When Rogue started to sing he backed up for a moment, the lyrics of whatever song she was listening to reduced to a garbled mess of nonsense - she clearly had no idea what they were supposed to be. She still sang along anyway, singing at the top of her lungs, startling him by how loud someone so small could be.
Laughing quietly to himself, Logan slowly crept up behind her, deciding to teach her a lesson for being so distracted by the crap she thought passed for music. Crouching down, he waited until she was belting out what sounded like the chorus again before lunging at her, arms aiming for her waist so that he could take the brunt of the fall when he brought her to the ground.
Except it didn’t quite work out that way.
Logan found himself sailing overtop of a flattened Rogue who ducked quickly to avoid his attack, swiftly spinning on her heel and raising herself up one leg to kick out her other leg in a perfect ninety degree angle to her body, her foot lodged against his throat when he jumped up in recovery. Her elbows were tight against her, her hands in fists by her smirking face, her long braid swinging behind her. Music coming from the tiny earbuds stuck in her ears was the only sound, both of them perfectly still. Seeing the shocked expression on his face, Rogue tapped her nose with her thumb.
His scent gave him away.
With a growl he pushed her foot away and swung his right fist at her and she ducked again, easily parrying his continuous attack on her with her forearms, the only give being that she was forced to back up from his offensive advance. He thought he had her when she was left with only a foot left of terrace, but she surprised him again by leaping onto the stone ledge, back flipping over him and wrapping an arm around his throat, forcing him to fall backwards onto the ground. Only this time, instead of smirking, she trapped him between her legs and hooked her ankles together over his chest and arms, squeezing him in a powerful hold.
The annoying music got louder, an escaped earphone hanging over his shoulder, taunting him with its electronic beat.
“Had enough, sugah?”
Logan rolled his shoulders inwards and taking advantage of the give it earned him, he broke free of her hold and flipped over, quickly climbing on top of her and forcing her onto her back. He pulled both her arms over her head and held them against the ground, effectively gaining the dominant position.
“Not even close, darlin’.”
She arched an eyebrow at him. Rogue adjusted her hips, the heat emanating between her thighs now pressing against him. An appreciative growl worked its way into her overly alert ears and smiling seductively, she arched her back and bent her knees, instinctively knowing the submissive movement would please him. It did, and his deepening growl confirmed it. Breathing hard, he released the hold he had on her hands, hooking his arms under her knees to rub himself against her. Her eyes fluttered shut, gasping in pleasure, and he grinned arrogantly, repeating the motion.
Eyes still closed, she suddenly grabbed his head with her freed hands and swiftly brought it up to meet hers, her forehead cracking sharply against his nose.
They both fell back from the contact, the maneuver stunning them both. Him, because of the dirty viciousness of the move - her, because of the stars that swam in her vision from coming in contact with an adamantium laced skull.
Pressing a hand to her bleeding forehead, Rogue glared at him and yelled, “Holy fuck! What the hell is your head made of, cement?”
Sitting up, Logan wiped the blood from under his nose with his shirt before pinching his nostrils together to stop the bloodflow quicker. “No, not cement,” he answered drily. “Metal.”
Logan grimaced, his clogged up voice sounding ridiculous, his raging hard-on pushing uncomfortably against his jeans. He forcefully brought up the blood trapped in his throat into his mouth and spit it to the side, earning a look of disgust from her.
Swearing again, Rogue sat up and plucked out the remaining earbud from her ear after turning off the i-pod attached to her belt. “Thanks for the warning,” she snapped at him, using her glove to mop up the blood off her face.
Logan realized she wouldn’t have remembered he had an adamantium coated skeleton. Not wanting to get into it, he asked, “Where did you learn to fight like that?” He released the pinch on his nose - the flow of blood having stopped, and relaxed slightly seeing her injury had healed as well.
Rogue stood up and offered her arm to help him do the same, which he accepted, surprised she knew how to plant her legs in the way needed to be able to pull his substantial weight up. If she was surprised by how heavy he was, she didn’t show it. “You pick up a few things when you’re raised by a homicidal megalomaniac.”
Aha. He should have recognized Mystique’s fighting style.
“Don’t you think it’s a bad idea to have yer hearin’ compromised by that shit you have blastin’ in your ear?” He frowned at the amount of blood splattered on his freshly laundered t-shirt. Blood and white cotton were always a bad combination.
Rogue shrugged, folding her arms in front of her. “No. Ah like the way it forces me to rely on my other senses. This feral mutation is pretty handy.”
