My love
I know it's late
I shouldn't call at this hour
But it's my fate
I need lips to devour
My nervous system is shattered
I won't sleep unless
You sleep with me tonight
Deep with me tonight

Marie checked the clock on her bedside stand. Two in the morning. She pivoted back to face the mirror of her vanity. She ran her brush through her dark hair and the contrasting locks of snow white one last time, happy with the way her hair curled softly to a few inches below her shoulders. She had foregone make-up, knowing from his memories that the scent and taste bothered him.

Today was her twenty-first birthday and later when everyone with normal sleeping habits was awake there would be a small party with her friends. They would give her best wishes for another year and, of course, presents. But she intended to give herself the first one. The one she wanted most. She just had to get his cooperation. She was fairly certain she would succeed.

She and Logan had been sleeping in the same bed for a little over three years now, ever since she had fallen out of the Blackbird and been saved by Nightcrawler. The thing that had scared her most about those terrifying seconds had been the fact that she would have died alone.

After they had lost Jean and confronted the President, Marie had begun to have nightmares. They started as someone else's: Erik's Holocaust memories, Logan's lab fears, even David, John and Bobby's relatively normal bad dreams. But they would always end with her falling. Alone. The first time, she had huddled in her bed, not wanting to make Logan see her as even more of a "kid" by running to him after a nightmare. Having broken up with him a week before, she had never even considered turning to Bobby for comfort.

But when she had awoken crying from the second one, she didn't hesitate to go to Logan. Marie had moved through the mansion more on instinct than anything else. She had hesitated only when she reached his bedside. She would never forgive herself if she caused a repeat of the last time she had woken him. Her own discomfort did not matter, it was the guilt she would force Logan to feel if he stabbed her again that bothered her. Logan had solved her problem for her by opening one eye and making room on the bed for her when she sighed.

When a week went by and half the mansion knew that Rogue had spent at least a portion of five of those nights in the Wolverine's bedroom, Logan had gone to the Professor and asked official permission for Marie to sleep beside him every night. Being near him helped her when she had her nightmares, and his own were much less intense and more infrequent with her small form an arm's length away. Marie had gone with him to show Xavier that she was mature enough to handle the situation, and Xavier had given her a small smile that she found all too knowing before he had granted his permission.

Marie had kept her own room, needing a place to be by herself on occasion and not wanting to push things by encroaching too much on Logan's territory, but from then on she had spent every night in his bed. At first there had been a respectful amount of space between their bodies, not to mention layers of clothes that during warmer weather she felt really guilty about. But after she had graduated high school and started taking correspondence courses for her degree, Xavier had begun working with her and after a year she had gained control of her skin.

After that, she was finally free to wear a nightgown instead of long-sleeved flannels and gloves. And Logan had started wearing sweat pants or boxer shorts, depending on the weather. The space between them had shrunk, too. They often woke to find themselves spooned together or otherwise touching. Several times, more and more often recently, Marie had woken with her back to Logan, his arm draped over her side and his erection pressing against her bottom. On those mornings she always fled the room as quickly as possible, hoping the scent of her arousal didn't linger long enough for Logan to notice it.

But she was twenty-one now, and she didn't want to pretend any longer that simply lying beside him was all she wanted. Marie set down the hairbrush and stood to consider her reflection in the floor length mirror on her closet door. She had lingerie she liked more, pretty gowns and baby dolls and such. But there was no way Logan could see her in this bra and panty set and not understand what she was asking. The lacy set was a deep forest green that set off her eyes. Marie knew he liked her in that color.

Not that there was much of her actually in the color at the moment. The bra had demi-cups, making her full curves look as if they would spill out of the fabric at the slightest provocation, and the scrap of material that made up the panties just barely covered the essentials. Marie smiled at her reflection and pulled on her silk robe. No sense giving anyone else in the mansion a free show. Determination in every step, Marie went in search of her man.

I know it's late
We've known each other a while
I can't wait
To see your twisted smile
Kindred spirit of candlelight
I won't sleep unless...
You sleep with me tonight
Deep with me tonight

Marie found Logan on the porch, standing in the dark. As she watched from just outside the doorway, he lifted a match to the cigar in his mouth, drawing deeply. The red glow from the tip of the cigar lit his features in a soft light filtered by the pungent smoke wafting gently upward.

"Logan," she gently called, not sure if he had noticed she was there.

His mouth quirked around the cigar, the corners tilting up oddly around the stogie clenched between his firm lips. A Logan smile.

"Hey, darlin."

He took another draw, releasing more smoke than before, but he didn't turn to look at her. Marie took the opportunity to study him. The lazy way he leaned back against the mansion without ever losing the image of being ready to strike at any moment. The way his jeans so closely encased flesh she had every intention of touching every inch of tonight. He was a magnificent male.

