Logan slid open the patio door as quietly as he could, grimacing as it squealed in protest. Goddamn Xavier! A jet hidden under the basketball court, and yet try to open a fuckin’ door around here without waking the whole school. He paused, listening intently, but nothing stirred in the dark building and he huffed out a breath, easing himself through the door and stepping out onto the patio. Fumbling in the pocket of his jacket he found what he was looking for and quickly jammed the cigar between his teeth. At last! It had been a long day. Who would have ever thought the Wolverine would be teaching kids in some fancy school? He shook his head and lit a match. Thank Christ! Slapping the pocket of his jeans to check that the hipflask was still there he sank into one of the chairs and looked forward to some serious Logan-time. Charles had all these rules about smoking and drinking on school grounds, but being around those kids was just about the most stressful thing Logan thought he’d ever experienced. Xavier could take his rules and shove them right up his—

He raised his head and sniffed the air, closing his eyes to focus more intently on what his other senses were telling him. Teenage boys, about three of them: he could almost taste the hormones. Plus alcohol: something cheap. Well, well. Evidently he wasn’t the only one out to break a few rules tonight. Time to play the teacher. The thought made him smirk a little. Maybe he’d just have to confiscate that beer before they hurt themselves.

Rolling the cigar to the corner of his mouth he moved off, occasionally stopping to listen, his head tipped to one side. For such a big man he made little noise, and he was pretty confident they wouldn’t hear him coming. As he approached the source of the disturbance he stopped for one second, momentarily puzzled, before a slow smile crept over his face, and he tilted his head up. Bingo!

The three boys had no warning: they were chugging cheap beer and passing round the binoculars, intent on their game, and they nearly fell out the tree when Logan suddenly appeared, balancing effortlessly on one of the thick branches.

“Now what have we here?” Logan drawled, grabbing one of the open cans and taking a swig. He choked and spat it out, wiping his mouth with the arm of his jacket. “Jesus Christ, kid, what the hell is this stuff? You tryin’ to poison yourselves?”

“M-Mr Logan!” The title never failed to amuse him. “We’re sorry, we just…uh…maybe we’d better go back inside.”

“You got that right. Next time I might just tell Xavier exactly—” he broke off as the binoculars caught his eye. “What the fuck?”

Everything had suddenly fallen into place. The teenage libido strikes again. Craning his neck round he switched his gaze to the building alongside the tree. Only one window was showing a light, and he narrowed his eyes. You didn’t need to be a fuckin’ mindreader to guess what the horny little devils had been up to, and he was just preparing to chew them out good and proper when the occupant of the room came into his line of sight, and all brain activity instantly ceased.

The girl in the room looked strangely familiar, although he was sure he would never have forgotten a body that good. Then suddenly he realised who they had been watching, and unthinkingly he crushed the beer can he was still holding, oblivious to the sharp crumpled metal cutting into his palm. It was Marie. Through the window he could see her clearly, even without the binoculars. She was wearing a bra and panties and nothing else, and she was all milk-white skin and ebony hair. She was holding her phone under her chin and tossing her head as she laughed, her hips swaying gently as she paced up and down, completely oblivious to the fact that she was being spyed on by these little pricks.

A muffled snort brought Logan to his senses, and he became uncomfortably aware that his mouth was open and his jeans were too tight. At the same time it hit him full in the face that these jerks had been playing peeping tom with Marie. His Marie. No one messed with Marie while he was around, and he turned back to them, every muscle in his body rigid with fury and a low snarl contorting his lips.

Obviously just the sight of him was enough. Seemingly of one mind all three quickly shinned down the tree and ran, leaving their stash of beer and several packs of cookies behind them. Well, they’d keep. Shaking his head Logan sighed and dropped to the ground, landing in a crouch. Suppose he ought to warn Marie to keep her drapes closed after dark. Shit. That would be one awkward conversation.

***

“Uh, Marie!”

“Oh, hey Logan. Look, I’ve gotta run. I’ve got a class with Mr Summers in five minutes.”

“Marie, I need to talk to you about somethin’. It’s a bit…well, personal.”

“Personal? Um, sure. Okay. Er, does this have anything to do with Jubilee? Cause if she’s said anything I want you to know that—”

“No, no, it’s nothin’ to do with Jubilee. It’s about last night. Look, Marie, this is a bit awkward but…Hey, you’re lookin’ a bit red there, kid! What’s Jubilee got to do with anything anyway?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all, Logan. I’ve really gotta go. Can this wait ’til later?”

“Er, sure. You’re not in trouble or anything are you? Cause if you are you know you can tell me, whatever it is. I’ll look out for you, kid, you know that right?”

