FIRST WEEK OF DECEMBER
"Have you seen the new girl that the Wolverine brought in?"
"Non, Remy just got in yesterday."
"Speaks with a Southern accent, keeps to herself."
"Oh, a Southern belle? Remy be very happy to meet her then."
I nearly bit through my lip holding back a snarl so they didn't know I was listening to them in the hallway. Yeah, I bet that fucking swamp rat wanted to meet her, but that wouldn't work out so well if I broke his entire face first.
Or cut off his dick.
Heh. I'd probably be doing the world a fucking favor. All the married husbands at least.
"Cool your dick nipples, Casanova. She's sixteen." Jackie told the swamp rat, butting into their conversation as she entered the room from the other door.
"I thought she would be older, since she staying with the Wolverine." Pretty rich boy said innocently.
"She's not." Jackie replied. "We share a room together. Logan and Victor each have their own rooms across the hall."
"Remy is afraid he has not made your acquaintance, ma cherie." The swamp rat purred.
"I'm Jackie. I'd let you kiss my hand, but Victor might rip your tongue out."
"Remy does not fear any man."
"Victor Creed is Sabretooth's real name." Pretty rich boy hissed.
"But he steers clear of ferals."
Yeah, you better fucking steer clear.
Cut him up now and we won't have to worry about it.
If we get caught assaulting a student, Chuck'll kick us out.I relplied.
Then don't get fuckin' caught!
"And my name is Angel." Pretty rich boy introduced himself.
I leaned back against the wall and sneered at the empty hallway. The Wolverine didn't remember him from our last visit to the mansion, but he was one of those skinny jean wearing, iced coffee drinking cocksuckers who thought he was better than everyone else. Didn't help that he'd probably bribed the students into electing him class president too, so now he really thought he was fucking royalty.
Faggot thinks he's an Alpha too.
Marie said we couldn't use that word any more.
Ya called him a cocksucker.
It's different. Faggot is a slur now.
Ain't insultin' gays, jest him.
You're insulting the gays by saying he's one of them. They probably don't want his whiney little bitch ass either.
"Should Remy steer clear of this Southern belle as well?" The swamp rat asked, snapping me back to their conversation.
"Because she's sixteen and that's illegal, yes." Jackie deadpanned. "Also, she can drop you like a dubstep beat. She may not be Logan's girl, but she is his protege. Picked her up and started training her after he saw her fight."
I grinned. Goddamn right Marie could take him out.
Should save her the trouble...
"Are you being trained by Sabretooth as well?" Pretty rich boy asked her.
Jackie gave a laugh too throaty to be a giggle. "No, but he sure is a workout."
"Do I know you from somewhere?"
"I don't think so."
I sniffed the air, catching her scent. It wasn't fear exactly that I picked up, but definitely wariness. What, had the school's class president sneaked out to a club and saw her strip once?
"I swear I—oh my god!" Pretty rich boy practically squealed. "You're Jacqueline Beaumont! I saw you perform at—"
"Please keep your voice down." Jackie said, her tone making it clear it wasn't a request. "I'm sure we both had our reasons for leaving the limelight, Warren Worthington, so I would appreciate it if you didn't bring up my past."
Since the conversation had forgotten Marie, I walked into the room, coming up behind them. The swamp rat had the good sense to smoothly take a step away, his eyes already marking out the exits. He might have helped me at the island a while back, but I didn't remember anything that happened before I woke up, and we sure as hell weren't buddies.
And if he touched my Marie, my only second thought about killing him would be where to hide the body.
"I thought you were just a stripper from Oklahoma." I said to Jackie, deliberately ignoring the other two. Neither of them deserved my recognition, and I'd admit Jackie was an Alpha before I ever paid an ounce of respect to them.
Pretty rich boy gasped. "She was almost certain to be the next prima ballerina assoluta, at least I thought so, and she was even offered a contract with—"
"But then I left." Jackie growled at him.
"Speaking of, Remy is expected by the Professor, so he must make his apologies." The swamp rat said, already easing away from me and toward the door.
