Changes: Part Three
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything in relation to Dark Angel. No money is involved (story of my life).
SUMMARY: Alec admits that her dream was real and it sets off a chain of events that forces Max realize whom she truly wants. M/A
FEEDBACK: Please send feedback of any kind (praise, flaming, constructive criticism, etc.) to naiya@mauimail.com
NOTES: My first attempt at a non - Xmen fanfiction. Please be patient with me. Any questions see feedback for my email address and I'll answer as best as I can. Archive at will.
We weren't built with the idea that emotion was a good thing. At this moment I couldn't argue with them more. Counting slowly to ten never really appealed to me. However, like many things at this point, I was re-evaluating my position.
Ten: anger was the first to surface. Nine: betrayal that OC had conspired with the 'enemy'. Eight: suspicion on Alec's part. Why the hell was he following me that day? Seven: surprise that he had let me take my rage out on him. He barely defended himself. Six: pain of loss. Logan's words still thundered in my ears. Five: back to anger that bordered on fury. Damn him! If he had really meant what he said, he wouldn't have said it. Four: resignation that it was over and it was time to live again.
From three to one I vacillated between cursing Alec and taking to heart what OC had said. We had grown accustomed to snapping at each other. Did I want to upset the status quo?
His shoulders slumped a little in defeat as he pushed to his feet. "We knew you'd make yourself forget," Alec began quietly and turned around.
We were standing inches apart and my breath caught in my throat when I focused in on his face. Under the full force of those eyes I felt my body react to his heat and couldn't hide it. His nostrils flared slightly when my scent changed but he refrained from making a smart-ass comment.
"You should have told me," I said and watched a similar gamut of emotions that I went through play across his face. Blue pupils swam up from solid yellow but held a wild edge. Okay, maybe we can talk rationally I thought and waited for an explanation.
What was he debating over I wondered. I looked down briefly and noticed he kept opening and closing his hands nervously. Poor thing, confessing must be something Manticore didn't included in the training.
To be honest I should have been paying more attention to the situation at hand. I was so caught up in mentally listing everything our lovely creators didn't include that I didn't realize Alec had closed the distance between us. Caught off guard I relied on pure instinct and backed away until I hit the far wall.
He followed and pressed close careful not to touch. Static electricity seemed to flow from his body to mine. It was so hot; he was so hot. A gentle breeze raised goose bumps up and down my arms, bit along my spine and glided over my legs. It made me highly aware that I was in nothing but a fitted T-shirt and black cotton panties. My jeans lay forgotten under the couch.
"Alec," I started but my mind went blank when Alec's face twisted up into a snarl. The tip of his tongue shot out and rested against his bottom teeth. He was taking in my scent through his mouth to taste it. I've done it a couple of times to enhance my perception of a person. Right at this moment I thought it was the sexist thing he'd ever done.
No. No. No, don't give in, I told myself and brought my hands up to push him away, big mistake. Damp skin slid under my fingers and I had a sensory image of lapping up the salty edges of the scars I'd made. At my touch, his scent exploded into a myriad of overtones and washed over me like a tidal wave.
I was drowning and couldn't breathe. Shaking my head frantically, I pushed him, flat handed so that my claws wouldn't draw blood. He wouldn't budge. In fact he leaned in and started up that damned purr of his. "Alec fight it, damn you!" I tried to say but all that escaped my lips was a whimper.
Pissed, I should be pissed but it was getting difficult to concentrate. The way I figured it, I had two choices: fight or flight. My body chimed in with a third choice: knock him down and ride him till he screams.
I was losing the battle.
*****
Decide! Decide, I chanted in my head as Alec wormed his way between my hands snuggling up against me. Our bodies touched in an unbroken line and I couldn't help but feel just how happy the contact was making him. Stuck between a wall and a hard Alec, things were going from worse to impossible.
Abruptly he pulled back in a quick jerk of disbelief like someone waking up from bad dream. To Alec, self-control and sense of self were the two most important things to him. Heat was challenging him for both and I watched him struggle to reassert his hold on them.
"NO!" he roared and dropped to his knees. Muscles in his back corded as his fists plunged over and over into the floor. The blows intensified, cracking the tiles, and left bloody impression of his knuckles on the surface.
