Logan came awake very slowly. At first, he thought he was having a dream. A warm mouth was nipping and licking his neck. His body began to heat. He moaned as the lips found his collar bone. A hot, little tongue flicked out and traced the protruding bone from his shoulder to his neck. He gasped the name of the woman he had been fantasizing about for hundreds of years.
"Jubes." He woke completely when she spoke.
"I had a dream." she whispered, kissing him lightly on the chest. "We were in the mansion and you came to me to make love to me." He tongue flicked over his hard nipple. "Would you have?"
He hissed as cold air replaced her hot tongue. "I wanted to." he moaned. "I stood outside yer door most nights after ya came back, wantin' ta open it."
"Why didn't you come in?" she asked as she worked her way down his chest to his abdomen.
"God, Jubes!" She had just rimmed his navel with her tongue. "I don't know." He answered her question with a shaky voice. "Scared I guess."
Her hand stroked lightly from his hip to his knee and returned, following the inside path of his thigh. He hissed when her finger flicked under the leg of his shorts.
"Ya better be sure about this." he warned her.
"I've never been more sure of anything in my life." she said, her eyes never leaving his. "I want you, Logan."
He reached down and pulled her up slowly, prolonging the torment she had started. He settled her on his chest and just looked at her, studying her face.
"Yer so beautiful." he whispered reverently.
She blushed at his words.
"Do ya love me, Jubilee?" he asked, softly.
"Does it matter?" she asked, surprised, propping her hands on his chest so she could see his face.
"Yeah, darlin', it does." he told her.
She could see that her answer was important to him. "I've loved you since I was thirteen." she told him. "Even when you lusted for Jean like she was your last meal, I loved you. When Mariko died and you wanted to, I loved you. Through all the women you slept with, trying to ease your pain, I loved you. Every time you left me, I was angry but I still loved you. When Bastian's guards raped me, my only thought was that you wouldn't be my first, and I still loved you. When I was hanging on a cross on the front lawn, the only thing I could think of was that I was going to die and I never told you how much I loved you. When the fifth Gateway dropped me in the middle of the Orion slave market, I was scared to death, thinking I would never see you again but I still loved you." She reached down and ran her finger over his lips. "I'll never stop loving you, Logan. Not even after I'm dead."
He was humbled by the depth of her love. He lifted his head and kissed her, softly and sweetly. "I love you, too." he whispered.
"Make love to me." she demanded softly.
They were very late leaving the shelter in the morning.
A week later, he felt they were as ready as they could be and called the ship for a pick up. It was 1700 hrs ships time when they were beamed aboard.
"Any luck?" he asked Picard as the team stepped off the transporter platform and scattered.
"No." Picard said sourly. "We have made the repairs we can but we haven't been able to find Argon's ship."
"That's okay." Logan told him. "I have another way of lookin'. Let me get Jubilee settled and talk to LaForge first. We'll find him."
"Ms. Lee," he addressed Logan's pretty companion, "we have prepared a cabin near Logan's for you. If you will allow me, I will escort you to it."
"Ya didn't need ta do that." Logan growled possessively. "She'll stay with me."
Jubilee was looking at Picard with ill concealed curiosity. "Have you ever traced your family tree, Captain?" she asked.
"Indeed, I have." he informed her.
"Is there a Charles Xavier in your ancestry?"
"That name doesn't sound familiar." Picard told her.
"Chuck woulda been erased from the tree, darlin'," Logan told her, "but he's one of Picard's ancestors."
"How would you know?" Picard asked. One of his passions was genealogy. He had traced his family tree when he was a teenager. It was an exciting exercise and he learned a great deal about his family.
"Ya have a trace of his scent." Logan told him.
"And you look exactly like him." Jubilee said. "It's like Charles popped in here from his study except he couldn't walk."
"Who was this Xavier, anyway?" Picard asked.
"The most powerful telepath of the 20th and 21st centuries and the founder of the X-Men." Jubilee explained. "He was like a father to most of us."
"Chuck was committed ta peace between mutants and humans." Logan told him. "He went ta his grave thinkin' it was still possible."
