Not opening her eyes, Liz smiled against his warm skin. This was one of her favorite things in life, waking up in Maxís arms. His gentle stroking of her hair made her feel like a pampered cat, she just wanted to lie here and purr. Last night had been nothing short of incredible, but they ended up so exhausted early this morning that nothing could keep sleep away anymore. She shifted slightly, still too lax to really move, but trailed her fingers over Maxís stomach, watching the little tremors under his skin follow her touch. Max had been mortified when she saw one of his dreams from last week in a flash. Being Max, he tried to control his waking fantasies so that she couldnít see anything really wild by accident when they kissed or made love, but he had no control over his dreams. She had always known that he had a thing for her hair, but seeing that dream of his completely stunned her. So he liked having her hair all over him? Hmmm, she could do something with that knowledge laterÖ

Grabbing her hand to stop her from creating a problem for him, Max brought it to his mouth for a kiss before asking: "How about some breakfast, beautiful?"

Finally opening her eyes, Liz pouted at him and moved over his body until she lay completely on top of him. She rested her head on her crossed arms on his chest and wriggled around until she was comfortable, pretending not to hear Maxís soft gasp. She faked a surprised look when his hands came up to grip her hips and still her movements.

"Are you trying to kill me?" he asked with a strained voice.

She giggled. "NoÖ So are you hungry?"

"Yes!" It was a low growl and had very little to do with food. His hands were now stroking her bottom and the backs of her thighs.

She looked at him for a few moments, enjoying the look of intent desire on his face, before she got up and tossed: "I just have to take a quick shower," over her shoulder at him.

Max was flummoxed. He lay on the bed and watched her cute tush disappear into the bathroom and wondered what the hell had just happened. The little minx had completely played him! Throwing back the covers, he grimaced as he got out of bed, his muscles were still screaming in protest. No time to worry about that now, he had to get back at Liz for this one.

He caught her stretching her body in the bathroom and she looked at him with a blush. "I overextended some parts of my body, I thinkÖ"

Guilt came tearing through Max. "Oh god, honey, Iím sorry. I shouldnít haveó. I meanó. I shouldíve treated you better!" Why hadnít he realized before that if his body hurt, Lizís must feel ten times worse. He rushed over to her side. "Let me help!"

"Max!" Liz cried in exasperation. "Did it look like I was complaining last night? Or that Iím complaining now for that matter?"

He was unconvinced. "No. But you never complain about anything." He took a deep breath. "Maybe we should justÖ just take it slow today."

Liz gaped at him fleetingly before narrowing her eyes sternly: "No Max. Weíre NOT going to take it slow. YOU are going to fix me up and then the problem will be solved."

His gaze flickered away from hers uncertainly. "I guessÖ Liz, I donít want you to feel likeÖ like you have to."

"Donít make me show you how stupid that comment is, Max. What is wrong with you? I thought we were past all this?"

Suppressing the horrible and demeaning image of Liz still imprinted on his memory from that Tess-induced dream he had last Sunday night, he tried to collect himself. "I-I justó. Just let me help you. Please."

Liz looked at him assessingly and wondered what had made him so paranoid about looking like he was abusing her body.

He pulled her into the shower with him and, together with the warm water, his gentle hands chased all the aches from her muscles. Afterwards, she stepped closer to him and gave him a sweet kiss. "Thank you. My hero."

Max blushed before staring into her eyes intently. "LizÖ I-I love you. So much. AndÖ and I would never treat you likeÖ like a thing, to be used. You know that, right?" He sounded anxious.

Frowning, Liz cupped her hand over his cheek, ignoring the water that threatened to run into her eyes as she looked up at him. "Yes, Max. I know that! And there is a big difference between what happened last night and using me. We made love. YOU made love to me. Every touch spoke of love. Thatís not using me, thatís loving me."

Some of the fear drained from his gaze as he brushed her hair back from her face repeatedly. "Promise you will tell me if you ever feel like I wasó"

She stopped him with a finger on his lips. "No, I wonít promise you, because it would never be necessary. Max, you would never do that!" She waited a few beats before continuing. "Please tell me what happened to make you feel this way? Was itÖ was it me? Was it something I did?"

His eyes widened in shock. "No!" he fairly yelled. "I meanÖ no. ItsÖ its nothing. Iíll stop. I promise."

He was hiding something from her and Liz felt a little hurt by it, but she decided not to press the issue now. Instead she handed him her shampoo and let him wash her hair. By the time he was finished, they were locked in a tight embrace, kissing as if they hadnít already tried to make up for the week apart last night.

Max carried her back to their bed, not caring that they left a wet trail from the bathroom. He kissed her softly and tenderly, sucking at her lower lip while his hands held her close to his heart. They had just tumbled onto the bed when the phone started ringing. "Ignore it," Max muttered against her throat.

"What if its your mom?" Liz said breathlessly and fumbled for the instrument while trying not to get too far away from his mouth.

"I donít care. Leave it." He attempted to catch her flailing hand, but she managed to evade him and grab the phone.

"Hello?" Liz bit her lip in an effort to stop a moan as Maxís lips drifted over her shoulder blade and moved lower.

"Hi Liz?" The voice sounded unfamiliar and Liz thanked her lucky stars that it WASNíT Diane Evans who would have had no trouble guessing why Liz was sounding so strange.

"Yeah?"

