“Mornin’, darlin‘,” breaking her reverie, Logan’s deep husky voice rasped in her ear, it’s timbre made rougher from sleep.
Ororo wiped her hand across her mouth, sitting up. “Uhm, morning.”
Logan watched her through hooded eyes. “How’re ya feelin’?”
She leaned away from him, her hair falling over her shoulder to veil her face from his view. “Honestly? I feel a bit foolish. I shouldn’t have laid all my baggage on you like I di--”
“Relax, ‘Ro.” Logan propped himself on one elbow, his hair standing about his head in wild points making him seem boyishly endearing and sexy all at the same time. “Ya didn’t lay nothin’ on me that I didn’t want laid there.” He yawned widely getting to his feet and stretching his arms over his head. “I gotta piss.”
Ororo felt her lips twitch. He was letting her off easy by not making a big deal about her emotional breakdown. “Logan,” she said as he reached the bathroom door.
He glanced at her over his shoulder. “Hnh?”
“Thank you.”
He nodded once and entered the bathroom.
When he emerged a few moments later, bladder relieved and mouth rinsed, it was to find the motel door wide open and no sign of Ororo. “Son of a bitch!” With a fierce snarl he raced through the door and out into the parking lot, skidding to a halt when he saw her loading her bags into his Jeep. She gave him a curious look, one silver eyebrow raised.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, fine,” he grunted.
“Good.” Ororo opened the passenger side door. “Can we stop and grab breakfast? I’m starved.”
Logan scratched the back of his head. “Sure.” He made his way to the Jeep and climbed in. “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.” She gave him a semi smile.
Logan turned the ignition. “Then let’s roll.”
Twenty minutes later
“You missed our exit.”
Logan glanced sideways at Ororo, who at the moment was chewing her egg McMuffin and pointing her thumb back towards a large green sign they had just passed.
Logan rolled his eyes. The woman was a side-seat driver of the worst sort.
“Did you hear me?” She asked between bites of sausage when he didn’t respond. “We just missed our exit.”
Logan reached one hand across the leather seats, wiping a piece of English muffin from the corner of her mouth. “No we didn’t.”
“Uh, yeah, we did.” she countered, a small furrow appearing between her finely arched brows. A sign of irritation on her part. “New York’s two days drive thatta way, big guy.”
Logan smirked and adjusted his sunglasses. “I know. Trust me.”
Ororo gave him her patented enigmatic smile. “If you say so.”
Giving in to temptation Logan brushed the back of his knuckles down her cheek before returning his gaze to the road. It was the first intimate touch he’d given her in weeks, and just that small, momentary contact stirred him. He inhaled slowly, clearing his head. She needed to make the first step. It was her call.
Last night in the motel, seated on the single bed with Ororo’s head tucked under his chin and talking until the wee hours before dawn, Logan had made a decision of his own. He had decided that the two of them needed some time. To heal. To bond. To be.
Ororo had poured her heart out to him, confessing between strangled sobs how hard it had been for her to feel helpless. It had broke his heart to hear the catch in her voice as she described how terrible it had been for her in the woods with that animal.
He had been more than a little surprised to learn that the rape itself was not what was most traumatic for her, but it was the ropes, tying her down, holding her immobile, making her feel weak and useless.
He understood that feeling all too well. The feeling of things beyond your control. And he knew the danger of losing yourself in that fear, the desire to crawl so deep inside yourself that you were never found. Ororo was still struggling with that.
That revelation coupled with the fact that she in no way blamed him for what had happened that fateful day in the woods had sparked something long reserved in Logan. He hadn’t delved too deeply into self examination, however, he had decided that the institute wasn’t where they needed to be.
Somewhere in Canada
“We’re here.” Logan reached across the seat and unbuckled her belt, his scent tickling Ororo‘s nose. He smelt warm and male and welcome. She was oddly soothed by that.