"Did you believe it was possible?"
"Jubilee did." Logan told him honestly. "I wasn't so sure."
"And now?"
"Ain't a snowball's chance in hell, now." Logan growled. "We're leapers, Picard. Everyone's tryin' ta ignore the fact that we exist. The Federation officially says we ain't human and won't budge on that, even when they're given the genetic evidence proving that we are. A mutant becomes property the second their powers manifest. If they're unlucky enough ta be born with a physical mutation, they never know what it's like ta be free. We didn't ask ta be this way, Picard. If ya were ta ask most of us, we'd tell ya we'd rather be normal most of the time. All we ever wanted was ta be left alone ta live our lives in peace. The Federation made sure that'll never happen."
"What about the colony?"
"About ten percent of mutants are sterile." Logan told him. "The remaining ninety percent have problems carryin' ta term. The birth rate on Genosha has fallen to the point where the population is shrinking. In about four hundred years, there'll be more mutants on Earth than on Genosha. We need normal genes ta have healthy kids."
"What are the chances of this situation changing?" Picard asked.
"Since most people don't know what's goin' on, not much." Logan admitted. "The Federation ain't gonna want the general public ta know what they do. As soon as a mutant manifests, they send in the goons ta grab 'em. The family gets a brain wash ta forget what happened and they're told that their kid is in training at Star Fleet."
"How long has this been going on?" Picard asked, appalled.
"It started about a hundred years after the charter was signed. Used ta be, the entire family was killed. Now they got a telepath ta mind wipe everyone who knew the kid. Lucky they don't know about Williams."
"Oh?"
"Williams could mind wipe the entire planet pretty quick." He told Picard. "I never met a more powerful telepath."
"She wouldn't, would she?"
"Nah." Logan said. "Xavier's principles survived him. She wouldn't use her powers against another person unless she had ta.
"Would you to have dinner with me?" he asked. "I would like to continue this conversation."
"Not tonight," Jubilee told him.
"It's been a long time since we've seen each other." Logan told him.
"I understand." Picard smiled. "I will see you in the morning." He watched them leave the transporter room arm in arm.
They made it half way to his cabin before he gave into the temptation and kissed her deeply. The kiss quickly became passionate. He tore his lips from her before he could shame her and take her in the hall. He lifted her into his arms and took off toward his cabin as a fast trot. The cabin door slid open as Logan approached with his precious burden. He quickly flipped the privacy switch as the door closed
"I want you," he rumbled as he slid her body down his. He pulled gently at her clothes, anxious to get them off. "Let me see ya darlin'."
She quickly shed he clothes, leaving them in a pile on the floor. His breath caught in his throat. She was beautiful. Her breasts were perfectly proportioned for her size. Not too large, not too small. With her way of fighting, large breasts would have been a disadvantage. They were tipped with rosy pink nipples, hardened in arousal. He bent his head and kissed the tiny mole on the top of her left breast, making her shiver. He bent lower and flicked his tongue across the nipple.
"Wolvie," she gasped as her knees gave out. He followed her to the floor still kissing her breast, drawing the nipple into his mouth to suckle. She arched into him, pulling his head closer. Her hands left his head to stroke his shoulders, pulling at his clothes.
"Please Wolvie, I wanna see you," she panted.
He sat up, his thighs holding her legs down. She sat up with his to help remove his clothes. Their hands tangled together, both trying to pull his shirt off. Jubilee lost her patience first and grabbed the collar and ripped it off him. He fingers immediately tangled themselves into the mat of hair on his chest, searching for his nipples, tweaking them and making him groan.
"God Jubes," he gasped.
"The rest," she moaned. "Take it off."
He quickly stood and shucked his pants. She scrambled to her knees in front of him, her eyes dark with passion. Her warm hands went to his ankles and she began to work her way up his legs with small light strokes that got firmer and deeper as she got further up. By the time she got to his thighs, his legs were trembling. She ran a finger up the inside of his thigh and he reached down to stop her.
