Hello!!

I'll try and sit down long enough to update everything I'm planning to update today. I'm just bubbling with nervous and excited energy. I'm going to Australia in less than a week. So, because of that, I'm going to update *a lot* today, so you can read whenever you want and find the time.

Thank you so much for the feedback!!

Lauraliz – I have a small question for you… Your fic… When can I expect an update on that one? ;-)

*hugs*

Josephin

Oh, and a small warning; This chapter is R-rated. Contact me if you want a censured chapter…

Chapter 11


As she stepped into the well-lit room, she couldn't find her anywhere. Confused, she looked around the room, feeling the beating of her heart quicken in fear. Quiet sobs drifted through the air, making her turn her head towards the bed. She quickly walked over there, and looked under the bed. There she was, lying on her side, her knees pulled up to her chin. Serena flinched as she saw the tears moving down the chubby cheeks. What had they done to trigger such a primitive reaction?
"Emma," she said softly.
At the sound of her voice the girl curled up even more, trying to make herself as small as possible.
"Go away," she sobbed.
"Emma, why are you sad?"
"Go away, I want mommy."
"Please come here and talk to me. You shouldn't lie under the bed."
"They hurt me," the little broken girl whispered, "I hate needles. I hate needles. Mommy always holds my hand, but mommy didn't come. Mommy didn't come."
"Emma, sweetie, come here," Serena coaxed.
But the girl just shook her head and wiggled further away from Serena's outstretched hand.
"I want mommy! I want mommy!" she cried.
Serena flinched at the intensity of Emma's demand. With a long look at the dark-haired girl, Serena rose and quietly left the room.

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Liz could feel his gaze caressing her back. She could feel it move from her shoulders, down along her back, over her bottom, and to her legs. His gaze was like a burning fire, making goose bumps spread out over her skin.

She turned her head and found him standing in the opening of their tent looking at her. "See anything you like?" she teased.
"Uh-huh," he answered, and she felt her heart flutter as she witnessed his amber eyes darken. Seeing him standing there, just looking at her without a word made her crave to know his inner thoughts, his inner feelings. The parts of him that were only accessible when they made love. The feelings she usually picked up from him were not there today. He was blocking their connection. But the knowledge didn't sadden her, but made her heart beat faster in anticipation. She had no clue to what he was going to do, and that heated her body in ways only he could.

"Care to elaborate?" She stepped closer to him, flirtatiously darting out her tongue and slowly wetting her lips. She watched Max's eyes move to her lips and his eyes grew even darker.
"Mmm..." Max said, clueless of what Liz was talking about.
"Mmm what?" Liz asked, taking a step closer to him.
"You are so beautiful," Max murmured, looking down at her when she stepped up to him. Liz felt her face flush from the intense way those words floated over his lips. He could turn the simplest of words into something incredibly beautiful. She looked up into his eyes, letting the love she found there run through her and wrap itself around her essence.
"You look pretty good yourself," she breathed, slowly rising on the tips of her toes, moving closer to his lips. Her eyes fluttered closed as he moved his hand to her cheek, his fingertips diving into her dark tresses. Her breath caught in her throat as she felt the heat radiating from the surface of his soft palm into her cheek. The act was so simple, yet made her feel so cherished.

"I love you," he mumbled, and she opened her eyes to look into his. She stilled in her movements as she saw how his eyes were shimmering with unshed tears. Her forehead creased in concern and she slowly brushed away the dark bangs from his forehead with her fingertips. The movement caused electricity to shoot through their bodies and Liz leaned closer against his body, letting his body heat flow into her.
"Are you okay?" she whispered.
"I love you so much," he whispered, his voice cracking. She didn't have time to answer him before his lips softly touched hers. The kiss was so soft, so tentative that it brought tears to her eyes. Their lips softly moved together, sending electrical currents through their bodies. The salty taste mixing into their kiss caused Liz to pull back slightly. Her heart fluttered with pain as she discovered the reason for it. Unrestrained tears were trickling down Max's cheeks.

"Max..." she whispered. She slowly kissed his tears away, but he burrowed his hands in her hair and angled her lips back to his. The gentleness of the former kiss had been washed away. Max forcefully melded their lips together. Liz pulled him closer. She could feel the ache in her stomach burning and intensifying. She needed more of him. His tongue forcefully demanded entry into her mouth and she willingly granted him it. Their tongues brushed together, swirled around. Tasting each other, exploring, trying to satiate a need that couldn't be satisfied. She whimpered as he pulled her closer, devouring her. Her hands crawled under his shirt and restlessly moved over his taut muscles. She moaned impatiently as his lips left hers and started a descent down her jaw line. She pressed more firmly up against him, trying to subdue the ache coiling in her abdomen by desperately rubbing against him.

