Loving a Prince

Rating: ADULT
Category: Canon AU, M/S (M/L and their kids)
E-mail: lieselvw@mweb.co.za
Disclaimer: Nothing in the Roswell universe is mine.

Summary: This fic is about Liz and Max's children from my Experiment universe and is pure fluff - no huge or intricate plot. Matthew is in love and as always with the Evans men, things don't go too smoothly! I just LOVE Max and Liz too, so they will feature a lot.

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Part 1

CHARACTER OVERVIEW:
Max & Liz Evans - Gee, who could THEY be?
Matthew and Belle-Mari Evans - their children (18 and 16)
Michael & Maria Guerin
Mia Guerin - their daughter (14)
James and Shilla Mulder - Liz's Antarian guard and former Dendarian servant girl respectively
Saskia Mulder - their daughter and Matt's love (17)
Eric and Sarah Alexander - King of Tresar (the nation that wanted to annihilate Antar) and his human wife
Luca Alexander - their son (18 )
Shing - Current King of Dendar
Aran - Son of the King of Dendar (23)
Dak'or - Former military leader of Tresar, overthrown by Eric and incarcerated for life on Dendar.

PLANETS OF THE WHIRLWIND GALAXY:
Antar - Max's world (destroyed by Tresar)
Tresar - Former enemies of Antar
Dendar - Neutral planet where Max negotiated peace for the galaxy
Oron - Fourth planet
Karek - Fifth planet

A smile touched her face as the Jeep came to halt in the driveway. It brought back such sweet memories of Max driving another old Jeep and arriving home. Liz leaned on the counter underneath the kitchen window to see her eldest, Matthew, now 18, opening the door for the girl sitting in the back seat while the passenger door flew open and his sister Belle-Mari tumbled out. She was the exact opposite of her quiet brother.

As Liz watched, Matt waited for Saskia to get out and they stared at each other for a moment before looking away shyly after she had exited the car. He let her precede him into the house, trying, and failing, not to obviously stare at her butt. Sas was the daughter of James and Shilla, who basically moved in with Max and Liz when they moved to the huge house on the hill. James was still Liz's most loyal bodyguard and Shilla was involved in one of Maria's shops.

Another younger girl joined Belle and Sas from the car. It was Michael and Maria's only daughter, Mia. She was 14, while Belle was 16 and Saskia 17. The four were together a lot as a result of their unique parentage situations. Not that the house wasn't filled with other kids too, these four were just the most closely knit.

Liz wondered for the umpteenth time what was going on between her son and Saskia. There were clear signs that her son was interested in his life-long playmate as a girl. But they acted skittish around each other.

Sighing, Liz thought she had to talk to Max about this. He had given his son the obligatory sex talk a long time ago and Liz would never forget how uncomfortable Matt had been around them for a while afterwards. When she had asked him why, he just mumbled that he had preferred not knowing what his parents were up to when they closed their bedroom door. It was a rule in the Evans house, don't bother Mom and Dad when their door was closed unless it was a life and death situation.

They were a demonstrative family. Lots of hugs and kisses were always being exchanged and this included their close friends. So Matt and Sas used to be quite comfortable with each other. Many nights, Liz had woken up to hear the two of them whispering in Matt's room and Sas had fallen asleep there a lot. After talking about it with Max and Sas' parents, they decided to not say anything about the situation until the kids got older. However, the sleeping over had stopped naturally after Matt turned 16 for some reason. Liz had wanted to ask them about it, but the shy way the two started acting around each other told her not to probe.

It was weird to observe the slow mating dance of her son from a mother's perspective. For the first time, she really understood her parents' panic about Max. They had had to cope with their 16 year-old daughter getting really intense with a guy and probably had many sleepless nights worrying that she would have sex and get pregnant too soon and ruin her life.

She was praying that their son was just like Max. Things had gotten very out of control for them a few times when they were young, but Max had always managed to stop their lovemaking at a reasonable point until he was more or less married to her. And after they started being intimate, he had always made sure they took precautions of some kind. A dreamy smile crossed her face. After all these years, Max still made her feel tingly.

"Dreaming about Dad again, Mom?" Belle's voice interrupted her musings and she turned around to receive a kiss from all four.

"Well, he is a dreamboat, isn't he?" she joked with her daughter. Both of them enjoyed annoying Max about how handsome he was.

"We're going to go study in my room. Without you, Matt!" Belle yelled over her shoulder as the girls followed her out. Liz observed the way Matt and Saskia glanced at each other just before she departed the room.

"Are you hungry?" she asked him.

