ITB - Season Three: Secrets and Lies

Steve heard them coming first, so they hurried up their steps to catch up to the returning women. It only took a few moments for the groups to converge and a moment after that for Michael to realize what was missing.

“Where's Maria?”

Sheryl looked out at Michael from behind Steve as he was hugging her. Just the person she wanted to find. “Maria wanted to stay behind a few more moments. Something about checking out the night sky for meteor showers. I was going to send you to go get her when we got back, but now that you’re here...”

“Just follow the path, right?” Michael asked as he rounded the group.

“Yeah, follow it to the end and it hooks left to the river and the resting pool is right there.” Steve said tossing Michael a larger flashlight.

“Hey, Chico, you need some company to help get Maria out of the water?” asked Fly.

“Think I’ve got it covered.” Michael took off before both Monk and Fly decided to tag along.

When he found the hook in the path it was easy to find Maria. She was in a pool of water with candles on the rocks around the pool. He stood in the dark and watched for a few moments. She was lying back in the pool looking up at the sky staring at the stars. Looking up at the sky himself, he wondered what she was thinking. Was she seeing anything like what he saw all those years he spent looking at the skies and wondering about his home on another planet? She looked incredibly sad, and it was this loneliness that bothered him the most. He rubbed a hand over his face and down the back of his neck. He never meant to leave her alone and sad.

Maria looked over in the dark at the sound of Michael clearing his throat as he stepped into the dim light created by the candles. Maria just remained silent and looked at him. She should have realized that Sheryl would send Michael to find her.

“Hi.” Michael said, avoiding her eyes. Damn, this was so hard! Trying to say the right thing or even think of what to say to make it all right.

“Hi. Finished your poker game?” Maria asked quietly. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to find you. We met the rest of them on their way back.” Michael came to stand beside the pool and squatted down looking at his feet. “Is there a reason you didn’t come back with the others?”

“I just thought I would take the time to think and look at the stars. I’ve still haven’t seen the meteor shower.”

“It's supposed to be most noticeable around two in the morning. Tomorrow it'll be most noticeable almost from dark and throughout the night. Sunday I think it's over by about three in the morning.”

Maria moved over to the edge. “Guess there's no reason to hang out here then. I don’t want to soak for hours. You want to hand me my towel?”

“Maria.” She looked at him directly. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I didn’t really give you a reason to know about the trip, and I should have told you before we left Roswell.” Michael let out a long breath. There. It was said.

“Why didn’t you?”

“What? Tell you about the camping trip being with the guys?” Michael asked.

“Yes.”

Michael just thought about it for a second. So many answers, some easier to say than others, but she didn’t look willing to listen to him dance around the truth.

“I was afraid you wouldn’t come." He paused. "I wanted you to come.”

Maria mulled it over a few moments. “So you lied to me so you could manipulate me?”

“I didn’t lie. I just withheld some vital information.” Michael said, trying to stop himself from scratching his brow. It was one of his telltale quirks that gave away he was feeling the pressure.

“Michael, when you purposely mislead me, that was a lie. You took away my choice. If you had told me from the start, I could have decided if I wanted to be part of the weekend or not.”

“Would you have come?”

Maria just shook her head. That was unfair. It was after the fact now. “What does it matter? Now we’ll never know.”

“What do you want to do now? Go home to Roswell?” What the hell was he doing offering to take her home?

“No. That’s okay. I’m actually enjoying myself. I like the group. It’s fun.” It was an experience she hadn’t had in a long time.

“Really?” Michael stopped himself from smiling, unsure if that was the right response. It shouldn’t be a battle of wills even though this was one he had won. Somehow it didn’t taste like a sweet victory. “So are we okay?”

Maria moved to opposite end of the pool and leaned back against the rock. “Yeah, we’re okay. But...you could join me in the pool for a sort of bath.” Maria held her breath to see if he would go for it.

Michael looked at the water and at the river rushing by. “It looks cold.”

“Do I appear to be cold? Steve told Sheryl that there's a natural warm spring that feeds this pool and then dumps into the river, so it’s nice and comfy.” Maria went in for the kill. “Do you think I would stay in it this long if it was freezing cold?” Maria stood up a little so the water would rush off her body leaving her exposed to his view. “You don’t want to come and join me?” Maria said with her best pout.

Hiding her smile she sank back into the water because the night air on her skin was really making her cold, and she didn’t want him to see her shivering. Watching him slowly take off his clothes, she schooled her features to keep a gleam of mischief from showing so not to give up the game.

She actually winced when he hit the water. The shout of her name followed by a colorful display of expletives had her laughing in a loud peal. Michael surfaced close to her and tried to grab her, but she ducked under his arm. He turned and nabbed her before she could go too far. Maria turned in his wet arms and put her hands on his shoulders, pushing her body weight up as she pushed his shoulders down to dunk him underwater. Maria quickly moved to the edge of the pool, and when he resurfaced, she splashed him with cold water laughing as he retaliated with a barrage of water of his own.

When Michael had Maria subdued; he kept his arms around her to pin her arms so she couldn’t hit him with more water. She was still laughing and he finally settled back with her against him and looked up at the sky. The stars seemed so far away, and Maria was so close. Maria turned and saw him looking at the sky.

“You still wonder about it, don’t you?” Maria asked quietly.

“Sometimes. More now that Max is on a mission to find a way back to his son. I don’t wonder so much for myself anymore. Sometimes, but not often like when I was younger and felt more an alien than I do now.”

“I don’t think you need to bury that part of yourself, Michael. It’s still a huge part of who you are. I know you told Isabel to lie about her alien side to Jesse, but how can you hide that much of yourself from anyone?” Maria wondered how much of her true self she kept hidden from him, almost afraid that he wouldn’t like who she was. And how much did she hide from herself?

“Maria, our alien side has only caused us pain, and pain to those who know us. It’s all I felt all my life, and now I’m feeling my human side and it’s freeing in some ways.” Michael wasn’t sure about it himself. He couldn’t hide from what he was, but only he was really able to say what and who he was, and that was something he was still trying to learn.

“Maybe you’ll find yourself uniquely somewhere between the two. We’ve got nothing but time to learn about who we are. Those stars are so many thousands of miles away. There’s so much out there that we know nothing about, so why should the human soul be any less complicated? I just think that it’ll take some time, but we’ll get there eventually.”

Michael smiled at listening to her talk about things that seemed to bother both of them. “You learn all that from your Greek Play Dough master?”

“No, I learned it from you.” Maria said in earnest. “I watched you struggle and change for two years, and if nothing else, it taught me that some lessons are harder than others, and that people can and do change. I’m not going to fool myself to think that just because we change that at a magical moment in our lives we are finished, or complete. I think we’ll be growing the day before we die, and if we ever found ourselves perfect, than what would be the point?”

And was it any wonder that Maria seemed to know instinctively what Michael needed to hear? To know what the problem was, and what was needed to solve it? When had Maria ever failed to take care or think of Michael? She was always there. Always supporting him. Always coaching, and teaching him.

Always loving him.

Yes, Michael had no problem seeing that now. Maria had always been there, quietly loving him. It was there, in every little kindness she performed and in every sacrifice she made, small and large.

Maria loved him. He watched her looking at the skies again, and a flash of sadness and pain crossed her face. It was there again and then gone almost too quickly to notice. Kyle saw it, and Michael was seeing it more and more. But Maria remained silent. It was unMaria-like to not express herself, so Michael had to assume that even Maria wasn’t sure what was bothering her. He just knew that once she did, he would know too.

Michael groaned when Maria’s hand moved down his body in the water, but this time, there was a note of pure mischief to it. Pure fun. Damn Maria and her philosophical thoughts on fun! All evening he had spent odd moments wondering how she was classifying the events, what type of fun she was having. He actually trusted Maria to tell him what she was thinking. Trusted her in a way that was the most important to him, and also most difficult for him.

Michael moved forward again, and Maria didn't move away as he turned her in his arms to mate his chest to her back holding her close in front of him. Michael stroked his hands softly over Maria's shoulders, smoothing down her arms, and over, across her stomach. Moving her wet hair from her skin on the nape of her neck, he nestled his mouth along the soft skin. Nipping the skin, catching it between his teeth, his tongue could feel the pulse point as the blood rushed under the skin tasting like life. He sank his one hand down her stomach to tangle in the junction between her legs liking the silkiness of the skin and the movement of water around them. She had taught him to love water.

He ran his other hand across the fluttering muscles of Maria's abdomen and continued to stroke her lightly inside, as he rubbed his hard leaking c-ock heavily against her back. Maria's hips thrust back towards him, increasing the pressure. She moved her head back on his shoulder and her one hand behind her to rub down his bent neck.

"Michael! What if someone comes along the trail! Michael!"

Michael pulled back only long enough to whisper, "No one...there's no one closer than the camp," before he moved forward again, scenting Maria, passing over her skin by minute fractions of an inch. The flow of air was enough to drive Maria half-crazy with need. Her hands found their way to Michael's hair, and she tugged on the long strands, tangling her hands in his hair.

"Please...please." Maria pleaded. Her limit to being teased lately was strangely shortened. Michael turned her in his arms and lifted her up to rest on his lap, continuing to kiss the front of her neck feeling the vibration of the moan coming from her throat.