Ororo’s lips parted on a soft gasp. In front of her, perched on the edge of a cliff sat a well maintained, beautifully rustic, log cabin, complete with porch and swing. Alongside the cabin was a snowmobile and a covered ATV. To the right of the cabin was a large clearing, and a sizeable pond, all surrounded by a dense tree line. The scenery combined with the afternoon sunset was breathtaking. “Your cabin?” she asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yup.” Logan opened the back of the Jeep, pulling out her bags. “Figured we could hang here for awhile. Give ya some time to get back on your feet, so to speak.”
Ororo didn’t know what to say. That he would make such a gesture for her was…unprecedented. “I don’t want to intrude--” she began.
“You ain’t.” He set the bags on the porch steps, then returned to the Jeep for her. “Comin’?”
Ororo gave him a pensive look, still uncertain of her footing where he was concerned. “You’re sure?”
“Would you just get yer ass in the cabin.” Logan grumbled, nudging her gently along.
Once inside, Ororo took the time to gaze around the interior. The cabin’s décor was somewhat of a surprise to her. Although Logan’s presence was clearly felt with the large meat filled freezer, and kegs of beer on the floor, and masculine colors, the place was, in fact, surprisingly quaint and cozy.
The main room was large with several comfy looking pieces of furniture, a dark oak coffee table, two lamps and an overhead fan as well as a fireplace outlined in hand laid brick. Above the mantle sat a pair of criss-crossed black and silver sai blades.
“Gift from a friend.” Logan said, seeing her curious expression. “C’mon, I’ll show ya where yer room is.”
She nodded, following him up a semi-circle stair case to the second floor. At the top of the stairs Logan pointed out a bathroom and a small closet with towels and shampoos.
“It ain’t completely stocked yet. I wasn’t planning on coming back until February. We can grab some chick supplies and stuff tomorrow if you feel up to it.”
Ororo tilted her head. Logan seemed…disconcerted. She wondered if he was uncomfortable sharing is obviously private space. He was talking again before she could ask him.
“And this,” he flicked on a light, “is yer room.”
Stepping past his wide frame, Ororo took in her new temporary dwellings. A good sized bed with a handmade quilt and several pillows sat against the right wall. A small carved dresser and matching nightstand were the only other furnishings in the room, but it was more than adequate.
“Thank you,” she said quietly. She didn’t know what else to say.
Logan shrugged nonchalantly. “Ya may not be thanking me in a couple days when yer sick of my company.”
“True.” Ororo agreed, trying to sound light.
They stood in silence for a moment.
“Ya need any help getting settled?”
“No. I think I can handle it.”
Logan felt like there was something meaningful that he should say to make her feel at ease, but no words came readily to mind, so instead he settled on, “Ok. I’m gonna go start a fire and kick back. My ass is killing me.”
Ororo nodded. “You know, you didn’t have to do this. You‘re not responsible for me.”
Logan gave her a long stare. “’Ro, I admire yer stubborn determination to prove you‘re self sufficient, but I think just this once you should pack the brass balls away and relax.”
“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. Ignore me, Logan, it’s just me being under medicated.”
He was beside her quickly. “You need something?”
“My Vicodin would be nice.”
“I’ll grab it.”
“I can--”
“You just relax.”
“…Okay.”
At the door Logan turned back to her. “’Ro.”
She looked up. “Yeah?”
“I want you to feel at home here.” His tone rumbled a bit. “Yer safe here.”
Two weeks later
“No, Ali, I am not ‘shitting’ you.” Ororo said with a patient sigh, She maneuvered herself so that she could see the Jeep from her position at the payphone. Logan was still at the pump, filling the tank. “I really am fine. That poly-synthetic stuff that Hank invented healed me up good as new. The man was a revolutionary genius.”
“And one hell of a limbo player.”
“That too.”
“So where hell have you two been? You were supposed to call regularly.” Ali reminded her, her tone mildly irritated.
“I know. I would have called sooner, but there‘s no reception up here and this is the first store we‘ve been to with a working payphone. But I’m good.”
“Well, you’d better be. I don’t want to have to bust someone’s shit up if you aren’t.” Ali’s voice held a hint of humor and more than a bit of seriousness.
