morning Max was just crawling out of bed when the phone rang. Thinking that it might be Liz, he rushed to grab it. It wasn’t her, but rather Dr. Peterson. He had a family emergency and he was wondering if Max would be willing to teach his Physics 112 class. He agreed because he didn’t feel like he had another option.
As he was going about getting ready, it dawned on Max that that was Liz’s physics class. He should probably call and warn her. It could get tricky with him teaching the class. But it shouldn’t be that big of a deal, he reasoned. It wasn’t like he had to grade any of their papers. He just had to teach the lesson for the day. That was it.
Of course…it was the teaching part that might be tricky. He had to make sure that he focused and didn’t let Liz’s presence distract him. That tended to happen quite easily. He could do it though. He was a professional. He’d been teaching for years.
Still not quite believing that when it came to Liz Parker, something wouldn’t give him away entirely; Max left for school. He had a feeling that it was going to be an interesting day.
"The heart has its reasons it which reason knows nothing" -Blaise Pascal
-
carenicoleIQ
- Enthusiastic Roswellian
- Posts: 36
- Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2001 4:58 pm
- Location: Nebraska
Chapter 15
Liz ended up being early for Physics on Monday. She decided to go straight to class from her meeting with her class advisor, Dr Wignall. She’d set up the meeting to tell him about the decisions she’d made regarding her future. He had done his part and listened to her reasons and then tried to convince her otherwise. But she wasn’t going to be persuaded otherwise. She was happy with the choices she’d made. Even though things hadn’t gone quite as smoothly as she’d hoped, she was still in a fairly good mood.
When she got to the physics lecture room, it was still empty so she went to her seat and started to look over the chapter for the day’s lecture. She was reading intently and didn’t notice that anyone had come into the room until a throat cleared towards the front. “Miss. Parker, you’re here early,” a deep voice commented, amusement apparent in the tone.
Liz bit back a smile and looked up in direction of the familiar voice. “Dr. Evans, what are you doing here?”
“Dr. Peterson’s gone today. There was a family emergency. He called me this morning to come substitute,” Max explained. He wanted to go over to Liz’s desk and kiss her hello. It took great restraint to keep him planted at the front desk.
Another student walked in then and made his way to his seat.
Not wanting to end their conversation, Max asked what he hoped was a pretty casual question. “So, did you do anything interesting this weekend?” He knew for a fact that she had. They’d spent Saturday at the zoo with grandma Claudia and afterwards they’d gone out and spent the night sleeping at the telescope.
“Oh, I had a great weekend. Until last night, that is. I wanted to spend the night at my boyfriend’s but I had a test to study for and he’s a little distracting. Of course, I had a hard time getting to sleep with out him,” Liz confided with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
Max groaned. He’d missed her too. Even if it was accidental, he’d gotten used to waking up with her and having her next to him the entire night. He was two seconds away from catapulting himself over the desktops to get to her so he could make their night apart up to her. Glancing away from her, he swallowed hard. The kid in the back looked like he had already started his nap so he probably wouldn’t even notice if Max did act on his urges. “I …uh…had the same problem. My girlfriend had things to do and …I really missed having her with me. I might have to do something to fix that.”
“I’m sure she’d be thrilled,” Liz told him.
She could feel the tension between them building. Being apart for the night had been too long to be away from each other. Now that he was in front of her, she could hardly contain her excitement. She wondered if this was how it was supposed to feel. Her heart was racing just from the thought of him. And hearing his voice had sent a shiver up her spine. Seeing him in the doorway just moments before had made her mouth go dry. He’d looked incredible. She loved the way his khaki pants defined the muscular shape of his thighs. She was already anticipating the moment when he’d turn around to write on the chalkboard. Was it just her or was the room getting warmer?
Max’s attention was focused intently on Liz. She was wearing a red blouse that he loved. It had tiny little snaps. He could only imagine how easily they would flick open. To top it off, he could see her shapely bare legs peaking out from beneath the desk. She was wearing a skirt. He couldn’t even let his mind wrap around that thought. He’d never be able to step out from behind the front desk.
Their intense gazes were broken by the sound of Pam Troy’s voice as she made her usual grand entrance. Liz had almost forgotten that Pam was in her class. The girl never spoke up. Not that she had much to say to Dr. Peterson. Of course, Max seemed to be another story.
Groaning inwardly, she glanced at Max one last time before turning back to her book. Their verbal foreplay would have to wait until later. Idly, Liz wondered how she was going to make it through the whole class without completely giving her feelings away.
The classroom seemed to fill up quickly after that and as soon as it seemed like everyone was present, Dr. Evans started the lecture.
As Max stood in the front, he was keenly aware of every little move Liz made. With every shift of her body, the crossing and uncrossing of her ankles, the way she sucked on her pen, she was unconsciously seducing him in front of everyone. Add to it the fact that his self-control was at an all time low, especially with they way their physical relationship had been progressing. Over the past few days each touch had become more intimate, each caress more arousing, each kiss more urgent as their desire to be together more completely became even more distinct.
The lecture went slowly. Luckily it was one that Max could give in his sleep. His thoughts certainly seemed to be centered on his bed, although sleeping wasn’t exactly the activity of choice.
Liz was having a hard time concentrating on anything being said. All she seemed cognizant of was how Max looked and the way he moved so fluidly with authority. He gave off an aura of strength and intelligence. He was just so damn hot. For a while Liz was perfectly content to just admire the way he taught. She liked the way his clothes fit so well. Soon, though, she was thinking about the incredible body beneath those clothes and what it would be like to have that body moving over hers. The more she thought about it, the more she began to ache. She tried to rub her thighs together to ease some of the tension. But as soon as she calmed down a little, his voice; that deep sexy voice that seemed to resonate through her entire body; made her think of all the times he’d whispered in her ear and she wondered what that voice would sound like if they were making love.
The second half of the lecture was about the right hand rule and required everyone to attempt the contortion of his or her hands. As Liz watched Max demonstrate she was amazed at how he was even able to make that seem sexual. A mental image, a feeling, of his hands doing wicked things to her body began to form. Her whole body was humming now with anticipation and excitement.
For his part, Max had to keep his eyes off of Liz. He wasn’t keen on the idea that the whole class would get a glimpse of the hard on he would be sporting if he looked at her. Avoiding looking at her, though, was like trying to stop breathing. When he did manage a casual glance in her direction, he was surprised by the distracted look on her face. Upon closer inspection he noticed that her eyes were closed, and her chest rose and fell steadily. Her face was flushed and her beautiful white teeth were clamped down on her full lower lip. Her fingers gripped her pen so tightly that her knuckles were almost white. Max knew those gestures…that expression. He’d become intimately familiar with it. Liz was aroused.
Damn. Glancing at the clock he drew in a breath of relief. There were only five minutes of class left. Without even a second’s hesitation, he ended the class early.
By that point Liz had to practically run from the room to keep from attacking Max against the chalkboard. Before she left though, she casually dropped a note on the desk in front of him.
Max watched Liz drop the small sheet of paper and leave quickly. He wanted to go after her but couldn’t. There were students with questions and he was forced to stay and answer them. As soon as they’d cleared out, Max reached into his pocket to read Liz’s note. He didn’t have a chance to read it though, because Pam Troy was suddenly standing right in front of him.
“Dr Evans? Could I talk to you privately about something?” she asked trying to seem very serious.
“Sure, what is it?” Max really didn’t want to deal with her at the moment but forced himself to pay attention to her anyway.
“Oh. Not here. Maybe we could go to your office,” she suggested sweetly.
Very reluctantly he agreed and led the way, all the while wondering where Liz might have gone off.
After unlocking his office door, he gestured for Pam to come in and sit down.
“Now, what did you need to talk to me about?” he asked.
“I wanted to warn you. I think that Liz Parker is stalking you. I mean she’s stops by to see you all the time, even if she just says it’s for help. And I overheard her talking to a friend of hers and she was saying something about going over to your house to see what you were doing. I don’t think she’s dangerous, but she’s definitely delusional and you should be careful,” Pam told him.
Max almost choked as he tried to hold in his laughter. Clearing his throat and hiding his amusement he spoke. “Uh…thank you for your concern, Pam. I’ll have to keep an eye out for Liz.”
“If you want you can use me to warn Liz off. I’ll pretend to be your girlfriend or something to get her to leave you alone,” Pam suggested.
“That won’t be necessary. I’m happily involved with someone right now and I’m fairly certain that Liz’s intentions are non-threatening. So you don’t need to worry about me.” With that said, Max showed Pam out the door, shutting it quickly behind her before bursting into laughter.
He couldn’t wait to tell Liz about that little conversation.
Thinking of Liz reminded him of the note she’d given him. He took it out of his pocket and read it quickly.
Your office. Ten minutes.
As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. “Come in,” Max called out, hoping that it had been ten minutes and that it was Liz on the other side.
It was.
She looked flushed still, her cheeks pink and her eyes dark.
Max could feel himself hardening.
Trying to stay in some sort of control, Max decided to try talking. “Why did you leave so quickly this morning? Were you in a hurry?”
“I…was frustrated,” she told him truthfully.
“Frustrated? How?”
“Sexually,” came her breathy response.
The distance between them became null at that point. Max’s mouth crashed down on hers, stifling the gasp that left her lips. He’d wanted to do that since he’d first seen her that morning. Now he couldn’t stop himself. Tasting the sweetness of her mouth, he knew he’d never get enough of kissing her; he’d never get enough of her. Period. His hands caressed her lower back through the thin blouse before pulling her body flush against his. When that still wasn’t enough contact, he tugged on the shirt, the snaps coming apart just as easily as he’d imagined they would. Cupping her bottom in his hands, he lifted her up, her legs going around him as he backed up and practically fell into the closest chair leaving her straddling his lap.
“Oh…Max…mmm,” she moaned as she felt his lips trailing warm kisses along the smooth hollow of her throat. “This feels good…this feels really good,” she murmured before bring his lips back to dance wildly with hers. She shifted almost effortlessly in his lap, not even breaking the kiss and she moved to bring their lower bodies closer together.
“We shouldn’t be doing this here,” Max managed to gasp out, breaking apart the kiss. As he was saying this his hands were caressing her bare stomach and sliding along the edge of her lace bra. His thumb swept across the rough fabric quick to find the puckered nipple hiding beneath it.
“Uhn…I know,” she responded breathily, leaning in to kiss him again. The ache between her thighs had intensified ten-fold since class had ended and she ground her bottom against his arousal, making him moan with the pleasure of the friction.
The office was quickly filled with the sound of their heavy breathing and soft moans.
Max’s right hand trailed along each inch of Liz’s exposed flesh. Unable to resist the urge he leaned in, his lips pressing against the smooth skin along the curve of her breast. As mouth moved along the edge, his fingers worked to find the bra’s clasp. With a single flick, the front clasp came undone, revealing two perfect, round breasts to his hungry gaze. Pushing aside the lace fabric he drank in the sight of her naked chest. His mouth wanted a taste of the perfect brown nipples.
Liz took in a sharp breath as she felt him take her nipple into his warm, wet mouth. She could barely comprehend the sensations his touch, his kisses …his tongue, she thought absently as he licked a turgid bud before sucking on it, were arousing in her. The fabric of her shirt had fallen off of her shoulders and pooled in the crooks of her elbows, partially confining her movement. Her lower body began to rock against the hardness she was pressed into and she could feel the tingling between her legs increasing. She’d never felt like this before; never let herself be so vulnerable to anyone before.
*****
Maria had been waiting for Liz for almost twenty minutes. They always met after Liz’s Physics class so they could go eat lunch together. It was obvious that Liz was going to a no show again. Only a little upset, she headed for the bathroom. After that she’d go visit Michael for a little while.
She was washing her hands when she heard a strange noise coming through the vent. At first she brushed it off but as she was drying her hands she heard the noise again. It was more distinct this time and it definitely sound like a moan. A female moan. Which in Maria’s mind could only mean one thing.
*****
Liz’s excited gasps and noises were driving Max crazy. Things between them had never gotten quite this heated before and Max couldn’t seem to make himself stop. He didn’t even want to try, especially with the way Liz was so responsive to his every touch.
The ache between Liz’s thighs was growing steadily worse and the only outlet for it in this moment was to rub against the increasingly hard bulge in Max’s pants. But it wasn’t enough to assuage her need. She wanted more. “Maaaax,” she moaned out, “please…I need you to touch me,” she pleaded.
“I am touching you,” he breathed out as he kissed his way down her neck back to the slope of her creamy breast, licking down the cleft between the twin peaks before moving his lips across first her left breast and then her right, sucking on the tight bud of each respective nipple.
“No…” she gasped at the sensations of his mouth. “ I mean …touch me.” Liz took the hand that was resting on her bare thigh and move it to where she wanted to feel him.
When he felt her wetness against his hand he immediately understood what she meant and he was more than happy to oblige. His fingers moved against the damp fabric and he sucked in a breath at how wet she’d become. It was a testament to the arousal that he’d stirred in her. With deft fingers he moved aside the scrap of fabric that blocked her entrance and quickly stroked the silky flesh of her woman hood. At the contact, Liz let out a sharp cry of pleasure, her back arching, pushing her breasts against his chest. Max moved his mouth to hers, covering it to muffle the sounds from her mouth as he continued his ministrations.
With her limited experience, Liz wasn’t sure how to react or what to do. She only knew that Max’s fingers were magical, eliciting sensations in her body that she’d never felt before. Something primal and instinctive had her wrapping her arms around him more tightly, pushing herself closer to him.
“Max…please,” she begged, not sure what she was begging him for. She just knew that she was desperate for something only he could give to her. His fingers continued to move over Liz’s wet center. His middle finger slipped easily inside her, and Liz moaned at the feel of it. Her flesh clutched at him and he marveled at how tight she felt around his finger. As he stroked her, he allowed his thumb to brush against the swollen bud at the apex of her sex. He could tell by the frantic bucking of her hips and the way her breathing was uneven that she was on the brink of orgasm. He desperately wanted to watch her fall apart in his arms.
She moaned out his name. It was softer this time, almost questioning as if she wasn’t sure what was happening.
“It’s okay, baby…just let go,” he whispered against her ear before sucking her ear lobe into his mouth and then moving to capture her lips with his.
As his tongue stroked against hers, he felt Liz’s tight heat clamp around his finger and she wrenched her mouth away, gasping as she rode out her release. Panting hard and completely dazed, Liz lost all ability to think, let alone speak coherently. Max wrapped his arms around Liz tightly, feeling the slight tremors of her body as he held her. She buried her face in his neck and would have been content to sit there with him like that forever. She could feel his hardness pressing into her bottom still.
“I think maybe it’s supposed to be your turn now,” she whispered pulling away to look at his face.
Max was about to open his mouth when they were both startled by pounding on the office door. Jumping apart, they frantically worked to realign their clothes, quickly buttoning and tucking in an almost futile attempt to appear innocent. At least, Max mused, his hard on was shrinking. Getting caught was definitely a mood killer.
The knocking grew more persistent until Max went to answer the door. No sooner had he turned the door knob then he stumbled back from the force of one Maria Deluca flinging it wide open and barreling into the room.
“What the hell do you two think you’re doing?” she demanded.
Try as she might to look innocent, Liz couldn’t keep a deep blush from spreading across her cheeks.
“What are you talking about, Maria?” Max asked, not doing any better job of acting innocent than Liz.
“What are you talking about, Maria?” she mimicked. “ I’m talking about all the moaning and groaning being broadcast through the vent systems into the girl’s bathroom. That’s what’s I’m talking about.”
Liz’s eyes went wide and she turned to Max. He looked more than a little embarrassed himself, his ears a bright red color.
She turned back to Maria. “Do you think that anyone else heard?” she asked, mortified by the thought of her and Max’s intimate moment being overheard.
“Relax…the moaning didn’t start until I got in there and no one else came in while it was happening. You’re just lucky that I wasn’t one of the faculty members. Did you realize that sound goes through the vent like that?” she asked, addressing Max.
Max looked a little sheepish. “I …uh…sort of forgot how sound carries through like that.”
At that admission, Liz’s eyes went wide. “Does that mean you can hear people in the bathroom?”
“I really wish that I couldn’t…but…yeah. Every once in a while a conversation will drift through and sometimes other sounds that I’d rather not mention.”
“Oh…” Liz wasn’t sure what to say. Her mind was racing to remember if she’d ever had any revealing conversations in the bathroom that he could have overheard. He didn’t know it yet, but they were going to have a talk about this later.
“Sucks to be you, dude!” Maria said with a laugh.
Max chuckled. “If I made tenure I get a better office. At least, I hope so.”
Maria sobered. “May I suggest that, if you’d like that to happen, you and Liz refrain from any more quickies between classes. I’m going to steal her away from you now,” she grabbed Liz’s arm and began dragging her friend away.
Shrugging off her friend’s hold, Liz refused to leave without kissing him goodbye.
“Thanks for helping relieve my…uh…frustration,” she told him. “I’ll see you later. I think we need to have a talk about any interesting conversations you may have heard.”
Max sighed…he didn’t care what they talked about…all he could think was that maybe he’d better stop off at the drug store before going home. He had exactly one condom in his nightstand. If this encounter was any sort of indicator, he was going to need a lot more than that.
Liz ended up being early for Physics on Monday. She decided to go straight to class from her meeting with her class advisor, Dr Wignall. She’d set up the meeting to tell him about the decisions she’d made regarding her future. He had done his part and listened to her reasons and then tried to convince her otherwise. But she wasn’t going to be persuaded otherwise. She was happy with the choices she’d made. Even though things hadn’t gone quite as smoothly as she’d hoped, she was still in a fairly good mood.
When she got to the physics lecture room, it was still empty so she went to her seat and started to look over the chapter for the day’s lecture. She was reading intently and didn’t notice that anyone had come into the room until a throat cleared towards the front. “Miss. Parker, you’re here early,” a deep voice commented, amusement apparent in the tone.
Liz bit back a smile and looked up in direction of the familiar voice. “Dr. Evans, what are you doing here?”
“Dr. Peterson’s gone today. There was a family emergency. He called me this morning to come substitute,” Max explained. He wanted to go over to Liz’s desk and kiss her hello. It took great restraint to keep him planted at the front desk.
Another student walked in then and made his way to his seat.
Not wanting to end their conversation, Max asked what he hoped was a pretty casual question. “So, did you do anything interesting this weekend?” He knew for a fact that she had. They’d spent Saturday at the zoo with grandma Claudia and afterwards they’d gone out and spent the night sleeping at the telescope.
“Oh, I had a great weekend. Until last night, that is. I wanted to spend the night at my boyfriend’s but I had a test to study for and he’s a little distracting. Of course, I had a hard time getting to sleep with out him,” Liz confided with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
Max groaned. He’d missed her too. Even if it was accidental, he’d gotten used to waking up with her and having her next to him the entire night. He was two seconds away from catapulting himself over the desktops to get to her so he could make their night apart up to her. Glancing away from her, he swallowed hard. The kid in the back looked like he had already started his nap so he probably wouldn’t even notice if Max did act on his urges. “I …uh…had the same problem. My girlfriend had things to do and …I really missed having her with me. I might have to do something to fix that.”
“I’m sure she’d be thrilled,” Liz told him.
She could feel the tension between them building. Being apart for the night had been too long to be away from each other. Now that he was in front of her, she could hardly contain her excitement. She wondered if this was how it was supposed to feel. Her heart was racing just from the thought of him. And hearing his voice had sent a shiver up her spine. Seeing him in the doorway just moments before had made her mouth go dry. He’d looked incredible. She loved the way his khaki pants defined the muscular shape of his thighs. She was already anticipating the moment when he’d turn around to write on the chalkboard. Was it just her or was the room getting warmer?
Max’s attention was focused intently on Liz. She was wearing a red blouse that he loved. It had tiny little snaps. He could only imagine how easily they would flick open. To top it off, he could see her shapely bare legs peaking out from beneath the desk. She was wearing a skirt. He couldn’t even let his mind wrap around that thought. He’d never be able to step out from behind the front desk.
Their intense gazes were broken by the sound of Pam Troy’s voice as she made her usual grand entrance. Liz had almost forgotten that Pam was in her class. The girl never spoke up. Not that she had much to say to Dr. Peterson. Of course, Max seemed to be another story.
Groaning inwardly, she glanced at Max one last time before turning back to her book. Their verbal foreplay would have to wait until later. Idly, Liz wondered how she was going to make it through the whole class without completely giving her feelings away.
The classroom seemed to fill up quickly after that and as soon as it seemed like everyone was present, Dr. Evans started the lecture.
As Max stood in the front, he was keenly aware of every little move Liz made. With every shift of her body, the crossing and uncrossing of her ankles, the way she sucked on her pen, she was unconsciously seducing him in front of everyone. Add to it the fact that his self-control was at an all time low, especially with they way their physical relationship had been progressing. Over the past few days each touch had become more intimate, each caress more arousing, each kiss more urgent as their desire to be together more completely became even more distinct.
The lecture went slowly. Luckily it was one that Max could give in his sleep. His thoughts certainly seemed to be centered on his bed, although sleeping wasn’t exactly the activity of choice.
Liz was having a hard time concentrating on anything being said. All she seemed cognizant of was how Max looked and the way he moved so fluidly with authority. He gave off an aura of strength and intelligence. He was just so damn hot. For a while Liz was perfectly content to just admire the way he taught. She liked the way his clothes fit so well. Soon, though, she was thinking about the incredible body beneath those clothes and what it would be like to have that body moving over hers. The more she thought about it, the more she began to ache. She tried to rub her thighs together to ease some of the tension. But as soon as she calmed down a little, his voice; that deep sexy voice that seemed to resonate through her entire body; made her think of all the times he’d whispered in her ear and she wondered what that voice would sound like if they were making love.
The second half of the lecture was about the right hand rule and required everyone to attempt the contortion of his or her hands. As Liz watched Max demonstrate she was amazed at how he was even able to make that seem sexual. A mental image, a feeling, of his hands doing wicked things to her body began to form. Her whole body was humming now with anticipation and excitement.
For his part, Max had to keep his eyes off of Liz. He wasn’t keen on the idea that the whole class would get a glimpse of the hard on he would be sporting if he looked at her. Avoiding looking at her, though, was like trying to stop breathing. When he did manage a casual glance in her direction, he was surprised by the distracted look on her face. Upon closer inspection he noticed that her eyes were closed, and her chest rose and fell steadily. Her face was flushed and her beautiful white teeth were clamped down on her full lower lip. Her fingers gripped her pen so tightly that her knuckles were almost white. Max knew those gestures…that expression. He’d become intimately familiar with it. Liz was aroused.
Damn. Glancing at the clock he drew in a breath of relief. There were only five minutes of class left. Without even a second’s hesitation, he ended the class early.
By that point Liz had to practically run from the room to keep from attacking Max against the chalkboard. Before she left though, she casually dropped a note on the desk in front of him.
Max watched Liz drop the small sheet of paper and leave quickly. He wanted to go after her but couldn’t. There were students with questions and he was forced to stay and answer them. As soon as they’d cleared out, Max reached into his pocket to read Liz’s note. He didn’t have a chance to read it though, because Pam Troy was suddenly standing right in front of him.
“Dr Evans? Could I talk to you privately about something?” she asked trying to seem very serious.
“Sure, what is it?” Max really didn’t want to deal with her at the moment but forced himself to pay attention to her anyway.
“Oh. Not here. Maybe we could go to your office,” she suggested sweetly.
Very reluctantly he agreed and led the way, all the while wondering where Liz might have gone off.
After unlocking his office door, he gestured for Pam to come in and sit down.
“Now, what did you need to talk to me about?” he asked.
“I wanted to warn you. I think that Liz Parker is stalking you. I mean she’s stops by to see you all the time, even if she just says it’s for help. And I overheard her talking to a friend of hers and she was saying something about going over to your house to see what you were doing. I don’t think she’s dangerous, but she’s definitely delusional and you should be careful,” Pam told him.
Max almost choked as he tried to hold in his laughter. Clearing his throat and hiding his amusement he spoke. “Uh…thank you for your concern, Pam. I’ll have to keep an eye out for Liz.”
“If you want you can use me to warn Liz off. I’ll pretend to be your girlfriend or something to get her to leave you alone,” Pam suggested.
“That won’t be necessary. I’m happily involved with someone right now and I’m fairly certain that Liz’s intentions are non-threatening. So you don’t need to worry about me.” With that said, Max showed Pam out the door, shutting it quickly behind her before bursting into laughter.
He couldn’t wait to tell Liz about that little conversation.
Thinking of Liz reminded him of the note she’d given him. He took it out of his pocket and read it quickly.
Your office. Ten minutes.
As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. “Come in,” Max called out, hoping that it had been ten minutes and that it was Liz on the other side.
It was.
She looked flushed still, her cheeks pink and her eyes dark.
Max could feel himself hardening.
Trying to stay in some sort of control, Max decided to try talking. “Why did you leave so quickly this morning? Were you in a hurry?”
“I…was frustrated,” she told him truthfully.
“Frustrated? How?”
“Sexually,” came her breathy response.
The distance between them became null at that point. Max’s mouth crashed down on hers, stifling the gasp that left her lips. He’d wanted to do that since he’d first seen her that morning. Now he couldn’t stop himself. Tasting the sweetness of her mouth, he knew he’d never get enough of kissing her; he’d never get enough of her. Period. His hands caressed her lower back through the thin blouse before pulling her body flush against his. When that still wasn’t enough contact, he tugged on the shirt, the snaps coming apart just as easily as he’d imagined they would. Cupping her bottom in his hands, he lifted her up, her legs going around him as he backed up and practically fell into the closest chair leaving her straddling his lap.