"Its Stacey and Kristy and the gang! We thought weíd all have breakfast together here at your hotel? You havenít eaten yet, have you?"

Liz was having serious trouble following the conversation. Max had progressed to her stomach and was busy drawing lazy little patterns with his tongue low on her belly. What did the voice say? Oh yes, something about breakfast. "UhmÖ ahhÖ breakfast. Yeah, breakfast seemsÖlike, ahÖ like a good idea."

"Okay great! Weíll meet you in the restaurant downstairs! Is Max coming too?"

Squirming under Maxís continued attack of her body, Liz tried to concentrate. MaxÖ Something about Max comingÖ Liz bolted upright in the bed, startling Max. She was completely panicking. Did she say something to give them the idea that Max wasÖ that she wasÖ

"Liz? Will Max come down to breakfast too? Weíd all like to meet him."

Oh. OH! ëMax comingí referred to him going down to breakfast with her. NotÖ She cleared her throat. "Yeah, heíll be there."

Max was mock-glaring at her when she finally put the phone down. "Did you just tell someone weíll have breakfast with them?"

Her eyes widened. "YeahÖ Max!" she cried, "this is all your fault! You distracted me. Now I canít even remember who I talked to!" Liz searched her memory wildly. It was a girl. Yes! Thatís it, it was Stacey. Max was going to kill herÖ "Uhm, well, Stacey and some of the people from my course is downstairs for breakfastÖ"

"Stacey?" Max looked blank.

Liz leapt from the bed, ignoring her bodyís protests that it was frustrated and needed Max more than breakfast. "Get dressed, Max! Theyíre waiting and I really donít need to give them more fodder for gossip."

Max observed her frantic running around the room with amusement. "Do you have any idea how cute you look right now?" This halted her momentarily and she blushed.

"Max!"

He held up his hands in surrender. "Okay. But you owe me. Big!"

They arrived downstairs 15 minutes later. Liz blanched when she saw that 4 other people were sitting at the table with Stacey and Kristy. They had brought two guys and two more girls from her class. The girls were all gaping at Max and Liz held his hand tighter, trying not to glare at them. They were obviously here to scope out Max and she wasnít about to share him with anyone else during his short time here.

Max gave her one of his crooked half-smiles before doing the round of introductions. Liz felt marginally better that he didnít let go of her hand while doing it, but she couldnít believe the blatant way these other girls were flirting with Max! She had forgotten that in Roswell, everyone knew her and Max were together, so none of the girls, bar the occasional brazen hussy, even bothered anymore. Seeing girls throwing themselves at him like this was a new experience for her. Not all of them were that obvious. It was clear that Stacey was hanging onto Maxís every move but she did nothing except giggle. However, the one other girl, Erica, was definitely trying to get Maxís attention.

It didnít take long for Max to become irritated and frustrated. He had dragged Lizís chair close to his before sitting down and he made sure that she was within touching distanceÖ and that he was touching her. His body was screaming for more of her, but here he had to sit and listen to silly giggling about things that werenít even funny to him, while the two guys were making puppy eyes at Liz. He stared them down. Damn! Where was alien death ray vision when you needed it? He ate some stuff, but he didnít really notice what it was. His attention was focussed on Liz and on how long it would take her to eat what she had left on her plate.

Liz turned her head and her eyes met Maxís. She fell into his gaze headlong and forgot all about the rest of the group. His eyes were sending her a million messages at once and she watched in slow motion as his hand came up to brush her hair behind her ear.

He dimly registered that Erica was saying something, but his mind had trouble making that a priority above the feel of Lizís silken hair and skin against his fingers. His gaze dropped to her mouth. Her beautiful luscious mouthÖ

"Max?" His name being said rather petulantly brought him back from the brink. He shot Liz another glance before turning to answer the girl. Damn, what was her name again?

They made an effort from then on to stay part of the discussion around the table, but their intense awareness of each other was unmistakable to the rest of the group. They did stuff instinctively, like pass each other the salt, without being asked. Liz gave Max one of her packets of sugar when their coffee arrived, because he liked his sweeter than she did hers. It was effortless and obvious. This was a real couple, not a teenage fling.

After the group had left, Max looked at Liz, wondering what she wanted to do now. He knew what he wanted to do, but maybe he should stop acting like a sex-starved barbarian for a few hours. That image of Liz from the Tess-dream flitted across his mind again. "So, do you want to show me a little of Boston?" he forced himself to ask.

Liz glanced at him uncertainly. Something weird was going on with him again. She felt it through their connection. Something was still bothering him. "YeahÖ I guess." No, I donít want to. I want to go back to my room and just be with you!

They ended up on a train and Max pressed Lizís back against him, folding his arms around her as they stood in the packed car. They were both quiet and he wondered what she was thinking.

When they got off at their stop, Liz turned to him and said solemnly: "I want to go back, Max. Iíd really rather just be with you thanÖ" She waved her hand at their surroundings. "Please?" Her voice became even softer: "Unless you really wantó"

He grabbed her face in his hands, relief flooding through his body. "God no! I thoughtÖ Nevermind! Letís just go back, this was a really stupid idea!"

"So this was all for my benefit? Because you had some crazy idea that I wouldnít want toó"

He kissed her hard. "Iím sorry. Sometimes I forget that I should just be me with you. Just be honestÖ"

She met his eyes. "Yes, you can be a real idiot sometimes. Now letís go back so I can punish you for this!"