Logan felt himself slowly surfacing from sleep and burrowed deeper into his pillow, trying to cling to this gauzy feeling of delicious lethargy and bone-deep satisfaction. An unaccustomed sense of peace and warmth surrounded him -- his whole body felt languid and relaxed.
He drew in a deep, contented breath and felt it rumble out of him in a happy purr as a luscious scent washed over him. He tightened his arms around a warm, soft shape, and buried his nose deeper, instinctively imprinting the most delectable scent he had ever experienced. Marie. Himself. Sex.
He inhaled the heady mixture of scents until he was dizzy with it. He pulled Marie closer to him, pressing happily against her, a pleasant spike of arousal pushing him further toward waking. Finally he pried open one eye, and was rewarded by the vision of Marie, still sleeping in his arms.
A pinkish-yellow beam of light was filtering through a gap in the curtains, illuminating her velvet skin with a golden glow. He had returned from the mission in the late afternoon, they must have slept all through the evening and night. Logan lifted himself on one elbow, the better to see Marie in the dawn light.
She looked adorably innocent and yet thoroughly debauched at the same time -- the tangle of her dark lashes, her lips slightly swollen by the force of his kisses, skin pinkened by the scrape of his stubbled jaw, hair rumpled where his hands had wound through the silken strands.
The sheet she had wrapped so carefully around herself had loosened during the night, exposing the graceful sweep of her spine. He toyed briefly with the idea of licking down that path, but he didn’t want to wake her yet. Instead, he brushed his fingers lightly down the curve of her back, rumbling again with appreciation when her skin accepted his touch, even in sleep. Although he had to admit that the tingle of her skin, so uniquely hers, was actually quite erotic at times...
She murmured something indistinct and turned over, her arm falling laxly beside her, palm up. Icy fear spiked through him as he saw the bruises, blooming purple on her pale wrist. Yajyuu, he cursed himself. Beast.
His heart racing in his chest, he thought back over the night -- his own memories clear and distinct, those of the Wolverine somewhat fuzzier but more intense, more emotional -- vividly colored with scent and sound and taste and feel.
He urgently searched his recollection, finally realizing that although he had instinctively marked her with his bite, his hands on her body had been as gentle as he knew how. He remembered now how she had struggled against Marcus’s grip as he dragged her toward the cage. He had killed that fucker too quickly.
He hung his head in relief, calming his breathing, letting her nearness soothe him. Christ, as much as people considered him an animal, his savagery in the past had always been characterized by an icy control. He had never been as vulnerable to his emotions as he was now. He felt like he was constantly careening from joy to panic, every action by Marie sending him helplessly in a new direction.
Even now, seeing those bruises on her delicate wrist, thinking how close she had come to being entirely under Shaw’s control -- his pulse jumped again, an icy sweat prickling over his skin. Feeling about her the way he did -- it was like having another heart, beating outside his body, exposed and vulnerable. He wanted desperately to protect her, but the spectre of Shaw loomed over them both. This wouldn’t end until Shaw was dead, and killing Shaw was no easy task.
Suppressing a frustrated growl, he sank back onto the bed and gathered her close, her small body feeling unbearably fragile in the cage of his arms. His large dark hands, so exquisitely suited for mayhem and destruction, seemed incongruous against her tender skin.
Still half-asleep, she nuzzled into his chest, her nose wrinkling at the texture of his chest hair against her skin. He huffed a soft laugh at her confused expression as her eyes fluttered open.
“Mornin’, baby.”
She pulled back a little with a gasp, the tingle of her mutation sending a delicious shiver up his spine. He tightened his arms around her, pulling her up against his skin again. “Easy, darlin’.”
She closed her eyes for a moment, and he felt the tingle fade. When she opened her eyes again they were lit with happiness. A wide smile spread across her face, making something warm expand in his chest.
“I did it,” she said, her voice husky with sleep and soft with wonder. “I stopped it.”
“Yeah, baby.” He heard the rasp of emotion in his own voice and buried his face in her hair, trying to comfort himself with her scent. She’s here, she’s safe. I won’t let him get her.
“Sugar?” She pulled back, rubbing her thumb soothingly over the furrow between his brows. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothin’.” He meant to kiss her softly, gently, but before he knew it his kiss had turned desperate and urgent. She opened beneath his mouth, soft and sweet and warm, the taste of her intoxicating. He pressed against her and she made the sweetest sound he had ever heard, a soft gasp of joy and wonder. He groaned against her lips, pulling her luscious body tight against him, feeling like he could never get close enough. My beautiful Marie.
“Logan.” Xavier’s voice, crisp with tension, rang through his head.
Logan startled, his whole body tensing for a moment. “Fuck,” he muttered into her skin.
