When they arrived at the motel, Regina was contemplating revenge. She wanted him to feel like she felt when he acted so coldly and distantly. Lying in a bed in her room, she was thinking that not introducing them to her dad would be too low and too selfish, which she wasn't. Trying to find a way, she fell asleep and woke up with a start when somebody was banging on her door.
When she opened it and saw Marcus, she was so furious, that she swore, if he said a word in his snobbish manner, she would beat him again and smash his polished face.
But when she saw him fidgeting and so unsure of himself for a change, she had this urge to know what his lips would feel like. It wasn't a kiss of gratitude, no way. It was to know if he was worthy of her being angry at him.
Closing the door in his face, she was daring him to barge inside and show her everything that he could do with his mouth. At first, he was indeed a shitty kisser, moving like a robot. But then something changed, and he crushed her to him. His body was so big, hard, and warm pressing to her, and she still could feel the softness of his hair on the tips of her fingers. He kissed her like she was his salvation. The hot strokes of his soft lips made her toes curl, and she was ready to jump on him right there in the open. She never was so aroused just from one short kiss. But she still was furious at him and didn't want to raise his ego with praise.
After five minutes, she didn't give up.
After ten minutes, she told herself he must be planning to surprise her.
After fifteen minutes, she went to the shower. If he wasn't coming, the shower would help to tune down her aroused body, and while she was washing her hair, a revenge plan formed in her head. Chuckling like a villain, she emerged from the shower and towel-dried her hair and body.
Clad in the fresh oversized navy T-shirt and sleeping shorts, she was going to the bed, when she heard a knock on her door. She stopped in midstep, feeling the rush of excitement in the pit of her stomach, making her giddy. Did Marcus decide to finish what they started?
Oh, it was him, she was sure of it. Probably decided to prove to her wrong about him being a lame kisser.
With still-damp hair, she sauntered to the door. She was ready to pull him into her room, palms itching to feel more of his hard toned body under his miraculous suit, and her lips tingled in anticipation of his hot lips. A playful smile was threatening to split her face, but she managed to put on a mask of indifference when she grabbed the knob and opened her door. She couldn't let Marcus know, that she was eager to see him right now.
But when she opened the door, her indifference turned into a scowl and her playfulness evaporated.
Darius and Kosmas were the last ones she expected to see right then.
"What are you doing here?" Regina couldn't erase a note of disappointment from her tone. "Did Marcus send you here?"
Flush colored her cheeks, the one of rising anger because if Marcus sent them to apologize for what happened between them earlier, she didn't know what she'd do to him. Probably something nasty.
Kos' hands were folded at his chest and he was looking pointedly at Darius, who was awkwardly shifting his legs, looking everywhere, except at her. Finally, his gaze stopped in the middle of her face, not reaching her eyes. He looked guilty.
"Well?" she prompted.
Darius deeply exhaled, his gaze met her eyes, and words rushed out of him, "We wanted to apologize for this morning." Kos grunted his disagreement, and Darius's eyes darted in his direction and returned to her. "Ah yes, it was my fault that Marcus behaved as he did, and I'm deeply sorry for that. We're about to watch some movie on TV in our room, and we invite you to watch it with us as a peace offering."
"Does Marcus know that you're here apologizing?" Regina asked nonchalantly, hiding her disappointment that it was they who invited her to watch a movie, and not him.
"No. He went to the shower, and we saw an ad, that Superman movie was about to play in fifteen minutes, and we thought, that maybe you'd like to watch it with us," Darius answered, and Kos grunted his confirmation.
Oka-ay. So Marcus didn't know that they were here. But what would he think of their invitation? It seemed that these two Marsikons weren't aware of what happened between her and Marcus not so long ago. The only way to find out how he's coping after their hot kiss was to accept an invitation.
She was exhausted and wanted to sleep, in fact, she was already asleep when Marcus came to her earlier, but she wasn't about to miss the chance to play with Marcus and put in motion her plan of revenge. She wanted to see, how far he would go with their attraction.
"Okay, I'll be there in five," she closed the door in their faces.
So Darius said, that he was responsible for Marcus' behavior, and she was curious what it meant. She was pondering it while she put sneakers on her feet. Maybe he told Marcus to stay away from her? But why? Was he interested in her, and didn't want competition? No, it didn't make sense, he would've made the first step to show his attraction, but from him, she only felt friendly vibes. Maybe there's something more, that she doesn't know about. Yet. But she would find out for sure.