"God, Liz..." Max groaned, sucking on the sensitive skin of her neck in a possessive manner. Marking her. Branding her as his. Neither one of them were aware of the fact that they were still standing in the opening of the tent, partly visible to the outside. All they were aware of was the feeling of the other under their fingers, of the other's taste and scent.
"I need you..." Liz moaned, "I need all of you."
Max groaned as he felt her small hand move within his boxers. "Liz..."
"Please Max..." He knew what she was begging him of. He just wasn't sure he could handle it. The movements of his hand caressing her bare skin under her shirt momentarily stilled as he was assailed by the images hidden deep in his mind.
"Max?" He jerked his head to find her looking at him. Her hair was tousled, her lips swollen and red, her cheeks flushed. Her eyes worried. "What is it?"
He shook his head, but she stilled his movements with her confused look. "Talk to me."

A faint sob escaped his lips before he had a chance to stop it and he buried his face in the crook of her neck. Her heart stung as she buried her hand in his hair, holding him close. His tears were soaking her sweater.
"I've failed," he whispered brokenly.
He tried to pull away from her, but she just tightened her grip on him. "No, Max. You haven't failed."
"They might be hurting her."
Liz felt the ever-present knife jabbed into her heart twitch. "We're doing everything we can."
"No. We aren't. We could be out searching for her right now. Instead we're stuck in this place doing nothing. God, I feel so helpless. I'm supposed to be this great king, and I can't even protect my own child."

"Max, stop it. This isn't helping her at all. Someone once told me that she needs us to stay strong. Maybe you should take your own advice, Max."
"I saw her, Liz," Max said, his voice cracking.
"What?" Liz whispered.
Max pulled back slightly to look her in the eyes. Tears welled up in Liz's eyes as she saw the devastated and forlorn expression on his face.
"In my dreams."
"You remember them." Somehow she didn't really want to know what his dreams were about. He was so frightened when he had them. She could hear him crying out in anguish in the middle of the night. She wasn't sure she wanted to know about something that could frighten him so much. But he needed her. He needed her to listen. And he had been there for her so many times that she couldn't deny him that, even though her torn heart cried out in protest of being exposed to any more torture.
He nodded and softly placed his hand against her cheek, brushing away her tears as his own were rolling down his cheeks.

"I don't want to tell you about them."
"I need to know, Max. I can't let you take all that on your own shoulders. You have to let me take some of it. You need to talk about it."
"I can't..."
"Then show me."
His eyes widened and he began shaking his head. "No, I can't show you."
"Max…"
"No," he said firmly, "I don't want you to see them. Liz, these images have plagued my sleep ever since Emma was taken from us and I don't want you to have them too."
"Please, Max. Then tell me. This is eating you alive."
He dropped his eyes, his fingers idly playing with her sweater. "I love you so much. I would never hurt you."
His voice was barely above a whisper.
"Max, look at me."
She put a finger under his chin and forced him to look at her.
"I know you wouldn't hurt me, Max. I trust you with all my heart. You are the kindest man I know and I love you more than you'll ever know."

He nodded, looking at her intensely, as if she would disappear if he blinked and clinging to her with fresh tears streaming down his face, as if she were his only link to sanity.
"Tell me."
Max closed his eyes and pulled her into his arms again, holding her close. Letting the smell of her essence, of Liz Parker, fill his nose. He could feel the beating of her heart through the connection, could feel the sorrow and concern for him in her beautiful soul. What had he ever done to deserve her?
He opened the connection a little, like a door being left ajar, and he felt her tremble in his arms from the intensity of it. A strangled sob escaped her lips and he moved his hands under her sweater. The need to feel her skin was immense. Overwhelming. And then he started talking.
"I can hear her calling for me. But I can't see her. I can't help her. They are all different, the dreams. But in every one of them.... I can't find her. And it always ends the same way."

As his voice died in her ears, she whispered, "How?" Fearing the knowledge.
"There's this man who laughs at me, and says that she's...dead."
Her greatest fears were coming alive. "What if it's true, Max? What if she's dead?"
He pulled her closer to him, their bodies almost melting together.
"I can't feel her any longer," Liz sobbed, "What if our little girl is dead? What if she was all alone when she died, hoping that we would save her and we never came?"
"I'm sorry," Max said, "I swore that I would protect you, both of you."
"We have to find her, Max. This is killing me. I don't know how much longer I can live like this."
Max lifted his head from the crook of her neck and pushed her hair back from her damp face. Slowly, he started to kiss her face.
"I would die just to keep you safe," Max said, kissing the outward signs of her heartache away.

