Title: Silent Night
Disclaimer: Nobody is mine and no Christmas carols were harmed in the writing of this fic.
Feedback: Is better than naked Wolverine in a Santa hat. The good. The bad. The ugly, welcome… Flames are an invitation for the universe to send you a lump of coal and a big fat raspberry. Thbbbbtttt!
Summary: First the Wolverine took her sight. Now he takes her voice. A companion story to Palermo Red. W/R
Author's notes: This is another four part story set in the Serendipity universe. It's also in the same unusual format as Palermo Red. I like the immediacy it lends to the story to be in both character's heads simultaneously. This story is definitely adult in theme and content. You have been warned! It's also still very much within the BDSM realm, though in a slightly different way. What can I say? My WolverineMuse knows what he wants. Heh. Onward!
Silent Night
What is fantasy? Why does it spark the way it does between two people? What is it about this element or that element that has the power to move us so profoundly? What does it say about the two people involved that a mere handful of words – or even no words at all – can electrify us so intensely, can soften a woman's body and harden a man's, can make them both weep in prelude to pleasure...
And then there is that thing that happens when it's shared, when thought becomes touch... and incredibly, the physical gives way to the metaphysical and you're there inside your lover's head. Discovering, sharing, learning about their intangible qualities — the ones that transcend flesh and form.
This time it was me. I wanted something specific from him. Our way. Another secret, told in half-truths and shadow. Would he do it? Would he ask something equally valuable in return? Of course, I knew the answer to that.
The Wolverine does nothing in half measures.
Still, I had the feeling when he called that he was already prepared to make this demand of me. I wondered if my request surprised him... but asking that wasn't a part of the game we play. Anyone can answer a question by rote and too much can be hidden in the reply, even if it's the truth. Actions don't lie. Nor does a body. Or a scent.
His call chased me out of the mansion into the cold December night. Everyone was inside — and privacy, well, there wasn't much of that to be found in this place. Even less when Jubes' radar was up. She'd noticed Logan had been calling me pretty regular the last few months.
I grabbed my long green coat on the way out, covering my sweater with yet another layer. I ignored the gang of usual suspects playing poker in the den while I rummaged through the rack by the door for my scarf with my phone pressed to my ear.
Bobby snorted. He was in a t-shirt and shorts, rolling those glacial blue eyes at me as he stared at my multiple layers. "It's barely even cold, Rogue." Pete nodded in agreement as he eyed the pile of chips in the middle of the table. I think he genuinely meant that. Damned crazy Russians.
"Dude. There's like two feet of snow out there, Bobsicle." Jubes totally used his inattention to sneak a peek at his cards. Ha. I approve. Served him right.
"Cut me some slack y'all. I'm from Mississippi. This steel magnolia's had her fill of snow and ice." A winter hitchhiking through Canada could do that to a girl. But it was dating the iceprick that sealed that deal.
"So, you a fragile flower now, chère?"
"Ease up, Gumbo." God bless Jubes. That girl always had my back, even when she was waggling her eyebrows at me. She knew it was only Logan's calls I took outside.
I gave Remy the bird on my way out. He was just still sore about our last session in the Danger Room when I ran circles around his cajun ass.
As I did, I heard Logan's voice in my ear asking me if it made me feel better. How did he know what I'd just done?! I just laughed and sat back in one of the chairs on the covered porch. Someone had left a blanket out here. I snuggled under it, tucking in my legs and settling in for what I hoped was a long talk. I could feel my lips turn up in a smile the way they always do when Logan calls.
He wanted to know if I was gonna to be going with the group on the flight over to the symposium on mutant relations in London next week. Told me he demanded to see me. I asked him if that made me a girl in demand. He chuckled in my ear and I could just see him in my mind's eye, sprawled out somewhere in one of his many apartments, a bottle of bourbon in his hand. The conversation was intimate and private, most of it anyway. He was in a wicked mood and I was happy to indulge him. How could I not when faced with a comment like this:
"So tell me ... the flight over in the professor's snazzy tin can ... you up for round two?"
Like you all don't know what answer I gave to that. What you don't know is what I wanted of him in return. Like for like. Is that not how the game is played? He considered it. I could almost hear him turning this new bit of information over in his head, deciding how much it was worth, how much he could get away with demanding of me.
Set the bar too low and he shortchanges himself. Set the bar too high and he risks losing his chance altogether. But I'm also aware he knows me well enough to come pretty damn close to that perfect place where I'm out of my comfort zone but still willing to take the risk. He's a man who likes living on the edge.
And I'm a woman who likes walking it with him from time to time.
What I'd asked of him wasn't exactly breaking his rules... but I do believe a certain bit of bending was implied in my request. His reply was short, sweet and to the point.
"I'll do it on one condition. You do somethin' for me. No hesitation. No lip." He let that hang there.
"What do you want?" I knew he wouldn't answer, but he and I, we have this ritual. The game has to be played properly. I knew my part.
He chuckled. "Nope. Not yet, darlin'. You agree first." My hand slid lower down my belly, pressing against the ache his words had woken deep within me. And then it slid lower still. That voice of his. God. It sounds like the way a good belt of scotch feels, a smooth fiery burn with one hell of a kick. I waited for it - and was not disappointed. "Do you trust me? Do you trust yourself?"
That was the real question. How far would I go? Farther than I should, I know that much. I can't seem to help myself with him. This game of ours, it's more addictive than any drug. The high is better too. I purred into his ear. "You still need to ask me that, sugar?" This man... my friend, my lover, my teacher. Boots. A blindfold. A gag. The terms of our trust were entrenched upon me, born of a night where I was given my first taste of sexual darkness, fed to me by this man.
His low laugh was dirty and full of promise. "Just rampin' it up for ya, kid. Tryin' to scare ya." Liar. He was playing the game, just as I was. The groundwork has to remain the same. That's what allows us to build our house of cards higher and higher each time.
He didn't need to scare me. My heart was beating fast enough already. The hit had been offered and all the junkie had to do was agree. I thought it over. Considering how high we built our house of cards last time, I was frightened of where he might take us this time... but was there ever any doubt I'd agree? I am the Rogue, after all. Reckless and impulsive on a good day.
Lacy snowflakes fell all around me and yet my palms were sweaty. Did he have any idea what he was doing to me? I squirmed under the blanket. The silence was oppressive and he made no move to break it. That predatory patience unnerves me. It makes me wet as hell, too.
The next move was mine and I made it, feeling my heart flip over in my chest as I did. "Ok, I agree. No hesitation. No lip." I heard him breathe in sharply. Was that bad or good? What had I gotten myself into? Still, I never want to make it too easy for him. "Let's have it, cowboy... lay it on me." I laughed but he did not.
God, how that gets to me.
"I will." Totally serious now. He paused because he could, enjoying the power he had over me in that moment. I heard him swallow and wanted to knock that damn bottle from his hands. He knew it, too, because he made me wait a few more seconds before he finally spoke. "Okay. There'll come a time on the flight when everyone is settled in n' sleepin' off the Danger Room session I'm gonna hit 'em with just before we go." Everyone. Bobby. Jubes. 'Ro. Pete. Kitty. Remy. Hank. The thought of getting caught by any one of them made my pulse spike. "I expect you to be awake and waitin' for me to make my demand."
Lord have mercy.
It's a wonder I didn't melt all the snow in a fifty foot radius.
Up next: Jingle Bell Rock. The Wolverine knows exactly what he wants. Soon, the Rogue will too.
What a bright time,
It's the right time,
To rock the night away….