Standing outside of their door, her heart leaped to her throat. Why was she nervous so suddenly? Maybe because she was afraid of Marcus' reaction to her being there in the same room. Or maybe because this was do or die and if he didn't kiss her back, it meant she'd misread the whole situation.
Shit.
She stood for a couple of minutes more, in the darkness that surrounded this part of the motel, penetrated with the waning light of the only bulb over the door. The rhythmic music of nightly creepy crawlers surrounded her, and it sounded like meditation music. She wasn't the one to meditate, but it calmed her thundering pulse, and on the long exhale, she knocked on the door.
Not two seconds later, it was opened, and a pair of naked toned pectorals and six-pack abs were greeting her in all their glory. Her gaze wandered lower and there was a white towel sitting low on his hips, showing the perfect V-line. As her gaze wandered up and up to his face, she audibly swallowed. Droplets of water were still caught in the fine blond hair on his chest, glistening invitingly. Her palms itched to touch him and wipe it from his smooth creamy torso, to feel the silkiness of his skin.
Finally, her gaze stopped on his face, and fear of seeing his indifference evaporated. Marcus was watching her watching him, he had a look of a deer caught in the lights, but his cheeks were flushed, and his mouth was slightly open. He was breathing fast and she caught him quickly licking his lips. If she wasn't mistaken (and she wasn't), Marcus wanted her. Badly. Maybe even more, than she wanted him.
The realization made her bolder, and when she somehow had found the ability to speak, she told him, "Nice, but I came here for Superman." And she moved past him, slightly bumping his shoulder with her own, and lingering a bit, reeling in the way electric currents danced along her arm leaving it tingling and wanting more.
She felt him turning with her like he didn't want to sever a connection, and she felt the heat from his body right behind her. Oh, how she wanted just to lean back into his warmth and let him cocoon her in it. But she restrained herself. She needed for him to suffer more if she wanted to have her revenge.
"I'm sorry, who's Superman?" she heard him asking in his lovely accent, and was it a hint of jealousy in his tone?
"What? You've never heard about Superman? Watched movies? Or cartoons? Or read comics?" she turned around, not believing is he for real or just caught up in a moment.
"No." The three men replied in unison.
She almost forgot about Darius and Kos, who were lounging on two queen-size beds. She looked back at Marcus, and again at the others. Six blinking eyes stared at her.
"Heh, and you're saying, that you came to Earth prepared?" she rolled her eyes at them. "Come on, let's improve your knowledge."
There were only two beds in this room, and a small flat-screen TV was hanging on the wall right in front of them. She was wondering where to park when Kos patted the free space on his left, indicating for her to sit.
At the same time Darius said, "Hey, Marcus, why don't you get dressed and park your ass here?" He patted the place on the bed, to his right. It meant, that she would be near Marcus, but they would be separated by a feet-long aisle between beds. Not ideal, but not bad also, because they could be separated by one of the Marsikons.
Marcus was still standing, like in a stupor, watching her with his blue gaze like a hawk, his hands clenched into fists. But hearing Darius, he slowly went to the other room, Regina's gaze lingered on his towel-clad ass the whole time. She rather felt Kos shaking his head at her than saw it, and smirked in response.
After a minute Marcus emerged in a black T-shirt and suit pants. What a pity to hide all that muscular beauty. She saw that Superman movie a couple of times already, with Clare on a couple of the rare times she visited, and she would've been gladly watching The Anatomy of Marcus movie instead. Discreetly of course. But it seemed that she would be playing a game of Undress Marcus With Your Gaze. Not too bad. Now, that she saw him in his almost naked glory, the view of his body was imprinted in her retina. That, combining with the memory of his lips on hers and how his strong arms held her, made her cheeks blush and she visibly exhaled in anticipation.
It would be an interesting movie session.
***
Marcus couldn't believe Regina was there. She was half lying on the bed, like everyone in this room, her hand, palm down was only one foot away from his. It could be so easy, to reach over the aisle between their beds and put his palm on hers. What would she do if he did that? When he casually opened the door earlier, he thought that it was a motel worker who came to them to say something.
But it was Regina. After she said to him that he was a shitty kisser, she came to him by herself. Later it turned out, that she was here because of the movie, Darius mentioned that they invited her while he was in the shower. His thoughts evaporated when he opened the door and saw her. He was just a knot of turbulent emotions, and they couldn't decide which one of them was the right one for the moment. Confusion. Desire. Passion. Need. Yearning. Affection. He felt all of them and still stood there in a stupor like his brain was short-circuited from overwhelming feelings. She may act like she was indifferent to him, but in the first moments while they stood in front of each other, he saw her eyes and it told him what he needed to know.
She liked him. A lot.
