Damned if she hadn’t just sat there staring at him expectantly. As though he could produce a stiffy on command. Logan huffed a little, which had Rogue looking at him curiously from the passenger seat. He ignored her. The fact of the matter was, it had embarrassed the hell out of him, and that wasn’t an emotion he was at all familiar with.
Now it was obvious that she was expecting some kind of performance from him once they got back to the mansion and Logan wasn’t sure how to approach the situation. How, exactly, did she want him to provide “proof”? Maybe just being able to kiss her without making a funny face was all she expected. Should he cop a feel, too, just for good measure? Given her views on premarital sex, surely, surely, she didn’t intend on letting him get so worked up that he’d want to finish the job.
She couldn’t be that cruel.
But as Logan glanced at her from the corner of his eye and saw the serene way she was looking out the window, humming to herself a little like she sometimes did, he really had to wonder.
By the time they pulled into the garage, Logan was in a downright foul mood. Not exactly conducive to getting in the mood. All right, so maybe it was; nothing wrong with tossing a little anger into the mix. But something told him Rogue wouldn’t appreciate being slammed against a wall like he was wont to do with women when he was in this state.
He threw the car door closed and stalked into the mansion, Rogue following behind him. He strode purposefully across the foyer and toward the stairs.
“Logan?” Rogue called. “Where are you going?”
He spun around to face her. “Upstairs. You wanted proof, right?”
Her eyes grew wide. “You don’t seriously think we’re going to try this in a bedroom, do you?” Her tone of voice told him she was offended.
“Why not?” he growled, confused.
“Logan,” she chided him as though he were a child. Talk about a mood killer.
“What?” he said, exasperated.
“Logan, listen. Do you really think my mama didn’t warn me about stuff like this? If you can show me…sufficient proof that this will all work, you really don’t need the added temptation of a bed being right there.”
He stared at her in disbelief. So she really was that cruel. Downright vindictive, actually.
Rogue looked around a bit, her eyes finally coming to rest on the library door. She started toward it, calling to him over her shoulder. “Come on, Logan.”
And like a good little puppy, he followed without protest. He couldn’t help but wonder what marriage was going to do to him if, after only a couple weeks of being engaged, she was the one calling all the shots.
As the door clicked shut behind them, a feral grin stretched across his lips. Despite the fact that everything up to this point had proceeded at Rogue’s direction, he was confident that he could reestablish his dominance in this room. He was the one with experience here, not Rogue. If she thought that he was going to let her remain an objective observer in her little quest for proof, well then, she had another thing coming, didn’t she?
Rogue turned in the center of the room to face him. “Well? Come on,” she said, and his confidence wavered a bit at her sure, unaffected voice.
He missed a step. Rogue looked at him curiously. He felt a dull blush staining his cheeks and anger surged up again, bolstering his resolve. He took his time, stalking slowly toward her. As he approached, her head tipped back incrementally so she could maintain eye contact. When they were toe to toe, she closed her eyes and waited.
He put his hands low on her hips and started walking her backward. Her eyes flew open in confusion, but she didn’t protest. He kept them moving until her back bumped up against the wall gently. Considering how rough he usually was in his anger, he thought it was a hell of a compromise.
Rogue just settled back comfortably and tipped her face up to him again. Maybe sheer, overwhelming sexual aggression wasn’t the way to go here, he mused. He grinned suddenly. Teasing seduction. That seemed more her style.
So he cupped her jaw in his hands, running his thumbs lightly along her pointed little chin and along the line of her bottom lip. Her mouth twitched in a little smile. He swept the pad of his right index finger behind her earlobe and massaged a bit, smirking when he noticed the fine hairs on her left arm stand in response. Her breathing was still normal, though, he noted absently. No matter. It wouldn’t be that way much longer.
Logan leaned in and grazed her lips with his in the barest hint of a kiss. It was a feathering caress designed to make her want more. When Rogue’s hands remained calmly at her sides and she didn’t move forward into the kiss, Logan frowned and wondered if she could feel the expression against her lips. He increased the pressure of the kiss, sealing their mouths together, although he kept it innocent, non-invasive. At least now Rogue was returning the kiss, moving her lips against his.
