Logan half-dragged Rogue down the hallway, his every heightened sense on high alert. Would Azazel really let them go? Damn him for being a teleporter -- Logan’s senses were no help with someone like that, he could show up at any moment without warning. How about Shaw -- was this a bluff on his part to scare Rogue, or was he really that much of a bastard?
Rogue was still struggling a little, her delicious clean scent still tainted with fear and anger as he pulled her along. Even through both of their gloves he could feel the thrumming of her pulse where his hand grasped her wrist. God, he hoped she was pretending, that she didn’t actually think he would hurt her. His stomach churned with the worry that she might actually think he was a willing part of this, that he was like the others after all.
The walk to his room seemed endless, but they finally got there. He opened the door, shoving her inside and following close behind. He slammed the door closed, pulling a chest of drawers in front of it for extra insurance. Finally he stood panting, trying to slow the pounding of his heart, fearful of scaring her further.
She stood with her back to him, her head bowed, catching her own breath. He was suddenly struck by the delicacy of her -- the fine-boned shoulders, the vulnerable nape of her neck. She had seemed so fierce downstairs as she faced down Shaw, and now she just looked...fragile.
“Rogue?” he finally said uncertainly.
She dove into his arms with a suddenness that startled him, even as his arms came up reflexively to catch her. He felt relief wash over him as she nestled closer, drawing in a deep shuddering breath. Her damp cheek pressed against his shirt, slender arms wrapped around his waist, the curtain of her hair falling to obscure her face. He could feel her heartbeat, fast and light as a bird as it fluttered against his chest.
He felt the tightness in his chest ease, and let his arms enfold her -- holding her tighter, smoothing a hand down her hair. A strange sensation surged through him as the Wolverine was both soothed and stirred by the warmth and scent of her, the feel of her soft little body pressed to his. Satisfaction and craving, contentment and desire.
“Hey,” he said, his voice raspy. “I’ve got you. It’s...it’s okay.”
A tearful laugh and a sniffle from her at that, her warm breath heating his skin even through his shirt. “My so-called husband is a sadistic psychopath who could kill us at any moment, but otherwise things are just fine.”
“Yeah, well -- ya gotta take the good with the bad sometimes.”
Another helpless laugh from her and she finally pulled away, stepping back to wipe the tears from her cheeks as he reluctantly let her go. “Sorry for blubbering on you.”
“Hey. Any time.” His eyes searched her body, trying to reassure himself. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
She shook her head, and sat down on the bed, fiddling with her gloves. “I’m not even sure what happened. Sebastian tried the treatment -- he made me touch him as usual -- but something went wrong. It felt different. It felt like when I touched Azazel. It wasn’t just Sebastian’s energy I was taking, it was almost like I was taking him. Taking him into my head. I tried to push back, and my hands started to glow, like his do before he hurts someone...and he freaked out, and stopped. He was furious, but he didn’t try again. He just locked me away.”
He sat next to her, pulling her hand into his. “It was Emma. She does something during the treatment. I don’t know what it is, but I distracted her this time. I think it kept them from doing what they planned.”
Rogue looked up at Logan, confusion and fear in her dark eyes. “I think he really is insane. I could hear his thoughts -- they were all jumbled and twisted, but they were the thoughts of a madman. I didn’t understand most of it, but I got enough to know that he doesn’t give a damn about me. He just wants to use my mutation. He thinks of me as some kind of...vessel.”
She stood up, pacing in agitation. “He’s trying to erase me, somehow. Put himself in my head until there’s nothing left of me. And then use my mutation -- my body -- for something. You’re part of it too somehow, but there’s something else that he’s fixated on. I don’t know what it means. Something about a Phoenix...rising. Does that mean anything to you?”
He shook his head. “Like in the myth? The bird?”
She ran her hand through her hair in frustration. “I don’t know. It wasn’t like something he’d read about. It’s more like something he’s trying to make happen. Something that he thinks will make him -- invincible. Even more powerful than he is now.”
Dammit, he felt like he was just a step away from making the pieces of this puzzle fit, but the solution eluded him. “Whatever the two of them are up to, it has something to do with Jean. I could smell her all over them. They have her somewhere. Did you see anything about her in Shaw’s thoughts?”
“I’m sorry, Logan. I didn’t. Nothing about a woman. Just this...Phoenix. I don’t know how to describe it. In his thoughts it wasn’t a person. It was almost like a...like a force of nature.”
Logan felt the growl of frustration building in his chest. The Wolverine just wanted something to fight, and fuck all these goddamn secret plans and mysteries. He didn’t give a fuck what Shaw was up to. Once he had Rogue safe away and had found Jean, he just wanted Shaw dead. He didn’t know how yet -- the bastard was damn near unkillable -- but he’d find a way.
Rogue stopped pacing, resting her forehead against the window as her breath fogged the glass. She shook her head hopelessly, her finger absently tracing a letter in the foggy window. “I’m starting to remember more. I think when the treatment went wrong something started to break down -- whatever it was they did to make me forget. I’m just getting flashes of things here and there, but enough to know that Sebastian was lying. I didn’t block things out because of some trauma. I had a life, and somehow he took it away. He and Emma stole it from me.”
