Cardinal

It was one of those things he just seemed to know. That no matter what anybody ever said on the topic, people are very rarely pretty when they're asleep. Outside the realms of Hollywood movies and the florid wording inherent in trashy romance novels, people more often than not tended to squash their face into the pillows and drool rather than lay there gracefully in beatific serenity. Curled up tight and truly asleep, it was more likely to make a person look like a wrinkled new-born than the glorious visage of slumbering loveliness popular culture still led everyone to believe, and Logan smiled a little as he clicked the door shut behind him.

The room was dark and warm and smelled distinctly feminine, but there was a lingering odour of gym socks underlying it and he cast an amused glance at the bulging laundry hamper in the corner. Some things never changed, he thought, the scene too familiar from a lifetime of habit to have ever been shaken by a solitary year of relationship. Least of all with someone like him.

Moonlight cast Marie's upturned face a pale, shimmering silver, the inky darkness of her hair spilling out across the pillow. Her features had refined over the time he'd known her and it twisted something inside of him tonight because, lying peacefully on her back as she was, she didn't look beautiful at all; She looked absolutely fucking radiant.

Logan crossed the room almost silently, perching himself gently on the edge of the bed by her hip, his weight dipping the mattress though she didn't seem to notice. He braced one arm on the far side of her body, pressing his fist down into the sheets as he leaned in close, hovering a hair's breath from her lips, so close he could feel her breath against his skin...

"Quit faking, squirt, I know you're awake."

He pulled back a little and she cracked one eyelid open, her lips sliding into what he figured was supposed to be a calculated, adorable pout. Some voice in the back of his head murmured that it looked more like she wanted her lower lip bitten and his stomach twisted at the thought.

"What gave it away?" she said. Her voice was syrupy and lazy even though she hadn't been properly asleep and Logan quirked an eyebrow in amusement.

"That would be telling. Now what I want to know is why you're still awake at 4 in the morning."

Her eye snapped shut and she groaned in frustration, squirming a little under the covers he'd pulled tight over her body.

"Couldn't sleep," she grumbled. "I missed you. The bed's not as comfy without you in it."

She rolled over on her side to face him, hands curling up under her chin as her body pressed against his thigh, as close as she could get with the comforter still between them.

"It's been exactly a week," she muttered. "Stupid missions. Figured you'd be back before dawn anyway."

He snorted slightly, resting a heavy palm on her hip over the top of the quilt, rubbing it idly for a second. "Go to sleep," he said and he swallowed the growl that formed in his chest as she pouted out her bottom lip in defiance.

"Not till you get in here and be my pillow," she moaned, eyes opening a fraction and twinkling with amusement even in the darkness and Logan sighed in defeat, giving her hip one last caress before climbing tiredly to his feet and kicking off his boots.

"I stink too much to for a pillow, darlin'," he grumbled. "Gotta' take a shower first."

She whined, her arm flailing out towards him, waving loosely in the air between their bodies.

"But I like the way you stink so just come to bed now..."

He snorted slightly, amusement forcing his mouth into a wry smile and he caught her fingers gently, pressing them to his lips for a second before kissing her wrist, letting the tip of his tongue flick under the electronic bracelet that kept her mutation under control.

"In a minute," he said, and vanished into the bathroom.

The sound of running water echoed through their suite, lulling Rogue back into a contented doze, almost submitting to sleep before the noise stopped abruptly and she felt the bed dip behind her, the warm dampness of Logan's freshly-showered body sliding under the covers. She rolled over and nuzzled into him contentedly, wrapping her arms around his bare torso and burying her face into his shoulder as, beneath the blankets, her legs tangled with his.

"Missed you," she murmured and he pulled her tighter to him. The soft cotton of her pyjamas slid deliciously against his naked skin and her hand stroked his ribs affectionately as he leaned down and gently kissed her forehead. Rogue smiled and sighed contentedly against his neck.

"You make a good pillow," she said. "I think I shall keep you."

He huffed his amusement in the darkness, large, warm hand sliding up from her waist to her shoulder before skimming her jaw, tilting her face up to press his lips against hers.

"Pillow, huh?" he murmured, kissing her softly, revelling in the feel of her squirming against his naked body.

"Mm," she assented. "Pillow or sex object. I'll take either."

