Disclaimer: I do not own anything, nothing significant at all. My net worth is a negative number. Nothing to sue here people. Move along. (imagine a hand waving).

Chapter 8: The Purrfect Evening.

Max had had an absolutely miserable day. Jam Pony was extremely busy because people had found out that it was still open throughout the storm and they did not want to venture out yet; and almost half the riders were still out either 'sick' or 'injured'. Max contemplated the ironic justice of spending the night making damn sure that they actually had the injuries they claimed, even if she had to inflict said injuries upon the lazy S.O.B.'s herself. If she had not been able to 'parallel process and multitask like there's no tomorrow' the number of runs and the hazards of the street would have been enough to hold her attention. As it was she spent the morning wondering if Logan thought she was even more of a freak for sharing a dream and trying to figure out how she could not blow this relationship, like she had every other relationship she had ever had. The news report at lunch talked about how many of the city's homeless, poor, and invalid had died in the cold. So she spent the afternoon wondering about all the same stuff from the morning as well as analyzing the unfamiliar and terrible dread she felt at the mere thought of losing Logan.

Logan started paging her about the time she would have been done with work on an average day. She couldn't find a payphone that worked, and she didn't see anyone with a cell phone she could 'appropriate'. The power was out to her building, and there were too many people to risk being seen taking her motorcycle down the stairs. Max didn't even bother to check if her place had water; it would be freezing even if there was any. She just tossed a couple changes of clothes in her backpack, got back on her bicycle and peddled to Logan as fast as she dared.

By the time Max entered Logan's apartment it was slightly over two hours after she usually got off of work. She was cold, wet, miserable and planning on letting Logan know exactly how miserable she was when she let herself in. Max stopped short when she saw Logan staring out the window, the picture of abject misery. Well, misery loved company, she decided, so she was going to let him have it!

She went back and slammed the door to properly announce her arrival and mood. When she stormed back into the main room Logan had turned to face her with a hopeful look. Max's excellent self-discipline was all that kept a smile off her face as she ranted.

"Every pay phone in the damn city is dead. The streets still have patches of ice under the water that is falling in buckets from the sky! I would know; I was all over the damn city all damn day. Apparently Jam Pony was the only messenger service whose operations were not interrupted by what is being called the worst storm ever to hit this broken city, so we have a lot of new customers. So naturally, half the riders at work were 'sick' 'cause with twice the work you have got to have half the people. The power is out at my crib, I did not want to explain how I could control my baby down the stairs, so I had to pedal over here, which took twice as long. Every single scummy sector guard asked my opinion of the weather! And if you make one single comment about 'drowned rat' in my cocktail you will be as wet as I am!" She couldn't maintain her faux anger with Logan smiling at her. She sighed, "Just tell me that you have some hot water."

"I have hot water. Bath or shower?" he asked, ecstatic that she had not been avoiding him after all.

"Bath!" She had plans.

"Bad day?" he asked. He tried to sound sympathetic, but was not sure how it was coming out. He couldn't stop smiling.

"The worst."

"Why are you smiling?"

She paused, unsure how to answer. "You're smiling."

"That doesn't answer my question." he grinned.

She kneeled down before him and leaned in close. "Yes, it does." She kissed him.

Logan's mind was reeling. He had gone from despair to elation in less than sixty seconds, simply because Max had returned to him. He had to deal with how much she meant to him to be able to cause such a reaction. He had to deal with how much he meant to her that she was smiling, after 'the worst' day, simply because he was happy. The heat of her lips, the cold of her wet jacket, it was all simply too much. Logan moaned, seized her, and for once abandoned all thought, reason, and responsibility and lost himself in ecstasy.

Eventually Max realized that she had crawled into Logan lap and now they were both wet and cold. "Bath," she said.

"Dinner," he countered.

"You need to get out of those damp clothes." she asserted.

"Odd, I don't remember saying anything about a drowned rat, but I'm as wet as you are." Logan commented wryly.

"Not quite," Max murmured subtly into his ear. "Of course, if you inferred that you wouldn't be wet just because you didn't say anything about drowned rat." She unbuttoned the top button of his soft green cotton shirt. "That is a common fallacy." Max kissed his neck. "I think it's called denial of the antecedent." She unbuttoned the second button. "I didn't actually …" Max nibbled on his ear and unbuttoned the third button. "Say anything about what would…" … kiss …"… or would not…" …nibble …"…happen if you…" …unbutton… "…didn't say anything." Max kissed him and purred.

Logan marveled at her multi-tasking ability. Max was all he could think of, until he stood up. That was unusual enough it grabbed his attention back to what was going on. Max was about to slide his unbuttoned pants down. Keenly aware that his legs in reality looked different from his legs in the dream, he almost panicked. "Whoa!"

"Whoa?" Max looked at him, puzzled and unsure of herself all over again. She eased him back into his chair.

"Dinner first, it's been ready for awhile." he reassured her. "Where is my shirt?"

