It was the nights that were the worst.
The call of the animal was harder to resist at night. It was tougher to choke him back. More difficult to resist his draw. Its primal desires were naturally drawn to the moonlight and the chorus of the nocturnal creatures hunting under cover of darkness. It was where he wanted to be most nights. Prowling the wooded grounds outside the mansion, learning the patterns and habits of those other animals who called this place home, and bellowing out into the night to let them know who the true master of the forest really was.
Tonight the call had been too difficult to resist and he’d found himself shunted aside as the animal had taken control and disappeared into the thick forest surrounding the house. Fuck, he thought darkly. Right on time. There was a string of days each month where the Wolverine simply would not fuckin’ be denied. And it wasn’t’ any of that goddamn call of the moon werewolf bullshit some of the younger kids thought. It wasn’t even him at all. It was her. He had to leave and be free to unleash the wildness inside him within the comforting embrace of nature, or he wouldn’t be the only one who would regret it. Now, after letting the animal have free rein, he focused on centering himself. He began his practice as he always did, by focusing on his breath. Feeling the bark of the tree at his back dig in with every inhale, he eventually tuned it out as he came back to himself.
Of course, the beast could be placated in other ways besides a tearing through the forest at night. A brutal and savage fight with the smash of bone and splatter of blood. A hard and fast fuck with a warm and willing female beneath him. Both activities appeased the recklessness within him by allowing him to demonstrate his primacy over males and to females alike. And both activities were alternative means to an end. The end being ways to avoid her.
The animal had few requirements for mating and even fewer for fighting. In a fight, Logan let whatever happened happened, as both he and the Wolverine were disinclined to follow any of society’s rules. A fight was all instinct; teeth and blood and vicious brutal hits. But Logan firmly abided by the mating rules. It was just fucking better that way.
Mating Rule Number One: the female must not be pregnant. There was just no fucking point in well, fucking, somethin’ he couldn’t truly prove his virility to. And besides. Females who were pregnant generally tended to be complications or cause more trouble than they were worth. And when he was looking for a quick fuck, that was the last thing he wanted.
Mating Rule Number Two: the female had to be willing. He didn’t force himself on anyone. Ever. Rape was for the absolute worst fucking scum buckets that had the misfortune of being born. Rule Two was never an issue for him. He was a lucky motherfucker in the genes department. He knew what his body and attitude did to women, and some men, for that matter. Hell, he could smell what it did to them when he entered a room. He wouldn’t lie. He ate that shit up like a cat with a bowl of cream.
Mating Rule Number Three: the female must not have brown hair. Blond hair. Red hair. Black hair. Hell, blue hair. It didn’t matter. Just. No. Fucking. Brunettes. Logan knew damn well the reason for rule number two, and followed it without question. There was not a fucking snowball’s chance in hell he’d ever break that rule.
Except that Mating Rule Number Three had been bent just shy of breaking five months ago.
It was after their last lab mission. It had been one of the worst ones Logan had seen in a long time. The assholes running it hadn’t cared what type of mutant they’d experimented on and tortured. Young. Old. Powerful. Weak. All that mattered was what their mutilated bodies could reveal to them. He’d scoured the hallways of the lab, his mood growing darker and darker with every cell he broke open, with every corpse and deformed body that he encountered. Both he and the animal had remained unappeased, despite the plunging of claws through bone and flesh resulting in a warm bloody spray of vengeance across his face. He’d seen what Rogue had done for the small golden-haired girl whose body had been beyond help, her eyes begging for an end to her suffering. He’d never told her that he’d witness that simple act of mercy. It was an act he deeply admired her for, as besides him, she was the only other team member who had the balls to do what needed to be done. But he hadn’t told Rogue anything about what he’d seen her do. And he wasn’t planning on changing his mind about that anytime soon.
Like the other members of the team, he wasn’t immune to the darkness that descended after a particularly difficult mission. And like the others, he had a variety of ways and means with which to alleviate the crushing soul-rending despair that inevitably followed an excursion like that one. He knew where his evening would take him. He’d head over to the dive on Route 121, find a woman that met the requirements of all three rules, and try to forget .
But on the jet back to the mansion, he noticed Rogue struggling with the weight of what they’d seen. He wondered what type of mutation the girl’d had. Wondered how much of it had been left when Rogue had absorbed her. Wondered if those gifts were contributing to her bleaker than usual demeanor. But then. Logan had taken a sniff of the recirculated air and understood. He could smell the fear and despair of his teammates, along with the underlying scent of arousal from just about everyone. But Rogue’s scent was even more complex and layered than the others. After another deep inhale, he understood. Her body was reaching peak fertility. Fucking goddamn her. No. Goddamn him. He had lost track. And it was his own fuckin’ fault for not payin’ attention.
He’d taken off after Jean. He wasn’t proud of it, but he hadn’t been able to face those who’d remained after what happened. After what he’d done. Chuck, Scott, Jean. All of them gone. And he hadn’t been able to do shit about it. Yeah, maybe he’d wanted Jean, but what he’d really been mourning was, he had realized, the loss of his family. He wouldn’t deny that Jean was attractive. She was confident and mature, and had legs that’d gone on for miles. But he’d primarily flirted with her strictly to piss Scooter off - and god knew he’d loved doin’ that. The affection he’d felt for her was enough that it served as a distraction from what he really wanted, so he forced himself to focus on Jean instead.