“Oh…Max…mmm,” she moaned as she felt his lips trailing warm kisses along the smooth hollow of her throat. “This feels good…this feels really good,” she murmured before bring his lips back to dance wildly with hers. She shifted almost effortlessly in his lap, not even breaking the kiss and she moved to bring their lower bodies closer together.
“We shouldn’t be doing this here,” Max managed to gasp out, breaking apart the kiss. As he was saying this his hands were caressing her bare stomach and sliding along the edge of her lace bra. His thumb swept across the rough fabric quick to find the puckered nipple hiding beneath it.
“Uhn…I know,” she responded breathily, leaning in to kiss him again. The ache between her thighs had intensified ten-fold since class had ended and she ground her bottom against his arousal, making him moan with the pleasure of the friction.
The office was quickly filled with the sound of their heavy breathing and soft moans.
Max’s right hand trailed along each inch of Liz’s exposed flesh. Unable to resist the urge he leaned in, his lips pressing against the smooth skin along the curve of her breast. As mouth moved along the edge, his fingers worked to find the bra’s clasp. With a single flick, the front clasp came undone, revealing two perfect, round breasts to his hungry gaze. Pushing aside the lace fabric he drank in the sight of her naked chest. His mouth wanted a taste of the perfect brown nipples.
Liz took in a sharp breath as she felt him take her nipple into his warm, wet mouth. She could barely comprehend the sensations his touch, his kisses …his tongue, she thought absently as he licked a turgid bud before sucking on it, were arousing in her. The fabric of her shirt had fallen off of her shoulders and pooled in the crooks of her elbows, partially confining her movement. Her lower body began to rock against the hardness she was pressed into and she could feel the tingling between her legs increasing. She’d never felt like this before; never let herself be so vulnerable to anyone before.
*****
Maria had been waiting for Liz for almost twenty minutes. They always met after Liz’s Physics class so they could go eat lunch together. It was obvious that Liz was going to a no show again. Only a little upset, she headed for the bathroom. After that she’d go visit Michael for a little while.
She was washing her hands when she heard a strange noise coming through the vent. At first she brushed it off but as she was drying her hands she heard the noise again. It was more distinct this time and it definitely sound like a moan. A female moan. Which in Maria’s mind could only mean one thing.
*****
Liz’s excited gasps and noises were driving Max crazy. Things between them had never gotten quite this heated before and Max couldn’t seem to make himself stop. He didn’t even want to try, especially with the way Liz was so responsive to his every touch.
The ache between Liz’s thighs was growing steadily worse and the only outlet for it in this moment was to rub against the increasingly hard bulge in Max’s pants. But it wasn’t enough to assuage her need. She wanted more. “Maaaax,” she moaned out, “please…I need you to touch me,” she pleaded.
“I am touching you,” he breathed out as he kissed his way down her neck back to the slope of her creamy breast, licking down the cleft between the twin peaks before moving his lips across first her left breast and then her right, sucking on the tight bud of each respective nipple.
“No…” she gasped at the sensations of his mouth. “ I mean …touch me.” Liz took the hand that was resting on her bare thigh and move it to where she wanted to feel him.
When he felt her wetness against his hand he immediately understood what she meant and he was more than happy to oblige. His fingers moved against the damp fabric and he sucked in a breath at how wet she’d become. It was a testament to the arousal that he’d stirred in her. With deft fingers he moved aside the scrap of fabric that blocked her entrance and quickly stroked the silky flesh of her woman hood. At the contact, Liz let out a sharp cry of pleasure, her back arching, pushing her breasts against his chest. Max moved his mouth to hers, covering it to muffle the sounds from her mouth as he continued his ministrations.
With her limited experience, Liz wasn’t sure how to react or what to do. She only knew that Max’s fingers were magical, eliciting sensations in her body that she’d never felt before. Something primal and instinctive had her wrapping her arms around him more tightly, pushing herself closer to him.
“Max…please,” she begged, not sure what she was begging him for. She just knew that she was desperate for something only he could give to her. His fingers continued to move over Liz’s wet center. His middle finger slipped easily inside her, and Liz moaned at the feel of it. Her flesh clutched at him and he marveled at how tight she felt around his finger. As he stroked her, he allowed his thumb to brush against the swollen bud at the apex of her sex. He could tell by the frantic bucking of her hips and the way her breathing was uneven that she was on the brink of orgasm. He desperately wanted to watch her fall apart in his arms.
She moaned out his name. It was softer this time, almost questioning as if she wasn’t sure what was happening.
“It’s okay, baby…just let go,” he whispered against her ear before sucking her ear lobe into his mouth and then moving to capture her lips with his.
As his tongue stroked against hers, he felt Liz’s tight heat clamp around his finger and she wrenched her mouth away, gasping as she rode out her release. Panting hard and completely dazed, Liz lost all ability to think, let alone speak coherently. Max wrapped his arms around Liz tightly, feeling the slight tremors of her body as he held her. She buried her face in his neck and would have been content to sit there with him like that forever. She could feel his hardness pressing into her bottom still.
“I think maybe it’s supposed to be your turn now,” she whispered pulling away to look at his face.
Max was about to open his mouth when they were both startled by pounding on the office door. Jumping apart, they frantically worked to realign their clothes, quickly buttoning and tucking in an almost futile attempt to appear innocent. At least, Max mused, his hard on was shrinking. Getting caught was definitely a mood killer.
The knocking grew more persistent until Max went to answer the door. No sooner had he turned the door knob then he stumbled back from the force of one Maria Deluca flinging it wide open and barreling into the room.
“What the hell do you two think you’re doing?” she demanded.
Try as she might to look innocent, Liz couldn’t keep a deep blush from spreading across her cheeks.
“What are you talking about, Maria?” Max asked, not doing any better job of acting innocent than Liz.
“What are you talking about, Maria?” she mimicked. “ I’m talking about all the moaning and groaning being broadcast through the vent systems into the girl’s bathroom. That’s what’s I’m talking about.”
Liz’s eyes went wide and she turned to Max. He looked more than a little embarrassed himself, his ears a bright red color.
She turned back to Maria. “Do you think that anyone else heard?” she asked, mortified by the thought of her and Max’s intimate moment being overheard.
“Relax…the moaning didn’t start until I got in there and no one else came in while it was happening. You’re just lucky that I wasn’t one of the faculty members. Did you realize that sound goes through the vent like that?” she asked, addressing Max.
Max looked a little sheepish. “I …uh…sort of forgot how sound carries through like that.”
At that admission, Liz’s eyes went wide. “Does that mean you can hear people in the bathroom?”
“I really wish that I couldn’t…but…yeah. Every once in a while a conversation will drift through and sometimes other sounds that I’d rather not mention.”
“Oh…” Liz wasn’t sure what to say. Her mind was racing to remember if she’d ever had any revealing conversations in the bathroom that he could have overheard. He didn’t know it yet, but they were going to have a talk about this later.
“Sucks to be you, dude!” Maria said with a laugh.
Max chuckled. “If I made tenure I get a better office. At least, I hope so.”
Maria sobered. “May I suggest that, if you’d like that to happen, you and Liz refrain from any more quickies between classes. I’m going to steal her away from you now,” she grabbed Liz’s arm and began dragging her friend away.
Shrugging off her friend’s hold, Liz refused to leave without kissing him goodbye.
“Thanks for helping relieve my…uh…frustration,” she told him. “I’ll see you later. I think we need to have a talk about any interesting conversations you may have heard.”
Max sighed…he didn’t care what they talked about…all he could think was that maybe he’d better stop off at the drug store before going home. He had exactly one condom in his nightstand. If this encounter was any sort of indicator, he was going to need a lot more than that.
"The heart has its reasons it which reason knows nothing" -Blaise Pascal
-
carenicoleIQ
- Enthusiastic Roswellian
- Posts: 36
- Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2001 4:58 pm
- Location: Nebraska
Chapter 16
Getting home that day seemed to take forever. Max wasn’t sure how to handle his nervous excitement. The evening before him held the distinct possibility of a new kind of intimacy for he and Liz. Part of him wanted to rush in the door and taker her the second he laid eyes on her. Another part of him was very aware that this was a new experience for her and not something they should jump into. He needed to be completely sure that she was ready to move their relationship to a new level.
The house smelled like garlic bread when he walked in. Max smiled and made his way to the kitchen. He found Liz there sitting at the table working on homework. Kissing her hello, he put his briefcase down and pulled out a chair. “What’s for dinner?” he asked. He immediately wondered if this was what it felt like to be married. To come home to a beautiful wife…to tell her about his day and hear all about hers. To eat together…sleep together. The more his mind pondered it, the more he liked the thought of that permanent connection. He liked the way it felt homey…natural to find her waiting for him at the end of the day.
“Lasagna and garlic bread. It’ll be ready by six thirty so you have enough to time to get comfortable. After we eat CSI comes on. It’s supposed to be a good episode…”
Max wasn’t sure how to interpret that. He was a little bit relieved and disappointed. Liz wanted to do what they did every Thursday night. Watch TV. She didn’t seem to have anything else in mind. Did that mean that she wasn’t ready for anything else? Had that afternoon in his office been too much for her? He was wondering if the two boxes of condoms he stopped to buy weren’t a little premature.
While Max was changing into jeans and a sweatshirt, Liz was trying to refocus her attention on her homework. It wasn’t that it was anything particularly interesting to her. It was just homework that she wanted out of the way before the weekend. The sooner it was done, the sooner she could devote all of her attention to Max. And she meant that it every way possible. She hoped to be doing a lot more than just sleeping in his bed by the time the night was over. Only, she wasn’t exactly sure how to approach the situation. Should she just come out and tell him she wanted to have sex? Should she seduce him? Or should she just let it happen naturally? Her nervousness eventually won out and she decided to just let nature takes its course.
As they were cuddled on the couch watching TV later, Liz was perfectly content to just be with him. She loved the way it felt to be in his arms and she gladly cherished the moment, as insignificant as it seemed. Max’s hand absently rubbed over Liz’s body, running from her rib cage to her hip. The gesture was familiar and soothing to Liz and she was completely relaxed.
During a commercial, Max let his eyes wander over Liz’s form. He swallowed a deep sigh as he drank in the sight of her. She was so beautiful. It felt …perfect to have her in his arms. He marveled at how she’d become such an ingrained part of his life in such a short time. Loneliness was no longer an issue, not with Liz. He’d been foolish to ever think that he could survive with out her. She was part of him now…a part he didn’t ever want to be without. Gazing at her, he suddenly felt the overwhelming need to show her just how much he adored her.
He kissed her neck first. A soft, slow, warm kiss that made Liz’s entire body hum with awareness. He kissed her again…the same way, letting his lips linger over the pulse he found on her throat. The hand that had been rubbing absently before now moved purposefully, sliding up and underneath her shirt, grazing over the smooth skin stomach and ribs to cup the fullness of her breast. The whimper that escaped her mouth caused Max to pause but when he looked up at her face, her eyes were closed and she was biting her lip in anticipation. Her body shifted, allowing him better access.
He resumed his kisses, conveying with each one that he loved her, wanted her…needed her.
“Mmm, Max,” she moaned as his mouth nibbled at a sensitive spot below her ear. Her body was quickly becoming consumed with heat. The desire he was stirring in her would not remain dormant for long. She needed to touch him the way he was touching her, like he was memorizing the nuances of her body, every curve, and every crevice. Liz’s hands began to wander, fighting their way to the hem of his shirt, needing to feel his warm flesh underneath her fingertips.
Max gave up feasting on Liz’s throat when she moaned yet again. He quickly brought his mouth to hers. He needed to taste her, to feel her tongue sliding against his. The heat of the kiss overpowered them, making them a slave to their senses, to the feelings that were evoking in each other.
As their mouths mated, Liz’s hands ran up and down Max’s back underneath his shirt, exploring the hard muscles of his shoulders, delicately caressing his spine. Max’s hands were a little busier. As he felt the soft weight of her breast in his palm, he knew that it wasn’t going to be enough to simply touch her. He needed more of her and while he satisfied his need for her…he could satisfy her needs.
The more Max touched Liz, the closer she wanted to be with him. And she knew that she wanted him… wanted him to take her, make her his own. She wanted to feel his naked body flush against hers, wanted to touch him everywhere and she wanted more than anything to give to him what she’d never given any other man. Herself.
Their kisses were like a drug, neither could get enough and it seemed to be a hassle to have to pull apart for breath. As their need for oxygen became obvious yet again, Liz pushed Max away from her slightly. His eyes, glazed with passion, momentarily clouded with confusion until Liz’s hands moved to the hem of her shirt. As she tugged it upward, Max stopped her. “Let me do it,” he whispered raggedly.
Liz nodded. Max reach out then with his large hands and ever so slowly, inched Liz’s shirt from her body. As he did so, he allowed his pinky to lazily graze her soft flesh, leaving a tingling trail in his wake. Liz practically purred at his touch. Once the shirt was off, he tossed it carelessly aside and then brought his face to her chest, nuzzling his nose along her collarbone and leaving a line of moist kisses. With only a small amount of fumbling he reached behind her back to unsnap her bra. Dragging each strap down her arm, he continued his assault of light caresses.
The more he touched her, the more aroused Liz got. Anymore and she would be a quivering mass of desire. Even so, she wouldn’t stop what was happening for the world. She’d dreamed about this moment and was ready to finally experience it first hand.
After disposing of Liz’s bra, Max devoured the sight of her completely bared to him with eagerness. She was exquisite. Her skin glowed with a slight sheen of sweat and the light seemed to high light the contours of her body. And her breasts…. they were perfect. Small, rounded globes of soft flesh that fit into his hand like they had been made for him to hold. Soon, touching…looking wasn’t enough. He had a great desire to taste the perfect rose-colored nipples that were straining before him.
Liz whimpered out loud as his warm, wet mouth closed over a tightened bud. Her body arched to push her closer to him.
As his mouth laved her with attention his fingers slid down to just below her belly button, running tauntingly along the edge of her jeans until he felt the almost imperceptible lift of her hips giving him permission to go further. The snap on her pants flipped open easily. The zipper cam undone just as quickly and soon Liz was moving into Max’s touch as his fingers caressed wet, swollen lower lips. Her moan seemed to ring out in the room. No one but Max had ever touched her this way and even though she’d felt him do this earlier, the sensations that he was stirring in her body were new and exciting and terrifying. They left her aching and wanting more.
He’d touched her this way before, just that afternoon, in fact. And he would never forget the surprised, blissful look on her face as she’d fallen apart in his arms from the very first time. Her first time. Thoughts of this suddenly gave Max the self-control that he thought he’d already lost. This was her first time…he needed to be gentle, more careful with her.
“Oh…God! Max! Don’t stop touching me,” Liz whispered. Her body language relayed those words as she spread her legs giving him more access to her and allowing him to settle against her more fully with his ever-increasing hardness brushing against her thigh.
“Liz…we need to slow down…I …I want this…want you…so badly…but we have to slow down or…” his broken words halted as he felt Liz’s tongue licking along his neck.
“Take your shirt off, Max,” her husky voice commanded. He complied, throwing it on the floor next to hers. But before he went back to her, he got up from the couch, pulling her into his arms.
“I’m taking you to bed,” he told her before kissing her soundly to silence any protests about the momentary pause in their activities. The hum of sexual awareness that coursed through Liz’s body only increased with this declaration and her whole body tightened in anticipation as Max carried her into his room.
He set Liz down next to the bed before leaning over to pull down the covers. He was doing it to save himself the hassle later…but also to try and regain some control. Liz made him so crazy. He wanted her so badly that it was like a physical ache.
When Max turned away from her, Liz took the moment to admire the large expanse of bare skin exposed to her. She couldn’t resist touching him so she stepped forward and slipped her arms around his waist, pressing her body firmly against his back, needing to feel the warmth that he gave off. She inhaled the scent of him…it was strong and masculine and her mouth suddenly had the urge to taste the skin that was so close to her lips. She began nibbling and licking along his shoulder. Her hands splayed out across his chest. Unable to see what she was doing, Liz let herself feel, exploring taut abs and firm pecks. He was so perfect…so incredible. It was a miracle that he could ever want her. Even as she thought that, she couldn’t deny that he did want her. It was evident by the bulge in the front of his pants. As her hands continued to explore, one ran along the edge of jeans, teasing him as he’d teased her before. She scraped her nails down the front, feeling the straining hardness beneath the rough fabric.
Max groaned when she touched him. She was going to push him over the edge. And he was going to let her do it too, only he was going to make damn sure that she went with him. Without warning her turned around in her arms and brought his mouth down on hers, devouring it like a starving man. He wrapped his arms around her, sliding his hands down to her butt, cupping it as he pulled her closer to him, moving her against his erection.
“We should take off the rest of our clothes,” Liz murmured through distracting kisses.
“Mmm…good…idea,” Max responded, letting his kisses trail down the smooth expanse of her throat along her bare shoulder.
Liz pushed away from Max’s body slightly and they both groaned at the lack of contact. Max reached out his hands to tug on the waistband of her jeans, pulling them down over her slender hips and helping her step out of them, leaving her standing there in nothing but a pair of barely there panties.
Max sucked in deep breath as he stood there looking at her. He loved her…loved everything about her. That’s probably what had scared him so much initially. He had fallen quickly and hard. He wanted to make a life with her…one that included children. He only hoped that she wanted the same thing.
Reaching for her, unable to keep from touching her a minute longer, Max held her to him. Gathering her petite body in his arms, he moved to lay her down on the bed. He undressed quickly and joined her, pulling her close to him again. Liz’s lips sought his, needing the reassurance of his kisses. His hands roamed her naked back, pushing her more firmly against him. Liz gasped at the feel of his erection against her thigh. Nervousness washed over her. What if she didn’t to this right? What if it wasn’t good for him?
“Liz?” Max whispered questioningly. He felt her hesitation and needed to know that she was okay.
“I…” She couldn’t form any words as she looked up into his sparkling amber eyes. Eyes that were now dark with passion and desire for her.
“Are you nervous?” he asked softly.
Liz could only nod.
Max smiled. “Me too. See…you’ve even got me shaking,” he told her, holding up his hand to demonstrate.
“Why are you nervous?” she asked, finally finding her voice.
“Because I love you and I don’t want to hurt you. I want this to be good for you. And it’s been so long since I’ve done this that I feel like a…uh…virgin too,” he finished.
Liz’s nerves dissipated and the sound of her laughter filled the room. She looked up into Max’s eyes then with a shy smile on her beautiful face. “I love you too, Max.”
At her admission, Max’s heart thumped wildly in his chest. Just hearing her say the words caused a riot of joy to suffuse through his entire body. Despite the surge of desire rushing through, Max held back. He knew that he needed to go slow for both of their sakes. So he kissed and caressed the nervous tension from Liz’s body until she was whimpering in his arms. Her moans were enough to encourage him further and his mouth left a warm trail down her chest between the valley of her breasts and lower still over her flat stomach, right to the apex of her thighs.
Liz was caught up in the sensations Max was causing her. She didn’t realize his intentions until she felt him gently spread her thighs, opening her to him fully. Before she could protest, his mouth was on her, eliciting a litany of exultations.
Max found a great deal of satisfaction in knowing that he was the only one to have ever touched Liz that way. Only he had ever caused this kind of reaction in her. He started gently, kissing along the wet folds, feeling the way she quivered at the attention. The musky smell of her arousal filled his sense and he couldn’t resist tasting her very essence.
When Liz felt Max’s tongue licking at her, she almost came instantly. But the contact was brief leaving her disappointed and relieved at the same time. She didn’t want to come yet. She wanted to find her release when Max found his…she didn’t want it to end before it really even began. Her relief at the reprieve was short lived as Max’s tongue began a more thorough exploration. Liz couldn’t help the moans that escaped her lips. She was beyond even caring. All she could think about was the way Max was making her feel so good.
He continued to lap at her swollen, pink flesh…flicking and tasting as she bucked against him. His hands reached out to hold her hips down, making her cry out. His own arousal was becoming more painful but he couldn’t stop. He wanted to make her cum…wanted this first time to be good for her. Sensing that Liz was nearly crazy with frustration and need, he gave into her unconscious demands and purposefully flicked his tongue over her aching clitoris. He set a quick, circular, rhythm, relishing the feeling of her hands in his hair, pushing him closer. Her hoarse cries spurred him on, causing him to move his tongue faster.
The pleasure in Liz’s lower body was so intense that it was almost painful. But it kept building and she was going crazy…begging Max to give her what she needed. Then she felt herself crumbling into a thousand little pieces and she cried out Max’s name at the force of her release.
Panting hard, she couldn’t find words to describe what she was feeling. Her body hummed with content pleasure in the aftermath of Max’s ministrations. Max moved up Liz’s body, looking at her face. Her eyes were closed and when she opened them they were dark liquid pools and he could read her satisfaction through them. She smiled lazily at him, biting her lower lip before bringing her arms up and around his shoulders.
Max had satisfied a small part of the ache that he’d built in her but it wasn’t enough. She needed more of him. She kissed him deeply trying to convey what she wanted next. Returning the kiss, Max was more than happy to oblige, settling himself between her damp thighs. His rock hard erection brushed against her wet, sensitized center, causing him to groan slightly. He had to remember to go slowly, he told himself repeatedly.
Keeping eye contact, he braced his arms at her sides as he began a slow invasion of her tiny body. He groaned out loud as her tightness enveloped him. He moved at a snail’s pace, filling her inch by torturous inch. He could see the discomfort in her expression.
“Do you want me to stop?” he asked, not wanting to hurt her in anyway. Yet he hoped she would say no…he’d never felt anything like this before in his life.
“No!” Liz voiced vehemently. Her arms tightened around him and she spread her thighs wider, pulling him closer to her, causing him to move more deeply within her. In a moment he was at her barrier. He looked into her eyes, silently asking for permission one final time. She lifted her head and kissed him instead of answering and as they kissed Max surged forward, breaking through her virginity and completely joining with her.
The stinging pain startled Liz as it seared through her, making her wrench her mouth from Max’s. Unbidden, tears escaped her closed eyes. She felt Max’s lips kissing her, telling her he was sorry and that he didn’t want to hurt her. “I love you,” he said. “So much…”
They both lay completely still for a few moments and Liz was relieved when the pain began to ebb. She was left with the sensation of fullness…of having Max inside of her. Opening her eyes she looked at him. His head was buried in her neck; his hands cradled her body gently. Ever so slightly she shifted her hips upward…wanting to test…
“Uh…Liz…don’t do that…” Max said, bringing his face up from her shoulder to look down at her.
“Do what? You mean this?” she asked, lifting her hips again. Max groaned as her movements caused a riot in him.
“Yes…if you do…I won’t be able to stop and I don’t want to hurt you,” he explained.
Liz reached up and cupped his face. “It’s okay…please,” she begged.
Max gave in, slowly pulling out of her tight body before pushing back. He kept up the slow pace for a while but it quickly became obvious that Liz wanted more. As his thrusts became quicker, deeper, harder, Liz could feel the coil tightening in her lower body again. She moaned Max’s name. He moved down to suckle at her breasts, increasing the stimulation to Liz’s body until she was bucking wildly against him. They were both moving together, clamoring for release. His strokes were deep and hard and Liz quickly felt herself flying over the edge feeling as though her body were dissolving into a million pieces.
As soon as Max felt Liz’s inner walls clasping at his flesh, his own release came, leaving him gasping her name as his warmth flooded her. For a moment they lay together, a tangled mass of sweaty limbs as they came down from their orgasmic high.
Max pulled away first, afraid he would crush her if stayed on top of her tiny body. Liz groaned as she felt him leave her body, not wanting to be separated from him. He quickly bent down to kiss her.
“I’ll be right back,” he whispered and he got up, disappearing into the bathroom. Liz felt the loss distinctly and willed him to come back. He did a moment later with a warm washcloth in his hand. He pulled aside the blankets and knelt down between Liz’s legs, tenderly wiping away the remnants of their love making…of Liz’s first time. He set the washcloth aside then and looked down into her face. Dry tear tracks were still visible and his heart clenched. But she looked at him with so much love in her eyes that the impact of what had just taken place between them overwhelmed him. He lay down next to her and drew her close to him, wanting to have her in his arms.
As he held her and stroked her hair, he imagined being able to fall asleep every night with her there beside him. “I love you, Liz,” he finally told her as sleep began to take hold.
“I love you too,” she said instantly. Lying there in his arms, she knew that he was what she wanted above anything else in her life. She wanted to be with him…always. Snuggling closer to him, she laid her head over his heart, listening to its gentle rhythm. It lulled her to sleep with thoughts of their future on her mind.
******
When Liz woke up that morning she was startled at first by the new surroundings. It took her a moment to figure out where she was. Once she registered the fact that she was still in Max’s bed, she smiled. She could smell him all around her and she felt relaxed and comfortable just like when he was holding her…but something was off. Liz realized then that Max wasn’t there in bed with her.
Rolling over in the sheets she found a note in his empty spot.
My Beautiful Liz,
You looked so peaceful this morning that I didn’t have the heart to wake you. I went to class but I’ll be finished by five o’clock tonight. Stay as long as you want…. stay all day even. Just promise you’ll be there waiting for me when I get home tonight.
