Author's (brief) note: Welcome to my new followers, favoriters, and reviewers! As thanks for signing on, here's an unscheduled update: a nice longish chapter for you all. Don't worry, you'll still get another one tomorrow; this story will regularly update on Mondays. Enjoy! –PC


Leah opened her eyes and, for a moment, had no idea where she was.

Awareness came gradually as sleep faded. She lifted herself on an elbow, blinking in the sunlight streaming through the window next to the bed.

The clothes scattered around the bed, which they hadn't bothered to clean up the night before, completed the picture. As did the man sprawled next to her.

She smiled.

She felt great.

Leah rolled her shoulders, raising her arms over her head, and the motion woke Logan, who opened his eyes and smiled at the sight of her. "Morning."

"Good morning." She grinned, sliding back under the covers and rolling on her side to face him. "I slept like a rock."

"Same." Logan stretched.

They looked at each other for a minute, and Leah laughed, burying her face in the pillow. "I, um, shouldn't feel awkward around you…"

He chuckled. "Things are a little different now."

She peeked up from the pillow and, after a moment, scooted closer to him. Logan lifted his arm in invitation, and she moved closer yet as he wrapped it around her waist. Their legs tangled together and Leah smiled in contentment.

"I don't even know what time it is."

"Doesn't matter much. We can be on whatever schedule we want."

"I can't remember the last time I had a whole week to do that."

The physical contact having alleviated some of her nervousness, she leaned in and lightly kissed his lips. At least, that was what she had intended…a simple good morning…but his arm tightened and held her in the kiss.

When he let her go – quite a few minutes later – Leah grinned. "Definitely feeling less awkward now."

"Mmm." He stroked a hand up her side, lightly running over her breast, and toyed with a button on her shirt. "How much less?"

In answer, she leaned forward again and sealed their mouths together.

Entwined, they rolled over, Leah on her back and Logan rising over her. He settled his hips between her legs, feeling her wrap them around his waist. Leah smiled against his lips as she felt the hard length of him.

"Someone woke up feeling good," she murmured.

"Mmhmm."

He unbuttoned her shirt, letting it fall to either side, and leaned back into her, feeling bare skin on skin and leaving a trail of kisses down her neck to her collarbone. Leah arched into him, drifting her hands down his back.

He leaned back and pulled her leggings and socks off, and shucked his own sweats; at the same time, Leah shrugged out of her shirt, balling it up out of the way. Then he was back, nothing between them, settling again between her legs…

His hand slipped down, testing, asking wordless permission. Leah nodded - she was definitely ready - and felt him shift, slowly sinking into her, an inch at a time. She moaned, burying her head in his shoulder and trying to angle her hips up even more to get him deeper. Their bodies fit together so well; he was a perfect fit inside her and hitting all the right spots as he moved.

He grasped her thigh with one hand and pushed her knee up against her chest, thrusting hard, but slowly. His teeth were gritted; Leah reached up, kissing him again and sliding her tongue into his mouth. Here's to not caring about morning breath…

Realizing that he was closer than she was, Logan rolled them over, holding Leah tight and settling her on top of him so that he could slip his hand between them and help her catch up. She gasped as his fingertips touched her, gliding through the wetness and circling her clit, and started to move on him faster, seeking release…

They made it nearly at the same time – Leah first, and then Logan, the spasms of her climax sending him over the edge along with her. He pulled her down and kissed her as he came, groaning his release into her mouth.

Their mouths parted reluctantly as the aftershocks ebbed. Leah straightened her legs and gracefully laid down on him, keeping him inside her for a few more moments.

"Okay," she breathed into his neck. "Good morning. I'm awake now. Sort of." She felt him laugh, and slip out of her as he did. With a sigh, she rolled off of him, onto her stomach on the mattress.

Logan reached out, languidly, and ran a hand up her spine, skating through the light sheen of sweat. "Suppose we should eventually get up."

"Mmmf."

He chuckled, the laugh rumbling in his chest, an echo of the bone-deep relaxation he was feeling. "Breakfast? Coffee?"

Leah's head lifted slightly from the pillow. "Mmmf?"


They dressed and headed downstairs, working together to build up the fires and start warming the cabin up. The sunlight was helping, and shortly it was quite comfortable. Leah had never cooked on a wood stove before; Logan showed her how, and in short order they'd knocked up a bumper breakfast, complete with plenty of coffee.

"I have to admit," Leah mumbled, around a mouthful of eggs, "I initially thought you'd gone a little nuts with the groceries, but now I think you were right on target…"

He chuckled. "Like I said…thought we might need it. " He crunched down on a piece of bacon. "Figured we'd basically be spending the week either having sex or eating."

Leah blushed, and then laughed. "Doesn't seem like you were wrong so far."

"So." Logan pushed his empty plate to the side, leaning his elbows on the table. "We're done eating." He raised an eyebrow.

