SomethingReal7

SOMETHING REAL- PART 7


Michael woke to the sound of the telephone ringing. He groaned in irritation and pulled his pillow over his head to muffle the sound. Maybe if he ignored it they would give up. Liz mumbled sleepily and snuggled against him. A rush of tenderness for the tiny brunette made his insides melt as memories of the night before came flooding back to him. She loved him. He couldn't imagine how he had gotten so lucky. It made him want to get down on his knees and thank God or whatever divine providence had deemed him worthy of such a gift.

The persistent ringing intruded on his musings and Michael sighed in resignation. Clearly they were not going to give up anytime soon. He carefully extracted himself from Liz's embrace and made his way to the kitchen to answer the phone.

"What?!" he growled into the receiver in leu of 'hello'.

"Well good morning to you, too," Isabel returned sarcastically.
"It's Sunday, Isabel. This is the only day I get to sleep in and you had better have a damn good reason for waking me up."

"Max called a meeting. Everyone's supposed to be at the Crashdown at 11:00."
"What's going on?" Michael asked in annoyance as he glanced at the clock. It was already 9:40. So much for spending the morning in bed with Liz.

"I'm not sure," she replied evasively, which usually meant she knew, but wouldn't discuss it over the phone.

"Fine, but this had better be important," he snapped, hanging up before she could say anything else.
Michael leaned against the counter and sighed heavily. This was not the way he wanted to end their first night together. He had planned to make Liz breakfast and spend the morning cuddling in bed. Wait--cuddling? Where the hell had that come from? As far as he knew that word had never entered his mind in all of his seventeen years. What had she done to him?

His 'stonewall' defense had been crumbling steadily since her confession Friday night. All of the sudden he was thinking and feeling and even God forbid saying things he would never have considered before Liz Parker. Everything was changing so rapidly. He supposed that should worry him, but it didn't. Michael had always had a strong intuition; he supposed it was part of his alien heritage. An instinct for danger was essential when you were constantly being hunted by the FBI, enemy aliens, and various other wackos. His intuition was telling him that this was the way it was supposed to be. He knew without question that he could trust Liz with his life and had on several occasions. She had proven her loyalty to them all time and again. Michael figured that if he could trust her with his life than he certainly ought to be able to trust her with his feelings.

He made coffee while he tried to figure out how to break the news to their friends. It was not going to be pretty.

When the coffee finished brewing he poured two cups and took them into the bedroom with him. He put them down on the night stand and sat on the edge of the bed. Liz was lying on her stomach with the sheet tangled around her waist. Reaching out to caress her bare back he spoke softly, not wanting to startle her. "Liz? Wake up, sweetheart." She mumbled something into the pillow that Michael vaguely recognized as a truculent 'no'. He laughed. Sometimes she acted like a spoiled brat. He actually thought it was cute, but he still wasn't going to let her get away with it.

Leaning over her he placed featherlite kisses along her spine. She moaned, but didn't move. He grinned evilly and started to slowly slide the sheet off of her until her body was completely bare. He continued to trail soft kisses down her back, smiling as she started to squirm. He smoothed his hand over the curve of her bottom and down her thigh. His fingertips brushed teasingly along her inner thigh and she rolled away from him laughing. "Okay, okay I'm up."

When she turned over to look at him she was smiling. "You're evil."
"Max called a meeting this morning. We have to be at the Crashdown at 11:00. It's almost 10:00 right now, so we need to get moving." He reached out to cup her cheek, rubbing his thumb over her soft lips. "I'm sorry, baby. This isn't the way I wanted this morning to end."
Liz kissed his thumb and reached up to cover his hand with her own. "Michael, it's not your fault. You don't have anything to apologize for. Besides.." She grinned wickedly and moved in to kiss him softly. "I could be persuaded to let you make it up to me later."

Michael looked her up and down with a suggestive smirk. "I just might take you up on that."
"Might?" she asked with one eyebrow raised inquisitively at him.
"Well, I'll have to check my schedule, of course. Hot alien lovin' is a popular commodity these days. I'm a pretty busy boy. I might be able to fit you in, though - if you make it worth my while."
Liz fell back on the bed, laughing hysterically. "Hot alien lovin'?!" she gasped out breathlessly, her side starting to ache from laughing so hard.

"It wasn't that funny, Parker," he stated as he looked at her with an expression of exaggerated insult. Then he smiled and reached for her hands, pulling her up to stand in front of him. He gestured to the night stand. "I brought you some coffee. Do you want to shower first or should I?" he asked, not sure if she would prefer to wait until she was a little more awake.
Liz looked up at him shyly. "Why don't we go together?"
Michael was speechless for a full minute. He was completely thrown by her suggestion. He had already seen her naked, of course. She was in fact standing in front of him without a stitch of clothing on at this very moment, but she had not seen him naked. He had kept his boxers on the entire night. He was surprised that she was willing to take that next step right now, though he certainly wasn't going to complain.

"I don't know...I really need my space," he teased.
"Oh well. Guess i'll just have to find someone who's a little more into sharing," she teased back with a thoughtful expression, pretending to be considering her options.
"Over my dead body, woman," he stated matter-of-factly and grabbed her by the waist, throwing her over his shoulder caveman style.

Liz giggled helplessly as Michael carried her into the bathroom. She kicked her feet until he smacked her bare bottom playfully and ordered her to "behave".

She smiled when his hand returned to her bottom to caress the spot he had just smacked.
"Okay, smart ass, stay put while I get the water ready, 'kay?" Michael asked with an indulgent grin, setting her down on the counter next to the sink.

Liz smiled at him and nodded obediently. "Yes, honey," she quipped sarcastically.
Michael sent her a mock threatening look over his shoulder as he adjusted the water temperature in the shower. "You're just begging for trouble this morning."
Liz chuckled and shot him a daring look. "And I bet you're just the Alien to give it to me, aren't you?"
"Oh I'll give you something, all right," he returned, mumbling under his breath with a sexy grin.
Liz caught her breath at the sight of that grin. Her insides melted like warm butter. God, he was so unbelievably HOT! How had she known him for so long and not noticed how sexy he was? It seemed impossible to her now.

"Michael?" she whispered hoarsely, the sheer magnitude of the love she felt for him suddenly making it difficult to speak.

"Yeah?" he turned around to look at her and was surprised at the seriousness of her expression.
"I love you."

Michael's heart almost stopped beating as he stared at the intense emotion visible on her beautiful face. He tried to swallow past the lump that rose in the back of his throat, but when he finally spoke his voice still sounded choked. "I love you, too." He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly.
After a few minutes they separated and Michael gently guided Liz into the shower. He looked at her hesitantly and leaned down to place a sweet kiss on her lips. "Are you sure about this, Liz?" he asked seriously, gesturing to his boxers.

"Yes," she stated confidently. Liz slid her hands over Michael's sides and down, pushing his boxers with them until they slid to the floor. She stared at Michael's naked body in blatant admiration until he started to fidget self-consciously. She reached out to caress his chest, looking at him with an expression of awe that made his knees weak. "You're so beautiful, Michael." His body was perfect, not bulging with muscles like those guys in the magazines -yuck! She hated that. Michael was lean and toned. He looked strong and ready for action. She could look at him forever and not get tired of it.
She took his hand and pulled him into the shower with her. Gently pushing him under the spray, she picked up the washcloth off the ledge, lathered it with soap and began to scrub his smooth skin.