A gentle summer breeze drifts into the darkened bedroom. The sounds of
nightfall began to slip in through the open window: the sound of
chirping crickets happily calling to each other, of the light traffic
from the closest road. He lay quietly in the darkness, smoking a
cigar. Tilting his head, he looked down appreciatively at her thick
brunette hair, a thin band of white framing her beautiful face as she
slumbered peacefully, using his chest as a pillow. His mind rolled
back for what seemed like the millionth time. It was trying to see
through the fog enveloping his memory. Having lost several hours
without more than mere hints of what may have happened or where he had
been.

**********

It was Friday night, another no name bar in another no name town that
had become the mainstay of his nomadic existence. The bar was dark and
the music way too loud for the size of the room. The overpowering
odors of stale beer sweat and cheap perfume assaulted his senses. He
sat in the corner, his back to the wall, sipping another beer as he
rummaged around the pockets of his worn leather jacket. The jacket was
showing its age, its brown dye worn away in places, its surface
cracked and scraped. Yet, it was comfortable and as comforting as a
second skin.

Pulling out a cigar, his eyes scanned the seedy establishment
inhabited by the standard compliment of clichés. There was the balding
overweight bartender in his stained white tee shirt, the old rummies
at the end of the bar arguing about the score of some long forgotten
sporting event. The aging floozy, with the big hair, too much make up
and way too tight clothing swaying dangerously on her barstool while
drunkenly slurring the lyrics to another bad country ballad, trying in
vain to catch his eye. And of course the pack of good old boys
shooting pool and generally raising hell at the back of the room.

As he took another sip of his beer he unfolded his worn and stained
map, looking at it with a slight sadness in his hazel eyes. A finger
slowly traced another road he had yet to travel.

He looked up, mildly amused as the drunken woman with the big hair
staggered past. She was attempting what she imagined was her best hip
roll. But came off more as a human pinball as she bumped into a chair
or two and bounced off the sides of tables on her way to the little
ladies room to powder her nose or pass out, whichever came first.

His eyes went icy as he fought down the urge to attack when the boys
in the back hurled crude remarks after her, laughing and sneering. He
took another sip of beer and grinned inwardly to himself. He knew he
was not looking for a fight, but he wouldn’t exactly turn one down
either, and resigned himself to the fact that before the night was
over he would probably end up tangling with one or more of the boys in
the back.

Suddenly she was there. She slipped into the bar with all the subtlety
of a lightning strike. She made no noise, but the black mini dress
worn with fine gauged fishnets, thick chocolate hair cascading over
her shoulders, six-inch heels and the fact that she was drop-dead
gorgeous, stopped everyone dead. She glanced his way as she passed his
table, the faintest hint of a coy smile tugged at the corner of those
full luscious lips. The white streaks in her hair added a hint of
punk-rock to the country bar.

Crossing to the bar, she leaned over slightly to order a drink, her
perfect little behind pushed slightly out. The hemline of her dress
stopped just below the gentle curve of her tight little bottom. The
scene stirred animalistic instincts within him and caused him to
slowly run his tongue along the edge of his teeth.

Getting her drink, she asked the now flustered bartender if he sold
cigarettes. The bartender stood there as though thunderstruck but
finally nodded his head toward the cigarette machine at the back of
the room.

She turned slowly and looked around the room. Their eyes met
momentarily as he watched her over the rim of his nearly empty bottle
of beer. What? Was that a wink? The light was dim but he could almost
swear that she winked at him. Nah, what would a knockout like her
possibly see in his raggedy ass?

Taking another pull of his beer, he watched as she pushed herself away
from the bar and strode to the back of the room. As she moved through
the room, the way she walked, her alluring scent drifted over him as
she passed, setting his body on fire.

He suddenly realized that the good old boys were dangerously silent
and a few had sickening leers painted on their faces as she approached
the cigarette machine behind the pool table.

Time slowed almost to a standstill. He could see every movement in
sharp detail, almost as if in slow motion. He heard each coin cycle
through the machine as if they were hammers beating on a sheet of
steel. Her hand wrapped around the selector lever followed by a loud
thunk as she gave it a yank. A moment’s thought as to why she would be
wearing gloves this time of year. The swish of the pack as it slid
into the tray. Time passed in what seemed like years as she bent to
retrieve the cigarettes.

