Marie, or Rose as she was going by these days, idly scanned the crowd. Three months had gone by since that day she had left the mansion and she still found herself thinking about it. More than anything, she wanted to move forward and get on with her life. But he was still on her mind. Every damn day. It was frustrating to say the least and still painful every time she remembered the feel of the last kiss they’d shared. It wasn’t fair, but then again, life rarely was.

Plastering a smile on her face when a pair of familiar lips pressed gently to her neck, she turned. “Michael.” Kissing him lightly, she drew back and studied the man before her. Tall, just over six feet with dark brown eyes and light brown hair. Classic good looks hid his true nature. He was Michael Turner, CEO, millionaire, playboy, scumbag. And completely in love with her. If it wasn’t for the fact that he routinely bought and sold children, mutant and human, she would have decked him long ago.

He was her mission. The one that Xavier had asked her if she wanted that night. To catch the sick son of a bitch and make sure he rotted in prison. It was actually a favor for a friend of Xavier’s’ who had gotten so close to catching him on numerous occasions only to miss out in the end. Knowing the extent to which each of Xavier’s people were trained, they’d asked and gotten her. A mole, a spy.

She’d been working him for two months and knew that she was close. She also knew that she was lucky. After all, who would suspect the petite southern gal with the slow drawl? People saw her as his current arm candy, but after accidentally finding the engagement ring in his desk when looking for evidence, she figured he saw their relationship as more.

At first, she was surprised, as the had only known each other for two months. But after thinking about it, she realized it was completely in character for him. He saw something he wanted and went after it aggressively. And he wanted her. The story she fed him made her only seem more appealing. Her story of being a rich orphan with no family must have made her seem more than perfect. The fact that he had checked to make sure she was who she said she was, well, it just reinforced how paranoid he was. And how good she was. Her cover story was backed by Xavier’s’ millions and even she was impressed with her acting ability.

“Shall we?” he offered his arm and she delicately placed her hand on his sleeve.

Putting on her simpering smile and greeting his guests like a good hostess would, she made the rounds on his arm.

An hour later, she was standing on a large balcony that overlooked impressive gardens. She was almost twitching with the need for a cigarette. An unfortunate habit she had picked up during her month of moping. Or as Xavier would say, ‘coping’. She snorted and took a deep breath. Coping my ass, she thought, she had been feeling sorry for herself and she knew it.

She sighed, she hated the fact that he had cheated on her, yet she still couldn’t get over him. It was almost embarrassing, but she had been in love with him. It wasn’t something that she could easily get over. If she ever would.

A tickling at the base of her spine had her tensing. Then, as fast as the tension came, it left, leaving the ever present ache in her heart and the mind-numbing anger.

“What are ya doing here?” she hissed out.

“Aww, darlin’. Don’t sound so happy to see me.” Logan drawled out slowly, moving from the dark shadows as she turned to face him.

“Oh, Ah’m really not.” she shot back. “Ya need ta get out of here before someone sees ya.”

“Now why would I do that? I spend three months looking for you and now you’re telling me to leave?”

She gave a derisive laugh and crossed her arms over her chest. “Huh, you’re really not as stupid as ya look.”

As she turned to leave, he grabbed her arm and spun her back around. “Dammit Marie. You can’t just expect me to go after all the time I spent looking for you.”

“Yes, Ah can. Ah never asked for ya to look for meh, and Ah didn’t ask for ya to interrupt my life once again. So get a clue and go away.” she jerked away from him, breaking his grip. As he reached for her again, Michael’s voice stopped him.

“Rose, darling. Is everything alright?” His mere presence sent a shiver of distaste through her, but she pasted a fake smile on her face. She hated that he used the same endearment as Logan, but had grown used to hearing it.

She turned and walked to him, placing a hand on his arm. “Of course, Michael.” She turned back to face Logan. “This is Logan. An unfortunate…incident from mah past.”

Michael nodded, “We all have them, love.” She almost rolled her eyes at the condescending tone, but managed to refrain.

“He was just leaving.” she said, staring at Logan.

Logan scoffed, “The hell I was.”

She inwardly groaned. Why did he have to be so stubborn? Marie shook her head discreetly, hoping Logan would get the message then turned away from him to face Michael. “Call security.”

Without a backwards glance, she walked away.

Marie stepped out of the bathroom, clad in a silk robe, fresh from the shower. As she stood at her vanity and placed her earrings and necklace in her jewelry box, her door opened and closed almost soundlessly.

Closing her eyes, she let out a soft breath of air. “Ah really don’t think Ah could have made mahself any clearer earlier.” she stated calmly. Her back still to him, she slipped the suppression ring off her finger. The familiar shiver ran down her spine as she placed it on the corner of the table.

A quiet moment passed before his voice broke the silence, “I ain’t afraid to touch you Marie, never have been.” She swallowed hard, maybe he wasn’t afraid to touch her, but she couldn’t say the same about herself.

“No, not afraid.” she admitted. “Not afraid to touch meh, just afraid to touch only meh.”

She saw him flinch in the mirror, and felt slightly gratified. “That isn’t what happened, darlin’.”

“Don’t call meh that.” she said sharply.

“Why not? Only your new boyfriend can call you that?” he growled.

She smirked, “Something like that. Ya lost the privilege to call meh anything but stranger.”

“Marie-”

“Don’t call meh that either. The walls have ears.” True, but he didn’t have to know that she swept for bugs months ago. When she found the first one, she had gone to Michael in a fake panic, telling him that someone was spying on her. He of course, comforted her and told her that he would protect her and find out who it was. Another bug showed up the next day. That one was moved into the empty room next door.