“Maria! Maria can you reach my jeans?” Michael asked looking over his shoulder on the bank of the pool.

“Just lift me up a little so I can reach over your shoulder.”

Michael lifted her out of the water as she leaned over him, his mouth finding her stomach. He lifted her even higher to move his mouth lower, tonguing her.

“Michael!” Maria hissed between her teeth at the same time she moaned.

“No, this is perfect. Stay just like that.” Michael said, but he laughed when Maria hit him on his shoulder.

“Thanks for the offer, but no way in hell. I’m freezing my ass off here! Put me back in the water.”

Michael kissed her deeply again making her squirm, and moan against the skin of his back. “I thought you said it was warm.”

“I lied!”

Michael lowered her back into the water, which was warmer than the surrounding air, but not before giving her stomach another kiss. “ You lied?”

“Shut up! You love it when I lie.” Michael laughed at that because she was right, he did.

Maria ran her fingers along the underside of his c-ock, teasing lightly just under the head, and moving back, to fondle his balls gently, cupping them and rolling them softly as she leaned forward, swallowing his tongue in a deep kiss with one smooth motion. Michael moaned in her mouth and almost missed the condom sliding on. Dammit, too long! It had been too long being without her, what with Max sacking out on his couch and his damn work schedule. Holding her firmly, cupping her ass in his hands he moved fast.

"CHRIST!" Maria shouted, her hips surging forward as her hands groped for his shoulders in front of her, convulsing as he buried himself in her and continued to pound away. Michael’s mouth captured hers again kissing her passionately, as her mouth worked rhythmically to swallow all of his sensitive tougue, driving him crazy.

"You...Let me...I need to..." Maria tried to talk but Michael kept pulling her mouth back to his. Her body exploded around his as they came together. Michael’s body jerked away but not quite quickly enough, as her hand reached for him, moving down to his crotch where they were still joined. She heard him groan and lean his head into her shoulder as he finally released her mouth. Her eyes darted up to Michael's face, and she saw his dark gaze. It was hard to touch him immediately afterwards because their bodies were too sensitive and it bordered on the edge of pain and violence.

She slid slowly around him gripping him hard with her thighs, groping for him as her breathing slowed, and she could capture a coherent thought.

"I-I couldn't...I'm sorry." Maria stroked her hand down Michael's arm gently. “Did I hurt you?”

“No you almost made me come again. If you do that there’s no way we’re making it back to the camp for at least another hour.” Michael nuzzled the skin of her neck loving the smell of her around him.

"You usually have more tolerance." Maria said, making no move to disconnect from him.

“I blame Max and his taking up residence on my sofa. After spending so much time with you this summer, suddenly these last few months feels like a dry season. God why did I let Max stay?”

“Maybe driving privileges to the Cheville, and ‘cause he’s your friend?” Maria guessed.

“I’m not liking this 'new, more sensitive Me'.” Maria laughed at the expression on his face and what she imagined Max’s reaction to Michael calling himself sensitive would be. “Pretty soon I’ll be whispering sweet nothings in your ear and you’ll think I’m either Max or gay.”

“Or you finally watched too many segments of ‘The View’ trying to get in touch with your feminine side?” Maria laughed harder jerking away from him as he pinched her side playfully, remembering one of their first conversations. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you'll make up ground and regroup your real self by spewing your orange juice from your nose or doing an armpit fart duet with Kyle.”

“Thank God! There is that.” Michael said so dramatically that Maria couldn’t stop laughing. “The last time Kyle and I serenaded Isabel she got all pissy and said in her Isabel tone, ‘For god's sake, Michael, grow up!’ and Kyle was depressed for the rest of the day because Isabel didn’t comment on his talent.”

“Well I’m sure Isabel meant to compliment him. Poor Kyle. Hope that doesn’t send him on a Buddha parable-searching mission. I’m barely keeping up.” Maria kissed him on the mouth gently. “And you’re growing up nicely. Good and slow.”

"You mean that?"

"What, that I think you are growing up nicely?" Michael nodded silently. "Yes, I do. I love you Michael. That means that I love all of you. Even when you irritate me, and drag me out to the wilderness under false pretenses.” Maria didn’t mention that she was more concerned about how she was growing up.

"We need to get back. Before Steve and the others decide to send a rescue party down the trail." Michael groaned as he gently removed himself from Maria and reached for her towel. “Plus the cold water is freezing my balls off.”

"Well, I thought they were working just fine," Maria teased, reaching for his hand as he pulled her out of the water and began rubbing her body down. "All your parts seemed to do the job pretty well. You took care of me all by yourself.”

The rest of the hike was taken in silence, each lost in their own thoughts, but as they walked, both moved at the same time to link hands. Maria reached over and kissed his shoulder liking the quiet times between them. And both of them were thinking much along the same lines.

There could be such beauty and comfort in silences.

When Maria and Michael finally made it back to the campsite everyone had already retired for the night. Maria pulled Michael into their tent and watched him shut the tent flaps behind them. They could hear voices from other tents, but no real conversations. Maria turned on their tent lantern and the heater, passing her shoes to Michael to leave out in the vestibule.

Maria was searching through their clothes bag for sleepwear. “Michael, you want a pair of boxers to wear or sweats?”

Michael came up behind her on his knees on the air mat and slowly unbuttoned her shirt from behind.

“Neither. I’ll keep you warm, and you can keep me warm.”

“Hmm.” Maria tilted her head as he kissed her neck again. “That’s what you said last time we went camping and then you bitched all night about your feet being cold.”

“Last time we didn’t have a brand new, nifty tent heater, but if you want I can sleep nude wearing a pair of cotton socks.”

Maria let him pull her shirt off and then she lay down topless and watched him as he unbuttoned her jeans and pulled them off her legs. “Kinky! White cotton socks I hope, not black or some other strange color.”

“No one wears black cotton socks with jeans! That’s like old man stuff.” Michael paused to take in her naked body moving one hand slowly up her leg and leaning in to trap her between his hands. Maria reached up and unbuttoned his shirt leaving it dangling, and then started unbuttoning his jeans. “So are you going to tell me?” He asked leaning down to kiss her and pulling away after licking her lips leaving his mouth a breath away.

“Tell you what?” He made her so breathless, and she could feel her heart beating hard in her chest as she looked into his darkened golden brown eyes.

“What’s the honey and Tabasco for?”

Maria laughed and tipped him over onto the sleeping bag pulling his jeans off. “I’ll show you!”

Straddling his hips she sat on him and pulled him upward to lean back propped on his elbows. Michael watched her with half closed eyes hardly able to keep from staring at her breasts. Her nipples were swollen and pert from the undivided attention they had received at the pool and his regard was making them swell again. Michael reached one hand out to run his finger over the hardening bud watching Maria’s eyes darken as she watched him. Her nipples were one of her most sensitive spots and he could make her come just from suckling on her at times. Taking the honey from the floor, Michael decided he didn’t need instructions; this one he could figure out himself. Pouring a small amount on a pert nipple, he quickly added a few drops of Tabasco for his favorite combination of sweet and spicy.

Maria watched him suckling at her breast moving herself more into the cradle of his groin pushing hard up against his renewed erection. Looking down his body she took in the sight of him leaking and so hard it seemed he could burst any second. She moaned and moved even harder against him.

Maria shivered harder and decided to go with it. She could figure out what was going on later... right now she just intended to enjoy it. Michael reached for the honey and added more to her skin with even more Tabasco. The hot fiery sauce burnt her skin, but was quickly followed by the hot furnace of Michael’s mouth and tongue.

In a short time, she was as naked as Michael and decisively covered in sticky spots of honey and Tabasco, and almost ready to orgasm just from the touch of his mouth on her skin. Michael enfolded her in a big hug, circling his arms around her and just breathed deeply, scenting deeper. Maria dizzily hung on tight. She suddenly realized that it wasn't the world spinning wildly, she was being lifted and tipped. The next view she had was Michael above her moving his hands and mouth over her skin, his fingers finding their way inside her and elevating her arousal up another notch. He paused over her with the honey in one hand, and stared at her for a second before he continued.

Looking up, she saw nothing human. Instead, she saw her wild mate, his untamed uncontrollable side. That sure as hell explained the intensity of his touch. One small corner of her brain tried to tell her to find what control she could. The rest of her was moaning from having Michael’s mouth working her, sucking on her clitoris. She wondered just exactly where the hell he was putting the honey down there and prayed he’d forgo the Tabasco. She decided she should just lie back and enjoy.

Michael started licking her in broad strokes moving his hands up past her breasts to push her upper body back down from where it had been buckling. He stared at her for a second and moved up to kiss her neck and work his way back down. Oh yes, this was going to be very enjoyable.

Moaning deeply, Maria encouraged him to just get on with it, get further down; get to parts that were screaming for attention. This small amount of attention wasn’t enough, and she was greedy for more. She was going to go absolutely out of her mind if Michael wouldn't have mercy on her soon.