I love you,
Max
Liz bit her lip and then smiled as she read the note. Max was so sweet.
Not ready to leave the comfort and warmth of Max’s bed, Liz lay there in sheets that still smelled like their lovemaking and thought about last night. It had been so much better than she’d ever imagined it would. So incredible…she could still feel his hands on her body, could still remember what his kisses had been like. The ache between her thighs reminded her of the way it felt to have him moving inside her. She didn’t think five o’clock would ever come.
Liz lay they there, lost in memories of loving Max for a while longer. As she thought back on the night though…it occurred to her that something had been missing.
Protection.
They hadn’t used any birth control. She knew that they didn’t have to worry about any diseases or anything but what if she got pregnant? She pushed that aside. It would be okay this time. Her period was due on Monday and it was never late. She and Max could have this whole weekend and be worry free. Of course, she’d have to remind him that they needed to be more cautious in the future.
Part of her didn’t want to say anything to Max. Part of her wanted to think about what it would be like to have Max’s baby. She wanted it more than she was ready to admit out loud. There were too many things that she and Max needed to talk through yet. That included some of the decisions she’d been making about her future. Thoughts of Max Evans’ babies would have to take the back burner for a while. Besides that, the babies should come after the wedding, Liz told herself.
Reluctantly Liz got out of the warm bed. She took a shower and dressed before driving back to her dorm to change into clean clothes before her class. She contemplated stopping to see Max before class but decided against it. She knew he had free time but if the day before had been an indication; they wouldn’t be able to behave themselves. Especially now that they’d made love. Instead, Liz liked the idea of waiting for Max to come home after work. She sighed at the thought. His place did feel like home to her. She liked that every part of the house was a reminder of him.
During class, Liz spent the entire time daydreaming about what would happen when Max got home that night. She fantasized about meeting him in the entryway wearing nothing but a smile. She smirked; he would definitely like that. Of course she could always wear something sexy, which would have the added bonus of being undressed by Max. It wasn’t until Liz got a strange look from the guy sitting next to her that she decided to make more of an attempt to pay attention to the lecture.
Lunch with Maria was almost unbearable for Liz. She kept looking to see if Max might come in with Michael. She desperately wanted a glimpse of him. She hadn’t seen him since they’d fallen asleep and she missed him. As much as she wanted to see him though, it was probably better that she didn’t. If he were to walk into the cafeteria, the whole world would know about them. If he were anywhere near, she wouldn’t be able to keep her hands from touching him.
“Liz…earth to Liz,” Maria said, waving her hand in front of Liz’s face in an attempt to recapture Liz’s wandering attention.
“Sorry, Maria, did you say something?”
“Yeah, is there a reason you’re so distracted and…glowy today?”
Liz felt her face heat with the ferocity of her blush. Was she that obvious? “I…no, no reason,” she told Maria, trying to pretend that nothing had changed. “Can’t I just be happy?”
“I guess, but geez, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you and Dr. Max had sex last night or something.”
If it was possible, Liz’s blush deepened.
“Oh. My. God! You did didn’t you? “
******
It was ten ‘til five o’clock and Max was happily finishing the last of his work. He was more than a little anxious to get home and had spent the afternoon imagining a thousand different scenarios for how Liz might greet him when he got there. Most of them had involved Liz wearing very little upon his arrival. He was desperate to see her. He’d gone the whole day without her gorgeous smile and he felt like he was going through withdrawal.
He was just packing up his briefcase when a knock on his office door surprised him. He was almost tempted not to answer, but whoever was outside would be able to see that his light was still on. Perturbed by the delay in his departure he hollered out a terse “Come in.”
The door opened and Michael strode into the office and immediately sat down, making himself comfortable. “How’s it going Max?”
“Michael…it’s pretty good. Uhm…I hate to do this, but I’m just on my way out. I have somewhere to be. Is there any way we can talk later?”
Michael shook his head. “Sorry. Maria and I are going away for the weekend. I’m supposed to pick her up at six pm. In the mean time I thought you and I could talk. We haven’t done that for awhile.”
Max wasn’t sure what do say. Michael was his best friend but he wasn’t whom he wanted to be spending the next hour with. He couldn’t just kick him out could he?
“So how are things with Liz? Did you guys get everything resolved? You’re not pushing her away anymore?” Michael asked.
“Did Maria send you here to check up on Liz and I?” Max asked with an amused smile.
Michael grinned guiltily. “What can I say? The woman has the power to make me do anything. And if I don’t find out what she wants…I get punished. So help a guy out because otherwise this could be a very long weekend away.”
Max shook his head but he couldn’t help but grin. “Things with Liz are…good. No excellent would be a better word maybe. No…. fantastic, yeah things are fantastic.” Max’s words trailed off and his expression became distracted with a slow, lovesick smile breaking out over his features.
Michael looked at his friend closely. Maria called him that afternoon and instructed him to make sure he saw Max. When he had asked why she had told Michael that he would know just by looking at Max. Now he understood exactly what Maria was talking about. “Shit! You got laid didn’t you,” he blurted out. Frowning inwardly he realized that was more a Maria-type thing to say. They were definitely spending too much time together.
“Michael,” Max started to correct him, tell him that it wasn’t about getting ‘laid’ as he’d crudely put it. But Michael spoke up again.
“Relax. I won’t act like I know. I just…I haven’t seen you this happy in a long time.” Michael paused. “In fact, the last time I saw that goofy ass grin on your face was that fourth of July we got really drunk. You saw that beauty pageant chick and went on for hours about how she was the kind of girl you wanted to marry. It took me an hour to convince you that if you asked her, she probably wouldn’t accept your proposal.”
All of Max’s thoughts were suddenly centered on that fourth of July. Had he really said those things? Knowing now that the girl had been Liz added a whole other dimension to his drunken declarations. Maybe he’d subconsciously known that she was the one he was supposed to be with. The fact that he wanted to marry her hadn’t changed. In fact, it was truer now because he knew her and how wonderful she really was. He just had to think of how he was going to convince her that they were meant to be together for the rest of their lives.
*******
Walking into the house later, the first thing Max did was call out for Liz. “Sweetheart, are you here?” He started to walk through the living room but a tap on his shoulder stopped him. He twirled around to find Liz standing there wearing one of his shirts and a shy smile.
“Hi,” she said softly. Earlier she’d been nervous about him coming home. They hadn’t exactly had any time to talk about what had happened between them last night. Their relationship was different now, deeper. Liz was scared that maybe Max wouldn’t feel the same way. But now, looking up into his adoring eyes, she knew that her worries had been unfounded.
Max responded to Liz with an equally soft “Hello.”
And then they came together. After the day’s separation it was too much for them to stay apart any longer. Max just needed to touch her, to feel her in his arms…to kiss her. So he did all those things at once, leaving a completely breathless Liz in his wake.
Max reigned in his emotions slightly, pulling back; he kept his arms around her tightly and buried his face in her hair. Just holding her was heaven. He didn’t want her to think that he was some kind of hormone crazed mad man. “So how was your day?” he asked, looking down at her face. He felt a pull deep within him at the sight of her kiss-swollen lips.
“Boring…couldn’t concentrate,” Liz told him. She didn’t really want to stand there and talk… that wasn’t what she’d imagined would be happening. But she played along because he wanted to. “How was your day?”
“I just wanted to come home,” was his reply.
“Me too…Are you hungry?” she asked.
“Mmm…depends. What’s on the menu?” he asked her in return. He felt her pull away and could read the slight disappointment in her eyes. Maybe she was just as hormone crazed as him.
Liz’s eyes twinkled as she looked up at him and smiled. That was the smile Max had been missing all day. While he was drinking in the sight of her, her hands were busy trying to undo his tie. “I ordered pizza. It won’t be here for at least forty-five minutes,” she informed Max as her nimble fingers went to work on the buttons of his shirt after throwing the tie on the ground.
“I guess that means we’ll have to find something to do for awhile until it gets here,” he told her teasingly.
“Guess so. Got any ideas?”
Instead of telling her, Max decided to show Liz just what he had in mind. Scooping her up in his arms, he blindly made his way into the bedroom all the while kissing Liz senseless. By the time they reached the bed, Liz was breathless and she was getting anxious for what was about to happen. She wanted to experience their love making again, wanted to know if it would always be as wonderful as it had been the first time.
Max’s hands made quick work of removing the shirt Liz was wearing. Soon his mouth was seeking out each inch of her exposed skin eliciting a cacophony of breathy moans from Liz’s throat.
It felt so good…Liz loved the way his mouth felt on her body. It was wet and warm and erotic. His touches were so gentle and demanding at the same time, they made her body tingle with sensation. “Max…. take off your pants,” she reminded him as she felt his khaki clad leg part her thighs.
As he was removing the rest of his clothes, Max remembered something that he hadn’t the night before. “Liz…we didn’t use anything last night…I…” Liz stopped him.
“It’s okay. I thought about that this morning. My period’s due on Monday. We should be okay. We’ll just have to be more careful after next week,” she told him.
Relieved, Max crawled back onto the bed. “So…where were we?” he asked, his mouth nuzzling against her collar bone before his lips swept up to capture hers in another deep kiss.
“You’re about to come inside me,” Liz told him as she shifted her body to accommodate him.
Her words made Max painfully hard. “You keep saying things like that and I’ll cum before I get there. Maybe I better catch you up to me,” he told her. His hand had already made its way to the apex of her thighs. His fingers deftly parted her slick folds, rubbing back and forth. His touch was so light that Liz tried to push herself against his hand. She wanted to feel him. Sensing this, Max eased his middle finger into her wet passage. He sucked in a breath. She was still so tight. He was afraid he was going to hurt her again. Slowly he worked his finger in and out of her body, opening her more fully for his penetration. Easing a second finger in with the first, he let his thumb brush over her clitoris. Liz cried out at the sensation, her body arching up against Max.
“Max…now…please…I want to feel you moving inside me,” she pleaded. A small groan of protest escaped her lips as his fingers left her body. But soon, he settled himself between her legs. “I’ve been waiting for this all day,” he told her as his hard shaft probed her opening.
“Me too,” she admitted. The words came out as a moan as she felt Max enter her more fully. Talk became obsolete then as Max set a rhythm of thrusts into Liz’s accepting body. He stroked her slowly at first, savoring each expression that crossed her beautiful face as she lay beneath him. Liz couldn’t get over the wonder of having him inside her like that. He filled her completely. The pace quickened as they both drew nearer to their release. Max knew he was about to cum but he couldn’t without ensuring that Liz did first. His hand moved between their sweat slicked bodies and his thumb flicked her clitoris in a circular stroke. Her muscles clamped down around him and she cried out. The sensation of Liz’s orgasm triggered Max’s and with a loud groan, he felt his seed spill into her body.
Their peaceful afterglow was disturbed moments later by the ringing of the doorbell. Liz opened her eyes slowly. She was still trying to catch her breath. “It’s the pizza,” she managed to say.
Max nodded. He couldn’t move…he was drained. What they’d just experienced had been incredible.
“You should get that,” Liz told him, when he didn’t make a move. When that didn’t work, Liz tried again. “The sooner you get up and get that, the sooner we can eat. You’re going to need your energy for the rest of tonight, Max,” she told him.
That worked. Max got up as the doorbell was ringing a second time. He was almost out the door when Liz called after him. “Max…puts some pants on first.”
Getting home that day seemed to take forever. Max wasn’t sure how to handle his nervous excitement. The evening before him held the distinct possibility of a new kind of intimacy for he and Liz. Part of him wanted to rush in the door and taker her the second he laid eyes on her. Another part of him was very aware that this was a new experience for her and not something they should jump into. He needed to be completely sure that she was ready to move their relationship to a new level.
The house smelled like garlic bread when he walked in. Max smiled and made his way to the kitchen. He found Liz there sitting at the table working on homework. Kissing her hello, he put his briefcase down and pulled out a chair. “What’s for dinner?” he asked. He immediately wondered if this was what it felt like to be married. To come home to a beautiful wife…to tell her about his day and hear all about hers. To eat together…sleep together. The more his mind pondered it, the more he liked the thought of that permanent connection. He liked the way it felt homey…natural to find her waiting for him at the end of the day.
“Lasagna and garlic bread. It’ll be ready by six thirty so you have enough to time to get comfortable. After we eat CSI comes on. It’s supposed to be a good episode…”
Max wasn’t sure how to interpret that. He was a little bit relieved and disappointed. Liz wanted to do what they did every Thursday night. Watch TV. She didn’t seem to have anything else in mind. Did that mean that she wasn’t ready for anything else? Had that afternoon in his office been too much for her? He was wondering if the two boxes of condoms he stopped to buy weren’t a little premature.
While Max was changing into jeans and a sweatshirt, Liz was trying to refocus her attention on her homework. It wasn’t that it was anything particularly interesting to her. It was just homework that she wanted out of the way before the weekend. The sooner it was done, the sooner she could devote all of her attention to Max. And she meant that it every way possible. She hoped to be doing a lot more than just sleeping in his bed by the time the night was over. Only, she wasn’t exactly sure how to approach the situation. Should she just come out and tell him she wanted to have sex? Should she seduce him? Or should she just let it happen naturally? Her nervousness eventually won out and she decided to just let nature takes its course.
As they were cuddled on the couch watching TV later, Liz was perfectly content to just be with him. She loved the way it felt to be in his arms and she gladly cherished the moment, as insignificant as it seemed. Max’s hand absently rubbed over Liz’s body, running from her rib cage to her hip. The gesture was familiar and soothing to Liz and she was completely relaxed.
During a commercial, Max let his eyes wander over Liz’s form. He swallowed a deep sigh as he drank in the sight of her. She was so beautiful. It felt …perfect to have her in his arms. He marveled at how she’d become such an ingrained part of his life in such a short time. Loneliness was no longer an issue, not with Liz. He’d been foolish to ever think that he could survive with out her. She was part of him now…a part he didn’t ever want to be without. Gazing at her, he suddenly felt the overwhelming need to show her just how much he adored her.
He kissed her neck first. A soft, slow, warm kiss that made Liz’s entire body hum with awareness. He kissed her again…the same way, letting his lips linger over the pulse he found on her throat. The hand that had been rubbing absently before now moved purposefully, sliding up and underneath her shirt, grazing over the smooth skin stomach and ribs to cup the fullness of her breast. The whimper that escaped her mouth caused Max to pause but when he looked up at her face, her eyes were closed and she was biting her lip in anticipation. Her body shifted, allowing him better access.
He resumed his kisses, conveying with each one that he loved her, wanted her…needed her.
“Mmm, Max,” she moaned as his mouth nibbled at a sensitive spot below her ear. Her body was quickly becoming consumed with heat. The desire he was stirring in her would not remain dormant for long. She needed to touch him the way he was touching her, like he was memorizing the nuances of her body, every curve, and every crevice. Liz’s hands began to wander, fighting their way to the hem of his shirt, needing to feel his warm flesh underneath her fingertips.
Max gave up feasting on Liz’s throat when she moaned yet again. He quickly brought his mouth to hers. He needed to taste her, to feel her tongue sliding against his. The heat of the kiss overpowered them, making them a slave to their senses, to the feelings that were evoking in each other.
As their mouths mated, Liz’s hands ran up and down Max’s back underneath his shirt, exploring the hard muscles of his shoulders, delicately caressing his spine. Max’s hands were a little busier. As he felt the soft weight of her breast in his palm, he knew that it wasn’t going to be enough to simply touch her. He needed more of her and while he satisfied his need for her…he could satisfy her needs.
The more Max touched Liz, the closer she wanted to be with him. And she knew that she wanted him… wanted him to take her, make her his own. She wanted to feel his naked body flush against hers, wanted to touch him everywhere and she wanted more than anything to give to him what she’d never given any other man. Herself.
Their kisses were like a drug, neither could get enough and it seemed to be a hassle to have to pull apart for breath. As their need for oxygen became obvious yet again, Liz pushed Max away from her slightly. His eyes, glazed with passion, momentarily clouded with confusion until Liz’s hands moved to the hem of her shirt. As she tugged it upward, Max stopped her. “Let me do it,” he whispered raggedly.
Liz nodded. Max reach out then with his large hands and ever so slowly, inched Liz’s shirt from her body. As he did so, he allowed his pinky to lazily graze her soft flesh, leaving a tingling trail in his wake. Liz practically purred at his touch. Once the shirt was off, he tossed it carelessly aside and then brought his face to her chest, nuzzling his nose along her collarbone and leaving a line of moist kisses. With only a small amount of fumbling he reached behind her back to unsnap her bra. Dragging each strap down her arm, he continued his assault of light caresses.
The more he touched her, the more aroused Liz got. Anymore and she would be a quivering mass of desire. Even so, she wouldn’t stop what was happening for the world. She’d dreamed about this moment and was ready to finally experience it first hand.
After disposing of Liz’s bra, Max devoured the sight of her completely bared to him with eagerness. She was exquisite. Her skin glowed with a slight sheen of sweat and the light seemed to high light the contours of her body. And her breasts…. they were perfect. Small, rounded globes of soft flesh that fit into his hand like they had been made for him to hold. Soon, touching…looking wasn’t enough. He had a great desire to taste the perfect rose-colored nipples that were straining before him.
Liz whimpered out loud as his warm, wet mouth closed over a tightened bud. Her body arched to push her closer to him.
As his mouth laved her with attention his fingers slid down to just below her belly button, running tauntingly along the edge of her jeans until he felt the almost imperceptible lift of her hips giving him permission to go further. The snap on her pants flipped open easily. The zipper cam undone just as quickly and soon Liz was moving into Max’s touch as his fingers caressed wet, swollen lower lips. Her moan seemed to ring out in the room. No one but Max had ever touched her this way and even though she’d felt him do this earlier, the sensations that he was stirring in her body were new and exciting and terrifying. They left her aching and wanting more.
He’d touched her this way before, just that afternoon, in fact. And he would never forget the surprised, blissful look on her face as she’d fallen apart in his arms from the very first time. Her first time. Thoughts of this suddenly gave Max the self-control that he thought he’d already lost. This was her first time…he needed to be gentle, more careful with her.
“Oh…God! Max! Don’t stop touching me,” Liz whispered. Her body language relayed those words as she spread her legs giving him more access to her and allowing him to settle against her more fully with his ever-increasing hardness brushing against her thigh.
“Liz…we need to slow down…I …I want this…want you…so badly…but we have to slow down or…” his broken words halted as he felt Liz’s tongue licking along his neck.
“Take your shirt off, Max,” her husky voice commanded. He complied, throwing it on the floor next to hers. But before he went back to her, he got up from the couch, pulling her into his arms.
“I’m taking you to bed,” he told her before kissing her soundly to silence any protests about the momentary pause in their activities. The hum of sexual awareness that coursed through Liz’s body only increased with this declaration and her whole body tightened in anticipation as Max carried her into his room.
He set Liz down next to the bed before leaning over to pull down the covers. He was doing it to save himself the hassle later…but also to try and regain some control. Liz made him so crazy. He wanted her so badly that it was like a physical ache.
When Max turned away from her, Liz took the moment to admire the large expanse of bare skin exposed to her. She couldn’t resist touching him so she stepped forward and slipped her arms around his waist, pressing her body firmly against his back, needing to feel the warmth that he gave off. She inhaled the scent of him…it was strong and masculine and her mouth suddenly had the urge to taste the skin that was so close to her lips. She began nibbling and licking along his shoulder. Her hands splayed out across his chest. Unable to see what she was doing, Liz let herself feel, exploring taut abs and firm pecks. He was so perfect…so incredible. It was a miracle that he could ever want her. Even as she thought that, she couldn’t deny that he did want her. It was evident by the bulge in the front of his pants. As her hands continued to explore, one ran along the edge of jeans, teasing him as he’d teased her before. She scraped her nails down the front, feeling the straining hardness beneath the rough fabric.
Max groaned when she touched him. She was going to push him over the edge. And he was going to let her do it too, only he was going to make damn sure that she went with him. Without warning her turned around in her arms and brought his mouth down on hers, devouring it like a starving man. He wrapped his arms around her, sliding his hands down to her butt, cupping it as he pulled her closer to him, moving her against his erection.
“We should take off the rest of our clothes,” Liz murmured through distracting kisses.
“Mmm…good…idea,” Max responded, letting his kisses trail down the smooth expanse of her throat along her bare shoulder.
Liz pushed away from Max’s body slightly and they both groaned at the lack of contact. Max reached out his hands to tug on the waistband of her jeans, pulling them down over her slender hips and helping her step out of them, leaving her standing there in nothing but a pair of barely there panties.
Max sucked in deep breath as he stood there looking at her. He loved her…loved everything about her. That’s probably what had scared him so much initially. He had fallen quickly and hard. He wanted to make a life with her…one that included children. He only hoped that she wanted the same thing.
Reaching for her, unable to keep from touching her a minute longer, Max held her to him. Gathering her petite body in his arms, he moved to lay her down on the bed. He undressed quickly and joined her, pulling her close to him again. Liz’s lips sought his, needing the reassurance of his kisses. His hands roamed her naked back, pushing her more firmly against him. Liz gasped at the feel of his erection against her thigh. Nervousness washed over her. What if she didn’t to this right? What if it wasn’t good for him?
“Liz?” Max whispered questioningly. He felt her hesitation and needed to know that she was okay.
“I…” She couldn’t form any words as she looked up into his sparkling amber eyes. Eyes that were now dark with passion and desire for her.
“Are you nervous?” he asked softly.
Liz could only nod.
Max smiled. “Me too. See…you’ve even got me shaking,” he told her, holding up his hand to demonstrate.
“Why are you nervous?” she asked, finally finding her voice.
“Because I love you and I don’t want to hurt you. I want this to be good for you. And it’s been so long since I’ve done this that I feel like a…uh…virgin too,” he finished.
Liz’s nerves dissipated and the sound of her laughter filled the room. She looked up into Max’s eyes then with a shy smile on her beautiful face. “I love you too, Max.”
At her admission, Max’s heart thumped wildly in his chest. Just hearing her say the words caused a riot of joy to suffuse through his entire body. Despite the surge of desire rushing through, Max held back. He knew that he needed to go slow for both of their sakes. So he kissed and caressed the nervous tension from Liz’s body until she was whimpering in his arms. Her moans were enough to encourage him further and his mouth left a warm trail down her chest between the valley of her breasts and lower still over her flat stomach, right to the apex of her thighs.
Liz was caught up in the sensations Max was causing her. She didn’t realize his intentions until she felt him gently spread her thighs, opening her to him fully. Before she could protest, his mouth was on her, eliciting a litany of exultations.
Max found a great deal of satisfaction in knowing that he was the only one to have ever touched Liz that way. Only he had ever caused this kind of reaction in her. He started gently, kissing along the wet folds, feeling the way she quivered at the attention. The musky smell of her arousal filled his sense and he couldn’t resist tasting her very essence.
When Liz felt Max’s tongue licking at her, she almost came instantly. But the contact was brief leaving her disappointed and relieved at the same time. She didn’t want to come yet. She wanted to find her release when Max found his…she didn’t want it to end before it really even began. Her relief at the reprieve was short lived as Max’s tongue began a more thorough exploration. Liz couldn’t help the moans that escaped her lips. She was beyond even caring. All she could think about was the way Max was making her feel so good.
He continued to lap at her swollen, pink flesh…flicking and tasting as she bucked against him. His hands reached out to hold her hips down, making her cry out. His own arousal was becoming more painful but he couldn’t stop. He wanted to make her cum…wanted this first time to be good for her. Sensing that Liz was nearly crazy with frustration and need, he gave into her unconscious demands and purposefully flicked his tongue over her aching clitoris. He set a quick, circular, rhythm, relishing the feeling of her hands in his hair, pushing him closer. Her hoarse cries spurred him on, causing him to move his tongue faster.
The pleasure in Liz’s lower body was so intense that it was almost painful. But it kept building and she was going crazy…begging Max to give her what she needed. Then she felt herself crumbling into a thousand little pieces and she cried out Max’s name at the force of her release.
Panting hard, she couldn’t find words to describe what she was feeling. Her body hummed with content pleasure in the aftermath of Max’s ministrations. Max moved up Liz’s body, looking at her face. Her eyes were closed and when she opened them they were dark liquid pools and he could read her satisfaction through them. She smiled lazily at him, biting her lower lip before bringing her arms up and around his shoulders.
Max had satisfied a small part of the ache that he’d built in her but it wasn’t enough. She needed more of him. She kissed him deeply trying to convey what she wanted next. Returning the kiss, Max was more than happy to oblige, settling himself between her damp thighs. His rock hard erection brushed against her wet, sensitized center, causing him to groan slightly. He had to remember to go slowly, he told himself repeatedly.
Keeping eye contact, he braced his arms at her sides as he began a slow invasion of her tiny body. He groaned out loud as her tightness enveloped him. He moved at a snail’s pace, filling her inch by torturous inch. He could see the discomfort in her expression.
“Do you want me to stop?” he asked, not wanting to hurt her in anyway. Yet he hoped she would say no…he’d never felt anything like this before in his life.
“No!” Liz voiced vehemently. Her arms tightened around him and she spread her thighs wider, pulling him closer to her, causing him to move more deeply within her. In a moment he was at her barrier. He looked into her eyes, silently asking for permission one final time. She lifted her head and kissed him instead of answering and as they kissed Max surged forward, breaking through her virginity and completely joining with her.
