Rogue glanced back as Wolverine covered their retreat. Once upon a time, she’d told him she prayed for him. When he finished chuckling, he gave her a look that scared her. A look that pierced her soul, one that had nothing to do with battles and everything to do with her; it made her pray even harder afterward. 

When everyone was on board the jet, Cyke swung in low as Jubilee laid down a plasma blast wave from the open ramp on the belly of the jet. Rogue pulled her back in with a nod from Hank, who took her place. He disappeared, save for his lower legs that hooked around the ramp hydraulics. 

From her position, she could just see Wolverine scramble up a pile of bodies. Then they were over him and he vanished from view until Hank flipped them onto the ramp. Hank had done this type of maneuver too often because he expertly landed them both on their feet. Though Hank added a flourish to his landing with a mid-air somersault. 

“Well look at that, I didn’t even singe your uniform this time,” Jubilee chirped, rubbing her hands together. 

Wolverine snarled at her and she laughed as she hit the ramp button and walked forward into the cabin. Rogue smiled at the morbid sense of humor the two shared. It was all to make it easier to ignore the rips and cuts in his uniform and the blood that was at least partially his. 

Hank slapped him on the back as the ramp closed behind them. “They won’t fall for that indefinitely.”

“Fanatics aren’t far-sighted,” Logan replied. 

Nodding, Hank moved to the far end of the cargo area. Logan’s attention fell to Marie. Her gloved hand was performing a practiced motion that she’d picked up as of late, he watched her a second longer. Seeing a medal connected to a cross by a cord with several knots, he let her finish. She folded it over and put it in her pocket.

Damn Elf had gotten to her. “Wastin’ your time,” he told her. 

She peered up at him, patting her pocket, “You haven’t been taken from me yet.”

He had no answer for that. There was a higher power at work here or most of the team would be dead ten times over by now. The Purifiers were a vicious lot with their only goal being totally annihilation of mutants and all sympathizers. They made Magneto’s attempt at the statue and his later try look like child’s play. But today, just like then, Logan would give his last breath to spare Marie. 

Rogue sat down heavily behind Jubilee. The years had rolled by with little to show for it. She hadn’t even graduated high school, none of her class had. Not that it mattered anymore with the world in disarray after Magneto’s second attempt at conquest using the earth’s magnetic fields to wreak havoc. The X-Men had stopped him before he could complete his plan, but not before mass destruction took place across the world. In that chaos rose up the Purifiers, vowing to eliminate any mutant to prevent another Magneto. 

Life now flowed in one distinct pattern; get up, protect the innocent, bandage the wounded, and limp into the next day. The worst part was watching Logan take the brunt of many battles so they could walk away. He wasn’t a tool to be used, but she had no luck in convincing him otherwise. 

She’d had dreams of him suffering, dying, burning in hell. They’d gotten bad enough that she’d sought Nightcrawler’s advice. She wasn’t sure how much she believed but she learned a few prayers that made her feel better. The medal of St. Michael, the Archangel, she kept with her helped her concentrate. 

Maybe she needed to find a prayer for fortitude because Logan had thrown her some decidedly hungry looks as of late. She could only imagine the pleasure she would find at his hands. On second thought, she best not seek out Nightcrawler for advice on this. She was positive the thoughts she was entertaining would be considered sins all by themselves. 

Back at the mansion, there wasn’t much to do. It was a shell of its former self. Now it served as only a base of operations for the X-Men. The students were long gone, mainly because it wasn’t a good idea to have a high concentration of young mutants anywhere these days. 

But she didn’t quite fit in with the more battle-hardened residence and was not inclined to spend time with a group of them. Jubilee said it was the fact that she still had a positive outlook. It wasn’t her fault she took delight in the simple things. Reading a book was better than listening to raunchy jokes and over inflated stories. 

---

Stepping outside, Rogue headed to the wild, overgrown gardens. It was too warm to sleep and the light breeze here wasn’t coming in her window. She’d like to go further but the old orchard was as far as she could go and not get a lecture from Logan. That was the edge of the protective shield for the mansion and it was best to not go past it. 

She extended her hands out, letting the tall grass tickle her palms. The stems scrapped her thighs, reminding her she should have pulled on shorts before venturing out. Though the heat inside had been oppressive and the last thing she wanted to do was put on another piece of clothing. 