One of the men stepped up behind her, wrapping an arm around her
waist, lifting her into the air. Her scream of surprise was slowed to
what seemed like a low long, wail. He deposited her onto the pool
table and forced himself between her thighs. One of his buddies pinned
her hands over her head. The rest of the crowd circled cheering and
shouting obscenities.

He glanced at the bartender for his reaction and was shocked to see
him sadly turn his back and busy himself with some meaningless task
behind the bar. The two old rummies hung their heads in shame and
looked away. Looking back at the pool table, he could see that they
were tearing her clothes off and preparing to gang rape her. His
muscles and tendons coiled in preparation as he sprang out of his
chair, crossing the room in a split second.

The man between her wildly flailing legs never knew what hit him as a
fist drove into his temple dropping her attacker like a two hundred
pound rock.

Growling, he turned on her next assailant, his vision blurred into a
sheet of blood red as vicious snarl and a rumbling growl thundered
through the tiny bar. That was the last thing he could remember of the
evening.

As he lay there in bed, he felt the chill run up his spine again,
remembering how the newscaster grimly reported the news of the
massacre at the bar during the evening news. Shuddering as pictures of
the county coroner rolling out the black plastic covered bodies
flashed through his mind again. Afraid because he didn't remember what
occurred after he attacked her first assailant.

She stirred in his arms. Her lips tenderly kissed his chest, her
tongue teasing his nipple under the cotton cloth of his tshirt.
Looking up into his eyes and smiling, she said "I never got to thank
you properly for what you did for me." Rolling on top of him she
stretched her silk encased body out atop his. She kissed him
passionately through her gauzy scarf. Her soft body pressed against
his much harder one.

He remembered her telling him that she was a mutant; that those guys
at the bar wouldn’t have gotten too much further because of her skin.
Deadly skin she had called it. When he asked her what had happened
after the first guy went down, she shied away. It had taken him
telling her that he was also a mutant and showing her the claws before
she answered him.

He had somehow touched her exposed arm trying to pry one of the other
asshole’s hands off of her and her skin reacted. Immediately his
energy flowed into her and he collapsed onto the floor. She wouldn’t
tell him anything more and when he asked again during the newscast,
she avoided the question by saying she was tired. She hadn’t wanted
him to leave her alone and that’s how she ended up lying on him,
practically nude; but still protecting him from her skin.

Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her tight against him. He
kissed her, while allowing his strong hands to caress her back, the
gentle curve of her bottom through the thin sheet, squeezing it hard.

She emitted a low moan into his mouth in response. Grinding her pelvis
against his, she moved the scarf and kissed and sucked his neck
passionately, wildly. His hand slipped around a perfectly contoured
ass cheek and between her thighs, his gloved fingers brushing against
delicate nether lips. She moaned into his mouth, grinding her hips
into his as the passion built into a blaze.

He grasped her sides gently but firmly, lifting her slightly, taking
her breast into his mouth. Even through her body stocking his tongue
expertly found and swirled around her erect nipple. Sucking it, biting
it, causing her to gasp and shudder, sending a new shower of moisture
flowing over his exploring fingers.

She stretched herself upright, his hands wrapped around her hips as he
slid down the bed, repositioning himself between her soft supple
thighs.

Her breath faltered as his lips brushed against her sex; she hadn’t
noticed him taking her scarf down with him. Her fingers tangled in his
thick hair, pulling his mouth tight against her smooth shaven mound.

His tongue slipped between the tender lips, stretching her, filling
her, causing her to moan deeply, grinding her sex into his mouth as he
attempted to devour her. He bit down gently with sharp teeth on those
silken petals, sucking each in turn. His mouth seeking and finding the
sensitive little bundle of nerves. Swirling his tongue around it,
sucking it. He caused her to convulse uncontrollably at the sheer
pleasure he was administering. He held her by the hips to steady her,
running his tongue from the gentle curve of her mound to her most
private of secrets, and back, lapping her rapidly. Slipping his
inquisitive tongue into her tight sheath without the scarf, he found
there was no pull from her mutation. Careful as to not touch his lips
to her skin she began to pump and ride his thrusting tongue.

She reached back behind her, wrapping her slim fingers around his
manhood. Feeling it throb hotly in her palm caused her to loose a
small breathless moan as his tongue thrust deeply into her.

Gripping her undulating hips he pulled her further into his ravenous
mouth, his hips raising slightly as she stroked and pumped her hand
along his length.