"Did you need somethin'?" he suddenly asked her.

Marie realized she had been staring for a couple minutes. "Yeah, sugar. I wanted to ask if you'd sleep with me tonight. I don't want to sleep without you and I don't think I'd be able to tonight."

She saw his eyebrows scrunch together at the question. Marie took a step away from the doorway to be more in his line of sight and let her robe open slightly. If he looked at her now, Logan would know exactly what she meant.

"Darlin', why would tonight be any different than last night or the night before?" he asked. Logan leaned forward to stand without the support of the wall at his back. "I'll always be there to chase away your nightm..."

Logan had turned toward her in the middle of his last sentence and trailed off when he saw her. His mouth went slack, his cigar dangling dangerously from his lips, and his eyes glazed over slightly. Eyes gazing directly at the hint of forest green lace encasing her full breasts and barely covering the mound at the juncture of her thighs.

Marie took the few steps necessary to reach him and gently extracted the cigar from his mouth. She stubbed it out quickly in the ashtray kept out there for Logan and the other X-Men who smoked. She wiggled slightly to let the robe fall open even more. Logan swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. His gaze traveled the flesh that was revealed to him from her neck to her toes and back again. And there was a lot of it, glowing softly in the light from one of the mansion's windows.

He finally snapped out of his trance and snatched her robe closed, tying the sash with trembling hands. Marie couldn't believe how deeply his refusal hurt. Until he spoke.

"No one else is going to see you like that!"

Marie grinned at his possessive tone.

"Is that a yes?" she asked, her voice husky.

In my thoughts
And through my silence
I'm so touched and I thought
You'd sleep with me tonight
Deep with me tonight
Baby...

"Follow me," Logan growled low.

Marie had to jog to keep up with Logan's longer, faster stride. When they were ten feet inside the mansion, he seemed to realize this and stopped, scooping her into his arms. As he moved quickly toward his room, Marie buried her face in the curve of his neck and darted her tongue out to taste the skin there. Logan growled again and his arms tightened around her.

When they reached his room, Logan kicked the door shut behind him. His mouth crashed down on hers in their first real kiss, and her passion matched his, her lips moving over his to learn every millimeter. He groaned when she pulled her mouth away for air.

He slid her down the length of his body to set her on her feet. She almost whimpered at the sensation of her softer curves rubbing against all that muscle. Logan took her mouth in another kiss, his tongue thrusting deep to taste every inch of her. This time, he was the one to pull back, looking at her with passion-glazed eyes.

"Are you sure, darlin?"

Marie stepped back from his arms and felt a thrill race up her when disappointment darkened his eyes.

He really does want me, she thought. And he cares about me enough not to push it.

She untied the knot at her waist and let her silky robe slide off her shoulders to puddle on the floor. Logan's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he realized just how uncovered she was.

"Sugar, sure doesn't even begin to cover it."

Logan grinned wolfishly, and the next thing she knew, she was back in his arms. She nipped at his jaw line teasingly before their lips met again. She opened for him, not finding the slight taste of cigar tobacco on his tongue off-putting since it was such a part of who he was. His big hands splayed possessively over her back, gently caressing her skin. He froze momentarily when his fingers discovered that the lacy scrap of underwear she was wearing was a thong.

His hands moved down to grasp one firm, bare cheek in each. Logan lifted her, Marie's legs instinctively clinging around his waist. He turned them and leaned her back against the door, grinding his arousal into her. If she hadn't already been hot and wet with desire for him, that move would have melted her for sure. Marie moved her hands from around his neck up to tug on his hair, needing to break their kiss to breath. He moaned and lowered his head to the curve of her neck, panting hot breaths against her.

"Logan," she managed to gasp out. "I... I want my first time to be in your bed, not against the door."

Logan lifted his head to look in her eyes. He loosened his grip on her so that she once again stood on her own feet.

"This isn't just sex."

He had said it as a statement, but she could hear the question behind it. It shocked her to realize that he was asking for confirmation of her feelings.

Marie cupped his face in her hands and gently said, "I love you, Logan. This is way more than sex to me."

"Good," he growled and picked her up to carry her bride style to his bed six feet away.

Logan lay her down gently. He remained standing to take off his own clothes, dropping them haphazardly on the floor. Marie watched him with a smile on her face, not surprised in the least to see his lack of underwear. She had him inside her head, after all. She knew "boxers or briefs?" wasn't a question to be answered by the Wolverine.