"Alec, stop it." Although wary to reestablish physical contact with him I knelt and captured his wrists. I remembered to sheath my claws before I dug my fingers into his tendons. Both fists unfurled in a wash of blood. Four half-moon wounds from where his claws bit adorned each palm.
He regarded me with eyes as red as the blood on the floor and growled low in his throat. In one fluid motion, faster than the eye could see, Alec was on his feet and heading toward his bedroom with me still clinging to his wrists. Holding me nearly a foot off the ground didn't seem to slow him down much and I began to appreciate his raw strength.
Two steps away from his bedroom door, I released my hold on his wrists, hit the ground running and barreled into him. Alec reclaimed some ground and drove his elbow between my shoulder blades. Sharp pain speared between my shoulders; I guess we were going for option one I thought wryly as I regained my breath.
Adrenaline surged through my system as I shifted on command. Muscle temperature rose just before he threw a punch. The thermal imagery of my transformed eyes gave me a split second warning and I was able to avoid his next barrage.
This sucked. I couldn't retaliate - it wasn't really his fault - and I couldn't keep dodging him forever. Six months ago he'd done the same thing for me but I wasn't about stand here and let him tear me apart. Switching from choice one (fight) to choice two (flight), I ducked under his last kick and swept his other leg from under him.
Great move Max, I chided myself when I realized that he'd fall top of me. Again I had to admit that Manticore trained us well. I grabbed him by the elbow as he fell and dropped to the ground. My foot made solid contact with his stomach as I pulled on the arm. Kicking upward simultaneously, I threw him onto the remaining undamaged piece of furniture: the coffee table.
While Alec flailed in a mess of paper and wood I darted into the bathroom. The door's lock was feeble but it would give me enough time to come up with a plan.
The bathroom was plain and in bad need of a paint-job. Most of the ceiling tiles were gone, probably rotted away after years of neglect. Loose wires tangled around the steel cables that suspended the lighting figures high above the tub. The tub itself was huge and surprisingly clean, although the curtain crawled with mold.
"MAX!" Alec's throaty roar cut through the budding plan forming in my mind. Suddenly the door splintered, metal braces groaning as Alec ripped the door right off its hinges. He flowed into the room in a wave of lust and violence and I was drowning again. If I let him get within touching distance, option three would become very viable.
With Alec blocking the exit and the windows barred there was only one way out. I leapt straight up and landed on the rafters as softly as possible. They shook under the impact raining dust and bits of ceiling onto Alec. Some of the wires wrapped around my ankle. It gave me an idea.
Down below Alec circled never taking his eyes off of me. "Come down and play," he taunted. Actually I was a little relieved. Talking meant that he could be reasoned with, I hoped. "You want me, I can smell it."
He didn't know how right he was but I wasn't about to tell him that. I needed to neutralize him before I considered giving in to my body. Anything done while he was in this state of mind would be rape.
No one deserved that, not even Alec and I realized with striking clarity that my previously elusive, nebulous feelings for him congealed. You know that fine line between hate and love? I was in danger of crossing it.
But, first thing's first. I untangled the wire from my ankle and tied a slipknot on one end. Two strong throws opened it up into a noose. Holding the excess in my other hand I crouched waiting. When Alec passed under me I rolled off the beam and landed on his back.
He lurched backward and pinned me against the wall so hard I almost lost my grip on his waist. Fighting for breath, I locked my ankles and held on tight. As I expected he made a grab for my waist. I had the noose tightly around his wrist but suffered a graze of those damn knives he had for claws on my rib cage. His free hand came around scoring the other side and I bound it with the remaining length of wire.
By no means helpless, Alec threw he weight forward and dipped one shoulder with inhuman speed. Matching reflexes should have allowed me to remain on his back. Sweat and dust covered his skin in a thin layer making it impossibly slippery. The only reason why I had stayed on before was because Alec tried to make me one with the wall.
The second I hit my vision burst into a kaleidoscope of colors. Cool porcelain caressed my back; I must have landed against the tub. Momentarily stunned and blinded there was no way I'd be able to defend myself if he decided to take me here and now but my other senses told me he was still in the room. In fact he was very close and I jumped involuntarily when I felt bare skin brush my calves.