The stinging pain startled Liz as it seared through her, making her wrench her mouth from Max’s. Unbidden, tears escaped her closed eyes. She felt Max’s lips kissing her, telling her he was sorry and that he didn’t want to hurt her. “I love you,” he said. “So much…”
They both lay completely still for a few moments and Liz was relieved when the pain began to ebb. She was left with the sensation of fullness…of having Max inside of her. Opening her eyes she looked at him. His head was buried in her neck; his hands cradled her body gently. Ever so slightly she shifted her hips upward…wanting to test…
“Uh…Liz…don’t do that…” Max said, bringing his face up from her shoulder to look down at her.
“Do what? You mean this?” she asked, lifting her hips again. Max groaned as her movements caused a riot in him.
“Yes…if you do…I won’t be able to stop and I don’t want to hurt you,” he explained.
Liz reached up and cupped his face. “It’s okay…please,” she begged.
Max gave in, slowly pulling out of her tight body before pushing back. He kept up the slow pace for a while but it quickly became obvious that Liz wanted more. As his thrusts became quicker, deeper, harder, Liz could feel the coil tightening in her lower body again. She moaned Max’s name. He moved down to suckle at her breasts, increasing the stimulation to Liz’s body until she was bucking wildly against him. They were both moving together, clamoring for release. His strokes were deep and hard and Liz quickly felt herself flying over the edge feeling as though her body were dissolving into a million pieces.
As soon as Max felt Liz’s inner walls clasping at his flesh, his own release came, leaving him gasping her name as his warmth flooded her. For a moment they lay together, a tangled mass of sweaty limbs as they came down from their orgasmic high.
Max pulled away first, afraid he would crush her if stayed on top of her tiny body. Liz groaned as she felt him leave her body, not wanting to be separated from him. He quickly bent down to kiss her.
“I’ll be right back,” he whispered and he got up, disappearing into the bathroom. Liz felt the loss distinctly and willed him to come back. He did a moment later with a warm washcloth in his hand. He pulled aside the blankets and knelt down between Liz’s legs, tenderly wiping away the remnants of their love making…of Liz’s first time. He set the washcloth aside then and looked down into her face. Dry tear tracks were still visible and his heart clenched. But she looked at him with so much love in her eyes that the impact of what had just taken place between them overwhelmed him. He lay down next to her and drew her close to him, wanting to have her in his arms.
As he held her and stroked her hair, he imagined being able to fall asleep every night with her there beside him. “I love you, Liz,” he finally told her as sleep began to take hold.
“I love you too,” she said instantly. Lying there in his arms, she knew that he was what she wanted above anything else in her life. She wanted to be with him…always. Snuggling closer to him, she laid her head over his heart, listening to its gentle rhythm. It lulled her to sleep with thoughts of their future on her mind.
******
When Liz woke up that morning she was startled at first by the new surroundings. It took her a moment to figure out where she was. Once she registered the fact that she was still in Max’s bed, she smiled. She could smell him all around her and she felt relaxed and comfortable just like when he was holding her…but something was off. Liz realized then that Max wasn’t there in bed with her.
Rolling over in the sheets she found a note in his empty spot.
My Beautiful Liz,
You looked so peaceful this morning that I didn’t have the heart to wake you. I went to class but I’ll be finished by five o’clock tonight. Stay as long as you want…. stay all day even. Just promise you’ll be there waiting for me when I get home tonight.
I love you,
Max
Liz bit her lip and then smiled as she read the note. Max was so sweet.
Not ready to leave the comfort and warmth of Max’s bed, Liz lay there in sheets that still smelled like their lovemaking and thought about last night. It had been so much better than she’d ever imagined it would. So incredible…she could still feel his hands on her body, could still remember what his kisses had been like. The ache between her thighs reminded her of the way it felt to have him moving inside her. She didn’t think five o’clock would ever come.
Liz lay they there, lost in memories of loving Max for a while longer. As she thought back on the night though…it occurred to her that something had been missing.
Protection.
They hadn’t used any birth control. She knew that they didn’t have to worry about any diseases or anything but what if she got pregnant? She pushed that aside. It would be okay this time. Her period was due on Monday and it was never late. She and Max could have this whole weekend and be worry free. Of course, she’d have to remind him that they needed to be more cautious in the future.
Part of her didn’t want to say anything to Max. Part of her wanted to think about what it would be like to have Max’s baby. She wanted it more than she was ready to admit out loud. There were too many things that she and Max needed to talk through yet. That included some of the decisions she’d been making about her future. Thoughts of Max Evans’ babies would have to take the back burner for a while. Besides that, the babies should come after the wedding, Liz told herself.
Reluctantly Liz got out of the warm bed. She took a shower and dressed before driving back to her dorm to change into clean clothes before her class. She contemplated stopping to see Max before class but decided against it. She knew he had free time but if the day before had been an indication; they wouldn’t be able to behave themselves. Especially now that they’d made love. Instead, Liz liked the idea of waiting for Max to come home after work. She sighed at the thought. His place did feel like home to her. She liked that every part of the house was a reminder of him.
During class, Liz spent the entire time daydreaming about what would happen when Max got home that night. She fantasized about meeting him in the entryway wearing nothing but a smile. She smirked; he would definitely like that. Of course she could always wear something sexy, which would have the added bonus of being undressed by Max. It wasn’t until Liz got a strange look from the guy sitting next to her that she decided to make more of an attempt to pay attention to the lecture.
Lunch with Maria was almost unbearable for Liz. She kept looking to see if Max might come in with Michael. She desperately wanted a glimpse of him. She hadn’t seen him since they’d fallen asleep and she missed him. As much as she wanted to see him though, it was probably better that she didn’t. If he were to walk into the cafeteria, the whole world would know about them. If he were anywhere near, she wouldn’t be able to keep her hands from touching him.
“Liz…earth to Liz,” Maria said, waving her hand in front of Liz’s face in an attempt to recapture Liz’s wandering attention.
“Sorry, Maria, did you say something?”
“Yeah, is there a reason you’re so distracted and…glowy today?”
Liz felt her face heat with the ferocity of her blush. Was she that obvious? “I…no, no reason,” she told Maria, trying to pretend that nothing had changed. “Can’t I just be happy?”
“I guess, but geez, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you and Dr. Max had sex last night or something.”
If it was possible, Liz’s blush deepened.
“Oh. My. God! You did didn’t you? “
******
It was ten ‘til five o’clock and Max was happily finishing the last of his work. He was more than a little anxious to get home and had spent the afternoon imagining a thousand different scenarios for how Liz might greet him when he got there. Most of them had involved Liz wearing very little upon his arrival. He was desperate to see her. He’d gone the whole day without her gorgeous smile and he felt like he was going through withdrawal.
He was just packing up his briefcase when a knock on his office door surprised him. He was almost tempted not to answer, but whoever was outside would be able to see that his light was still on. Perturbed by the delay in his departure he hollered out a terse “Come in.”
The door opened and Michael strode into the office and immediately sat down, making himself comfortable. “How’s it going Max?”
“Michael…it’s pretty good. Uhm…I hate to do this, but I’m just on my way out. I have somewhere to be. Is there any way we can talk later?”
Michael shook his head. “Sorry. Maria and I are going away for the weekend. I’m supposed to pick her up at six pm. In the mean time I thought you and I could talk. We haven’t done that for awhile.”
Max wasn’t sure what do say. Michael was his best friend but he wasn’t whom he wanted to be spending the next hour with. He couldn’t just kick him out could he?
“So how are things with Liz? Did you guys get everything resolved? You’re not pushing her away anymore?” Michael asked.
“Did Maria send you here to check up on Liz and I?” Max asked with an amused smile.
Michael grinned guiltily. “What can I say? The woman has the power to make me do anything. And if I don’t find out what she wants…I get punished. So help a guy out because otherwise this could be a very long weekend away.”
Max shook his head but he couldn’t help but grin. “Things with Liz are…good. No excellent would be a better word maybe. No…. fantastic, yeah things are fantastic.” Max’s words trailed off and his expression became distracted with a slow, lovesick smile breaking out over his features.
Michael looked at his friend closely. Maria called him that afternoon and instructed him to make sure he saw Max. When he had asked why she had told Michael that he would know just by looking at Max. Now he understood exactly what Maria was talking about. “Shit! You got laid didn’t you,” he blurted out. Frowning inwardly he realized that was more a Maria-type thing to say. They were definitely spending too much time together.
“Michael,” Max started to correct him, tell him that it wasn’t about getting ‘laid’ as he’d crudely put it. But Michael spoke up again.
“Relax. I won’t act like I know. I just…I haven’t seen you this happy in a long time.” Michael paused. “In fact, the last time I saw that goofy ass grin on your face was that fourth of July we got really drunk. You saw that beauty pageant chick and went on for hours about how she was the kind of girl you wanted to marry. It took me an hour to convince you that if you asked her, she probably wouldn’t accept your proposal.”
All of Max’s thoughts were suddenly centered on that fourth of July. Had he really said those things? Knowing now that the girl had been Liz added a whole other dimension to his drunken declarations. Maybe he’d subconsciously known that she was the one he was supposed to be with. The fact that he wanted to marry her hadn’t changed. In fact, it was truer now because he knew her and how wonderful she really was. He just had to think of how he was going to convince her that they were meant to be together for the rest of their lives.
*******
Walking into the house later, the first thing Max did was call out for Liz. “Sweetheart, are you here?” He started to walk through the living room but a tap on his shoulder stopped him. He twirled around to find Liz standing there wearing one of his shirts and a shy smile.
“Hi,” she said softly. Earlier she’d been nervous about him coming home. They hadn’t exactly had any time to talk about what had happened between them last night. Their relationship was different now, deeper. Liz was scared that maybe Max wouldn’t feel the same way. But now, looking up into his adoring eyes, she knew that her worries had been unfounded.
Max responded to Liz with an equally soft “Hello.”
And then they came together. After the day’s separation it was too much for them to stay apart any longer. Max just needed to touch her, to feel her in his arms…to kiss her. So he did all those things at once, leaving a completely breathless Liz in his wake.
Max reigned in his emotions slightly, pulling back; he kept his arms around her tightly and buried his face in her hair. Just holding her was heaven. He didn’t want her to think that he was some kind of hormone crazed mad man. “So how was your day?” he asked, looking down at her face. He felt a pull deep within him at the sight of her kiss-swollen lips.
“Boring…couldn’t concentrate,” Liz told him. She didn’t really want to stand there and talk… that wasn’t what she’d imagined would be happening. But she played along because he wanted to. “How was your day?”
“I just wanted to come home,” was his reply.
“Me too…Are you hungry?” she asked.
“Mmm…depends. What’s on the menu?” he asked her in return. He felt her pull away and could read the slight disappointment in her eyes. Maybe she was just as hormone crazed as him.
Liz’s eyes twinkled as she looked up at him and smiled. That was the smile Max had been missing all day. While he was drinking in the sight of her, her hands were busy trying to undo his tie. “I ordered pizza. It won’t be here for at least forty-five minutes,” she informed Max as her nimble fingers went to work on the buttons of his shirt after throwing the tie on the ground.
“I guess that means we’ll have to find something to do for awhile until it gets here,” he told her teasingly.
“Guess so. Got any ideas?”
Instead of telling her, Max decided to show Liz just what he had in mind. Scooping her up in his arms, he blindly made his way into the bedroom all the while kissing Liz senseless. By the time they reached the bed, Liz was breathless and she was getting anxious for what was about to happen. She wanted to experience their love making again, wanted to know if it would always be as wonderful as it had been the first time.
Max’s hands made quick work of removing the shirt Liz was wearing. Soon his mouth was seeking out each inch of her exposed skin eliciting a cacophony of breathy moans from Liz’s throat.
It felt so good…Liz loved the way his mouth felt on her body. It was wet and warm and erotic. His touches were so gentle and demanding at the same time, they made her body tingle with sensation. “Max…. take off your pants,” she reminded him as she felt his khaki clad leg part her thighs.
As he was removing the rest of his clothes, Max remembered something that he hadn’t the night before. “Liz…we didn’t use anything last night…I…” Liz stopped him.
“It’s okay. I thought about that this morning. My period’s due on Monday. We should be okay. We’ll just have to be more careful after next week,” she told him.
Relieved, Max crawled back onto the bed. “So…where were we?” he asked, his mouth nuzzling against her collar bone before his lips swept up to capture hers in another deep kiss.
“You’re about to come inside me,” Liz told him as she shifted her body to accommodate him.
Her words made Max painfully hard. “You keep saying things like that and I’ll cum before I get there. Maybe I better catch you up to me,” he told her. His hand had already made its way to the apex of her thighs. His fingers deftly parted her slick folds, rubbing back and forth. His touch was so light that Liz tried to push herself against his hand. She wanted to feel him. Sensing this, Max eased his middle finger into her wet passage. He sucked in a breath. She was still so tight. He was afraid he was going to hurt her again. Slowly he worked his finger in and out of her body, opening her more fully for his penetration. Easing a second finger in with the first, he let his thumb brush over her clitoris. Liz cried out at the sensation, her body arching up against Max.
“Max…now…please…I want to feel you moving inside me,” she pleaded. A small groan of protest escaped her lips as his fingers left her body. But soon, he settled himself between her legs. “I’ve been waiting for this all day,” he told her as his hard shaft probed her opening.
“Me too,” she admitted. The words came out as a moan as she felt Max enter her more fully. Talk became obsolete then as Max set a rhythm of thrusts into Liz’s accepting body. He stroked her slowly at first, savoring each expression that crossed her beautiful face as she lay beneath him. Liz couldn’t get over the wonder of having him inside her like that. He filled her completely. The pace quickened as they both drew nearer to their release. Max knew he was about to cum but he couldn’t without ensuring that Liz did first. His hand moved between their sweat slicked bodies and his thumb flicked her clitoris in a circular stroke. Her muscles clamped down around him and she cried out. The sensation of Liz’s orgasm triggered Max’s and with a loud groan, he felt his seed spill into her body.
Their peaceful afterglow was disturbed moments later by the ringing of the doorbell. Liz opened her eyes slowly. She was still trying to catch her breath. “It’s the pizza,” she managed to say.
Max nodded. He couldn’t move…he was drained. What they’d just experienced had been incredible.
“You should get that,” Liz told him, when he didn’t make a move. When that didn’t work, Liz tried again. “The sooner you get up and get that, the sooner we can eat. You’re going to need your energy for the rest of tonight, Max,” she told him.
That worked. Max got up as the doorbell was ringing a second time. He was almost out the door when Liz called after him. “Max…puts some pants on first.”
"The heart has its reasons it which reason knows nothing" -Blaise Pascal
-
carenicoleIQ
- Enthusiastic Roswellian
- Posts: 36
- Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2001 4:58 pm
- Location: Nebraska
Chapter 17
Waking up Saturday morning proved to be far more enjoyable for Liz than it had been the previous day. Max was in bed next to her, his head sharing her pillow. Liz couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her lips at the sight of his sleep-mussed hair. He was so adorable. For a while it was enough to lie there and look at him; his face was relaxed in sleep, his lips parted, blowing soft puffs of air through his open mouth. After taking in the sight of his very handsome face, her gaze wandered and she devoured the sight of his bare, sculpted chest.
“See anything you like?” a sexy, husky voice asked.
Surprised, Liz’s eyes shot to Max’s face and she blushed. When she saw the amusement in Max’s sleepy expression, she bit her lip and offered him a shy smile. “Maybe,” she answered.
“Well, I certainly see something I like,” he told her. She could see the mischievous sparkle in his eyes and her pulse sped up a little. Her body began to heat up and he hadn’t even done anything suggestive yet.
Max watched as Liz’s expression changed. He could see the beginnings of desire in her gaze and his own body responded instantly to her reaction.
It was almost eleven am before Max and Liz were satiated enough to notice the time. “Should we get up?” Liz asked even as she snuggled closer to Max’s warm, solid body.
Max’s arms tightened around Liz instinctively. “I can barely move right now,” he told her with a satisfied smirk. Liz giggled into his chest before lifting her gaze to his.
“This is a much better morning than yesterdays,” she informed him with a big smile.
Max brushed an errant strand of hair from Liz’s forehead. “I agree completely. If I could have, I would have spent all of yesterday in bed with you. We can definitely do that today though.”
“Mmm, sounds good.”
They lay together, both content with the silence. It felt good to just be in each other’s arms. The loud rumbling of a stomach broke the comfortable silence. Max lifted his head slightly, smiling down at Liz. “What was that?” he asked, amusement evident in his tone.
Liz blushed a little. “Uhm…my stomach? I guess that pizza last night just wasn’t enough fuel for all of our…activities,” she told him.
Max laughed and pulled Liz up to kiss her lovingly. “I’ll go make us some breakfast. Is there anything you want specifically?”
Liz thought for a moment. “Scrambled eggs and toast,” she said.
Giving her another lingering kiss, Max left the cocoon of Liz’s warmth.
Liz lay there, smiling absently to herself. She didn’t know what to make of the happiness she felt. She was just so full that she could burst. Loving Max was better than anything else she’d ever imagined. Those thoughts reminded her that she and Max needed to have a talk though. As great as things were, there were certain things that needed to be discussed so that there was no lack of communication between them. Even if he didn’t have anything to say, Liz did.
Knowing that now was as good a time as any, Liz got up, threw on the first shirt she could find, and joined Max in the kitchen. The second she saw Max though, standing at the stove wearing only boxers, she started to think that she should wait. Just the sight of all that nearly naked skin was enough to distract her completely.
“Do you need any help?” Liz asked walking up behind him and wrapping her arms around Max’s waist. Her fingers trailed along the rippling muscles of his abdomen. She felt Max tense and she smiled inwardly, loving the way her touch affected him.
“You must be really hungry,” Max commented as he turned around to wrap his arms around Liz.
“Mmm, you have no idea,” she told him, her voice taking on a seductive, teasing tone. In response she could feel Max’s erection poking into her stomach. Knowing that she had caused that, she couldn’t stop the shiver of excitement that ran through her.
He took his time kissing her, letting his tongue slide slowly, tantalizingly along hers. His hands cupped her ass, pulling her up against him more firmly. The deep, soul-stirring kiss only broke apart when the sound of Liz’s growling stomach disturbed their passionate haze.
Max couldn’t help the laugh that escaped. He pulled away reluctantly and leaned his forehead against Liz’s. His eyes were shining with amusement and Liz found herself laughing even as she tried to draw in a much-needed breath.
“I can see what takes precedence for you,” Max teased.
They enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and just as Liz was finishing the last of her orange juice she decided it was time to talk. “So, I had a chat with my advisor the other day,” she said casually, not wanting it to sound like a big deal.
“Oh, what about?” Max asked. He was rifling through the newspaper, looking for the sports section.
“Well…I’ve been thinking and I’ve decided that I’m not going to Grad School anymore.” There. She’d said it. It didn’t sound so bad, now that she’d finally admitted it out loud.
At Liz’s words, Max immediately stopped in his perusal of the paper. He looked up quickly, trying to gauge Liz’s expression. “What?” he asked when he saw the seriousness in her eyes.
“I’m not going to Grad School.”
For a moment Max didn’t know what to say. She was too smart to just decide not to go on in school. She had so much potential. This was exactly what he’d been afraid of, that he would hold her back in some way. “What…what made you change your mind? It’s not because of us is it? Because you know that I don’t want to keep you from pursuing…”
Liz put a finger to Max’s lips to silence him. “I won’t lie to you and say that our relationship didn’t have something to do with my decision, but it wasn’t the only factor. I was going to go to Grad School because I thought that I didn’t have any other options. I didn’t realize that there were other career opportunities out there. When you and I got closer, I started to look into what I might be able to do with my science degree. And I found something that I think I’ll really enjoy.”
Liz’s eyes were sparkling and the excitement that shone from her face couldn’t be denied. She was obviously thrilled with the decision she’d made.
“I want to be a teacher, Max,” she finally said. “Working with those kids for the pageant sort of put the idea in my head. Then I looked into it more thoroughly and the more I thought about it, the more I became sure that it’s definitely what I want to do. I’ve worked everything out with my advisor. I’ll still graduate in May but then this summer or maybe in the fall I’ll start taking education classes. In two years I’ll have my teaching license.”
“In two years you can have a Master’s degree,” Max reminded her.
Liz sighed. She was disappointed by Max’s reaction. “I know that and maybe someday I’ll decide that’s what I want to do. Right now, though, this is what I want.”
Max wasn’t sure how to respond to that. If that was what she really wanted then he needed to be supportive. “Okay. If that’s your decision then I will help you in any way possible.”
At that Liz got up from her chair and crawled into Max’s lap, hugging him tightly. “Thank you,” she told him. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tightly against him. He was honestly relieved by her choice. On one hand he didn’t want to hold her back but on the other, he wanted her to be with him. With that in mind, the next words were out of Max’s mouth before he could stop them.
“Move in with me,”
Liz pulled back. It was her turn to look surprised. “What?”
“You heard what I said. I want you to move in with me. I can’t stand the thought of being apart from you in any capacity.”
Liz was still shocked.
“Well?” Max asked, wanting to know what she was thinking.
“Where did this idea come from?”
“Your decision. I wasn’t sure before if you would even want to stick around, but now that you are, I want you with me on a full time basis. I want to support you while you finish school and the best way to do that is for you to be with me while you do it.”
Liz smiled brightly and her arms tightened around Max. “I like the way you think.”
“You want to know what else I think?” Max asked with a smile as their faces drew closer together. Liz voiced a silent question and waited for Max’s answer. “I think you kiss pretty good, Miss Parker.”
“Is that so, Dr. Evans?” Liz asked with a breathless giggle just before her lips met his. Their mouths met and mated for a long moment.
“So is that a yes?” Max asked, his voice husky with the desire she’d just managed to stir in him.
Liz nodded her head enthusiastically. “And now I think we should celebrate.”
“I see I’m not the only one in this relationship with great ideas. Tell me, just how do you propose we celebrate?”
Liz raised her eyebrows suggestively. “You’ll just have to come back to bed with me to find out.”
The spent the rest of the day in bed, celebrating their new decisions and just enjoying the freedom to be together in such an intimate way.
“I don’t think I can move in right away,” Liz told Max later that night. They’d been trying to sleep but her brain was on overdrive. She had started thinking more about the details involved with moving in together. The more she thought, the more some of its complications made themselves known. Her fingers traced imaginary shapes on Max’s smooth chest as she continued. “My parents haven’t even met you yet and I don’t want to cause any problems with the University,” she explained quickly, having felt the immediate tension in Max’s frame at her words.
Max relaxed a little and let out a sigh. His fingers continued to comb through her silky hair as his other hand, no longer idle, began to gently trail along Liz’s arm. “I know you’re right. We should probably wait until graduation, but the second you have that diploma in hand…you’re all mine and I don’t care who knows it,” he stated. His head turned and he was bestowed a smile, one that Liz reserved for him only.
“Sounds good to me.” There was a slight pause as Liz’s grin turned mischievous. “Of course, that doesn’t mean that I’ll wait until graduation to start moving my stuff. I should probably leave some of my things here, don’t you think? I mean, it’s awfully silly for me to go back to the dorm in the mornings after I’ve spent the night here.”
Max gave her a smile and nodded. “You’re right. That does seem sort of unnecessary. We could move you in gradually so that by May, everything is mostly here.”
“I suppose that if all my stuff is here, it might be kind of hard to stay at the dorms though. I’ll probably want to spend the night as much as possible. And it will be good practice for when we’re actually living together. It will make the transition go more smoothly…”
Liz’s musings were cut of by Max’s chuckle. He was more than a little amused by her rationality. As soon as his lips met hers though, she forgot all about everything but their lovemaking.
Waking up Saturday morning proved to be far more enjoyable for Liz than it had been the previous day. Max was in bed next to her, his head sharing her pillow. Liz couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her lips at the sight of his sleep-mussed hair. He was so adorable. For a while it was enough to lie there and look at him; his face was relaxed in sleep, his lips parted, blowing soft puffs of air through his open mouth. After taking in the sight of his very handsome face, her gaze wandered and she devoured the sight of his bare, sculpted chest.
“See anything you like?” a sexy, husky voice asked.
Surprised, Liz’s eyes shot to Max’s face and she blushed. When she saw the amusement in Max’s sleepy expression, she bit her lip and offered him a shy smile. “Maybe,” she answered.
“Well, I certainly see something I like,” he told her. She could see the mischievous sparkle in his eyes and her pulse sped up a little. Her body began to heat up and he hadn’t even done anything suggestive yet.
Max watched as Liz’s expression changed. He could see the beginnings of desire in her gaze and his own body responded instantly to her reaction.
It was almost eleven am before Max and Liz were satiated enough to notice the time. “Should we get up?” Liz asked even as she snuggled closer to Max’s warm, solid body.
Max’s arms tightened around Liz instinctively. “I can barely move right now,” he told her with a satisfied smirk. Liz giggled into his chest before lifting her gaze to his.
“This is a much better morning than yesterdays,” she informed him with a big smile.
Max brushed an errant strand of hair from Liz’s forehead. “I agree completely. If I could have, I would have spent all of yesterday in bed with you. We can definitely do that today though.”
“Mmm, sounds good.”
They lay together, both content with the silence. It felt good to just be in each other’s arms. The loud rumbling of a stomach broke the comfortable silence. Max lifted his head slightly, smiling down at Liz. “What was that?” he asked, amusement evident in his tone.
Liz blushed a little. “Uhm…my stomach? I guess that pizza last night just wasn’t enough fuel for all of our…activities,” she told him.