That last conversation he’d had with Rogue before she left to go shoot herself up with the cure haunted him. He should’ve told her what he really thought of her decision, instead of pulling that bullshit friend routine on her. He could tell she’d wanted him to say somethin’, anything to get her to change her mind. Maybe if he’d told ‘er she was just fine the way she was, she wouldn’t have left. Instead he’d continued to toe that same fucking line he had since the day he’d met her. His inner mantra kept running through his head as he looked at her. Too young. Too fuckin’ young. Too young. Too fuckin’ young. He’d had to prevent the animal within from snarling and reaching out to her, begging her to stay and that fuck everyone else, her skin didn’t matter to him. At the time, he hadn’t wanted to know what that was about. The Wolverine did not under any circumstances, beg.
But Logan had kept his mouth shut. And she’d left. And then everything had gone to hell.
He’d wandered through the wilderness of Northern Canada for months, letting the forests and and lakes and beasts settle into his soul, calming him, reminding him of who and what he truly was. The peace he’d found there was a necessity. He would not have been able to function without it as he mourned the friends and family he’d lost. But eventually, the weight of responsibility had slowly crept back into his consciousness and he’d made his way back to the mansion to help Storm and Beast put the school and the X-Men back together. There were still kids to help, just as sure as there were still fuckin’ criminals who wanted to hurt them.
Logan had been stunned when she hadn’t greeted him when he’d strolled through the entryway. It was the first time since they’d known each other that she hadn’t come flying down the stairs at the sound of his motorcycle in the driveway, deep brown and platinum hair flying behind her, that sweet grin on her face at the sight of him. He didn’t realize how much he’d always looked forward to that brief moment until it hadn’t happened. And then he found out. Not only had she not greeted him. No. She wasn’t even at the fuckin’ mansion anymore.
He’d tried to press that Jubilee kid for information about Rogue’s whereabouts, but the firecracker hadn’t seemed to think he was worth the information and kept any details she had about where Rogue was to herself.
Several months later, she’d showed up at the mansion out of nowhere. He’d been unable to repress the thrill of pleasure he’d felt at seeing her again and in a bizarre reversal of their former roles, he’d been the one to tear down the steps to say hello to her and welcome her home.
But Rogue had come back changed. She wasn’t the same. Sure, she’d still smiled at him, but the warmth he used to see in it was gone, and she only welcomed his embrace for a moment before withdrawing from him and turning away to go up to her old room. She was quieter. Sadder. And that was fuckin’ sayin’ something. It pissed him off that she now went out of her way to avoid his presence, since before she’d been one of the only ones who would actively seek him out. A fact which made him more and more pissed the more time that went by. She stopped seeking him for companionship and advice, and he took it harder than he would’ve liked. He wasn’t about to force his company on anyone, so he started avoiding her too. Years passed and she became stronger, a better fighter, a more involved member of the team. Harder. But they never again had that same easy camaraderie they’d once shared for a few short months all those years ago. He’d never even asked her what had happened to her for those months she had been away from the mansion. And he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
Logan knew the cure had failed, it was common knowledge by then that it hadn’t delivered what it’d promised. At first, a part of him was selfishly glad it hadn’t worked for her. Glad she hadn’t had a chance to get fucked over by a slew of men who weren’t worthy to breathe the same goddamn air as her. But then he’d felt like a piece of shit for thinkin’ that. What the fuck was wrong with him? He wasn’t gonna touch ‘er so no one could? He couldn’t stand to think of what she’d done while her skin had been temporarily turned off. Because he knew what he would’ve done, and it pissed him off to think of her getting used like that.
But he’d felt worse and worse about that in the last several years. Nearly every one of the adults at the mansion had paired off. That left Rogue even more alone than she’d been before. And he knew that she had been reaching a breaking point. She’d seen the same behavior on that jet after the lab as he had. Knew she was gonna have to find her own way to deal with what they’d seen that night, along with everything else in her life. He couldn’t - fuck. No, wouldn’t let himself picture the ways in which she might deal with the baggage that came along with savin’ the world. He ground his jaw together. Emotions and lust were high and she smelled like that and goddamn he had to get out of there.
Logan had let out a low growl as she caught his eye when they’d landed. He knew he wasn’t capable of attending a debrief. Not now. Not with her scent in his head and the animal so close to the surface. Without a word he strode up to his room, stripped off the bloodied uniform, showered, and washed away the spatters of blood that laced his hair and skin. He hadn’t taken any damage on this mission, but he’d still been covered in the blood of the fuckers running the lab.
Once he’d turned off the water, he could already hear how some of the others were getting past the events of the mission and he quickened his pace to dress. Jeans. White tank. Belt. Plaid. Boots. Go. He couldn’t get out of there fast enough. He felt the rumbling of frustration inside him - he was gonna need more than just a hard fuck tonight. The Wolverine wanted, needed blood. He grinned as he flew through the night on his motorcycle, the anticipation of release buzzing in his mind, almost like a high.
He was so wound up when he reached the bar, that he’d barely had a chance to revel in the instant change in chemistry of the female population when he’d strolled inside. A quick raised lip in acknowledgment and he was scouting the crowd lookin’ for a woman who met all three necessary criteria. The first two wouldn’t be a problem. It was Saturday night and a dive bar. He took a deep inhale. There was one, maybe two pregnant women there. He steered away from their direction and focused on rule number three. The second rule had been waived as soon as he’d entered the building. He knew what his presence did to a crowd like this and finding a willing partner wouldn’t be an issue. He shoved aside the swell of disappointment he felt from the beast at the lack of a proper chase, and continued his strut over to the bar. He ordered a double whiskey and tossed back the golden liquid, and quickly motioned the bartender for another.