He moved behind her, his left hand on her shoulder. He traced the line of the letter on the glass.
“M,” he read.
“I don’t even know what it stands for. I just know that I used to do this. In my bedroom, at home. And on the other side of the window there was a -- a tree.” He watched her pale reflection in the window, her brow furrowed with thought. “A tree with white flowers. Magnolia.”
She closed her eyes, her scent turning salty with sorrow. “I can’t remember my own parents, but I remember that stupid tree.” She looked so lost, he couldn’t help it, he wrapped his arms around her, and she leaned back against his chest with a sigh. He turned her towards him, his gloved hand on her cheek.
“It’s just a few more hours now. At ten o’clock the guards change shifts. I’ve arranged it so there’s only one guy at the south gate, and he’s the dumbest one of the whole dumbass lot of ‘em. Taking him out won’t be a problem. There’s a bike waiting for us. That guy I told you about -- the telepath -- and some more of my friends will be waiting with a plane. They’ll keep you safe, and help you figure out what Shaw did to you.”
He watched the hope light up her eyes, warming something in his belly. “Tonight?” she breathed.
He smiled. “In a few hours. That sound good to you?”
This time he was ready for her, catching her as she dove into his arms again, hugging him tight. For someone who had been so skittish about physical contact, she was sure getting the hang of it fast. Something in him purred with satisfaction at the thought that she could be so carefree with him. Only with him.
He gave her one more squeeze and then reluctantly set her away from him while he still had the self-control to do so.
“You must be wiped out. Lie down for awhile, I’ll let you know when it’s time to go.”
She nodded and sat down on the bed, but hesitated before lying down. “You’ll -- you’ll stay here, right?” Her dark eyes looked up at him from under lashes spiky with tears. He didn’t know how she did that -- making him want to cuddle and devour her at the same time.
He sat on the other side of the bed, the mattress dipping under his weight. “I’ll be right here.”
Her hand found his again, and even through both their gloves the press of her small palm against his sent a jolt to his heart and another to his groin. Dammit, their lives were in jeopardy and he was quivering at her slightest touch like a lovesick teenager.
He leaned his head back against the headboard, trying to get his thoughts in order, reviewing the extraction plan again. He kept losing focus, though, his eyes drifting to her beautiful face, her luscious body stretched out next to him as her breasts rose and fell with her gentle breathing. He pulled in a deep breath and her scent washed over him, both comforting and enticing. The effect was as if she had stroked her hand down his body, and he felt himself shiver in reaction.
She hadn’t been sleeping, she opened her eyes as his hand reflexively tightened on hers.
“Logan?”
He knew it was a bad idea, but he felt like he was sinking, helpless against the undertow of his emotions as he eased down on the bed to lie facing her. He brushed a gloved thumb over her cheekbone, watching the color flood there. He felt so unbearably attuned to her, the hitch in her breathing and the speeding of her pulse resonated through his own body as her scent deepened with arousal.
“Rogue,” he rumbled, his voice hoarse with wanting as he moved his thumb down to press against her full lower lip, her uneven breaths heating the leather as her eyes fluttered shut. He simply watched her, feeling suspended for an endless moment, and then let himself fall, his hand winding through her hair as he leaned in to lick and then suck where his thumb had brushed her lip. He ate at her mouth in soft nibbles and sucking bites, swallowing her wordless sounds of excitement, carefully breaking contact whenever he felt the tingle that preceded the pull of her skin.
He felt the undertone of her anxiety fade as she grew to trust his restraint, allowing herself to become lost in sensation as her body grew pliable under his hands. The control her skin demanded was more erotic than he would have ever guessed, teasing both of them with strategic retreats as his kisses grew deeper and more demanding. He pressed his lips against the beat of her pulse, tasting her skin there, licking and nibbling her neck. She threw her head back, baring her neck to him further, and he growled against her creamy skin with satisfaction at the instinctive gesture of submission.
He hadn’t even realized he had rolled her under his body until her gloved hands found their way under his shirts, stroking up his back, making him shudder and press against her. Just there...so good, as she arched up into him with a moan, the seams on the fingertips of her gloves scratching down his back as he ground into her again.
“Rogue...I want to see you,” he rasped, and she nodded breathlessly, her hands frantic on the buttons of her shirt as she bared herself to his gaze. He deftly snapped open her bra, running his gloved hands over her breasts, watching avidly as she arched up into his touch, nipples pebbling against his palms. He ducked his head and rubbed his stubbled jaw over the smooth skin as her hands clenched convulsively in his hair.
He licked and sucked at her breasts, drinking in her wordless gasps and murmurs. She tasted sweet and ripe and delicious, and he felt like he could never get enough of her. He traced his hand in slow circles over her soft belly and she whimpered, arching up again into his touch. God, she was so responsive.
“Please,” she ground out, and he growled his assent as he unbuckled her belt and unfastened her jeans, pulling them swiftly down off the length of her supple legs.