He pulled back, looking into Marie’s confused eyes as an icy shiver of premonition slid up his spine. He forced his hands to be gentle, stroking a reassuring path down her back when he wanted nothing more than to crush her fiercely against his body, sheltering her from whatever the future would bring. “I think Shaw just made his move.”
__________________________
The War Room was packed when they arrived. Xavier stopped speaking in midsentence.
“Logan. Rogue. Welcome. Please join us.”
Marie balked momentarily at the sight of so many people, and felt Logan’s arm tighten around her. He guided them to two empty chairs at the conference table, pulling her chair closer to his.
“Logan, I was briefing the others on the intel you gathered from Shaw’s mansion -- particularly related to the mutants he employs and their powers. Now that you are both here we can view the message he has sent. But...” -- his ice-blue eyes settled gravely on Marie -- “...I must warn you it is quite disturbing.”
Marie had not thought she could be any more tense, but her gut clenched with fear at Charles’s warning. Logan’s warm hand sought hers, squeezing reassuringly. She sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm her roiling stomach, keeping her voice level and calm with an effort. “I brought this down on you all. I need to know.”
Xavier nodded without surprise. The screen behind him had been filled with dossier pictures of Shaw’s thugs, but with a few taps of a keyboard the image changed to that of Shaw. Rogue felt a visceral reaction to the sight of him -- her skin crawling, the nausea in her gut kicking higher. He smiled blandly out from the screen, dressed in a crisp linen suit.
Xavier tapped one more key and the video started.
“Charles Xavier. I am sorry we have not had the chance to meet, I have heard so many wonderful things about you. I find myself regretful that you of all people have chosen to interfere with my affairs in such a manner.” Shaw shook his head in mock sorrow.
“But, we are both men of reason, and I have no doubt that we can reach an agreement. I know that you have Rogue, and Jean Grey, and Wolverine. I want them back. All of them.” His cold eyes snapped with anger, a steely note entering his voice. “You have 24 hours to deliver them. After that I will come and take them.”
He paused, sucking in a breath through his nose, his voice carefully bland again when he spoke. “I am sure you know about me, just as I know about you. But in case you have any doubts about my abilities, I have arranged a demonstration.”
He stepped forward, the camera following his action, and Rogue realized with another lurch of fear that he was in the stables. “No,” she heard herself breathe, knowing how futile her protestations were. Frozen in dread, she watched Shaw pause at the door to Bonny’s stall, brushing a careless finger down his neck. Bonny whickered, stretching his neck, as Shaw’s finger glowed brighter and brighter. The whicker turned into a heart-rending squeal as the glow spread through the horse’s body, his form thrashing as the glow intensified, until suddenly he simply disintegrated, falling away in a shower of ashes.
Shaw leaned back against the stall door casually, addressing the camera again. “But I understand, Charles Xavier, that you are a high-minded man. Perhaps you need even greater...encouragement...to be practical.”
He nodded to someone offscreen, and Marie heard a gasp and then a sob from Kitty as a woman was dragged towards Shaw, whimpers of fear muffled by the gag across her mouth. Marie herself was too shocked to even make a sound. Melinda. The woman’s name flitted across her stunned mind. She was just another one of the hangers-on Shaw had collected, shallow but harmless.
Melinda’s white-rimmed eyes were wide with panic. Marie recognized Azazel’s clawed red hands pushing her forward, one hand wrenching her hair back, the other arm wrapped solidly around her waist. Melinda struggled against his hold, wrists apparently tied behind her back. She began to sob in earnest as she got closer to Shaw, choked shuddering breaths leaking out past the gag, snot bubbling at her nose.
“I understand the Wolverine had a particular affinity for this one. Such a shame.” Shaw’s glowing finger brushed Melinda’s cheek and as the glow spread Marie finally managed to look away, burying her face in Logan’s shoulder. His warm hand came up to cup the back of her head and she felt the vibration of his low growl against her cheek. She breathed in his scent, desperately swallowing down bile as Melinda’s muffled scream rang out through the hushed room and then suddenly ceased. Shaking, she forced herself to look at the screen again as Shaw’s cold voice continued.
“Twenty-four hours, Xavier. And then I come for them. For you. And for your children. Not just at the mansion, but everywhere. The safe house in Rome? The sister academy in San Francisco? I have a telepath too, how confident are you that you can hide them from me, even after your death?” He nodded a final acknowledgement to the camera. “I await your response.”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry for the delay in updating, I try for weekly updates but I guess the lengthy smut tired me out. ;-) This chapter is a little short, but I figured you'd rather have a shorter update now than a longer one later. This is the home stretch folks, thanks for sticking with me!
Chapter End Notes:
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