Damn weather had kept him longer than he'd wanted, he was supposed to be out of the mansion by now, on the road, free to do whatever or whoever his body wanted to.
Instead he was stuck here in one of the worst winter blizzards the East Coast had seen in decades.

He'd even been to see Ororo to convince her to use her gift on the weather pattern but he'd walked away after the lecture on culumative effects he'd gotten off her. So it looked like he'd be waiting it out like everyone else.

The mansion was a little world in itself, nestled in it's own grounds, a seperate water supply, seperate power supply too when the power outside had gone down after the ice storms. Food was still a problem but he'd been out in the grounds earlier sorting that little problem too.

No the real problem was that no matter what the date was on the calendar his body had turned the corner from winter to spring and that meant only one thing to Wolverine - Breeding Time.
-----------------------------------

"Hey are you coming to help or are you just going to sit there and mope again?" Kitty pushed Marie with her covered hands, almost sending her into a snow pile. Everyone was wrapped up good and tight against the weather so skin on skin contact was almost impossible. They'd been given the dubious task of getting wood for the fires, the large house needing constant heating and although the furnace did a good job in the main living areas the small fireplaces needed a constant supply of logs. Her breath fogging as she stood up Marie looked over the pile with a calculating eye.
"These won't last more than a month," the information making Kitty halt in her stacking.
"I thought you were from the south, how would you know?" The tone said it all for her, the incredulous look in Kitty's eye said the rest making Marie's voice drop a few degrees.
"Cos ah have someone in here", she tapped her skull "Tellin me so that's why." Lumping the seasoned wood out of the pile with numb fingers, pulling on a log that was stuck in the mess she kicked the thing in annoyance. The rumbling shift of all that wood made a distinctive noise which didn't pass unnoticed by someone who'd come outside to cool his blood a little.

--------------------------------------

Walking around the corner of the garage Logan could see the two sleds already half filled with timber, the dust cloud that was now just settling told him what had happened. He just hoped there was someone alive under there.

Hearing coughs as he got closer Logan ran into the brick shed, basically it was just a four sided storage area with a roof. The logs had rolled down from the top covering whoever had been pulling logs out from the bottom. The scent of pine was loud in his nose masking any recognisable scents but there wasn't any blood in the air. Didn't mean that someone wasn't hurt though, and he began tearing through the log pile to find the source of the cough.

Kitty appeared quickly her skin ashen but she looked fine, the main pile was just to her left and as her eyes cleared she just looked at him in shock, pointed to the pile and the one word he hoped he'd never hear dropped from her lips, "Rogue!"

Everything went very still for a second as the information made its way into his mind, Kitty was just about to start moving logs when his hand grabbed her arm. Gritting his teeth he ground out the words that rang around the cold structure. "Get help, tell Jean she may be injured. I'll bring her." Kitty stumbled away out of the shed leaving everything in his hands.

Clearing his nose of pine Logan took a deep breath first, he could scent her, she'd been here a while, something about her scent troubled him though; ignoring it he slowly began removing the logs that had tumbled over.

A leg was revealed first, the tights she'd been wearing were snagged but not torn and the scent of her distress made his efforts redouble. Looking at her as he uncoverd her he could see the red foam at her lips, the way her lungs were trying to inflate but the tinge of blue that was slowly filling their usual red shape made up his mind for him. Tearing off his own glove he ripped of her mitts and grabbed hold of her skin, bracing himself for the inevitable pull.
It started sluggishly, a trickle that slowly built in strength until the edges of his world were becoming dark. Finally tearing his hand away when he could hear her heart beating steadily and the sound of voices coming. Releasing himself to the darkness and pain that was crowding his nerves, the constant growl of Wolverine in his head ignored for now. Marie was safe that's all that mattered right now and he allowed himself to fall into the welcome arms of unconsciousness.