Max laughed and pulled Liz up to kiss her lovingly. “I’ll go make us some breakfast. Is there anything you want specifically?”
Liz thought for a moment. “Scrambled eggs and toast,” she said.
Giving her another lingering kiss, Max left the cocoon of Liz’s warmth.
Liz lay there, smiling absently to herself. She didn’t know what to make of the happiness she felt. She was just so full that she could burst. Loving Max was better than anything else she’d ever imagined. Those thoughts reminded her that she and Max needed to have a talk though. As great as things were, there were certain things that needed to be discussed so that there was no lack of communication between them. Even if he didn’t have anything to say, Liz did.
Knowing that now was as good a time as any, Liz got up, threw on the first shirt she could find, and joined Max in the kitchen. The second she saw Max though, standing at the stove wearing only boxers, she started to think that she should wait. Just the sight of all that nearly naked skin was enough to distract her completely.
“Do you need any help?” Liz asked walking up behind him and wrapping her arms around Max’s waist. Her fingers trailed along the rippling muscles of his abdomen. She felt Max tense and she smiled inwardly, loving the way her touch affected him.
“You must be really hungry,” Max commented as he turned around to wrap his arms around Liz.
“Mmm, you have no idea,” she told him, her voice taking on a seductive, teasing tone. In response she could feel Max’s erection poking into her stomach. Knowing that she had caused that, she couldn’t stop the shiver of excitement that ran through her.
He took his time kissing her, letting his tongue slide slowly, tantalizingly along hers. His hands cupped her ass, pulling her up against him more firmly. The deep, soul-stirring kiss only broke apart when the sound of Liz’s growling stomach disturbed their passionate haze.
Max couldn’t help the laugh that escaped. He pulled away reluctantly and leaned his forehead against Liz’s. His eyes were shining with amusement and Liz found herself laughing even as she tried to draw in a much-needed breath.
“I can see what takes precedence for you,” Max teased.
They enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and just as Liz was finishing the last of her orange juice she decided it was time to talk. “So, I had a chat with my advisor the other day,” she said casually, not wanting it to sound like a big deal.
“Oh, what about?” Max asked. He was rifling through the newspaper, looking for the sports section.
“Well…I’ve been thinking and I’ve decided that I’m not going to Grad School anymore.” There. She’d said it. It didn’t sound so bad, now that she’d finally admitted it out loud.
At Liz’s words, Max immediately stopped in his perusal of the paper. He looked up quickly, trying to gauge Liz’s expression. “What?” he asked when he saw the seriousness in her eyes.
“I’m not going to Grad School.”
For a moment Max didn’t know what to say. She was too smart to just decide not to go on in school. She had so much potential. This was exactly what he’d been afraid of, that he would hold her back in some way. “What…what made you change your mind? It’s not because of us is it? Because you know that I don’t want to keep you from pursuing…”
Liz put a finger to Max’s lips to silence him. “I won’t lie to you and say that our relationship didn’t have something to do with my decision, but it wasn’t the only factor. I was going to go to Grad School because I thought that I didn’t have any other options. I didn’t realize that there were other career opportunities out there. When you and I got closer, I started to look into what I might be able to do with my science degree. And I found something that I think I’ll really enjoy.”
Liz’s eyes were sparkling and the excitement that shone from her face couldn’t be denied. She was obviously thrilled with the decision she’d made.
“I want to be a teacher, Max,” she finally said. “Working with those kids for the pageant sort of put the idea in my head. Then I looked into it more thoroughly and the more I thought about it, the more I became sure that it’s definitely what I want to do. I’ve worked everything out with my advisor. I’ll still graduate in May but then this summer or maybe in the fall I’ll start taking education classes. In two years I’ll have my teaching license.”
“In two years you can have a Master’s degree,” Max reminded her.
Liz sighed. She was disappointed by Max’s reaction. “I know that and maybe someday I’ll decide that’s what I want to do. Right now, though, this is what I want.”
Max wasn’t sure how to respond to that. If that was what she really wanted then he needed to be supportive. “Okay. If that’s your decision then I will help you in any way possible.”
At that Liz got up from her chair and crawled into Max’s lap, hugging him tightly. “Thank you,” she told him. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tightly against him. He was honestly relieved by her choice. On one hand he didn’t want to hold her back but on the other, he wanted her to be with him. With that in mind, the next words were out of Max’s mouth before he could stop them.
“Move in with me,”
Liz pulled back. It was her turn to look surprised. “What?”
“You heard what I said. I want you to move in with me. I can’t stand the thought of being apart from you in any capacity.”
Liz was still shocked.
“Well?” Max asked, wanting to know what she was thinking.
“Where did this idea come from?”
“Your decision. I wasn’t sure before if you would even want to stick around, but now that you are, I want you with me on a full time basis. I want to support you while you finish school and the best way to do that is for you to be with me while you do it.”
Liz smiled brightly and her arms tightened around Max. “I like the way you think.”
“You want to know what else I think?” Max asked with a smile as their faces drew closer together. Liz voiced a silent question and waited for Max’s answer. “I think you kiss pretty good, Miss Parker.”
“Is that so, Dr. Evans?” Liz asked with a breathless giggle just before her lips met his. Their mouths met and mated for a long moment.
“So is that a yes?” Max asked, his voice husky with the desire she’d just managed to stir in him.
Liz nodded her head enthusiastically. “And now I think we should celebrate.”
“I see I’m not the only one in this relationship with great ideas. Tell me, just how do you propose we celebrate?”
Liz raised her eyebrows suggestively. “You’ll just have to come back to bed with me to find out.”
The spent the rest of the day in bed, celebrating their new decisions and just enjoying the freedom to be together in such an intimate way.
“I don’t think I can move in right away,” Liz told Max later that night. They’d been trying to sleep but her brain was on overdrive. She had started thinking more about the details involved with moving in together. The more she thought, the more some of its complications made themselves known. Her fingers traced imaginary shapes on Max’s smooth chest as she continued. “My parents haven’t even met you yet and I don’t want to cause any problems with the University,” she explained quickly, having felt the immediate tension in Max’s frame at her words.
Max relaxed a little and let out a sigh. His fingers continued to comb through her silky hair as his other hand, no longer idle, began to gently trail along Liz’s arm. “I know you’re right. We should probably wait until graduation, but the second you have that diploma in hand…you’re all mine and I don’t care who knows it,” he stated. His head turned and he was bestowed a smile, one that Liz reserved for him only.
“Sounds good to me.” There was a slight pause as Liz’s grin turned mischievous. “Of course, that doesn’t mean that I’ll wait until graduation to start moving my stuff. I should probably leave some of my things here, don’t you think? I mean, it’s awfully silly for me to go back to the dorm in the mornings after I’ve spent the night here.”
Max gave her a smile and nodded. “You’re right. That does seem sort of unnecessary. We could move you in gradually so that by May, everything is mostly here.”
“I suppose that if all my stuff is here, it might be kind of hard to stay at the dorms though. I’ll probably want to spend the night as much as possible. And it will be good practice for when we’re actually living together. It will make the transition go more smoothly…”
Liz’s musings were cut of by Max’s chuckle. He was more than a little amused by her rationality. As soon as his lips met hers though, she forgot all about everything but their lovemaking.
"The heart has its reasons it which reason knows nothing" -Blaise Pascal
-
carenicoleIQ
- Enthusiastic Roswellian
- Posts: 36
- Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2001 4:58 pm
- Location: Nebraska
Chapter 18
During the next week, Max began to contemplate the idea that he and Liz needed some time to themselves…far away from everyone. This particular idea was influenced by none other than Maria Deluca. In one week she managed to interrupt almost every moment that Max found alone with Liz. Not that things would have gone far anyway. Liz had gotten her period just as she suspected. Max had been a little disconcerted to find a box of tampons in the bathroom cabinet, but it was all just a part of the many things he would have to adjust to with Liz around on a permanent basis.
Maria though, didn’t know what it meant to keep her nose out of other people’s business. She proceeded to call and check on Liz whenever possible. Thursday night her phone calls seemed to come in ten-minute intervals. Max and Liz were curled up on the couch, as per their usual routine, watching the latest episode of CSI. The first time the phone rang it was Maria asking Liz about a homework assignment. The second time it was Maria calling to tell Liz some juicy gossip she’d heard about Pam Troy. The third time, Max took the phone away from Liz and asked Maria if she was purposely trying to annoy him by calling so much. Maria burst into gales of laughter and told him that she was calling because she and Michael thought it was funny to interrupt when they were trying to have sex. The fourth time the phone rang Max didn’t even wait for Maria to say anything. “We’re not having sex right now. Liz has her period…so just leave us alone!” He declared into the receiver.
He was met with stunned silence.
“Max…this is Isabel. Is that how you normally answer your phone? Because, really, that’s too much information,” his sister told him, amusement in her tone.
Max groaned out loud. “Sorry, Isabel. I thought you were someone else.”
Liz’s eyes grew wide with mortification when she heard that it was Isabel. Max could only offer her an apologetic look.
“Never mind. I called to invite you and Liz to dinner with Jesse and I. We were thinking we’d try that new place that just opened up downtown. La Marceu or something like that.”
“Sounds good. When?”
“Jesse already made reservations for tomorrow night.”
“Hold on, let me ask Liz.”
Max explained what Isabel was asking. Liz agreed and made him ask what they were supposed to wear. At that point he handed the phone to Liz, knowing that his sister’s answer would take several minutes. He didn’t have the patience to relay that kind of information.
That was how they found their entire Friday evening occupied by Max’s sister and her husband. Even though the relationship was still fairly new, Liz and Isabel were becoming friends and finding that they had quite a few things in common. The night out with Isabel and Jesse went well and both couples had a good time eating and talking. It was after midnight when Max and Liz finally got back to Max’s place, both too exhausted to do anything more than fall into bed.
Saturday morning it was a very frisky Liz who decided to jumpstart the day by jumping Max. “Waiting a whole week had been unbearable,” she told him between kisses as she proceeded to remove both his and her pajamas.
“What about…?”
“That ended Thursday but we were too tired last night,” Liz told him as her hands eagerly explored his firm body.
They were quick to make up for lost time.
Coming down from their climaxes, their intimate moment was interrupted by the ringing of the phone.
Max groaned out loud. “I swear to god, if that’s Maria…” his threat was cut off as he leaned over Liz’s very naked, very sated body to reach the phone. He took a moment to calm himself before finally answering. Max was surprised to hear Claudia Parker’s voice on the other end of the line.
“Hello Max, sorry to bother you this morning but I’m looking for Liz. She wouldn’t happen to be with you would she?” Claudia asked, already knowing the answer.
“Uhm…just a second. I’ll get her for you,” Max told her even as his cheeks turned red with embarrassment. Claudia Parker probably wouldn’t be nearly as nice to him if she knew what he’d just been doing with her granddaughter. He held his hand over the mouthpiece and turned to Liz. “It’s your grandmother.” Liz started to reach for the phone. “Wait a second before you answer. I don’t want her to think we’re in bed together,” Max whispered.
Liz almost laughed out loud. “But we are in bed together…”
“Liz,” Max pleaded with her. “That isn’t the kind of impression I want to leave with your family.”
Not wanting to upset Max, Liz waited another moment before taking the phone from him. She greeted her grandmother cheerfully as Max reluctantly got out of bed and went to take a shower.
“So you and Max haven’t crawled out of bed yet, have you?” Grandma Claudia teased.
Liz couldn’t help the giggle that escaped. Her grandmother was an astute lady. “How did you guess?” Liz asked her with a smile.
“I don’t think that I’ve ever heard a young man sound that nervous before. Max usually seems so laid back,” Claudia remarked. Liz could hear the amusement in her grandmother’s voice. “But I didn’t call to tease you, Honeybear. Your parents called me this morning. They’re driving up to see you as we speak and I wanted to warn you because I had a feeling that you might not be there when they arrived at the dorm.”
Liz wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. She hadn’t seen her parents since they’d gotten back after their Holiday cruise. That was shortly after Christmas. Not mention that it had been more than a month since she had even talked to either her mother or father. They knew she was seeing someone but they didn’t know how serious it was. They would be surprised if they showed up at the dorm and found out that Liz wasn’t exactly living there anymore. Liz asked Claudia a few more questions, trying to find out when her parents were planning on arriving and if they had mentioned anything unusual. Satisfied with her grandmother’s answers she said goodbye. The shower had just turned off when Liz hung up the phone. She quickly got out of bed; grabbing one of Max’s t-shirts to wear and went to join him in the bathroom. He was towel drying his hair and for a moment Liz forgot the reason she was in there. Max saw her through the mirror and smiled.
“What did your grandma need?” he asked. A towel was draped loosely around his hips and as he waited for Liz’s response he reached for his toothpaste and toothbrush.
“Well, she called to warn us that my parents are coming to visit. They’re driving up right now. They should be here in time for lunch,” Liz explained.
Max’s movement came to a halt. “Here as in…here?” he asked.
Liz shook her head. “No. They’ll probably go to the dorm because that’s where I’m supposed to be living. But I was thinking about calling their cell phone and telling them to just come here. We could make them lunch instead of going out to eat. It will be a good opportunity for them to get to know you.” That said, Liz leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek and left him standing there with a toothbrush in his mouth and an expression of panic on his face.
******
When Nancy Parker asked Claudia for information on Liz’s new boyfriend, she was surprised at just how much Liz had failed to mention. In fact the only thing Liz had really told her parents was that she was seeing someone and that it was serious. Nancy was able to learn quite a bit from what little Claudia did tell her and was a little surprised that Liz hadn’t shared that information with her own mother. Her surprise turned to embarrassment when she realized that she didn’t even know Liz’s boyfriends name.
“His name is Max Evans. As a matter of fact, he grew up just a few houses away. He used to mow the lawn for us in the summers,” Claudia explained.
That sounded vaguely familiar to Nancy, but she couldn’t quite place him. The summers in Roswell had been busy for she and Jeff and they spent the majority of their time working at the Crashdown. They had lived in Roswell originally and started the first restaurant before Liz was born. When Liz turned three they had expanded and opened up other restaurants. Nancy and Jeff traveled a lot because of that and Liz had spent a lot of time with her grandparents as she grew up.
“I don’t remember a Max Evans being in any of Liz’s classes, do you?”
“Well…that could be part of the reason that Liz is reluctant to tell you about Max. He’s a little bit older than she is and she’s probably afraid you won’t approve of the age difference,” Claudia explained.
“How much is a little bit?” Nancy asked warily. She didn’t like the sound of this and she knew that Jeff wouldn’t either.
“Oh, it’s not that bad dear. He’s twenty-nine.”
Her daughter was dating a man eight years older than she was. That wasn’t terrible. She’d been afraid that Claudia might say he was thirty-nine or something like that. She could understand Liz’s hesitancy but didn’t think it was necessary. She could deal with twenty-nine. It meant that he was probably at a point in his life where he was capable of managing any responsibilities that came his way. Nancy wasn’t surprised that Liz was better able to connect to an older man. She’d always been quite mature for her age. Aside from the age gap, it sounded as though Max had Claudia’s approval, which wasn’t easily won where Liz was concerned. Besides that, he was a hometown boy and if he was still around, that meant that he probably meant to stay around. If things were serious between Liz and Max, there was a very good possibility that Liz would stay close to home after graduation instead of transferring far away for Grad School.
Nancy tried to probe for more information but Claudia wouldn’t reveal anything else. So she just had to hope that Liz would open up about Max sometime during their visit with her. Jeff and Nancy were both surprised by the phone call they got from Liz, inviting them to lunch at Max’s house. Glancing at Jeff, Nancy could tell that he was uncomfortable with the idea that Max Evans had his own house and that Liz was comfortable enough there to invite them to lunch. Nancy was secretly pleased because a house meant stability, which was another good quality for this Max Evans to have.
They found the house fairly easy because it was close to campus. If Max were being rated, Nancy would have to give him points for the house. It wasn’t large or ostentatious but it looked very nice. It was a split level with tan siding. There was a basketball hoop attached to the garage and a small path led from the driveway to the front porch. The welcome mat had an alien on it. The sight of that got a smile out of Jeff since he knew that Max was from Roswell. Giving his wife a shrug, Jeff rang the doorbell. A moment later it opened and a handsome young man that they assumed was Max greeted them
They assumed right and Max quickly introduced himself. “It’s really nice to finally meet you Mr and Mrs Parker.”
Jeff almost chuckled at the slight sound of nervousness in Max’s voice. It was a small comfort to know that the grown man in front of him was humble enough to be intimidated and nervous of his girlfriend’s parents.
“It’s nice to meet you, Max,” Jeff told him, shaking his hand firmly. “Why don’t you call us Jeff and Nancy?”
“Thank you, Jeff,” Max told him, giving him a smile as he relaxed a little. Liz’s parents seemed nice and after his initial appraisal of Max, Jeff Parker appeared to accept him a little.
“Uhh…Liz is in the kitchen finishing the lunch preparations. We thought you might be hungry so we’re going to eat right away if that’s okay with you,” Max explained.
“Thank you, Max,” Nancy gave him a warm smile as Max ushered them further into the house. “You have a very nice home. Have you lived here long?” she asked as they followed him into the kitchen.
“Thank you, Nancy. I moved here about three years ago after I finished Grad School,” Max answered.
“Oh really? What do you do for a living then?” Jeff asked. This was just another thing that Liz had failed to mention when talking about Max.
That particular question stopped Max in his tracks. They were in the kitchen now and Liz was setting the table. She heard her father’s question and winced inwardly. She hadn’t expected the interrogation to begin so soon. She winced again when she saw the startled look on Max’s face.
“Liz didn’t tell you?” he asked in surprise. He hadn’t been expecting that. He thought they knew all about him. That’s why he’d been nervous initially, because he was sure they wouldn’t approve of how he and Liz met. Now though…he was going to have to tell them and…Max shot Liz a questioning look and before the Parker’s could ask any more questions, Liz jumped in, rushing to greet her parents.
She gave both her mother and father big hugs. “It’s so good to see you,” she exclaimed honestly. “I’m really glad you were able to make it. I’ve wanted to introduce you both to Max for awhile now, but you’ve been traveling to the other restaurants and I wasn’t sure when we’d be able to fit a visit into all of our schedules.” Liz smiled brightly. Nancy thought she fairly radiated happiness.
Jeff saw it too and for some reason that ‘glow’ that Liz gave off alerted his protective fatherly instincts. He was glad that Liz was so obviously happy and he was sure that Max was the main source of that happiness, but he wasn’t particularly thrilled by the pretty flush that Liz wore. It reminded him of before he and Nancy had gotten married, when they hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other and…Jeff swallowed hard. If the reason for Liz’s happiness was similar to what Nancy’s had been, he was going to kill Max Evans.
Liz noticed the intense look that her father was directing at Max and ushered her parents to the dining room table. “Lunch is ready. Why don’t we eat and then you both can get to know Max a little better.” At that Liz sent a beaming, reassuring smile in Max’s direction. Max’s own smile wasn’t quite as bright. He hadn’t missed the glare that Jeff Parker had sent his way a moment ago. He could see how much this meant to Liz though and he was hoping that he wouldn’t do anything to ruin the afternoon for her.
They all sat down and helped themselves to the lunch Liz had prepared. There were steamed vegetables along with fried rice and egg rolls. “Liz, this is excellent,” her mother commented. “I didn’t realize you’d become such a good cook.”
Liz smiled. “Thanks. Max is the one that’s a really good cook though. He’s been teaching me.”
Max blushed at this, recalling that it had been awhile since they had actually sat down to a dinner together. Lately, they had both been hungry for…other things. Shrugging the thought off, Max offered a shy smile. “Liz is a fast learner.”
For the next few minutes they tucked heartily into the meal and lunch seemed to be going along smoothly. Max should have realized that what happened next was inevitable.
“So, Max,” Jeff started. “You never did get to tell us what you do for a living.” It wasn’t a question, but an answer was clearly expected.
“Oh, well, I did my graduate research in Astrophysics and I’m currently employed as the assistant professor of Physics at the college,” Max finally answered.
Nancy smiled. “That’s great!” She was inwardly thrilled. Max had a good job, more points for his rating. “Do you enjoy it?” she asked.
It seemed that the meaning of Max’s words hadn’t quite registered yet.
Max explained that he enjoyed teaching very much.
“So, how did you two meet? I imagine that Biologists and Physicists don’t cross paths very often,” Nancy commented.
“Well…uhm…” Max started; already dreading the reaction he knew he would receive after Nancy’s question was answered. Before he could respond, Liz jumped in.
“I had to take a Physics class last semester,” Liz explained calmly. “Don’t you remember me telling you how difficult I thought it was?”
Both parents sat there silently as the implications of Liz’s words sank in.
Max watched in morbid fascination as steam began to rise from Jeff Parker’s head. Despite his obvious anger, Jeff’s voice was controlled when he spoke.
“So, Max, you were Liz’s professor then?”
“Yes, Sir, but…”
“So, did you take advantage of my daughter’s struggles through your class?” he asked, the volume of his voice rising.
“Daddy!” Liz exclaimed. She hadn’t expected her father to react so caustically.
“What Liz?” Jeff barked out.
“Daddy, Max did not take advantage of me. He was my teacher and he helped me understand the class better. We became friends when we found out about our connections to Roswell. We didn’t get involved romantically until I was no longer in his class.” What Liz tactfully left out was the growing attraction they had felt the entire semester. As well as the fact that their relationship had started minutes after her final had been graded.
“Sir, I would never take advantage of Liz. I respect her too much and she’s too intelligent to ever let a thing like that happen,” Max inserted.
Jeff responded with a smoldering glare. Even so, he seemed to have calmed slightly at their explanation.
The tension remained for the duration of the Parker’s visit. Max was very careful not to be too openly affectionate with Liz and he tried very hard to be a good host. Jeff couldn’t ignore the fact that Max was obviously trying very hard and he managed to engage in polite conversation for the most part.
The Parkers were getting ready to leave and Nancy excused herself to use the restroom. She too had been shocked by her daughter’s earlier admission of how her relationship with Max had begun but she couldn’t deny how happy Max made Liz and it was very evident that Max adored her daughter.
The trip to the restroom was more an excuse to snoop than anything else and it proved to be very insightful. It was obvious that Liz and Max were very close. You only had to look at them to recognize that a certain level of intimacy existed between them. Evidence of this was scattered throughout the bathroom. Liz’s clothes were in the dirty clothes hamper and the shower was lined with feminine bath products. Also, Liz’s favorite bathrobe, one she got for Christmas two years earlier, was hanging on the back of the bathroom door. Further proof included the extra toothbrush in the toothbrush holder and the tampons in the cabinet. Of course, the ultimate proof that Liz and Max were on intimate terms was the box of condoms Nancy found, a box that was only partially full.
Having snooped long enough, Nancy made her escape, hoping that Jeff wouldn’t need to use the bathroom before they left. She was pretty sure that he wouldn’t be able to handle any more shocking news. Finding out that Liz seemed to be living with Max would be more than he could take.
******
Max collapsed onto the couch as soon as Liz’s parents were out the door. What a day! Jeff Parker hated him; Max could see it in the man’s eyes when he shook his hand before they left. Liz’s mom was great though. She’d given Max a hug and told him to take good care of Liz. After that she winked and ushered her husband outside, telling him they needed to hurry home. Now, Max was exhausted and could do nothing more than lay on the couch.
Liz almost laughed out loud when she saw the worn out, world-weary expression on Max’s face. If she didn’t know better she would have thought he’s just endured the Spanish Inquisition.
Leaving Max alone on the couch, she went back to the bedroom to change into more comfortable clothes. When she returned moments later, Max still had his eyes closed. For a second she thought he had fallen asleep but she could hear him mumbling to himself. Very carefully she positioned herself on top of him. He looked tense and she decided that it was her duty to relieve that tension.
She started by placing soft, light kisses around his face. First his forehead, then his closed eyelids followed by the tip of his nose. Finally she focused her kisses around his very sexy mouth.
Max groaned as he felt Liz’s soft, sweet lips dancing across his skin. “Liz…maybe we shouldn’t …you’re parents just left,” he protested weakly.
“Just relax, Max. Let me take care of you. You’ve had a very rough afternoon. I want to make it better.” She kissed along his jaw line, down his throat until she reached the collar of his button down shirt. Not liking the barrier, her hands made quick work of the buttons and pushed the fabric aside.
When Max felt Liz’s warm hands brush across his chest, he opened his eyes, unable to keep from looking at her. The sight of a very sexy Liz wearing a teeny, tiny tank top and a pair of his boxers greeted him.
“Liz…” he groaned, suddenly wanting her very badly. It had been a torturous afternoon and he wanted nothing more than to forget the entire experience by making love to Liz. Unable to stop himself, he pulled Liz close and brought their mouths together. Their kisses grew heated quickly, as they always tended to do and Liz was reaching for the zipper of Max’s jeans when the doorbell rang.
“That better not be Maria…” Max’s voice trailed off as he started to sit up. Liz laughed and pushed him back down. “Relax, I’ll get the door. I promise to get rid of whoever it is, so don’t move, because I’m not done with you,” she instructed.
Liz went to the door quickly and was startled when she found her mother on the front steps.
Nancy’s eyebrows arched questioningly when she saw Liz’s outfit, but she didn’t comment. “Hi, honey. I forgot my purse. I’ll just grab it quickly and be on my way.” Not wanting to interrupt what she was sure was going on in the bedroom; Nancy went past Liz to the living room to grab her purse.
