BENEATH THE SURFACE
Part Twelve
Rogue dropped down tiredly into a chair at the kitchen table the next morning for breakfast; she'd tossed and turned all night, unable to get her argument with Remy out of her head. It was silly, the entire thing seemed so trivial and yet, she was unable to stop thinking about it all the same.
She was glad that morning that Remy hadn't shown; she didn't ask where he was at (she assumed sleeping in), and instead, just silently hoped he would stay his distance for the moment so he could let his anger simmer down a little. Hopefully in a day or so he would finally understand that he'd been wrong to keep things from her, and that he was the one who should be apologising as she had absolutely no intention of doing so.
"Mornin'," Rogue yawned tiredly.
"You look a little tired," said Scott Summers, glancing over at her.
In other words, Ah look like shit. That's what people mean when they say you look tired, they mean you look bad, Rogue thought miserably. "Ah tossed and turned a little, couldn't get comfortable last night," she explained, deciding to make it a half truth simply to avoid having to lie about it altogether and giving her misery away.
Kitty Pryde placed a large serving dish into the middle of the table, hands clad in ridiculously pink oven mitts, "breakfast's up."
Scott leaned over and took the lid off of the dish, "oatmeal..." he sighed.
"It's good for you," Kitty said brightly, "eat up."
"Is there anythin' else?" Rahne asked, she wrinkled her nose, "if I wanted to have porridge for breakfast, I'd go back home to Scotland."
"There's toast, that's it," Kitty brought a plate of toast over.
"I know you're a vegetarian and all," Amara sighed, "but could you not have done Eggs or something?"
"I always burn the eggs," the petite brunette retorted, "I was banned from cooking eggs. Last time, Ororo said it took her about forty minutes to scrape it off of the pan."
"You could have boiled them," Rahne grumbled.
Rogue spoke up, attempting to join in for the sake of not seeming too quiet and preoccupied with her problems, "Kitty is the only person alive who could literally burn a boiled egg."
Kitty smirked, "it's a talent. If you want to get up and fry up some bacon or something, no one is stopping you."
No one offered to make anything else, Rogue supposed it took too much effort for them to open a pack of bacon and throw it in a pan.
Kitty took a seat at the table, sitting to the corner of Rogue, she spooned herself a bowl of oatmeal, seeming rather bright and chirpy this morning. Rogue hated that anyone could be this wide awake and cheerful at nine am. "Rogue, you got any plans today?"
"Not really," Rogue shrugged.
"I'm going clothes shopping for school, plus I need some supplies. You wanna come along?"
Rogue picked up a piece of toast and chewed it thoughtfully, she supposed she did need clothes for school. The ones that Remy had bought her were a little inappropriate for Bayville high and a lot of her clothes were getting slightly too old. "Sounds like fun," she lied. It didn't sound like fun, it sounded like an excuse to get out of the mansion though, and right now she definitely needed one.
"What sounds fun?" yawned Tabitha Smith as she stumbled tiredly into the kitchen, she moved to the table and took a seat next to Kitty.
"Rogue and I are going shopping for clothes," Kitty said enthusiastically.
"Ooh," Tabitha brightened up a bit, "mind if I tag along, I have to get some stuff too."
"I guess that'd be okay," Kitty eyed Tabitha up almost thoughtfully, Rogue could see exactly what was going on in the girl's head at that moment, she knew it because she was thinking the exact same thing. Why did Tabitha need to come when she'd just gotten new clothes. And for that matter, how did she have more money?
"Thought you were broke," spoke up Amara from the other end of the table, her tone snooty. The girl couldn't resist an opportunity to pick on someone for being a little less fortunate than herself, and the older she got, the more of a snob she became.
"I just got a letter from my Grandma, she sent me a hundred bucks," Tabitha poured herself some orange juice.
Rogue wished she could now change her mind; the thought of going shopping with the girl Remy had given all these free clothes to, spent so much damn money on...well...it didn't sit well with her. She didn't enjoy shopping at the best of times, but she knew she was definitely not going to be able to even tolerate it now.
"You know, you could use that hundred dollars and perhaps pay some of us back money that you borrowed," Amara commented.
"I could, but I have to get some new underwear," Tabitha commented, her tone just as snooty. "Anyway, why should I rush to pay you back? According to you, you're rolling in money."
Amara frowned, but didn't respond after this.
"Eat up, we can leave about ten," Kitty glanced at her watch.
