Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel, but I sure do love it.
xxx JUMPING INTO THE ACTION WITH THIS ONE xxx
Horizontal Lines will signify a change in scene or point of view.
CHAPTER 1
Max opened the door of her Terminal City apartment and Alec followed her inside. The warehouse raid had gone off without a hitch, now she could take the night off. The food supplies would sustain them for a while.
Alec adjusted the lapels of his jacket, while he leant against her apartment wall. He had been weird all day, almost shy, which he never was.
He shot her a coy sidelong glance. "Meet you downstairs at the bar in ten?" His eyes were full of hope as he waited for her reply.
He loomed closer to her. She shifted, unnerved by his imposing presence and intentions.
As she took a step backwards a lopsided grin stretched across his face.
Where was Joshua when she needed him? Suddenly she remembered that he had dinner plans with Gem and Dalton tonight. Her stomach swirled creating a feeling of nausea.
She spent most nights hanging out or working jobs with Alec, but they were never alone.
He stood in front of her. "Make sure you wear those tight blue jeans and black leather jacket I like." His waggling eyebrows confirmed her suspicions. After weeks of heavy flirting on his side, he was asking her out.
"I'm wearing that now."
He cocked his head and his eyes openly perused her body. He reached for her chin. "You always are." She could feel his warm breath on her face and desire began to stir within her under his heated gaze.
She shoved him away, embarrassed, a smile tugging at her lips. "Get out, you jerk!" She grabbed a nearby cushion and threw it at him.
He laughed proudly and dodged the projectile. He blurred towards the door looking for an exit.
"Now Max..." He said, pausing in the doorway. "Don't keep me waiting. It's been long enough."
Her apartment door closed before she could respond. She stared at the white door wistfully at a loss for words.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Several weeks prior, Logan had found a cure for the virus housed in Max's body.
During their forced separation she managed to convince herself that a cure would solve all of their problems.
A couple nights after she was virus free, they had an elaborate candlelit dinner in his apartment. Max became aware it no longer felt right, recoiling from him when he tried to kiss her.
To this day Logan was bitter, he blamed Alec for the separation. He thought Alec had been hanging in the wings all along biding his time to pounce.
It turned out Logan was right, pounce he did. After she told Alec that she wasn't going to be dating Logan, things changed between them. She smiled to herself in memory of his flirtatious innuendos, subtle touches and not so innocent caresses.
Each passing day, they spent in Terminal City their bond grew stronger.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Max walked into her bedroom to grab a jacket and self-consciously checked her appearance in the mirror. She wondered if this was how normal girls felt. "This is only Alec… smart ass Alec." A little date with him had her immobilised with fear.
She had been on the run from Manticore and managed to survive countless brushes with death. She was a soldier. "Get a grip, Max."
Deep down she knew what scared her. They had a real chance of working out long term. He wasn't like Logan or Darren. He was on her level, a Transgenic.
She wanted him, but intimacy was a double-edged sword. If she let him in and lost him, she wouldn't know how to deal it. Original Cindy's voice echoed in her mind, 'You can't think like that Sugar. You gotta let somebody in one day.'
Max changed her top, optimistic it would settle her nerves. She looked into the mirror again and sighed. It changed nothing.
She put her original clothing back on and sat down on the edge of her bed. She could just stay in, stand him up, he'd get over it. That was the safe option. She always ran from relationships. She wasn't going to do that anymore, not with Alec.
Max stormed to her front door flinging it open. The door ricocheted off the wall and slammed closed behind her.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Terminal City's bar was a short walk from her apartment.
She entered the bar, surveying the room for Alec. He was seated alone in a corner booth with two beers. The beer he'd brought her was starting to gather condensation.
She pushed her way through the crowd. When she was a few metres away she noticed he was wearing different clothes. He wore a black t-shirt that accentuated his athletic body and smouldering eyes. He had wet, unkept hair.
It looked like she wasn't the only one who was nervous. He looked good.
"Hey," she said sitting down across from him. The scent of his aftershave lingered in the air. He smelt good too.
"I see you went with my favourite," Alec said, eyeing her clothes.
