Deep in the heart of Texas, one year after the collapse of Terminal City, the transgenic population thrived, each transgenic part of a community, a cluster of farm compounds into which they all put their blood, sweat and tears.

Though the summer seemed unbearable and the long days made the summer sun brutal with fewer and fewer layers of clothing, the nighttime sky proved a blissful reprieve.

It was the heavy summer nights which ultimately led her to his house; where he had usually kept on the porch light, but tonight, the fluttering moths found no luminous attraction.

Max stopped short, puzzled by the emptiness.

As sudden crack behind the house alerted her, and as she made her way toward the barn, something felt different. Eerily quiet – only the sound of the wide open sky and the chatter of the field crickets seemed to fill the night.

Then she heard the sound of pitchfork picking through hay and she knew he was preparing the hay for their cow and bull. As she approached the slightly ajar door, she expected to find its occupant waiting for her.

Pushing the door open a scant inch, she watched as his back came into view. Shimmering with sweat, the muscles just under his skin bunched and flexed as he bent to scoop the hay, then twitched as he shoveled the hay into the wheelbarrow.

He was wearing work boots and jeans, but it appeared as though it'd been too hot to continue wearing a shirt, as his was resting on a bale nearby. Or maybe, she told herself, he knew she was coming over.

She licked her lips, plump and pink, and imagined the look on his face if she were to run the tip of her tongue up his spine, between his shoulder blades, and to the base of his neck. The thought gave her shivers, rolling through her body like a river of desire, ready to carry them both away.

He continued shoveling until the wheelbarrow was full, and when he finally propped the pitchfork against the bale, he grabbed his shirt and pressed it to his face to collect the sweat which had gathered there. Finally, he turned around, dragging the shirt over his neck.

He'd tanned golden during the first summer, much to her appreciation, and had spent numerous daylight hours working hard at keeping them fed. He was gorgeous. His hair had grown and had been bleached by the sun a little. She'd given him a haircut a few months ago, and by how the tips of his hair began falling in his face while working, she could tell it was time for another.

He pulled the shirt down over his chest, leaving parched skin in its wake, and over his abdominals.

She took a deep breath and pushed the door open further. "Hey," she greeted, finally.

He let the shirt drag to the top of his jeans before tossing it aside. "I was wondering how long you were going to stand there."

She bit her lip and came out into the clearing. That's when he saw an eyeful of her, too.

Dressed in a cobalt blue baby doll dress, she seemed to float into his previously personal space, looking comfortable but still feeling hot from the scorching summer sun. She was barefoot – it was her preference, especially during the summer months. As long as she wasn't working, she said she'd like the feel of nature on her skin.

And her skin, he thought. Deep, creamy caramel and he could just tell soft to the touch. It made her big brown eyes simmer with warmth. Made him sweat all the more.

She shifted in her stance and twisted her hair over one shoulder. Her suddenly dry tongue pressed over her bottom lip as she watched a bead of sweat drip from the side of his chin and run down his neck.

Slowly, she stepped through the remnants of hay and smeared her fingertips across his skin, helping to dry the sweat.

"That for me?" he asked, gesturing to the bag held at the crook of her elbow.

She'd almost forgotten. She nodded. "Can we go up?" she asked, looking up at the hay loft.

She liked looking at the stars and imagining the different lives they could have led, even though she'd admitted more than once how she'd never change a thing.

"'Course," he said.

She tore her eyes away from him and approached the ladder to the loft. She climbed up halfway and turned to see if he was following her.

Like a gentleman, he waited a few feet away from the ladder. He usually waited while she climbed, so as not be called a pervert for looking up her dress.

But this time, she paused, looked to him, and then looked down at some of the rungs. She smiled coyly. "You coming?"

His feet moved his body to the ladder before he realized what she had said, and he began climbing. He didn't need to be told twice. A few rungs up, Max stuck her rear end out a little, fully intending on letting him peek up her dress. When she looked back down, his eyes shined with lustful fire, his mouth slightly agape and looking particularly parched.

Max smiled again. His response was the reason she'd worn the thong underwear and the dress. She felt her skin heat up from anticipation and kept climbing.

Alec refused to tear his eyes from her feet, legs, and with each rung, the delicate and soft-looking skin of her bare rear.

In the dim of the loft, Max sat on the makeshift pallet – a couple of blankets laid over a light layer of hay. They'd brought a couple of pillows up a month back when he'd first found her staring at the stars through the opening.

Alec sat down beside her and tugged his boots off. He threw them over the side of the loft and heard a couple of thuds when they hit the ground.

Max pulled the two cold beers from the bag and twisted the lids off before handing one to Alec.

"Thanks," he said, the brightness of the stars reflecting in his eyes. He took a pull from the bottle without breaking eye contact, Max mirroring his movement, though he doubted he looked as sexy as she did with his lips around the bottle.

They lay back against the pillows, nearly diagonal, and stared through the opening into the sky. It was quiet for several minutes as they listened to the peacefulness of their world, their sky, sipping their beers.

"You think there's another world out there – a parallel world with another you and another me, relaxing in the barn – of all places – talking about a parallel world and drinking beers?" Max asked, keeping her stare straightforward.

Alec turned his body to face her, teetering on his side. "I hope so." He leaned in toward her and brushed a light kiss against her lips.

Max set her beer down and pushed Alec's shoulder until he was back on his back. Rolling onto her knees, Max raised a bent leg over his waist and straddled him.

Alec set his beer down and found Max's hands on his chest. He rested his palms on the backs of her hands and looked up into her soulful eyes.

Smiling sultrily, Max settled into his lap and watched how his eyelids flitted shut a moment before focusing a sharp stare back on her. She leaned down and kissed him gently, whimpering at the contact.

Alec moaned as Max rocked in place, rubbing herself against the seam of his jeans, under which she could feel his arousal. She sat up. "Alec?"

His eyes drifted open.

Max pulled his hands up her thighs, over her stomach, and up to her breasts, guiding his touch through her dress.

Sitting up, Alec pushed his head up to meet her lips with his. He broke the kiss to sweep his lips over her collarbone, hooking his fingertips on the dress strap to bare her skin to him.

"Alec?" she asked again.

Tearing himself away from her neck, he looked into her warm cocoa eyes.

She paused for a moment, wrapping her arms around him. She searched his eyes, finding exactly what it was for which she was looking. She kissed his eyelids, his temples, his forehead, his earlobes, before finally moving back to his lips.

"Make love to me."