A blush crept over his cheeks as he swung his head back to meet her eyes, knowing she had caught that look. Matt knew his mother. He knew she was very perceptive about people and that there was no way he could hide his attraction to Saskia from her. "Uhm, no thanks, but I'll get us something to drink."

Seating herself at the table, Liz marveled again at how much Matt looked like his father. He was just as tall and had the same raven hair and amazing amber eyes. But more than that, he has inherited Max's gentle soul.

Putting the soda in front of Liz, Matt sat down opposite her, nervously fiddling with his drink. "So, when is Dad coming home tonight?"

Liz let him talk about whatever he wanted to. He was just as good as Max at saying how he felt and pushing him would not make him tell her faster if he didn't want to. "He said around seven. They are working on that project and he needs to meet some financiers."

"Ooh," Matt whistled, "he is going to be in a bad mood when he gets back then. He hates trying to sound like the lab needs money when he has all he needs already. Keeping up appearances is hard on him."

"Yeah, I know. He had to keep secrets his whole life, Matt. He gets sick of it sometimes."

Matt nodded and looked at his drink again. He really wanted to talk to Liz about Saskia and all the feelings he had for her, but he didn't know how to start. And then there was the little problem that Sas apparently didn't want to be with him. Maybe his mother could help him understand. Surely Sas couldn't still be mad at him for his stupid actions of a year-and-a-half ago? He sighed. But she had every right to, he had treated her like a-

"So, I thought we could all go visit Eric and Sarah on Tresar for a few months as soon as your Dad and my work allows it. Would you like to go?"

Looking at Liz in surprise, Matt wondered what had brought this on. His Mom and Dad still went to the other planets in his dad's old galaxy a lot, but mostly he and Belle were left behind. They had been to Dendar with their parents, the planet where Sas' mom came from, but he could only vaguely remember Tresar. Eric, the current King of Tresar, and his wife Sarah were more or less heroes in the Evans household since they had helped save his mom and dad a few times when they were young. They had come to earth to visit a couple of times when he was a lot younger. They had a son around his age too, but he didn't really know the guy. In fact, he hadn't seen him since they were eight.

His next thought told him in just how much trouble he really was with Sas. He felt ill thinking that he would have to leave her here and go away for months. Even if she wasn't interested in him. "Uhm, I-I-"

"We would have to take James and Shilla too, of course," Liz added. "And I'm sure they would want to take Saskia." Her knowing gaze locked with her son's relieved one.

"Thanks, Mom," he said quietly and dropped his gaze back to the tabletop. Gee, I wonder why Dad is so crazy about Mom? She really is the best, he thought. "She... I think... I really like her," he finally blurted out.

Looking up at Liz, he could see her smile. "She is a wonderful person, Matt."

"Yeah." His eyes were starting to shine. "She is really smart, Mom. Did you know that? And-"

The phone interrupted his speech and they heard footsteps running down the stairs. "I'll get it!" Belle cried and the ringing stopped.

Liz was just turning back to Matt when she saw his attention being focused over her shoulder. She knew Saskia had entered the kitchen without even looking.

"I'm just getting us some sodas if that's okay, Mrs. Evans?" Saskia was already opening the fridge.

"Sure."

"Matt!" Belle called from the entrance hall. "It's that Becky again. The one who keeps mooning over you. She claims she needs your Chem notes and wants to come over."

Saskia's eyes had clouded over as soon as she heard Becky's name and Matt got to his feet with a muffled curse. "Sas..." he stopped not knowing what to say to her. They weren't together or anything, so he didn't know how to handle this situation. He didn't want her to think he was interested in the other girl. Even if she didn't want him to be interested in herself...

The emotions in the room were thick and Liz desperately wanted to help these two. They would have to find their own way towards each other, but she could at least help Matt get rid of another annoying girl falling all over herself to be with him. She had been doing that for years now. Just like his father, Matt was seen as a hottie and was constantly being called by girls. "Why don't you tell her you will type up the notes and e-mail them to her tonight?"

The appreciation in Matt's eyes made it all worthwhile. He looked over at Saskia again. "I think I'll go do that. Thanks, Mom."

Saskia hightailed it out of the room after Matt, running down the hall desperately into the bathroom. She felt like hyperventilating. Matt was interested in her! She could finally admit that now. She could admit that he had been giving her these looks that made her toes curl and her heart, that has belonged to him for as long as she could remember, ache.

But... he was the son of a King. And she was, well, for all intents and purposes, the daughter of servants. This could never happen. She sank to the floor, burying her face in her hands. She had to be strong. Her parents had taught her well about the importance of Max and his son and she had been witness to the deferential way in which James and Shilla still treated their Royal Family.