Here I was worried about raping him, it had never occurred to me that he might not be able to stop himself from doing the same to me. A flash of true fear cleared my vision, but my body continued to ignore my commands to move. Alec knelt between my legs his nostrils flared to catch the change in my scent. He bent at the waist hands still bound behind his back, and worked his way under my shirt.
My scream was a mixture of pleasure, pain and surprise. I'm not sure which sensation was stronger as Alec kept running his tongue in long lingering passes over my wounds. He treated both sides in this manner before reemerging. The expression on his face was anti-climatic. Tears ran unchecked down his cheeks from very normal human eyes.
"Don't...want...hurt," he ground out through gritted teeth and rubbed his fevered cheek against mine, down the line of my neck, then proceeded to lick the wounds above my left breast. One of his licks came dangerously close to my nipple and all logical thought escaped me. "Can't fight...any longer," he cried nipping his way to the nape of my neck.
Feeling finally returned to my arms and legs. I could move and escape, run as far away as my mind screamed for me to. My body and heart told it to go to hell. Alec needed me, and not only for copulation.
"You won't have to." I caught his chin and lifted him away from my neck. He turned into my hand, eyes closed and I kissed his tears away. With a shuddering sigh he opened his eyes and met my gaze. We stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, leaving much unsaid.
In that small span of time, Alec regained control and grew still. "I knew you wanted me," he said softly sat back onto his heels. A comment like that would have gotten him the ass-kicking of the century, but this time I let it slide, truth's truth.
"Just don't let it go to your head, smart ass." Tucking my legs under me, I rose to my knees and grabbed the knot that fastened my blanket to his waist. Tugging gently I drew him back to his knees until we reconnected the line of our bodies that had been broken earlier.
"Seems like something went to my 'head'" he laughed and ground his hips slightly. The old Alec had returned, sure and confident with attitude to spare.
"You're such an ass," I growled and did what I've wanted to do ever since his heat started. Our first kiss was butterfly soft but sent a thrill through my body and I wanted more. Quick to oblige he parted my lips and deepened the kiss. Once our tongues touched I was lost.
We explored each other's mouths thoroughly while I worked on his bonds. I wanted his hands on me so bad that I was having difficulty with the knot. He pulled away before I had a chance to free him and I lost my balance.
"Patience, Max, patience," he chided, tone full of amusement as I landed face first into his crotch. My only regret was that the damn blanket was in the way. Maybe I can use it to my advantage. I rubbed my face on the inside of his thigh just brushing him. It was similar to cheek marking cats do and I was oh so feeling catlike.
He went from relatively hard to rock solid and I was rewarded when he choked on his teasing. I took a quick peek at his face. Desire darkened his eyes to a hue somewhere between sapphire and midnight blue. Hungry was the only word I could think of that described the curious look he was giving me and it was contagious.
Somehow he managed to free his hands and I found myself off the ground. "Hey..." I started to protest but found it hard to talk and kiss at the same time. We kissed our way to his room so engrossed in each other that we half fell half laid onto the bed.
I was vaguely aware that the blanket had fallen away as we rolled around, taking turns on top. The feel of Alec's hands roving lightly over my skin drove me crazy. My senses attempted to drink in everything about him. From his scent to the way his muscles danced under my fingers, he was intoxicating.
He broke away from my lips and I wanted to scream at him to come back. Then he left me alone and I wanted to cry. My mind struggled to understand his sudden change of mind until the room went completely dark. Oh right the curtains.
There was a sensation of movement, an infinitesimal change in air pressure before the bed beside me sunk and he was back. Alec rolled onto my upper body and rose up onto his elbows so he could gaze at me with golden eyes. I flinched slightly when he brought both hands up to caress my cheeks and let my eyes shift so I could she him clearly. More tears ebbed their way down his face and fell onto my skin. Huh?
"Max, I'm sorr..."
"Shh, you have nothing to be sorry for," I soothed and wiped his tears away. "You were right. I want you," I said matter-of-factly but his tears didn't abate.
"But you won't when my heat is done. You'll hate me," he said softly. The despair in his voice caused a mysterious lump in my throat and my heart ached to ease his fears.
"How can I hate the one person who lets me beat them up? I named you and after careful consideration, I intend to keep you," I finished and stroked the small of his back. The smile he the spread across his face was breathtaking and I couldn't be surer of crossing that line than anything else, I loved him. "Now where were we..."