"Au revoir, mon coco." Jackie called after him.
The swamp rat opened his mouth again, considered it, then shut it and gave an overly exaggerated bow before he left. He was signed up for the Junior X-Men A Team though, so he'd be in my Phys Ed class. Junior B Team had Physical Education classes Monday through Thursday, but students who signed up for the A Team were older and actively training to be X-Men, so they had two extra classes on Friday and Saturday in addition to the regular four days a week. I had the green light to run combat scenarios with them, and I was going to pound that swamp rat into the ground on general principle.
Won't get caught that way.
Still think we should jest take 'im out back and—
"You wanna grab lunch?" Jackie asked.
Pretty rich boy grinned. "I would love to—"
"Actually I was talking to Logan." Jackie cut him off. "We need to discuss whether I'll be in the A or B Team in his Phys Ed class next month."
Since she covered for me and Marie, I reluctantly covered for her. "Yeah. Let's go."
"It was great to meet you!" Pretty rich boy said.
Jackie started backing away. "I'll see you around."
"Yes, of course!"
She walked away, and I followed after her, neither one of us slowing our pace until we were halfway to the staff cafeteria. She might be my brother's mate, but I hadn't scented any sign of mating on either one of them. I knew she was playing him, probably stringing him along for more money and shit. I just didn't know why it bothered me so much.
Victor's our Alpha, dumbass.
We could challenge him again. I insisted.
He ain't Alpha 'cause he beat us. He's Alpha 'cause he fuckin' earned it when he raised us. We woulda died a cub without him.
I huffed out air and clenched my jaw. I fucking hated it when he was right.
"You and Victor haven't fucked." I said without looking at her.
"It's complicated."
"You're acting like you have."
She sighed loudly. "I don't have the time or patience to deal with the packs of teenage white boys scurrying around here like hormonal lemurs."
"So you're using him."
"Would you prefer I encourage them? Start shit between Victor and some kid, then act surprised when the kid gets hurt and Victor gets kicked out?" She demanded, glaring sideways at me.
"Why don't you just fuck him?"
She shook her head and stayed stubbornly silent until we got into the staff kitchen. When we walked in, she turned around and glared at me, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.
"We're not having this conversation again, and keep an ear out for anyone coming in." She said.
I leaned back against the table and nodded.
"I am not emotionally capable of having a relationship right now."
"Bullshit."
"And I suppose you were such a good person when Marie found you." She sneered at me. "Fucking and fighting all night, sometimes both. Your healing factor is the only thing keeping you from being an alcoholic too. But you probably shaped right up, didn't you?"
"I changed." I growled back at her.
"Right away?" She countered. "A single month after you found her, you knew how to express your feelings, stopped fucking other women, felt ready to commit, right?"
I stayed silent.
"Then get off my ass, because I'm doing the best I can!" She stopped and took a deep breath before she continued. "I haven't kept to myself because I'm anti-social. I've had the shakes, detoxing my liver. And that's not even counting the withdrawal because I quit smoking too. I'm barely holding it together."
I ignored her last statement and ased, "If you're such a bad person, why'd you stop drinking and smoking?"
She groaned, loud and long. "Whatever."
"He's your mate."
She shook her head and went to the refrigerator, opening the door to hide behind it. "I loved him. More than anything else, but we're both different people now. He isn't a child, and he doesn't need me to take care of him anymore."
She straightened back up and tossed me a beer, holding a water bottle in her hand for herself. I stayed leaning against the table and tried to remember her as she made herself a sandwich. All I got were hazy feelings of safety and comfort, but that clearly didn't match up with the angry, crazy young woman in front of me. But I understood how fucking difficult it was when your mate changed from a child into an adult, no matter how much I didn't want to relate to her. And she wasn't even there to watch it happen to Victor. It might be a struggle for me to keep up with Marie's changing needs, but I was suddenly grateful I got to watch my mate grow up and help her.
"I'm not making you a sandwich." Jackie announced.
"I only said I'd eat lunch with you to get you outta there."