Logan allowed his gaze to skitter over the sea of brunettes until he settled on a tiny blond woman at a high top table. A feral grin lit across his face as he surveyed her. She had that sweet kinda innocent look about her, but after one deep sniff of the air he could tell she was anything but. A fact which was validated when not five minutes later he had her back shoved against the brick wall behind the bar and was slamming himself into her in time with her breathy moans. The whiskey hadn’t done nearly enough to take the edge off and he was rough with her. But the slickness and shuddering of her body told him she didn’t mind one bit.
It was over too quickly. He’d growled into the soft skin of her neck as he’d come and she had in turn shuddered around him before sliding down his body, winking at him as she’d straightened her clothes and headed to her car. Good, he thought darkly. Not only did he not want to smell his release on her, but he didn’t want her to stick around for what was next. Because even that quick and intense fuck hadn’t begun to scratch the surface of the darkness he felt tonight. He tried to ignore how these quick encounters were doing less and less for him, how they were leaving him just as empty and as unfulfilled as before. Violence. He told himself he needed to beat something bloody to get past the events of the day. The promise of violence in the cage heated his blood in a different way and he returned to the bar. He gave a quick signal to the bartender that he’d be fighting tonight and then threw back several more shots of whiskey as he waited for his name to be called into the ring.
Logan felt the animal surge forward as his name was announced and he willingly stepped back to allow him control and gave himself over to the beast entirely. Both Logan and the Wolverine preferred it this way. As much as Logan appreciated a good fight, he knew that the Wolverine enjoyed it even more. He reveled in it. Craved it. The animal celebrated the violence of the moment, and Logan knew he too needed the release only complete and utter dominance could bring.
He rolled his neck, enjoying the cracking and popping of his joints, and without any warning swung a heavy fist directly into the jaw of the other man. He’d heard the crack of bone and felt a deep satisfaction at the explosion of violence. The rest of the flight passed in a blur of hits and blocks and fleeting pain.
Then. He heard it.
The low and quiet, but somehow familiar sound of longing. It was a raw, primitive sound and it electrified every goddamn cell in his body with complete and total awareness.The overwhelming scent of arousal that was dancing along his tongue. He smelled that underlying heady sweetness that he’d become so goddamn aware of over the years and felt the immediate reaction of his body. He was instantly hard, a hot and heavy ache between his legs and he felt the wildness of the animal explode further in his mind, desperate to prove himself, to demonstrate his primacy and dominance over this other male who stupidly had chosen to challenge him while she was watching. The animal jerked his head toward the source of this sensory bombardment. She was here. Watching him. Witnessing him prove his strength to others, and to her. A deep snarl of satisfaction lit through him and even the man couldn’t deny the thrill of knowing she was close by.
He finished the fight quickly after that, taking deep satisfaction in every brutal hit on flesh. Snarling as his fists cracked bone and bruises bloomed beneath his adversary’s skin. He stood then, chest heaving and covered in droplets of sweat and blood, his fallen opponent unconscious on the platform floor at his feet.
He didn’t linger in the cage after the fight. He had an obligation to seek her out and confront her. The animal wouldn’t let that blatant display of raw need go unanswered. He’d seen and heard and smelled what she had implicitly offered and it was well past time that he called her out on her actions. He intended to head straight for the recessed booth where she’d been sitting, but a tall and slender redhead had pressed herself against him as soon as he’d left the cage, smelling subtly of hair dye, perfume, and the slick wetness between her legs, and he’d lost sight of her. His eyes darted frantically around in the crowd, desperate to catch sight of her. He thought he saw her slip out the side door to the alley, but he couldn’t be sure. The fight had worked the crowd into a frenzy of blood lust and the bar was teeming with bodies drunk on the thrill of the fight.
The man had taken advantage of the momentary distraction to surge forward and shake loose the tight rein of control held by the animal. The man had understood where the Wolverine was headed and told him, No. And, Too young. Too fuckin’ young. The animal snarled and roared at this. It was bullshit. She was grown. She was alone. And fuck. She was ready, so ready. He could smell it and the scent of her was making him see red as he struggled against the unbreakable grip the man held him in.
But Logan had taken and retained control and the animal had to remain content with the woman who’d plastered herself across his chest, rubbing against him, the implication clear in the gyration of her hips. It was apparent she was taking the hardness between his legs as a sign of his reaction towards her, and not the brunette who’d tried to hide herself in the corner as she watched him fight.
Logan’s blood was thundering in his ears as he wrestled for control. He knew he needed to appease the beast’s feral appetite quickly. He leaned his head down to growl in the redhead’s ear. “Let’s get outta here,” and he led her toward the front exit, ignoring the press and offerings of other females against his body. He had to focus and fuck something. Now.
He led her around the side of the building to the same alley where he’d had that blond beneath him just a few hours ago, and forced himself to respond to her kisses, the touch of her hands on the naked expanse of his chest. He could feel the urgency and violence of the animal threatening to bubble up and he shoved the woman roughly into the brick at her back. He leaned in to taste her skin using his teeth and lips against the smooth and over-perfumed skin at her neck. He thrust against her, the hard length of him bumping against her sex and belly and she moaned, if a bit theatrically for his tastes.
As he thumbed her nipples, he thought he detected that same damn familiar maddening fuckin’ scent of Rogue. He tried to shove it aside, focus on the woman in front of him, but he couldn’t. It was growing stronger. Thicker in the air. Surrounding his senses and fucking driving him even fuckin’ crazier and harder than he’d ever been. The possibility that she was here. Watching him again. Oh jesus fuck, the animal was roaring and ripping against the restraints. He had to know. Had to know if she was close. He jerked the redhead around and leaned back against the brick wall so he could survey the alley.
