A/N: Sorry this chapter took a little while to get out to you guys. I've been really busy and just didn't have as much time to work on this as I usually do. Another huge thank you for the reviews, they help me forge ahead and they are greatly appreciated. We are going to see some action over the next couple of chapters and maybe Max and Logan can finally get some action of their own. So happy reading, and please hit that purple button on your way out.

Chapter 7: Touch Me

Max knew the instant Logan walked into the room. Her stomach muscles clenched and heat began to suffuse every cell of her body. A insistent throbbing began to drum between her thighs and she had an overwhelming urge to run her hands all over him. Who needed pain medication, just bottle the feelings he invoked with in her and she'd happily conquer the world, or fuck the hell out of him for days.

"God damn it!" She exclaimed, her eyes flying open and meeting his amused gaze.

"That's one way to put it," he said as he sauntered into the room. She still looked to pale to his discerning eyes, and he hated the way she trembled, he wasn't sure if it was because of her injuries or him; he wanted it to be him.

"Why do I have an overpowering urge to taste you?" She asked with something close to desperation in her voice.

He watched her with clear blue eyes, pulse steady, heart beating slowly; he made sure he had her undivided attention and stepped closer taking a deep breath. Her scent pummeled his senses, embedded into the very cells of his body; Max watched fascinated as his pupils dilated and his body began to tremble. She could see naked desire racing across his face, his hands became restless as they fiddled with things in his pockets. She watched as a light sheen of sweat appeared on his neck and she saw the muscle in his jaw clench as he fought for control.

"You're not the only one Max," he said in a voice fraught with lust and the steel it was taking for him to not simply ravish her.

"I want this to end," she replies feeling anger for both of them. "Will it end if we just give in?" She desperately needed to hear him say yes. She wasn't sure if that meant she would, if she would let him touch her and if she'd touch him back, but at least she knew that it would be over.

"It will diminish some, but it will never end," he replied sitting in the chair. "We are complete aware of each other on a hormonal level, and our scents are the trigger to a maddening desire. Even when you're not actually around I thought about you, dreamed about you and desired you like mad. I need you Max."

"Then what the hell are you waiting for?" She asked. Max felt the same way he did. Her body wasn't willing to accept no as an answer again, it thrummed with heat just from him sitting close to her. God only knew what would happen if the man placed his hands on her, she'd probably spontaneously combust.

"I told you that before we went any further I'd give you full disclosure," he said shifting in his chair. "If we give in, we give in for life. I already can't stand the idea of another person touching you. I almost broke my best friend's wrist when he tried to treat you, and I've killed just because you were in danger."

Max thought back to when Amanda had lightly touched his arm, she had wanted to hurt, maim, kill the woman, and she was positive that the only thing that had stopped her were two metal restraints on her wrist. She allowed herself to think about some one doing him harm, him being in danger, and the emotions that swamped her were red hot and murderous. Oh shit, she was in deep and had no idea how to get out.

"You've killed for me?" She asked in a small voice. For some reason this man killing for her struck her very deeply in her core. She could tell he abhorred violence, and for him to have done violence to another living creature was the ultimate in sacrifices for him.

"It's not something I'm proud of," he said barely meeting her eyes. "Yet the thought of anything happening to you turns my blood to ice, I lose the ability of rational thought and go on pure instincts. My instincts demand that I protect you, regardless of the fact that you can more than take care of yourself. I can't fight it, I can't stop myself and it's driving me towards a brink I've never faced before."

"When, when did you do this?" Max asked. She wasn't sure why she wanted to know, why she needed to know, for some reason it made her feel something she couldn't describe to know that this man was willing to kill for him.

"In Montana," he replied. "You don't really think men just fly into trees of the own accord do you, or that healthy mercenaries drop to the ground and have seizures."

"That was you?" She asked in disbelief. "I can see you throwing a guy into a tree head first, even though I didn't see it, but you can't just make a man fall twitching to the ground."

"I can if I cause a blood vessel in his brain to explode," he said it so quietly that she had to strain to hear him, to understand him. Logan watched her as she processed the words he had spoken, understanding dawning slowly. She still didn't understand what the words meant, just what he said.

"You didn't physically pick the other guy up and throw him, did you?" She asked as realization of what he was suggesting began to creep into her brain. Shivers ran up and down her arms at the possibility of some one being capable of what he was implying.

"No Max, I never physically put my hands on either of those men," he replied wearily. "Or the ones in the jungle who took flying lessons when the ground erupted."

