It was starting already. The prickling under her skin, like ants tangoing beneath the surface. Soon the heat would start and that was the worst. The effects were starting more quickly now, than they had at first. Now she barely had time to lock herself in her room, before they nailed her. For three weeks now, she had been joining Dr. McCoy in the medlab. Only the two of them and the Professor knew what was going on. The good doctor had come up with a possible stabilizing agent for her mutation. If it worked she would be able to touch again, without killing. She had made Doc and the Professor swear not to tell anyone, until they knew for sure it was going to work. The secrecy had its own side effect. Rumors of a romance between herself and McCoy were circling like vultures on a carcass. The two of them found it funny, but they were the only ones. Logan had taken to growling at Hank whenever they were in the same room. Rogue found it delightful when he showed his jealous side like that. It was only in those moments that she had any real hope of the two of them together. He was still dealing with the fact that she was a fully functioning female hottie. Or at least that's what Jubes called her. So each night she snuck to the medlab for her injection and each night she locked herself into her room to deal with the effects.

Inside her room, she would immediately strip out of her clothes and dash for the bath water she kept waiting. The frigid water instantly cooled the raging fire in her veins. Temporarily, anyway. Rogue laid her head back on the tubs rim and waited. Like clockwork the volcano inside of her erupted again. Hot molten lava flowing through every nerve ending until finding purchase at her most sensitive spot. Hank had warned her that certain parts of the body were more sensitive then the rest, but she hadn't cared. The end result was what mattered. Not what happened on the way. Now here she was, a floating mass of sensations with only one means of escape. Slowly her fingers walked down her abdomen making their way to her core. With the help of a good imagination and a somewhat stilted knowledge of all things sexual courtesy of Logan’s memories lingering in her mind, she sought release. Frenzied fingers worked the heated flesh until one last blazing burst, extinguished the fire.

He was looking at her again, in that odd "I can't believe how hot she is" look of his. The one where if caught in it, he would growl some excuse and flee the room. This time was different somehow, it was like he was guarding some secret knowledge to himself. Something that had once again changed his perception of their relationship.

"I am going to kill YOU!!! How could you have told him? You promised me, Hank. Now I can't show my face around him again. Ma Gawd, did you have to tell him EVERYTHING? You couldn't have left one tiny detail out. Like the fact that your therapy makes me horny as a ten peckered owl. ARRGGGHH!!" Rogue stomped out of lab, plotting the good doctor’s untimely demise.

It was just his bad luck to be the first person she ran into, while still in the midst of her indignant rage. Logan didn't see the blow coming until it was too late. He forgot sometimes that she was stronger than him, thanks to Ms. Marvel. Looking up at the rajun cajun towering over his prone form, he struggles to stifle a grin. "ONE WORD, Wolvie and you will go on the top of my hit list, right under Beasty boy. You hear me?" Her angry departure was brought short by his whispered question. "So...is IT working? Can you touch m...people? She desperately wanted to tell him "Yes, the therapy was working," but anger got the best of her. "Go ask your big , blue buddy. Ah, got nuttin to say to you right now!"

Logan knew enough about her by now to know, when she slipped back into her southern twang, it was best to let her alone. When her steps grew faint he dusted himself off and allowed the smile to come. "Well, well....this is going to be interesting, sugah. Because, now that your gloves are coming off, so are mine." The strange vision of Logan walking the halls with a new spring in his step and whistling, startled more then one member of the household.

---

Rogue was half tempted to forgo today’s treatment, if for no other reason then to spite Logan. Common sense won out in the end and she joined McCoy at their usual time. This time there was none of the usual banter they usually exchanged before the injection. She was still pissed at the big smurf and wanted to make sure he knew it. So, without a word spoken between them, she accepted the needle’s sting and quietly left.

---

Logan stood in the shadows watching as Rogue emerged from the medlab. Her steps got erratic, the closer she got to her room. "The serum must have kicked in already" he thought, as a sinful gleam came to his eyes. Using his gift of stealth, he silently followed. When the door closed behind her and the lock clicked, he thanked the gods for the forethought to cripple the lock. Now he had only to wait.

---

Submerged in the soothing waters, Rogue began her nightly ritual. Her anger towards Logan fueled a rather aggressive approach to her ministrations. Sliding down deeper into the water, she placed her legs on either side of the bath. With both hands working in rhythm to alleviate the furnace within. Her eyes were closed tightly as she pictured various sexual scenarios with Logan. Her favorite being his naked body, bound by the wrist to her headboard. The control being in her court, she could do anything she wanted to him and he would be helpless against her desire. The fantasy was interrupted by the distinct smell of his cologne.