“Of course I know that. If I was in trouble you’re the first one I’d come to, Logan. Promise. See ya later.”

“Later.”

Shit.

***

Her light was off.

That was probably a good thing. Strike that, it was the best thing. The best thing for his sanity anyway. He still couldn’t believe that he was back in this damn tree after nearly a month of telling himself that he was never, ever going to do such a stupid thing as spy on Marie. That was the sort of underhand trick you could excuse in a pack of teenage boys but not in a mature adult old enough to know better. Hmmm, best not to think about the whole age thing again, ’cause that just made him even more aware of what a sick, perverted sonofabitch he was. Thank fuck the light was off; now he could climb down and go to bed with his self-esteem still intact.

The light came on.

Damn. Damn and double-damn. Logan buried his head in his hands, hating himself and the impulse that had led him back to this spot. He had purposely scared the shit out the boys he’d found that night, and was pretty sure they’d never leave their rooms after dark again – hell, one of them had even peed himself. Not a good memory. For the following two weeks he had resolutely avoided even thinking about how Marie had looked in her underwear. Then he had spent another week trying to get the image of that soft skin and sexy swish outta his head. No luck there. Finally tonight he had gone out into the grounds to try and walk her out of his system, and his feet had led him right back here. Maybe she would pull the drapes and just go to bed. She had to be tired after all that training in the Danger Room today with Summers. Logan hadn’t liked watching Scott grappling with Marie one little bit, especially not in skintight black leather. For the first time ever he was seriously considering leaving the school for good because lately that girl was just screwing with his head. Tonight being a case in point. Serve him right if he got a splinter in his butt.

Marie appeared in the lighted window and Logan stilled, holding his breath and willing her to pull the drapes. Please, please, for the sake of his sanity, let her pull those drapes. Instead he watched as she removed her earrings and moved across to the dresser, then pulled her sweater off over her head. Her long black hair flipped then cascaded down her back in a sinuous wave that instantly had Logan’s groin on high alert, and he groaned aloud, unable to look away. He had never dreamt that he would ever be thinking about Marie in this way. As a woman. To him she had always been a kid, a kind of substitute little sister that he looked out for, teased, and comforted when things went wrong. Well those brotherly feelings had sure taken a blow the first time he’d seen her semi-naked.

“Damn!” Logan mashed his fists into his eyes and almost threw himself out the tree, then stalked grimly back to the building. The Wolverine was having a bad day.

***

Brotherly, brotherly, brotherly, brotherly, brotherly, bro—

“Y’alright, Logan?”

“What? Oh, er, yeah. Yeah. I’m…um…just fine. Dandy.”

Shit. Real cool, Logan. And what the fuck is *dandy* all about?

“Okaaaay. Well, it’s good to see ya. Kinda got the feeling you might be avoiding me.”

“No! Why would I be avoiding you?” Laughter. Lots of it. Maybe a bit too much, actually, she’s starting to look a little freaked. “Anyway, how’ve you been, Marie?”

“I’m just fine, Logan. I’m goin’ out later with Jubilee and Kitty – come along if you fancy a break from this place.”

“Nah. Think I’ll get an early night. I didn’t get a lot of sleep.”

“The nightmares again?”

“Don’t worry about me, Marie.”

“But I do worry. Look, you want me to stay with you tonight? I could wake you if they get too bad.”

Brotherly, brotherly, brotherly, brotherly—

“Did you say something?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing…kid.”

Shit.

***

Okay, so this was getting old.

And he was starting to talk to himself. Not a good sign, especially when combined with the inordinate amount of time he was spending perched in a damn tree just waiting for her light to come on. Every night this week had been the same: he would wait until she appeared, torture himself with a few brief glimpses of flesh, then scramble down the tree, sick to the stomach with self-loathing. This had to stop.

As if on cue, Marie sauntered into the square of light spilling from the window and the breath whooshed from Logan’s lungs. She was butt-naked. How the hell had she managed that? He’d been watching since dusk and this was the first he’d seen of her. Where had she left her clothes? What had she been doing that necessitated the aforementioned lack of clothes? Shit, now he was even starting to sound like a teacher. Apart from the bit about having the hots for a student of course. Damn it, didn’t she realise the risk she was taking leaving the drapes wide open and her light on like this? Was she staging a goddamn parade or something?

Logan thumped the branch nearest him and skinned his knuckles. Well fuck. Somebody needed to tell Marie not to flaunt herself like this in public.

***

“Logan! Hey Logan! Wait a minute would ya?”

A grunt.

“I wanted to ask you something.”