He laughed quietly, stroking her cheek with the tip of his thumb. "I can live with that," he whispered and she smiled, eyes closed in pleasure as she drank in the heady intensity of his presence.

"Did you miss me?" she asked and he huffed out a laugh, the conversation an old one they'd had a hundred times.

"Yeah, baby, I missed you."

She wiggled against him slightly, the top of her thigh brushing against the heavy warmth of his sex and he growled, catching her hip with his palm to still her movement.

"Did little Logan miss me...?" she smirked and he rolled his eyes.

"Little Logan doesn't have an opinion, darlin', but big Logan would appreciate it if you'd stop referring to his penis with cutesy nicknames."

She laughed then, her arm flopping over his waist as she buried her face in his chest, helpless with giggles.

"You are such a dork," she choked out and he raised his eyes heavenward, shaking his head before leaning down and stopping her mouth with a kiss.

Rogue moaned in pleasure at the gesture, the laughter dying in her throat as his lips brushed against her mouth almost chastely, tongue flicking carefully at her bottom lip as if seeking permission to enter. She sighed and his lips grew heavier against her own, the kiss becoming deeper and more insistent, the lingering flavour of toothpaste tingling against her mouth. He explored her slowly, thoroughly, letting her suck the mint from his tongue and he growled a little at the feeling, his hand leaving her hip to tighten possessively on her waist again, her shirt riding up a little to reveal a bare strip of midriff.

Soft, velvet skin slid deliciously under his fingers and he rolled over until she was on her back, his weight spread half across her body and half on the mattress beside her, the hand on her waist sliding slowly up her ribs under the soft camisole top of her pyjamas.

Rogue moaned lazily against the insistent heat of his mouth, a thousand tiny kisses as lips and tongues parted and joined over and over as his wandering fingers found her left breast, carefully wrapping the palm of his hand around the soft outer curve of flesh. She murmured his name somehow, between soft sighs and sweeter kisses and he smiled at her tenderly, lips tracking down her jaw as his thumb slid slowly over the peak of her nipple, carefully stroking it to hardness before letting his hand glide back down to lie heavily on her stomach.

"Don't stop..." she pleaded and he buried his face in her neck, inhaling the sleep-scent the lingered below her ear and kissing her there, his fingers exploring just under the elastic of her pyjama pants, dragging the fabric teasingly down over one hip.

"I won't," he whispered, breath hot in her ear and she shuddered, his touch slipping lower across her abdomen and resting briefly over the heat building at the juncture of her thighs. She whimpered, squirming under his touch, lips parting in pleasure before he stopped her mouth with his own once more, tasting her hungrily as he withdrew his hand from between her legs, pushing the cotton fabric down and away from her body.

She kicked the pants off the rest of the way and he pushed his bare thigh up between her legs, mouths still fused, the heavy, familiar weight of his hardening sex resting hotly against the curve of her hip. She gasped as he finally released her lips, panting for air as his head dipped down to her throat. Hand on her ribs again, he pushed the cami up, letting the fabric bunch under her arms and he gazed hungrily at her breasts. Sweet and round and delicious they looked like they were begging to be tasted and he let his head drop, wrapping his mouth around the crest of one and slowly dragging his tongue over the pink little nipple.

She arched and tensed under his mouth, fingers sliding into his hair, stroking his shoulders, her legs squeezing together around the muscular thigh pressed between them.

"Don't fight it..."

The whisper settled into her mind like blown smoke and she keened quietly, knees hesitantly parting again and he settled over her completely this time, strong and immovable, big hands pushing her breasts together so he could lick from one nipple to the other in a solid, wet line, swirling his hot, rough tongue around each peak of flesh in turn.

She wriggled and squirmed under his ministrations, the hot, wet friction as he suckled from one breast to another driving her arousal higher as blunt teeth scraped carefully over too-sensitive skin.

"Oh... please..."

She barely knew what she was asking for any more. Just something more, anything to ease the pulsing heat that was blossoming inside her, the arch of her spine making her body undulate against him, spread legs pressing moisture into the hair that grew low on his abdomen.

He growled quietly, his cock already achingly hard and more than ready to take her but he reached down between their bodies instead, plying her parted sex with his fingers, finding her clit in the slick of hot, wet flesh and stroking it, making her bite her lip in pleasure. She hissed as his touch slid away and down, a fraction deeper then, carefully swirling around the wet, pouted opening of her core before slipping inside. He thrust his finger slowly, slipping in and out of her heat just up to the first knuckle, feeling her tightness even now, even when half-way gone.