His wicked tongue danced slowly, oh so slowly, downwards. Her nipples were sucked and nipped until she was arching clear off the sleeping bag with every touch to them. And gentle bite to one nipple made her yell out wordlessly, begging for mercy. Trying to keep herself quiet in respect for the other tents around them was almost impossible, especially with Michael making a growling noise in his throat. God what he did with his mouth at times should be illegal, but it was too good to complain about or stop!

Licks to her stomach were bordering precariously between the realms of ticklish and erotic sending her heart beating into overtime, but he knew that. Not once did the sensation take tickling too far, only enough to make her quiver, never enough to make her laugh. Sharp nips kept her attention at all times.

Maria looked down towards Michael. So beautiful... that agile tongue dancing over her skin. His eyes were closed and he was making noises in his throat. She couldn't help but smile. He was like a large wild cat, a human pet. Maria smiled to herself and moved her hand down to tangle in his hair, almost petting him. She’d keep him.

All thoughts of humor were lost as Michael looked up quickly, then opened wide and swallowed Maria moving his tongue into her along with his fingers. Shouting at the jolt of pleasure, he had her thrusting upwards, vainly trying to get deeper into the hot mouth eating her.

As if from far away, she felt heat on her legs and a quivering starting around her stomach as the impending orgasm seemed to gather strength starting almost in the base of her back. Looking down again, she saw Michael's c-ock hard and leaking. Maria moved her leg to brush against him rubbing hard against the bulge. Michael made an almost whimpering sound of pleasure and sucking harder than before. Maria gave in to it, thrusting hard into his hungry mouth until she was too far gone and coming.

Michael drank it all down and seemed to be unhappy that there wasn't more. He kept licking and giving small sucks, making absolutely sure Maria couldn't give more. Then he looked up, wild eyes filled with hunger.

'Uh-oh... seems like we're NOT done yet’ Maria thought as she watched his eyes darken and glisten with an almost animal appeal full of mischief.

On Michael's urging Maria spread her legs, trying to keep them from quivering too much. They felt like boiled noodles, but she was determined to give Michael whatever he needed, no matter how much she just wanted to sink into the pulsating orgasm and find rest.

A couple of teasing licks later, Maria figured out what the next target would be as he moved upward taking a nipple between his teeth hard. It was kinda obvious, since Michael was slowly licking his way there. Her inner thigh quivered at the movement of his rougher skin as he moved into place, but taking his time about it. "Oh my", was all Maria had the time to think before a slick conqueror announced its presence at her entrance. He was playing with her, just barely pushing his tip inside and then slowly back out again.

She was being teased and wetted down for sudden penetration, tongue circling her nipples lazily, while his c-ock rested just at the entrance, but never pressing in. Maria could feel her next orgasm start to tingle in her pelvis and knew that within moments, she'd come hard again without him even penetrating because he was using her heightened sensitivity against her. She was confused when he dropped down to tongue her again and would have lost it completely if Michael had stepped up his advances and actually tongue f-ucked her properly.

Taking the initiative, Maria tried to push Michael away for a moment. She needed to feel him inside, and he was stringing her on too long. It was always that way when he had already come once before. It gave him the stamina to hold on and drag out foreplay. "Michael, I need you now! Michael? Come on, I need to move here."

No response. He was off in some place of his own making, concentrating intently on what he was doing. While it wasn’t unappreciated, Maria wanted to appreciate some of his other techniques.

Twisting her legs quickly and bringing them tight around him, Maria lifted herself forward and managed to hook her hands under his arms and bring him forward and upward. He looked totally stunned, as if he couldn't believe he had lost himself in the act again. He nodded and before moving upward again stopped to put a hard nip on her inner thigh followed by a large sucking mark.

"Michael? I'm not trying to push you away, promise! I just want to feel you inside me, and then I'm yours to do with as you please. Michael? MICHAEL!"

Maria's breath moved out of her in a rush as he moved upward in one hard surge and pushed inside, settling hard on her, resting on his forearms on either side of her head. Suddenly his hand reached down and grabbed her left leg hooking his arm under her knee. He shifted that one leg higher up his body to rest almost on his shoulder, opening her up for a stronger, deeper penetration. Realizing she was in an even more vulnerable position now, Maria gave up most of her fight and decided to follow his lead. Michael had her pinned to the ground and he was reaching places she wasn’t sure he had ever reached before. The air was pushed from her lungs almost in a screaming moan, but Michael quickly put a finger over her mouth in a hushing motion. Maria bit his finger making him curse and lean forward to take her mouth in a long kiss, swallowing her sounds.

Diving in, he went straight for her lips sucking them, and then driving his tongue deep into Maria's mouth. Gasping for breath, she held on as she was thoroughly tongue-f-ucked, as his mouth mimicked the actions of his lower body. Michael was determined to drive her out of her mind, she was sure of it! The pleasure singing in her blood was going fast towards coloratura with every nip and thrust of the most wicked tongue in the universe and its partner, the equally wicked driving c-ock.

Maria felt as if her body was the center of Michael's world, and it felt like a f-ucking big center right now. She felt ready enough to take on anything he could deal out. Smiling wickedly, she reminded herself that even though Michael was built delightfully large, he wasn't so large that she couldn’t handle him. This had little to do with making love, and everything to do with f-ucking. With all of the time lost over the past few weeks due to Max's residence on the couch, it was impossible to slow down and take it leisurely. She didn’t want that, and neither did Michael, or so it seemed.

"Come on, Michael...do me! F-uck me, please!” Maria whispered in his ear hotly biting it hard, then giving it a lick. Michael had a trigger point for dirty talk, and loved it when she talked to him while they were in the middle of it. “F-uck me until I come, just... f-uck me!"

Rearing up, Michael stopped all movement for a moment, maybe wanting something more. Looking around he found the small bottle of honey, and moving back from her, he squeezed some on her breast and quickly followed it with Tabasco, stinging her skin. But Michael wasn't through yet. He reached over for a camping pillow, and lifting Maria’s back he pushed it under her hips giving him more scrambling room by lifting her higher off the ground. Gliding down to sit between her spread legs, Michael opened the bottle of honey and lubed himself. Oh hell! Whatever she started had obviously inspired Michael and it looked like she was going to be sticky and sweet in more places than she had ever imagined.

"Come on. Put it in me. I need you, Michael."

With barely a pause, Michael then grabbed hold of Maria's hip with one hand, while guiding his c-ock home with the other. Maria gasped loudly. Who knew what Michael was thinking right now, but it certainly didn't involve stopping this ride. Arching back towards him, Maria desperately tried to accept the pulsating thickness currently lodged deep in her center. She had been very ready, yes, but she hadn't expected to be entered fully in one powerful thrust without a pause between the following ones. Michael always tried to enter her so slowly, so gently... but most of the time that strategy was lost to the heat of passion. Michael mouth found the sticky sweetness on her breast and he pulled her nipple and areola hard into his mouth along the roughness of his upper palate.

'This is either going to be very, very good, or I'm going to regret it tomorrow... big time.' Maria thought as he continued to use her body sucking and moving hard into her. Her inner thighs and lower back was already feeling the strain, and all she could do was encourage him to move harder and faster. She would be lucky to get all the honey off her.

Sparing only a single thought to the fact that Michael hadn't even seemed to soften the slightest bit, Maria relaxed and set herself for enjoying the ride. She had expected gentle thrusts at first, like his usual, but she wasn't surprised or unhappy when the first thrust was a full-length push into her, and then all the way out, with just the tip teasing at her entrance. Then another push in to the hilt. It felt wonderful!

Rearing up and arching her back to meet the thrusts coming into her rapidly, Maria gave in completely, no longer caring about the sticky honey or stinging bite of the Tabasco, only caring about the pleasure making her body burn like a wild-fire.

His long-neglected c-ock throbbed with every beat of his heart, and with every pounding thrust he was carving a deep place for himself in her. With this wild f-uck he was giving up more than he knew. Maria wasn’t the only one lonely. It seemed that lately every time he looked there were people around them. Too many people. He missed her. Missed having time alone with her where he could touch her and kiss her unhindered.

Maria always knew what buttons to push, and started sucking on his neck, and suddenly with one word she turned his whole world nuclear.

"More."

It was such a simple word to whisper in his ear, but there was nothing simple about his reaction as he felt the stinging bite of her teeth on his shoulder. Moving his hands to gather her ass, he quickly flipped them letting Maria take the top to ride him as he moved his hands up under her hair. Holding her head firmly he lifted his torso to sit with her sitting in his lap and taking him deep inside. His mouth found hers again and he mated their mouths like their lower bodies. The change in position meant that the large c-ock possessing her was now rubbing directly on her clitoris, rasping the sensitive nub on each push into her.

Maria cried helplessly against him, quivering with sensation, feeling like she could explode any second. She didn't, but the pressure kept building and building, until nothing existed in her world but mind-numbing pleasure and the c-ock in her providing it.

Michael stopped kissing her to suck on her neck changing it to a hard bite, at the same time as she felt Michael's already large c-ock get even larger and start to throb wildly. Trying to catch enough of a breath to at least whimper, Maria wiggled herself hard on him, rubbing wantonly, trying desperately to get that last bit of stimulation she needed to come. The throbs helped, by sending almost random pulses through her body, making her world darken and shimmer at the same time.