"You got somewhere to be?"
"Yeah, Marie has a study session with some other students, and I—"
"I'm gonna stop you right there." She interrupted. "She needs to make friends, and she can't do that with you hovering over her."
I glared at her. "But what if she needs me?"
"Then she'll find you." Jackie answered, then gave me an almost sympathetic look. "I know it sucks, but she needs to learn to function without you there."
I grunted and grabbed the bread from her so I could make myself a sandwich. I knew Marie was going to make new friends here, and I wanted that for her, but she was mine, goddammit. Jackie actually hung around after I made my sandwich, like she really wanted to eat lunch with me.
I gave her a sideways look. "We gonna be buddies now?"
"Victor wants us to make nice, so I figured we could watch the game together." She said.
"You saw it with him last night."
"I was preoccupied with other things." She replied, but I cut her off with a growl before she could go into detail.
"I don't wanna fucking know."
She shrugged. "Fine. No talking, no eye contact, and we both pretend it never happened in the morning."
"Fine."
My door cracked open, and I snarled at whoever would dare wake me up at—
"Logan."
Oh. Marie. I loved Marie. My head flopped to the side, and I saw the clock on my nightstand. 8:09. In the morning. I loved Marie. I still loved Marie. I must really fucking love Marie. She sat on the bed, and I prayed she only wanted to cuddle and not talk. I wouldn't mind being woken up if she let me go back to sleep with her in my arms. But I really fucking doubted that was the case, since I could smell the cup of coffee she'd brought with her as a peace offering.
"Logan..."
I groaned. Remembering anything specific about my past was damn difficult, but my body remembered waking up at dawn on military schedule. Must have done that for fucking decades for it to still be in my muscle memory. But I wasn't in the goddamn military any more, and I would sleep in as late as I fucking wanted. Until spring semester, when I had to teach morning classes. I groaned again. Marie shook my shoulder. She said she didn't want me to coddle her anymore, so I cracked an eye open and went with the blunt truth.
"Darlin', I love ya, but it's too fuckin' early right now, even if ya got coffee." I told her.
She looked down at me with wide eyes. "But it's Saturday."
Which was why I should still be fucking asleep. What was so goddamn important about Sa—
She wantsa cross somethin' off her list, dumbass.
I sat up immediately. "M'up. Shit. Fuck. Coffee."
"In that order, sugah?" Marie teased.
She handed me the cup of joe, and I chugged a third of it before I realized it wasn't burnt at all. It was even spiked with whiskey, top shelf stuff. I raised an eyebrow at her over the rim of my cup.
"Victor helped." She admitted. "He was making breakfast for Jackie."
I grunted and chugged another third. "So you decided what number yet?"
We'd already had a talk about boundaries, but Marie hadn't been able to decide which one she wanted to do first. I'd be happy with whatever she chose, as long as she made her own decision. I didn't ever want her to feel pressured. And I did have the less honorable motive of wanting to see what sort of kinky shit my little Marie could come up with on her own.
"Yep! Buuuuut..."
I glared at her suspiciously.
"Yah have a staff meeting this morning, remember?"
"You woke me up under false pretenses." I accused.
"Ah'm sorry, sugah." She pressed closer and petted my bare chest. "Ah'll pay yah back for it."
I drew her in for a deep kiss to get a taste of Marie with my Irish coffee. The taste of her helped calm my temper, but I still wasn't happy about those damn meetings. I drew back and pulled her top and bra down so I could leave a hickey above her nipple, then finished it up with a firm lick across the little bud. She whined when I sat back up and straightened her shirt to cover my mark. My tags still hung front and center on her chest though, so people would still know she was mine.
"You better." I growled in her ear.
Marie stayed quiet for a moment, and I worried she took it as a real threat.
"Yes, sir." She whispered back, playing the game too.
She stood up and gave me a smile that was half-shy and half-mischievous, and if my dick wasn't awake before, it damn sure got up after that. I drank the rest of my coffee and looked her over. She had on normal clothes, but I thought she looked nice. Like mine.