Rogue glanced up as Remy stepped into the kitchen, he looked quite tired, his hair uncombed, his face unshaved, his t-shirt (was that the same one from last night?) creased as if he'd slept in it. He immediately moved to the coffee maker to get himself a cup, he didn't greet any one good morning.
He slept poorly, Rogue realised, she watched him as he poured himself coffee and then moved to the table, he sat at the far end. Far from her. Quickly, she moved her eyes from him, feeling a little hurt by the thought he'd done this deliberately.
He's still mad, she realised.
"Why don't you come along, Gambit?" Tabitha spoke up suddenly.
Remy raised his eyes from the cup he was about to sip from, his expression was sleepy, his face sagging a little, "hmm?"
"We're going shopping for clothes, why don't you come?"
"Uh...no, no thanks," Remy commented.
"Come on, you need clothes if you're going to go to High School, you can't go to school wearing the same three t-shirts...people will talk about you," Tabitha teased.
"I don' care," he muttered dully.
"Oh, geez, stop bein' a grump," Tabitha smirked.
"I ain' goin' fuckin' clothes shoppin' wit' three femmes. Y' think I'm interested in listenin' t' y' all bicker about who gettin' a better deal and who looks fat in a t-shirt and those skinny jeans y' all seem t' be catapultin' y'selves int' these days..."
Rogue frowned. Didn't seem to mind takin' Tabitha for shoppin' though, she wished she could say.
"What about your clothes for school?"
Remy muttered quietly, "I'll shop online."
"Oh come on," Tabitha groaned, "we can pick out your clothes for you, get you some nice outfits."
Rogue thought there was nothing much wrong with the outfits Remy had (other than the heinous Hawaiian shirts, which had been retired since their return from vacation). Although she was still mad at Remy, she spoke up for him, "what's wrong with his clothes?"
"The t-shirts are a little old...and that stupid hoodie he wears all the time-" Tabitha made a face.
Rogue frowned a little, she'd bought that hooded shirt for him in Las Vegas, just before they had gone to Louisiana. All right...perhaps she hadn't bought it for him exactly, she'd paid for it on his credit card, but she'd picked it out. He wore the t-shirt, the jeans and the shoes she'd bought that day all the time...he looked good in those clothes and seemed to like them too. "What about that hoodie?"
"It's lame."
Remy spoke up, "Rogue picked it out," he said quite matter of factly, then he delicately sipped his black coffee. Rogue sensed he was trying to start an argument between her and Tabitha.
Rogue tried to refrain from throwing a look at her husband right then, it had been a little too telling. She decided she had to explain and so quickly she began weaving a lie, "he lost his jacket in a cab...it was raining, we went into the nearest store and picked out the first thing we saw," she explained.
"That explains why it's so hideous I guess," Tabitha reasoned.
"Ah like it," Rogue commented.
"When he gets new clothes, you can have it, then," decided Tabitha, "it doesn't look good on him..."
Remy leaned back in his chair, looking between the both of them, Rogue got the impression he was almost intrigued to see how this argument would pan out. She wondered if he'd deliberately instigated it just for his own amusement.
"He's never complained about it," Rogue retorted.
"Yeah, well, maybe he just didn't want to hurt your feelings," Tabitha picked up a piece of toast and pulled it apart, although made no attempt to eat it.
Rogue quickly snapped her attention to Remy, who was sitting with both hands around his coffee cup. "Tell her that ain't true."
"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't," Remy shrugged, his eyes twinkled just a little, "if it was true, I probably wouldn't say jus' in case she be right."
Tabitha laughed just a little, "Annnyway, are you coming or what?"
"Y' know what, I think I might," Remy decided, he glanced away for a moment, he seemed to see something in the corner, Rogue thought it might be a spider or a fly and turned to look at what it was but saw nothing there. She supposed whatever it had been had scuttled or flown away. Remy continued, "maybe I do need t' get a few things."
"Awesome," Tabitha grinned.
Course she'd want him there, Rogue thought bitterly. So she can get him to buy her more shit.
After breakfast, the four of them drove out (borrowing Scott's car with permission) to the mall. Rogue personally hated the mall they'd chosen to go to, as the stores were far too trendy and far too expensive for her liking, there was barely anywhere she could shop where the clothes suited her personal gothic preference when it came to style or her budget.
It felt horribly awkward, driving there with Tabitha in the passengers seat, playing with the radio until she could find the loudest most annoying song she could to sing along (rather badly) to.