She knew he was coming, even if she couldn't see it. The ringing in her ears as his brains tried to shoot out through his c-ock combined with the pleasure overloading her system was more than enough proof.

Sliding down onto him was not unpleasant, just sticky. Maria could feel the familiar flash of electrical pulses moving over her spine through her connection to him. She was so drained, so melted, that she almost felt like liquid instead of flesh and bone. The heavy weight of his arm across her back helped her in that feeling. Oxygen didn't seem adequate, but there wasn't enough energy left in any single limb to actively do something about it... besides, who needed to breathe anyway?

After what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, a heavy sigh signaled that Michael was still alive, too. Rolling to the side, still keeping a firm grasp on her and keeping them connected, Michael gave a sucking kiss to the neck in front of him.

"Michael? You there? Are you ok?"

"Very ok."

"I was worried. You’re usually more vocal. I mean, what got into you? I've never seen you like this before." Michael just laughed and didn’t think he should mention that being overly vocal in a campsite full of other people was perhaps not the best idea.

"Can't it wait? We could get more comfortable and..." a thrust into her proved that Michael might not be completely down for the count. "We could continue this."

Maria gasped.

"As much as I'd like to, not right now. Give me a chance to recover a little, please? I’m recovering from two alien orgasms thank you very much. Not that I'm not enjoying every minute of it, but... talk to me, Michael."

“Okay. What do you want to know?” Michael was feeling the activity catching up to him as his body felt the exhilaration of the electrical hits, and the settling of his limbs into a heavy mess.

Michael smiled to himself at the humor in her voice. “Was the honey all right?”

“Oh honey! The honey was very all right!” Michael could feel the stickiness of her breast adhering to his chest. Lucky for him, he wasn’t endowed with lots of hair there. After he rested a bit, he would see what he could do about cleaning her up. But first he was still riding the wave of the orgasm, and the feel of himself still inside her was nothing if not erotic and inspiring.

Michael was still more than half hard and was moving very slowly inside her, unable to let her rest completely. It made it difficult for Maria to think, but she forced herself to still Michael with a hand to his hips.

"Please. Before you sidetrack me and this takes off, I wanted to know how you feel about whipped cream."

Michael stopped and looked at her next to him. “Lord have mercy on my worthless soul.”

Maria laughed and rested her head against him liking the slow easy pulsating movement of him in her. She knew that he could keep this up until they either fell asleep or until he hardened even more to take it to another level. Michael seemed to like to stay with her, and even the time that Liz discovered them in the CrashDown, he was still inside her when they were interrupted. It made it hard to pay attention to Liz as she talked about Max, her father, and her problems when all Maria could feel was Michael still joined to her, the soreness of her thighs, and the taste of him in her mouth. It was like all his molecules were still aligned to hers and all she wanted was to find him again to reconnect. It was hard to concentrate when she was so distracted.

“Michael?”

“Hmm.”

“About the lantern light, maybe we should turn it down? Or off?”

Michael paused and looked at her. He almost always made love to her in the light, either a soft light or by candles. He liked seeing her, watching her, though lately they seemed to be stuck in a public mode for sexual encounters. Max really needed to find his own place.

“I like to see you.”

“I know, but the thing with a light in a tent is that it tends to create silhouettes.”

Michael looked at the shadows on the tent’s sides and cursed aloud. “ Aw sh-it!”

Maria snuggled down closer into the warmth of Michael’s body and sighed with contentment. Something had awakened her, but she wasn’t aware enough to pinpoint what. She stirred inside the sleeping bag, and reached down to scratch her leg. Still more asleep than awake, she tried to make sense of the itchy, tickling feeling on her legs. It took a few more moments before the feeling of a small tingling bite on her spine hit her senses again. The sensation was similar to the electrical thrill left in the wake of an orgasm, but with more awareness as she came even more awake, she realized it wasn’t electrical, but burned like a small bite. Staying still she waited for the sensation again and this time it moved down her spine and at her toes hitting at a few places at once. What the hell?

Rousing a bit more, she sat up and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. Sitting up, Maria quickly moved out of the warmth of the sleeping bag jostling Michael awake as well.

“Maria?”

“Michael! Michael, wake up! Something bit me in the sleeping bag!” Maria literally moved away from their joined bags and watched Michael search, until suddenly he moved out the bag too. Pulling her hands away from her face she focused on an ant walking on her hand. Squinting at the low light from the lantern, she realized it was a fire ant.

“Ouch! What the f-uck was that?” Michael said turning up the lantern again, he opened the bag and noticed a group of ants, fire ants moving in the bag and in the tent. Adjusting his eyesight to the lantern light, Michael saw Maria disentangle herself from their sleeping bag while scratching her legs and thighs. Grabbing her body, he quickly looked her over and moved his hand down her skin seeing tiny red bumps from the ant bites. He noticed several fire ants still on her and brushed them off. Quickly grabbing some clothes for Maria and a pair of sweat pants and shirt for himself they both dressed and were out of the tent.

"Sh-it, Maria, are they still biting you?" Michael asked as he got out of tent and went over to check her out again. Maria had gone from scratching to jumping up and down while trying to get her socks on before she froze.

"Wow, you figured that one out all by yourself?" Maria asked sarcastically, then added, "Help me here, please! Get them off!" Michael remembered the honey from earlier and looking inside the tent he could see the open bottle on its side. Pulling the sleeping bags out of the tent he shook out the material and draped it over a low limb. Grabbing a can of industrial strength bug spray that Maria refused to go camping without, he quickly sprayed the inside of the tent killing as many ants as possible, and removed all traces of the spilt honey with his powers.

Searching through their clothes, Michael grabbed fresh clothes and some towels and took a squirming bitching Maria behind him down the path towards the pool again.

“Maria, calm down okay? We’ll get them off you.”

Maria saw where Michael was leading them and dug in her heels. “Uh uh, no way! I’m not jumping in the water. It’s freezing!”

Michael reached down and picked her up to move her faster towards the water. He could feel an ant moving on his own skin and its itching bite. He still had some honey on him in places where he really didn't want ants biting him.

“I’ll warm it up.” Michael put her down and reached for the water increasing the temperature until the pool began to steam in comparison to the cold water and air around it. Michael kneeled in front of her and batted her hands away. He took hold of Maria's hips long enough to get her settled down, then moved his hands to the zipper of her jeans. He quickly stripped Maria of her clothes and without waiting, tossed her screaming into the pool. Michael shed his sweats and shirt tossing them aside and jumped in after her.

"Oh God, I feel like every inch of my skin itches!" Michael held her against him, smoothing the water over her skin. Using his barely controllable powers he tried to move his hand over her skin healing the tiny irritating bumps that itched and burned at the same time. He wasn’t as good as Max in healing, but he could fix small things as long as he stayed calm.

“It’s okay. I’ve got you.” Maria rested against him and calmed, as the itching slowly subsided and there were no more ants biting her.

“We forgot to close the honey, huh?”

Michael couldn’t help but laugh. Another page in the annals of the ‘Misadventures of Michael and Maria’, an ongoing saga starting almost from the moment he put the fake silver handprint on her chest so long ago.

“Yeah, I knocked it over and forgot to close it.” Michael kissed her temple. “Guess I didn’t get all that honey off you, huh?”

“God knows you tried, but I think you missed a large amount down my inner thigh.”

“Want me to kiss it better?” Michael asked leaning back in the water enjoying the almost sauna-like hot water.

“Yes.”

Michael laughed again. They couldn’t stay here too long, and he needed to turn down the heat of the water soon before it caused problems for the rest of the river and the fish that couldn’t survive in it.

“Lets get cleaned up and head back. I’ll fix the fire and we can rest in front of it while the tent airs out and I get all the ants out of the sleeping bag. I need to make sure the sleeping bags don’t have honey on them.”

“Okay, but make it a real hot fire! I hate being cold.” Maria said as Michael helped her out of the water.

“I know.”

It was a short while later he had them all wrapped up in warm blankets with a comfortable bag to lean back against. Maria was resting on him watching the fire and very quiet. The tent was open with the air vents letting out the smell of the bug spray and he left the now cleaned sleeping bags to air out.

Michael looked down at the quiet Maria and then followed her eyes upward towards the field of stars in the sky. Suddenly there was a rush of light and he could see the movement of meteors across the sky. He pulled her close and they leaned back and watched in silence as one meteor after another barraged the upper atmosphere, leaving a trail of color and fire.

Michael didn’t notice it at once when Steve came to sit beside them. “You two okay? I thought I heard some commotion.”

Michael nodded and pointed up at the sky. “Yeah, we had a run in with some fire ants, but now we’re letting the tent air out and enjoying the light show.”

Steve plopped down on the ground next to them and watched for a few moments. It was spectacular. “I wish Sheryl was awake to see this, but this is one of the first nights she’s gotten to sleep all night without having to get up to take care of the baby. Damn that’s incredible! The colors are unreal.”

“Don’t worry. Tomorrow night it’s supposed to be even closer, with more hits and it’ll start as soon as the night sky is dark enough to let them show up. You can show them to her then.” Steve just nodded and looked at the two younger people. Feeling like a third wheel he decided it was time to go back to bed.