"You don't have to wait for me to dismiss you." I said, making sure she knew I wouldn't take our game that far.
"Ah'm jus' making sure yah actually get up." She replied.
I casually moved the blankets away so she could see the tent in my sweatpants. She blushed and chewed the inside of her lip, but her scent gave away how much she appreciated the view.
"Out of bed, Ah mean." She corrected herself.
I got out of bed like she wanted and walked over to her for another kiss. "We'll see to that list of yours after my meeting, alright?"
She nodded and stole another quick kiss. I waited until she turned around to walk away, and then lightly smacked her ass. She gasped and jumped a little, and I smirked at her when she whirled around.
"Ah'll pay yah back for that too."
I grinned wider. "Anytime you wanna try, darlin'."
I walked away from the meeting still pissed, but at least I'd hammered some sense into the X-Geeks. One Eye seemed to think me and Victor could teach a class together and hold hands and sing kum-ba-fucking-yah. Maybe we could work some shit out for our World History class, but there was no fucking way that would work in a Physical Education class. Our blood would already be up from the physical exercise and we couldn't both give orders to the brats at the same time. One of us would have to be the Alpha, and we'd finally got it through the boy scout's thick head that both of us teaching at the same time would just wind up with us fighting each other for dominance.
The so-called "compromise" we'd worked out was that I'd take the Monday and Wednesday classes for the B Team and the Friday class for the A Team. He'd take the B Team Tuesday and Thursday classes, with the Saturday A Team class. So I'd have my weekends free at least, to take Marie out and maybe still do some cage fighting for some side income and stress relief.
"Logan."
I snapped out of my brood at the sound of Marie's voice and looked around. The hallway was empty though, so I focused on listening for nearby heartbeats. The only one I picked up came from several feet ahead. I strode forward and saw a door marked as supply closet, with the heartbeat behind it, but I didn't open it immediately. What was my girl up to?
"Logan...?"
I opened the door, half-expecting Marie to be waiting for me naked. But she was still fully clothed and even looking a little shy, and I didn't know if I was relieved or a little disappointed.
I moved closer and pulled her against me. "Why do you want me in a supply closet, Marie?"
"Ah couldn't decide between sex in a supply closet or dry humping, so Ah thought we could do both." She said.
My head reeled at being given the green light to finally shove her up against the wall and grind against her until we both came. The Wolverine was all for our mate asking for exactly what she wanted and sexing her up in supply closets. I had a moment of hesitation though, because that literally sounded like something straight off of my list. And she did have both my voices in her head...
"That sounds fucking great, darling." I cupped her cheek to bring her face closer to mine. "But it also sounds a helluva lot like one of my ideas. If you want something romantic, I can—"
"Ah don't want candles an' flowers. Ah want to touch and be loved. Ah want everything Ah thought Ah would never have." She looked at me and smiled. "An' Ah trust yah an' Ah love yah. That's what makes it romantic."
"Alright, darlin'."
I hugged her hard and buried my face in her hair. She was perfect. I'd do the candles and flowers stuff for her if she wanted it, but that sort of thing didn't come naturally to me. She rubbed the back of my neck, her fingertips sliding up into my hair.
"An' what makes yah think Ah haven't wanted to drag yah into a supply closet since forever now?" She whispered hotly in my ear.
I growled in response. The Wolverine yanked at his chain, wanting to get out for another turn. But this wasn't an equal partnership, and I was still the goddamn dominant personality. After a brief mental spat, he sullenly settled for watching from the passenger's seat. I turned my attention back to Marie and drew her face up for a long kiss. Just because I planned on dry humping her up against a wall in a supply closet didn't mean I couldn't make it damn good for her. I moved down to her neck next, keeping my bites light enough not to mark. She tilted her head to the side, and I licked from her shoulder up to behind her ear. She moaned, and I rubbed her waist, moved one hand down to grope her ass.