At first, the plan had been that they all split up at the mall and go in separate directions and meet up later – this had been Kitty's idea. Rogue thought the better of it though, she didn't like the idea of Tabitha and Remy splitting up just so Tabitha could follow him wherever he decided to go later and hit him up for more money. Rogue knew the girl had a tendency to be a something of a user, and she suspected the girl also had a thing for Remy which didn't help the situation.
Rogue decided it would be much better to stick together to the same stores, help each other pick outfits, while Remy would have the option of heading off alone to the men's departments.
But despite having the option, Remy stuck ridiculously close by, and Rogue was very aware of him watching almost every move she made. Every time she picked something up, every time she examined something or held it up to herself and looked in the mirror, there he was behind her, watching her. He'd barely said two words to her unless it was in the spirit of the shopping trip; everything he said was so general and casual but she had to be thankful he was at least being civil. He hid his irritation with her rather well, Rogue thought, but she was fully aware it was still there lingering beneath the surface.
In the women's department of a rather large clothing store in the mall, Tabitha quietly commented to the group (Rogue was almost certain the girl had made it sound subtle but deliberately loud enough just so Remy could hear), "I really need to go look at the underwear section."
Kitty chewed the inside of her cheek, "actually I do too, a lot of my underwear keeps going missing."
Rogue raised an eyebrow and glanced towards Tabitha, wondering if she had anything to do with that. The thought of wearing someone else's underwear was too disturbing for words.
"Okay, uhm..." Kitty glanced at her watch thoughtfully, "me and Tabitha are gonna look at the lingerie section, I guess Gambit won't want to go there..." she smirked.
"Sorry, if I'm gon' see bras and panties, it should be while it's bein' peeled off a hot date or a really fine stripper," Remy supposed. Rogue felt her cheeks flush in fury at the suggestion. She wanted to snap back a response but she held her tongue; it would be far too telling if she did so. "Rogue, why don' y' come help me pick some stuff f' school."
Tabitha laughed a little at this suggestion, "really? I thought you thought her choices were lame?"
"I did until I saw the things you tried t' pick out for me in that last place," Remy replied, smirking back at the blonde.
"What was wrong with my choices?" Tabitha blinked.
"Sorry, did I give y' the impression I wanted t' dress like Justin Beiber?" Remy snorted.
"You just have no taste," the blonde laughed.
"I think y' probably gon' find the fault don' lie with me," Remy shook his head, "I'm goin' wit' Rogue. We'll come find y' when we're done."
"Sure thing," Kitty agreed.
Rogue watched as Tabitha and Kitty disappeared off; she stood there, feeling awkward again with her husband awkwardly hovering over her. She didn't know what to say, and the only thing she knew she was not going to say was that she was sorry for yesterday.
"Y' buyin' anythin' in here or what?" Remy asked, he looked around the racks, his expression somewhat bored, his tone was a little dull.
"Not in here," Rogue replied.
"Yeah, this place kind of lame...don' have anythin' really suit you..." he touched a floral patterned blouse, "this f' example...sure I see Tante Mattie wear this last time I see her..."
Rogue saw Remy's eyes suddenly shift, he looked hurt. It took her a moment to realise the last time he had seen Tante Mattie properly (other than in the chamber before his exile) had been the funeral. "Where do you want to get your clothes?" she asked, trying to quickly change the subject, sensing he didn't need the thoughts clouding him right now.
"I guess that store two doors down," Remy replied, shrugging. "This place is far too preppy f' my likin'."
They left the store, quiet with each other, Rogue felt the tension between them now that the others were gone. She'd expected they'd argue but it was strange how he hadn't decided to pick at her. He really is mad, she realised. "Wait..." she stopped just before they go to the store he needed to go to, "Ah have to hit an ATM first."
"Why bother?" he sighed, "not like y' gon' buy anythin'."
"Ah might."
"Doubtful. Y' such a cheapskate," he muttered.
"Ah am not."
"Y' so are," he commented.
"Ah'm not cheap, Ah'm just thrifty, Remy. There's a difference. When you live on a limited allowance, you learn to make every penny count."
"Well, y' certainly makin' every penny count considerin' we've been to five stores and y' ain' even bought a single thing."
Rogue frowned a little, "all the stores here don't really cater to my style."
"There's a Hot Topic."