“Well, as long as everything's okay, I’m heading back to bed. Those fish start biting early in the morning, and I don’t want to miss that.” Michael nodded absentmindedly at him and waved a goodnight as Steve went back to his tent. Michael settled down even more and gathered Maria and the blanket in closer. They could watch for at least another half an hour.

"Christ, Michael, it's beautiful." Maria said quietly. Looking at the skies and the beautiful display, Maria wondered if Alex was watching them. She couldn’t imagine a more beautiful place for someone like Alex to be.

Michael couldn't agree more, though he wasn't looking at the skies any longer. Watching the gusts of wind catch strands of Maria's hair, and sweeping them around her face, which was alive with the most amazing expression of wonderment, Michael thought she was so beautiful, it almost hurt to look at her.

"Michael?" Maria turned at the same time that Michael moved forward, worried that Michael had fallen asleep before they went back to bed. Michael moved his hand almost as if in a trance, tracing it down the line of Maria's cheekbone, to run just the tips of his fingers across the soft silky skin on her jaw.

"Michael?" The voice was a whisper this time, and her eyes widened as Michael moved forward, catching her mouth before she could ask him what was wrong, and then, oh, then she didn't want to know because where she was, cradled in his lap, everything was perfect. Michael was kissing her, and his mouth was so soft and gentle on her lips. His tongue was tracing a warm path across her mouth, where her lips were still partially shut. They opened slightly to let it move inside, and that warm tongue traced inside her mouth, running along her teeth, until finally, she moved her own tongue forward to touch it softly.

Michael moaned into her mouth, never breaking contact as he moved his hands up to cup Maria's face, and stroke Maria's tongue with his own. Maria felt the flash start in her mind, almost along the temples and moving fast and furious across her frontal cortex as initiated images from her brain flashed like memories, and impulses found form and structure. He was feeding her information, feelings, and almost memories so fast she could feel them like a rush of pure sensation. It was a journey almost like a trip through the galaxy, and Maria could feel it like a rush of heat. Finally breaking apart only as the need for oxygen overrode any other need, they stared at each other in shock and silence.

Pulling away, they both looked at each other warily, Michael thinking that Maria was afraid of him, and Maria thinking Michael was experiencing some kind of bizarre alien flashback caused by the view, or the fresh air, or...or something.

"Michael?" Maria asked for the third time in as many minutes. This time, Michael finally answered.

"Yes?" Maria blinked, actually surprised to get a response out of him.

"What the hell was that?"

"A kiss." Maria squinted at him, her mouth turning down into a line of irritation. He was running.

"I know it was a kiss, Michael. It was just about the hottest, most intense kiss I've had, and it came with an almost overwhelming flash. What I mean is, why kiss me? Why did I get that flash?"

Michael moved forward again and actually reached out, placing her hand over the throbbing bulge in his suddenly too tight sweats. “I don’t know. I think I'm racing out of control, and suddenly I could just see you, read you, and it turned me on. I don’t know what it was, but I felt...open. Didn't you want me to?" he asked, trying to side step the question for the moment.

"Christ," Maria moaned, moving her hand harder into him as he arched into the light stroking for a moment, before pulling away with a supreme act of willpower. "That-that wasn't an answer," she panted. “And you’ve been turned on constantly since we started this trip.”

"I wanted to kiss you," Michael said softly. "I looked at you, and you took my breath away. God, sometimes I forget how beautiful you are, and then suddenly it hits me, like a flash. I-I wanted a lot more than that, actually." Michael was shocked at the wave of his own sudden honesty. It wasn’t a flash about his past or even where he once lived. It was how she made him feel at times, like a universe forming in a large explosion. How the hell was he ever to find the type of words to express the sensation without taking away from it, lessening it? So he often remained silent and left the words unspoken, too afraid to cheapen them, too afraid how vulnerable it made him.

With an effort, Maria tried to clear her lust-clouded mind, and maneuver the talented hand that was still looking like it was going to go for his crotch at a moment's notice. Where did all her control go?

"What do you mean, more?" Maria asked, trying desperately not to read anything into the statement that wasn't there.

Michael closed his eyes tightly. This was it. Either he was going to win it all, or lose everything right here. The thought ran through his mind, that if Maria just laughed at him, at least he had a convenient river nearby to drown himself in.

"I love you, Maria." The statement came out so quickly, that it was a wonder Maria caught it at all, but the hiss of an indrawn breath indicated that she had indeed heard. Maria sat silent, almost afraid to move. He usually never really said it. Especially not if she hadn’t said it first, almost like prompting him. For the first time Maria understood in a flash what had been bothering her. She was uncomfortable in her own skin, a stranger to herself, and self doubt and insecurity was eating at her. And there, in that one pure second, he made her feel that everything would be all right, that they would work their way together through this confusing maze of life. Maria moved her hand behind his head and pulled him back into another kiss. If only she could find a way to keep this feeling, this security to keep the demons away, then this could be more than a quick fix.

Maria moved away from him slowly rubbing her forehead against him. “I love you, too.”

Michael cleared his throat, unsure what to say or what was needed. “Even when I drag you on a trip under false pretenses?”

“Uh huh.”

“Even if I threw half of your Big Gulp out the window?”

Maria opened his shirt and was kissing his neck and leaving small nips on his skin. “Wondered where that went...”

“Even if I think your white furry boots look like a homeless shaggy dog?”

“Never said you had to be a fashion guru or even have any taste at all.” Maria said in his ear, taking the moment to bite his ear lobe and smiling against his skin when he moaned softly.

Michael went in for the kill. “Even if I accidentally ruined your favorite green sweater by running it in the wash with a bleeding red shirt?”

Maria sat up suddenly with a look of shocked indignation about her, her mouth opened in disbelief. “You didn’t! I asked you a thousand times if you'd seen it and you said no!”

Now this was his Maria, the angry feisty one with attitude, the one he understood and could handle. “Yeah, whatever.”

“Whatever? You’re replacing it buster!” Maria looked at him with her eyes narrowing surprised at how pleased he seemed with himself. “How much time do we have before we can go back in the tent?”

“About half an hour should do it. Why, are you tired? Bored?” Michael reached up and toppled her back down on him smirking at her small sound of dismay. “I know how we can pass the time.”

“Oh, that’s original! Heard it all before.” Maria moved under the blanket and let her hand have its own free will and smiled at his sudden intake of breath. She moved up his neck, kissing the side of his mouth. “Think I can find something to do on my own.”

Michael started to help her by moving hips and opening his legs to give her more room to maneuver, while Maria took care of his thighs as she ran her nails up the sensitive inside, causing his entire lower body to jerk in response. The gentle clawing scratch moving up his thigh turned slowly into caresses with gentle hands. Michael moved his hands upward along her back keeping her close to his front, as she continued caressing his thighs. Maria dropped her hands away, so not to disturb Michael's momentum as he moved his leg against her.

“Don’t stop!”

“Maybe we should take this back to our tent? We seem to be spending a lot of time in public lately,” Maria said as she let her hands return to his body, much to his relief.

“I blame Max and his unhappy homeless state.” Michael said stoically holding his breath to see where she let her hands wander this time. Moving his hips up a little just to give her a slight suggestion.

“Hmm, and I thought we were just exploring a new kink. The CrashDown breakroom, up against refrigerators, Snapple machines, on security cameras, backseat of the Jetta and front and backseat of the Cheville, the eraser room, in a tent surrounded by other tents, a wading pool, and now in front of a roaring fire surrounded by tents full of people either sleeping or listening.”

“What’s so kinky about that? Sounds normal to me. Now the honey and Tabasco, that was a nice new twist.”

“Until the ants.” Maria said looking at his dark regard, watching that intense glimmer appear in his eye that told her he was getting very interested in where her hands were.

“I don’t know, the ants sort of added to the adventure.” Michael suddenly stopped talking as Maria’s hand moved.

When the Maria’s hand reached the edge of Michael's sweats, she trailed her fingertips lightly just underneath them, nowhere near his groin, but the intimacy of the act could not be denied. Michael breathed deeply once, and when the unmistakable scent of Michael’s turned-on body hit her, she took the waistband of his sweats and pulled them down in one swift, graceful movement. Moving away from his front just enough to look down, Maria watched her hand take him gently and move down his length to palm his balls and roll them as they hardened and tightened to his body.

Liking the way her hands looked on him and appreciating the sounds coming from his chest under her ear, Maria turned her head to place a kiss on his chest, followed by tonguing his small tight masculine nipple. Michael’s whole body seemed more than just a little responsive to stimuli, actually he was very responsive to all forms of affection. Moving her mouth down to his stomach, she tongued his bellybutton and stopped to nip the skin between her teeth appreciating his deep grunt ending in a groan. Unable to resist, she closed her eyes and rubbed her head into his stomach enjoying the feel of him.

Moving her mouth down, she attentively licked the crown of his c-ock collecting the moisture already gathering. His softly moaned "Oh god, yes..." kept her going. Not sparring a second, Maria nuzzled then licked the fully erect c-ock, drawing out a guttural moan from him. Grasping his moving hips, Maria drew Michael inside her mouth, starting a light suction. Pulling back, she licked the underside of Michael's c-ock, from tip to base, then pulled each ball into her mouth and lightly sucked and teased them with her tongue.