Liz was still a little stunned by her mother’s sudden appearance and wasn’t fast enough to keep her from seeing Max, half naked on the couch. But her mother didn’t say anything. In fact, as Liz stood next to a shell shocked Max, she could almost swear that her mom was trying not to laugh.
Nancy retrieved the forgotten item and turned to face the speechless couple.
“Just some advice for you two. The next time we visit, you had better do a more complete job of hiding Liz’s things or be prepared to announce your engagement because your father won’t remain clueless for long, Liz. And Max, I like you a lot. You obviously make my daughter very happy. I would hate for there to be any unnecessary tension between you and Jeff.”
Nancy gave Liz another hug and said goodbye. “You two behave yourselves,” were the last words she spoke before walking out the door.
Liz turned to Max. “So…”
“I think that my libido has been stunted for the night,” he told her.
Liz sighed. “I was afraid of that. Anything I can do to fix the situation?” she asked hopefully.
Max shook his head. “Give me an hour. Maybe by then I can convince myself that no one will walk in on us.”
Liz curled up next to Max on the couch after that, trying to reassure him that it would be okay. “At least she rang the doorbell first. Can you imagine what she would have found if she’d just walked in here?”
Despite himself, Max could hear the seductive teasing in Liz’s tone. “My imagination is as stunted as my libido. Maybe you better describe what she would have found.”
Liz caught on to the direction of Max’s thoughts and smiled wickedly. “Well…your jeans would have been pulled down and I would have had this,” she took her hand and rubbed against the front of Max’s jeans, “in my mouth.”
Max groaned. “Why did she have to interrupt?”
Liz laughed. “She’s not going to interrupt now. Want to try again? I really think I’d like to rouse that libido you seem to think has been inhibited.”
“You know…quite suddenly, I feel something stirring,” Max told her, pulling her on top of him for a kiss.
Liz wiggled her hips into place and felt the bulge in Max’s jeans. “Hmmm…I think I know just what that something is.”
******
That night when Maria called, they were actually in bed.
Max was kissing his way down Liz’s belly when the shrill sound of the phone interrupted. He jerked, startled by the intrusion.
“Ignore it,” Liz told him breathily and pulled him back, wanting to feel his lips on her skin again.
Max went back to kissing her, working his way up to Liz’s breasts. His nose nuzzled against Liz’s stiff nipple and he was about to take the hardened peak into his mouth when Maria’s voice filled the air as she left a message on the answering machine.
“Hey, bunny rabbits, climax quick and call me back. I want to hear how the first meeting with ma and pa Parker went. If I don’t hear from you in ten minutes I’m calling back,” Maria’s voice warned.
Max groaned. “No…make it stop. Why can’t we just have one night where she doesn’t call to annoy us?” he asked.
“Ignore her,” Liz insisted. She was just as irritated by the intrusion and was desperate for Max to continue with what he was doing.
“I can’t just ignore her. It’s weird to be making love to you and have her voice yelling at us in the background,” Max explained as he pulled away from Liz and started to get out of bed.
“No…don’t leave,” Liz protested. “Come back…Max…”
Despite her frustration, Liz enjoyed the backside view of Max as he strode out of the bedroom. She heard some noise from the living room and then she thoroughly enjoyed the front view of Max as he made his way back to bed.
“Where did you go?” she asked. She licked her lips as she watched him reach for the telephone. He picked it up, detaching the phone cord.
“I unplugged the phone in the living room and turned off the answering machine. I’m going to make love to you and I don’t want anymore interruptions.” That said, he crawled back into Liz’s welcoming arms and kissed her firmly on the mouth. He ended the kiss abruptly and brought his mouth back to her breasts where he used his tongue to stimulate her nipples to hard peaks once again.
The intensity of their lovemaking that night was a new experience for Liz. It was always good, but she sensed something different in Max, almost an urgency to join with her. When he finally joined them together, his thrusts were demanding and Liz responded eagerly, giving and taking the passion that he offered. And when she shattered, convulsing around him, he cried out hoarsely as his warmth filled her.
Holding Liz close, after wards, Max kissed her forehead and his hands rubbed her arm in a gesture of intimacy and comfort. “When does Spring Break start?” he asked softly. Liz snuggled against Max, her head resting on his chest just above his heart, allowing her to hear the strong beat.
“The end of this next week,” she answered lazily. “Why?”
“I was just curious if you made any plans yet.”
“Just to spend the entire break with you,” Liz told him. “We don’t even have to leave this bed.”
Max smiled at the idea. “How about we take a trip instead? Like, maybe…Cancun. I want to spend some extensive uninterrupted time with you. Maybe if we’re in a different time zone, Maria won’t be able to call. It will just be you and me on a deserted beach…making love in the sand….”
“Mmm…sounds perfect,” Liz replied, her voice growing husky with sleepiness. “When can we leave? Can you put it all together in week?”
“I will do my best,” he told her. He wrapped his arm more securely around Liz and kissed her forehead again. As she drifted off to sleep, Max started planning their private getaway.
During the next week, Max began to contemplate the idea that he and Liz needed some time to themselves…far away from everyone. This particular idea was influenced by none other than Maria Deluca. In one week she managed to interrupt almost every moment that Max found alone with Liz. Not that things would have gone far anyway. Liz had gotten her period just as she suspected. Max had been a little disconcerted to find a box of tampons in the bathroom cabinet, but it was all just a part of the many things he would have to adjust to with Liz around on a permanent basis.
Maria though, didn’t know what it meant to keep her nose out of other people’s business. She proceeded to call and check on Liz whenever possible. Thursday night her phone calls seemed to come in ten-minute intervals. Max and Liz were curled up on the couch, as per their usual routine, watching the latest episode of CSI. The first time the phone rang it was Maria asking Liz about a homework assignment. The second time it was Maria calling to tell Liz some juicy gossip she’d heard about Pam Troy. The third time, Max took the phone away from Liz and asked Maria if she was purposely trying to annoy him by calling so much. Maria burst into gales of laughter and told him that she was calling because she and Michael thought it was funny to interrupt when they were trying to have sex. The fourth time the phone rang Max didn’t even wait for Maria to say anything. “We’re not having sex right now. Liz has her period…so just leave us alone!” He declared into the receiver.
He was met with stunned silence.
“Max…this is Isabel. Is that how you normally answer your phone? Because, really, that’s too much information,” his sister told him, amusement in her tone.
Max groaned out loud. “Sorry, Isabel. I thought you were someone else.”
Liz’s eyes grew wide with mortification when she heard that it was Isabel. Max could only offer her an apologetic look.
“Never mind. I called to invite you and Liz to dinner with Jesse and I. We were thinking we’d try that new place that just opened up downtown. La Marceu or something like that.”
“Sounds good. When?”
“Jesse already made reservations for tomorrow night.”
“Hold on, let me ask Liz.”
Max explained what Isabel was asking. Liz agreed and made him ask what they were supposed to wear. At that point he handed the phone to Liz, knowing that his sister’s answer would take several minutes. He didn’t have the patience to relay that kind of information.
That was how they found their entire Friday evening occupied by Max’s sister and her husband. Even though the relationship was still fairly new, Liz and Isabel were becoming friends and finding that they had quite a few things in common. The night out with Isabel and Jesse went well and both couples had a good time eating and talking. It was after midnight when Max and Liz finally got back to Max’s place, both too exhausted to do anything more than fall into bed.
Saturday morning it was a very frisky Liz who decided to jumpstart the day by jumping Max. “Waiting a whole week had been unbearable,” she told him between kisses as she proceeded to remove both his and her pajamas.
“What about…?”
“That ended Thursday but we were too tired last night,” Liz told him as her hands eagerly explored his firm body.
They were quick to make up for lost time.
Coming down from their climaxes, their intimate moment was interrupted by the ringing of the phone.
Max groaned out loud. “I swear to god, if that’s Maria…” his threat was cut off as he leaned over Liz’s very naked, very sated body to reach the phone. He took a moment to calm himself before finally answering. Max was surprised to hear Claudia Parker’s voice on the other end of the line.
“Hello Max, sorry to bother you this morning but I’m looking for Liz. She wouldn’t happen to be with you would she?” Claudia asked, already knowing the answer.
“Uhm…just a second. I’ll get her for you,” Max told her even as his cheeks turned red with embarrassment. Claudia Parker probably wouldn’t be nearly as nice to him if she knew what he’d just been doing with her granddaughter. He held his hand over the mouthpiece and turned to Liz. “It’s your grandmother.” Liz started to reach for the phone. “Wait a second before you answer. I don’t want her to think we’re in bed together,” Max whispered.
Liz almost laughed out loud. “But we are in bed together…”
“Liz,” Max pleaded with her. “That isn’t the kind of impression I want to leave with your family.”
Not wanting to upset Max, Liz waited another moment before taking the phone from him. She greeted her grandmother cheerfully as Max reluctantly got out of bed and went to take a shower.
“So you and Max haven’t crawled out of bed yet, have you?” Grandma Claudia teased.
Liz couldn’t help the giggle that escaped. Her grandmother was an astute lady. “How did you guess?” Liz asked her with a smile.
“I don’t think that I’ve ever heard a young man sound that nervous before. Max usually seems so laid back,” Claudia remarked. Liz could hear the amusement in her grandmother’s voice. “But I didn’t call to tease you, Honeybear. Your parents called me this morning. They’re driving up to see you as we speak and I wanted to warn you because I had a feeling that you might not be there when they arrived at the dorm.”
Liz wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. She hadn’t seen her parents since they’d gotten back after their Holiday cruise. That was shortly after Christmas. Not mention that it had been more than a month since she had even talked to either her mother or father. They knew she was seeing someone but they didn’t know how serious it was. They would be surprised if they showed up at the dorm and found out that Liz wasn’t exactly living there anymore. Liz asked Claudia a few more questions, trying to find out when her parents were planning on arriving and if they had mentioned anything unusual. Satisfied with her grandmother’s answers she said goodbye. The shower had just turned off when Liz hung up the phone. She quickly got out of bed; grabbing one of Max’s t-shirts to wear and went to join him in the bathroom. He was towel drying his hair and for a moment Liz forgot the reason she was in there. Max saw her through the mirror and smiled.
“What did your grandma need?” he asked. A towel was draped loosely around his hips and as he waited for Liz’s response he reached for his toothpaste and toothbrush.
“Well, she called to warn us that my parents are coming to visit. They’re driving up right now. They should be here in time for lunch,” Liz explained.
Max’s movement came to a halt. “Here as in…here?” he asked.
Liz shook her head. “No. They’ll probably go to the dorm because that’s where I’m supposed to be living. But I was thinking about calling their cell phone and telling them to just come here. We could make them lunch instead of going out to eat. It will be a good opportunity for them to get to know you.” That said, Liz leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek and left him standing there with a toothbrush in his mouth and an expression of panic on his face.
******
When Nancy Parker asked Claudia for information on Liz’s new boyfriend, she was surprised at just how much Liz had failed to mention. In fact the only thing Liz had really told her parents was that she was seeing someone and that it was serious. Nancy was able to learn quite a bit from what little Claudia did tell her and was a little surprised that Liz hadn’t shared that information with her own mother. Her surprise turned to embarrassment when she realized that she didn’t even know Liz’s boyfriends name.
“His name is Max Evans. As a matter of fact, he grew up just a few houses away. He used to mow the lawn for us in the summers,” Claudia explained.
That sounded vaguely familiar to Nancy, but she couldn’t quite place him. The summers in Roswell had been busy for she and Jeff and they spent the majority of their time working at the Crashdown. They had lived in Roswell originally and started the first restaurant before Liz was born. When Liz turned three they had expanded and opened up other restaurants. Nancy and Jeff traveled a lot because of that and Liz had spent a lot of time with her grandparents as she grew up.
“I don’t remember a Max Evans being in any of Liz’s classes, do you?”
“Well…that could be part of the reason that Liz is reluctant to tell you about Max. He’s a little bit older than she is and she’s probably afraid you won’t approve of the age difference,” Claudia explained.
“How much is a little bit?” Nancy asked warily. She didn’t like the sound of this and she knew that Jeff wouldn’t either.
“Oh, it’s not that bad dear. He’s twenty-nine.”
Her daughter was dating a man eight years older than she was. That wasn’t terrible. She’d been afraid that Claudia might say he was thirty-nine or something like that. She could understand Liz’s hesitancy but didn’t think it was necessary. She could deal with twenty-nine. It meant that he was probably at a point in his life where he was capable of managing any responsibilities that came his way. Nancy wasn’t surprised that Liz was better able to connect to an older man. She’d always been quite mature for her age. Aside from the age gap, it sounded as though Max had Claudia’s approval, which wasn’t easily won where Liz was concerned. Besides that, he was a hometown boy and if he was still around, that meant that he probably meant to stay around. If things were serious between Liz and Max, there was a very good possibility that Liz would stay close to home after graduation instead of transferring far away for Grad School.
Nancy tried to probe for more information but Claudia wouldn’t reveal anything else. So she just had to hope that Liz would open up about Max sometime during their visit with her. Jeff and Nancy were both surprised by the phone call they got from Liz, inviting them to lunch at Max’s house. Glancing at Jeff, Nancy could tell that he was uncomfortable with the idea that Max Evans had his own house and that Liz was comfortable enough there to invite them to lunch. Nancy was secretly pleased because a house meant stability, which was another good quality for this Max Evans to have.
They found the house fairly easy because it was close to campus. If Max were being rated, Nancy would have to give him points for the house. It wasn’t large or ostentatious but it looked very nice. It was a split level with tan siding. There was a basketball hoop attached to the garage and a small path led from the driveway to the front porch. The welcome mat had an alien on it. The sight of that got a smile out of Jeff since he knew that Max was from Roswell. Giving his wife a shrug, Jeff rang the doorbell. A moment later it opened and a handsome young man that they assumed was Max greeted them
They assumed right and Max quickly introduced himself. “It’s really nice to finally meet you Mr and Mrs Parker.”
Jeff almost chuckled at the slight sound of nervousness in Max’s voice. It was a small comfort to know that the grown man in front of him was humble enough to be intimidated and nervous of his girlfriend’s parents.
“It’s nice to meet you, Max,” Jeff told him, shaking his hand firmly. “Why don’t you call us Jeff and Nancy?”
“Thank you, Jeff,” Max told him, giving him a smile as he relaxed a little. Liz’s parents seemed nice and after his initial appraisal of Max, Jeff Parker appeared to accept him a little.
“Uhh…Liz is in the kitchen finishing the lunch preparations. We thought you might be hungry so we’re going to eat right away if that’s okay with you,” Max explained.
“Thank you, Max,” Nancy gave him a warm smile as Max ushered them further into the house. “You have a very nice home. Have you lived here long?” she asked as they followed him into the kitchen.
“Thank you, Nancy. I moved here about three years ago after I finished Grad School,” Max answered.
“Oh really? What do you do for a living then?” Jeff asked. This was just another thing that Liz had failed to mention when talking about Max.
That particular question stopped Max in his tracks. They were in the kitchen now and Liz was setting the table. She heard her father’s question and winced inwardly. She hadn’t expected the interrogation to begin so soon. She winced again when she saw the startled look on Max’s face.
“Liz didn’t tell you?” he asked in surprise. He hadn’t been expecting that. He thought they knew all about him. That’s why he’d been nervous initially, because he was sure they wouldn’t approve of how he and Liz met. Now though…he was going to have to tell them and…Max shot Liz a questioning look and before the Parker’s could ask any more questions, Liz jumped in, rushing to greet her parents.
She gave both her mother and father big hugs. “It’s so good to see you,” she exclaimed honestly. “I’m really glad you were able to make it. I’ve wanted to introduce you both to Max for awhile now, but you’ve been traveling to the other restaurants and I wasn’t sure when we’d be able to fit a visit into all of our schedules.” Liz smiled brightly. Nancy thought she fairly radiated happiness.
Jeff saw it too and for some reason that ‘glow’ that Liz gave off alerted his protective fatherly instincts. He was glad that Liz was so obviously happy and he was sure that Max was the main source of that happiness, but he wasn’t particularly thrilled by the pretty flush that Liz wore. It reminded him of before he and Nancy had gotten married, when they hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other and…Jeff swallowed hard. If the reason for Liz’s happiness was similar to what Nancy’s had been, he was going to kill Max Evans.
Liz noticed the intense look that her father was directing at Max and ushered her parents to the dining room table. “Lunch is ready. Why don’t we eat and then you both can get to know Max a little better.” At that Liz sent a beaming, reassuring smile in Max’s direction. Max’s own smile wasn’t quite as bright. He hadn’t missed the glare that Jeff Parker had sent his way a moment ago. He could see how much this meant to Liz though and he was hoping that he wouldn’t do anything to ruin the afternoon for her.
They all sat down and helped themselves to the lunch Liz had prepared. There were steamed vegetables along with fried rice and egg rolls. “Liz, this is excellent,” her mother commented. “I didn’t realize you’d become such a good cook.”
Liz smiled. “Thanks. Max is the one that’s a really good cook though. He’s been teaching me.”
Max blushed at this, recalling that it had been awhile since they had actually sat down to a dinner together. Lately, they had both been hungry for…other things. Shrugging the thought off, Max offered a shy smile. “Liz is a fast learner.”
For the next few minutes they tucked heartily into the meal and lunch seemed to be going along smoothly. Max should have realized that what happened next was inevitable.
“So, Max,” Jeff started. “You never did get to tell us what you do for a living.” It wasn’t a question, but an answer was clearly expected.
“Oh, well, I did my graduate research in Astrophysics and I’m currently employed as the assistant professor of Physics at the college,” Max finally answered.
Nancy smiled. “That’s great!” She was inwardly thrilled. Max had a good job, more points for his rating. “Do you enjoy it?” she asked.
It seemed that the meaning of Max’s words hadn’t quite registered yet.
Max explained that he enjoyed teaching very much.
“So, how did you two meet? I imagine that Biologists and Physicists don’t cross paths very often,” Nancy commented.
“Well…uhm…” Max started; already dreading the reaction he knew he would receive after Nancy’s question was answered. Before he could respond, Liz jumped in.
“I had to take a Physics class last semester,” Liz explained calmly. “Don’t you remember me telling you how difficult I thought it was?”
Both parents sat there silently as the implications of Liz’s words sank in.
Max watched in morbid fascination as steam began to rise from Jeff Parker’s head. Despite his obvious anger, Jeff’s voice was controlled when he spoke.
“So, Max, you were Liz’s professor then?”
“Yes, Sir, but…”
“So, did you take advantage of my daughter’s struggles through your class?” he asked, the volume of his voice rising.
“Daddy!” Liz exclaimed. She hadn’t expected her father to react so caustically.
“What Liz?” Jeff barked out.
“Daddy, Max did not take advantage of me. He was my teacher and he helped me understand the class better. We became friends when we found out about our connections to Roswell. We didn’t get involved romantically until I was no longer in his class.” What Liz tactfully left out was the growing attraction they had felt the entire semester. As well as the fact that their relationship had started minutes after her final had been graded.
“Sir, I would never take advantage of Liz. I respect her too much and she’s too intelligent to ever let a thing like that happen,” Max inserted.
Jeff responded with a smoldering glare. Even so, he seemed to have calmed slightly at their explanation.
The tension remained for the duration of the Parker’s visit. Max was very careful not to be too openly affectionate with Liz and he tried very hard to be a good host. Jeff couldn’t ignore the fact that Max was obviously trying very hard and he managed to engage in polite conversation for the most part.
The Parkers were getting ready to leave and Nancy excused herself to use the restroom. She too had been shocked by her daughter’s earlier admission of how her relationship with Max had begun but she couldn’t deny how happy Max made Liz and it was very evident that Max adored her daughter.
The trip to the restroom was more an excuse to snoop than anything else and it proved to be very insightful. It was obvious that Liz and Max were very close. You only had to look at them to recognize that a certain level of intimacy existed between them. Evidence of this was scattered throughout the bathroom. Liz’s clothes were in the dirty clothes hamper and the shower was lined with feminine bath products. Also, Liz’s favorite bathrobe, one she got for Christmas two years earlier, was hanging on the back of the bathroom door. Further proof included the extra toothbrush in the toothbrush holder and the tampons in the cabinet. Of course, the ultimate proof that Liz and Max were on intimate terms was the box of condoms Nancy found, a box that was only partially full.
Having snooped long enough, Nancy made her escape, hoping that Jeff wouldn’t need to use the bathroom before they left. She was pretty sure that he wouldn’t be able to handle any more shocking news. Finding out that Liz seemed to be living with Max would be more than he could take.
******
Max collapsed onto the couch as soon as Liz’s parents were out the door. What a day! Jeff Parker hated him; Max could see it in the man’s eyes when he shook his hand before they left. Liz’s mom was great though. She’d given Max a hug and told him to take good care of Liz. After that she winked and ushered her husband outside, telling him they needed to hurry home. Now, Max was exhausted and could do nothing more than lay on the couch.
Liz almost laughed out loud when she saw the worn out, world-weary expression on Max’s face. If she didn’t know better she would have thought he’s just endured the Spanish Inquisition.
Leaving Max alone on the couch, she went back to the bedroom to change into more comfortable clothes. When she returned moments later, Max still had his eyes closed. For a second she thought he had fallen asleep but she could hear him mumbling to himself. Very carefully she positioned herself on top of him. He looked tense and she decided that it was her duty to relieve that tension.
She started by placing soft, light kisses around his face. First his forehead, then his closed eyelids followed by the tip of his nose. Finally she focused her kisses around his very sexy mouth.
Max groaned as he felt Liz’s soft, sweet lips dancing across his skin. “Liz…maybe we shouldn’t …you’re parents just left,” he protested weakly.
“Just relax, Max. Let me take care of you. You’ve had a very rough afternoon. I want to make it better.” She kissed along his jaw line, down his throat until she reached the collar of his button down shirt. Not liking the barrier, her hands made quick work of the buttons and pushed the fabric aside.
When Max felt Liz’s warm hands brush across his chest, he opened his eyes, unable to keep from looking at her. The sight of a very sexy Liz wearing a teeny, tiny tank top and a pair of his boxers greeted him.
“Liz…” he groaned, suddenly wanting her very badly. It had been a torturous afternoon and he wanted nothing more than to forget the entire experience by making love to Liz. Unable to stop himself, he pulled Liz close and brought their mouths together. Their kisses grew heated quickly, as they always tended to do and Liz was reaching for the zipper of Max’s jeans when the doorbell rang.
“That better not be Maria…” Max’s voice trailed off as he started to sit up. Liz laughed and pushed him back down. “Relax, I’ll get the door. I promise to get rid of whoever it is, so don’t move, because I’m not done with you,” she instructed.
Liz went to the door quickly and was startled when she found her mother on the front steps.
Nancy’s eyebrows arched questioningly when she saw Liz’s outfit, but she didn’t comment. “Hi, honey. I forgot my purse. I’ll just grab it quickly and be on my way.” Not wanting to interrupt what she was sure was going on in the bedroom; Nancy went past Liz to the living room to grab her purse.
Liz was still a little stunned by her mother’s sudden appearance and wasn’t fast enough to keep her from seeing Max, half naked on the couch. But her mother didn’t say anything. In fact, as Liz stood next to a shell shocked Max, she could almost swear that her mom was trying not to laugh.
Nancy retrieved the forgotten item and turned to face the speechless couple.
“Just some advice for you two. The next time we visit, you had better do a more complete job of hiding Liz’s things or be prepared to announce your engagement because your father won’t remain clueless for long, Liz. And Max, I like you a lot. You obviously make my daughter very happy. I would hate for there to be any unnecessary tension between you and Jeff.”
Nancy gave Liz another hug and said goodbye. “You two behave yourselves,” were the last words she spoke before walking out the door.
Liz turned to Max. “So…”
“I think that my libido has been stunted for the night,” he told her.
Liz sighed. “I was afraid of that. Anything I can do to fix the situation?” she asked hopefully.
Max shook his head. “Give me an hour. Maybe by then I can convince myself that no one will walk in on us.”
Liz curled up next to Max on the couch after that, trying to reassure him that it would be okay. “At least she rang the doorbell first. Can you imagine what she would have found if she’d just walked in here?”
Despite himself, Max could hear the seductive teasing in Liz’s tone. “My imagination is as stunted as my libido. Maybe you better describe what she would have found.”
Liz caught on to the direction of Max’s thoughts and smiled wickedly. “Well…your jeans would have been pulled down and I would have had this,” she took her hand and rubbed against the front of Max’s jeans, “in my mouth.”
Max groaned. “Why did she have to interrupt?”
Liz laughed. “She’s not going to interrupt now. Want to try again? I really think I’d like to rouse that libido you seem to think has been inhibited.”
“You know…quite suddenly, I feel something stirring,” Max told her, pulling her on top of him for a kiss.
Liz wiggled her hips into place and felt the bulge in Max’s jeans. “Hmmm…I think I know just what that something is.”
******
That night when Maria called, they were actually in bed.
Max was kissing his way down Liz’s belly when the shrill sound of the phone interrupted. He jerked, startled by the intrusion.
“Ignore it,” Liz told him breathily and pulled him back, wanting to feel his lips on her skin again.
Max went back to kissing her, working his way up to Liz’s breasts. His nose nuzzled against Liz’s stiff nipple and he was about to take the hardened peak into his mouth when Maria’s voice filled the air as she left a message on the answering machine.