“How are you?” Ororo changed the subject.
“How am I? Fan-fuckin’-tastic as always. How else would I be?”
“Pissed off, annoyed, indifferent, callous, moody, morose--”
“Okay, okay, smartass.”
Ororo could almost see Ali roll her eyes. “How’s the team?”
“Hm. Let’s see. Visor-boy and Jean are tiffing ‘cause she wants action and he wants to be all stiff and stale. Kitty has given up on Bobby due to his renewed interest in the new chickie Rogue. Mother Russia is as he always is. Quiet and gorgeous. Professor X is shady to say the least. War is tweaking--I think he’s molting, but what the hell do I know. And Kurt…is delicious.”
“Alison! You didn’t?”
“I most certainly did.”
Ororo gave a startled but joyful laugh. “You and Kurt?”
“Yep. And let me tell you, there are things that boy can do with that tail…”
“Oh?”
Ali sighed happily. “Mmmmhmm.”
Ororo’s face hurt she was smiling so wide. “I think Kurt will be very good for you.”
“Yeah, well, you do have a soft spot for the blue-boys.”
Ororo’s hand tightened around the phone. “Speaking of blue boys--”
“Already done. Put flowers out this morning and cleared the headstone.”
Trust Ali to be one step ahead. “Thanks. You’re the best.”
“Don’t I fuckin’ know it.”
“I mean that, Ali. You really are the best friend I’ve ever had.”
“Stop, you’ll make me blush and as pale as I am, it’ll look splotchy and hive-like. Not a good look.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Hey, not all of us are statuesque beauties that could be super models and send men into a wild frenzy of mad passion--and I am a fuckin’ idiot. Crap, Storm, I didn’t think…I am so sorry.”
“Stop.” Ororo rebuked gently. “You have nothing to apologize for.”
“Don’t be kind. You can say it. Say ‘Alison, you insensitive, unthinking bitch, I was just man handled like a month ago and you are a moron.’”
Ororo laughed. “Seriously, all set on that.”
“No, no. I insist. Call me a douche. I’m a douche.”
“You’re a freak”
“True.”
“You’re so weird.”
“Also true.”
“I’m not fragile, Ali. I’m not going to fall apart every time someone mentions sex, or the word rape.”
“Good thing. I know I’ll be mentioning sex an awful lot. Did I mention that Kurt was endowed?”
“Uh, no. I believe you left that out.”
Alison laughed on the other end. “He’s huge. I don’t think I will be walking straight for the next week. Oh, hey, Professor. What‘s up?”
Ororo laughed so hard she snorted, picturing Xavier rolling by Ali’s doorway, hearing the tail-end of the conversation. She was assailed by more giggles at the thought of ‘tail-end’.
“I can’t breathe,” she gasped, holding her side. Ororo caught Logan’s wave out of the corner of her eye as she wiped away tears of mirth. “I gotta run, Ali, but I’ll call you soon. I think we‘re heading back next weekend.”
“Sure, sure. Take care of yourself, Stormy. And take your time.” Ali’s melodic voice was soothing and gentle. “I miss you, but I’ll survive.”
Ororo wished she could hug her friend. “Thanks.”
“Love ya.”
“You too.”
Logan gave her an assessing once over as she approached. “What’s so funny?”
Ororo shook her head, still smiling. “Alison.”
“Uh-huh.”
“What?”
Logan slid into the driver’s seat, his own mouth curved at the corners. “Nuthin’. Just glad to see that smile back on yer face.”
Ororo tilted her face towards the sky, the clouds parting to let the sunshine through. “Yeah,” she said with a happy sigh, “it does feel pretty good.”
Blood.
Fire.
Fire in blood.
Pain.
Blood and fire and pain.
Screaming.
Blood and fire and pain and screaming.
Make it stop. Please, God, make it stop.
Death.
Darkness.
Pain.
Fear. Clawing. Terrifying. Helpless fear.
Logan bolted upright in bed, three claws tearing through tendon and muscle, slashing at an invisible, long forgotten memory.