She coated his skin quickly with the warm evidence of her arousal and his touch slipped away as he shifted slightly, letting the head of his cock brush against her opening instead. Her shudder of anticipation echoed through him, keening at the feel of him so hot and hard and thick against her...

Slippery, wet fingers carefully parted the soft lips of her sex, exposing the entrance to her body as his mouth crushed back over her own, tongue silencing her ecstasy as he finally pushed his hips forward, stretching almost virginal tightness with the head of his cock as he carefully pressed his way in.

Her neck arched sharply at the feeling, breaking the contact with his lips and he cradled the back of her head in his other palm, the stretch of being filled still almost overwhelming and he pushed inexorably deeper into her, rolling his hips as he moved, almost grinding his way into her body. She could feel him there, pressing deeper, further and further inside, her heart triphammering in her chest at the delicious, burning tightness. Mouth gaping in a silent moan, he slid out a little and then pushed back in, the heat of his body cocooning her as he pulled his hand away from between her legs and wrapped his arm under her hips instead, pulling her harder against his pelvis.

"Oh God... Oh God..."

The feel of him inside was too much... The slow, sure thrusting into the very centre of her body made thought too hard, made words impossible to form. The power behind each push left her breathless with sensation, fingers clawing into whatever she could grasp; The sheets, his bare shoulders... spiky tufts of hair on his head that bunched so easily in her fists. The smooth, shifting muscle of his ass became her favourite place and she tried vainly to pull him harder inside her. Manicured nails scratched arcs across his skin, the burn making him miss a beat, revelling in her gasped whimper as he compensated with a sharp, hard jerk of his hips. She moved almost ceaselessly beneath him, spine flexing in rapture, limbs sliding sensuously around his body as she grasped at the need floating just out of her reach.

She was so close it almost hurt, so desperate it was blissful torture, her lips parted on a constant stream of whimpers and cries as his hands flexed against her skin. One at the back of her neck, one on her tailbone, he had her pinned underneath him, pressing her tightly against his lower body as he tilted her head forward, capturing her half-opened mouth in another deep, wet kiss.

His tongue thrust torturously in time with his cock, mimicking the agonising rhythm with lascivious, tormenting licks, dominating her mouth with the same surety with which he dominated her body. He could feel her shaking in his arms, squirming almost frantically as he drove her just a little bit harder and she squealed in reply, the sound swallowed and muted by his relentless tongue. He let her head fall back then, her chest heaving as she gasped for air, lips wet and glistening, flushed and red and tempting him to re-take them and kiss her all over again. She moaned his name, desperate and pathetic and he grit his teeth at the sound of her begging, dropping his head down to give one of her exposed nipples a hard, biting suck.

She came apart then, crying out in almost ecstatic agony as her body jerked and hitched against him, the squeezing pulse of her core sucking him in as deeply as possible as she clenched hard around the sweet-hot flesh that filled her. She almost sobbed at the heat and the power, fingernails digging crescents into his shoulder and ass and she thrashed her head back despite his grip.

He growled, deep and low, lips pulling into almost a snarl as he jerked harder into her pulsing tightness, driving almost painfully deep and grinding her clit against his pelvic bone as she whimpered and mewled. The hot squeezing draw of her sex wrenched orgasm from his body as he bucked into her again almost mindlessly this time, moaning in blissful release as he shot thick, hot fluid far into the depths of her core, his spine arching as every nerve-ending seemed to pour desperately out of his body at once.

High... So fucking high it felt like they'd never come down. Logan gasped desperately for air as he felt the intensity dissipate, her body beneath him panting and shivery and dazed. Both still twitching with the flurry of aftershocks he pulled her lips against his own, tasting her deeply before letting her slump back, exhausted, into the pillows. He followed her a second later, bodies still joined as he collapsed face-first on top of her.

"Oh yeah, that was... that was much better than sleeping..." she panted and Logan somehow peeled his eyes open to look at her flushed pink face, a stupid grin sliding over her features.

"I swear, Logan. I'm never letting you leave this bed again..."

As if to emphasise the point she wound her legs around his waist, holding him tightly to her as he grunted his satisfaction against her ear.