Growing up on earth in the presence of Max and Liz, who barely ever acted like the Royalty they were, has not dimmed her awe of their position. They treated her like an equal, but getting involved with the Crown Prince would be something completely different. Her parents would never allow it.

So she would stay his friend and hope he finds someone to love him as he should be loved. Tears seeped from her eyelids at the thought of him with someone else. He had never dated or anything before, so her heart had been safe. But Matt was a young man who had grown up in a house where the love between his parents threatened to blind one sometimes, and he would want that too. And he needed to find it with someone that was his equal.

But oh, she loved him!

She remembered all the nights that she had fallen asleep in his bed, surrounded by his scent. He would sleep on the floor on a mattress that he had started keeping there for such occasions. And most mornings she would wake before him to watch him sleep for a few uninterrupted minutes before sneaking off to her parent's apartment at the back of the house.

Until that fateful night when they were 16...

Their summer vacation had just started and Matt was supposed to go away with his Dad on a hiking trip the next day. They had talked until late and afterwards watched a video. And then she had fallen asleep with her head against his shoulder...

When she had woken up, Matt was sleeping too. She had been lying practically on top of him, snuggled under his arm with her leg thrown over his hips. She had been too afraid to move at first, freezing with her face pressed into his chest.

Until she felt his hand on her butt.

She nearly bolted up straight in the bed right then. His hand had been large and warm and... possessive. She had tried to roll away from him slowly, hoping he wouldn't wake up, but he had made a sound in the back of his throat and rolled with her. She had ended up lying on her back with Matt on his side, his thigh over hers. The position had felt unbearable intimate to her. Each heated inch of him had been pressed to her, even... even THAT part of him.

One deep breath later, she had contemplated her next move. She had to get out of this bed before-

Matt had snuggled closer, muttering something again... and had moved his hand from her stomach to cup her breast.

Saskia could not have stopped the wild gasp from escaping her to save her life. Never before had she been touched this intimately.

As she lay tensely beneath him, her body had responded to his hand and she had been powerless to stop it. This was one of her guilty dreams come true.

The fluttering of his long eyelashes against the sensitive skin at the crook of her neck had been the first sign that Matthew had woken up. She had closed her eyes in mortification that he would find her like this. And also because she hadn't wanted to see the very visible signs of her own arousal either.

Matt had obviously been stunned because it had taken him a few moments to move. When he did, he had jerked his hand away from her breast as if it burnt him while his head had shot up to look at her. She had kept her eyes squeezed shut, praying that he would think she was asleep and just leave her alone, but she had not been that lucky.

"Sas?"

She had never heard his voice sound like that before. It was hoarse, deep, and it had skittered across her senses to make her gasp again.

Her eyes had flown open to find him staring down at her with a glittering dark gaze. A deep flush had crept over his cheeks, just before his eyes had dropped to her mouth.

And made her realize she was in deep trouble.

His lips had covered hers before she even had a chance to blink and the kiss had been so much more than she had ever expected. His hands had cupped her face, angling it until he could deepen the kiss. Electricity had raced through her as he plundered her mouth. This had been her first kiss, but it had felt familiar. Like they had done it millions of times before.

His tongue had tangled with hers as his body had pressed her into the bed. Stars had swirled through her head as she felt his urgency and passion. Finally, the need for oxygen had become too immediate and he had torn his mouth away from hers to kiss a wet path over her jaw line.

"Sas..."

This time, her name had been a sigh.

And it had brought her abruptly out of the fog his caresses had enveloped her with. This was the crown prince of Antar! And he was not meant for her...

She had scrambled away from him with such speed that he had stared at her in shock. "No, Matt!" she had told him. "This is a mistake."

She had turned away from him and sat on the edge of the bed, shaking like a leaf. He had been quiet for a long time, but she had fought the impulse to turn around to see his reaction.

When he finally spoke, his soft words had pierced her heart. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have... It won't happen again."

She had fled the room and had only burst into tears when she reached the safety of her own bed. She had never stayed in his room again.

When Matthew returned to the kitchen, he found his mother sitting alone at the table with no sign of Saskia. That hand that squeezed his heart whenever it seemed that she was trying to get away from him returned.

Liz waited until he had settled in his chair again. "So Becky, huh?" she teased him.

He grimaced. "She doesn't take a hint. She's everywhere I am. I don't want her, I want-" He stopped abruptly.

"Saskia?" Liz provided softly.

He didn't respond at first, staring at the glass filled with soda as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Then, "yeah."

His eyes were filled with anguish when it met hers. "But I screwed up, Mama." He used his childhood name for her. "She doesn't want to be with me now..."

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