---

Blasting himself for ten kinds of pervert, Logan watched mesmerized as Rogue masturbated in the tub. This was not exactly what he had in mind, when he crept into the room. "I'm reduced to a fucking peeping tom!" he thought and groaned inwardly at the pain growing in his groin. The sight of her nipples peaking over the waters edge and the look of sensual bliss on her face was his undoing. He had moved too close and he knew the jig was up. Nothing left to do now, but walk straight into the lions den.

---

Her eyes were like saucers at the sight of Logan standing at the foot of the tub. She had not reached climax yet and the heat was pounding away at her. The time for thinking was over. He was in her domain now and by God he wasn't getting away. Sliding forward on to her stomach, she emerged at the opposite end and came face to crotch with Logan. The telltale bulge in his tight Levi's declared his intentions, like no words ever could. Emboldened, by her fevered state, Rogue reached out with dripping hands and undid the buttons on his fly. "Are you sure about this?" he asked in a husky whisper. Not sure if he meant her poison touch or her virginity, she answered yes to both.

---

Logan knew that pure animal lust and affection, had killed any chance of coherent thought. He would be lying to himself if he said that this was not the recurring fantasy that kept him up at night. His Marie, naked and wanting. There would be time for recriminations and confessions tomorrow. Tonight, he could only think about one thing. Touching and being touched by his un-touchable Rogue. Her probing hands and sin filled eyes beckoned him to reciprocate. Tentatively he laid his hands on her shoulders and rejoiced when there was no sign of the familiar pull. Enthralled by the feel of her naked skin under his fingers, he slid his hands around her waist and pulled that glorious body up out of the water.

---

Rogue wasted no time getting Logan into the same naked state as herself. A stifled giggle sprang from her lips, as he swept her up into his arms. Catching sight of their reflection in the mirror as they past. A naked Logan was enough to make a nun have carnal thoughts. She was sure that everyone could hear the groaning of her bedsprings, when he laid down on top of her. For a moment their eyes met and each could see the love reflected in the others eyes. The first touch of their lips set off a electric current strong enough to power the entire city of New York.

"God, honey, you don't know how long I've wanted to kiss you." Rogue smiled up into his beloved face. "Not as long as I have, Logan. Not nearly as long." Her fingers laced through his hair and she pulled his lips back to her own. Breaking away from her soft lips, Logan began leaving a trail of kisses from her neck to the valley between her breast. Remnants of her bath were licked away as he explored each rosy peak, before trailing lower down her stomach. He lapped at the tiny pool of water in her navel and Rogue bit her lip to keep a ragged groan from escaping. The sinful grin on his face when he looked up her was the only warning of where is torturous tongue was going next. The callous pads of his fingers parted the heated folds as his tongue went where no man had gone before. Her hips lurched up and spasmed in instant climax.

Logan's hand came up to cover her mouth when scream after scream erupted from her throat. Moving slowly back up her body Logan's cock rested against her shimmering curls. "This is your last chance, darlin. Cause after this, there is no turning back." Too exhausted to speak Rogue answered the only way she could. Curling her fingers at the base of his neck, she captured his mouth in a timeless invitation. Only a brief second of pain followed as Logan joined her body to his. She could feel his heart pounding in time with her own. Her essence danced on his tongue as they kissed. His hard body thrusting in time to hers, they both came in a earth shattering orgasm.

---

Lying content and drained in each others arms, Logan started to speak. Placing a finger over his swollen lips, she whispered "Not tonight..words are for tomorrow." Smiling in silent agreement, he pulled her head to rest against his chest and fell asleep.

---

The morning sun cast a single ray through Rogues curtains, illuminating the sated couples faces with its light. Tomorrow had arrived and neither one was willing to face what that meant.

"Good morning, love" Logan's husky voice whispered. The tears that were slowly seeping through the thin sheet to his chest, had alerted him to her waken state. "Is it Logan? A good morning, I mean?" Rogue lifted her head and looked into the eyes of the man, that held her heart in the palm of his hand. Resisting the urge to claim a morning kiss and wipe away the tears still flowing from her cheek, he simply answered. "It can be, if we want it to be."

"You don't know how much I wish it were in our hands. The effects of the serum are still temporary, and after all the touching we did last night. I can't risk it. Besides, right now we need to talk.” Shaking his head at her "That's not what I meant, as tempting as it might be."

Logan slipped from under the covers and into the bathroom. Taking advantage of his absence, Rogue pulled on a pair of jeans and a turtle neck. The long necked blouse would come in handy, with Logan's love bites covering her neck.