She threw her head back, hair flying in disarray as her orgasm began
to boil over. Her body tensed as his tongue slipped in and out to
swirl around her. She was lost in the new sensations; because of her
skin no one she’d ever been with before had ever ventured to
experiment with her down there.

She responded by grinding against his mouth, forcing his tongue deeply
into her. He continued thrusting into her as she gasped through
another orgasm.

She bounced off of his face with a rush of newly found energy as he
reached over to the nightstand to find his wallet and the shiny packet
that resided within. Once he’s covered and the sheet repositioned, she
surprises him and slams her pelvis onto his. Pure lust flashed through
her unfocused eyes. She rocked her hips as she slid her soaking sex
along his until she found the blunt tip. Moaning deeply, she impaled
herself on his iron like manhood. Taking him completely within the hot
velvet like grip of her sex, causing him to moan and gasp aloud. A
wild, feral lust takes over as she thrusts her hips against his,
harder and harder, faster and faster.

Grasping her hip, he pumped his pelvis into hers. Her juices flowed,
soaking him as her ass slapped wetly against his thighs.

Digging her nails into his shoulders as she ground herself against the
base of him, she grabbed him by the hair and pulled him to her breast.

She let out a hoarse whisper, "yesssss" and urged him on breathlessly.
She slammed her sex down atop his throbbing shaft. She was taking him
deeper and faster, as she begged him to make her come again.

He sat up suddenly and rolled her onto her back causing her to raise
her glistening thighs high on his hips and to cross her legs at the
small of his back. He began to thrust deeply.

She began to shudder underneath him, legs wrapped around his waist,
her creamy thighs gripped him tightly. Her mouth formed a tight little
‘o’ as her orgasm flashed through her like a jolt of electricity.
Thrashing her head from side to side, hair flying, she dug her heels
into him, forcing him deeper. Her sex fluttered and squeezed him; she
slowly went lax as her orgasm ebbed.

Slowing his thrusts to a gentle grind, he rested his weight on his
outstretched arms, gazing into her eyes. He noticed a wildness there
that he had not seen before. This pleased him immensely. Slipping out
of her slowly, he rolled to the edge of the bed taking her with him.

As he sat on the edge of the bed, she quickly straddled his lap.
Grasping his hard, slick shaft she guided the blunt tip of his spear
and slowly sat, impaling herself. Her thighs began to shake slightly
as her stamina began to wane.

He reached under her thighs so that they rested over his forearms,
grasped her ass cheeks in his strong hands and rocked her gently
against his pelvis, causing her to bury her face in his neck, gasping
in pleasure. He stood slowly, bringing the sheet with them as she
wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs tightly about his waist.
Raising and lowering her slowly, he began walking slowly. He walked
carefully across the room, out through the French doors, and into the
cool night air all the while gently raising and lowering her on his
impaling shaft.

Moonlight washed over them, caused her skin to glow and her hair to
shine darkly. Her hips rolled against his, her breath came in short
gasps, almost as if panting.

His passion mounted, knowing he was close to climax he began to thrust
and grind deeper. Looking into her unfocused eyes, he noticed a slight
glow to them. It excited and startled him at the same time. It was the
same look his eyes had in the moonlight.

His mind flashed back to the bar, he remembered whirling and snarling
after slamming his fist into the side of the first clown's head. He'd
caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye as he fell sideways; he
remembered that terrifying growl that tore through the bar.

Feeling his passion reach its peak, he thrust into her one final time,
feeling the white hot heat wash over his shaft as he flooded her. He
grunted and bared his teeth at the sudden ice-cold shock, like that of
a razor cut, when her teeth sank deeply into his shoulder. He loosed a
purring growl when he realized that it was not he that had slaughtered
those bar patrons.

He slowly lowered her to the ground and drew her
down onto the cool grass with him.

As they lay catching their breath he looked into her feral eyes and
heard her growl softly... "Thank you."

He caressed her body, but didn’t respond to her thanks. His instincts
and his brain were pulling him in opposite directions. One was telling
him that he had gotten what he wanted, so now he could leave. His
instincts told him that he wanted to stay and that this woman could be
more than just a one-nighter.

He felt her shift her weight and stand up. Her scent had changed, too.
Sensing he had done something to make her feel uncomfortable and
possibly regret what had just happened between them, he stood and
followed her back into the motel room.