"Over there." she gestured.

He noticed his shirt and sock …sock? Yep, one quick glance confirmed that he had bare feet now. How had she managed that? His own personal superhero. He was in SOO far over his head.

"I told you we needed to get out of the wet clothes." she began, hesitant. "We could take a hot bath. I think I like baths with you, but I want to be sure." She smiled and removed her jacket.

"Dinner." Logan said firmly, keenly aware that he was stalling.

Max nodded, knowing he was stalling but not feeling that confident herself. "Dry clothes."

Logan accepted the reprieve and retreated to his room for dry clothes.

Logan quickly changed into something dry and soft. When he returned he found Max siting cross-legged on the dinning room table, roasting a marshmallow over the candles there. He put the pasta on to boil and went to join her.

"I see you found desert." It was all he could think to say.

"Yep," she grinned.

"You rearranged the candles." He stated, but he wasn't sure why.

"It was very pretty with the tallest ones in the center, but putting them on the outside forms a concave pattern that concentrates the heat at a focal point. When you are trying to imitate a campfire with nine candles you need every Joule you can get."

Logan again contemplated how he was in SOOO far over his head. "We haven't had dinner yet."

"So?" Max, satisfied with the status of the marshmallow, assembled the S'more and took a bite as she approached Logan. With feline grace, Max stepped down from the table and walked over to Logan. Logan was enthralled by lithe motion and sashay of her hips.

"I am done waiting for the right time. There is never going to be a 'the right time', so I'm just jumping in, way over my head or not. You know?" She knelt before him and looked right into his eyes. "Going for what I want." she stated purposefully. She offered him the remainder of the S'more. "Deserts come first," she grinned.

He wrapped his hand around her arm and began to gently caress the sensitive inside of wrist as he licked the chocolate and marshmallow from her hand. His other hand reached around her elbow and slowly stroked her arm. Eventually Logan began eating the offered sweet, while gently nipping at her fingers.

Max briefly marveled at Logan's ability to multi-task, and that was the last coherent thought she had for a while.

Logan licked every drop of confection from Max, then continued to lick, nip, kiss and caress with the soft of his lips and the scruff on his chin for the even sweeter sounds of ecstasy from his love. He pulled her into his lap and she came to him willingly.

"Yummy," overlapped with "MMMmmmm" as was their wont. Logan claimed her lips and once again lost track of everything except him Max. Max was so incredibly responsive. Logan loved the purring, GOD he loved the purring! All Logan wanted to do was give her pleasure. Logan had just begun to believe they had enough …chemistry, magic, destiny … something very special between them that he could be enough for her, even given the givens, when the fire alarm went off.

The first fact that penetrated Logan's brain was that Max was gone. He had just been thinking they were meant to be together and then, poof, she was gone and he was cold. He was wondering where his shirt was when the fact that the loud noise he was hearing was the fire alarm registered. The pasta! Dammit. Logan turned and headed back to the kitchen.

Max had the situation under control by the time he arrived. The water had boiled off the pasta and it had started to smoke; there was no fire.

"So …" they said. Max burst out laughing. Logan was just embarrassed.

When Max composed herself she asked "Have you ever done that before?"

"No. I have burned things before, but it never set off the fire alarm." Logan let out a deep sigh. "I am so sorry."

"For what?" she asked.

"I wanted this evening to be perfect."

Max crawled into his lap, cupped his face in her hands, looked him directly in the eye and told him "This is perfect."

"Burnt pasta is your idea of a perfect evening?"

"So it's flawed." She shrugged. "It's still perfect. I am not like the high-society women you are apparently used to. We are together. We are finally 'like that'. Somebody loves me. Maybe ordinary people can take that for granted, but for me that's… huge! And not just anybody; Logan. The great and powerful and sexy Eyes-Only. I… I'm rambling." Max held Logan and smiled, trying to convey feelings she couldn't put into words. Logan understood. The evening was flawed, he was flawed, Max thought she was flawed; they could still be perfect for each other despite, or perhaps even because of, their imperfections.

They wound up eating dinner in the kitchen. Most of the time Max was on Logan's lap. The wheelchair was in front of the fridge. They hand fed each other bread, cheese, sliced turkey and strawberries. It was slow and sensuous and wonderful.

"Do you remember the ripples in the bathtub? In our dream?" Max asked.

"In our dream." Logan marveled at the concept. "Yes, I remember."

"I want to try it, for real."

Logan nodded and led her to the master bathroom.

Logan started the water, adjusted the temperature, and added some bath oil. The whole time a war was raging inside him. His desire to be with Max, to touch her and give her pleasure was set against his fear of her seeing how useless half of him was. He turned to face Max, still uncertain what he was going to do. The look on her face told him that he was not going anywhere. Fear surrendered.

Max began to remove her clothes, for Logan. He knew she was doing it intentionally, for him. Her movements were slow, graceful, and sensual. Her gaze never wavered from his. Logan just sat there, transfixed, as Max stripped for him.