“Handy?”
She laughed at the affronted tone in his voice. “Yeah, handy. Ah can over exert myself physically and the only side-effect is getting to eat pounds of food to recuperate. That’s handy. Besides,” she added with a wink, hands on hips now, “It must be the reason why Ah have this fantastic body.”
Logan’s eyes drifted down said body and agreed inwardly that it was, without a doubt, fantasy-inducing.
“Up here, sailor.” He saw her eyes were bright with amusement when his own shot back up to meet them. “You’re pretty hot yourself, Wolfman. Despite your seventies facial hair hang up.”
His eyebrow cocked. “Thanks.”
Rogue grinned at him and put the earphones back in her ears. Before she turned the music on again, he told her, “There’s some room for improvement in your fightin’ skills.”
She rolled her eyes, turning her back to him. “Ah don’t think so. Ah’m pretty much unbeata…” Her words were cut off by a single shining blade suddenly appearing across her throat, so close that she could feel the warmth it radiated on her skin.
“Don’t ever think yer unbeatable, Rogue. We all get our asses kicked sooner or later.” He sheathed his claw and walked back into the mansion, leaving her to glare at him.
Logan watched the cardio class out on the basketball court, the sound of the annoying techno music Rogue had been dancing to the morning before carrying over to where he was, like a buzzing fly trapped in his ear. Observing the rash vested, tights-clad woman dancing energetically to the high trebled beat as she led the class, Logan decided it was worth it.
He was absolutely riveted.
Rogue whipped her long ponytail about her head, rotating her hips and kicking her legs high into the air as her delicious body bounced to the music. She was shouting encouragement to the students, hopping between them in their lines, pausing to assist those who needed it. Logan growled seeing the male students pretend to not understand the simple movements, stealing knowing looks at each other when she placed her hands on them from behind to demonstrate.
Curious as to what Logan was staring at, Kurt walked over to where he was standing by the common room’s window and looked over his good friend’s shoulder. Catching sight of Rogue, a knowing look came over his face and he began to beat box deep in his throat, exaggeratedly jerking his body spastically to the music. This only made the feral’s growl louder, not appreciating the blue demon’s amusement at his expense.
“Fuck off ‘bamf’ boy.”
Kurt grinned, watching his foster sister dance rhythmically to the high energy music in front of the small group of students. “Can you blame them, Logan? Look at her, she’s every teenage boy’s vet dream come true - God forgive my observation.”
Logan’s eyes remained focused on Rogue as she spun around, taking in her perfect body shaking to the music, her laughter infectious. He saw Jubilee and Ororo join in, dancing and laughing right along with her, the three women clearly enjoying themselves as another song exploded from the speakers Rogue had set up in front of the basketball nets. Their excited yells spurred the students on and a flurry of swinging arms and legs stabbed through the air in response to their teachers’ enthusiasm.
Rogue reached for her water bottle and Logan’s fingers twitched, watching the drop of water that escaped her lips drip under her jaw down her throat, joining with the sweat that shined on the exposed skin above her breasts before disappearing between them. Kurt laughed softly at the haunted expression on his face.
Ignoring him, Logan turned sharply on his heel and stormed out of the room, intent on engaging in a Level Ten Danger Room session. Followed by the coldest shower he could stand.
Kurt took Logan’s vacated place at the window and shook his head when Rogue looked in his direction and winked as she led the students into another cardio routine.
Logan insisted on taking over Rogue’s retraining.
Their daily sessions were brutal and vicious, neither holding back on their attacks, both relishing the opportunity to let loose on a fellow super healing sparring partner. They were never alone, Colossus and Kurt usually joining them, and if they weren’t available, then a couple of students did. Their pins on each other lasted a bit longer each day, their recovery time when one held down the other a little more slow in coming.
Logan insisted she be glove-less and when she argued that she wasn’t in the mood to drain away the life of a senior X-Men, he showed up the next day in full battle gear, right up to his neck with gloves to match.
Rogue showed up the day after that in the skimpiest training outfit she could find.
Outside of the Danger Room they hardly saw each other, she spent a lot of time in the Library and he spent a lot of time in the garage. One week after his return, Rogue couldn’t be sure if Logan was avoiding her on purpose so she sought him out and found him in the staff lounge, watching a televised football game.
“Hey.”
Logan looked over the back of the sofa where he was sitting and frowned. Rogue was wearing cut off jeans, her black bra peaking out from under the low cut blue top that ended just below her ribcage. Damn. “Hey.”