“Hey, bunny rabbits, climax quick and call me back. I want to hear how the first meeting with ma and pa Parker went. If I don’t hear from you in ten minutes I’m calling back,” Maria’s voice warned.
Max groaned. “No…make it stop. Why can’t we just have one night where she doesn’t call to annoy us?” he asked.
“Ignore her,” Liz insisted. She was just as irritated by the intrusion and was desperate for Max to continue with what he was doing.
“I can’t just ignore her. It’s weird to be making love to you and have her voice yelling at us in the background,” Max explained as he pulled away from Liz and started to get out of bed.
“No…don’t leave,” Liz protested. “Come back…Max…”
Despite her frustration, Liz enjoyed the backside view of Max as he strode out of the bedroom. She heard some noise from the living room and then she thoroughly enjoyed the front view of Max as he made his way back to bed.
“Where did you go?” she asked. She licked her lips as she watched him reach for the telephone. He picked it up, detaching the phone cord.
“I unplugged the phone in the living room and turned off the answering machine. I’m going to make love to you and I don’t want anymore interruptions.” That said, he crawled back into Liz’s welcoming arms and kissed her firmly on the mouth. He ended the kiss abruptly and brought his mouth back to her breasts where he used his tongue to stimulate her nipples to hard peaks once again.
The intensity of their lovemaking that night was a new experience for Liz. It was always good, but she sensed something different in Max, almost an urgency to join with her. When he finally joined them together, his thrusts were demanding and Liz responded eagerly, giving and taking the passion that he offered. And when she shattered, convulsing around him, he cried out hoarsely as his warmth filled her.
Holding Liz close, after wards, Max kissed her forehead and his hands rubbed her arm in a gesture of intimacy and comfort. “When does Spring Break start?” he asked softly. Liz snuggled against Max, her head resting on his chest just above his heart, allowing her to hear the strong beat.
“The end of this next week,” she answered lazily. “Why?”
“I was just curious if you made any plans yet.”
“Just to spend the entire break with you,” Liz told him. “We don’t even have to leave this bed.”
Max smiled at the idea. “How about we take a trip instead? Like, maybe…Cancun. I want to spend some extensive uninterrupted time with you. Maybe if we’re in a different time zone, Maria won’t be able to call. It will just be you and me on a deserted beach…making love in the sand….”
“Mmm…sounds perfect,” Liz replied, her voice growing husky with sleepiness. “When can we leave? Can you put it all together in week?”
“I will do my best,” he told her. He wrapped his arm more securely around Liz and kissed her forehead again. As she drifted off to sleep, Max started planning their private getaway.
"The heart has its reasons it which reason knows nothing" -Blaise Pascal
-
carenicoleIQ
- Enthusiastic Roswellian
- Posts: 36
- Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2001 4:58 pm
- Location: Nebraska
Chapter 19
The first thing Max did the next day was make a call to his parent’s travel agent. His parent’s raved about the travel agency and he decided using it would be the best way to make the last minute plans. An hour and a large sum of money later, Max had the trip booked. Their flight to Cancun left that Friday afternoon after classes got out.
Friday came quickly for the couple. Liz was still finishing several midterm projects and Max was trying to complete all of his grading before they left. Max cancelled his only afternoon class and Liz skipped hers so they could finish packing and get to the airport on time. By five o’clock they were on their way, leaving just enough time for them to check in before their 6:45 flight to Houston. After a short layover there, they would be on their way to Cancun.
After they had checked in, they sat waiting for their flight to Houston to be called. Liz looked through the itinerary that Max had set up for them for the duration of their stay. When she started giggling Max looked up from the magazine he was reading.
“What?” he asked curiously as he watched the grin on Liz’s face spread.
“Do you really think we’re going to have time do all of this stuff you’ve got planned?” She asked with laughter in her voice.
Max shrugged. “We have seven days and eight nights. There are twenty four hours in a day and aside from sleep, we’re going to have to keep ourselves busy in some way,” he explained.
Liz smirked and leaned closer to her devastatingly handsome boyfriend. “What if I want to keep you locked in the room for that whole time? I can think of plenty of things for us to do in there,” she told him seductively. She watched as his ears turned pink and he ducked his head and coughed to hide his response to her suggestive words. Delighted by his reaction, Liz pressed herself closer to Max and leaned up to press light kisses along his jaw line up to his ear before sucking and biting his earlobe.
“Liz…what are you doing? We’re in a public place,” he protested weakly. It wasn’t that he wasn’t enjoying this outgoing version of Liz very much. It was more that he didn’t trust his self-control.
Liz stopped her assault as she became aware of their surroundings. “Sorry. I’m just excited and I can hardly wait until we’re all alone with no one around to interrupt us.”
Max pulled her into his arms and Liz’s head fell naturally against his shoulder. “Me too,” he told her. She lifted her head up and looked at him with that smiled she saved just for him. He had to kiss her then. He couldn’t stop himself. Caught up in the kiss, they only pulled apart when their flight number was called over the intercom.
Liz got up quickly. “That’s us!” she exclaimed excitedly as she grabbed Max’s hands and pulled him up after her. Max laughed at her exuberance. He was nearly as thrilled as she was, already anticipating the time he’d secretly been hoping they would spend in their room rather than sightseeing.
******
Pam Troy had been wandering aimlessly around the airport for hours. Her flight home for spring break had been delayed. She wasn’t exactly thrilled about this trip to visit with her family and wasn’t worried she would miss her flight once it was called. If she did, she would just cry and pretend that something terrible had happened. It had worked before…the airport people were always very accommodating when tears were involved.
She stopped at one of the newsstands she passed by when she caught a glance of the newest issue of Glamour. She was browsing through it when she heard a familiar voice. She looked up in time to see that mousy Liz Parker walking by. Pam’s eyes almost bulged out of her head when she saw that Liz was walking next to Dr. Evans. She did a double take, thinking that she couldn’t possibly be seeing what she thought she was. Her eyes weren’t deceiving her though. That nerd, Liz, and Dr. Evans were there, walking together towards the same gate. Dr. Evans was actually smiling and he kept looking at Liz as she continued to talk animatedly, most likely about some geeky science thing. At that point there still could have been a logical explanation for what Pam was seeing. It couldn’t have possibly been what Pam was imagining.
Pam had almost convinced herself that it was nothing. Liz had probably run into Dr. Evans and wouldn’t leave him alone. Well…she would just go rescue him. Dr. Evans would probably be eternally grateful. Pam had taken no more than two steps after them when she noticed that their hands were clasped together. Then she watched Dr. Evans lean down and kiss Liz…in front of God and everybody. It wasn’t a shy kiss or even a friendly peck. It was the kind of kiss a lover gives, a kiss that was being eagerly returned.
Like a voyeur, Pam watched the exchange. Her feelings went from disgusted to furious. What exactly did Dr. Evans see in Liz Parker? She was a geek…and completely plain. Pam had been more than willing to do whatever Dr. Evans needed and he had chosen Liz. It was completely ridiculous, not to mention insulting. Seething with anger, Pam knew that she couldn’t just let this go. Something would have to be done.
*****
The flights seemed long and boring. Both Max and Liz did a little bit of reading and took naps with Liz using Max for her pillow. Max didn’t mind; he’d gotten used to having Liz with him when he slept and he enjoyed holding her. By the time they landed in Cancun, they were both exhausted; the naps they’d taken hadn’t helped much and they were eager to get to their hotel. Liz was barely aware of her surroundings as Max checked them into their suite. She was just glad to see a bed and once they were in their room she eagerly gravitated toward the soft mattress as soon as she’d changed into pajamas. Max felt the same way and after kissing Liz goodnight, he was asleep before his head hit the pillow.
Liz woke up early the next morning, her body cocooned in Max’s warmth. She smiled as the memory of where they were came back to her. Paradise. It was theirs to enjoy for the next week. Opening her eyes, Liz noticed that the sun was just beginning to rise. Slipping out of Max’s arms carefully she got up and padded quietly across the room to the doors that led outside to their own private deck.
The view was incredible, the sunrise spectacular. For a while she stood in the open door just taking in everything around her. She shivered slightly at the light breeze that blew across her skin. She wore only a thin cotton nightgown. It was sleeveless with tiny lace ruffles on the edges. The front was pulled together with a ribbon. It had been a gift from grandma Claudia for the trip and Liz had immediately fallen in love with it. She was hoping that Max would like it too.
Warm arms slipped around Liz’s middle and a solid chest pressed against her back. With a sigh Liz let her arms lay on top of Max’s and rested her head on his shoulder. He leaned down, kissing the top of her head lovingly.
“Morning,” he told her softly. He had woken up alone in the bed and panicked momentarily until he saw Liz framed in the sliding glass doors that lead to the deck. He’d been content to watch her for a moment until he caught a glimpse of her body outlined through her nightgown. He needed to touch her.
As he held her, Liz felt contentment settle over her. This was absolutely perfect.
“That’s an amazing sunrise,” Max commented after they had stood there silently, drinking in the sight of it.
“It really is. I’m so glad we came here, Max,” she told him as she turned in his arms to face him. Her own arms went up around his neck so that she could look up at him.
She was so precious to him. Max was forever grateful that she wanted to be a part of his life. Without hesitation he bent his head and kissed her deeply. She eagerly returned the kiss and they soon found themselves moving toward the king-sized bed. Once there, Max took a moment to admire Liz as she was sprawled out beneath him. This was a sight even more beautiful than the sunrise. Her hair was in tangled disarray, spilled out in dark contrast to the while sheets covering the bed. The pale cotton nightgown was sexier than the skimpiest lingerie because he knew the treasure hidden beneath the demure fabric. Max was more than happy to pillage and plunder those treasures.
He took his time, wanting their first day in Paradise to be more than a little memorable. Each bare inch of skin was laved with soft adoring kissed that left Liz tingling from head to toe. Her nightgown stayed in place for a record twenty minutes as Max worked diligently at seduction. His hands slid gently underneath the hem of gown, traveling up smooth, slender thighs. When he encountered more bare flesh, Max felt his control start to shatter. He sucked in a deep breath and knew that he couldn’t wait to see all of her.
Once the nightgown was off, Liz was completely naked. A cool breeze blew across Liz’s heated skin and she arched into Max, urging him to take of his boxers. They quickly went the way of her nightgown. His hands caressed the newly revealed skin as mouth suckled on perfect rosebud nipples that pouted prettily in response to his ministrations.
Liz moaned and speared her fingers through Max’s hair, urging him on, not wanting him to stop. The sound of that moan was a siren’s call to Max and he could no longer deny the inevitable. Liz cried out at his deep penetration and wrapped her legs around his waist as he continued to drive into her. As he felt his release drawing near, Max gasped out a hoarse “I love you,” that was met with the keening cry of his name as Liz came apart beneath him. He followed her shortly after and breathing hard, collapsed next to Liz’s side.
“We should watch the sunrise more often,” Liz said with a satisfied smile before snuggling next to Max as they fell back asleep.
******
They spent the afternoon of the first day lazing about on the hotel’s private beach. They hadn’t been there very long when Max noticed that Liz was starting to get a little pink from the sun.
“Didn’t you put suntan lotion on?” he asked, his voice slightly reproving.
Liz rolled her eyes. “Yes. But if you don’t think I put on enough you can reapply it for me.
Max was more than willing to lend her two hands for the job and he made sure that he was very thorough. He took his time rubbing the crème into her soft skin, alternating between tickling to evoke her musical giggles and caressing to hear the sweet timber of her moans. Liz wasn’t sure whether to be amused or aroused.
Of course she wasn’t going to let Max get away with teasing her and exacted her own revenge with relish when Max agreed to let her put suntan lotion on him. He was hesitant at first, knowing that just he feel of Liz’s small, capable hands on his body would be overpoweringly erotic. He knew and yet it happened anyway. Squeezing a liberal amount of the warm crème onto her hands, he spread it over his back, not missing a single inch of his delectably tanned skin. After a few minute of being tortured by firm hands massaging his back, Liz pulled away. Just when Max thought the exquisite torture was over, Liz maneuvered herself so that she was straddling his lap. The only barriers between them were Liz’s very brief bikini bottoms and Max’s very constricted swimming trunks. The assault began anew and Liz smothered the suntan lotion all over Max’s chest. As she did so, she talked absently about the Mayan ruins she wanted to explore. Max barely heard a word she was saying. He was too aware of the way she kept brushing against his hard on and all he could feel were her hot hands scorching his bare chest.
Liz was looking at Max expectantly and he realized that she had just asked him a question. Not responding verbally, he placed his hands on her hips to support her and stood up. Liz’s first response was to wrap her legs around Max’s waist.
“What are you doing, Max?” she asked as he walked them away from their towels toward the crystal blue water. He didn’t hesitate once he reached the water; he kept walking until they were submerged up to his waist. The water wasn’t exactly cold but it had the desired effect and Max felt his arousal slowly shrinking. He finally looked Liz in the eyes only to encounter amusement and…. something else he couldn’t quite put his finger on. He recognized the desire that was present because it was a look he’d grown accustomed to but this look was different. She seemed almost pleased by his predicament.
“Max…care to explain?” Liz prompted with a raised eyebrow.
“I think that you’ve already figured it out,” he told her.
Liz wiggled against him and delighted in his sharp intake of breath.
“You little tease. Here I am trying to play the role of a gentleman and you keep…baiting me,” Max accused even as he brought her closer to him.
“Maybe I don’t want you to be such a gentleman.” Liz leaned forward brushing her lips against his cheek before moving to kiss his delectable earlobe. “Maybe I like it that I can drive you crazy,” she whispered in his ear.
All of Max’s good intentions were lost with that statement. He no longer felt the need to do more than stay in bed, making love to Liz the entire trip. He hastily walked them up to their things on the beach. He set Liz down and helped her gather the towels. They practically ran back to their room and once there became so wrapped up in each other that they didn’t surface until later the next day.
The first thing Max did the next day was make a call to his parent’s travel agent. His parent’s raved about the travel agency and he decided using it would be the best way to make the last minute plans. An hour and a large sum of money later, Max had the trip booked. Their flight to Cancun left that Friday afternoon after classes got out.
Friday came quickly for the couple. Liz was still finishing several midterm projects and Max was trying to complete all of his grading before they left. Max cancelled his only afternoon class and Liz skipped hers so they could finish packing and get to the airport on time. By five o’clock they were on their way, leaving just enough time for them to check in before their 6:45 flight to Houston. After a short layover there, they would be on their way to Cancun.
After they had checked in, they sat waiting for their flight to Houston to be called. Liz looked through the itinerary that Max had set up for them for the duration of their stay. When she started giggling Max looked up from the magazine he was reading.
“What?” he asked curiously as he watched the grin on Liz’s face spread.
“Do you really think we’re going to have time do all of this stuff you’ve got planned?” She asked with laughter in her voice.
Max shrugged. “We have seven days and eight nights. There are twenty four hours in a day and aside from sleep, we’re going to have to keep ourselves busy in some way,” he explained.
Liz smirked and leaned closer to her devastatingly handsome boyfriend. “What if I want to keep you locked in the room for that whole time? I can think of plenty of things for us to do in there,” she told him seductively. She watched as his ears turned pink and he ducked his head and coughed to hide his response to her suggestive words. Delighted by his reaction, Liz pressed herself closer to Max and leaned up to press light kisses along his jaw line up to his ear before sucking and biting his earlobe.
“Liz…what are you doing? We’re in a public place,” he protested weakly. It wasn’t that he wasn’t enjoying this outgoing version of Liz very much. It was more that he didn’t trust his self-control.
Liz stopped her assault as she became aware of their surroundings. “Sorry. I’m just excited and I can hardly wait until we’re all alone with no one around to interrupt us.”
Max pulled her into his arms and Liz’s head fell naturally against his shoulder. “Me too,” he told her. She lifted her head up and looked at him with that smiled she saved just for him. He had to kiss her then. He couldn’t stop himself. Caught up in the kiss, they only pulled apart when their flight number was called over the intercom.
Liz got up quickly. “That’s us!” she exclaimed excitedly as she grabbed Max’s hands and pulled him up after her. Max laughed at her exuberance. He was nearly as thrilled as she was, already anticipating the time he’d secretly been hoping they would spend in their room rather than sightseeing.
******
Pam Troy had been wandering aimlessly around the airport for hours. Her flight home for spring break had been delayed. She wasn’t exactly thrilled about this trip to visit with her family and wasn’t worried she would miss her flight once it was called. If she did, she would just cry and pretend that something terrible had happened. It had worked before…the airport people were always very accommodating when tears were involved.
She stopped at one of the newsstands she passed by when she caught a glance of the newest issue of Glamour. She was browsing through it when she heard a familiar voice. She looked up in time to see that mousy Liz Parker walking by. Pam’s eyes almost bulged out of her head when she saw that Liz was walking next to Dr. Evans. She did a double take, thinking that she couldn’t possibly be seeing what she thought she was. Her eyes weren’t deceiving her though. That nerd, Liz, and Dr. Evans were there, walking together towards the same gate. Dr. Evans was actually smiling and he kept looking at Liz as she continued to talk animatedly, most likely about some geeky science thing. At that point there still could have been a logical explanation for what Pam was seeing. It couldn’t have possibly been what Pam was imagining.
Pam had almost convinced herself that it was nothing. Liz had probably run into Dr. Evans and wouldn’t leave him alone. Well…she would just go rescue him. Dr. Evans would probably be eternally grateful. Pam had taken no more than two steps after them when she noticed that their hands were clasped together. Then she watched Dr. Evans lean down and kiss Liz…in front of God and everybody. It wasn’t a shy kiss or even a friendly peck. It was the kind of kiss a lover gives, a kiss that was being eagerly returned.
Like a voyeur, Pam watched the exchange. Her feelings went from disgusted to furious. What exactly did Dr. Evans see in Liz Parker? She was a geek…and completely plain. Pam had been more than willing to do whatever Dr. Evans needed and he had chosen Liz. It was completely ridiculous, not to mention insulting. Seething with anger, Pam knew that she couldn’t just let this go. Something would have to be done.
*****
The flights seemed long and boring. Both Max and Liz did a little bit of reading and took naps with Liz using Max for her pillow. Max didn’t mind; he’d gotten used to having Liz with him when he slept and he enjoyed holding her. By the time they landed in Cancun, they were both exhausted; the naps they’d taken hadn’t helped much and they were eager to get to their hotel. Liz was barely aware of her surroundings as Max checked them into their suite. She was just glad to see a bed and once they were in their room she eagerly gravitated toward the soft mattress as soon as she’d changed into pajamas. Max felt the same way and after kissing Liz goodnight, he was asleep before his head hit the pillow.
Liz woke up early the next morning, her body cocooned in Max’s warmth. She smiled as the memory of where they were came back to her. Paradise. It was theirs to enjoy for the next week. Opening her eyes, Liz noticed that the sun was just beginning to rise. Slipping out of Max’s arms carefully she got up and padded quietly across the room to the doors that led outside to their own private deck.
The view was incredible, the sunrise spectacular. For a while she stood in the open door just taking in everything around her. She shivered slightly at the light breeze that blew across her skin. She wore only a thin cotton nightgown. It was sleeveless with tiny lace ruffles on the edges. The front was pulled together with a ribbon. It had been a gift from grandma Claudia for the trip and Liz had immediately fallen in love with it. She was hoping that Max would like it too.
Warm arms slipped around Liz’s middle and a solid chest pressed against her back. With a sigh Liz let her arms lay on top of Max’s and rested her head on his shoulder. He leaned down, kissing the top of her head lovingly.
“Morning,” he told her softly. He had woken up alone in the bed and panicked momentarily until he saw Liz framed in the sliding glass doors that lead to the deck. He’d been content to watch her for a moment until he caught a glimpse of her body outlined through her nightgown. He needed to touch her.
As he held her, Liz felt contentment settle over her. This was absolutely perfect.
“That’s an amazing sunrise,” Max commented after they had stood there silently, drinking in the sight of it.
“It really is. I’m so glad we came here, Max,” she told him as she turned in his arms to face him. Her own arms went up around his neck so that she could look up at him.
She was so precious to him. Max was forever grateful that she wanted to be a part of his life. Without hesitation he bent his head and kissed her deeply. She eagerly returned the kiss and they soon found themselves moving toward the king-sized bed. Once there, Max took a moment to admire Liz as she was sprawled out beneath him. This was a sight even more beautiful than the sunrise. Her hair was in tangled disarray, spilled out in dark contrast to the while sheets covering the bed. The pale cotton nightgown was sexier than the skimpiest lingerie because he knew the treasure hidden beneath the demure fabric. Max was more than happy to pillage and plunder those treasures.
He took his time, wanting their first day in Paradise to be more than a little memorable. Each bare inch of skin was laved with soft adoring kissed that left Liz tingling from head to toe. Her nightgown stayed in place for a record twenty minutes as Max worked diligently at seduction. His hands slid gently underneath the hem of gown, traveling up smooth, slender thighs. When he encountered more bare flesh, Max felt his control start to shatter. He sucked in a deep breath and knew that he couldn’t wait to see all of her.
Once the nightgown was off, Liz was completely naked. A cool breeze blew across Liz’s heated skin and she arched into Max, urging him to take of his boxers. They quickly went the way of her nightgown. His hands caressed the newly revealed skin as mouth suckled on perfect rosebud nipples that pouted prettily in response to his ministrations.
Liz moaned and speared her fingers through Max’s hair, urging him on, not wanting him to stop. The sound of that moan was a siren’s call to Max and he could no longer deny the inevitable. Liz cried out at his deep penetration and wrapped her legs around his waist as he continued to drive into her. As he felt his release drawing near, Max gasped out a hoarse “I love you,” that was met with the keening cry of his name as Liz came apart beneath him. He followed her shortly after and breathing hard, collapsed next to Liz’s side.
“We should watch the sunrise more often,” Liz said with a satisfied smile before snuggling next to Max as they fell back asleep.
******
They spent the afternoon of the first day lazing about on the hotel’s private beach. They hadn’t been there very long when Max noticed that Liz was starting to get a little pink from the sun.
“Didn’t you put suntan lotion on?” he asked, his voice slightly reproving.
Liz rolled her eyes. “Yes. But if you don’t think I put on enough you can reapply it for me.
Max was more than willing to lend her two hands for the job and he made sure that he was very thorough. He took his time rubbing the crème into her soft skin, alternating between tickling to evoke her musical giggles and caressing to hear the sweet timber of her moans. Liz wasn’t sure whether to be amused or aroused.
Of course she wasn’t going to let Max get away with teasing her and exacted her own revenge with relish when Max agreed to let her put suntan lotion on him. He was hesitant at first, knowing that just he feel of Liz’s small, capable hands on his body would be overpoweringly erotic. He knew and yet it happened anyway. Squeezing a liberal amount of the warm crème onto her hands, he spread it over his back, not missing a single inch of his delectably tanned skin. After a few minute of being tortured by firm hands massaging his back, Liz pulled away. Just when Max thought the exquisite torture was over, Liz maneuvered herself so that she was straddling his lap. The only barriers between them were Liz’s very brief bikini bottoms and Max’s very constricted swimming trunks. The assault began anew and Liz smothered the suntan lotion all over Max’s chest. As she did so, she talked absently about the Mayan ruins she wanted to explore. Max barely heard a word she was saying. He was too aware of the way she kept brushing against his hard on and all he could feel were her hot hands scorching his bare chest.
Liz was looking at Max expectantly and he realized that she had just asked him a question. Not responding verbally, he placed his hands on her hips to support her and stood up. Liz’s first response was to wrap her legs around Max’s waist.
“What are you doing, Max?” she asked as he walked them away from their towels toward the crystal blue water. He didn’t hesitate once he reached the water; he kept walking until they were submerged up to his waist. The water wasn’t exactly cold but it had the desired effect and Max felt his arousal slowly shrinking. He finally looked Liz in the eyes only to encounter amusement and…. something else he couldn’t quite put his finger on. He recognized the desire that was present because it was a look he’d grown accustomed to but this look was different. She seemed almost pleased by his predicament.
“Max…care to explain?” Liz prompted with a raised eyebrow.
“I think that you’ve already figured it out,” he told her.
Liz wiggled against him and delighted in his sharp intake of breath.
“You little tease. Here I am trying to play the role of a gentleman and you keep…baiting me,” Max accused even as he brought her closer to him.
“Maybe I don’t want you to be such a gentleman.” Liz leaned forward brushing her lips against his cheek before moving to kiss his delectable earlobe. “Maybe I like it that I can drive you crazy,” she whispered in his ear.
All of Max’s good intentions were lost with that statement. He no longer felt the need to do more than stay in bed, making love to Liz the entire trip. He hastily walked them up to their things on the beach. He set Liz down and helped her gather the towels. They practically ran back to their room and once there became so wrapped up in each other that they didn’t surface until later the next day.
"The heart has its reasons it which reason knows nothing" -Blaise Pascal
-
carenicoleIQ
- Enthusiastic Roswellian
- Posts: 36
- Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2001 4:58 pm
- Location: Nebraska
Chapter 20
They left Cancun refreshed and revitalized for the coming weeks before graduation. Along with that was some regret that their uninterrupted time together was over. But both were comforted by the idea that Liz would be permanently living with Max in two months. What Liz didn’t realize was just how permanent Max wanted the arrangement to be. First thing on his agenda when they got back was to call Jeff Parker and arrange a private time for them to have a very serious talk about his intentions for Liz.
