Please read parts 1-3 first, or at least parts 1 and 3.
If you like it, please review it. As long as we get reviews, we'll keep writing more.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, etc. etc. etc.
Dangerous Games 4: Morning
Logan slid away from the warmth of a sleeping Max. He grabbed his pants from the floor, getting himself half-dressed and back into the chair. He wheeled himself out of the room as quietly as he could, but still was amazed that she didn't wake.
//Guess I tired her out...Oh, lose the ego, Cale.//
The ego. Too many years and too many women. Half the time he couldn't tell if they were interested in him or his money. And more than half of the time it hadn't mattered. Before Valerie he was too young to care. And after Valerie he was too busy staying distant.
//Got too used to women falling in my lap. Even Max, when I was looking for the bar code. Looking for a new tool for the Eyes Only network. Arrogant. And lucky that she came back...//
Logan found himself stalled in the living room, staring off into space with a goofy look on his face. Feeling like a teenager who had made his first female conquest. Remembering the words of the doctor in rehab. "You are lucky in that your incomplete lesion is located at a low enough point to allow for some degree of so-called "normal" sexual response. Things will never be exactly as they were, but you will learn to compensate."
//Lucky that everything went so well yesterday. Luck. Or Max.//
Compensation meant a quick side trip to the bathroom for an injection, and a few other rituals that were going to take some getting used to. There were pills, too, that would be easier than giving himself shots, but they were harder to come by than the injections. Logan had sources to get them, of course, but hadn't bothered.
//You didn't bother because you didn't want to see them sitting there without ever using them.//
The doctor had continued. "Patchy sensation is the best you can hope for at this point."
//As far as I'm concerned, the patches that work are making up for the patches that don't work.//
"There is a chance of improvement with time, and practice."
//Time I've got. Practice...I'm working on that. Somehow I managed to avoid explanations last night. Even took the shot before I knew she would really stay. Have to tell her eventually. No masks, right, Max?//
Max wanted the truth and she'd gotten most of it. He knew she'd considered bolting at one point. When he'd woken and she was gone, he'd steeled himself against calling for her, against asking her to stay. And he hadn't needed to. She came back to him on her own, laying awake beside him for the rest the night.
//I wonder how much effort that took, for Max to stay put like that for hours. Staying still is not her strong point.//
Logan had gone back to sleep, trusting Max's decision to stay. Some time before dawn he'd awakened to find her lying against him. He chose not to comment on the fact that she was fully dressed, not wanting to remind her of her earlier attempt to leave, focusing instead on getting the clothes back off. He hadn't had a chance to detour to the bathroom, so things weren't quite as...traditional...as the first time. But there were compensations, and Max hadn't objected. Logan found himself grinning like a fool, remembering how much Max...hadn't objected. And she had immediately fallen back to sleep.
//Guess I really have figured out how to shut Max off for an hour. And if I don't stop smiling like this I'm going to hurt myself.//
She would wake up soon, and they were going to have to talk. Nighttime was one thing, morning another. Darkness let them put issues aside for a few hours, let them ignore the questions. How were they going to return to some semblance of a working relationship? And the other side effect of letting go of the Eyes Only façade. How could he continue to send Max into danger, when every instinct said to lock her in his apartment and keep her safe? Logan nearly laughed out loud, imagining Max's reaction to that proposal. Max's search for her past, as well as her work for Eyes Only, would continue. Probably increase, proving to Logan and herself that love was no excuse to avoid criminals and psychotics. Max being stubborn like that.
//And you're never a stubborn idiot yourself, Cale.//
Not that she'd said anything about love. But he'd said he would take what he could get. And he meant it-for now. Logan wheeled back to the bedroom, trying to force his lips out of the grin that was starting to seem permanent. Trying to stop his heart from racing.
//Time to wake up Max.//
If you like it, please review it. As long as we get reviews, we'll keep writing more.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, etc. etc. etc.
Dangerous Games 4: Morning
Logan slid away from the warmth of a sleeping Max. He grabbed his pants from the floor, getting himself half-dressed and back into the chair. He wheeled himself out of the room as quietly as he could, but still was amazed that she didn't wake.
//Guess I tired her out...Oh, lose the ego, Cale.//
The ego. Too many years and too many women. Half the time he couldn't tell if they were interested in him or his money. And more than half of the time it hadn't mattered. Before Valerie he was too young to care. And after Valerie he was too busy staying distant.
//Got too used to women falling in my lap. Even Max, when I was looking for the bar code. Looking for a new tool for the Eyes Only network. Arrogant. And lucky that she came back...//
Logan found himself stalled in the living room, staring off into space with a goofy look on his face. Feeling like a teenager who had made his first female conquest. Remembering the words of the doctor in rehab. "You are lucky in that your incomplete lesion is located at a low enough point to allow for some degree of so-called "normal" sexual response. Things will never be exactly as they were, but you will learn to compensate."
//Lucky that everything went so well yesterday. Luck. Or Max.//
Compensation meant a quick side trip to the bathroom for an injection, and a few other rituals that were going to take some getting used to. There were pills, too, that would be easier than giving himself shots, but they were harder to come by than the injections. Logan had sources to get them, of course, but hadn't bothered.
//You didn't bother because you didn't want to see them sitting there without ever using them.//
The doctor had continued. "Patchy sensation is the best you can hope for at this point."
//As far as I'm concerned, the patches that work are making up for the patches that don't work.//
"There is a chance of improvement with time, and practice."
//Time I've got. Practice...I'm working on that. Somehow I managed to avoid explanations last night. Even took the shot before I knew she would really stay. Have to tell her eventually. No masks, right, Max?//
Max wanted the truth and she'd gotten most of it. He knew she'd considered bolting at one point. When he'd woken and she was gone, he'd steeled himself against calling for her, against asking her to stay. And he hadn't needed to. She came back to him on her own, laying awake beside him for the rest the night.
//I wonder how much effort that took, for Max to stay put like that for hours. Staying still is not her strong point.//
Logan had gone back to sleep, trusting Max's decision to stay. Some time before dawn he'd awakened to find her lying against him. He chose not to comment on the fact that she was fully dressed, not wanting to remind her of her earlier attempt to leave, focusing instead on getting the clothes back off. He hadn't had a chance to detour to the bathroom, so things weren't quite as...traditional...as the first time. But there were compensations, and Max hadn't objected. Logan found himself grinning like a fool, remembering how much Max...hadn't objected. And she had immediately fallen back to sleep.
//Guess I really have figured out how to shut Max off for an hour. And if I don't stop smiling like this I'm going to hurt myself.//
She would wake up soon, and they were going to have to talk. Nighttime was one thing, morning another. Darkness let them put issues aside for a few hours, let them ignore the questions. How were they going to return to some semblance of a working relationship? And the other side effect of letting go of the Eyes Only façade. How could he continue to send Max into danger, when every instinct said to lock her in his apartment and keep her safe? Logan nearly laughed out loud, imagining Max's reaction to that proposal. Max's search for her past, as well as her work for Eyes Only, would continue. Probably increase, proving to Logan and herself that love was no excuse to avoid criminals and psychotics. Max being stubborn like that.
//And you're never a stubborn idiot yourself, Cale.//
Not that she'd said anything about love. But he'd said he would take what he could get. And he meant it-for now. Logan wheeled back to the bedroom, trying to force his lips out of the grin that was starting to seem permanent. Trying to stop his heart from racing.
//Time to wake up Max.//