Glancing at the big, old house, she knew no one would interrupt her, there wasn’t even a single light on. If anyone else was up, they had found other things to entertain them besides walking around on a pitch black night. She would be perfectly safe in her nightshirt. 

The roses gave off a heavy scent, sending out a warning to keep her bare feet away from their untamed thorny branches that lay every which way. Turning, she walked the flower bed with the soil still soft from when Storm had the time to lavish care on them. Many of the flowers were taller than ever intended and were even spilling out of the borders that used to confine them. 

Rogue liked it here, one of those simple pleasures. During the day, if she could find a spare moment, she would make her way here. It was filled with bright colors that were hard to find these days. Or like now, with the dew setting in, it was a cool retreat after a hot day followed by a gritty battle, both of which seemed endless.

The breeze brought a new smell, and she zeroed in on the owner. There was only one other person in the mansion that liked to roam the gardens that had been left to return to a natural state. The cigar smoke led her to him, no need to call out he’d known when she’d stepped out the door. 

Logan watched her advance on his position. She’d spent a good five minutes meandering about before she came close enough to pick up on the cigar smoke. Not bad, way ahead of most. 

She had a natural grace now after growing out of the awkward teenage stage. She was a sight to behold on the battlefield since gaining control of her mutation and learning the best way to take advantage of her teammates borrowed skills. Didn’t hurt that her curves filled out her uniform in all the right ways. 

He took a long drag on the cigar, inhaling the rich taste of it. Those thoughts were best put aside, they led nowhere but an empty, hungry need. She was too innocent for what he wanted to do to her. Exhaling, he let the smoke dull his sense of smell, blocking out her scent. 

Halting a foot away, she extended her hand to him. There in her fingers was a daisy. One of the common white ones slowly taking over the once manicured lawns and under the trees. He stared at it before lifting an eyebrow in question.

“It’s just a flower,” she said. A cocky little smile curved her lips, “Left my medal upstairs.”

Snorting at her, he thought about jokingly telling her she should have brought a crucifix to ward him off. But that was liable to get him one of those looks that said she wanted him next to her. It was the last place he needed to be to keep her safe. Being with him was more dangerous to her than anything else in this world. 

Rogue closed the distance, and he flinched, yet his eyes were full of need. Placing the flower in the buttonhole of his flannel shirt pocket, she whispered, “No reason to be scared.”

She could only tease him because she knew she was in love with him, had been since before he started looking at her like he wanted her. If she told him, he’d do his damnedest to make her hate him even though she knew from all those little doses of him over the years that he loved her too. She was happy to just be in his presence until that changed. 

He laughed lightly, and she knew he was hiding the fact he hadn’t been breathing. She stood there holding onto his shirt, wondering if she should call him on the fact that he was still holding his breath. Peeking up at him, she saw his eyes growing dark with desire. This was the look that made her pray for his safety, for him to live so someday he might give them a chance. 

Suddenly, he grabbed her, rolling them under the untrimmed branches of the tree that in a month would be heavy with fruit ripe for the picking. They came to rest in the tall grass with his body covering hers. She’d been around him too long to not understand that he was deadly serious. She lay quietly beneath him, arms tucked against his chest, his thigh between hers. He sensed danger, and she was trying not to think of how turned on she was. 

A light in the distance caught her attention and her eyes switched back to his face. He placed a finger to her lips even though she had enough experience to know better than talk. She closed her eyes, breathing carefully, willing herself to focus on the situation at hand. 

Logan cursed himself for being so careless. It was fine for him to be so far out, but he shouldn’t take chances with Marie’s wellbeing. He should have moved in to meet her, not let her walk to the edge of the safety zone. The drone hovered in the distance, scanning the area before leaving. Purifiers had never attacked the mansion, but that didn’t mean they didn’t keep tabs on it or that they wouldn’t take a lazy shot at an easy target. 

When he could no longer hear it, he made a move to get up, but she wrapped her free leg around his to keep him in place. He growled at her, there wasn’t a hold she could put on him he couldn’t break and she knew it. This was the wrong time to play games. 

He squinted at her and damned if she didn’t look sexy biting her lower lip. Taking a calming breath so he could deal with this almost did him in. Quickly, he mentally tried to locate his cigar, because he could use a drag from it right about now. 