But did she like him? Or just that ridiculously hot alien body?
The only way to find out was to play by her rules. Which meant playing without rules. But could he manage to reach her level of mastery?
His palm was lying near his hip, and in his peripheral vision, he saw Regina looking at him, her gaze roaming over his body. He felt it like the fire was licking his skin when it wandered from his head to his hips and backward. It was so new to him, to be the center of a woman's attention, but instead of hiding from it, he decided to accept the challenge and be bolder. He put his palm on his abs and moved it around a bit. Thankfully it was mostly dark in the room, with the TV as the only source of light. Darius was lying as far away from him as possible, so he couldn't properly see what Marcus was doing on this side of the bed.
He heard Regina's sharp intake of breath, and she pulled her legs closer to her body, bending them at the knees. Marcus didn't know if he did everything right, but he liked her reaction and he continued to stroke his belly, moving his palm slowly around. His own breath turned deeper and he didn't register what happened on the TV. His attention was on Regina, when Darius almost shouted, "Yeeeah, nice body, man!"
Marcus jumped on the bed and sat up straighter, turning to him. "W-what?" Marcus spat. Did Darius see what he was doing? Marcus was mortified with embarrassment.
"Did you not see his body?" Darius gestured to the TV, whining. "He's got the perfect pecs and abs, I wish I had one of those, but with my complexion, I would never have such."
Marcus saw what Darius had meant and yes, there was probably Superman with a naked torso saving someone from the fire.
"Ah, uh-huh," Marcus leaned back on the headboard.
"Of course you're not impressed, you see such every day in the mirror," Marcus heard Darius' angry grumble.
So, he wasn't busted after all. He glanced at Regina, and she sat with her eyes glued to the screen, her knees bent, and both palms squeezed between them.
What an idiot he was. She probably had such a reaction from the actor, and not from what he was doing, acting like a stupid teenager. Who would be aroused from belly scratching, when the perfect specimen was showing his body on the TV.
Marcus wanted to fall through the floor from the embarrassment. He put his palms on his face and scrubbed it, then folded his arms on his chest and started to watch a movie.
***
What. Had. Just. Happened?
Regina almost peed herself from how Darius scared her with his exclamation. Her first urge was to grab a lamp and send it flying at his head, and then she wanted to laugh at his next comment. Small bursts of laughter were on the verge of coming out from her mouth, but she held it there because she saw how embarrassed Marcus was. She really thought, that Darius busted him, and she was so engrossed in watching tiny movements of Marcus' palm, wishing he'd go lower, that she hadn't paid attention to what was going on in the movie.
Didn't help Kos's silent laughing, that reverberated in the bedframe under her. His body was shaking and it felt like she was riding on a train. He turned his body to her and whispered so low, that only she'd heard, "Almost busted," and continued to silently laugh, moving away from her.
So Kos was aware of what Marcus was doing. Regina pursed her lips, to stop the rising giggle, and glued her eyes to the screen.
Poor Marcus, he tiredly rubbed his face and folded his arms. Did it mean, that their game was over? They had two hours more of the film to watch, surely she would figure something out. The main thing is not to fall asleep in the middle of it.
Regina tried to coax Marcus to renew their game, she put down her knees, rubbed her own belly, glanced every once in a while openly at him. And in the end, she just turned on her side and watched his profile openly. But to no avail. It was like he put a wall between them and ignored her completely. His arms remained folded on his chest, his ankles crossed. But Kos was clearly enjoying the situation. After her every ministration, the bed was vibrating with his silent laughter. She wanted to smack him with a pillow to shut him up, but it would probably entertain him more.
She was lying on her side, head nestled on a pillow, her hair almost dry now, and she slowly blinked to stay awake. It was the moment in the film when aliens came to Earth and were threatening Earth when she opened her mouth just to not get to sleep.
"Why all alien invaders start with a threat?" her voice was slow like it was an effort to speak at all, which it was. "One would think that after thirty-three years of wandering in lifeless space, they'd want to have a couple of days of rest. They could land on some beautiful island, have a couple of drinks, and just enjoy themselves and relax. But nooo, even before they landed, they already are threatening to destroy the only living planet they'd found."
"You sound like you had many invaders before," Marcus' voice was gruff, and he still hadn't turned in her direction.
"And we're doing right as you said, enjoying ourselves," Darius piped in.
"Yeah, you're right, you're the first invaders that the world will know of," she said thoughtfully.
"We're not invaders, we're allies," Marcus turned to look at her, his eyes were sharp and serious, and she felt a shock of tingling sensation in her belly. Finally, he dared to look at her. He looked so regal, his handsome features sharpened by the shadows of the room. His dark eyes glittered.
