Chapter 6

Lorelei stopped, both out of surprise and because a very tall blond man was now blocking her path. He was in front of the wooden bar, holding a dishpan full of clean glasses and standing between her and the front door. She watched him cock his head, inhaling deeply, and his voice sounded smooth, but with a slightly roughened edge to it, like he'd been drinking whiskey. "Where did you come from?"

"I- I just came over from next door, to use the bathroom," she responded quietly. She wanted to walk around him, but she didn't want to have to get closer to him to do that.

"Mmm," he said, sniffing the air again as he registered what she was saying. He turned slightly, and set his dishpan down on the bar to call over his shoulder toward the kitchen. "Blaze!"

A head popped out from the doorway to the kitchen, where the music was still playing. She saw a flash of bright red, and the head disappeared back into the kitchen and the radio abruptly shut off. The person called Blaze came back through the doorway then, another tall, broad-shouldered man, this one with flaming red hair the color of a ruby sparkling in the sun . . . and eyes to match. He was clearly a mutant of some kind.

"Female." The blond man said, his voice loaded with inscrutable meaning. "She's that sweet smell in here."

The red-haired man, Blaze, stared at her with his glowing eyes, looked her up and down and sniffed the air, more subtly than his friend. He said nothing.

"Deek here yet?" asked the first man, and Blaze shook his head. "Maybe we should call him-he's gonna want to know."

Lorelei had been feeling nervous and uncomfortable, standing there with both of them looking at her, but at this last comment she started getting legitimately scared. The blond man still stood between her and the exit, and Blaze, although behind the bar, was technically even closer to the front door than either of them. She had nowhere to go, unless it was back into the bathroom, but what good would that be? She'd be more cornered than she was now.

The blond man faced her square-on, trying to make eye contact, but she looked to the side and slightly down, not wanting him to look at her. That was a mistake, because then he took a couple of steps toward her to get her attention, leaving her with the choice of standing still and letting him get nearer to her personal space, or backing into the doorway of the alcove behind her. She backed up.

"Hey, guys," a voice called from the kitchen. Someone else, thought Lorelei. There must be a back door from that way. This voice was softer than the blond man's. A shorter guy with wavy light brown hair and a beard to match walked in from the kitchen to stand next to Blaze behind the bar. His eyes widened when he saw Lorelei, and he seemed almost to be tasting the air, as well as smelling it.

He was clearly working on what question he wanted to ask, but the blond man beat him to it. "She came from next door, Deek." He'd called this over his shoulder to the new man, Deek, but now he turned his head back to Lorelei and took another step in her direction. "I was just trying to introduce myself to her."

Lorelei inched backward some more, now completely certain that she would not be able to dart around the men and out the door if they didn't allow her to go, and she wondered whether Logan's enhanced hearing would be able to register it all the way over at the hardware store if she screamed.

The bearded Deek and Blaze were still evaluating her, and their energy seemed to push the tall blond man even closer to her. He was so big and so close that he raised both arms and rested his hands on either side of the doorway to the alcove, in which she was now trapped. Her temples were beaded with sweat and she was nearly shaking, which just made her more scared, since she knew that sweating and flushing would only make the attractive scent that she was projecting even stronger.

Blond Man was still trying to catch her eye, and she kept her gaze down, debating whether she should say anything to him in hopes that he'd leave her alone, or whether the (lovely) sound of her voice would just spur him on more.

"Get your hands away from her before I rip them off for you." Logan's low voice carried into the room, sounding deadly, but incredibly reassuring to her. The blond man took his hands off the doorframe to turn and look at Wolverine, who had just walked in the front door with both sets of claws out.

Deek appraised him, inhaling slightly, and shot a look at the blond man before he addressed Logan: "She yours?"

Logan sheathed one set of claws inside, extending this hand to Lorelei. Trying not to run, she got quickly to Logan's side and he gripped her arm to position her behind him - now she was mostly hidden behind Logan's back, and could barely see the three strange men. "My wife," said Logan, with steel in each word.

"Wife?" Deek repeated with surprise. "How . . . official."

"She smells heavenly," purred the whiskey-voiced blond man, and a fine tremble went through Logan's body. Lorelei realized that if he hadn't needed to get her out of there he probably would have killed the guy, on the spot.

"Don't mind Hypno," said Deek wryly. "He has a bit of a one-track mind." Hypno, Lorelei thought. Is that why he was trying to get me to look into his eyes? Another mutant.

"Forcing himself on women?" asked Logan.

Hypno laughed. "Force? Oh no, I find them all very willing."

Logan seethed, taking a step closer to him, claws pointed. Blaze began easing himself around the end of the bar, and Logan stopped. He knew he could take on all three of them, if necessary, but it would be too dangerous for Lorelei. He dropped his claws and re-fastened his hold on Lorelei's arm.

"I don't ever want to see you near her again," he threatened Hypno, before turning and escorting Lorelei straight out the door, slamming it shut behind them.

Hypno laughed again. "Well, that was fun. What do you think, Deek? Damn, she is delicious! This whole place smells fucking amazing."

"It's her mutation," said Deek. "I was getting all kinds of stuff coming off of her."

Hypno nodded. "Hope she's sticking around here. What about him? Knives in his hands?"

Deek shrugged. "Either way, he's got a clear weakness."

"Her." Blaze spoke for the first time, his voice deep, but sounding somewhat scratchy, like he didn't use it very much.

The other two men agreed. "Been too long since we got a new female," commented Hypno.

And there is something special about that one, observed Deek to himself. Out loud he said, "Well, we're going to have to get some answers later. I'm going to go count the cash drawers in - we've only got thirty minutes 'til open."