He closed his eyes, heaving a ragged breath. He pressed his fingertips to his temple, the throbbing pain in his head slowly fading as his healing factor kicked in, removing the headache that memory surges caused.
Minutes seemed endless as he tried to calm himself down. He knew it would take several, he’d suffered these nightmares far too long not to know that.
The cool night air felt good against his sweat dampened skin, the gentle breeze was refreshing, helping to chase away the last gray ghosts of his nightmarish past. It took him a moment to remember that his bedroom window wasn’t open.
Slowly he looked up, towards his bedroom door, and there she stood.
His salvation.
Silhouetted against his door, her sheer diaphanous nightgown rustling in her self generated breeze and silver moonlight caressing caramel skin, she looked like an angel come to deliver him from the foulest pits of hell.
“’Ro…?” His voice was raw, as though from screaming.
She padded silently forward, her blue eyes luminous in the dark. Without a word she approached him, finally coming up alongside the bed. She eased the sheet away from him slowly and carefully slid into the bed beside him, tenderly urging him into her arms.
Logan held himself stiff and reserved, completely uncertain as to what she was doing. He could feel the wounded man inside himself reaching for her, wanting to embrace her and melt into her. The desire to lose himself in her warm acceptance and gentle comfort was fierce and consuming, but there was another part of him was terrified to do so.
She molded against him naturally, pressing his head against her shoulder, her slender fingers curled into his thick hair. She stroked along his temples, her motions rhythmic and peaceful.
With a choked sound Logan folded his thick arms around Ororo‘s waist, burying his face in her snowy tresses, inhaling her soothing scent and letting her presence ease away his torment as nothing in his life had ever been able to do before.
Eventually ragged breathing eased and tension ebbed away, replaced by something else. Something deep, and abiding and growing. Smoldering passion was flaring to life in Logan and he was helpless to stop it.
As if possessed of their own volition his lips caressed the soft curve of her neck, moving languorously across the silky texture. She tasted sweet on his tongue.
Ororo felt Logan’s mouth brush against the pulse of her neck. The brief contact caused her breath to hitch in her throat, and her fingers to involuntarily tighten around the ebony strands in her hand.
She shivered when she felt his tongue swirl against her skin, his mouth slowly moving to cover her shoulder in lingering kisses. He was wreaking havoc on her senses, causing the most delicious sensations to course through her body. Warm fingers slid along the curve of her shoulder, dancing along the spaghetti strap of her nightdress.
Logan moved so that he could see Ororo’s face, gauging her reaction to his touch. Her eyes were closed and her head was tilted back slightly, revealing the slender column of her throat. Her mouth was parted as short, shallow breaths passed her supple lips.
Adoringly he ran the palm of one hand along that column, feeling the blood flow just beneath her silken skin. She radiated life and vitality, yet at the same time she was so incredibly delicate and fragile. He could snap her neck like a twig if he chose, ending her life between one breath and the next. He had that power, and she knew it.
Before he could contemplate the why of it, he was hugging her, breathing her in and feeling her tremble with a disquieting fear. “Tell me what to do, baby.” His voice was whisper soft against her ear. “Tell me to stop…”
Ororo shook her head, her trembling was both fear and excitement. “Kiss me,” she whispered.
Logan nuzzled her neck before lifting his head and meeting her sparkling gaze. He skimmed her lips with the tip of his tongue, mapping her texture. He covered her mouth fully, kissing her slowly, savoring every sensation, relishing the taste of her on his mouth, content to do no more than this, if it was what she wished. He repeated the kiss again and again. A swirl of tongue, a caress of lips, his hands rising to cradle her face.
Ororo’s eyes fluttered. Never had she been kissed like this before. She felt…cherished. He was deliberate, and slow and unbearably erotic.
Logan shook with his restraint. He wanted inside. He wanted her in every way possible. After his nightmare he felt raw and open and dangerous, his emotions a volatile cocktail of unpredictability, yet he would castrate himself before he rushed her in any way.
After the hell she had been through, the fact that she was allowing anyone, least of all him, to touch her humbled him.