"I hope when real invaders will arrive, they'll follow your example," She licked her lips, still holding his gaze, and it darted to her mouth and stayed there.
"What do you mean 'real invaders'?" Darius was asking, "Are you waiting for someone else?"
She licked her lips again, slowly dragging her tongue over her upper lip, and then bit her bottom lip, and very slowly released it from her teeth. He watched her every move, his hands finally releasing from the tight grip on his chest, his torso turning to her like she was pulling him by a thread. His mouth opened and he quickly licked his own lips, his eyes dark pools of desire.
Gotcha!
She put her elbow on the mattress and rested her head on the left hand, still lying on her side.
Oh, Darius had said something, right.
Still watching Marcus, she replied, "Well, it can't be, that you're the only ones out there in the galaxies, maybe someday, someone will come to us. Besides, there are still Martians, who can come at any time, and if what you've told is right, they aren't so friendly."
"If someone will come, you'll have us," Marcus replied in a low tone, and it sounded like he meant that she had him personally. "And Martians can't come here, they don't have our technology." The last part he said a bit smugly, his eyes traveled along her body, in sync with her other palm, which now was slowly moving from her collarbone to the side and further, to her hip, stroking her hip and gently squeezing.
She heard his sharp inhale, and one of his palms clenched the blanket under him.
She was struggling to think coherently about their talk, her focus fully on the silent game they played, but in the depths of her mind, she remembered what he told her about Martians the previous time.
"You said that they are spying on you all the time, who knows what they managed to find out."
"They can't," Kos's raspy voice echoed behind her, and it was the second time in the past hour, that she was scared to death. She completely forgot about his bulky frame lying behind her. "We have the most advanced techniques to decipher the information."
"In the past months, they lessened their activity of raiding and ambushing us. Maybe they came to their senses on whether they could defeat us," Darius stated matter-of-factly, leaving no question that for him, the answer was no. They'd never defeat him. And then he added angrily, "And hey, stop talking, I'm watching a movie."
Yeah, whatever. Martians didn't concern her right now, only the one certain Marsikon did. Who shuffled his body in a more comfortable position, almost facing her, and put his left arm on his hip, mirroring her position.
The heat danced along her body under his laser gaze, her heartbeat thundered in her ears and any semblance of sleepiness evaporated. She wished they were alone, and could explore each other bodies with their hands, lips, and skin. Did Marcus feel the same way, as she? Did he picture her naked in his arms, as she did?
"Hey, Marcus, are you asleep?" the loud slap echoed in the room, and she heard a deep growl in response.
"No, I'm not asleep," Marcus turned to Darius, and Regina put her head in the pillow to stifle her laugh. The bed reverberated with Kos' silent laughter.
"Good, because it seems now will be the most interesting part. The fight," Darius said excitingly.
Darius, you son of a... Regina shook her head and groaned silently in the darkness, lying on her back and shifting her gaze to the TV. Maybe when the movie will end, she'll find a way to stay alone with Marcus. If she wouldn't fall asleep in the process.
***
Marcus was so lost in their little bubble of another universe with Regina that he almost reached for his gun when Darius slapped his back. Fortunately he wasn't wearing his suit jacket or Darius might have felt a friendly slapback.
Dar didn't know how lucky he was, because this half of the movie could be the last thing he saw in his life.
He lay down on his back and glanced at Regina, who mimicked his pose. He couldn't properly see if she was smiling or scowling, or maybe both.
He'd made an effort to watch at least a couple of minutes of the movie, when Darius groaned, "Oh, come on. Did he really turn himself? Seriously? And he thought that it would stop invaders from grabbing the Earth to themselves? With all their might, Earthlings could just bomb their ship when it was arriving."
"He thought that these aliens were as noble as Superman, so he turned himself in, to save the others," Marcus quickly got the gist of what was going on in the film, and grabbed the opportunity to calm himself after Regina made him hot and hard all over. His most intimate part ached, and thinking about something else made his suffering easier.
"If they just blasted this ship, then you wouldn't have a great fight to watch, and it would be the end of the movie. Sorry Darius, but just shut up, and lets watch," Regina's voice was annoying, but when Marcus glanced in her direction, she smiled mischievously at him.
"Yeah, probably you're right, Regina," Darius nodded, not dazed or offended.
Marcus smiled back at her, and decided to go all-in in their dire romantic situation. He put his hand so it was hanging from his bed right in the middle of the aisle between their beds. He crossed the distance between them, now it was her turn, to take a step or stay put.