Michael had a firm grip on Maria's shoulders and was muttering small words of encouragement. One hand left her shoulder to move along the back of her neck under her hair, and spreading his fingers he tangled his fingers in the silky strands as they moved over his skin teasing him.

Suddenly Maria engulfed the c-ock before her, taking in as much as she could and started sucking for all it was worth. When Michael's moans increased in volume, Maria moved a hand up to his mouth and laid her finger across his lips in a shushing gesture mimicking the one he used on her earlier. Michael returned her response in kind, taking her finger in his mouth and biting it gently. Maria slowed the pace despite pressure from Michael’s hand in her hair and the push of his hips. It wasn’t often she had him totally under her control, and she wanted to drag it out for a while.

Maria added pressure to his hips, her fingers gripping into the flesh trying to slow his thrusting hips pushing more of himself into her mouth. He was going to have bruises there tomorrow. Maria pulled him out and ran her tongue along the taunt skin of his penis, tonguing the groove and outlining the veins that pulsed with his blood. Nipping him on the sensitive underside, she took him back into her mouth and tongued him along the length hollowing her mouth for more pressure.

The texture of his skin was so different there from the rest of his body and the scent so concentrated, that Maria just closed her eyes and focused on the sensation alone, ignoring his breathing coming in gasps. She loved the way he put his head back exposing his throat and whispered her name in hot husky gasps between the breaths. Maria felt his balls draw up even tighter in their sack. He was close, almost at the point of explosion. Michael tried to warn her and push her away, but Maria refused to relinquish him. Hers. With one last shout of Maria's name, Michael spent himself inside her mouth.

The taste of him was so different from the precum, and Maria liked teasing him that he tasted like Tabasco and sweet at the same time. Michael always tried to control how much she drank from his body, because part of him was worried about how different his body fluids like blood and semen might be from humans, and the unknown effects they could have on her. Maria wasn’t as concerned considering how often they exchanged salvia. Other than practicing strict birth control, the rest seemed pretty innocuous. If he were going to infect her, it would’ve happened a long time ago. But it was hard not to appreciate his consideration and concern.

Maria controlled Michael's boneless descent. She moved up his body and pulled him into a fierce kiss sharing his taste with him. Michael returned the kiss full force, tasting himself on Maria's lips and in her mouth, and the unexpected thrill it gave him sent him grinding his body against hers. Michael fell back the cushion he was resting against, pulling her on top of him and covering her in the warm blankets.

"I want you, Maria.... wanna be inside you," Michael murmured against her lips.

"You’ve already had me... all of me,” Maria reminded him with another kiss. “Anything else you want?" She teased as she ran her hands up his neck to hold his head still for another kiss.

Michael growled and pulled from the tempting lips to attack mouth, teeth and tongue to Maria's neck, working on a large passion mark. Maria pulled away from Michael and unbuttoned the shirt she was wearing so her naked torso could rest against his, or rather, the shirt she had borrowed from Michael. When she started to pull it off, Michael stopped her.

"Leave it. I love how my shirt looks on you," Michael said as he ran his fingers over her ribcage and up to palm her naked breasts, finding and teasing dark red nipples until they where hard little nubs, then taking them into his mouth one at a time. Michael continued his exploration of Maria's body, running his hands underneath the shirt to caress the soft skin of her back. He trailed down under the back of her unfastened jeans and cupped Maria's ass, helping her to grind against his renewing erection.

Maria pulled away from the kiss and then quickly went back for more until air became necessary. “Oh God, we’ve got to go camping more often, I love the effect of fresh air has on you!” Maria groaned as Michael pulled her down on him and covered them under the blanket laughing gently.

In a bizarre but completely explainable reversal of a normal routine, Maria was up, dressed, and at the campfire making breakfast when Michael came out of the tent, wearing only a T-shirt and sweats, to stretch in the morning air. He reached towards the sky, his shirt hitching up to reveal a tiny glimpse of skin. Maria tried to control her response as her eyes saw a glimpse of the mark she had left there, and were drawn down to the prodigious bulge in his sweats.

Groaning under her breath, Maria avoided Sheryl and Anita’s quick looks. God, they needed to go camping more often! And alone! Maria was staring because she wasn’t in a position of going over and offering to give him a hand with it. Usually when she woke to find him in that condition she leaned into his body and sucked on his nipples running her hand up and down his inner thigh liking the soft hair and rough skin there. Then she would suggest he take care of himself while she watched, because seeing his large beautiful hands on his own flesh was her own guilty pleasure. She should’ve stayed in bed with him this morning instead of getting up, because now he would take care of it himself down at the river without her. What a waste.

"What the are you staring at, Maria?" Anita asked following the path of Maria’s eyes to Michael groin, and understanding dawned on her face. "Oh my! I love a man with more than just a little morning wood." Anita didn't even have the decency to blush as Sheryl chuckled under her breath, smiling even more at Maria’s expression. Maria did blush, and forced herself to look away in case they read the thoughts more than likely plain on her face. Michael went back into the tent and came out again with his shaving kit, a towel and clean clothes. The women watched him wander off down the path to wash up and get dressed. Maria had to stop herself from following him, and knowing Steve was also down at the river washing up put a damper on her thoughts. Anita was having too much fun, and she was far from finished with her running commentary.

“A 'little' morning wood? There was nothing 'little' about it. That thing was a f-ucking redwood. A sequoia among woodies. I had never seen a more magnificent woody. The man was hung. Another incredible feature on an incredible body, and cute to boot. Hell, the man is a redwood.” Anita said really getting into it as she noticed Maria biting her tongue, trying to control both her embarrassment and laughter. “Come on, Maria, give us details on what the two of you were doing up half the night making enough noise to keep the entire forest awake.”

Sheryl bit back a smile and decided to rescue Maria from Anita’s probing questions. “Steve said the two of you were invaded by ants in your tent.”

Maria was thankful she could move away from the talk of Michael with an early morning erection. It was something she had seen many times before, but really didn’t feel comfortable commenting on to women she barely knew, or even ones she did know. What could she say except, 'Yep, he usually wakes with one?' It was a total turn on, and she loved every glorious inch of it. That was definitely under the category of too much information.

“Yes, ants. We woke up with them crawling in our sleeping bag, and I got quite a few bites. Michael cleaned out the tent and then hauled us down to the river to wash them off.”

“Ants?” Sheryl frowned. Their tent was next to Michael and Maria’s. “We didn’t get any in our tent.”

Lisa came out of her tent and banged on her brother and Fly’s tent. “Hey wake up in there! I thought you fishermen were heading out at first light. Burning daylight here. We didn’t bring any more steaks!” Lisa left the tents to join the other women after she heard a sleepy grumbling reply from Monk. “Did Steve and Michael already leave?”

“No, they’re down at the river washing up for breakfast,” said Sheryl watching as both Fly and Monk emerged from their tent. Gesturing towards the river, she watched both men acknowledge her gesture and head off the join Michael and Steve.

Lisa grabbed a slice of orange and sat down at the table. “So what’s this about ants?”

“Maria and Michael’s tent was invaded by an army of ants last night,” said Anita.

“Strange. Maybe you set your tent on a colony or something. Usually ants don’t move in huge groups unless a scout ant finds a source of food, and then lays a pheromone type trail back to the nest for the other worker ants to follow.” Lisa informed the group at large.

“It must have been a nest, but I think Michael took care of it with the bug spray last night.” Maria rushed to cover up any other possibilities of a ‘food’ source avoiding Anita’s speculating glances.

“So what would be a food source anyway, Lisa?” Sheryl asked wondering if she and Steve should spray around their tent too. Some of her lotions and crèmes were scented.

“Oh just about anything, but the favorite would be something sweet, and full of complex sugars that can be easily broken down. Ants have acetic acid in their mouths, which is why their bites both sting and itch. You know, it might have been formic acid. I’ll have to look that up.”

“Something sweet, huh?” Anita asked noticing Maria’s color rising again.

“Oh look, the guys are back.” Maria said quickly trying to distract the others from the ant situation as Steve and Michael returned talking together and laughing. Anita smiled and backed off. There was only so much teasing a young person could take in a new fragile relationship, especially one as loud and active as this one.

It was later in the day, that Michael finally convinced Maria to let him teach her how to fish. Steve and the others had fished in the morning and actually came back with some nice river perch, bass and one very ugly catfish. Michael showed Maria the three he had caught, and the gleam in his eye and his attitude of pride made her wish she had a camera to capture the moment for him.

After lunch, Steve decided to take Sheryl with him fishing and spend some private time with his wife. Michael followed his lead and talked Maria into trying fishing. The others also made plans to go hiking around the woods, and Lisa spent a few moments concocting plans on how they could keep Monk from becoming lost.

Sheryl rested against her husband where they sat on the bank watching his fishing line float in the water. The whole concept of watching a plastic bobbing thing float around and sink was lost on her, but Steve seemed to find it relaxing. She laughed against him as she listened to Michael and Maria’s conversation from where they were fishing in the middle of the river.

“I don’t see why I’ve got to wear these ugly, plastic thingies!"

