Blah blah, Kiss kiss, part 5
by pari106
pari106@hotmail.com
Code: M/Z ; Rating: PG-13; Disclaimer: …Cameron, Eglee, FOX…you know the drill.
Blah blah, Kiss kiss
by pari106
Zack blinked.
"What?"
Max smiled. It wasn't exactly what one hoped for in a romantic evening, but then, Zack's charm didn't lie
in his poetry.
Besides, under the circumstances, Max figured the shock and – was that fright? – that crossed Zack's face
was appropriate. And the lack of any other, more negative reaction urged Max on.
Her hand was shaking slightly, as she set her wineglass aside, but her gaze didn't waver as she looked at
Zack.
She spoke softly. "I said, am I one of them? A moment of weakness?"
Silence followed.
In that silence, Max began to wonder if perhaps she and Logan had been wrong all along. But he was
sitting so close to her. The atmosphere was so charged she felt like the heat coming from the fireplace was
being generated by she and Zack alone. She'd never gotten the chance to study his eyes like this before.
She'd never noticed his scent before – which was funny, considering their advanced sensibilities. Logan
never wore cologne, but Zack did. Max couldn't place what kind, but Zack's scent was half of that and half
just himself. And it was driving her to distraction.
And he'd smiled. Max had gotten the rare privilege of seeing Zack smile. She'd heard laughter in his
voice. Now she wanted to kiss that smile and hear him laugh again. She wanted him to touch her hair
again. She wanted him to hold her, and to take comfort in his strength and control.
Because she certainly didn't feel very in control.
Max felt hot and light-headed and giddy and so damned in-love…
And Zack wasn't acting like the same, cold, objective-oriented CO he sometimes was. He wasn't looking
at her the way a brother would look at his sister.
So, when the intimacy of their conversation seemed to reach a peak, Max had spoken without thinking.
Without planning.
And now she realized she might as well keep going forward, because it was too late to go back.
Max could almost sense Zack's thoughts. Should he explore this new development, or retreat for
consideration and then redeploy? She could see it in his eyes, and it was so Zack it made her heart quicken
just a little, but Max couldn't let him pull away just yet.
She reached over and put her hand on both of his, where they were folded around his glass. He watched
her movements with the same keen wariness he used to watch everyone and everything. Then, when it
looked as though he might say something, she reached quickly over and a put a finger to his lips. "Wait,"
she said.
It was a mistake.
If she had been feeling feverish before, that was nothing compared to what Max felt when Zack's lips
touched her fingertips. But even as the act made her knees weak, it bolstered her courage. Because she
saw the same spark of desire in Zack's eyes, at that moment, as the one she knew was burning in her own.
"Just wait. Let me say something."
"Max…"
Zack stared at her, totally at a loss. Had he fallen asleep while they were talking? He had to be dreaming.
But Max's hands on his own seemed real enough. She was close enough that he could feel her breath on
his cheek as she spoke.
"I guess Manticore would call caring a weakness," she was saying. She was looking into Zack's eyes, and
they both felt the urge to look away, to hide the secrets they were keeping from each other for just a
moment longer, now that they were so close to letting them go. But neither looked away. "But I don't
believe that," Max continued.
Zack set his glass aside, as well, his eyes never leaving Max's face.
"Of course I care about you, Maxie," he said carefully. 'This can absolutely not be happening…'
Max's gaze faltered then, for just that moment, her nervousness and fear finally getting the best of her. But
she kept her hands on Zack's, turning them over until she could link her fingers with his own.
"I know," she told him, taking a deep breath. "I'll always appreciate your taking care of us, Zack," she told
him. Then she looked up at him again. "But that's not the only kind of caring I'm talking about."
Zack's own anxiety lingered, but beneath it an irresistible spark of hope began to ignite. A hope he'd never
really thought could ever be realized until now. And suddenly a little bit of that hope began to seep into his
expression, making him want to smile. Only the blood-churning desire raging through him kept him from
doing so.
He swallowed. Hard.
Then he leaned in even closer, once again raising a hand to Max's hair. But this time, he went right past it
and cupped her cheek in the palm of his hand.
"What kind of caring are you talking about?" he said, his voice soft and low.
Max's breathing quickened, and she just stared at him as he lowered his gaze to her lips. Then, with a
daring Zack hadn't thought he'd had outside of battle, he closed that final inch between them.
"This kind?" he asked, nearly whispering.