He ignored the mewling of disappointment from the woman as she felt the cool breeze of the nearly empty alley behind her but he moved to undo his belt buckle and he felt her pleasure at what she thought was coming next.
There. She was just there. Partially hidden by a truck, that hot dark scent of honey between her legs comin’ off so strongly from her he could practically see it in the air.
She was getting ready to bolt. The panicked beat of her pulse was visible at her throat and Logan struggled hard against the instinctual raging of the animal as he surged forward again and took full control. The beast spoke in a dark commanding growl. “Don’t you fuckin’ move.” Her underlying instincts to obey, as prey to the predator took effect and a feral grin of anticipation lit his face. The man was stupid in his denial. Stupid for denying what was clearly his for the taking. And the animal was going to take as much as possible out of this situation.
He gloried in the commands he issued as the pair of them swirled closer and tighter toward the dangerous peak they were skirting, the redhead nearly forgotten as he focused his attention on Rogue. Her arousal was excruciating in its intensity, the power that he had over her clear with her reactions and willingness to obey.
The man was thoroughly pissed and screaming at him, begging him not to continue. He was scared shitless, not wanting to ruin the only thing he’d ever wanted to protect and cherish. But the animal was done waiting. He’d waited for the man to come to his senses for years and fuck him for not taking the opportunity to make himself whole all this time.
The events were spiraling further out of control and the animal knew he couldn’t take what he wanted. Not yet. He knew when to press his advantage, and when to hold back. And his instincts were screaming at him that if he tried to claim her now, she’d run. And he’d lose her for good. Instead he settled for taking the woman beneath him, maintaining eye contact with Rogue as he came hard into the other woman, his body screaming out for the female he truly craved.
He’d snarled with pleasure as she ran past him afterward, the scent of her climax trailing like a wake in the air behind her. He saw the glistening of the wetness from inside her on her bare hands as she fled, and he nearly reached out to sink her fingers into the hot dark wet of his mouth and savor the taste of her pleasure on his tongue.
The animal loosened his control after that and let the man come back. He’d gotten what he needed to out of this night. He’d started something between the two of them tonight, and he knew it would only be a matter of time before things came to a head. He was comfortable with waiting for the right moment to attack. It was in his nature. He was a predator.
Several months later though, the animal was growing restless again. He hadn’t anticipated it would take her this long to concede. He’d underestimated her, and his respect for her grew even deeper as a result. She was truly going to challenge his dominance, test his claim on her. He was going to have to get closer to her this time. Touch her maybe. And ah, fuck, the thought of touching her drove him crazy, roused the protective instincts of the man. And the Wolverine scoffed in response. The man was being stupid again. He should know by now that he’d never hurt her, even if she hurt him with that unfortunate complication of hers. If she couldn’t control it, they’d figure out a way around it. Sometimes the man’s lack of creativity was disappointing.
He’d declined to go out with the team on the night of the firecracker’s birthday. The bowling alley was no place for what he wanted. Instead, he’d headed to the garage where the man had tried to work through his thoughts on Rogue as his hands had worked on maintaining and fixing engines. He’d always refused to acknowledge his feelings for her. She’d just been a goddamn kid when they’d met, and he wasn’t a fuckin’ pervert. He’d wanted to protect her, and he’d almost failed. When she’d managed to survive the hell of Magneto’s machine, he’d been relieved and thrilled that she was alive, and he’d been determined to leave her alone and let her grow up. But after the events in that alley, he wasn’t sure what to think anymore. She’d clearly wanted something from him. Was she too afraid to ask? Too afraid of her skin? Too afraid of him? He growled at the thought she might be scared of him. Maybe she hadn’t really wanted to participate in that dark game. Maybe she’d been too swept away with the fight and the lab and her body’s instincts to think clearly. He growled as he tightened the wrench on the last bolt holding the Mazda’s engine in place.
There wasn’t a fuckin’ chance in hell, he thought as he threw the tool down onto the workbench near the wall, that he’d let her be afraid of him. An idea came to him as he rubbed off the engine grease on his hands onto an already filthy rag. The entire crew had returned to the mansion a couple hours ago, the sounds of Jubilee’s party getting louder and louder with every minute. Maybe he’d try and play nice. Be sociable, even as the animal growled at the thought. Mind made up, he took the stairs two at a time up to his room and showered quickly, excited at the chance to get inside her head a little as he showed up to a party. She’d never expect it, not in a million years. He toweled off and after a quick sniff, didn’t even bother finding new clothes. His blood was humming with anticipation and he headed back downstairs intent on interrupting the rowdiness he could hear coming from the common room.
He froze just outside though, staying out of sight as he overheard Rogue and Jubilee talking. A feral smile lit his face as he took in their conversation. It was just too fuckin’ perfect for words. The animal had snarled with pleasure as he understood what was happening. A game, playin’ with the rules. We can feel it out and know for sure.
When he’d strolled into the common room and announced his intentions to join in the game, he’d inhaled deeply, appreciating the thrill of danger and excitement her body was putting off. She was pleased he was here, and scared at the same time. The duality of those feelings echoed his own and he thought that maybe there was a way forward for them after all. It was possible that at this point she was finally grown up enough to appreciate and understand that darkness he had inside of him.