"You look just like you did in my …our dream." Logan could scarcely believe this was really happening. He had no idea what he was going to do, how this was going to go. "I don't."

"The atrophy in your legs?" Max asked.

"Yes." He nodded. He should have known she would know about that.

"You can't imagine that I care?" Hadn't he been paying attention today?

"I can't believe that you don't."

"What can I do to convince you? Logan, don't leave me out here on a limb all by myself. I know the risks. You are worth it. Am I?"

"Yes." Logan unfastened his pants. He wasn't sure how he was going to work this. On his best day he had never been as graceful as Max. There just wasn't any smooth way for him to get undressed anymore.

Max knelt at his feet and removed his socks. "Let me help you." It was a request. Logan could only nod.

Max picked him up and he slid the pants down his unfeeling legs. They moved together to the Jacuzzi tub. Logan balanced himself on the edge as Max slid his boxers off. Logan was cringing, waiting for Max to recoil from how thin his legs were getting. Lord knew he wanted to. Max didn't cringe. She was smiling. She looked a bit uncertain, but happy. Max lifted his legs over the edge of the tub. Logan lowered himself down into the water.

"What are you nervous about?" Max finally asked him.

Logan nearly choked. "What am I nervous about?"

"Yes." Max repeated patiently, as if to a small child.

"Max, my legs don't work. From here, " he gestured to a line slightly above the end of his ribcage "nothing works!" Once again Logan wondered what he was doing here. What did he have to offer Max? What was she going to get out of …this?

"I know." She said sadly. "I am sorry." Max wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder. "I just wanted to be with you. I'm sorry. I guess I was being selfish."

"What?" Logan truly had no idea how she came up with the word 'selfish'.

"There are lots of articles, books on … sex after …well, after. I wanted you. I want you. But what would you get out of …this?"

"What?" It was all Logan could get out. He had the most singularly beautiful woman he had ever seen, naked, yielding and in his arms and she was wondering what he was getting out of …this? Could she really not know?

"How am I supposed to please you? All the articles, they are all about things you can do for me. There is nothing on what I can do for you. There is nothing that " Logan silenced her concerns with a kiss. Logan continued to explore her mouth until he knew exactly what to say to her. She wasn't the only one that could multi-task, given the right motivation.

"Max, you are obviously new to this whole being-in-love thing so I will explain this to you slowly. I love you. I enjoy being with you. I enjoy touching you. I enjoy seeing your pleasure, especially when I know that I am giving it to you. I didn't think that I would ever be able to satisfy a woman again. Before our dream last night I had no real hope of ever again experiencing that kind of pleasure myself. You have already given me more than I hoped for. I can never fully repay you, but there are a few things I want to show you." Logan was pleased to see the joy light up Max's face as he spoke.

"So, you never dreamed with anyone else?" she asked.

"No," Logan said slowly and patiently, as if to a small child. Was she serious? "Max, I do not think anyone has ever dreamed with someone else." Pause. "Have you?"

"Nope. I was thinking about it though. I decided it's your fault." She teased.

"My fault?" Playful banter in the bathtub, Logan could so get used to this; although he could not imagine why sharing dreams would be his fault.

"Yep. You told Phil that your powers were 'mostly mental'." She grinned up at him.

"Actually I think I was calling Phil 'mostly mental', but I prefer to think of this as being evidence of our special connection."

"Just us?" she asked.

"Just us." He confirmed.

"HmmMMmm" she baited.

"Hmmm, what?" He asked obligingly.

"A boyfriend that can't cheat. I could get used to that." She looked to Logan for his response.

"Good. Hand me the soap. It's about time I made myself useful." She obliged.

The bath was a sensuous exploration. Max washed every part of Logan, letting him know as best she possibly could that she accepted and loved him as he was. Then she surrendered herself to Logan. He explored every inch of her, and showed her why he mentioned the hand-held showerhead earlier. They confirmed that her purring could indeed make little ripples.

They dried off. Max insisted that it was her turn and carried Logan to the bed. Logan had expected this to be humiliating. It wasn't. After the incredibly athletic extravaganza they dreamed about he was certain the reality, his reality, would be a disappointment. It wasn't. It was gentle and caring. Max demonstrated that her love transcended the physical. She loved him, no matter what happened to his body. She loved him, even broken, even flawed. Logan felt more satisfaction, contentment and acceptance he had imagined possible.

"Stay with me." Logan reached out to a remote control and soft ocean sounds filed the room.

Max mumbled something that seemed affirmative and snuggled into his arms. Logan drifted off to sleep happily wondering if he could convince Max that she had agreed to move in with him because she hadn't specified a time frame for staying with him. He wanted forever.

The End

PUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

A/N: I have not begged for reviews every chapter (cough, cough) but now that it is done: please tell me what you thought. I am specifically interested in what worked for you and what you would like to see more of.