-----------------------------------

The stink of antiseptic wafted closer and her nose wrinkled against the horrific smell, her eyes opened slowly showing her the inside of the medical bay. Marie groaned, the last things she'd been aware of had been a rumbling sound and a very sharp persistant pain in her side.
Looking over at the person coming closer to her she had the urge to growl and throw her to the floor. Turning her head she looked for Logan, he wasn't anywhere to be seen down here but as Jean came closer the urges her body were telling her obviously weren't her own.
"How are you feeling Rogue? It was a lucky thing Logan was still around if he hadn't have been here you'd be in very serious care right now." Coughing and trying to keep her thoughts clean she answered her, making sure to keep her eyes above the border of her chest.
"Fine, a bit over stimulated by everything but fine otherwise." Jean nodded, her smile and cursary glance over her clothed form enough for her medical intentions.
"Good, you're free to go Rogue. But if I were you I'd swing by to thank Logan, he might not always be here to save you you know." The words were given over in the voice Marie liked to think as Jean's 'Adult knows best' voice. She used it often on the younger kids at the mansion, it was worse if she did the little head shake and knowing smile that often accompanied it. Marie kept her gaze away from Jean knowing she'd be doing it to her now. Her earlier thougths of sex had been turned into something else entirely now and she wasn't safe to be around Jean.
Pushing off the bed Marie mumbled 'Thanks' and left as soon as her legs would cross the room, the reflection of Jean in window looking smug speeded her exit.

She found him eventually, after looking in all the usual places for him and coming up dry. Finally she'd headed for the walled garden, it had been something he'd told her about. An old kitchen garden, forgotten about by the rest of the groundsmen, left to grow wild. He'd found it and claimed it as his own, a piece of wildnerness he coudl just slip off to but still be close to the mansion in case of trouble.

Logan was sat with his back against an old apple tree, the snow still covering the large branches making a shelter of sorts. His eyes were closed but he knew she was there, she'd gotten within ten feet of him when he'd opened his eyes piercing her with the look that was within them. His hands were gripping the seat he was on, the knuckles straining white, Marie could see he was holding himself there by sheer will. The one word he managed to speak to her was so loaded with malice it made her shiver more than the cold. "Leave!"
She didn't look back, there was no need. His gaze was like a hand on her back guiding her away from him. Whatever she'd done to him he was still getting over and her eyes began to sting with the tears that were blurring her path. It didn't matter how much she tried to keep herself safe things conspired to get her into trouble. She hadn't meant to hurt him again but obviously she had, she'd needed rescuing again and he'd suffered for it. Wiping her eyes Marie ran straight to her room, not knowing that she wasn't alone in her escape, she was already carrying a passenger who had no scruples about warning her to leave.

---------------------------------------

He stayed outside until the cold began to make him ache all over, the fire in his blood was finally dying down. Of all the damn people to fixate on why had it been her?
*Because she belongs to us*
He sneered at the internal answer given to him, the quick knee-jerk reaction of his baser side. Hell when Jean had come to them both he hadn't even looked her way even when she'd been bent right over. Jean had been dripping with want but he'd just looked right through her, she could have been a grandmother for all the attraction she held for him.
No, Wolverine had picked it's mate and she'd come looking for him earlier. It had taken everything he'd had just to speak to her, to tell her to walk away, to leave him alone, to get somewhere safe. Thing was when she'd been stood there he'd seen the way her pupils had dilated, the way her hips had shifted toward him unconsiously. She knew; on some level inside her mind she knew he wanted her and she'd come to him.

The dark sky picked out the stars in brilliant clarity, it was only a lull in the storm he knew that. But if he didn't get going soon he'd go insane and lock himself in the pool house and throw away the keys. Blowing out into the artic cold he stood up, the ice cracking on his clothes as he walked back toward the house. He'd waited long enough, everyone should be in bed by now and he'd go the long way round to his own bed. That way he'd avoid passing her room.

------------------------------------------

Dinner hadn't been fun, neither had the rec room afterward. She'd been on edge all night, ever since leaving Logan alone in the garden. She'd tried watching tv with everyone but that had only made her irritation worse. She'd wanted to watch her usual few hours of bubblegum tv only to find the boys were watching some godawful sprts event from half-way around the world. Sensing the lingering presence of Logan inside her mind she'd decided to relax and have a go at whatever sport the boys were watching.
It had turned out to be a mixture of Beach Volleyball and Ultimate Fighting, the first made her hormones ratchet up several notches until she'd decided to go and sort out the frustration herself when it'd changed to the 'Let's beat each other to death for money' competition that passed for Ultimate Fighting. At least the cage matches she'd seen through Logan's memories had been more honest about what they were.

She'd left them to it, the boys were already so hyped up and she knew several were going to be spending serious time with either girlfriends or their right hands later. Her own frustrations were making her nerves vibrate, sure she was a normal healthy seventeen year old and that meant she had the sex drive of a maniac. Luckily it only ever seemed to peak just before her period so she'd managed to avoid any boy getting at her. On the road had been another matter entirely and it had been there that she'd learnt how to control her urges herself. She couldn't touch anyone but her own hands were enough and she was heading to her room to get some of the frustration she felt out of her system before she killed someone in desperation.

