Title: Tempest
Disclaimer: The characters and concepts of "Roswell" belong to Jason Katims, Melinda Metz, and 20th Century Fox.

Pairings: Michael/Liz
Rating: Teen
Summary: Liz is caught between two brothers, one who already holds her heart, but has pushed her away for her own good, and the other doing his best to worm his way in; which will she choose? A different take on my vignette Covet.

Covet

"Yous been holdin' out on me, sweets."

Liz looked up as Rath plopped down in front of her at the Crashdown counter where she was going over her supply order before calling it in. Nibbling on her pencil, she tucked her hair behind her ear and looked back down, confusion marring her face as she continued to peruse the paperwork in front of her.

"How am I holding out on you?" she asked distractedly, chin propped in her hand as she mentally calculated how many bottles of ketchup they'd need to get through the next three weeks and waited for his response. "Two cases should be enough for a while," she muttered under her breath as she marked the paper.

Huffing with annoyance, Rath reached over and tugged on a strand of her hair, trying to draw her attention back to him. Batting his hand away, she made another mark on her paperwork, ignoring the alien's irritated grumble. He tugged on her hair again, making her roll her eyes at his impatience.

Sighing, her pencil clattered to the counter and she focused her attention on Michael's persistent dupe knowing that he would hound her until she gave in and listened anyway. Crossing her arms over her chest, she looked at him expectantly, hoping he'd hurry it up so she could get this order in before the distributor closed.

"Well?" she prompted impatiently, gesturing with her hand as the perverse man smirked at her knowingly. Between spending all day training with Michael and the long strategy meeting that followed, she was beat and not in the mood to deal with perverse aliens.

"The kiss, dollface," he snickered, licking his lips suggestively, brow quirking as he took in her stumped expression.

"What kiss?" she queried, exasperated by his cryptic comment.

"Oh come now, babe, it couldn't have been that forgettable. I felts you response before you's sensibilities kicked in and told you's it was wrong," he snorted. "You. Me. In school near you's locker, my tongue down you's throat? Ring any bells yet, sweetness?"

"Oh, that," she snorted, rolling her eyes as she shook her head. God, she hadn't thought about that in years. "That was what, four, five years ago? Forgive me if I didn't dwell on your one attempt to molest me, Rath. Or well your replacement...umm...you know what I mean. I've kinda had other things on my mind over the years. You know, like mine and my family's survival?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he smirked, eyes dancing devilishly as he wagged his tongue suggestively as he did the day. "You wants me. Don't deny it."

She laughed, eyes glimmering with amusement and shook her head at his comment, picking up her pencil once again. But instead of dismissing him and going back to her order, she fixed him with a curious glance. "Did Maria tell you about that?"

"Nah, sweets. I saws it in a flash when I had you's pinned during our sparring session today," he grinned, wagging his eyebrows at her, licking his lips slowly as his gaze drifted over her suggestively. "Hmmmm…interesting that you's were thinking of that kiss when you were under me. You's not telling me something?"

"In your dreams." Liz snorted derisively, eyes twinkling.

"Every night, dollface, every night," he smirked playfully, as a clatter from the kitchen grabbed his attention. Sliding his eyes over to the order window, he caught his dupe watching them; his forehead creased thoughtfully and decided to have a little fun at his expense since he knew how much duke wanted the little brunette for his own.

Glancing back to the pretty girl in front of him, Rath reached over and drew a lazy finger over her cheek teasingly, grinning unabashedly when he saw Michael tense and frown out of the corner of his eyes as he flirted with Liz. It was far too easy to poke at his dupe. He's amazed she hasn't picked up on his feelings yet. Well, maybe this will give the duke some incentive to end the dance before the two drove them all nuts.

"So what's you say babe, want to reacquaints me wit' the lay of the land?" he whispered softly, lips curving with mischief as he traced his finger to the corner of her mouth, lightly brushing her lips before pulling his hand away and dropped it to the counter to brace his weight for what he was about to do next.

Missing his mischievous glance at Michael, Liz giggled at his antics and rolled her eyes again, leaning towards him to comment just he leaned in towards her under the pretense of stealing a kiss. His lips brushed against hers gently, in a very different kiss from their first. She pulled back slightly, gasping softly as she licked her lips and stunned eyes flew to his.

Hovering over her parted lips, Rath's breath hitched as he stared into those deep ebony eyes and decided that if Michael was going to slaughter him anyway, he might as well make it worth while. Closing the distance between them, he cupped her jaw delicately, his heart hammering against his breastbone as his mouth sunk against hers, lips melting together in a slow, sweet caress that deepened slightly with every brush.

Liz's breath hitched as his hand slid to cup the back of her skull, cradling the nape of her neck and tightened his hold on her as his other hand rose to cup the other side of her face, whimpering softly when his tongue flit over her bottom lip. Pulling back, he stared at flushed cheeks and pink, passion-swollen lips with a slight smug twist to his mouth and completely forgetting his original intent, leaned in to claim her mouth once more, jolting and smirking further as the sound of exploding bottles met his ears.

Liz jerked away, astonished eyes flying to the order window as shattered glass tinkled to the floor and squirmed at the fulminating glare Michael fixed on his twin. Brow furrowing, she shifted on her stool, bringing Michael's hard gaze to her and saw a brief flash of hurt flit through his eyes before he squelched it. "I'm taking a break," he bit out as he cleared up the mess before anyone could see it, tossing his spatula onto the grill and tearing his off apron, he stalked past a returning Jose into the employee lounge.

Flicking wide eyes between Rath and Michael, Liz chewed on her lip thoughtfully, sliding from the stool nervously and skirting the tall alien in front of her, hurried in the back of the diner, her cheeks burning as she wondered what that was about. Rath watched her scurry off, licking his lips and he bit back a moan as slightest tinge of vanilla and strawberries dance over his palate. Swiping a hand over his face, he stared after the petite brunette moodily and damned his weakness.

How was he going to forget about her now?