“Waders, Maria. They’re called waders, and they keep your feet and pants dry.” Sheryl laughed softly as she watched Maria almost fall in the water and Michael picked her up setting her back on her feet.

“Waders, right. But, if we stayed on the side of the bank and not wade in the river then I wouldn’t have to wear ‘waders’ right?”

“This is more fun.”

“Fun? Oh, fishing fun, not to be confused with camping fun, or maybe just a subset of the larger...”

“Maria!” Steve chuckled next to her at Michael’s tone, and Sheryl looked over to see him watching the other couple too. They watched as Michael explained about the hook and bait, and Maria flat out refused to put bait on anything, to touch bait, and even declared that saying bait was equally disgusting.

“Think they’ll catch anything?” Sheryl asked.

Steve laughed aloud. “Not a chance. They scared away the fish for at least half a mile either way.”

“Then, no fish for us either?” Sheryl asked.

Steve moved in closer to her and whispered in her ear. “Doesn’t matter, I didn’t bait the hook.”

They continued to watch Michael and Maria, laughing at their antics and banter, until the impossible happened. Maria caught a fish.

“No, hold it like this when you cast!” Steve laughed as Michael began to cuss under his breath when Maria tossed the entire fishing pole in the water and he had to chase it down. “No, hold the button down, and keep a firm grip on the pole.” Michael voice climbed in exasperation. “Maria! Try not to toss the rod in the water!”

“I’m am so not having fun!” Suddenly Maria voice raised in fright. “What’s going on here? MICHAEL, help, this thing is pulling me!”

“Oh, no! Wait you’ve got a bite!” Michael grabbed Maria’s hands to keep her from dropping the rod again.

“Where? Get it off me!” Maria quickly turned around to check her backside and other exposed places for bug bites.

“Not that kind of bite. A fish! You caught a fish.” Michael tried to help Maria reel the line in, but the pull was strong since the fish was moving with the current and trying to get away, and he heard Steve calling as he rushed to join them with a net. Woo hoo, they had a fight on their hands!

“Michael!” Maria screeched as the pull on the line pulled her forward out of his arms. Michael quickly picked her out of the water. The pull was hard enough to make it hard to stand on the soft riverbed with unsure footing.

“Okay, okay, I’ve got you my little guppy.” Michael picked up the wet Maria and helped to reel in the fish which was a beautiful largemouth bass, the biggest one caught so far. Steve scooped it up and exclaimed over its size as Michael removed the hook from its mouth.

“What did you call me?” Maria asked blowing wet hair out of her face. She smelt like a riverbed.

“Slippery when wet.”

Dinner consisted of fish pan-fried in the fire, and Maria, now clean and dry, was happily retelling the tale of her first fishing story, a story that was getting bigger as she went along. The other guys just shook their collective heads when they saw Maria's huge catch and said in unison, "beginner’s luck", ignoring the fact they were just as green as Maria was at fishing.

Michael just leaned back on the large comfortable bag and listened. His stomach was full, he was rested and warm, and Maria was leaning back on his stomach from where she sat in front of him. Occasionally his hand wandered up her back to play with her golden silky hair as she talked to the others around the campfire. He listened to her animated voice with its gentle rise and fall, and watched the twinkling fire of mischief and enthusiasm in her face as she told stories that had the other rolling in laughter. This creature was someone he remembered well, the same feisty one that caught him unaware two years ago, and the same one that had been hidden and missing of late. Watching her through half closed eyes, loving the way she expressed everything with the flashing gestures of her beautiful hands, he let himself remember when he first started to love her.

They talked and laughed as the daylight slowly dissolved. Steve handed Michael a beer and offered Maria one as well. She refused and settled for a Snapple. Sharing a concerned look with Michael, they both wondered how the alcohol of the beer was going to affect him. Michael tentatively took a swallow, and actually liked the bitter taste of fermented hops. He just shrugged at Maria, and she relaxed again. Michael wondered for a second why alcohol didn’t knock him off his ass like it did Max, but then just concluded that Max was a wuss. Michael chuckled to himself and stored the thought for later when he could rib Max over his pathetic tolerance. Maria from time to time stole a small swallow of his beer, and he laughed at the face she made. It was too cute for words.

Just before they were all ready to lean back and watch the meteor shower begin, Maria suddenly remembered something. She had tried to describe this tradition last time that they went camping, but Michael wasn’t very receptive to it. So Maria arranged the ingredients for this trip. She was glad she doubled up on everything, but with Michael there was always the problem of excess. He was highly susceptible to stimulation and pleasure. Maria grabbed Sheryl to help her, and Anita and Lisa quickly went to fetch some long thin sticks from the nearby woods.

Michael and the others watched as Maria dug in the trunk of the Jetta and Sheryl held the flashlight. George was surprised when Anita dumped a few sticks in his lap and told him to whittle them some sharp points. As soon as the two large bags of marshmallows, two boxes of graham crackers and packs of chocolate bars came into view and Sheryl and Maria returned, George and the others began whittling away as the mystery dessert was revealed.

“What is it?” Michael asked as he popped a marshmallow in his mouth talking with his mouth full of the sticky sugar.

“S’mores, and don’t eat all the marshmallows or there won’t be any left to roast.” Maria took a stick and pushed two marshmallows on it and placed it in the fire. Michael just shrugged. He really couldn’t see the big deal, but watching the marshmallow turn a golden color looked interesting, and he laughed as Fly’s caught on fire and he frantically tried to blow them out.

Maria took the marshmallows she roasted 'til they were a nice golden brown and gooey in the middle and put them on a graham cracker with chocolate and handed it to a dubious Michael.

“Go ahead. You’ll love it. I promise!” But before Michael could take a bite Maria remembered something. “Wait, I almost forgot!” Maria reached into Michael's back pocket and pulled at the small bottle of Tabasco he carried everywhere and added some to the sticky treat. “Okay, eat it.” Michael looked at Maria unsure, but she gestured him to try it, so he did. It was good, actually it was great! Perfectly sweet with just the right amount of spicy fire.

Michael took a stick and added more marshmallows to it and put it in the fire. He discovered that he actually liked his a little on the burnt side, and that roasted marshmallows with Tabasco all by itself were also a real treat.

“Hey, Mike, what’s with the Tabasco?” George asked. The entire group watched Michael dousing his food in the sauce, and curiosity was killing them. Michael just paused, wondering how to explain away his favorite condiment.

“When Michael was a child he lived in a foster home,” Maria began coming to his rescue. “And his foster father wasn’t that great a parent. He used to suggest that Michael use beer for his cereal when there was no milk, so that’s when Michael started using Tabasco to add flavor to his food. Huh, Michael?” Maria looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Right. Yeah, right.” Michael looked at the others and shrugged. “I discovered a taste for anything hot and spicy, so I usually add Tabasco to my drinks or anything sweet, but over the years I just like it on about anything.” Michael didn’t mention that Maria’s skin was becoming his favorite place to use it.

Fly just shrugged and held out his hand for the bottle. “I’m game! I love spicy stuff, so pass the sauce, Chico.” Michael laughed and tossed the bottle to his friend.

“Careful, you might only want to start with a drop until you see how you like it.” They all watched as Fly put some on his S’more and tossed it in.

“Not bad.” Suddenly Fly’s voice took a higher pitch and he started coughing. “Water!”

The group all laughed as others decided to try it too. They sat around the campfire late into the night talking, eating S’mores and watching a spectacular meteor display and for once Roswell seemed very far away.

Later in their tent, Maria moved up his body letting the sweat on hers mix with his at it slowly dried on their skin. Sated and peaceful, she smiled at the residual effects of the orgasm and tried to find a comfortable position to get some sleep. It had started to rain about half an hour before, and Michael had turned the lantern to its lowest setting leaving the tent shrouded in a gentle darkness.

Maria made small noises in her throat as his hand moved up and down the soft skin of her back, and she knew he was quietly resting, listening to the sounds of rain on the tent. It was a soft shower, just slightly stronger than a misting. Michael called it river effect rain and they could hear it falling through the trees and hitting the leaves on the ground.

“I wish we didn’t have to go back.” Maria said quietly.

Michael just tightened his grip on her and rubbed his face into her hair. It was nice to be away from Roswell, away from work, school, Max, and the whole alien thing. Here Maria had regained some of herself, and for the first time in a long time, she looked really happy and Michael had to admit that he felt the same. It was nice sharing time with her and his friends and watching them interact, and the guys teasing Maria and her laughing response. They both remained silent and awake for a long time, desperate to keep that tiny world they had found for just a little longer.

When they finally made Roswell, Michael was already feeling the familiar heavy depressing feeling weighing him down. It started when they woke up that morning and after breakfast had to break camp. They went on a short hike along the river, but Maria became progressively quieter and quieter.

By the time they were packed and on the road after saying their good-byes, Michael couldn’t take it anymore so he picked a fight with her. And for the hour drive home they argued and bantered, and he discreetly sneaked glances at her enjoying the heated look that fighting almost always gave her, making her eyes flash and alive.

When they came through the door of the apartment, Michael paused and looked around. Everything was quiet and dark. Max was nowhere in sight. Maria followed him into the living room and looked around, too. She walked to the kitchen bar and picked up a note.