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything in relation to Dark Angel. No money is involved (story of my life).
SUMMARY: Alec admits that her dream was real and it sets off a chain of events that forces Max realize whom she truly wants. M/A
FEEDBACK: Please send feedback of any kind (praise, flaming, constructive criticism, etc.) to naiya@mauimail.com
NOTES: My first attempt at a non - Xmen fanfiction. Please be patient with me. Any questions see feedback for my email address and I'll answer as best as I can. Archive at will.
We weren't built with the idea that emotion was a good thing. At this moment I couldn't argue with them more. Counting slowly to ten never really appealed to me. However, like many things at this point, I was re-evaluating my position.
Ten: anger was the first to surface. Nine: betrayal that OC had conspired with the 'enemy'. Eight: suspicion on Alec's part. Why the hell was he following me that day? Seven: surprise that he had let me take my rage out on him. He barely defended himself. Six: pain of loss. Logan's words still thundered in my ears. Five: back to anger that bordered on fury. Damn him! If he had really meant what he said, he wouldn't have said it. Four: resignation that it was over and it was time to live again.
From three to one I vacillated between cursing Alec and taking to heart what OC had said. We had grown accustomed to snapping at each other. Did I want to upset the status quo?
His shoulders slumped a little in defeat as he pushed to his feet. "We knew you'd make yourself forget," Alec began quietly and turned around.
We were standing inches apart and my breath caught in my throat when I focused in on his face. Under the full force of those eyes I felt my body react to his heat and couldn't hide it. His nostrils flared slightly when my scent changed but he refrained from making a smart-ass comment.
"You should have told me," I said and watched a similar gamut of emotions that I went through play across his face. Blue pupils swam up from solid yellow but held a wild edge. Okay, maybe we can talk rationally I thought and waited for an explanation.
What was he debating over I wondered. I looked down briefly and noticed he kept opening and closing his hands nervously. Poor thing, confessing must be something Manticore didn't included in the training.
To be honest I should have been paying more attention to the situation at hand. I was so caught up in mentally listing everything our lovely creators didn't include that I didn't realize Alec had closed the distance between us. Caught off guard I relied on pure instinct and backed away until I hit the far wall.
He followed and pressed close careful not to touch. Static electricity seemed to flow from his body to mine. It was so hot; he was so hot. A gentle breeze raised goose bumps up and down my arms, bit along my spine and glided over my legs. It made me highly aware that I was in nothing but a fitted T-shirt and black cotton panties. My jeans lay forgotten under the couch.
"Alec," I started but my mind went blank when Alec's face twisted up into a snarl. The tip of his tongue shot out and rested against his bottom teeth. He was taking in my scent through his mouth to taste it. I've done it a couple of times to enhance my perception of a person. Right at this moment I thought it was the sexist thing he'd ever done.
No. No. No, don't give in, I told myself and brought my hands up to push him away, big mistake. Damp skin slid under my fingers and I had a sensory image of lapping up the salty edges of the scars I'd made. At my touch, his scent exploded into a myriad of overtones and washed over me like a tidal wave.
I was drowning and couldn't breathe. Shaking my head frantically, I pushed him, flat handed so that my claws wouldn't draw blood. He wouldn't budge. In fact he leaned in and started up that damned purr of his. "Alec fight it, damn you!" I tried to say but all that escaped my lips was a whimper.
Pissed, I should be pissed but it was getting difficult to concentrate. The way I figured it, I had two choices: fight or flight. My body chimed in with a third choice: knock him down and ride him till he screams.
I was losing the battle.
*****
Decide! Decide, I chanted in my head as Alec wormed his way between my hands snuggling up against me. Our bodies touched in an unbroken line and I couldn't help but feel just how happy the contact was making him. Stuck between a wall and a hard Alec, things were going from worse to impossible.
Abruptly he pulled back in a quick jerk of disbelief like someone waking up from bad dream. To Alec, self-control and sense of self were the two most important things to him. Heat was challenging him for both and I watched him struggle to reassert his hold on them.
"NO!" he roared and dropped to his knees. Muscles in his back corded as his fists plunged over and over into the floor. The blows intensified, cracking the tiles, and left bloody impression of his knuckles on the surface.