She slept alone now, after a bout of sleepwalking that had her phasing through walls for about an hour after a small brush with Kitty everyone had agreed to it. Settling down on her bed her hands ghosted over the skin that was still warm and puckered from the hot shower she'd just been in. Closing her mind down she let herself feel the touch and that was her mistake; after tonight it would be the moment that had changed everything. Letting herself drift into nothing as her fingers delved lower the lingering presence in her mind pushed forward, mingling with her own darkness until there was no border between them.

------------------------------------

The walk to his room took in all the nooks and crannies of the mansion, the odd places where the dust didn't move with the passage of feet. It told of the age of the building, of those who'd been here before him, the days of summer and beeswax polish that had soaked into ancient wood. Avioding the entire wing of kids he made it home, shutting the door to the rest of the mansion, locking and barring it with the dresser just in case. Not knowing the one thing he wanted to keep out was already inside with him.

-------------------------------------

Her skin burned, the ache seemed to echo through her, soaring through her veins, scorching her very soul with the strength of it. Flinging the covers aside her hands roved over her skin, touching, teasing, pulling, kneading. Her fingers already diving inside her own body, trying to release the fire that was burning her up inside. A long low growl issued from her throat as the frustration she wanted to ease only built with her futile efforts. Tearing herself out of bed she threw open her door, naked as the day she was born, the only thing different about her was the smile that tugged the corner of her mouth and the darkness that belonged in someone elses mind.
-------------------------------------

He'd just gotten himself settled on his bed when the sound of breathing reached him. Light breath, hurried, panting almost, bolting upright as the door to his bathroom opened and a very naked Marie stepped out. Her skin caught the light coming from the refelcted snow outside. Covered in sweat, he could smell her sex from the bed, her inner thighs glistened with her juices already released. Purring she moved toward him, her hands on her nipples making them rise to his gaze. Unwillingly he saw himself reach for her, his blood heading south quickly as she closed the gap between them. Unmindful of her skin he let her wrap herself around him, her body taught, vibrating almost as she wound her legs around his waist.

There was nothing he could do, he was lost, the beast had him and there was no turning back now for either of them. Laying back on the bed as Marie held herself over him, writhing on his hips mewling as she tried to get to his skin. The sounds she was making released more of the beast he'd been trying to hold in check, grabbing her hair he forced her head upward and looked into the darkness that stared back at him. Recognising it as his own, the need to mate, the need to take, the need to find the one thing that mattered more than anything else. And she'd come to *him*.
The knowledge alone made his grip on Wolverine slide further away, she'd known whom she belonged to, all this was was the confirmation of it. Plunging his lips to hers he felt the tingle of her skin, expecting the pain to rise but it faded slowly into the background. The only sense of it being a thrumming under her skin as his fingers raised the fires inside the body he held. Losing himself to the kiss he let everything drop away until there was nothing but the two of them doing what they both needed from the other. Consequences were for the morning, but for now Wolverine held sway in them both and the need was more important than the rules.

-------------------------------------

Warm, she was warm, too warm, surfacing she tried to shrug off the comforter that she'd obviously put on the bed last night. But when she opened her eyes she wasn't in her own bed, she wasn't even in her own room.
Last night suddenly came clear, her opening her door, the loping run through the hallways naked, the wrench of the door as she'd gone into Logan's room and not seeing him deciding to wait for him. To ambush him while he slept, the plans she'd had in her mind, that is if it had been her mind in the first place. Sitting up she noticed that she was alone in here, some of her clothes had been placed on a chair as well as food on the small dresser. Shifting out of the bed she noticed for the first time the aches and pains that were coming from her body. Her thighs were marred with hand prints, red welts that stung when she touched them. Deciding to leave everything for the shower Marie just turned her back on the image in the mirror and went into Logan's bathroom.