He traced his hands back up her legs, enjoying the look of the dark leather against her firm creamy skin as she shifted restlessly beneath his touch. Then he buried his face back in her neck, taking in her scent and her excited gasps as his hand delved into her panties.
He could feel her heat and slickness even with the gloves. He circled and stroked, bringing her closer -- she was so close -- working her with his thumb as he slid one gloved finger inside her. So hot, so tight...
He felt the resistance and froze, as her eyes flew open on a sharp intake of breath. His surprise lasted just a moment, before it was buried in a rush of fierce possessiveness and primal satisfaction that nearly stopped his breath. Just mine. Only mine. He bit back the Wolverine’s howl of approval, sucking in a deep breath instead.
“Rogue...you haven’t done this before?” he asked gently.
Her eyes were wide as they met his, her cheeks still flushed with arousal, pulse fluttering hard at her tender neck. “I...I didn’t know.” Her eyes drifted closed again as she moved against his hand, urgently, seekingly. “I don’t care...Logan, please.”
Knowing he was the only one to touch her like this -- to see her like this, luscious and wanting -- and the sound of his name on her lips almost brought him over. He groaned, taking her mouth again in a delicious slick invasion, sucking at her tongue as his hand began to stroke her again, winding the tension higher.
He muttered gruff reassurances against the skin of her neck, hardly knowing what he was saying. “I’ll make this good for you...take care of you...fuck, Rogue...you feel so good...so sweet and soft...all mine...”
He could feel it building in her again, her scent rich and deep with arousal, her body writhing and urgent under his hands, her little breaths and murmurs growing more frantic and plaintive.
“That’s it, baby...so good...so close...” He slid the finger inside her again, gritting his teeth against the flood of arousal that washed over him at the feel of her gripping him. She threw her head back and pushed hard against his hand, her gasp one of pleasure this time as she felt him press and stroke inside and out in that delicious rhythm.
“C’mon baby...that’s it...come for me, darlin’...” he urged in a guttural growl, as he buried his face in the curve of her neck, sucking hard, nibbling and biting at the skin, marking her as his own as his hand worked against and inside her, pushing her over the edge.
He felt her sudden indrawn breath against his lips and then the low breathy keen vibrating in her throat as she clenched around his hand, the flush spreading up her body as she shuddered and spasmed against him for endless moments. He growled with satisfaction -- she was so beautiful -- and he knew just how to touch her, drawing it out, making it last, glorying in the way her luscious body responded to him as he made her come hard with just his touch.
Finally he eased her down, snuggling her into the curve of his body, both of them breathless and panting. After a long moment she raised her head, pushing her auburn and white locks back to look at him, and he growled again with satisfaction at the happiness and wonder on her face. She reached up, tracing her fingertips down his cheek, and he shivered.
He saw a slow smile spread across her face as she took in his reaction to her touch, her eyes glowing with a new awareness. “Logan...” she said, her voice teasing this time, as she skimmed a gloved hand under his shirts from his belly to his chest.
“Jesus, Rogue...” he ground out, bucking up into her touch. She kissed him, teasing little flicks of her tongue in between smiles, as her hand traced down again, past his belt buckle to press against the bulge at the front of his jeans.
Another wide smile from her at the strangled groan that escaped him, and then her small deft hands were working his belt buckle, pulling it free.
“Rogue...you don’t have to...” he started, his words choked off by another muffled groan as she rubbed her hand over him, slowly pulling his zipper down.
“Christ, darlin’...” Her silken gloved hand explored him gently, straining the limits of his control.
“Shhh...” she said. “Just...show me.”
His hand came down over hers as he showed her how to touch him, his heart stuttering in his chest as he felt the pleasure growing, running in rivulets through his body and pooling at the base of his spine.
“Rogue...darlin’...Christ, baby...so good...”
He took her lips again, tasting her, feeling her, drowning in the delicious scent of her and him mixed together as she stroked him. There was nothing else in the world but the feel of her hands on his body, the taste of her skin under his lips, the sound of her excited breaths tickling his ear. He heard himself growling again, muttering incoherent words into her deliciously scented skin as he pressed himself hard into her hand, his hand tangled in her hair. A final sucking bite at her neck caused her hand to tighten around him and then he was coming hard, throbbing against her, shuddering as he pressed his sweat-sheened forehead against her skin.
Christ, she was so amazing -- leaving her at the Blackbird was going to be one of the hardest things he had ever done...
She suddenly drew back, her eyes wide, and he realized too late that he had lingered too long -- the tingle of her skin had turned to a buzz while he was so deliriously sated that he hadn’t even registered it.
“Rogue...”
“You -- you were just going to leave me?”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
I have many and varied excuses for why this update is so late. Mainly, writing smut is hard, transitioning from drama to smut gracefully (or even semi-gracefully) is especially hard, I didn't feel great, my husband hogged the laptop, yadda yadda yadda. Hope the fact that it's extra long and smutty makes up for it. :-D
Chapter End Notes:
Please review! :-D