"Yeah, Ah can fight with a hundred twelve year olds over an on sale Ramones t-shirt," Rogue rolled her eyes, "Half of them have never even heard of half the bands they wear the t-shirts for, makes me sick sometimes. Anyway, Ah don't shop in that place..."
"Sure y' don'," Remy shrugged. "Look, there's an ATM over there," he gestured, "lets jus' get this over with."
Remy followed her to the nearest cash machine, hands in the pockets of his hooded sweatshirt – ironically the one she'd picked out for him in Las Vegas. She wondered if he'd worn it deliberately just to make a point. It was hard to tell with him sometimes.
Rogue stood at the machine, she slipped her card in and hid the keypad from Remy's sight as she began tapping in her PIN number.
"Y' think I'm gon' steal from y'?" he scoffed.
"No..." she said, "It's just somethin' Ah always do."
Remy didn't argue on the subject although she'd expected him to; he hovered at her side, back against the wall, picking at a fingernail as she went through the options to check if her allowance from the Professor (for her participation in chores and such at the mansion) had been transferred into her account. She was stunned when her balance came up, it was not what she'd expected to see.
"Uhm..." she almost choked in shock.
"Somethin' wrong?" he asked, sounding rather bored.
"Yeah...Ah think the Professor made a mistake when he transferred in my allowance..."
"What y' mean?" Remy asked, he turned to look at the screen casually.
Rogue swallowed hard, "there's over fifty thou-" she said, she realised her voice was a little loud and people walking by may hear, "fifty thousand dollars..." she almost whispered.
"That was me," Remy said, the way he made it sound was almost as if he'd done something general, as if he'd left the toilet seat up. As if it were an 'oops...deal with it' moment.
"You put fifty thousand dollars into my fucking bank account?!" she gaped at him.
"Relax," he muttered, "Look, no one said y' had t' use it, it's jus' there in case."
"In case what?" she demanded. "In case Ah need to buy a fucking kidney on the black market?!"
"In case y' need it for an emergency."
"Emergency money..." she almost laughed in disbelief, "emergency money is like twenty bucks for gas, not fifty thousand dollars..."
"In case y' needed it t' buy a car or somethin'."
"Ah don't need your money," she snapped.
"Then don't use it," he shrugged simply; Rogue detected the tiniest bit of aggravation in his face that she refused to accept it. He saw it as rather insignificant, she supposed fifty thousand dollars was minuscule to someone who as far as she knew was still hiding millions in an offshore account somewhere. It was a drop in the ocean to him.
Rogue took fifty dollars out of the account, money she was sure she'd had in there before hand, and left the bulk in, "did you like..." she removed her card and the crisp two twenties and a ten, "put this in last night because of Tabitha?"
"Seriously...we're going to go down this route?" he demanded.
"Can you blame me?" she frowned, "did you?"
"No," he frowned, "it was there for a while."
"Really?" she doubted this.
"Really."
"You just miraculously forgot to mention."
"Yeah," Remy replied.
"When did you do it?"
"Weeks ago," he replied, he seemed to rack his brains for a moment, "St. Tropez."
Rogue didn't like the shiftiness in his expression when he said this. She doubted that had happened in St. Tropez. She'd never checked her account in St. Tropez, she'd never thought to because she'd been aware (as far as she knew) that she had very little in the account to bother checking on. "You know Ah'll be able to see from my statement when it went in."
"So go get a fucking statement then," he muttered.
"Ah will," she said.
"I did it the day we went shoppin' f' each other's clothes...while I was waitin' on you t' pick out shit for me."
"Sure you did," Rogue made a face.
"Look, believe what you want, if you want, fucking check it," he commanded.
"Ah will. When Ah get home."
"Fine."
"Fine."
There was an angry silence between them, they stood opposite each other, never looking at each other. Rogue thought it was going to remain that way, but Remy decided to be the one to break it.
"I don't know why you can't just say thank you and take the fucking money," he grumbled irritably.
"Because Ah can't help but feel you're tryin' to fix what you did with Tabitha."
"Fix what I did?!" he scoffed, "fix it? Like I'm even the one t' be sorry?! I told y', you're the one who needs t' apologise, not me, I got nothin' t' be sorry for. I helped a friend, that was it."
"Oh, so she's your friend now?" Rogue asked, folding her arms stubbornly.
"Y' told me y' wanted me t' make friends," he reminded her matter-of-factly.
"Yeah! Like...guy friends, not girlfriends. And not the prettiest girl in the damn institute."