He pressed his thumb against her moist lower lip, completely opening her mouth to him. His tongue plunged deep inside, swirling in ardent worship. She moaned and he felt her shudder, her slender frame pressed tightly to his.
Ororo clung to Logan, her breathing ragged and broken. He was overwhelming her; devouring her. His taste was intoxicating, drugging her and her fingers clenched in his hair, pulling him closer, wanting to absorb him into her. She was barely aware of him laying her back onto the bed, only aware of his strong arms surrounding her, drawing her close. Her entire being centered on the passionate web he was weaving around them.
Logan whispered her name in between reverent kisses.
“Logan…” Ororo weaved her fingers through his hair. “I love you.”
Startled, he pulled back, searching her face with dark eyes.
Ororo met his scalding gaze, her eyes growing hazy with passion. “I just wanted you to know…”
Her eyes no longer held fear, but instead smoldered up at him wantonly and he was transfixed. She had never been so unguarded with him.
Something changed in that instant. Something primal and erotic and pure. Logan devoured her full lips in voracious, intense kisses. He nipped at her mouth, immediately soothing the small bites with his tongue, over and over again, as his warm, firm hands skimmed her now writhing body. With deliberate skill he stroked her, pressing against her swollen breasts, teasing her nipples through the near sheer material with his blunt fingers, groaning as they peaked. He circled and stroked, then slowly lifted the hem of her nightgown, pulling the garment over her head. When she lay completely bare beneath him he growled appreciatively. When her hand tentatively reached out to stroke his rock hard abdomen and lower still, he dropped his head onto her shoulder and grit his teeth.
Ororo was on fire. A miracle if there ever was one. For the longest time after her attack she feared that something within her was broken. She had no desire for sex. No want to be close to anyone. Even being alone in the cabin with Logan hadn’t sparked desire. Companionship, certainly, love, most assuredly but desire seemed an ember smothered by fear and self doubt. Until tonight.
Moaning Logan’s name, she raised one leg, brushing her satin skin against the coarseness of his thigh, moaning his name in earnest plea. She lifted her hips, unconsciously rotating against his exploring hand, her soft gasps sounding in the stillness of his room. She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him as he stroked and teased. She nuzzled his cheek, kissing the rough hairs, whispering his name over and over in a litany of love and desire.
“God, ‘Ro.” His voice was deep and rumbled with pent up desire. “Ya don’t know what ya do ta me.” Warm lips fastened to her shoulder, moving along her damp skin, his hot tongue flicking out, tasting her, sliding across her collar bone and over the soft swell of her breast. He captured the tip between his teeth, rolling her erect nipple between his canines, tugging gently, enjoying her startled gasp. He laved her with his tongue, cupping and squeezing her perfect globes, his eyes taking on a feral gleam in the moonlight.
Logan lowered his head, moving down her body, leaving a trail of fire in his wake. The scent of her arousal was driving him, calling him, beckoning him to her center.
At the first touch of his sensual mouth against her soft curls, Ororo arched her back off the bedding, her fingers splayed on the quilt. “Logan!”
He was doing such wicked things to her. Things that were unexpectedly driving her mad. She trembled while he swirled his tongue around her sensitive skin. His ministrations were gentle and thorough, ensuring her utmost pleasure. She felt his fingers stroking just below his wonderful mouth, sinking deep and sliding back out, stretching her, readying her for him. Pressure was building, moving within her, pleasure a living thing crawling through he body, pooling low in her abdomen. “Oh, oh, please…please, Logan…” Long strands of hair stuck to her cheeks as she tossed her head back and forth mindlessly in ecstasy.
Logan lifted his head briefly, flashing her a wolfish grin. “You taste like summer rain,” he murmured, the very tip of his tongue tasting her. He cupped her in his hands, pulling her closer, burying his face between her thighs, growling when she squirmed. “Easy, baby,” he grunted when she gripped his hair, holding him in place as her hips surged and she writhed against his face.