It didn't stop him from appreciating her taste in undergarments, though. Logan eased himself down next to her on the bed, tracing one finger along the scalloped edge of her bra. His eyebrows quirked when he noticed her nipples hardening beneath the lace. Marie gasped when his thumb brushed lightly over one sensitive tip.

Logan shifted slightly so he was looking into her eyes. "I think I've loved you since the moment I found you hiding in my trailer."

"Only since then?" Marie smiled wistfully. "I loved you the moment I saw you in that cage."

Logan growled slightly but asked, "Truth, darlin'?"

Marie nodded, waiting breathlessly.

"I loved you before I ever saw you. Something in the deepest part of me recognized something in your scent in that bar in Laughlin City. Every moment since then, every second that I've gotten to know you better, has only made my feelings deepen. Your beauty, your strength, your heart, your determination, your spirit. I don't know of any word that could possibly describe how I feel about you now. Love is inadequate."

There were tears streaming down Marie's face, but Logan knew from her scent that they weren't tears of sadness. He gently kissed and licked the tears from her face.

Marie struggled to get her tears of joy under control. She had no idea Logan could make such a moving speech, he hadn't in any of the memories she had of his. It added even more weight to the words that had already touched her soul simply because they were his.

A sound between a hiccup and a sob strangled in her throat before she choked out, "Lo-Logan, make love to me."

He smiled and took her mouth in a gentle kiss. Moving several inches down her body, he dipped his head to run his tongue just above the upper edge of her bra. Marie moaned and moved her hands to his shoulders, needing to be touching him in that moment more than she needed her next breath. Logan growled his approval when one hand moved to his head to guide him slightly lower. He nudged the material of her bra out of his way with his nose and gently tugged her nipple into his mouth.

Marie bit her lip to keep from screaming when he lightly suckled on her. All sensation seemed to focus in on that one part of her body for a moment. She hadn't even thought to wonder where his hands were until one of them lightly caressed the tender skin of her belly. She gasped when one strong finger dove beneath the edge of her panties and moved further down. Her whole body started to tingle in anticipation.

Logan's mouth left her breast so he could watch her face as he slid his finger between her slick folds. A soft, mewling cry greeted him and her eyes widened and fluttered. Instinct had her hips rising to meet his hand.

He withdrew reluctantly, soothing, "Easy, darlin."

Her beautiful face flushed, Marie opened her eyes to ask, "W-Why'd you stop, Logan?"

Studying him, she noticed his other arm had been busy keeping the majority of his adamantium-enhanced weight from crushing her, braced alongside her body on the bed. At first she thought she was imagining the slight tremble in his body, but when she moved a hand to his shoulder, she could feel him shaking slightly. Now she was worried.

"What's wrong, sugar?"

"I need you so damn much right now," Logan breathed out. Marie opened her mouth to answer but he kissed her into silence. "I know you're ready for me, baby. I want to touch every inch of your gorgeous body with my hands and my lips and my tongue." A delicious shiver snaked through Marie at the mental images that accompanied his words. "But I can't wait that long this time, and I don't think you can either, darlin'."

One claw slid from between Logan's knuckles and made quick but careful work of her lingerie. Marie had never thought his claws were sexy until the moment she felt the warm metal glide between her breasts to free her from her bra. When she was completely bare beneath him, Marie whimpered in answer to the question in his eyes and arched her body so that it brushed against his. A strangled moan escaped Logan and he lowered himself onto her, the tip of his erection poised to enter her heat. He kissed her lips gently, searching her eyes for any sign of hesitation.

He found none and dipped his head to cover her mouth, hoping to muffle her cry of pain when he entered her for the first time. He thrust. Though her body tensed momentarily as he pulsed through her barrier, the only sounds she made were of pleasure. When her inner muscles clenched and unclenched around him, all thought fled and Logan began to move.

Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Became his mind's litany each time he drove into her, her body moving to meet his thrusts. Knowing he wasn't going to last much longer, he reached between them and stroked the sensitive spot on her body just above where his was joined to it. She screamed his name into his mouth as she shattered. Her warmth clamping down on him triggered his own release.

Unable to help himself, he raised his head and howled, "MARIE!"

Before either of them had caught their breath, Logan rolled carefully off of Marie so he wouldn't crush her, dragging her limp body up to drape his chest. When they were both able to breath but were still too sated to move, Marie shifted so she could look at him. She smiled a smile she had never had before, one of absolute satisfaction. Logan felt his chest swell, knowing he would be the only one to ever give her that smile.

"Thanks, sugar," she said, her voice still a little hoarse. "That was the best birthday present ever."

"You ain't seen nothin yet, darlin'," he growled.

And for the next few hours he taught her things about her own body and his that even his memories couldn't have prepared her for.

The End.