"Y' know how y' sound right now?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Rogue looked away, she didn't want to admit how it probably sounded to him. She didn't want to admit that it seemed to her it was perfectly justifiable to feel these things either.
"Y' know this is the first time you and I have been alone and out of the damn institute since we got back...this ain' how we shoul' be spendin' our time t'gether," he muttered.
She glanced up to him, he wasn't even looking at her, he was staring into the window of a nearby store, his expression a little distracted. It hadn't occurred to her before but she was right, it was the first time. "How should we be spendin' it?" she asked pointedly.
"Should have blown Tabitha and Kitty off and jus' went off t'gether on our own," he replied.
"It'd look too suspicious," Rogue commented.
"And I'm supposed t' care about what's suspicious and what ain'?" he demanded.
"Remy..." she sighed softly.
Remy stared at a mannequin, he looked momentarily angry, he frowned and turned back to stare at Rogue, "I shoul' be able t' walk wit' y' and hold y' hand wit' out carin' what looks suspicious."
"Look...just...give me a little more time, please?"
He paused, he seemed to be having some kind of internal struggle to calm himself from losing his temper with her. Somehow, he succeeded. "Lets go off together somewhere, be alone..." he suggested softly, surprising her.
"What about Kitty and Tabitha?" Rogue asked, feeling a little bitter mentioning Tabitha at all right now.
"They're neck deep in the wonderful world of clothes shoppin', gazin' dreamily at sparkly shoes and bras with more paddin' than riot gear. Y' think they would actually even care if we left? Y' think they would even notice?"
Rogue sighed softly.
"Text Kitty right now," Remy commanded.
"And say what?" Rogue asked, a little distracted, she tried to remember how the argument had so quickly switched to this. He had such talent for always being able to turn the tables, distract her from what was going on by changing the subject and the situation. It was one of his better skills.
"Tell them that you and me gon' leave," he replied. "They most likely won' even find anythin' weird about it."
Rogue raised an eyebrow at him. What about excuses? How was she supposed to explain where they'd gone or what they'd done?
Remy gave her a meaningful look, "We can pick them up after...couple of hours...no one be any the wiser...'cept us."
She took her phone out of her pocket but stood looking at it, not sure if she even wanted to leave or not. Kitty might ask why she and Tabitha shouldn't tag along to whatever place they'd decided to go to – how was she supposed to lie?
Remy took the phone from her before she had any more chance to consider things; he swiped the unlock screen and began typing swiftly; he was much better at using the iPhone than she was (it usually meant taking her gloves off to do so and she still hadn't mastered typing on the touch screen).
"There..." he hit send and passed her the phone back.
Rogue gazed at the screen, reading the message aloud, "Me and Gumbo going to look at second hand Harley Davidson he just seen an ad for – might be gone hour or two max, owner is outside of town. Will pick you up on way back home."
"Sounds legit," Remy assured.
"You think they'll believe that?" Rogue asked.
"Probably. We're here with Scott's car...they know you wouldn't let me take it alone...they have to believe it."
"Is there a Harley?" she asked as she put her phone back in her pocket.
"No," he replied, "c' mon."
"What about the clothes?"
"Like I said, I can order online."
The drive was mostly silent between them. For the entire journey Rogue couldn't help going over in her head that he'd put the fifty thousand dollars in her account to try and 'make up' for what he'd done with Tabitha. She didn't doubt that if she went online and checked her statement that the money would show as having been deposited weeks before...but then Remy had connections, he always had ways of shifting the dates on things. If he could shift the dates on a marriage license then it wasn't unbelievable he could do the same with a bank statement.
Remy parked Scott's car on the bluff overlooking the other side of Bayville; it was far out, way on the outskirts, and Bayville was a slightly hazy cluster of suburban streets and nice little commercial buildings outlining the city.
"I used t' come up here sometimes, watch y' all drive up t' the high school with a high power scope," Remy admitted as he turned off the engine. Rogue watched him, he looked strangely at ease behind the wheel of Scott's car, he looked good there although she'd been nervous about letting him drive it. Scott was rather nervous about letting others drive his car at the best of times, she wondered how furious he'd be if he found out Remy had been behind the wheel.
Rogue gazed out over the view, "Ah don't think Ah've ever been up here before."
"Yeah, you wouldn't have. It's private property."
"Won't we get into trouble?"
"Doubtful," Remy shrugged, "Magneto owns it..."