He’d still been unwilling to be too social, and instead opted for several quick shots of whiskey to help dull the thrill of anticipation he felt at the possibility of being paired up with Rogue. He’d nearly lost his grip on the animal entirely when his keen eyes had seen she was gonna be paired up with that fuckin’ swamp rat. He’d have to figure out a way to thank Jubilee for switching Rogue’s name with her own at the last minute. That was some damn quick thinkin’ there. Though at the same time, he was surprised she had thought to act so quickly. He didn’t think he’d ever been obvious in his affections for Rogue, so the fact that Jubilee suspected somethin’ was a bit troubling. But he shook his head at that thought almost immediately. If he’d been obvious enough in his feelings about Rogue that the firecracker had prevented her from being paired up in a damned coat closet with Gumbo for seven minutes, then who the hell cared?
He still didn’t know if Jubilee’s name had been picked to be paired up with him, and he didn’t really care to find out. All that’d mattered was the fact that he was gonna get to spend several uninterrupted minutes with Rogue in a small, dark space. Surrounded by that fuckin’ scent of hers, bein’ close enough to feel the warmth of her skin. Fuck, he was half hard already strolling over to the closet door just thinkin’ about it.
The animal had come roaring forward as the door had shut behind the two of them. Nearly fuckin’ insane as he breathed in that honeyed and dark scent of her. Shit. Hell. It’d been almost two months exactly since that night in the alley, and that same fertile ripe scent was comin’ off her in waves. He choked back the hold on the animal again, tighter this time, determined to remain in control. Determined not to scare her. He decided to try and open with words rather than pressing himself against her and licking his way down her throat, burying himself in the luscious scent of her, feeling that dangerous creamy skin against his lips, teeth, and tongue. Ah, fuck. Focus.
“So, we gonna talk about what happened in that alley, darlin’? Or are we just gonna go straight fer the touchin’?”
Logan could sense her anxiety. He could smell it on her skin, see it in the panicked pulse at her throat and in the way she avoided looking at him. But he could also tell she was excited, and the beginnings of arousal drifted up from between her legs and straight into his head. That scent did somethin’ to him and he couldn’t help but answer her honestly when she’d questioned her decision to be there. And jesus, he inhaled the spike of arousal in her scent as she reacted to his words and almost lost his mind to the animal right then and there. The animal was roaring at him, tellin’ him to take her in the darkened room, the other people close by could go get fucked, to mark her now and show them who she belonged to. Particularly that red-eyed card-playin’ Cajun asshole.
But Logan laid on another layer of chains and yanked hard back on his control, feeling the tension. He wasn’t gonna scare her, wasn’t gonna jump her, no matter how much the Wolverine wanted it. He just needed her to know that he was done playin’ games and avoiding this thing, whatever it was, that was between them, and he needed to know if she was ready.
When she taunted his response to her skin, he felt the chains of the animal snap, the harsh twang of metal forced to its limits echoed through his mind as he was shoved back. Wolverine surged forward and dove his lips into the pale warm skin of her neck, and fuck, he was drunk on her. The sensation of her skin against his after so fuckin’ long was intoxicating. He was drowning in the scent of her acceptance and her sheer need for him. His was throbbing and hard in the confines of his jeans and he almost didn’t notice when the pull began. It was different this time. Instead of an urgent ripping of his essence into her body, it started small and grew into a warm blazing inferno of pulsing pleasure mixed with the agony of pain. All he could think of was the warm wetness that was waiting for him at the junction of her thighs, the scent and feeling of her body thrusting back against him, the smooth velvet of her lips against his skin, biting and making a claim of her own.
He broke contact as he felt the edge of blackness threatening to invade the rest of his vision. He took in her partially opened and damp reddened lips, her pupils dilated with pleasure and swore, loudly. He hadn’t intended for her to take so much from him. But fuck. That look she had, like she wanted to devour him. And goddamn him, he wanted to let her.
Somehow though, she still didn’t understand that he wasn’t playin’ with her, that he was done messin’ around, and he could only leave her with an open invitation to come and find him when she was ready to acknowledge what was between them. He’d left the mansion then, barely holding on to the restraints of the animal once again, needing some space to calm down and get his scent out of his head.
Now, three months after their last encounter, he sat in the quiet dark of the forest, his back against the trunk of a large maple as he continued his meditation. It was something he’d fallen into the habit of after letting the animal have full rein. It helped him find his center again, and come back to as much peace as he could after expelling some of the savagery that lived inside him. He was beginning to wonder if he should just leave the mansion, that maybe she’d decided she didn’t want anything further from him. And if that was the way she wanted it, there was no chance he could be around her anymore. He couldn’t breathe in her scent, see her every day, and know that she didn’t want him.
The sudden sharp crack of a fallen branch had him twitching where he sat. Soundlessly, he rose from the forest floor to turn and face whatever threat was stupid enough to approach him at night. His claws slid out smoothly and silently from between his knuckles and he inhaled deeply. The forest was vibrantly alive and thick with the scent of lush green vegetation, mud, earth, moss. There was a slight chill in the air tonight hinting at the coming autumn, along with just a hint of decaying leaves.
And then, underneath the scents of the woods, her.
She’d sought him out. Here. In the still, lush night surrounded by nature. It could only mean one thing.
She was ready.
Logan stepped out from behind the thick trunk of maple and faced her. A nearly full moon filtered through the thick canopy of leaves and cast flickering shadows against her pale face. He couldn’t help but let out a low growl as he looked her up and down, taking in the sight of her here in his domain. He felt his pulse speed up, his skin warm, his blood heat, his body harden. He slid his claws back in with a quick snikt as he addressed her. “Don’t ya know you should never sneak up on me, darlin’?”
Rogue let out a quick burst of laughter. “Course I do. Why do you think I stepped on that twig?”
He snorted in appreciation of her awareness of his underlying violent nature and then waited for her to say something. Anything. He wanted her to admit why she was here and that she was ready to accept him. He’d left the ball in her court after all.