“You figured it out, didn’t you? The fight at the bar, the news
report, your loss of memory?” Her back was still towards him as she
spoke.

“Not all of it, but parts.” He put his hands on her shoulders to ask
her to turn around but she pulled away from his grasp. “Can you tell
me what happened?”

She sat down on the bed and wrapped the sheet tighter around her body.
Neither of them was truly naked, but he felt the need to put on his
jeans. Having this conversation in his boxers seemed weird. Once he
was zipped, he took off his gloves, sat next to her and held her to
his chest.

“It’s okay, really. Whatever you tell me, it’ll be okay.”

They had already told each other they were mutants. He didn’t think
there would be anything more difficult than that to discuss.

“I didn’t tell you everything that happened because I didn’t want you
to blame yourself.” She lowered her voice further. “You already carry
around so much blame.”

“How would you know that, darlin’? We’ve only known each other for a
day.” He chuckled, trying to make her truth seem less true to himself.
Then he took a more serious tone. “You’re not a telepath are you? You
told me your skin was your mutation.”

“I’m not a telepath, Logan.”

He jumped off the bed at her using his name. They hadn’t introduced
themselves at that level. He had told her to call him Wolverine and
she told him her name was Rogue.

“It’s the way my skin works. I don’t just hurt the people who touch
me. I absorb their energy, their life force. The more powerful the
pull is, the more gets transferred.”

“Transferred? I barely touched you.” He paced in front of her.

“I think it was the stress of the situation. I was terrified, you
were… you were pissed. I think those emotions made the absorption pull
faster.”

“Okay. So now tell me what happened. The whole story.” He was angry
that she hadn’t told him this before. To accentuate his point
further, he popped his claws. “Don’t leave anything out this time,
darlin’.”

“Okay.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She knew she was
going to have to tell him eventually.

“You remember knocking that first guy out and reaching to get the
other asshole’s hands off me?”

He nodded, signaling her to continue.

“I already told you that you touched my arm and then collapsed. Well
when you touched me all your anger at what those guys did flowed
through me. It mixed with my feelings of being violated and…I snapped.
I ran through the bar in a blind rage.” Her breathing started to
quicken and her voice turned rough; tears fell from her eyes. “I felt
like I had gone berserk. When I finally came back to myself I saw what
I had done, grabbed you off the floor and just ran out of there.”

Logan was shocked by her story. The fact that his anger was strong
enough to make a little thing like her commit such horrible acts
pained him to his soul. But there was still one thing he felt she
skirted around.

“On the news, there was so much blood at the scene. You didn’t have a
weapon, how did you actually kill all those guys?”

“I think the element of surprise was a large factor; none of them were
aware of what was happening. And…”

“And?”

“And then there were these.” She flexed her wrist and three bone claws
cut through her hand.

Logan stared at her hand and appeared to study it.

“How?” He sat down in the chair behind him.

“With mutants, I also absorb their ‘gifts’; their powers. Usually they
disappear after a little bit. But I’ve never absorbed a ‘physical’
mutation before…” Her voice trailed off and she retracted the claws,
the cuts healed almost instantly.

“I didn’t know those were a part of my mutation. I thought these were
just something the lab came up with.” He sighed, retracted the metal
blades and ran his hands through his hair. “I guess they were
‘inspired’ by the originals.”

***************

They stayed up all night; talking. He about his amnesia and she about
what she had absorbed, trying to make sense of the new personality in
her mind. Mostly, though, he held onto her and comforted her while she
dealt with the fact that she had killed eight people.

It was morning by the time she’d cried herself to sleep. He sat with
her, stroked her hair and listened to her heartbeat.

He was totally outside his realm of understanding. He couldn’t
remember ever sitting with anyone while they cried before. Logan
didn’t want to think about what would happen when she woke up. They
both had lives beyond their meeting at that bar. She had to have a
family or someone who’d be expecting her to return; someone who
wouldn’t be expecting her to return with him in tow.

He briefly considered taking her with him, but he had nowhere to call
his own. He’d been living out of his truck and driving wherever the
urge took him. That option quickly got discarded.

No matter where they went, they had to get away from here. Rogue
hadn’t killed everyone at the bar as she thought. By now, the police
have probably gotten his description from the bar bimbo who’d gone to
the bathroom before Rogue had entered the bar. And that would be the
least of their problems if the bar had any surveillance cameras.