“Michael.” He came to her as she handed over the note after reading it. It was from Max.

“He went to LA.” Maria frowned at Michael's cold deep voice. “Max thinks that the death was caused by the other shapeshifter, and he went to find him.”

Maria sighed and sat on the coffee table. That hurt. Max left without talking to Michael, or even asking him to go along. Maria watched him concern as the tensing of his jaw showed his anger. “You going to LA?”

Michael crumbled the note in his hand and shook his head. “No, I’m not. If Maxwell needed me he would’ve asked me to go. I have work, and rent is due in another week.”

“True.” Maria said and waited for him to continue.

“He’s going to put us all in danger. This is insane. The shapeshifter sent the Ferrini guy as a warning, and then he killed him to cover his tracks. This protector is no better than Nasedo! He kills without a thought. What the hell makes Max think he's protected or safe, or any of us for that matter? He’s exposing us to risk again.” Maria watched as he paced up and down flailing his arms around, his agitation growing.

“So we’re going to LA to find Max?” Michael stopped and looked at Maria hating that look she was wearing. Resigned. Maria was resigned. But if he did go, he wasn’t leaving her behind. When Isabel dragged him on a plane to Utah the first thing he did was call Maria when he landed so she could find him, and she drove to meet up with them. This time if they had to go, they went together.

“No, not unless we have to. I guess I better pick up extra shifts at the CrashDown.” Maria looked at him questioningly. “Just in case we need bail money or gas money to LA.” Michael moved over and leaned down over her pushing her back on the coffee table. “Maybe if we have to go we could check out Disneyland.”

“Disneyland and you? Somehow Spaceboy, that doesn’t sound too strange.” Maria said moving her hand up the front of his shirt unbuttoning it. “You realize what this means of course?”

Michael moved his mouth along the skin of her neck tasting a slight salt from her sweat from the earlier hike they took. “What?”

“Max is gone, and we have your apartment back...alone.”

Michael smiled and looked at her. “That’s true. Let me take a quick shower to get the sweat off and we can discuss this in more detail.”

“Uh uh, leave it sweaty! I like you dirty sometimes.” Michael laughed at that and pushed Maria down flat on the coffee table moving down and over her body, kissing her neck under chin feeling the vibration of her joint laughter and moan. Maybe they could keep a little bit of the weekend for just a few more hours, or until tomorrow. “How far you want to take this?”

"About this far," Michael responded, and taking the easy opening she had given him, he leaned forward and touched his lips to hers for the first time since they had come home. And it was so sweet to kiss those lips, lips he had kissed in his dreams when she was too far away; lips that moved against his own even more gently than they did in his dreams. And when Maria parted them slightly, Michael accepted the invitation hungrily, entwining his tongue with hers. Flavor exploded over his tongue like a nuclear explosion. Gasping, he pulled away, fighting for breath. His whole body was hyped up this weekend, but he wasn’t complaining. It was just strange.

“Maybe we should move this to someplace steadier like the bed or sofa?” Maria suggested as she reached up to bite his neck removing his shirt and dropping it beside them on the floor.

“No this is fine.”

Maria returned his smile at last. "Uh…I'm sure this is a bad idea," she told him, "but, I mean…if you want to try it than who I am I to stop you?"

Michael laughed, "Definitely!" and leaned forward, this time taking Maria's mouth with his own determined not to stop for some rickety old table. Maria laughed and took control of the kiss from him.

It was different this time. Different having Maria kiss him. Maria's lips moved more aggressively and, when her tongue entered Michael's mouth, he was nearly overwhelmed by her surety and determination. It was extremely exciting, letting someone else take the lead. Michael tended to always control their encounters and it was the times that Maria stole that from him that he liked the best. He had always needed power or the upper hand to feel comfortable. Even in bed. No, especially in bed at first. It was like he needed to be sure of her, control her, but that had changed over the past few months. It was somehow different where she was concerned. With Maria, he was learning to let some of that domination go. When they were alone, Michael could just be Michael. That knowledge in itself was thrilling.

Sitting up to straddle the coffee table, Michael quickly removed Maria's clothes and pulled her up to sit facing him in his lap with her legs wrapping around his center. Maria's mouth was already red and puffy from his kisses, and her eyes were narrow and dark, shining and hot. That look was always able to push him to another level of arousal, because something in it was primal, speaking to a side of him he didn’t understand.

“I’m noticing I end up nude a lot, and you still have on your jeans.” Maria remarked low and throaty.

“Then unfasten them for me.”

Maria kissed him again hotly, wantonly moving against him in a way that had him hard and ready as her hand unbuttoned his jeans and she carefully unzipped him. The kiss became visceral as her tongue moved along his tongue f-ucking his mouth, and making noises deep in her throat. Michael could feel the coffee table under them start to tip as all their weight was distributed too far to one side. Moving his arms around her, he slid them closer to the middle gasping as her legs tightened around his middle.

“I don’t think this is going to be able to handle it.” Maria said closing her eyes and sucking on his neck.

“Don’t worry, you’re doing fine. You always handle everything I give you.” Michael murmured as his hand moved to her hip. Slowly, he ran his fingers down her hipbone, marveling at the softness of the skin there, loving the wide span of skin and her high waist. The satiny feel of Maria's skin was a thrill to his finger tips, and Michael paused to watch her body move against his, seeing the push and strain of her abdominal muscles moving in response to the stroking of his fingers.

“I wasn’t talking about me!” Maria said playfully hitting his shoulder. “The table!”

“It’s fine, perfect. Can you reach the condom in my jeans?” Michael stopped when he realized that he asked her that question a lot lately, especially this weekend. The condom in his back pocket was the last from a new box they had just bought for the weekend. They needed to go shopping again, because when the few in his nightstand in the bedroom were gone, they were out.

She made a soft meowing sound in her throat as she continued to make love to his mouth, that he almost missed her sliding it on him. Before he could really register that he was sheathed in the latex, Maria lifted a little and Michael gasped and then groaned as he felt himself penetrate inside her. Then suddenly they both exploded in a flurry of activity where Michael couldn’t tell if they were moving or the damn table.

Maria kissed a path across his chest, pausing to lick at a nipple. Michael gasped and tensed, breathing hard as his nipple was licked again. Maria's tongue traced his hardening nub with delicate precision, and when his nipple was finally enveloped in the wet heat of her mouth, Michael moaned aloud. It felt incredible. It was that tickling sensation that always accompanied such stimulation that aroused him. It seemed to go on forever and stripped him of his ability to think.

As Maria gently sucked his nipple, he felt her one arm move to circle his neck holding him tight, and a hand move to his groin, and when Maria explored their bodies where they were joined he could feel himself hardening even more in response. Michael began to pant. Moving to his other nipple, Maria gave it the same treatment sucking it in hard into her mouth and then unexpectedly she bit him hard, her hand massaging him in time with her sucking. Michael moaned again and rolled his head to one side.

She was pushing him hard, taunting him with every move. Maria knew that she had gone too far when her eyes met his and the darkened golden brown eyes gleamed harshly. Michael grabbed her and literally slammed her hard against the table on her back, a part of him was appalled at how harsh and violent he was being, but the other part of him watched her eyes as the breath rushed from her lungs. There she was. There was his mate. Maria’s eyes darkened and an almost gleaming twinkle came in them and a self-satisfied smile pulled the ends of her mouth up.

Raging into her, not taking too much thought over being careful, Michael couldn’t hear anything but a roaring sound in his ears, and see an almost a blinding light behind his eyes. So much sex. They had had so much sex over the weekend so his stamina was at an all time high. Maria’s voice penetrated the haze and he laughed at her instructions telling him "Yes" and "Come harder". She was definitely up for a long hard ride...his girl.

When the orgasm hit, it took him to a place he had only achieved a few times. They always hit it in levels, but this place was deeper, farther away. Michael was convinced that he lost consciousness when they made it to this place, but the bright burning brilliance of light made that seem impossible. The only thing he was sure of at this moment was that she was with him there. It was the feel, smell and taste of her that anchored him, her essence. Time stood still and then raced at high-speed living a lifetime in a second, and stretching a moment to hours. As the sensation finally receded Michael could feel the fatigue pull at his body and muscles like a lactic acid washout. Moving his legs from where they still straddled the table, and where his feet had used the ground to give him more powerful thrusts, Michael twined his legs with Maria’s on the table, finally putting all his bodyweight with hers.

“Um, Michael? I don’t think this table is strong enough…” Maria’s voice sounded lethargic, but suddenly ended in a scream as they both crashed to the ground in a flurry of arms and legs and splintered wood. Maria felt the breath rush out of her in a large whoosh as Michael landed half on top of her.

“God, Maria, are you all right?” Michael asked moving himself off of her and running his hand over her body checking for injury.

“I survived.” Maria said once she could breathe again. “But I think we murdered the coffee table.”

Michael just laughed and Maria pushed him over flat and rolled on top of him laughing too.

Michael moved her hair out of the way and kissed her smiling face. “You promised me you would tell me what kind of fun you were having this weekend. Remember?”

Maria looked at him and then at the debris around them. “Oh that!” Pulling him in for another kiss she whispered, “Michael Fun!”