She was fragmenting! Ororo screamed into the night, her cry drowned by the booming thunder overhead. She sobbed for him to stop, threatened his life if he did and allowed herself to be carried on a wave of sheer ecstasy.
As she came down and her gaze focused, she felt tears slip past the corners of her eyes. “I thought…I thought I was broken,” she whispered raggedly.
Logan smiled gently at her. “You are not broken, ‘Roro.” To illustrate his point, Logan ran his hand down her well toned stomach and slid it between her thighs, probing her slick heat, making her arch off the bed into his touch.
With an urgent passion that had been held on a very short leash, Logan moved back up her body, slowly easing into her, pressing to the hilt. Both of them moaned.
“Jesus.” His jaw was clenched tight, the pleasure beyond reason. He closed his eyes, trying to remain still, relishing her fading tremors and the sweet heat from her release. Bit by bit he began to move, his hips rocking into her pelvis in a dance as old as time, but never before so beautiful to him. In that instant he allowed himself the luxury of her love. Feeling the waves of it flowing from her into him. Surprised, he felt his throat tighten.
Ororo clutched his shoulders, her hands roaming his back and chest as he drove into her in deep, long, slow strokes. She circled his hips with her legs, moving against him, trying to draw him ever closer. “You feel so good,” she rasped, her smoldering voice wreaking havoc on his over sensitized body. “So right.”
“Yes,” he hissed. He knew what she meant. Being inside Ororo was like being home. Unable to hold himself in check any longer, Logan gripped her hips, his fingers nearly biting into her flesh, but not. He reared away from her, watching her face as he drove home, his thrusts slightly more aggressive. His lip curled and his canines gleamed as he drove into her tightness. He watched with hooded eyes, the erotic visual of his cock sliding in and out of Ororo. “Tell me if I hurt you. I couldn’t stand hurting you,” he confessed on a growl.
“You won‘t,” she moaned. “Never.” She bit her lip when he flicked her nipples with his thumbs. “I want all of you. Please, Logan. I won’t break. Please.”
“You sure, Beautiful?” He pressed her firmly into the mattress, looming over her.
“Yessss…” She bit his earlobe, pulling the soft skin between her lips and sucking.
“Good.” He bit her shoulder, thrusting harder. “Yer so tight.” His grunts were harsher, his hips pounding faster. “Aw, hell, oh, fuck, fuck!” Logan pinned her down, slamming into her with borderline bruising force, consumed.
“Yes!” Ororo scratched his back, raking her nails over his sweat slicked skin, drawing blood.
“That’s my girl,” Logan grinned, hefting her higher, panting as they collided ever faster, ever harder. Fear of hurting her held him in check, until she gripped his face between her hands, her eyes snapping snips of light, and she commanded, “Harder!”
With a baring of fang he pinned her hands beside her head, submitting her to his fierce possession. Skin slapped skin. Eyes locked. Blood was drawn. Winds raged.
Lightening lit the sky outside the window. Ororo shuddered. Logan trembled.
“Say the words, ‘Ro,” he murmured into her hair. “I need ta hear them.”
The pleasure of him inside of her, filling her, drowned her other senses, but she heard his gruff plea a moment before she shattered. “I love you!”
Watching her as she came was like watching a falling star. Beautiful and bright and elusive. He wanted to hold that moment forever.
Logan followed her into oblivion, his hoarse, guttural shout was torn from the deepest part of his body and he shook as he emptied himself into her womb in long, hot spurts.
Leaning slightly away from her, he propped himself on one arm, watching her exquisite face in the silver light. She looked ravished, and desirable, and vulnerable. He leaned forward, nuzzling her neck and nipping along the curve. He’d never laid himself so open with anyone before, and he was reluctant to meet her eyes.
Ororo blinked her glowing eyes, the stark white changing into deep sapphire jewels. She searched his face, a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes. “Logan?”
A rare, gentle smile curved his lips and he traced the line of her jaw with the back of his knuckles. “Ororo.”
A slow, hesitant smile tugged at her mouth and he kissed the corner of it, pulling her in his arms.