He growled, frustrated. After a moment of silence, he sighed and his shoulders slumped. “I miss you, Marie.”

She felt her heart twist at his honest admission, but hardened herself. “Ah don’t care, Logan. Why are ya here?”

“I came to bring you back.”

She scoffed, “Back to what, Logan? The mansion? The X-men? You?”

He came up behind her, “If you came back to me, I would do everything in my power to make you happy. I want you to be happy, where I can keep you safe.” He lightly brushed his finger across the back of her exposed neck and she gasped, her entire body filling with need.

Jerking away from him, she moved a safe distance and turned to him. “Ah can take care of mahself Logan.” Her voice was strong, but she could feel her entire body trembling.

“I know, that darlin’. But I can’t help but worry when I can’t see you, smell you, feel you.” With each word he moved closer and her resolve got weaker.

“Logan, please.”

“Please what, Marie. You know you only have to ask.”

“Get out.” Her voice was weak and she cursed herself, but held his gaze.

He took a step forward, she took a step backwards and tensed when her back touched the wall. Before she could step away, he pinned her with his body, his legs holding hers to the wall. His hands landed on either side of her head, and knowing she wouldn’t move for fear of draining him, he smirked.

“Now we both know you don’t want that.”

“Don’t tell meh what Ah want, Logan.” She met his eyes and immediately looked away. “Don’t look at meh like that.”

“Like what?” he questioned, taking a deep breath.

An involuntary shiver ran through her when she realized he was smelling her and she swallowed hard. “Like ya love me. Ya can’t do that anymore.”

“I’ll always love you darlin’. Ain’t nothing gonna change that. Just like you love me.”

“Ya are right, I will always love ya Logan. But Ah’ll never make the mistake of trusting ya again.”

He winced slightly and took a deep breath, “Marie. It was a mistake. A one-time stupid mistake. It will never happen again.”

“Will, ya are right about that. It won’t happen again, because Ah am not stupid enough to make the same mistake twice.”

“Marie-”

“No! Dammit, Logan. You cheated on meh! Ah can’t just forget that.”

“I know darlin. I know.” He studied her for a few moments before lowering his gaze. “You are everything to me. Everything. I just… I need you to forgive me. These last few months have been hell, darlin. I can’t function without you, I need you so much. Please, Marie, please. Forgive me.”

When his gaze returned to hers, she was shocked to see him so vulnerable. “Logan.” She whispered. Using the silk sleeve of her robe, she touched the side of his face tenderly before shaking herself. “No. Ah can’t.” Pushing at him, she couldn’t even get him to shift and growled in frustration. “Let me go, Logan.”

“Never.” A moment later, his lips touched hers and without any barriers, he poured into her. She gave a soft cry as all his love, frustration, and his loneliness from the last few months hit her. She felt his guilt because of the encounter in the back room of a truck stop and his grief when he realized she was gone. Then suddenly he was gone as he slumped to his knees, breathing heavily.

She stared a him for a moment, her eyes wide, before turning and resting her forehead on the wall. She groaned as she tried to sort through his memories, his feelings. When a wave of wanting hit her hard, she clenched her fists and started taking even breaths. Hearing Logan moving behind her, she slowly turned, willing her body to calm. It worked marginally and she found the courage to meet his gaze head on.

“Feel better?” she snarked.

He ignored her sarcasm and simply stared at her for a moment before he moved swiftly, his hand taking hers and slipping a ring onto her finger. The tingling on her skin she associated with the suppression ring ran though her body and she jerked away from him. A quick glance at her vanity displayed the ring and she looked at him in shock. “How…”

“Hank is a perfectionist, darlin’. He gave me this one.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, “He did not.”

He smiled, “You’re right. I stole it.”

She rolled her eyes. “Ah thought you weren’t afraid to touch meh Logan.”

“I’m not darlin’. It just make this so much easier.”

“Makes what easier?”

He kissed her, his lips caressing hers expertly. All to easily, she melted into him, his want fueling hers. Quickly moving them to the bed, he stripped her of her robe leaving her bare to his eyes.

“You’re so beautiful darlin’.”

Her eyes grew heavy and she reached for him. For the first time, the caress of his lips was welcome. There was no hesitation from either of them, and she eagerly responded to his every touch. His hands brushed her aching breasts and she didn’t stop him when his mouth devoured every inch of her body.

His mouth returned to hers and when he entered her, she clenched around him in an automatic climax. She cried out his name, her nails digging into his back.

“Fuck, Marie.” he cursed. His body was tense as he lowered his head to nip at her neck.

“No marks.” she breathed out.

She felt him growl, and a second later he bit down on her neck hard, making her cry out in a mixture of pleasure and pain. “You’re mine, Marie. Always will be.”

Before she could respond to that, he snapped his hips to hers, making her cry out. “Logan!”

“That’s right, darlin’. Just like that. Fucking beautiful.” She arched into him as he repeatedly moved his hips, plunging deeply inside her with each thrust. She climaxed with ridiculous ease, her back arching as she held him to her tightly.

With one final plunge, he climaxed, pouring into her with a ferocious growl. The sound reverberated through her, and she felt a shiver go down her spine.

His breath was hot on her neck as he panted lightly, and she found that she was still holding him close. Her brain told her to kick him out, of her room, her life. But her body refused her orders.

When he turned to kiss her hungrily, she found herself responding. And when he slipped out of her a few minutes later and pulled her tightly into his arms, she found herself relaxing into him. Within minutes she was asleep.