"Don't," he said through gritted teeth. "I won't last." He grabbed her hands and pulled her up, lifting her as she wrapped her legs around his waist. "What'll it be darlin', more foreplay or are ya ready?" In answer, she reached between them to grab him and position herself and, with a moan, slid onto his hardness. Her head fell back and she stopped breathing.
Electricity shot from his groin to the rest of his body. He was too close. He held her fast until the fire died a little. He stood there, teeth clenched, his breath coming in sharp pants.
When he finally regained control, he took a step toward the bed, jolting Jubilee's body down hard on him. He stopped with a hiss and Jubilee moaned. "Darlin', we ain't gonna make it ta the bed." He lowered himself to his knees and began to move, every stroke shooting fire through his veins. He knew she didn't have the strength to continue in this position; not quite yet. He bent her back and laid her on the floor, never loosing his rhythm. The small sounds coming from her throat were driving him crazy.
He tried to be gentle. He knew she was recovering from severe abuse over several years and he couldn't be rough with her. His body was crying out to slam into her, over and over. He had to keep reminding himself to take it slow, the animal would have it's way when she was recovered completely.
She was close. He could feel her internal muscles quiver, her breath coming in sharp gasps. Suddenly, she shrieked and arched her back. Her internal muscles clamped down on him triggering his own howling release.
He rolled to his side, taking Jubilee with him, still breathing heavily.
"God," she breathed.
"I've lived a long time but I ain't a god," he chuckled, still breathless.
"Funny," she snickered. "We gonna make it to the bed any time soon?"
Yeah," he laughed. Getting up, he lifted her and deposited her on the bed and climbed in with her.
"At least there isn't a wet spot," she remarked.
"Yet," he said smugly.
"Huh?" she gulped as she looked down at his renewed erection.
"Healing factor darlin'," he stroked a finger down her side.
"That's handy," she gasped, her passion rising again.
"I love you," he said quietly. "I always have."
"How long," she asked as she rolled on top of him, scattering feathery kisses on his chest.
"I don't remember a time I didn't love ya," he admitted. "If it wasn't fer Ororo, I'd a died when ya disappeared. I went a little nuts fer a while and she brought me back."
"Did ya love her?"
"Not like I love you," he whispered. "I've never loved anyone like I love you, even Mariko."
She was stunned. She remembered how he was after Mariko died. She had to plead with him not to commit suicide. She had never seen him so low.
She realized she was crying. "I love you too, Logan." She lowered her lips to his, kissing him softly. "I love you so much," she whispered against his mouth.
"I don't think I'd live if I lost ya again."
"I'm not going anywhere and if you waited four hundred years fer me, you ain't going anywhere either."
"Yer gonna hafta throw me out," he told her as he flipped them over, taking the top position.
They made love again and finally slept, curled in each others arms.
Logan woke early the next morning with Jubilee still in his arms. He felt as if all of his dreams were coming true. Jubilee was finally in his arms and she loved him. His life was finally taking a turn in his favor.
His natural pessimism kicked in. It couldn't last. Every time he found happiness, something went wrong. Silver Fox, Mariko, Jean and Ororo, all dead because of him. Every woman he loved, dead either by his hand or because of him. His life was much more complicated and he had considerably more enemies now. How was he going to keep her safe?
"Cut it out Logan," Jubilee said sleepily.
"You looking inta my head darlin'?" he asked.
"Yer thinking loud enough ta wake the dead," she yawned. "I'm sure Regina heard ya." You would think after four hundred years you'd figure out that you're not responsible for everything."
A flash of light appeared at the foot of the bed immediately followed by the tall form of Q.
"We have it!" he announced. "Hello, my dear." he said to Jubilee as she dove under the sheets.
"Don't ya ever knock?" Logan growled.
"On what?" Q asked. "You must introduce us, Wolverine. She's lovely."
"Get out," he growled.
"I didn't know there was another teleporter on board," Jubilee said as her head emerged from the sheets.
"He ain't a teleporter," Logan told her, his eyes never leaving Q. "He's Q."
"Huh?"
"I'll explain later." he told her. He turned back to Q, his hostility clear on his face. "I'll call a briefin' in two hours. Now, get out." Q wisely left.