There were signs of his routine, the toothpaste was still here, as was his brush. There were still hairs in the sink and the look she caught herself giving the mirror was one she'd only ever seen on her mother in the mornings that she'd spent the night out of the house. It was then that the weight of it all hit her, standing by the sink her skin marred by fingerprints and bruises. All given by the one man she'd never meant to hurt, but yet again she'd managed to hurt him. She didn't expect him to be around when she finally went down to the rest of the mansion. He'd be long gone, the betrayal she'd done him was enough to make her own stomach clench. Yet the in the back of her mind a part of her purred to think of the touch she'd recieved from him.
Closing off her thoughts she entered the shower hoping to wash away the hurt and thoughts of recriminations that were running around her brain.
-------------------------------------

No one knew yet, everyone was still unaware of what had happened last night, that Marie had come to his bed. Whether it had been under the influence of his own mind in hers or her own was the one thing he needed to know before he left here. When he left he was going to be sure he never came back, not until he had this monster inside him under control and spring was not the time to try and cope with it.
Just the thought of Marie made him hard and he growled as he readjusted himself again, if any of the telepaths in here caught a snatch of his thoughts he'd be out on his ass before the next snowfall. The footsteps were light and swift and he expected it to be someone else when he turned around but it was Marie and he had to hold his arms in check; they'd been reaching out for her. Logan noticed her eyes widen as he'd moved and her scent had deepened as he'd done it. Uncomfortable with her presence Logan drew on the cigar he'd just lit trying to keep his gaze on the horizon but failing miserably as she sat beside him.

"Ah'm sorry." Logan looked at her, turning his body toward her, his arm dropping behind her shoulder.
"What for?" Her gaze dropped to the floor then out to the snow filled woods, her peach skin flushing with blood as she spoke.
"For hurting you, ah remember what ah did to you last night. Ah stalked you, ah remember holding you down..."
He couldn't believe his ears, she was trying to make him feel better by taking the blame. She was still talking but she wasn't crying, she wasn't upset about herself she was upset because of the things she'd done to him which she thought he'd done unwillingly.

Shaking his head Logan grabbed her chin in his bare hand and pulled her face around to his. The tingle from her skin didn't even take a single thought from him, he knew that by the look of pain in her dark brown eyes.
"Marie, if anyone has anything to be sorry for it's me." He tried to find the right words to explain this to her, he didn't want to sound like a pervert but it was probably too late for that now. "When I touched you in the woodshed I was 'agitated', frustrated to put it another way..."
"Horny", her directness surprised him a little.
"Yeah horny. When spring rolls round Wolverine tends to get a little harder to control and when I touched you yesterday..." He let the words filter their own meaning to her, that it was his fault that she'd reacted that way to him. That she'd sought out a mate, one she could fulfill her needs with, one she could trust.
Logan watched the information slide through her, her thoughts visable by the way she moved her head and the looks she gave the forest at the edge of the lawn.
"So it was all you, that's what you're saying?"
"In a nutshell, yeah." Marie looked at the forest then turned her gaze back to his own, her eyes had a hard brittle look inside them and her face a harshness he'd never seen before and he waited for the swearing to start.

"Bullshit. Total fucking utter bullshit Logan!" She got up and paced in front of him, her boots kicking up snow as she wound herself up with the words she wanted to say.
"So everything I did last night was all you? Your taking the blame for everything I did? That you made me open my door and walk through the halls naked, that you were the one that made me choose *YOUR* room instead of Bobby or Pete or any other male for that matter?"
He'd been about to answer her when she'd turned her back on him, her breath fogging out into the cool morning. Sighing Logan began to explain, "Marie....I'm sorry if I hurt you. You know I'd do anything to keep you from harm Marie, I made a promise and I keep my promises Marie."

The silence stretched between them for a few heartbeats, Logan sensing his dismissal rose to leave but Marie beat him to it. "Your leaving me here aren't you?" He didn't answer but his body said everything for him, his hands were balled up into fists. His shoulders dropped and ready to run at the slightest movement, he was ready for the words that would kill everything between them. Marie just stood there and looked at him with diamonds glittering like frost on a rose. "Ever thought it might be you that needs protecting from me Logan?" He watched as she walked away from him the despair rolling off her in waves he could physically feel. She didn't understand, he was protecting her from him, he had to keep her safe even if it meant from him. Inside he felt the Wolverine howl as she walked away from him, every step cutting him to the bone.
----------------------------------

The arrogance of him made her blood boil, he was taking everything on his shoulders just like she knew he would. Yes she'd been horny but it wasn't his influence that had caused it had it? The question itself made her stop dead, was he right, had it been all him? But if it had why hadn't she gone into Jean and Scotts room and thrown Scott out on his ass? She needed answers and there was only one way she knew of to get them, she needed a telepath. There was no way in hell she was going to see Jean so the only other option was Xavier. He'd said if she ever needed to talk she should go see him and now seemed to be the perfect time.