"Tell me, full disclosure," she demanded. "I need to hear it all."

"Alright," he said shaking his head. She was ready, they both were and once he took them down this path there would be no turning back, no pretending like it didn't exist.

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Lydecker stood in front of a large hole in the ground contemplating what might have happened to cause this kind of damage to the earth. In the light of day he could see that the hole was massive, huge amounts of dirt had been flung into the air, with several large trees, brush and rocks. He imagined at some point there may have been bodies, bodies that had been removed by some one else during the cover of darkness.

He walked back to where one of his kids had found blood soaked into the earth. He was waiting to find out whose blood it was; was it one of his kids or one of their enemies. He had tracking devices on all of his soldiers, and even now they were being extracted by their 'brothers and sisters'. He knew after the events of the last couple of days, they wouldn't trust just anyone in command. He taught them to be smart, that questioning orders didn't make them insubordinate or disobedient, it made them more able to survive.

Not only did he want to round up his X5s, but he wanted to get his hands on Asherton, the man was a traitor, he placed highly sensitive government material in danger. Lydecker had no plans to court martial him, once he got his hands on him, he'd either kill him hisself or turn him over to his kids. They'd gladly rip him to pieces.

"Sir," he heard the voice behind him; it didn't startle him as it would have some others, he had grown use to the stealthy silence of his kids.

"Report," he replied simply, no sense dragging things out; his kids were still in danger and he wouldn't rest until they were all accounted for.

"Six of the eight have been secured and are now being treated and debriefed," X5- 497 stated. "X5-599 has explained that he is sure that X5-493 was captured during the aborted mission. X5-493 and X5-452 are the two still unaccounted for, and the blood belongs to X5-452. There is still no sign of Lt. Asherton and it is the belief of X5-599 that he is holed up in the compound where X5-493 is being held."

Lydecker silently dismissed the soldier. He rubbed the back of his neck knowing that he wouldn't be able to alleviate the headache that was already pounding behind his eyes. Max had been bleeding, and by the looks of the stains in the dirt, she had lost a lot of blood, but where was she? The tracking device was erratic at best, going out for long periods of time, almost as if it was being blocked some how.

They'd have to go after her first, she was in an unknown situation, not that Ben's was any better, but at least they knew where he was and that he was most probably alive. Max was in the wind, she was hurt and that was an unacceptable situation. Her siblings would be tended to and then they'd be deployed to search and rescue.

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"Project Manticore was originally apart of a two fold initiative to create an individual with both heightened physical and mental abilities," Logan said. Max noted that even though he looked and sounded casual, he was still very tense, still feeling the effects of being so close to her.

"Twenty young women who showed some sensitivity to extra sensory perception were recruited to become a part of a project called Project Mantra. For ten years these 20 women were experimented on in hopes that they would develop some pretty amazing abilities, but after all that time they showed no appreciable talents and the project was dissolved."

"I'm guessing that some one missed something," Max said with a smile that had Logan's heart stuttering.

"Yeah you could say that," he said with a smile of his own. "They just didn't know that they missed it, and neither did those 20 women, at first. Let me tell you a little about them before we go any further. All of them were young, intelligent college women, on the fast track mostly in science programs at some of the best universities across the country. When Project Mantra was dismantled the group jumped at the opportunity to continue the research at a facility in Seattle. They managed to get copies of most of the project documents, and several of the drugs used in the experiments. They were funded by a private group and had little to worry about as far as money was concerned."

He paused a moment tilting his head to the side as if he was listening to something. Max realized that he was communicating with someone, and after a few minutes she realized that she was correct when a tall, blond hair man walked in carrying a tray.

"Well I see our guest is awake," the man said placing the tray on the small table sitting by the bed.

"Max I'd like you to meet my best friend Jason," Logan introduced the taller man to her. Yet when Jason went to take her hand, she was surprised to see Logan place a restraining hand on Jason's shoulder and pull him back. She saw the look that passed between the two friends, realized that they also said something to each other that she couldn't hear and then Jason quietly left the room.

"I'm thinking you're going to need to work on that," she said pretty much deducing what had just happened.

"That may be the case, but right now I don't really give a rat's ass," he replied simply. "I thought you might be a little hungry and thirsty. Amanda signed off on some water, broth and jell-O; not exactly a four course meal, but you've got to start somewhere." Max scrunched up her face at the offerings, but she realized that he was right in that she'd have to start light. Once she began to eat, he continued with his story.