"Alec, stop it." Although wary to reestablish physical contact with him I knelt and captured his wrists. I remembered to sheath my claws before I dug my fingers into his tendons. Both fists unfurled in a wash of blood. Four half-moon wounds from where his claws bit adorned each palm.
He regarded me with eyes as red as the blood on the floor and growled low in his throat. In one fluid motion, faster than the eye could see, Alec was on his feet and heading toward his bedroom with me still clinging to his wrists. Holding me nearly a foot off the ground didn't seem to slow him down much and I began to appreciate his raw strength.
Two steps away from his bedroom door, I released my hold on his wrists, hit the ground running and barreled into him. Alec reclaimed some ground and drove his elbow between my shoulder blades. Sharp pain speared between my shoulders; I guess we were going for option one I thought wryly as I regained my breath.
Adrenaline surged through my system as I shifted on command. Muscle temperature rose just before he threw a punch. The thermal imagery of my transformed eyes gave me a split second warning and I was able to avoid his next barrage.
This sucked. I couldn't retaliate - it wasn't really his fault - and I couldn't keep dodging him forever. Six months ago he'd done the same thing for me but I wasn't about stand here and let him tear me apart. Switching from choice one (fight) to choice two (flight), I ducked under his last kick and swept his other leg from under him.
Great move Max, I chided myself when I realized that he'd fall top of me. Again I had to admit that Manticore trained us well. I grabbed him by the elbow as he fell and dropped to the ground. My foot made solid contact with his stomach as I pulled on the arm. Kicking upward simultaneously, I threw him onto the remaining undamaged piece of furniture: the coffee table.
While Alec flailed in a mess of paper and wood I darted into the bathroom. The door's lock was feeble but it would give me enough time to come up with a plan.
The bathroom was plain and in bad need of a paint-job. Most of the ceiling tiles were gone, probably rotted away after years of neglect. Loose wires tangled around the steel cables that suspended the lighting figures high above the tub. The tub itself was huge and surprisingly clean, although the curtain crawled with mold.
"MAX!" Alec's throaty roar cut through the budding plan forming in my mind. Suddenly the door splintered, metal braces groaning as Alec ripped the door right off its hinges. He flowed into the room in a wave of lust and violence and I was drowning again. If I let him get within touching distance, option three would become very viable.
With Alec blocking the exit and the windows barred there was only one way out. I leapt straight up and landed on the rafters as softly as possible. They shook under the impact raining dust and bits of ceiling onto Alec. Some of the wires wrapped around my ankle. It gave me an idea.
Down below Alec circled never taking his eyes off of me. "Come down and play," he taunted. Actually I was a little relieved. Talking meant that he could be reasoned with, I hoped. "You want me, I can smell it."
He didn't know how right he was but I wasn't about to tell him that. I needed to neutralize him before I considered giving in to my body. Anything done while he was in this state of mind would be rape.
No one deserved that, not even Alec and I realized with striking clarity that my previously elusive, nebulous feelings for him congealed. You know that fine line between hate and love? I was in danger of crossing it.
But, first thing's first. I untangled the wire from my ankle and tied a slipknot on one end. Two strong throws opened it up into a noose. Holding the excess in my other hand I crouched waiting. When Alec passed under me I rolled off the beam and landed on his back.
He lurched backward and pinned me against the wall so hard I almost lost my grip on his waist. Fighting for breath, I locked my ankles and held on tight. As I expected he made a grab for my waist. I had the noose tightly around his wrist but suffered a graze of those damn knives he had for claws on my rib cage. His free hand came around scoring the other side and I bound it with the remaining length of wire.
By no means helpless, Alec threw he weight forward and dipped one shoulder with inhuman speed. Matching reflexes should have allowed me to remain on his back. Sweat and dust covered his skin in a thin layer making it impossibly slippery. The only reason why I had stayed on before was because Alec tried to make me one with the wall.
The second I hit my vision burst into a kaleidoscope of colors. Cool porcelain caressed my back; I must have landed against the tub. Momentarily stunned and blinded there was no way I'd be able to defend myself if he decided to take me here and now but my other senses told me he was still in the room. In fact he was very close and I jumped involuntarily when I felt bare skin brush my calves.