"Enter," the cultured tone helped to calm her nerves a litte as she opened the door and let herself inside. Smiling at the man seated behind his desk she walked over the carpet toward him and seated herself in front of him. "Now Rogue what can I help you with?" She knew he knew about the incident yesterday, but she was hoping he didn't know about what she'd done late last night. Closing those thoughts down she focussed on her problem.
"Ah need you to look inside my head, ah want to know if ah'm still in charge up there."
Xavier watched the ticks and small movements run through the girl seated in front of him, her body was betraying her true thoughts. She was nervous, upset but not scared, worried yes but there was a need there too. Smiling he answered her.
"What do you want me to do Rogue?"
"Could you take a look in here," she tapped the side of her skull. "You know just to see how yesterday affected me?" Xavier's smile deepened.
"Your worried about you absorbing more of Logan's attributes?" The relief that covered her face was like the sun after a storm.
"Yeah."
He reached out with his mind and settled back into his chair as the first few images swam into his conciousness. Rogue's personality was still there, it was in charge but the presence of Logan was still the same, no greater or less than he'd felt before. Behind Logan though was another presence one that sought to hide itself, something that was already blended with her own personality. A feral snarl cut through the mental fog and Xavier pulled his mind away from it. There was something savage there, something she shared with Logan but it had already been part of her psyche. Pulling out of her head Xaiver saw her worried eyes searching his own for the answer. Smiling he spoke to her, "Rogue there's nothing new in there, this last touch you gained from Logan hasn't given you any more of his personality than the last touch he gave you on the torch. May I ask why your asking me, has something happened?" As soon as those words left his mouth he felt a wall drop down across her mind. Something had happened but exactly what he had no idea, smiling Marie got up out of the chair, thanked Xavier and went to find Logan.
---------------------------------------

She found him in the garage, bags in hand, looking at the vehicles wondering which one would get him through the snow drifts that lay outside the mansion grounds. "You runnin' again?"
The words froze him solid faster than the cold wind did, turning he saw her stood there, arms crossed and her eyes glittering with tears. "Well? You goin' to answer me or am ah gonna have to beat it out of ya?" He dropped the bags and took two steps toward her, "Xavier looked inside my head, it wasn't you. It was me."

His world twisted, she'd gone to Xavier, asked him to look inside her head, into her most private thoughts to find out if it had been her or him in charge? He'd never have done that, to give up that much control over his mind was something he could never do but Marie? She just did what she had to, even opening herself up to the scrutiny of the worlds most powerful telepath just to know the truth about last night. She was speaking again and he tore his attention back to her.
"Logan it was just as much me as it was you, give me some credit. Shit ah'm just happy ah didn't kill ya last night, ever thought of that Logan that ah could've drained ya dry while ah was rapin' you?" The tears were flowing but her voice was still strong as she moved closer to him. "An if you think for one minute that your leavin' me here when the one person ah can touch in the world high tail's it out of here because of what he think's he made me do; then your more insane than you think you already are."

He just stood with her his body aching to touch her, finally giving into the desire he plucked her close to him squashing her against him. Her small form making his body react to her closeness, snarling he made to push her away but her hands gripped him tight. "Don't push me away Logan, ah need you." He could smell it on her, she needed him, desperately. Her own body was gearing up for him and she shifted herself across his groin noting her sigh as she felt him stiffen against her. Logan looked at her flushed face, the tear tracks still visable as he stroked her skin. The decision was easy, he just followed his instincts.
"Get in the truck." Plucking a bag from the cold tarmac she popped open the door and flung it inside her body following it. Everything was uncertain past those gates but there was one thing he was certain of and that was her. She'd age but at the moment they'd do the father/daughter routine when it came to motels. He had money and he could earn more on the road, whatever they'd need he'd provide. Spring had sprung it's trap on him but this time he was sure he'd be feeling the same body each spring from now on and he was looking forward to the exploration of it.
Seated across from Marie the smile she gave him made it feel like midsummer inside the cool cab, flicking the heater on they set off. Spring may take time to warm up the ground but it was already summer for him.
---------------------------------------------

The calm gaze watched them leave, the quiet whirr of the wheelchair underneath him as he moved away from the window muffling the sound of his laughter. He'd known about their difficulty with each other the weather had forced the issue a little earlier than he'd hoped but they'd found a way without help. When Rogue called later he'd be sure to sound concerned but he knew Logan would keep her safe, just as much as she would him. Autumn and Spring often fall in love but this time he was sure they'd make a summer neither of them would forget.