When she still didn’t speak after several seconds, he raised one eyebrow at her inquiringly. “You out here for a nighttime stroll? Or ya got somethin’ else in mind?”
Her chocolate brown eyes drilled into his hazel ones and he felt the charge of her hungry look, even at a distance. She inhaled and let out a slow, deep breath as she took one step toward him and that sweet honey scent of hers wafted gently forward, like she was giving him a gentle touch.
“I’m here for my other glove.”
The animal snarled with approval as the significance of those words washed over him. Finally. But Logan couldn’t help but press her for just a little more. He needed to make sure she knew what she was gettin’ into.
“You sure about this, darlin’? You know what I am. What I’ve done. I ain’t a good man.”
She let the words sit there between them for several seconds as she appraised his body. She let everything she was feeling blaze through her eyes and the animal was surprisingly quiet in Logan’s mind. The Wolverine seemed to be peering back at her and he saw her nostrils flare as she took in the animalistic predatory gaze he knew must be shining back at her.
She tucked a stray strand of platinum hair back behind her ears and took another step closer to him. He could almost reach out and touch her, but not quite. He curled his hands into fists to prevent himself from extending them out to grip her hips and grind himself into her softness, shoving her back up against a tree and letting the animal have free rein to claim and mark her as his.
“I needed some time,” she began quietly, “Some time to really sort through everything that’d happened.”
She paused and he grunted, nodding at her to continue.
“You have to understand, Logan. Ever since you first saved me all those years ago, all I had of you in my head was this,” she hesitated, hands floundering in front of her for the right words. “This gruff, protective echo of you in my head. He wanted to keep me safe, and he wanted to fuck Jean.”
He couldn’t help the growl that issued from deep in his chest. She didn’t - couldn’t - understand his thoughts about Jean. He’d only been interested for two reasons - to keep from forcing himself onto a 17-year old girl, and to piss off Scott.
The only noticeable sign she’d noticed his reaction was a quick tightening of her jaw, but she took another breath and continued.
“I always got this sorta hint whenever I’d try to dig deeper into what you thought of me. I’m pretty sure it was him, Wolverine, trying to protect me from your thoughts, because I couldn’t ever really figure what you thought of me other than wanting to keep me safe. And then after Liberty Island, that feeling just kinda got stronger.”
She paused then to look back at him, and he knew he wasn’t gonna like what she said next.
“You let me walk away then, let me go after what I thought I wanted.” Rogue scoffed bitterly and shook her head. “And yeah, it’s probably wrong for me to be upset about that all these years later. But then after the closet,” she spoke in a whisper, but he had no trouble hearing her. “I finally forced my way through that newest dose of your thoughts. Dug around inside your head for the truth. Told the Wolverine to fuck off, that I was gonna figure out what was really going on.” She laughed again, her humor apparently restored. “He didn’t like it. Got all growly with me. But he didn’t stop me. And I think maybe he was glad on some level that I was finally uncovering what was really there.”
She looked up at him again and the love, the goddamn fucking love shining out of her eyes almost gutted him.
“You’re wrong, you know. You forced yourself to let me go and live my own life when all you wanted to do was take me back to your room, rip off my clothes and fuck me.”
Fire was inside his veins, consuming him from the inside out. Her words were destroying his resolve and the animal was burning with him, roaring for him to act, that he couldn’t take anymore. Logan forced himself to hold back though. He had to let her finish.
“You let me grow up. Make my own choices. Screw up. Come crawlin’ back home. Maybe that’s what needed to happen in order for this to happen. And I got news for you, sugar. You are a good man.”
He couldn’t let her think that. She couldn’t know what he’d done. What he’d wanted to do. “Marie-”
But she cut him off by taking that last step forward, her eyes drilling into his. And then, she was kissing him and every shred of doubt he had about her decision vanished.
It wasn’t slow or timid. It was hard. Desperate. Wild. She put everything she she was feeling into the kiss and Logan felt the fine tremor of her body against his. The perfume of her slick want enveloped him and made him forget every reason he’d ever come up with for staying away from her. Her lips were soft, her mouth warm and tongue bold. He immediately gripped her hips in his hands bringing her closer, rocking her into his hardness. A loan moan moved through her throat and he growled in response. Logan twisted around so that her back was against the maple, and fuck, he savored every second of contact with her. Knowing that the pull would begin in another moment. He kissed her back, hard. His teeth bit her lower lip and pulled it into his mouth before scraping his beard down her throat to taste the pounding of her pulse beneath that delicate skin. He sucked on her neck and used his teeth, the beast inside exploding with possessiveness when he took in the sight of his mark. He didn’t care if he wouldn’t be able to fully touch her. He was sure as fuck gonna make sure nobody else did either.
He broke away from her skin for a moment to ruck her purple sweater over her head and he quickly tossed it to the ground, still determined to see and taste and touch as much of her as possible in those few precious seconds. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly, her cheeks flushed with passion, lips swollen from his mouth. Logan pressed her back against the tree by her shoulders and frowned at her. This wasn’t right. He shouldn’t be able to touch her this long without her mutation kicking in. Deliberately flaunting fate, he left one of his bare hands pressed against the cool skin of her shoulder, fingers of the other hand brushing against the delicate collarbone, the elegant line of her jaw. When he met her eyes, she was smiling.
“How -” he began, awe and delight and pure fuckin’ pride running through him.
“I’ve been workin’ on it for a long time. It’s not perfect. I can’t hold it off forever before it gets too much. But yeah,” her smile lit up her entire face. “I can touch.”
“Holy shit,” was his only response.
