Reaching for The Moon byThePekingNoodle

Chapter Thirty: Fever…

In which our heroine is given some words of wisdom from her sister…

When Logan emerged from showering he found Max and Jondy comfortably ensconced in his living room watching one of his extensive DVD collection. He noticed that the remainder of the pancake batter was gone and the kitchen was shining.

"Thanks for the cleanup," he smiled at the two of them.

"Least we could do seeing as how I finished off your pancake batter." Jondy smiled back. She looked at her watch. "Gee right about now, the Count must be starting to realize that I'm not going to show up for lunch."

Max laughed. "That's going to be the least of his worries later on. I can't wait until our dinner date."

Logan seated himself next to Max and she moved over to snuggle next to him. He didn't think much of it until he felt a small hand resting on his thigh and beginning to inch up his leg. He noticed that Max seemed to be a bit warmer than she had been the night before.

"Um, Max, maybe I should go work on the arrangements for later."

Max looked down with a start and saw what she was doing with her hand. She flushed as she met Jondy's knowing eyes.

"Logan, can I talk to Max in private?" Jondy suddenly said.

Logan had missed the look between the two of them, but he shrugged and got up. "Like I said, I need to work on making sure everything is in place for later. I'll be in my computer room."

Jondy jumped up as well. "Come on let's go for a walk."

Max rose and followed her to the hallway. Jondy walked to the service stairway and opened the door. "Can we get to the roof this way?"

"Yes."

Within moments the two girls were seated in a flat corner of the roof. It was gray and breezy but at least it wasn't raining.

"So spill it, Max. What's the big deal about your being in heat?" Jondy wanted to know. "Logan seems cool with it. Why are you making it such a big thing?"

Max shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe because last time I almost got it on with another guy. If Logan hadn't come in time, I would have." She shuddered at the memory of Arnold.

"So? It's heat. Makes you do things you normally wouldn't, but if you spend your life worrying about it…" Jondy shrugged not understanding.

"Have you ever loved someone, Jondy?" Max asked her pointblank.

Jondy laughed. "No way. And I don't intend to if I can help it. It's hard enough keeping one step ahead of the Colonel without added complications."

Max sighed. "Well I love Logan, and I'd hate myself if I did something stupid with some other man because of the heat."

"You don't think Logan would understand?"

"I don't want him to have to."

"Okay." Jondy was silent for a moment. "So tell me why you're making it a big deal with Logan then? You guys are married. You have the means to deal with your urges, and you can't tell me he would be less than accommodating on that score.. Why make it into a big soap opera?"

Max sat dumbfounded as Jondy's words hit home. Finally she said, "You think I'm making it a big deal?"

"If you aren't, tell me why I found you two out of the bedroom this morning when I got here? And why Logan is so jumpy around you right now?"

Max had no answer for Jondy.

"So you think I should just let it all out?" she finally asked. "Go down there and jump Logan?"

"Hell yes. It's what I would do if I were you." Jondy looked at her shrewdly. "If you want to be able to control yourself with the Count tonight, you better do something to take the edge off ahead of time. Girl, I can smell the pheromones from here. Logan's down there, willing and more than able from what I gather, so what the hell are you waiting for?"

"Someone to knock some sense into my head?" Max grinned. "What are you going to do now?" She rose from her seated position.

"Can I use your bike and take a ride?" Jondy asked. "I don't exactly feel like stuffing my ears with cotton and trying to watch movies."

"The keys are on the hook next to the door. Just be careful." Max warned with a smile.

The two girls headed down from the roof. Max pointed Jondy to the keys and Jondy winked as she headed out. "I'll be back in three hours. You better have your ass out of bed by then 'cause we have a two faced creep to catch tonight."

"If we don't, then I guess you can throw some cold water on us or something." Max teased. She reached over and hugged Jondy briefly before Jondy could leave. "It's cool to have a sister."

Jondy smiled, "yeah it is."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Logan was engrossed in his work and only vaguely noticed the sounds of the girls returning to the apartment. He heard Max padding down the hallway to their room and briefly wondered where Jondy was, but an email came in that needed his attention and he quickly forgot about her.

Several moments later he had answered the email and given the evening's arrangements one last going over. Satisfied, he leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair.

"Do you do that to your hair on purpose?" a voice purred in his ear. "Cause it's damn sexy."

He swiveled his chair and found himself with a lapful of Max. She didn't give him an opportunity to answer but instead leaned in and captured his lips in a long hungry kiss.

Logan returned it happily; letting his hands roam over her bathrobe clad form.

When she pulled back they were both breathless. Logan looked her over, noticing that she was wearing the red robe once again. "Going to take a shower?" he asked her.

"Only if you join me," Max answered, "but I thought we might want to work up a sweat first. To make it worthwhile to shower, you know."

"Max?" Logan began, only to have her kiss him again. When she let him up he quickly said before she could distract him again, "Where's Jondy?"

Max smiled smugly. "She went for a ride on my baby. To give us privacy."

Logan met her eyes. "Max? Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

"Logan my sister gave me some advice. It was good advice and I intend to take it. So shut up and stop wasting my time." Her hand was resting on his zipper and Logan was intensely aware of his reaction, as well as of the fact that she wasn't wearing anything but her bathrobe.

He smiled slowly, "Max, I'm at your disposal."

"Good, cause we have about 2 ½ hours before my sister gets back. That's barely going to be enough time to do what I want to with you." Max ran her eyes over him and then slowly rose and took his hand, pulling him to stand next to her. Logan could feel the heat of her skin and he felt heat running through his body in response.

On an impulse he grabbed her and pulled her close to him, letting his hands run over her back and rest on her butt, holding her against his hardness. "So tell me, Max, is heat contagious?" His voice was like rough velvet.

She looked at him in confusion.

"Because right now I feel like I'm burning up." Before she could respond he scooped her into his arms and strode toward their bedroom. "I definitely have the fever, Max, but I'm counting on you having the cure…"

End of Chapter Thirty…TBC…