“Shit.” Logan slowly left Rogue’s sleeping form and turned on the
television. “Might as well see what’s new out there.” The newscast
they caught yesterday had said that the authorities had no information
that could be released. Logan thought they’d have something by now.

He didn’t have to wait long. An anchorman was in the middle of his
report once the sound came on.

“Authorities are looking for this man. At this time he is not
considered a suspect, but officers want to question him in regards to
the barroom murders. It is not known if he is from the area, but
everyone is urged to call in any information they may have.”

The sketch the police released didn’t look anything like Logan; more
like George Clooney with a beard. Thanking the distributors of
whatever alcohol the bar bimbo drank he turned off the television set.

When he turned around, Rogue was sitting up against the headboard. He
had been so engrossed in the news report that he hadn’t heard her wake
up.

“So, they aren’t looking for us?”

“Nah. But, George Clooney might get picked up for questioning.”

They both laughed lightly at that, but then an uncomfortable silence
settled over them.

“So I guess we can go about our lives, then?”

“I guess so.”

“Well that’s good.”

“Yeah.”

“Only…” she started to say something but then stopped herself.

“Only, what?” he asked and sat on the bed next to her.

“Only I don’t want to go without you.”

Logan was shocked by her statement. He knew he didn’t want to leave
her behind, but he hadn’t realized that she’d want him to stay around.

Her face took on a distant look and she lost herself in thought. Logan
watched her eyes lose focus. It seemed as if she was having a
conversation with herself and he felt like he just disappeared from
the room.

He smirked while watching her. Her eyes expressed everything he had
been thinking about and a worried crease formed at her brow. Logan
reached out, grabbed her by the shoulders, placed his mouth over her
left breast and threatened to bite down on her nipple with his teeth.

“Hey!” Finally distracted from her thoughts, she smacked his head
away. “What was that for?”

“I needed to get your attention. I didn’t have a clean scarf I could
use to kiss you, but you still have on your bodysuit; so I improvised.

“Improvised, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“So, sugar. What was so important that you needed to get my
attention?”

“I just wanted to tell you that we don’t need to plan out our whole
lives right now. Let’s try something easy. You hungry?”

She raised her left eyebrow and looked him in the eye. “You buyin’?”

“Definitely.”

“I’ll get my bag.” She jumped off the bed and headed for the door.

Logan cleared his throat and she turned to look at him. He pointed at
her nearly nude form. “You may want to let me get it for you. That’s
not really a ‘walk around outdoors’ outfit.”

“Oh, yeah. Oops. Almost gave the locals a free show.”

“And I think one show a day’s enough.” His words reminded her of what
they did last night outside and she blushed.

“You think anyone saw us?”

“Don’t think so. But that squirrel probably won’t be the same.” Logan
figured if anyone had seen them they’d know she was now his and they
wouldn’t try anything if they valued their life.

Rogue laughed as she fished his keys out of his jacket and threw them
at him.

“What’s so funny, darlin’?”

“Nothin’. Your voice in my head growled at the thought of someone
seeing us last night.” She walked over to him, swaying her hips. He
felt his eyes swaying in time with them. By the time she reached him
and touched his chest he was damn close to drooling.”

The scent of her arousal mixed with the musk of their sex the night
before was affecting his animalistic side and he let out a low growl.

A sexy, cat-like grin spread across her face and all at once the
sexual tension she had created left the air and she giggled. “Just
like that one, sugar.”

She turned towards the bathroom. “The bag’s behind the passenger
seat.”

Logan growled again. He wasn’t going to let her toy with him that
easily. He waited until she was close to the bed then launched himself
at her.

She landed with a thump and he pinned her arms over her head. With one
hand he held both her elbows down while he removed his belt with the
other.

She lifted her hips and she came into contact with his growing
erection. Logan gasped at the touch, but was determined to reign
himself in; this was only to teach her a lesson. He placed his thigh
between her legs to stop her squirming.

“Oh, come on Logan. I was just playin’ with you.”

“I know. Now it’s my turn to play.”

He wrapped the belt around her wrists and looped the buckle end
through the headboard. She struggled a bit against the bond, but
before she could free herself he latched on to her breast and this
time he nipped for real.

“Ow.”

“Did that hurt? Let me kiss it to make it feel better.”