She sniffled, bringing her lips to his. The emptiness inside of her was tearing at her, slowly ripping her apart. He was what kept her together and she needed to feel his love. She needed to have him inside of her, to feel all their emotions blend into the connection, melting their souls together.
"Make love to me, Max," she whispered.
Without a word, his warm soft lips moved down her neck and she gasped as his tongue moved out and tasted her skin.
"I can't wait. I need you now," Max whispered.
She quickly started to unbutton his shirt. "Yes..."

He pulled her sweater over her head, releasing her lips only for the amount of time it took him to remove the piece of clothing. Their kisses became fierce, passionate, their hands restless on their heated skin. Liz pushed Max's shirt off his shoulders and started to fiddle with the button on his pants as Max's lips closed over her aching breast. She gasped at the contact, momentarily forgetting what she was about to do. Max moved their burning bodies backwards, his body pressing up against hers as their hands continued to touch, trying to calm the raging fire inside. Liz fell on her back with Max on top. Neither one of them felt the hard ground beneath the thin mattress as Max removed his pants, and just as quickly afterwards started to place kisses all over Liz's flat stomach. God, her taste was intoxicating. A man could get addicted to the scent and taste of Liz Parker. And he was undeniably an addict with a strong need for his fix.

As his mouth continued its travel over her skin, his hands worked on pulling down the zipper of Liz's jeans. Who said that men couldn't do two things at the same time? Liz arched up against his hand as the back of it lightly brushed over her aching core. With some otherworldly help, Liz's jeans were swiftly removed. Liz locked her hands around Max's neck and pulled him towards her lips. Their bodies pressed together as he lowered himself on top of her, his lips and tongue doing to her mouth what his body wanted to do to her body. Electricity sizzled in their veins and arteries, penetrating every cell as her soft breasts pressed into his hard chest. Skin against skin. Liz pressed her body against his as much as she could, but the frustration erupted within her as their underwear was still an obstacle preventing them from melting into one. They were both too absorbed in each other, in the feeling of each other's skin, in their scents, that neither wasted a thought of how the underwear magically disappeared from their bodies as Liz's frustration grew.

Max kissed her cheeks, her jaw, her forehead, her neck, her noise, her closed eyelids, before finally tasting the sweet taste of her warm lips as he laced his fingers with hers and slowly started to push inside of her. In the midst of all the unbound emotions, heightened feelings, and heated kisses, Liz felt the deepest sense of inner peace as Max started to slowly move inside of her. Max's fingers pressed deeper into the back of Liz's hands as the rhythm was building up between them. This was home. This was where he belonged. Connected with Liz.

They both gasped when the connection flared open between them. Their feelings mingled together, seeking out its partner, becoming one. Liz opened her eyes and met Max's. It was the most beautiful thing she could ever experience. Feeling Max inside of her, being a part of her, and at the same time be granted a look at his inside and feel all of his feelings. Hear his beautiful thoughts float around in her head.

She was suddenly struck with a deep fear, shooting through the connection like a knife cutting into flesh. Max's movements stilled somewhat, and he worriedly searched her face. Being so deeply connected with her, he wasn't sure if the fear was his or hers.
"Please...don't leave me, Max. Don't ever leave me," Liz said, her breathing erratic from their lovemaking.

A pained expression flashed over Max's eyes and the feelings that transferred over the connection affirmed for Liz that she had nothing to fear.
"Liz, you are my life. I can't exist without you."
She nodded and smiled weakly. "I just needed to hear that."
He returned her smile and slowly disentangled his fingers from hers, lightly brushing them down her arms that were resting above Liz's head. The light brushing over the sensitive soft skin of the underside of her arms caused goose bumps to spread over Liz's body. His warm, strong hands came to rest gently against the sides of her breasts as he lowered himself to gently mold his lips to hers.

"Without you," he started to kiss down her neck, "I'm lost."
"Show me," Liz breathed. Max didn't need a second command. He started to move his hips again, feeling the warmth of her walls close around him.
Liz could feel the pressure building up between them, their energies feeding into their bond, waiting for release. Liz wrapped her legs around Max's waist in a desperate attempt to bring him even closer. She could feel the ache in her abdomen increasing as Max thrust faster into her, steadily bringing them both to the brink.
"Oh Liz..." Max moaned as he felt her tightening around him.

"Max..." she gasped as she felt her insides tighten around him, increasing the friction. Her world spiraled and she felt weightless as release coursed through her whole body. The intense warmth spread all over her body, as wave after wave of intense pleasure racked her, making her tremble under Max. He was not far after, the intense feelings of his own orgasm mixing with hers through the connection. With a deep feeling of contentment and relaxation, Max lowered himself down on her, placing soft kisses over her damp face. Their bodies were still connected, the bond between them fully open.

That's when they heard it. Whispering at the back of their heads. Their eyes met with shock as they realized what it was.
"Mommy… I'm scared."
Emma.

TBC…