Without being aware of it, Logan lost track of time. If asked, he would never be able to recall how long he had spent kissing Rogue. All he knew was that a warm, tingling heat had suffused his lips and his heart had begun pounding in his chest. He could smell her; warm, clean skin, the subtle flowery scent of her shampoo. It was a scent that was as utterly familiar as his own, and he found it strangely comforting all of a sudden. He broke the kiss and tipped her head back a little farther by exerting pressure under her chin with his thumbs. He leaned in, his nose against her temple for a brief moment as he breathed her in, and lowered his mouth to the pulse point in her throat. He felt it jump a little under his lips, and he smiled. Applying a light, suckling pressure there, he heard a soft sigh escape her lips. A surge of desire arrowed straight to his groin and as easy as that, he had her “proof” for her.
He felt Rogue lifting her arms from her sides, but before she could touch him, the door opened behind them.
Logan cursed and spun around, taking Rogue with him and planting her firmly in front of him, facing them both toward the door.
“Mr. Logan?” The bright little voice was accompanied by a wide grin missing two of its teeth.
He cleared his throat before attempting to speak, but his voice was still a little rougher than usual. “Hey, if it isn’t my little shadow stalker,” he said.
Jacie gasped. “I like that! Do you mind if I use it? Oh, hey Miss Rogue,” she added as an afterthought.
Logan’s brain was still fogged with desire, leaving him distracted. “Hmm? Use what?” he asked absently, inhaling Rogue’s scent deeply.
“The name! I need a cool name. The other kids called me just Shadow at first, but that was my dog’s name. And he died when I was seven. So when I told them that, they stopped.” Her face fell for a moment. “Now they call me Peter Pan.”
That got Logan’s attention. “Huh?” he asked intelligently. Rogue snickered.
“You know,” Jacie said tentatively, gesturing at the shadow at her feet. The shadow that wasn’t quite firmly attached to her. It was more like it was just hovering close to her. “Peter Pan would wrestle with his shadow.”
He cleared his throat again. “Oh. Right.”
“So can I use the name?”
“What name?”
Jacie huffed and propped her hands on her hips. “Mr. Logan,” she whined in exasperation, “the one you just called me!”
Logan was lost. He felt, but didn’t hear Rogue laughing. He dug his fingers into her waist.
“I think she means Shadowstalker, Logan,” Rogue said with amusement.
“Oh. Yeah. Right. Sure, go ahead and use it, kiddo,” he said with a shrug.
“Awesome!” Jacie crowed. “Now I’ve got a cool name, and when the other kids find out that you’re the one who gave it to me, it’s gonna be even cooler.” She beamed at him.
Logan frowned. “Why would that make it cooler?”
“Because everybody knows that you’re a badass – ” Jacie slapped her hands over her mouth and her eyes grew wide. She mumbled through her fingers, “I’m sorry! I know we’re not allowed to swear.”
Smirking in genuine amusement, Logan said, “It’s okay, kiddo, we’ll let it go just this once. You were saying?”
Jacie dropped her hands and smiled back. “Everybody knows you’re a badass,” she emphasized the word, as if she was getting particular enjoyment out being allowed to say it in front of adults, “so when they find out that you gave me my name, that’ll make me badass, too!”
Logan burst out laughing at the thought of anyone describing the delicate little girl with the sparkling eyes and gap-toothed grin as being badass. Rogue was chuckling a bit, too, and started to move forward. Panicking, Logan lunged forward and grasped her hips again to pull her firmly back into place. She cast him a curious glance over her shoulder, but stayed put.
Jacie was eyeing them strangely.
“So, Shadowstalker.” Logan gave a strained grin. “What did you need in here?”
“Oh. I forgot my math book.” Jacie pointed to a book sitting on one of the couches. She danced over to it and lifted it with a little grunt. Logan was amused to see how bulky it was in comparison to her thin frame. “‘Kay!” she said cheerfully, heading for the door, “I’ll see you later, Mr. Logan.” She didn’t close the door after her.
Rogue burst out laughing. “Well, that was interestin’,” she said. “We gonna have to start all over again?”
“With what?”
“Well, she interrupted us before you could prove that you wouldn’t have any problem with uh…with the baby makin’.”
“No, we’re good,” Logan muttered.
“What? No,” Rogue argued, starting to turn around to face him, “we still need to find out if – ” Her words were cut off and her eyes rounded in surprise as Logan pressed himself against her hip.
“No,” he repeated, “we’re good. If I’m still like this after a prolonged conversation with a twelve year old, then we won’t have any problems when it comes to the baby makin’.”
Rogue blinked at him. “Oh. Well, good,” she said, and headed toward the door.
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