She grinned wider as his reaction and said, “I did a lot of thinking about when you touched me, you know, in the closet, and how it took longer than I thought it would for my skin to turn on. And then I just worked at it. Every day.”
“Why didn’t ya tell me, kid?” Logan growled at her, surprised she wouldn’t have told the team of this development.
Her laughter rang out in the dark of the forest. “Logan, you ever think that maybe this was my way of telling you?”
He couldn’t help the stirring of the animal at her words. He could touch her. All of her. And just like that, Logan was shoved aside, the instincts of the beast took over. He snarled his pleasure and delighted in the fierceness of the gaze that was directed back at him. He ripped the green silk bra away from her skin and dove his nose into the valley between her breasts, inhaling that delicate scent of smooth skin, drowning in it. He took in the pale full rounds of her breasts and pressed his hands on the outer edges of the curves and buried his lips against her, tongue laving at the smooth skin. He reached out and sucked hard on one nipple, reveling in her reaction to his body. She hitched in a breath at the sensation and he grated his teeth along the distended peak and she shoved her hips back hard against his in answer.
“Fuck, Logan.” She reached for the edges of his own shirt and he complied by ripping it off over his head where it joined her sweater on the forest floor.
He growled at her and inhaled again. That fuckin’ honey of hers was drippin’ from between her legs and he couldn’t wait to feel her any longer. He shoved one hand down her tight jeans and thrust two fingers inside her, ignoring her shocked gasp and feeling the gush of slippery tightness surround him. A raw keening issued from her throat as he moved within her, feeling her stretch to accommodate him, using his thumb to circle just there over that tight bundle of nerves and she jerked wildly against him. He smoothly slid the fingers in and out of her, over and over, and he took in the increased pace of her breathing, the tension in her body, and he leaned down to take one reddened nipple in his mouth just as he flicked her clitoris sharply. She came hard and loudly, the screams of her pleasure echoing through the woods as her body bucked against his soaked hand. He grinned as he straightened in front of her, withdrawing his fingers, fully aware of how she contracted in fluttering spasms around his fingers, and his cock twitched as he imagined those same contractions around him. He moved his damp fingers to his nose where he inhaled deeply while staring into her molten eyes. Her body was shaking slightly with the aftershocks of her pleasure, and instead of drawing his fingers to his mouth to savor that sweet wetness, he brushed his fingers across her lips, at the pulse beat in her neck, and across both nipples before plunging his mouth and tongue across her lips to finally taste her. Ah, fuck. She was sweet and salt and fuckin’ his. She joined him in the kiss and moaned as their tongues met and she tasted herself on his lips. Her obvious wildness excited him and he knew he wasn’t going to be able to hold back much longer before he buried himself so deep inside her that she’d never forget what it felt like to be owned by him.
She broke the kiss and he licked his way down her throat, savoring her essence with a quick stroke of his tongue as he continued to her nipples. A hard suck had her grabbing at his muscled shoulders for support. He growled with pleasure at her touch and before he could unsheathe his claws to rid her of her remaining clothes, her hands moved to undo the belt buckle as his jeans. He exhaled with relief as she freed him from the confines of his jeans, easing the pressure. She froze then, as he sprung free, as she took him in. He was red, nearly purple with the force of his want for her, throbbing and thick. She licked her lips once before one slender hand wrapped itself around his cock. A single pearly droplet was leaking from the tip and before he could stop her, she knelt at his feet and took all of him into the hot dark of her mouth. He growled with satisfaction as she tasted the smooth hardness of him. She swirled her tongue around his head, and moaned deep in her throat as she savored him, sucking and licking up every salty droplet that appeared. He couldn’t help the thrusting into her mouth and he fuckin’ groaned at the feeling of her soft palate rubbing his head. He felt the pressure building, that tingling at the base of his cock and forced himself to stop. He wasn’t gonna come in her mouth this first time. He wanted to spill himself between her legs, rub his most primitive scent into her folds and cause her to scream with another release as she raked his back with her nails.
He pulled out of her mouth and picked her up as if she was weightless. “Jeans. Off.” He managed to grit out between clenched teeth. Logan was trying calm the beast, trying to force the animal back. He didn’t want to hurt her, and he’d realized how small and tight she was when he’d been plunging his fingers inside her.
She instantly complied, legs trembling slightly as she stepped out of her jeans and panties and stood before him. Completely bare. Goddamn. She was lovely. Her pale smooth skin seemed to glow in the moonlight that shone through the canopy of leaves. The pink lips of her sex were wet, surrounded by dark curls, and he could only appreciate the fuckin’ miracle of her before he’d gripped her hips in his hands and lifted her against the trunk of a tree. Her legs instinctively wrapped around his torso and she looked into his eyes as the head of his cock was poised at her slick entrance. He circled his hips, spreading the moisture around his shaft and between her lips and she threw back her head as she rocked against him, a raw sort of sound coming from her chest. When she opened her eyes again and nodded, he didn’t hesitate, but drove forward, tearing past the small barrier that proved he was the first. He was the fucking only one.
Virgin. Virgin. Virgin. Virgin. The litany pounded through his mind with the thundering pulse of his blood, and the scent of copper drove the animal past the point of sanity. A guttural, primal roar tore through his throat as he screamed his dominance and triumph to the quiet dark of the forest. His hips began to piston into her, the slick of her want and blood of her sacrifice easing his way. The man was gone; the beast in control. He snarled as he pressed still deeper inside of her, pleasure and satisfaction and Jesus fuck tight, and the feeling of right and whole inside of her.