“Okay.”

“I think I need a bit of help. In the danger room. I’m feeling a bit, er, out of practice and I wondered if you’d kinda lend me a hand.”

“What about Scott?”

“Mr Summers? Well, sure, I could ask him, but I was hoping you might…Jubilee thought—”

“I don’t give a flying fuck what Jubilee thinks.”

“Shit, Logan, who’s rattled your chain?”

“Just keep outta my way, Marie. I got better things to do with my time than to keep looking out for you, okay?”

***

Okay, so he was a liar. A fucking big liar. He wouldn’t be sitting in this tree again if he wasn’t, would he? He was also a grumpy bastard, but that came from being as frustrated as hell and from the hefty doses of guilt he was dealing with almost constantly. He knew that he loved Marie, he always had done, but the idea of wanting her made him uncomfortable. And combined with the love thing it also made him nervous. Just where was he headed here? He should quit this right now, but the wanting was becoming an obsession and the watching an addiction.

Marie was on the phone again – seemed like she was never off it. At least this time she wasn’t naked. That was a good thing. Except that she was wrapped in a satin robe that clung in all the right places and kept reminding him of just what she looked like when she was naked. That was a bad thing. Although if he was honest just about everything reminded him of Marie naked now. He could barely focus on the scene before him for the waves of lust obscuring his vision. How did a robe that reached almost to the floor manage to be so sexy? It occasionally slid off one shoulder revealing soft, white skin, and Logan had to bite his tongue to resist the urge to sink his teeth into the exposed flesh. He was going out of his mind.

He watched as Marie turned her head, then frowned as she crossed to her door and opened it. Who could be bothering her this late? Then he sat bolt upright as Bobby came into view throught the window. The little shit, what the hell did he want with Marie? Marie closed the door behind Bobby and they talked for a while. She nodded a few times and then put her arm around his shoulders and Logan felt an electric charge whoosh through his entire body. His hands were shaking, and he regarded them for a moment in disbelief. When he looked up Marie was ushering Bobby over to the bed, and they disappeared from Logan’s sight. Fuck! What were they doing? This was a fuckin’ disgrace! There was never a teacher around when you needed one. Hang on, he was a teacher. Okay, a bit of a crap one with all this peeping tom shit, but there had to be some compensations for all the stress that came with the job. Clearly it was time to impose a bit of discipline around here.

***

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, Logan.”

“Oh! Look, I’m a little busy at the moment, can you come back— Shit Logan! You’re gonna break the door down!”

“Open up, darlin’. Right now.”

“Quit banging, you’ll wake the whole school up! Okay, okay, I’m comin’. Jesus.”

“You. Out.”

“Bobby, stay there! We’re talking. What gives you the right to march in here and tell my friends to leave?”

“OUT! Now, or I may get pissed. You got that, Bub?”

“Just ignore him, Bobby, he’s being a jerk. You don’t have to go! Really!…Okay, well I’ll see you tomorrow then, I’m really sorry about this.”

Silence, apart from Bobby’s retreating footfalls. Never seen the kid move so fast actually.

“Well, nice going, Logan. Real subtle, thanks a bunch. Just what am I going to say to him tomorrow?…Uh, Logan, you’re staring. At my, erm…Jeez, this is really embarrassing. Hey! What the hell are you doing?”

“You’re cute when you blush, kid.”

“Do you have to stand quite so close?”

“Yeah, I really do.”

“Logan! You can’t just come into my room and….oh…oh….OW! Did you just bite me? Tell me I imagined that.”

“You talk too much, Marie.”

A muffled gasp and then a few delicious moans.

“Did Jubilee put you up to this, Logan? Not that I’m complaining or anything! It just seems like lately you can’t even stand to be near me.”

“I can’t get near enough, honey, believe me. And Jubilee has nothing to do with any of this. You better tell me now if you want me to leave.”

“No! No, come here.”

“You’ve got quite a grip on you there, sweetheart.”

“Are you kiddin’? I’ve waited too long for this! You’re not going anywhere, Logan. Not for a long time.”

“Suits me.”

More muted sounds, and a moan. His this time.

“Logan? You’ll leave Bobby alone, won’t you? I think you scared him.”

“I’m nasty when I’m jealous.”

“You had no need to be. Maybe if you just talked to me properly once in a while…”

“Talkin’s overrated.”

“How did you even know he was in my room?”

“Er…mutant shit. You know. I smelled him with my super…nose thing.”

“Uhuh. Logan, why— ”

“Later. We’ve got better things we could be doing right now.”

Oh yeah. Never had been much of a talker.




The End