She laughed again at what he was implying. "Hmmm…how about a soak first? I feel a little sticky…"


The next days passed in a similar routine. They'd wake up – usually mid-morning – and make breakfast, then wind up back in bed until wanting lunch. In the afternoon, they'd take care of the minimal chores in the cabin, soak in the outdoor pool, play cards, or spend a little time individually. Both had brought books, and Leah, sheepishly, had a folder of biology essays to grade.

After breakfast on the third day, Leah wandered outside with him while Logan sliced a few logs to refill the wood boxes. Carrying her coffee, she surveyed the small clearing around the back of the cabin: room for a small slate patio, a couple of chairs, and the pool.

She pointed at the small structure off to the left with her chin. "Woodshed?"

"Yeah." He'd brought out a pile of logs and was setting them up on a stump one by one. "Usually come up in September and fill it. Green on one wall, seasoned on the rest. Clearing's getting a little big though, need to move farther into the woods next time."

Leah evaluated it, seeing that he was right. "Want me to help?"

He slashed through one of the logs. "What?"

She spread her hands in a "duh" motion. "I could do something about that easily."

He realized what she was talking about and groaned. "Yeah. Didn't even think of it, but…yeah. If you don't mind."

"Sure. Hold on a sec."

She went inside, returning shortly dressed in boots, sweater, and jeans. "Looks like pine is best here?"

"Yeah." He had finished with the logs while she'd been dressing, and was stacking them to take inside. "One request? Little silly, but…"

"Go for it."

He extended one set of claws. "Can you grow 'em about that thick?"

Leah regarded him quizzically, then threw her head back and laughed – it was her turn for a "duh" realization, that he wanted to be able to cut through with one stroke. "Yes, of course. That's a fairly young pine sapling. I'll grow a bunch about that thick, and get some more started. That should set you up for wood for a few years, and I'll throw in some more mature trees to replace what you've cleared already."

She walked to the edge of the woods and knelt, sinking her hands into the dirt.

Good soil. Dark, thick loam – new pines will do well here. She extends her senses into the dirt, feeling for seedlings that have already begun to grow…

The plant life recognizes her. It isn't sentience, exactly – more of a feeling of kinship. She feels further into the dirt, examining the available nutrients and water.

Logan stood and watched her, the logs set to the side. He'd never seen Demeter at work before on anything big - just small projects around the school, and the kitchen garden - and it was intriguing.

"Logan," she said softly, "is it going to rain in the next couple of days?"

He sniffed the air. "Maybe…smells more like snow though."

"That's fine."

She falls silent again. Seeds, water, nutrients – she can start the pines now and they will sleep over the winter, then grow strong in the spring.

She begins.

Logan watched as the new trees erupted from the leaves and moss carpeting the ground. Demeter wasn't straining herself; it took about twenty minutes for the tallest to stop growing, although she left several of them shorter, as she'd planned.

Leah rolled her shoulders and stood up, brushing the dirt from her hands. "There. I asked about the rain as they'll need more water soon, but snow should be fine. This early in the fall, it should get some melt and replenish the soil."

He nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem." She smiled. "It was easy. Plenty of seeds already in the ground, good soil."

"Can you grow something without seeds?"

"Much harder. Technically I can't – I have to find them and summon them. So theoretically, I could grow you a kitchen garden right now, but I'd be pulling the seeds from somewhere else. That's tiring. But, if I'm not picky about what I'm growing, there's almost always something I can work with."


Inside, she was washing her hands at the sink when she felt him behind her.

"Always thought you were sexy when I saw you work..."

Logan's breath traced her neck, nibbling just at the right spot that he was becoming extremely familiar with. Leah shuddered, flicking water off her hands. "Thanks..."

His hand was on her hip, turning her around. She leaned her butt back on the sink and raised her face for his kiss, trailing her fingers down his bare arms as their tongues tangled together.

And then she felt him unbuttoning her pants.

A second later, his hand slid inside. She shuddered again at the touch, moaning into his mouth - he was rubbing her with his whole hand, palm cupping her, and she was already getting wet...

He pulled back from her slightly as his hand moved. "You just looked so hot out there...had to touch you..."

"Not complaining," she gasped. His hand kept rubbing, and she blindly reached behind her, grabbing onto the counter. She was leaning at an angle and spread her legs wider, bracing her feet for more stability, eyes closed to better concentrate on what his hand was doing.

Logan growled, watching her. "Fuck, Leah..."

She cried out and sagged farther back against the counter as he sank two fingers inside her and his thumb circled her clit. She couldn't believe how fast he could get her going - for Christ's sake, he'd gotten her off twice already that day, and it had been awhile for her before this week, sure, but was all of this really just due to deprivation?

Thought stopped abruptly as he pushed her over the edge yet again, and she clenched the counter in her fists, pressing her hips towards his hand even as her head fell back and she cried out her satisfaction.

Then she was being picked up and set down on the counter, and he was unbuckling his belt. She opened her eyes and clasped her arms around his neck, and the look of intense pleasure on his face - he was grinning fiercely as he slid inside her and heard her moan for him - was...

Fuck. I am in so much trouble.