"Oh..." she said quietly, she let her elbow rest on the passengers side door, she stared out to the town, it looked so sleepy and peaceful from far away. "Magneto's still alive?" she asked, she hadn't heard anything of him in what seemed forever.
"This week," Remy commented, "next week, who knows."
"How many times have we thought he was dead?" Rogue wondered to herself aloud.
"He's made more comebacks than Madonna," Remy commented, "and still looks ever so slightly younger."
"Yeah," Rogue smirked, staring down at the view.
"Feels weird," Remy admitted after a moment.
"Hmm?"
"Gettin' y' alone...after so long."
Rogue chewed the inside of her cheek thoughtfully, it did feel a little odd being so alone again. They hadn't been this far from people since St. Tropez.
"I mean...where we can talk...without people interruptin'...without people bein' able t' maybe overhear us...it's nice and peaceful."
She wondered at that moment if maybe he'd finally decided he wanted to tell her things, wanted to unload some of his burdens, maybe that was why he'd picked so quiet a spot.
"What are we going to say when you get back to the mall and we don't have a Harley with us?"
"That I didn' buy it. Simple as that. It was a piece of shit."
"What if they ask questions?"
"I got answers, I'll wing it," he supposed.
Rogue wiped a little dust from the heater vent on the dashboard with the finger of her glove; she felt Remy's hand gently caress her thigh, pushing her skirt up just a little. She supposed she should have expected a move much sooner than this.
"I ain' gon' apologise about doin' the right thing with the clothes," Remy admitted, his tone almost absent for a moment, his fingers swept to the inside of her thighs, getting closer and closer. "And I'm guessin' y' ain' gon' apologise about goin' off at me either."
"Ah don't see why Ah should," Rogue admitted, "you were the one who kept it a secret."
"It weren't a secret, it jus' never occurred t' me that I should have t' tell y' about it..." his hand came closer, Rogue felt her stomach flutter at the thought of it. Was this manipulation? She wasn't sure she altogether minded right now. "It weren' like there was anythin' meaningful 'bout it. I was jus'...tryin' t' be nice...hard as that is to believe."
Rogue sighed quietly, "Ah...suppose it's not too hard to believe," she finally decided, somewhat feeling that she still somehow doubted the intentions behind it all.
"I don' like not speakin' t' y', Marie..." Remy admitted.
Barely been twelve hours, already drivin' him mad? What would it be like if we fought for weeks? Rogue thought, she felt her eyes roll in the back of her head as his fingers met with her. She fought to try and keep in control of herself but it was difficult, he had seduction down to a fine art, and she was just like every other girl who ever fell for it helplessly.
She turned to look at him, his eyes were close to hers, blurring a little, she found it so hard to focus as he began rubbing gently at her. Just moments ago, she'd had no thoughts of sex in her head, now they were rushing through her, memories of the closet replaying over and over like a video on repeat. Just an hour ago she'd still been angry with him, now she was starting to feel that anger channel into other places.
"Let's put it t' maybe we was both wrong t' get mad...and say we learned from it...and...make up."
"It ain' all that easy..." she breathed.
"I'll say I'll be more forthcomin' in future. And y' can say y' give me the benefit of the doubt when somethin' comes up that I ain' had the chance t' tell y' yet..." he continued, he took her hand and led it to him, he was like rock beneath those jeans, and the thought made her flush.
Why hadn't anything felt quite like this on the yacht? Why hadn't she burned quite this way then? Why hadn't it been as passionate and heated as it had in the closet? Why hadn't there been that sense of urgency then? Maybe it was just the little time they had spent together in weeks...or maybe it was just the spontaneity of the moment. At that moment, the reasoning didn't seem as important as what he was doing.
Every time he touched her the way he did, she felt her anger ebbing away more and more and when he moaned when she touched him, it left her feeling just a little more satisfied that while Tabitha was wearing the clothes he'd bought, she would be the one who got to hear him make the sounds he was making now.
She watched him, strangely love sick and fascinated as he tilted the seat back a little, he'd unbuttoned his jeans and given her full access to do whatever she wanted, which felt a little disappointingly limited to while wearing stretch PVC gloves. She had to go slow, vigorous rubbing with gloves was only likely to give him friction burns and she couldn't imagine anything more uncomfortable.