It took them several days to adjust to their schedules again, but they fell into an easy, comfortable pattern. Maybe they should have realized that it was too easy.
******
Pam didn’t like to think of herself as vindictive. She liked to think that she was only looking out for the interests of others. Her particular interests were geared toward the well being of Dr. Max Evans. That’s why she considered it her duty to let the Dean of Students know just what kind of girl Liz Parker was. The conversation was brief and to the point and Pam was positive that by the end of the week Liz Parker would be put in her place. And then just maybe Max Evans would realize the kind of woman he should be with.
*****
In was two weeks into April, only four weeks of classes left. Liz woke up with a rolling stomach. She lay there in bed, hoping the nausea would pass quickly. She had a full day planned and she couldn’t afford to be sick. Max had already left to teach his first class. It smelled like he might have made some coffee for her, but with the way her stomach felt, she didn’t think she’d be able to enjoy it. After lying in bed for a few extra minutes she finally roused herself enough to go take a shower. The shower helped a little bit, but Liz still didn’t feel the greatest.
It was purely coincidence that Max even saw Liz that day. She was walking out of class, her hair was pulled back in a sloppy pony tail and she was wearing his sweatshirt and some oversized sweatpants. He almost didn’t recognize her because she was usually really particular about her appearance when she went out. He caught up with her and was surprised when she didn’t immediately respond.
“Liz, are you okay?” he asked when she finally looked at him.
Liz almost collapsed against him in relief when she saw him. “Max….where did you come from?” she asked. She was aware that there were onlookers in the hall and didn’t want to cause a scene.
“I’m on my way over to the campus center. Are you okay?” The concern in his voice was evident.
Liz shrugged. “I didn’t feel very well when I woke up this morning. I’m better now, but I was wiped out this morning,” she admitted.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“Max…you were working. I couldn’t bother you. I’m a big girl, I still made it to class.”
“You’re right. I guess…just promise me if you need anything you’ll let me know,” he insisted.
Liz offered him a tentative smile. “I promise. Listen, I’m going to head home to take a nap. Do you think you could bring something home for dinner?”
“Yeah, is there anything you want in particular?”
“Mmm, you know what sounds really good? Thai food. Let’s have that.”
“I thought you didn’t like Thai food?” Max asked in confusion.
“Oh… that’s right. Well maybe we should have Chinese then. You know what I like, so get whatever.”
Max nodded and watched with a perplexed expression as Liz left. Shaking his head he went to finish his errand, stopping by Michael’s office on his way back.
“Maxwell, long time no see,” Michael said after Max had a seat.
“Yeah, it seems like we’ve both been really busy. How are things with you?”
Michael smirked. “If you mean, how are things with Maria than the answer is….I don’t know. We…uh…had a little spat, if you will, the other night and so I’ve been in the dog house for a few days. It’s a little hard on the ego to be denied what’s been so freely given, but I’ll survive. I think she’s hornier than I am, so I’m thinking the drought is going to end pretty soon.”
“Sounds like things have been interesting.” Max commented with a grin.
“What about you, man? Things still all poetry and roses with Liz?”
“Things are good, really good. I can’t complain. In fact, I uh, had a nice chat with Liz’s dad last week.”
“Is that right? How did that go?”
“I’ve got the ring and I’ve got her father’s blessing, now I’ve just got to get her to say yes.”
“Like there’s really a doubt that she’ll answer yes. How are you going to do it?”
“That’s something else that I don’t really have. A plan. I’m not sure how to ask her. I want it to be romantic but at the same time, I don’t want to wait for the exact perfect moment, because who knows how long it will take for that to come,” Max explained.
“ I really don’t think that you have anything to worry about. Whenever, wherever you ask, she’s going to be excited and she’s going to say yes. In fact, I’d wager she would tell you yes before you even got the question out,” was Michael’s advice.
Max sighed. “You don’t think that it’s too soon? Her dad was a little hesitant but I told him how much I love Liz and explained that I really want to take care of her and he said that was all he asked of me. We’ve only been together for about five months; I don’t want to rush her.”
“Please, girls are rarely rushed when it comes to marriage. In fact, Maria’s probably waiting for her own proposal. I’ll be damned if I ask before she graduates though. She’s still got another year of classes and I think that if we got married she’d just quit school all together. It doesn’t matter though, even though I’m not even close to asking, she’s got that whole damn wedding planned out. I bet Liz has imagined the whole thing, from her dress to your tux. Don’t worry about the too soon. You love each other and that’s what your decision should be based on, not some preappointed acceptable time frame.”
“Thanks, Michael. I appreciate your listening to me. I better get going. I’ve got a couple of students coming in this afternoon. Then Liz decided she wants Chinese food for dinner…”
“See it sounds like you’re already married,” Michael joked.
“Yeah…see you tomorrow for lunch right?”
Michael nodded his affirmation and with their plans set, Max left for his office.
When he got there, he was surprised to see Pam Troy waiting for him.
“Hi Pam, what can I do for you?”
“Well, Dr. Evans, I was just wondering if I could persuade you to give me a little help.”
********
Liz was completely bored. She’d finished all of her homework, or at least as much as she’d wanted to do for the evening. Max wasn’t home yet and she was getting really hungry. Deciding that having a little bit of a snack wouldn’t hurt, she went to the kitchen to find something. What started as a snack, turned into a little bit more. That’s why when a very weary Max walked in the door that night, he smelled lasagna and garlic bread.
Liz went to greet him when she heard the front door open. She took one look at his tired face and troubled eyes and knew that something was wrong.
“Max, what is it? What’s wrong?”
“I forgot to get the Chinese food, but it smells like it won’t be missed.” There was a pregnant pause after his words. Liz was looking at him expectantly. “We should sit down and talk, Liz. Something happened this afternoon and I have a feeling it’s going to cause a problem for both of us.”
“Tell me what’s wrong?” she said softly, taking his hand to reassure him that whatever it was, they’d work through it.
“Let’s sit down first, this could take awhile,” he told her with a resigned sigh. Then he led her over to the couch, pulling her down next to him so that she was resting sideways on his lap.
Liz’s gaze was encouraging and for the first time since Pam Troy’s visit that afternoon he felt like maybe things would work out okay.
“This afternoon, Pam Troy came to see me. I thought it was for help, but that’s not what it turned out to be. When I asked her what she needed she told me that the kind of help she wanted was more along the lines of the kind of help I seemed to be giving you. At first I wasn’t sure what she meant but she filled me in quickly. She saw us at the airport and the things she said after that led me to believe that she’s been watching us since we got back from spring break. I told her that my relationship with you was none of her business and she told me that I wasn’t willing to give her the same treatment that she wouldn’t hesitate to inform my superiors what was going on.” At that point Max felt Liz squeezing his hand tightly. “I wasn’t about to let her threaten us like that. I kicked her out of the office and went right over to the dean of students. I told him what had happened but… I couldn’t do that without explaining our situation. I…they’re going to have to talk to you Liz. Dean Harmon said that from the point of view that our situation wasn’t exactly against University policy but he also said that he had to investigate. Pam will have to be brought in for questioning too. But…Liz I never meant for this to happen.”
“Oh, Max. This isn’t your fault,” she told him, wrapping her arms around him to reassure him. “I’ll talk to whomever I need to talk to. There is no reason for us to hide anything about our relationship because we haven’t done anything wrong.”
Max nodded, his head resting against her collar bone. They sat there in silence for awhile before the growling of Liz’s stomach became more insistent.
“We should eat,” Max told her with a half smile. “I’d hate for that food to go to waste.”
Dinner was a little more sullen than normal, but Liz tried to carry on a normal conversation. Max was attentive as usual, but he seemed worried and Liz hated to see him so upset.
In bed, their love making seemed almost desperate and as they lay there afterwards, Max wondered aloud if Liz should maybe stay at the dorms until the end of the semester. The idea was immediately shot down because Liz refused to give in to what Pam wanted.
“She wants this to break us up Max. And if I move out, she’ll be getting her way. I’m not going to stop being with you just because she thinks it’s inappropriate. My loving you is not inappropriate. It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to be me and I’m not giving you up.”
Max felt himself smiling for the first time that evening. Liz was right; they shouldn’t have to give up being together, especially when they weren’t doing anything wrong.
The next day, Max didn’t have class until later in the morning and was going to wait to go into the office. He wasn’t looking forward to the mess that was probably waiting for him there. Instead he stayed in bed and was shocked when Liz bolted out of his arms for the bathroom. He heard her being sick and was at her side as soon as he realized what was going on.
When Liz finally stopped heaving, he was at her side with a cold washcloth for her head. “Are you all right?”
Liz nodded weakly. “I guess I sort of overdid it yesterday and I definitely shouldn’t have had that lasagna last night.”
“Maybe you should go to the doctor. You weren’t feeling well yesterday and I hate to say this but, you don’t look very good,” Max admitted. Once again, worry lines were etched all over his features.
“I’m sure it’s nothing, Max. It’s probably just a little bit of the flu or something and I did too much yesterday when I should have been resting. Not to mention, it’s the end of the semester and I’m getting a little bit stressed out.”
“Look, humor me. I’ll take the whole day off and rest with you this morning and then we’ll go to the doctor this afternoon. I just don’t think I could handle if anything was wrong right now and we overlooked it.”
Liz agreed and after brushing her teeth, she went back to bed. Max followed after making a few phone calls, one to the doctor and one to the science secretary to tell her to cancel his classes for the day.
Before they left for the appointment, Max got a phone call. Not wanting to face the real world, he decided to let the answering machine get the call.
“This is Dean Howard, Dr. Evans. Please call me back as soon as possible regarding the situation we discussed yesterday. I would like to set up an appointment with you as soon as possible.”
Max decided to call him back after they returned from Liz’s doctor’s appointment. He was too worried about Liz at the moment to waste any energy on the situation with Pam.
The wait in the doctor’s office seemed to take forever. Liz seemed perfectly relaxed and looked much better than she had that morning. In fact she spent several futile minutes trying to convince Max that the appointment was unnecessary.
“Fine, then the doctor can tell us that himself,” Max told her. Liz went with the nurse when her name was called and left Max waiting in the reception area during the initial exam. He’d been waiting in the uncomfortable purple chair for almost an hour when the nurse that had gotten Liz, called him back to follow her. She led him through a maze of hallway to an examination room.
“Liz and the doctor are waiting for you in here,” the nurse told him with a smile.
Max wasn’t very reassured by that smile. He was too busy conjuring up a thousand things that could be wrong. What if she had cancer or something like that? What if….? The series of what if questions in his head were cut off when he walked into the room and saw Liz and the doctor talking. Liz seemed to be smiling and the doctor didn’t look like he was about to impart any devastating news.
“Is something wrong?” Max asked immediately.
Liz smiled at him. “The doctor’s says that he thinks I’m fine. That he probably knows what’s wrong, but he wanted me to have you come back here to here his diagnosis,” she explained. “I thought that it would be best if he just explained it to us both at the same time.”
“Okay. So tell us…is it some kind of flu? An allergy?” Max asked anxiously.
“Well, from the symptoms Liz described, I think that I can narrow down what seems to be causing the nausea. I’ve ordered the tests to confirm my suspicions and they should be back by tomorrow at the latest.” The doctor paused. “Now, some people take this very well and are, in fact, overjoyed by the news. Others aren’t sure how to react. I think that Liz is pregnant. Possibly five or six weeks along.”
Liz’s eyes grew wide as everything fell into place. Her missed period, one she’d attributed to stress…the nausea and food cravings. They were all symptoms that pointed directly to pregnancy, things that she hadn’t necessarily been observant enough to group together. Liz’s gaze shot to Max whose own jaw had dropped open.
“You think we’re going to have a baby?” he asked, his voice slightly awed.
“I would say that the chances are very good,” the doctor responded.
Max looked at Liz, a smile spreading on his face. Liz’s own grin broke out when she saw his reaction. She was going to have Max’s baby. Their hands gravitated together, both needing the assurance of the other’s touch.
“Tell you what; I’ll give you a call as soon as I get the confirmation results. If the tests come back positive, we’ll make any necessary follow up appointments. In the mean time, I’ll let you folks go. You probably would like to talk about this on your own.”
The doctor left a stunned Max and Liz sitting the in the exam room.
“A baby…” Max said aloud. His mind was going a mile a minute as it tried to process everything.
“Max? Are you…what are you thinking?” Liz asked quietly, not entirely sure what to think herself. Her emotions were bouncing all over the place from thrilled to scared, from happy to nervous.
“I’m thinking that…I should have taken Michael’s advice and asked you to marry me the second the ring was in my pocket.”
TBC....New chapters to come.
They left Cancun refreshed and revitalized for the coming weeks before graduation. Along with that was some regret that their uninterrupted time together was over. But both were comforted by the idea that Liz would be permanently living with Max in two months. What Liz didn’t realize was just how permanent Max wanted the arrangement to be. First thing on his agenda when they got back was to call Jeff Parker and arrange a private time for them to have a very serious talk about his intentions for Liz.
It took them several days to adjust to their schedules again, but they fell into an easy, comfortable pattern. Maybe they should have realized that it was too easy.
******
Pam didn’t like to think of herself as vindictive. She liked to think that she was only looking out for the interests of others. Her particular interests were geared toward the well being of Dr. Max Evans. That’s why she considered it her duty to let the Dean of Students know just what kind of girl Liz Parker was. The conversation was brief and to the point and Pam was positive that by the end of the week Liz Parker would be put in her place. And then just maybe Max Evans would realize the kind of woman he should be with.
*****
In was two weeks into April, only four weeks of classes left. Liz woke up with a rolling stomach. She lay there in bed, hoping the nausea would pass quickly. She had a full day planned and she couldn’t afford to be sick. Max had already left to teach his first class. It smelled like he might have made some coffee for her, but with the way her stomach felt, she didn’t think she’d be able to enjoy it. After lying in bed for a few extra minutes she finally roused herself enough to go take a shower. The shower helped a little bit, but Liz still didn’t feel the greatest.
It was purely coincidence that Max even saw Liz that day. She was walking out of class, her hair was pulled back in a sloppy pony tail and she was wearing his sweatshirt and some oversized sweatpants. He almost didn’t recognize her because she was usually really particular about her appearance when she went out. He caught up with her and was surprised when she didn’t immediately respond.
“Liz, are you okay?” he asked when she finally looked at him.
Liz almost collapsed against him in relief when she saw him. “Max….where did you come from?” she asked. She was aware that there were onlookers in the hall and didn’t want to cause a scene.
“I’m on my way over to the campus center. Are you okay?” The concern in his voice was evident.
Liz shrugged. “I didn’t feel very well when I woke up this morning. I’m better now, but I was wiped out this morning,” she admitted.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“Max…you were working. I couldn’t bother you. I’m a big girl, I still made it to class.”
“You’re right. I guess…just promise me if you need anything you’ll let me know,” he insisted.
Liz offered him a tentative smile. “I promise. Listen, I’m going to head home to take a nap. Do you think you could bring something home for dinner?”
“Yeah, is there anything you want in particular?”
“Mmm, you know what sounds really good? Thai food. Let’s have that.”
“I thought you didn’t like Thai food?” Max asked in confusion.
“Oh… that’s right. Well maybe we should have Chinese then. You know what I like, so get whatever.”
Max nodded and watched with a perplexed expression as Liz left. Shaking his head he went to finish his errand, stopping by Michael’s office on his way back.
“Maxwell, long time no see,” Michael said after Max had a seat.
“Yeah, it seems like we’ve both been really busy. How are things with you?”
Michael smirked. “If you mean, how are things with Maria than the answer is….I don’t know. We…uh…had a little spat, if you will, the other night and so I’ve been in the dog house for a few days. It’s a little hard on the ego to be denied what’s been so freely given, but I’ll survive. I think she’s hornier than I am, so I’m thinking the drought is going to end pretty soon.”
“Sounds like things have been interesting.” Max commented with a grin.
“What about you, man? Things still all poetry and roses with Liz?”
“Things are good, really good. I can’t complain. In fact, I uh, had a nice chat with Liz’s dad last week.”
“Is that right? How did that go?”
“I’ve got the ring and I’ve got her father’s blessing, now I’ve just got to get her to say yes.”
“Like there’s really a doubt that she’ll answer yes. How are you going to do it?”
“That’s something else that I don’t really have. A plan. I’m not sure how to ask her. I want it to be romantic but at the same time, I don’t want to wait for the exact perfect moment, because who knows how long it will take for that to come,” Max explained.
“ I really don’t think that you have anything to worry about. Whenever, wherever you ask, she’s going to be excited and she’s going to say yes. In fact, I’d wager she would tell you yes before you even got the question out,” was Michael’s advice.
Max sighed. “You don’t think that it’s too soon? Her dad was a little hesitant but I told him how much I love Liz and explained that I really want to take care of her and he said that was all he asked of me. We’ve only been together for about five months; I don’t want to rush her.”
“Please, girls are rarely rushed when it comes to marriage. In fact, Maria’s probably waiting for her own proposal. I’ll be damned if I ask before she graduates though. She’s still got another year of classes and I think that if we got married she’d just quit school all together. It doesn’t matter though, even though I’m not even close to asking, she’s got that whole damn wedding planned out. I bet Liz has imagined the whole thing, from her dress to your tux. Don’t worry about the too soon. You love each other and that’s what your decision should be based on, not some preappointed acceptable time frame.”
“Thanks, Michael. I appreciate your listening to me. I better get going. I’ve got a couple of students coming in this afternoon. Then Liz decided she wants Chinese food for dinner…”
“See it sounds like you’re already married,” Michael joked.
“Yeah…see you tomorrow for lunch right?”
Michael nodded his affirmation and with their plans set, Max left for his office.
When he got there, he was surprised to see Pam Troy waiting for him.
“Hi Pam, what can I do for you?”
“Well, Dr. Evans, I was just wondering if I could persuade you to give me a little help.”
********
Liz was completely bored. She’d finished all of her homework, or at least as much as she’d wanted to do for the evening. Max wasn’t home yet and she was getting really hungry. Deciding that having a little bit of a snack wouldn’t hurt, she went to the kitchen to find something. What started as a snack, turned into a little bit more. That’s why when a very weary Max walked in the door that night, he smelled lasagna and garlic bread.
Liz went to greet him when she heard the front door open. She took one look at his tired face and troubled eyes and knew that something was wrong.
“Max, what is it? What’s wrong?”
“I forgot to get the Chinese food, but it smells like it won’t be missed.” There was a pregnant pause after his words. Liz was looking at him expectantly. “We should sit down and talk, Liz. Something happened this afternoon and I have a feeling it’s going to cause a problem for both of us.”
“Tell me what’s wrong?” she said softly, taking his hand to reassure him that whatever it was, they’d work through it.
“Let’s sit down first, this could take awhile,” he told her with a resigned sigh. Then he led her over to the couch, pulling her down next to him so that she was resting sideways on his lap.
Liz’s gaze was encouraging and for the first time since Pam Troy’s visit that afternoon he felt like maybe things would work out okay.
“This afternoon, Pam Troy came to see me. I thought it was for help, but that’s not what it turned out to be. When I asked her what she needed she told me that the kind of help she wanted was more along the lines of the kind of help I seemed to be giving you. At first I wasn’t sure what she meant but she filled me in quickly. She saw us at the airport and the things she said after that led me to believe that she’s been watching us since we got back from spring break. I told her that my relationship with you was none of her business and she told me that I wasn’t willing to give her the same treatment that she wouldn’t hesitate to inform my superiors what was going on.” At that point Max felt Liz squeezing his hand tightly. “I wasn’t about to let her threaten us like that. I kicked her out of the office and went right over to the dean of students. I told him what had happened but… I couldn’t do that without explaining our situation. I…they’re going to have to talk to you Liz. Dean Harmon said that from the point of view that our situation wasn’t exactly against University policy but he also said that he had to investigate. Pam will have to be brought in for questioning too. But…Liz I never meant for this to happen.”
“Oh, Max. This isn’t your fault,” she told him, wrapping her arms around him to reassure him. “I’ll talk to whomever I need to talk to. There is no reason for us to hide anything about our relationship because we haven’t done anything wrong.”
Max nodded, his head resting against her collar bone. They sat there in silence for awhile before the growling of Liz’s stomach became more insistent.
“We should eat,” Max told her with a half smile. “I’d hate for that food to go to waste.”
Dinner was a little more sullen than normal, but Liz tried to carry on a normal conversation. Max was attentive as usual, but he seemed worried and Liz hated to see him so upset.
In bed, their love making seemed almost desperate and as they lay there afterwards, Max wondered aloud if Liz should maybe stay at the dorms until the end of the semester. The idea was immediately shot down because Liz refused to give in to what Pam wanted.
“She wants this to break us up Max. And if I move out, she’ll be getting her way. I’m not going to stop being with you just because she thinks it’s inappropriate. My loving you is not inappropriate. It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to be me and I’m not giving you up.”
Max felt himself smiling for the first time that evening. Liz was right; they shouldn’t have to give up being together, especially when they weren’t doing anything wrong.
The next day, Max didn’t have class until later in the morning and was going to wait to go into the office. He wasn’t looking forward to the mess that was probably waiting for him there. Instead he stayed in bed and was shocked when Liz bolted out of his arms for the bathroom. He heard her being sick and was at her side as soon as he realized what was going on.
When Liz finally stopped heaving, he was at her side with a cold washcloth for her head. “Are you all right?”
Liz nodded weakly. “I guess I sort of overdid it yesterday and I definitely shouldn’t have had that lasagna last night.”
“Maybe you should go to the doctor. You weren’t feeling well yesterday and I hate to say this but, you don’t look very good,” Max admitted. Once again, worry lines were etched all over his features.
“I’m sure it’s nothing, Max. It’s probably just a little bit of the flu or something and I did too much yesterday when I should have been resting. Not to mention, it’s the end of the semester and I’m getting a little bit stressed out.”
“Look, humor me. I’ll take the whole day off and rest with you this morning and then we’ll go to the doctor this afternoon. I just don’t think I could handle if anything was wrong right now and we overlooked it.”
Liz agreed and after brushing her teeth, she went back to bed. Max followed after making a few phone calls, one to the doctor and one to the science secretary to tell her to cancel his classes for the day.
Before they left for the appointment, Max got a phone call. Not wanting to face the real world, he decided to let the answering machine get the call.
“This is Dean Howard, Dr. Evans. Please call me back as soon as possible regarding the situation we discussed yesterday. I would like to set up an appointment with you as soon as possible.”
Max decided to call him back after they returned from Liz’s doctor’s appointment. He was too worried about Liz at the moment to waste any energy on the situation with Pam.
The wait in the doctor’s office seemed to take forever. Liz seemed perfectly relaxed and looked much better than she had that morning. In fact she spent several futile minutes trying to convince Max that the appointment was unnecessary.
“Fine, then the doctor can tell us that himself,” Max told her. Liz went with the nurse when her name was called and left Max waiting in the reception area during the initial exam. He’d been waiting in the uncomfortable purple chair for almost an hour when the nurse that had gotten Liz, called him back to follow her. She led him through a maze of hallway to an examination room.
“Liz and the doctor are waiting for you in here,” the nurse told him with a smile.
Max wasn’t very reassured by that smile. He was too busy conjuring up a thousand things that could be wrong. What if she had cancer or something like that? What if….? The series of what if questions in his head were cut off when he walked into the room and saw Liz and the doctor talking. Liz seemed to be smiling and the doctor didn’t look like he was about to impart any devastating news.
“Is something wrong?” Max asked immediately.
Liz smiled at him. “The doctor’s says that he thinks I’m fine. That he probably knows what’s wrong, but he wanted me to have you come back here to here his diagnosis,” she explained. “I thought that it would be best if he just explained it to us both at the same time.”
“Okay. So tell us…is it some kind of flu? An allergy?” Max asked anxiously.
“Well, from the symptoms Liz described, I think that I can narrow down what seems to be causing the nausea. I’ve ordered the tests to confirm my suspicions and they should be back by tomorrow at the latest.” The doctor paused. “Now, some people take this very well and are, in fact, overjoyed by the news. Others aren’t sure how to react. I think that Liz is pregnant. Possibly five or six weeks along.”
Liz’s eyes grew wide as everything fell into place. Her missed period, one she’d attributed to stress…the nausea and food cravings. They were all symptoms that pointed directly to pregnancy, things that she hadn’t necessarily been observant enough to group together. Liz’s gaze shot to Max whose own jaw had dropped open.
“You think we’re going to have a baby?” he asked, his voice slightly awed.
“I would say that the chances are very good,” the doctor responded.
Max looked at Liz, a smile spreading on his face. Liz’s own grin broke out when she saw his reaction. She was going to have Max’s baby. Their hands gravitated together, both needing the assurance of the other’s touch.
“Tell you what; I’ll give you a call as soon as I get the confirmation results. If the tests come back positive, we’ll make any necessary follow up appointments. In the mean time, I’ll let you folks go. You probably would like to talk about this on your own.”
The doctor left a stunned Max and Liz sitting the in the exam room.
“A baby…” Max said aloud. His mind was going a mile a minute as it tried to process everything.
“Max? Are you…what are you thinking?” Liz asked quietly, not entirely sure what to think herself. Her emotions were bouncing all over the place from thrilled to scared, from happy to nervous.
“I’m thinking that…I should have taken Michael’s advice and asked you to marry me the second the ring was in my pocket.”
TBC....New chapters to come.
"The heart has its reasons it which reason knows nothing" -Blaise Pascal