Here I was worried about raping him, it had never occurred to me that he might not be able to stop himself from doing the same to me. A flash of true fear cleared my vision, but my body continued to ignore my commands to move. Alec knelt between my legs his nostrils flared to catch the change in my scent. He bent at the waist hands still bound behind his back, and worked his way under my shirt.
My scream was a mixture of pleasure, pain and surprise. I'm not sure which sensation was stronger as Alec kept running his tongue in long lingering passes over my wounds. He treated both sides in this manner before reemerging. The expression on his face was anti-climatic. Tears ran unchecked down his cheeks from very normal human eyes.
"Don't...want...hurt," he ground out through gritted teeth and rubbed his fevered cheek against mine, down the line of my neck, then proceeded to lick the wounds above my left breast. One of his licks came dangerously close to my nipple and all logical thought escaped me. "Can't fight...any longer," he cried nipping his way to the nape of my neck.
Feeling finally returned to my arms and legs. I could move and escape, run as far away as my mind screamed for me to. My body and heart told it to go to hell. Alec needed me, and not only for copulation.
"You won't have to." I caught his chin and lifted him away from my neck. He turned into my hand, eyes closed and I kissed his tears away. With a shuddering sigh he opened his eyes and met my gaze. We stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, leaving much unsaid.
In that small span of time, Alec regained control and grew still. "I knew you wanted me," he said softly sat back onto his heels. A comment like that would have gotten him the ass-kicking of the century, but this time I let it slide, truth's truth.
"Just don't let it go to your head, smart ass." Tucking my legs under me, I rose to my knees and grabbed the knot that fastened my blanket to his waist. Tugging gently I drew him back to his knees until we reconnected the line of our bodies that had been broken earlier.
"Seems like something went to my 'head'" he laughed and ground his hips slightly. The old Alec had returned, sure and confident with attitude to spare.
"You're such an ass," I growled and did what I've wanted to do ever since his heat started. Our first kiss was butterfly soft but sent a thrill through my body and I wanted more. Quick to oblige he parted my lips and deepened the kiss. Once our tongues touched I was lost.
We explored each other's mouths thoroughly while I worked on his bonds. I wanted his hands on me so bad that I was having difficulty with the knot. He pulled away before I had a chance to free him and I lost my balance.
"Patience, Max, patience," he chided, tone full of amusement as I landed face first into his crotch. My only regret was that the damn blanket was in the way. Maybe I can use it to my advantage. I rubbed my face on the inside of his thigh just brushing him. It was similar to cheek marking cats do and I was oh so feeling catlike.
He went from relatively hard to rock solid and I was rewarded when he choked on his teasing. I took a quick peek at his face. Desire darkened his eyes to a hue somewhere between sapphire and midnight blue. Hungry was the only word I could think of that described the curious look he was giving me and it was contagious.
Somehow he managed to free his hands and I found myself off the ground. "Hey..." I started to protest but found it hard to talk and kiss at the same time. We kissed our way to his room so engrossed in each other that we half fell half laid onto the bed.
I was vaguely aware that the blanket had fallen away as we rolled around, taking turns on top. The feel of Alec's hands roving lightly over my skin drove me crazy. My senses attempted to drink in everything about him. From his scent to the way his muscles danced under my fingers, he was intoxicating.
He broke away from my lips and I wanted to scream at him to come back. Then he left me alone and I wanted to cry. My mind struggled to understand his sudden change of mind until the room went completely dark. Oh right the curtains.
There was a sensation of movement, an infinitesimal change in air pressure before the bed beside me sunk and he was back. Alec rolled onto my upper body and rose up onto his elbows so he could gaze at me with golden eyes. I flinched slightly when he brought both hands up to caress my cheeks and let my eyes shift so I could she him clearly. More tears ebbed their way down his face and fell onto my skin. Huh?
"Max, I'm sorr..."
"Shh, you have nothing to be sorry for," I soothed and wiped his tears away. "You were right. I want you," I said matter-of-factly but his tears didn't abate.
"But you won't when my heat is done. You'll hate me," he said softly. The despair in his voice caused a mysterious lump in my throat and my heart ached to ease his fears.
"How can I hate the one person who lets me beat them up? I named you and after careful consideration, I intend to keep you," I finished and stroked the small of his back. The smile he the spread across his face was breathtaking and I couldn't be surer of crossing that line than anything else, I loved him. "Now where were we..."