The entire scenario felt a little bizarre, doing this in broad daylight, again in a vehicle (albeit this one on land), seeing him in her hand, listening to the way he gasped and breathed, the way his body writhed a little at her touch. She remembered the way he'd moaned during the vocal show for Jean-Luc on their first day in Louisiana...the old man had been right. He sounded nothing like that when he was really in the moment.
He bit into his lip and somehow still managed to get the words, "I got a condom," out almost perfectly without it sounding comical.
Her stomach was in knots at the thought, she hated to admit to herself she was both horrified about the thought of it and at the same time intrigued about the idea of being with him again.
"Maybe we shouldn't..." she swallowed hard; his touch was so very divine that she was certain that he could have suggested anything at that moment and she might have given into it. Yes, she really did understand now why so many women could give in to him so easy.
"Up t' you..."
Oh she hated that kind of pressure, while at the same time almost feeling a little powerful at the thought of being the one to make that decision. "Is it...safe?" she asked awkwardly, she swept her hair back from her face.
"Was the last time," he opened his eyes to look at her, "still got t' be careful but...it's doable."
"In the car?" she asked, she looked around the car awkwardly. There was an almost sick perversion in the thought of this happening in Scott's car. The boy would be mortified if he knew.
"Maybe it be easier f' y'..." he pulled her towards him, she realised he was trying to pull her onto his lap, and she resisted.
"On top?" she asked in disgrace. The thought made her cheeks burn as if there were tiny rivers of lava threading through her capillaries. "Ah...don't think so..."
"Why not...?" he laughed a little at her.
"Ah've never-"
"I know y' never," he replied, smirking.
"Ah...Ah don't think Ah can do this in public..." She swallowed nervously.
"Y' did before...on the yacht..." he reminded, "we're just as far from people now as we was then, and we'd be able t' hear if any cars were comin'...we ain' gon' get caught up here."
"How would you know we won't get caught?" she frowned at him a little.
He raised an eyebrow at her, she supposed that meant he'd been here before in a car with a woman. The thought made her shudder.
Rogue chewed her lip, thinking of it. She despised the fact he was making her want this, but at the same time, common sense, and the fret of being caught still haunted her. She didn't to go all the way again in another vehicle, she didn't want it to be out in the open, she wanted something more private.
"It..." she stammered, "it isn' that Ah don't want to..."
"But..." he sighed, "Y' don' wan' be in a car..." he realised. Every time he spoke she detected the slight frustration that nothing was happening, that she'd stopped touching him. "It's okay..." he said gently, he brushed her hair from her forehead gently, so careful not to let their flesh touch. "It can be whenever y' like, wherever y' like...when y' ready..."
"And it's okay?"
"Course it is."
"And you're not mad?"
He looked conflicted for a moment, "no," he lowered his eyes, "'sides...moment seems t' be gone anyway."
She dropped her eyes too but he was already quickly putting himself away. Just like that it was over without the hoorah? "Did...Ah do somethin' wrong?"
"No...no..." he promised, he quickly put himself away, his face going red; he was embarrassed and she couldn't blame him; as she understood it from books, movie and television, it was a rather humiliating experience for a man. "It's my own fault..."
"How could it be?"
"Just...if I hadn't suggested we go further...we wouldn't have stopped t' talk...it was jus' the time it took t' get back t' it is all..it's my fault."
Rogue swallowed nervously, "do you want to try again or...?"
Remy eyed the rear view mirror, his expression rather dour, "lets jus' get back t' the mall t' pick up the gruesome twosome," he sighed deeply.
"Ah'm sorry," she admitted, her cheeks flushing.
"Don' be sorry. Ain' your fault..." he promised, he started the car.
Rogue still couldn't help wondering if he was going to hold this against her anyway. The thought that perhaps when it came to these things, they weren't as suited as they could have been struck her. Then again, what about the closet?
It was dark, Ah could have been anyone. Maybe it's when he has to look at me that the problem starts, Rogue thought darkly. "Remy..." she said quietly, "if...there was something wrong with us...you'd say, right?"
"Yeah," he turned to look at her, he sounded almost sure of it. Almost.
"Okay," she decided to accept it for now, he didn't seem like he was going to be forthcoming and she didn't want to push him, every time she did it only seemed to push him further away. Silently, she reached over and took his hand, clasping it lightly as he drove one handed. That was as much as she could do for him for now.
End of Part Twelve
Thanks to everyone for the super reviews!. I'm going to keep this short as the editor is lagging and it takes about ten seconds for my text to appear.