"While things were still progressing with Project Mantra in Seattle, Project Manticore was seeing some amazing success with embryos that caused the higher ups to revise their original game plan. It was decided to just forge ahead with the Manticore aspect and completely bury everything about Mantra, pretend like it had never existed."

"But something was about to happen," Max said. She could see it in his eyes.

"You could definitely say that," he replied shaking his head. "I was born, and right away my mother knew something was not quite right about me. I didn't cry, and she never had to wonder if I was hungry, wet, tired; I managed to communicate what I needed or wanted right away. Not verbally, just instinctively. As time went on and more of the 20 as they called themselves had babies, they realized that Mantra was indeed a success. Each one of the children born to them were of above average intelligence, way above, and possessed some level of extra sensory perception."

"What exactly are we talking here Logan, spell it out for me," Max demanded. She didn't want to assume anything, she wanted it all crystal clear.

"We can all communicate telepathically, some stronger than others," he answered for her. "After that the abilities vary from person to person and by varying degrees. Take Jason for example; all he can do is communicate telepathically, but he can do so with any person on the planet. He doesn't need to know the mind he's communicating with, and he could be half a world away, they'll still hear him a if he was standing right next to them."

"What about you?" She asked wanting to know what he was capable of. She was sure that he had a dossier somewhere on her, and she felt that before they went any further she'd like some insight into him.

"Well let's see," he said looking a little uncertain. He wasn't certain of what he was about to tell her would impress her or have her run screaming in the opposite direction. "You know I have telepathy, then there is the precognition, telekinesis and bio-kinetics."

"You can move things with your mind?" She questioned in awe.

"You would focus on that one," he said with a laugh. "Yes I can move pretty much anything with my mind, it takes a lot of energy and usually leaves me fatigued, but sometimes it's well worth it."

"And the precognition?"

"Gives me glimpses into the future, and through some very intense practice I have a bit of control over it," he explained.

"So that's how you knew we were coming," Max said looking at him speculatively. "I thought you had some one on the inside at Manticore."

"Well we do have some one on the inside, but to be honest Max, I've known you were coming for years," he said. "I've had dreams and visions of the X5s since I was a kid, many of us have."

"How many of you are there?" She asked growing curious about this secondary group. These people were meant to be tied to Manticore from the beginning, but had fallen off the radar; until now.

"There are 20 of us," he replied watching her reaction.

"Just like there were 20 in the original project," she said. "Why is that?"

"They never found the answer to that question. My parents tried for another child, but were never successful, and neither were any of the other women," he stated. "We were all trained vigorously in controlling our abilities, and working with each other. We were also taught everything that the 20 knew about Project Manticore; they felt it was necessary since we were intrinsically tied together. The hope was that one day we'd be able to break you all out from under Manticore."

"I'm sure there was more to it," she said studying him. She had known him for only a couple of days, yet she could already tell he was holding something back. "What are you not telling me."

"I want you to understand that I love my mother, I loved all the women in the 20, but I accept that they were very much still scientist at heart," he said looking just a little sick.

"They wanted to see the final results of the combined project," Max said taking a stab in the dark.

"Yeah, and if it wasn't for that, we would be dealing with this right now," he replied placing his hand on her bare arm. When Max felt the jolt of sexual tension leap through her body at his casual contact she reached over, pulled him out of the chair and onto the bed with her.

"Max..." He said in a strangled whisper.

"I just need a little taste," she replied pulling him down to her mouth. A little taste wasn't going to do it, Max decided when her lips met his. He tasted like a good, mellow wine with just a hint of chocolate. It was heady and sent a one, two punch right to her solar plexus, and she completely forgot how to breath when Logan began to nibble along her jaw line.

"God, I'm going to need more than a taste," she breathed.

The scent of him enveloped her senses and sent them into overdrive. She wanted him, now and deep. She clawed at his shirt and realized that he already had the back of the gown she was wearing open. The feel of his bare hands on her flesh brought a deep moan from her.

"We need to finish this discussion," he said while gently biting the lobe of ear.

"Late, much later," Max replied, her nails raking across his back. She felt him stiffen and pull away from her. She saw that he had a far away look in his eyes and after a moment he seemed to come back to his senses and pushed himself off the bed while covering her at the same time.

"It seems Max that the cavalry has arrived," Logan said grabbing his shirt and striding from the room. It wasn't lost on Max that the door slid close behind him and the faint click of locks engaging.