---

The crisp breeze of fall, left a colorful pile of leaves on her favorite bench. Pushing them aside she joined Logan there, for breakfast. The egg sandwich, she had brought was like ashes in her mouth. The two sat in uncomfortable silence, waiting for the other to begin. Finally, Rogue worked up the nerve to ask the question that had been haunting her for months. "Do you still love, Jean?" Logan's shocked expression confused her. "Of course, I love Jean, but not like that. Not like the way I love you. How the hell can you even ask me that after last night? Do you really think so little of me, to think that I could be in love with her and make love to you? Fuck, I know I can be a real bastard sometimes, but give me some credit." Cursing himself, for the tears pooling in her lovely eyes, he placed his gloved hands on either side of her face.

"Jeannie was a brief infatuation. You are the real deal, sweetheart. I know I should have said so before, but ...."

Rogue leaned into his palms. "I love you too, Logan. I have from the first time I saw you. I think more of you then anyone in this world, but you have to know that. It's just hard for me to deal with the fact, that I was second choice, ya know." Logan growled and jumped to his feet. "God dammit, Marie! Your not my second choice. I felt the connection, the same as you did from the first time we met. But, you were a kid then and I didn't want to think of you that way. It went against, whatever principles I might have." Pulling her to him, he whispered in her ear.

"Your not a kid anymore, Marie and what I feel for you is a damn sight more then lust. It killed me to see you everyday. Growing more beautiful, more independent. I wanted you so much. I could see the way you looked at me and it tore me up inside. When Hank told me about your therapy, it was like a light going off in my head. I thought that maybe now that I could touch you, I could show you how I really felt. Last night, when I came to your room. My only intention was to kiss you. To hold you and tell you how I felt. Then...well you know what happened." Logan grinned as a blush stole to her cheeks.

"You know Logan, that's the most words you've spoken to me in the five years we've known each other. The most beautiful too." She could feel his head buried in her hair and smiled. "Don't expect a repeat, love. I'm a man of action, not words." Rogue looked up at this enigma of a man and smiled her first real smile in a long time. "The only words you need to say to me are I love you. I'll even take body language if necessary." Placing a brief kiss on her lips he grinned, that gorgeous grin of his. "You got it, darlin, and I'm real good at body language."

---

Hank watched through the professor's window at the tableau playing out by the garden bench. Some of the guilt at his confession to Logan slipped away as he witnessed the result. It was about damn time that , they got together. Poor Scott was gonna lose the faculty betting pool. His bet of "When hell freezes over" to when the couple would get together, had been a bad one.

---

Logan sat by Rogue's side as Hank administered the serum. Her gloved hand held his in a tight grip as the needle sank into her flesh. The look of joy and anticipation that proceeding the shot, brought a blush to Hanks face. "Thank goodness for all this blue fur or I would really be blushing." He knew exactly where the two were headed when they left the medlab. The sound of their feet racing down the hall towards her room, was a dead giveaway.

---

Three months later

"Oh god, Hank NO!!! It can't be! Not after all this time. It was working so well. The side effects stopped and the cure was working. My ability to touch was almost permanent. Why now?" Rogues anguished cries echoed through the lab. Hank pulled the weeping woman into his arms. "I have no idea, little one. My test are inconclusive to the cause, but indeed you are reverting back. I am so sorry." He was glad that Logan had respected his wish to talk to Rogue alone. The thought of him ripping his furry body to pieces, was not a nice one. "Shoot the messenger and all that" he thought.

"Is there nothing you can do? There has to be something?" Pulling away and getting back in Dr. mode, Hank answered her the best he could. "I'm going to run some more tests on your blood and skin samples. Until then, all we can do is wait." The ghost of a nod was his only reaction as she stepped off the exam chair and ran out of the lab.

---

"She's what? Where the hell did she go? Everything seemed fine last night, now your telling me she has vanished?" No one in the room was ready to face the wrath that exuded from the Wolverine's body. Finally Hank stepped forward. " The therapy is reverting, Logan. I'd assumed she told you last night after I spoke with her. I can only imagine what she is going through. I'm very sorry!"

"It's what? Why didn't she tell me? She acted like nothing was wrong last....Fuck! "

"Logan, there is something else you should know. Hank you better tell him." Xavier cursed his own cowardice at not wanting to be the one to deepen the open wound of Rogue's leaving. Hank was thinking along the same lines, but knew he had to be told.

"After she left last night, I ran a series of test. I may have found the cause of the reversal."

"If you don't spit it out, Beast I can't be held responsible!" The unsheathing of his metal claws drove the comment home.

Taking a deep breath he answered and waited for the explosion. "She's pregnant, Logan."