Through the bodysuit he sucked on her nipple until it peaked and she
let out a moan and called out his name.

He pressed himself harder into her pelvis the leaned in close to her
ear and purred. “What kind of a name is Rogue?”

As he waited he began to grind himself against her rhythmically.

She closed her eyes and tried to catch her breath. Once again she
surprised him. Instead of answering, she gave him a smart-ass retort.
“What kind of a name is Wolverine?”

She tried to keep her cool under his sensual assault, but his
thrusting finally broke her down and her control slipped. Her eyes
rolled into her head and she again moaned.

“Marie. It’s Marie.”

It was his turn to show a feral grin and he let out another growl. He
could tell she was about to go over the edge, so he pressed against
her once more than stopped; to tease her the way she had teased him.

Her eyes flew open and her hips moved against him trying to coax him
into moving again.

“Please, Logan?”

“Not fun to be teased, is it, Darlin’?”

“No.” She was still rubbing herself against his jeans trying to finish
herself off, but he wasn’t cooperating.

He could tell he was frustrating her and what he had failed to keep in
mind while he was teasing her was just how much of his personality she
had absorbed. Before he could relent to her, she let loose a growl of
her own and her eyes took on a darker shade of brown. She wrapped her
legs around his waist in a grip so tight that he was thankful for the
adamantium that lined his bones. He’d had years of experience in being
able to reign in his animal needs and instincts. He was capable of
stopping himself before hurting whomever he was with during sex;
whereas she had no idea what was really happening to her.

“You’re not done, Wolverine.” The way she growled out his name made
the hairs on his neck stand up. Her bone claws shot out of her hands
and pierced the leather of his belt. She repeated the act three more
times until she’d cut through and freed her arms.

“Damn.” Was the last thing he was able to say before she rolled
herself on top of him.

Her brain was on autopilot and the Wolverine in her mind was in
control. Logan recognized the hazy look in her eyes and braced himself
for what was to come. He knew she lacked the strength to keep him
under control to remove his pants. So he thought she would just finish
with herself while he was still covered, but she improvised.

A searing pain in his right shoulder made him howl and in that moment
she undid his fly. He gritted his teeth against the pain and the
blades of his left hand reflexively came out. Even though she had her
claws through him and was fixed on taking what she wanted from him
with or without his consent, he couldn’t bring himself to hurt her.
She was behaving like this because of him. It was his personality
acting out from his teasing actions.

He retracted the blades and motioned to the side table where his
wallet sat. He would at least make sure some precautions were taken.
She took the cue but she hesitated. She couldn’t reach the wallet
unless she released him. But she wouldn’t release him unless she knew
he wouldn’t stop her from getting what she needed.

He dropped his gaze and in an act of submission he exposed his neck to
her. Logan had been in her position many times over the years, but
never before had he been the one to submit.

She accepted his actions and retracted the claws that had impaled his
shoulder. The wounds knitted themselves together as he lay there;
exposed and waiting for her to apply the condom. Without preamble or
warning she impaled herself on him fully.

He groaned at the sensation and she too that as a signal to continue.
Her opening was so willing to take him in that she didn’t need to
pause or slow her rhythm as he grew harder inside her. He felt her
muscles constrict and at the pace she had set he would reach orgasm
quickly.

Sensing his nearness, she grabbed his hands and placed them on her
breasts; urging him to knead them. The panting sounds she made as she
neared the release she wanted drove him crazy until he couldn’t hold
back any longer.

“Marie. Oh, God.” He came and she howled as she followed him.

Her body, now satisfied, collapsed on top of him. He had to move in
order to keep her exposed face from touching his neck.

Logan watched her snuggle into the blankets of the bed. He shook from
the adrenaline coursing through him as he covered her with a blanket
and heard her purr. He made sure she was sleeping before he headed to
the bathroom.

***********

“Marie, baby. Marie, wake up. Come on, baby.”

Her body was covered in sweat and she was flailing about. Logan
recognized the nightmare she was having. If he didn’t already have
enough to feel guilty about the fact that she had gotten his
nightmares was a kick to the heart.

He couldn’t leave her now. He was completely responsible for the
destruction of this woman. Somehow he had to help her through this.
However, he had no idea how to help her; he hadn’t figured out how to
deal with his own issues.

With one more less-than gentle shake, she woke up screaming and
swinging with her claws sprung.