He watched her make her way to the cupboard, tilting his head to enjoy the view when she went on tippy-toe, eyeing something on the top shelf.
“Can you help me with this?”
“With what?” His voice sounded more harsh than he intended. Jesus, her legs just go on forever.
“Ah can’t reach the pilsner glasses.” She turned to face him, shifting her weight onto one hip and drumming her fingertips on the granite counter top, looking put out.
Logan returned his attention to the flat screen in front of him. “Drink from the bottle,” was his curtly delivered suggestion, staying where he was.
Rogue pouted, stepping to the refrigerator. Swinging open the door, she bent over and took her time rummaging through it, her lips curling into a triumphant grin when his aroused scent spiked even higher than it did when he first caught sight of her. She grabbed two beers before standing back up and turned to face him. If she didn’t know any better, he had his eyes on the television the entire time. Keeping the grin on her face, she walked over to where he was.
She passed him a bottle and he grunted in thanks, twisting off the cap and tilting the beer back to swallow its contents in one go. Rogue stood there, enjoying the view of his throat accommodating the fast flow of brew, noticing how his upper lip slipped just inside the tip of the bottle, his lower pressed firmly under it to prevent any of the golden liquid from escaping. Burping in his mouth and blowing it out the side of his mouth, Logan leaned forward to put the empty bottle on the ground beside his feet, his attention still on the game as he resettled back against the sofa. Undeterred, she sat beside him, lifting her legs onto the coffee table.
“Takin’ a chance with that outfit, ain’tcha?” His face and voice were expressionless, still not looking at her.
Rogue shifted closer, bending an arm so that her elbow stabbed into the sofa’s upholstery, her hand supporting the side of her head to look at him comfortably. “No one gets close enough for it to matter,” she told him simply, determining that she liked his mutton chops. It suited that wonky hairstyle of his.
He didn’t respond. She sat there, quietly inspecting his profile until he looked annoyed. “Somethin’ on yer mind, Rogue?”
She took a sip from her cold beer with her free hand, finding it amusing that he refused to look at her. “Just thinking.”
He took the bottle from her and raised an eyebrow when she opened her mouth to protest. Left unchallenged, he smirked and asked before taking a long swig, “About what?”
Rogue smirked in return. “About friends with benefits.”
Beer sprayed from his mouth. Coughing, he saw her raise her own eyebrow, calmly observing him. She took her beer back and drank the rest of it, placing it on the floor alongside his finished one. Logan forgot all about the game.
“What did you say?” He ignored the burn in his throat and stared at her.
Rogue shrugged, reaching out to play with a lock of his hair. She flipped it between her fingers, enjoying the feel of the strong, silky strands despite her gloves. His face softened watching her, remembering.
“There are some potential candidates Ah’m thinking of pursuing.”
“Like who?” He snapped out of the memory and snarled the question, the tenderness he had been feeling replaced by harsh jealousy.
Rogue’s eyes were green fire when they looked into his. “There’s a few.” They darted to his lips, and his breath hitched, knowing he was in trouble. Logan’s mind screamed at him to get up, to leave, but his body refused to obey.
“Be specific.”
His voice was deep and rough, and a chill ran deliciously through her hearing it. Rogue leaned into him, her breasts brushing up against his arm and her tongue darted out to moisten her lips. “Ah’m open to suggestions.”
Logan got up abruptly and she fell forward into the suddenly emptied seat. Annoyed, Rogue recovered quickly and stood up, standing as close to him as she dared, telling him, “It’s only a matter of time, sugah. There’s only so much this woman can take.”
He grabbed her forearms where her gloves ended below her elbows and drew her up against him. “Darlin’, this man can take even less.”
Rogue closed her eyes, inhaling him and Logan’s eyes darkened, feeling and hearing her purr. All their senses focused on each other, they were completely unaware of Jubilee who had just entered the room.
“Oops, sorry children. Just need to get my hands on some cold stuff.”
Rogue and Logan sprang apart. The moment gone, Rogue moved away to help the shorter woman gather up water bottles to bring back to the pool, hearing but not listening to Jubilee complain about how annoying it was that just because she was going into the mansion, it didn’t mean that they could ask her to bring them back refreshments, she only had so many hands after all and next time they asked her she wouldn’t do it because they can get their own damn water, thank you very much. Jubilee’s chatter lessened in volume as they walked away down the hallway towards the back of the mansion.
Moaning, Logan collapsed onto the sofa, the sound of his frustrated yell muffled by the cushion he buried his face into.