Then I lifted her up and pressed her against the wall. She gave another appreciative moan and tried to press our hips together. I held her up by curling part of my arm beneath her ass, but I kept our hips separate. She whined, and I smirked against her neck. I lifted my hand and slipped it beneath her shirt. We'd agreed that outside of our monthly number that we crossed off the list, groping would stay over our clothes. Technically, our pants would have to stay on for it to be dry humping, but shirts were fair game right now. Her hands slipped beneath mine too and yanked at my chest hair, and I pinched her nipple in return. She gasped, and I captured her open mouth in another kiss.
"Please?" Marie pleaded when we parted.
I still kept our hips apart and ducked my head to mouth at her nipple through her bra. She arched her back and jerked her hips, but I kept her waiting. I wanted her to fucking ache for it and maybe beg a little too.
"Logan..." She whined, twisting in my arms.
"Not yet, darling."
I switched to the other side, soaking her bra with my saliva until it clung to her nipple. I pulled back and blew on it, then quickly kissed her again before her cries could get too loud. Her head thunked back against the wall when I drew away, and I growled with satisfaction at the sight of my debauched mate. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips swollen red from mine. I'd yanked her shirt halfway down, and her nipples stood out through the wet fabric of her bra. I couldn't hold back another growl of appreciation, and the Wolverine vied for control. I eased up a little, rationalizing that she could just wear a sweater tomorrow.
My mate recognized me and bared her neck with a whine. One mark, then you're done. I ignored the human and licked over my mate's neck, then settled my teeth against her neck, waiting until she moaned for more before I bit down. Alright, you had your moment. I wasn't fucking done yet, and I held onto as much control as I could while I sucked hard, then pulled back to admire the dark bruise I'd left. The human was about to gain control again anyway, so I backed off to bide my time.
The Wolverine retreated to the back of our mind, and I focused back on Marie. My hand had somehow ended up back on her breast with her nipple between my fingers. I gave it a quick roll and inhaled deeply to take in more of her sweet scent.
"Please sugah, pleeease!" Marie whimpered.
As much as I loved hearing her beg, I wasn't sadistic about it or unaffected by it, so I finally settled between her legs. She bucked her hips forward, and I finally loosened my grip on her ass enough to allow it to happen, savoring the relieved moan she gave. I took her lips in an open mouthed kiss while I rocked my erection against her core. Even though I had delayed this, I was still rock hard and already getting close. I wanted to just rut against her until I came, but she needed to first. She buried her face in my shoulder to muffle her moans, so I doubted it would be long for her either.
I shifted the angle of my thrusts, trying to hurry her along. It took some searching to find an angle that would put pressure on her clit with all the layers of clothes in the way, but eventually I found one that made her gasp in just the right way more often than not. She slid her hands up the back of my shirt and raked her nails down my back, and I pushed down her bra, taking her nipple in my mouth in retaliation. A few more licks and thrusts, and she bit down on my shoulder as she came. My rutting turned sloppier, and she ran her hands up into my hair.
"Love yah." She whispered.
That was all it took to send me over the edge, coming in my jeans and snarling into her neck.
A/N: So I know there was a lot of Jackie at the beginning there, but I wanted Logan to listen in on the sort of shit being talked about him and Marie, so I brought her in to direct the convesation a little. Plus I sprinkled in a bit of backstory...anyway! I added in some Wolverine too, because I suddenly felt like we were missing him. Who's on board with Wolverine getting an extra special Christmas present?
The next chapter won't actually be the Christmas chapter, but it will have Logan talk about his childhood with Marie (yay, more backstory!) and maybe some more interaction with the other X-Men. I'll see what all I can fit in and suggestions are always welcome!
The Christmas chapter will be after that, and then I'll probably get them started on the new school year. Anyone have guesses on what everyone's getting each other? I already have the presents planned out, but I like hearing you guys' ideas too!
In the personal section, thank you all so much for your well wishes and nice reviews! I've been under a lot of stress lately between my uncle's death, midterms, and I just moved into a new apartment. I have this week off for spring break though, so I'll try to spend it on homework and writing—in between naps, of course.
Three cheers for catching up on sleep debt!