He wasn't watching her, hoping she got his message. He felt a pang in his chest when seconds ticked and his palm remained hanging alone. He was about to fold his arms on his chest, when the small and soft palm slid into his, and squeezed him gently. The smile bloomed on his face and he turned to Regina, her dark eyes glittered in the darkness like pools of a smoldering fire. The sensual smile beckoning him to put his lips on hers in real.
She held his gaze and after a moment, which felt like a lifetime, she closed her eyes and slowly blew him a kiss.
He was undone.
She drove him crazy with need. He wanted to claim her and make her his, despite him not knowing much in that department. If only they were alone right now... He blew the kiss of his own, and squeezed her hand in his, intertwining their fingers, and she squeezed back. Electric impulses were dancing up his arm and his heart did funny things in his chest like he was electrocuted.
"Look, how he blasted him. I want his power! Hey, did you just blew me a kiss, Regina?" Darius' excited voice turned incredulous, and he shifted over Marcus, almost crushing him in the process, "Hey, what are you doing here?"
Marcus froze for a second when he heard Darius mentioning a kiss, and he felt how Regina's hand rapidly slipped from his hand, but not fast enough for Darius not to see it.
"What? No, I didn't blow you a kiss, you dork. I was just pursing my lips on your comment about power."
"And what about your hands? Were you two making out while Kosmas and I were here with you?" Darius was laughing at them. "You remember that we have two more rooms, right? You could've just gone there and done what you were about to do, but not in front of us."
Marcus was speechless. Never in his life had he felt such embarrassment—nor been so consumed with desire that he no longer cared. His heart was beating so fast, he was afraid that it would jump from his ribcage. They were busted, and now he wouldn't hear the end of it. "Darius, it's so dark, how could you see that someone blew a kiss?" he croaked in a rasped voice.
"So there was a kiss, and why are you croaking?" Darius lifted his torso from his and now stood on his knees on the bed.
"You scared me to death, that's why. And there wasn't any kiss," Marcus tried to downplay his embarrassment. He cleared his throat and looked at Regina, who was sitting on the bed, looking at Darius with narrowed eyes.
"There wasn't any kiss, Darius, you need to check your eyes, maybe you need glasses already?" Regina sounded affronted.
***
Regina couldn't believe that they were busted after all. Darius was lying so far away from her, was so engrossed in the movie, and somehow through this darkness, he managed to turn his head in the exact moment when she was at her most vulnerable and blew that damn kiss. She got carried away with their game, and physical contact with Marcus' hand turned her all mushy.
It wasn't the end of the world for being caught like that. Kosmas saw their interaction and had found it funny, but did nothing to embarrass her or Marcus. But being caught by Darius, and already knowing what kind of man he was... If she admits that there was a kiss, she wouldn't hear the end of it for the next few days. And she didn't envy Marcus when they'll get home, probably he would joke around and half the planet will know that they were busted.
"Come on, I saw you blowing a kiss. Kos, did you see them holding hands?" Darius laughed, his gaze darting from one person to another, clearly enjoying their discomfort.
Bedframe's little earthquakes immediately stopped, and she heard loud coughing coming from Kos like he was concealing his laughter.
"Um, no. I was watching a movie, Dar," Kos answered in an almost normal tone like this show hadn't affected him in the slightest.
At least one of Marcus' friends was an honorable one, and didn't make such a huge deal of what had happened.
Regina stood up from the bed, "Well, I think the movie watching is over. Thanks to Darius," Her tone was thick with sarcasm. "I'll be going to sleep."
She glanced at Marcus, he stood up with her, the blush on his cheeks was visible even in the darkness of the room. His shoulders were hunched, his knuckles squeezed tight. In his eyes she saw the unspoken words, 'I'm sorry'. But verbally he said, "I'll walk you to your room."
For a second she thought to let him walk with her, but she was afraid it would be awkward after their egos were blown.
Clenching her hand in a fist as if not to reach out to him for comfort, she said quietly, "It's okay, I'll manage on my own." And louder she added, "Good night everyone, it was fun."
"Hey, if you blew me a kiss, you don't need to be embarrassed about it," Darius said, with his laid-back attitude.
Was he serious? Regina looked at him, seeing his brow raised on his almost angelic face. "You're so full of shit, Darius. Good night."
When she got back to her room, she was so exhausted, that she couldn't think about anything. Not about Marcus and their attraction. Not about Darius and his shitty timing of looking at her. And not about saving the world.
Her last thought before she fell asleep was, I'll deal with all of this tomorrow.