And then he kissed her.
by pari106
pari106@hotmail.com
Code: M/Z ; Rating: PG-13; Disclaimer: …Cameron, Eglee, FOX…you know the drill.
Blah blah, Kiss kiss
by pari106
Zack blinked.
"What?"
Max smiled. It wasn't exactly what one hoped for in a romantic evening, but then, Zack's charm didn't lie
in his poetry.
Besides, under the circumstances, Max figured the shock and – was that fright? – that crossed Zack's face
was appropriate. And the lack of any other, more negative reaction urged Max on.
Her hand was shaking slightly, as she set her wineglass aside, but her gaze didn't waver as she looked at
Zack.
She spoke softly. "I said, am I one of them? A moment of weakness?"
Silence followed.
In that silence, Max began to wonder if perhaps she and Logan had been wrong all along. But he was
sitting so close to her. The atmosphere was so charged she felt like the heat coming from the fireplace was
being generated by she and Zack alone. She'd never gotten the chance to study his eyes like this before.
She'd never noticed his scent before – which was funny, considering their advanced sensibilities. Logan
never wore cologne, but Zack did. Max couldn't place what kind, but Zack's scent was half of that and half
just himself. And it was driving her to distraction.
And he'd smiled. Max had gotten the rare privilege of seeing Zack smile. She'd heard laughter in his
voice. Now she wanted to kiss that smile and hear him laugh again. She wanted him to touch her hair
again. She wanted him to hold her, and to take comfort in his strength and control.
Because she certainly didn't feel very in control.
Max felt hot and light-headed and giddy and so damned in-love…
And Zack wasn't acting like the same, cold, objective-oriented CO he sometimes was. He wasn't looking
at her the way a brother would look at his sister.
So, when the intimacy of their conversation seemed to reach a peak, Max had spoken without thinking.
Without planning.
And now she realized she might as well keep going forward, because it was too late to go back.
Max could almost sense Zack's thoughts. Should he explore this new development, or retreat for
consideration and then redeploy? She could see it in his eyes, and it was so Zack it made her heart quicken
just a little, but Max couldn't let him pull away just yet.
She reached over and put her hand on both of his, where they were folded around his glass. He watched
her movements with the same keen wariness he used to watch everyone and everything. Then, when it
looked as though he might say something, she reached quickly over and a put a finger to his lips. "Wait,"
she said.
It was a mistake.
If she had been feeling feverish before, that was nothing compared to what Max felt when Zack's lips
touched her fingertips. But even as the act made her knees weak, it bolstered her courage. Because she
saw the same spark of desire in Zack's eyes, at that moment, as the one she knew was burning in her own.
"Just wait. Let me say something."
"Max…"
Zack stared at her, totally at a loss. Had he fallen asleep while they were talking? He had to be dreaming.
But Max's hands on his own seemed real enough. She was close enough that he could feel her breath on
his cheek as she spoke.
"I guess Manticore would call caring a weakness," she was saying. She was looking into Zack's eyes, and
they both felt the urge to look away, to hide the secrets they were keeping from each other for just a
moment longer, now that they were so close to letting them go. But neither looked away. "But I don't
believe that," Max continued.
Zack set his glass aside, as well, his eyes never leaving Max's face.
"Of course I care about you, Maxie," he said carefully. 'This can absolutely not be happening…'
Max's gaze faltered then, for just that moment, her nervousness and fear finally getting the best of her. But
she kept her hands on Zack's, turning them over until she could link her fingers with his own.
"I know," she told him, taking a deep breath. "I'll always appreciate your taking care of us, Zack," she told
him. Then she looked up at him again. "But that's not the only kind of caring I'm talking about."
Zack's own anxiety lingered, but beneath it an irresistible spark of hope began to ignite. A hope he'd never
really thought could ever be realized until now. And suddenly a little bit of that hope began to seep into his
expression, making him want to smile. Only the blood-churning desire raging through him kept him from
doing so.
He swallowed. Hard.
Then he leaned in even closer, once again raising a hand to Max's hair. But this time, he went right past it
and cupped her cheek in the palm of his hand.
"What kind of caring are you talking about?" he said, his voice soft and low.
Max's breathing quickened, and she just stared at him as he lowered his gaze to her lips. Then, with a
daring Zack hadn't thought he'd had outside of battle, he closed that final inch between them.
"This kind?" he asked, nearly whispering.
And then he kissed her.