"Yeah. Thanks for the beer." Max looked down at the drink in front of her careful to avoid his gaze. Her heart raced in anticipation of the night's events.
"No problem." Alec sipped his beer and scooted around the booth to get closer to her. She could feel the warmth of his thigh against hers. "Is it busy in here tonight or what?"
His hand softly caressed her knee. "It…" She froze in panic and peered down at his hand.
He swiftly removed it.
God, she was making messing this up. She needed her best friend to talk some sense into her. "Sorry," she muttered, her face softening to force a smile in his direction.
He studied her for a few seconds before he placed his hand back on her knee and gave it a squeeze. "S'okay."
Alec always understood.
Silence hung in the air for what felt like an eternity. Max fidgeted with the label on her drink and occasionally took glimpses at Alec, who was surveying their surroundings. She sucked at relationships, being all mushy and vulnerable wasn't her thing.
"Max…" he whispered in a low husky voice. He angled himself towards her and she felt his hand slide a little higher up her leg. His thumb stroked her inner thigh.
She looked up at him to find his eyes were saying a thousand things neither of them had the courage too.
"Come to my place," he bravely said.
"We just got here Alec, aren't we meant-"
"We talk all the time Max. You're always telling me to shut up." She let out a soft laugh.
"How could I forget?" She sipped on her beer, struggling to put together a coherent sentence when his hand was so close to where she really wanted it.
He removed her beer from her hand and placed it on the other side of the table, just out of reach. He wasn't letting her avoid him any longer.
His fingers started to walk themselves up her body. "Sides, do you really want to go on a date? It's so ordinary. We don't need small talk." Alec leant in close to her ear. "I want to see you in something else..." His fingers stroked the slither of skin exposed between her jeans and midriff, edging under her top. "Something with more skin. Lingerie perhaps, that might be my new favourite."
His hand stilled and he drew back to look at her. She was breathless, her body begged for his touch.
She placed her hand on his wrist. His pulse thumped in time with hers. She bit down on her lip and saw Alec's eyes narrow as he watched her.
His free hand slid up to her neck, pulling her closer.
She leant towards him as he placed a soft kiss on her lips. She sighed when his mouth left hers to plant butterfly kisses down her neck. Her breath hitched at the sensation of his tongue gliding along her skin. Alec mumbled something incoherent against her collarbone in return.
She heard a purposeful cough and opened her newly closed eyes. They were in public.
She caught a few males in the room who were staring, a little too slow to avert their gaze.
"I know naked would be your favourite," she whispered. Alec laughed into her neck and let go of her. He sprawled back against the booth.
She already missed the feel of his hands on her body.
"What?" he yawned. He was cute when he was sleepy.
Feeling playful, she folded her feet up onto the booth and crawled up close beside him. He put his arm around her waist to steady her as she knocked the table in the process.
With her mouth by his ear, she seductively teased, "Naked is my favourite Alec… that's how I want you when you touch me." His fingers mindlessly stroked her back.
She had never openly flirted with him. His wild grin lets her know just how much he appreciated it.
She placed her hand on his chiselled jaw and kissed his lips, with more force this time around. Alec eagerly pried her mouth open and slid his tongue in. One hand fisted her hair while his mouth crashed against hers.
She could feel him trying to nudge her onto his lap. She resisted, resting her forehead on his to catch her breath.
"Can we go? I want the touching to start," he panted. Max laughed, she'd never heard him beg, not even when that chip was about to explode in his neck.
Alec's hand skimmed over the side of her breast as it fell, resting on her ass. Her whole body tingled.
"I have to stop by Joshua's and Dix wanted me to-"
He silenced her with a passionate, desperate kiss that left her wanting more. "When you're in my bed you'll forget all of it."
"Who said anything about a bed?"
"I like the way you think."
She could almost see his dirty little mind running all the possibilities. In his haste to leave, he stumbled out of the booth and held out his hand for her. She had managed to unsettle his picture-perfect facade. It was only fair, he had gotten under her skin and he took great pleasure in the fact.
Max intertwined her fingers with his and they fled the bar for his place.
She heard his apartment door click closed and seconds later was pinned against it. He was all over her like a starving man who'd waited all too long for his meal.