A shudder beneath him and the scent of salt on the breeze forced his throat to seize up suddenly. His hips stilled then as he took in the scents of the female against his body. The man surged to the forefront and the animal was bound once again. She was in pain. Jesus. He’d fucking hurt her.
“Marie,” he grit out hoarsely. His voice sounded as if it hadn’t been used for days. “Fuck. Marie. Fuck.” He became fully aware of the pulsing of her slickness surrounding him and began to withdraw.
“Don’t.” A cool pale hand reached forward and caught his arm. She seemed to revel in the simple touch when he was clearly overwhelming her elsewhere. She closed her eyes as she spoke again. “Don’t. Fucking. Move. Or I’m gonna lose control of it.”
He obeyed and stilled every muscle in his body, willing himself to ignore the pulsing throbbing heat of her surrounding him. He remained silent, slowly going over her words, as he realized the enormity of what had just happened. She’d been a fuckin’ virgin. And she wasn’t upset with him. No, she had stopped him because she’d been about to drain him while he was still inside her. The thought of pouring himself into her mind while pumping his cock inside her body almost made him lose control again. He shuddered, imagining the pull or her body, milking him, and fuck his soul, it made him even harder. He grit his teeth and waited, feeling the pulsing beat of his heart throb violently in his cock. He had to distract himself while she regained control.
“How,” he growled stumbling on the first thought that ran through his head, “Are you a fuckin’ virgin?”
“Not. Now.” She breathed.
“Yes. Fucking. Now.” he snarled, trying to maintain his slippery control on the animal. “How?”
She rocked her hips experimentally and they both groaned as he slid an inch deeper, as she relaxed her body into his.
“I just never found anyone I wanted enough, okay? We can talk about that shit later.” She was pissed at him, he could smell her anger. Anger mixed with aroused and wet female, the blood of her virginity staining his cock inside her warm wetness and fuck he wanted her so much.
“Tell me what it feels like,” he demanded of her. He wanted to distract her from her anger, have her focus on the sensations of him inside her now that she seemed to have regained control.
She took a deep breath and opened her eyes again. “Full.” He rewarded her with a slow stroke forward and she groaned.
“What else?” He ground out. Sweat was beading on his forehead with the efforts of restraining himself. And soon he wasn’t gonna care if she killed him, he was going to have to rut in her. Fuckin’ explode in her and make her come with him under the light of the stars.
“Smooth,” she said as her inner walls clamped down on him and she rocked forward on him. He shuddered as he withdrew and then plunged back in to the hilt, feeling the coarse curls at his base tickle the entrance to her sex.
“Unngh,” an animalistic grunt left her lips and he could see she was struggling to find words.
“Tell me,” he demanded again
“Hot. Hard, and ohhh god, Logan.”
He couldn’t make either of them wait another fuckin’ second. He began pistoning again, and the tight slickness of her sex clenched at him. She rocked her hips in counterpoint to his thrusts and he braced one hand against the wood at her back, while the other gripped her ass and ground her closer to him. He wanted to own every fucking inch of her and he felt the pressure building and spiraling inside him and he doubled the pace of his thrusts, the slapping of wet sex filling his ears, the scent of her slippery want filling his head. She was growling things in his ear but he didn’t have the capacity to understand words anymore. His was the language of nature, his words the scent and sensation of willing sex. The female against him was keening out as she came and her head thrust back as her hips spasmed against him, causing him to lose control and roar his release to the night sky. He poured himself into her in long, deep, hot spurts, and they shuddered together as the clenching of her womb milked the last of him and he felt himself emptying his soul into her.
He was sure he blacked out. Whether it was due to the most intense fucking orgasm he’d ever had in his life, or the fact that she’d let her control slip a little toward the end, he didn’t know. But sometime later, cocooned in the damp green of the forest he heard her stir against him.
“You know, you’re not alone. In the darkness.” She murmured against the heated skin of his chest.
He grunted at her, rubbing the silken strands of her hair through one hand while his other arm roved down the smooth skin of her back, marveling at what had just happened. That she was his. Finally.
“I’m there too,” she said. “Fighting through it with you.”
Logan gripped her closer to him, enjoying the blissful feeling of peace that settled over him for the first time in years.
She was right. There were two of them now. And they’d find their way through the darkness together.
End
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000
Author's Chapter Notes:
Nearly 10,000 words here. I estimate close to 50% of it is smut. So. Yeah. Enjoy!
Chapter End Notes:
Well! I hope you enjoyed this little story. I had intended for this to be a short, light and easy smutty piece as a break from Dimensions, but dammit this was hard to write! Thank you so, so much to @englishmajor226 for all of her advice and help with beta on the last two chapters. She really helped get me out of a severe writers block, and if there is some reason you haven’t read her work, just stop what you’re doing immediately and go devour Fray, then Twelve, then #allthestories.
Now that I’m done with this piece and have my mojo back, I fully intend to pick back up with Dimensions, which, I’m ashamed to say, hasn’t had an update since August. AUGUST, you guys. Seriously.
Anyway, @englishmajor226 and I are also collaborating on Striking Dissonance, which is just a sheer fucking joy to work on, and the next chapter of that should be up fairly soon as well.
Thank you for making it through this little rambling session, and thank so much for reading! Cheers
Now that I’m done with this piece and have my mojo back, I fully intend to pick back up with Dimensions, which, I’m ashamed to say, hasn’t had an update since August. AUGUST, you guys. Seriously.
Anyway, @englishmajor226 and I are also collaborating on Striking Dissonance, which is just a sheer fucking joy to work on, and the next chapter of that should be up fairly soon as well.
Thank you for making it through this little rambling session, and thank so much for reading! Cheers