“Marie…” he needed to talk her out of this undertaking. He wasn’t scared of her, but she should be afraid of him. 

Instead, he kissed her hard. It caught her off guard taking her breath away and leaving her to keep up with his sudden change of mind. Her fingers were digging into his chest and she was pushing her hips up to rub on his thigh. 

This was wrong. His logical mind was telling him to stop. His feral instincts were pushing him to finish this and take what was his. It was obvious she was his, he just needed to show her. 

Rogue tried to break the kiss for a breath of air, but he wouldn’t let her. A thrill of excitement went through her as he’d finally given into his desire. Eventually, she was able to break the kiss and was left panting. He placed several kisses on her jaw, a nibble under her ear, a more serious nip on her neck. He’d changed position so he was fully between her thighs and she could rub herself against his denim covered hard on. 

She was close, but she didn’t want it like this; she wanted him inside her when she came. Freeing him from his jeans, she frantically worked to push them down. Pulling panties to the side, she slicked his cock on her wetness and guided him to her entrance. He thrust hard, grinding into her. The sharp sting of his teeth on her neck was all she needed, and she muffled her cry on his shoulder as she fell apart beneath him.

Logan didn’t even try to hold out. When she began convulsing around him, he thrust wildly, filling her with his hot seed. He was lightheaded, lost in the feel of her, but retained enough presence of mind to not break her skin with his teeth. 

He slowed, feeling more satisfied than he had in years, but she was still moving with him. His healing factor was kicking in and making him hard again. Her eyes went wide, and she clawed at his ass to keep him locked to her. 

Raising up on his hands and knees with her clinging to him, he gripped her hip firmly in his hand to support her. Once again, he plunged into her, letting his animalistic need take over as he stared down into her eyes. He felt the flutterings of her second orgasm begin and he leaned down and kissed her as he rode through the wave. 

He pulled back to watch her. She was so fucking beautiful and completely his. The way she looked at him went straight to his soul. For the first time, he truly knew what it was to be loved, and it was his undoing as his hips jerked erratically in release. 

Hanging above her, he looked peaceful like something that had been troubling him was taken care of. Rogue had to smile, she would be sore tomorrow, but she didn’t mind a bit. In fact, she wouldn’t mind being more so if he would let her. 

“See not so scary,” she whispered.

Huffing he rolled to the side and pulled his jeans back up. She sat up next to him, straightening his rumpled flower. If he’d let her, she’d make one of those childish chains of them and set it on his head like a crown. Her smile twisted at doing such a simple thing.

His brow wrinkled, and he cocked his head, straining to listen. She heard nothing but guessed it was the drone again in the distance. He and Hank would be working on the protective field this week to be sure nothing came of those drones.

She sighed, she loved him beyond the telling and maybe that was the part that frightened him. Protecting her was easy, the sex was phenomenal, but what came after was a big unknown. It wasn’t like a battle where he could run on instinct, this was bound to be difficult, she might even need to learn a new prayer. 

Logan studied her when the noise in the distance died down. She’d been right, he was afraid of this. It had never gone right for him before and to top it off she was the one positive thing in his life. Why ruin that?

However, the way she was smiling at him, let him know that the sex hadn’t destroyed anything. She was practically glowing, and he’d like to see her do that more often. Though he knew he would still leave her worried on missions and wondered how long that would last. 

As if reading his mind, she said, “You are who you are, I can’t change that. But will you let me love you along the way?”

“I’m not an easy man to love, Marie.”

“Well then,” she started before reaching up and taking off the military-style chain she always wore. “Let’s make sure you keep coming back to me.”

She laid the piece of metal in his hand. He would have never guessed it was the same medal she’d had the other day as this always stayed safely tucked into her shirt. Raising an eyebrow at her, he had to question the fact that she’d said earlier that she left it in her room.

Shrugging, she said, “Can’t have too many.”

He put it on then pulled her in for a kiss. She shouldn’t have to put her faith in a piece of metal for protection, but he wouldn’t argue the point if it comforted her. As for himself, he’d find comfort in keeping her closer than ever before. 

“Come on,” he said taking her hand and getting up. “We need to get you and your medals moved into our room.”